Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Emily nodded and slipped inside of it.

  “It’s pretty safe too. This one has all speed traction control, roll mitigation, tire pressure monitor, and hill assistance,” the salesman said to Chevalier and Kyle.

  Kyle whispered, “I liked the idea of grenade proof windows.”

  Chevalier chuckled.

  “I don’t know, I can’t pull a trailer with it,” Emily said, but she obviously liked it.

  Chevalier shrugged, “Then we’ll get you a truck, too.”

  “Can it be jacked up? I want a higher clearance and bigger tires.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, and this one would be perfect for you, it has adjustable seats and side steps,” the salesman said, and smiled.

  Emily frowned, “What?”

  “Nothing,” Chevalier said, and turned to the salesman. “We’ll take it.”

  “Great, let’s go get the paperwork finished. Do you have a loan yet?” he asked, and walked towards the sales office.

  “It’ll be cash,” Chevalier told him, and went back to the Jeep to get Emily out of it, amused.

  Chevalier whispered and Kyle turned and tossed the Elder his keys, “Oh, Kyle?”

  Kyle and the salesman turned, “If they can throw in next year’s model of the Dodge Ram, we’ll pay extra for not having to make an extra stop.”

  The salesman’s eyes lit up, “We can do that!”

  Kyle nodded, “Sure can. I’ll call for someone to come and get it when I’m done with the paperwork.”

  “Get the 3500!” Emily yelled, as she sat down in the Lamborghini.

  Chapter 27 - Trio

  “Mark, have you seen Chev?” Emily asked as she pulled on her leather gloves.

  “No, he and Kyle set out this morning to do something and haven’t been back,” Mark told her. “Are you going out 4x4 again?”

  Emily nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Mark nodded and backed his guards off. It was now commonplace for Emily to take her Jeep out alone and the privacy had been approved by the Council. Mark suspected it was for the safety of the guards, without the quick reflexes of a heku at the wheel, anything off-road seemed dangerous.

  Emily headed down the stairs and stopped to give Alexis a kiss. She picked her up off the floor and kissed her twice, “Did you have a good 3rd birthday?”

  Alexis nodded, “Yes, tan I have take?”

  Emily nodded and turned to Silas, “One tiny piece, and then toss the rest of it. It’s going to go bad soon.”

  Silas nodded and handed a Barbie doll back to Alexis.

  “Emily?” she heard Quinn call from the council chambers. Emily changed course and headed into the trial area.

  “Yeah?” she asked, pulling on a leather jacket.

  “Are you going out after Kyle and Chevalier?” he asked.

  “No, I was going out in the Jeep. Do you want me to go out after them?”

  “If you see them, just send them in. We have an important case we need them here for.”

  Emily nodded, “Sure thing.”

  “Or were you planning on kidnapping them again?” Zohn asked, scowling.

  “Damn, Zohn, get over it. That was almost 7 months ago, and I haven’t kidnapped anyone since.” She glared at him and then left.

  Emily went to the garage and climbed into the Rubicon. She waved to Mark as she pulled out onto the road. She had just gone off of the main road through a rocky field when she saw someone in her rear-view mirror. She screamed and hit the brakes.

  “Don’t do anything rash… listen to me, and your Elder won’t get hurt,” the heku said, smiling.

  Emily turned around and looked at the heku in her backseat, “Who are you?”

  “Doesn’t matter. We have Chevalier and Kyle. If you come with us, we won’t hurt them,” he said, and looked toward the road. There was a black van sitting beside the field with the doors open and the windows darkened.

  “How do I know you really have them?” Emily asked skeptically.

  The heku smiled, “I told them you would need proof.”

  He handed her an Equites faction medal of honor, the one that Kyle had received during Zohn’s coronation as an Elder.

  “So we can’t really prove we have the Elder, but now you know we have your Chief Enforcer,” the heku said, and smiled.

  Emily sighed, “So I take it I’m about to get kidnapped… again.”

  The heku nodded.

  “Peachy,” Emily said, and dropped her riding gloves into the passenger seat and got out. “Let’s go.”

  He ran up behind her and pulled her hands behind her back, handcuffing them quickly.

  “Is that really necessary? I’m going with you aren’t I?” she asked, pulling against the cuffs.

  “It is necessary,” the heku said, and led her to the van.

  “Hey! Now you know better than that,” Emily said, when someone put a blindfold on her.

  “That’s not for your abilities, Child,” another heku said.

  “What faction is this?” Emily asked, and then groaned when a gag was placed over her mouth.

  She sat in the back of the van for a few hours and listened to the heku talk about a basketball game. After transferring to a helicopter, she started to drift off and didn’t wake up until the helicopter landed. She was shoved into another van for a few more hours.

  Emily was dragged from the van, and a heku grabbed each of her elbows and led her down a long corridor. She heard the sounds of electricity from all around her as she walked. The heku stopped her and she heard a door open just as she was forcibly pushed inside. She felt hands catch her before she hit the ground and a door slammed behind her.

  “Damnit, Em,” Chevalier growled.

  “I told you she’d come,” Kyle said as he untied her.

  “Yeah, well, for some reason I thought she might use common sense and stay put.”

  “Sooo, what’s up?” Emily asked, when Kyle untied her gag. She began to massage her wrists where the cuffs were.

  “Just couldn’t let us deal with this on our own could you? Had to come save the heku again.” Chevalier was obviously irritated.

  Emily looked around the small room. There were no windows, and the one door was electrified. There were no beds or chairs, just a hard cement floor and shackles that hung from high on the wall.

  She grinned, “Fancy meeting you all here.”

  “This isn’t funny! Why the hell didn’t you ash them and get away?” Chevalier hissed.

  She laughed, “You know me better than that… besides… it’s about time I’m kidnapped with friends.”

  “Seriously, you should have just let us handle this. Why do you always have to come save the heku? We’re supposed to protect you,” Kyle frowned.

  “I came because I’m more able to destroy the lot of them, and there’s no reason why you two need to be tortured, or whatever they were doing, just to get me,” she said, and sat down on the hard floor. “They could have thrown a chair in here though.”

  “You make it so easy for them, it’s irritating,” Chevalier said, and turned away from her.

  “Cheer up or I’ll ask for my own room,” Emily said, irritated. “We’re more likely to get out of this with the 3 of us.”

  “Ask for your own room?” Kyle yelled. “This isn’t the Hilton.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed and she went up to knock on the door, but Kyle held her back, “Don’t touch it, it’s electrified.”

  “Hey! I need to talk to someone!” Emily yelled at the door.

  “Just sit down and be quite,” Chevalier growled.

  Emily turned to him and glared, “What?”

  “Em, sit,” Kyle said, and pointed to a corner.

  “Oh, I see, this is how it’s going to be? Fine!” Emily said, and sat down facing the corner.

  The sounds of electricity stopped and when the door opened, a strange heku came into the small, cement cell.

  “You called?” he asked Emily, and frowned when he saw her facin
g the corner.

  “You’ll have to ask my wardens if I’m allowed to talk,” Emily said, still facing the corner.

  “Ask… who?” the heku asked her, confused.

  “Just go,” Kyle said to him, and he shrugged and left. The sound of electricity returned.

  Emily stared at the blank stone wall and rubbed her arms. She was starting to get cold, and the light halter top wasn’t enough to keep her warm. She heard no noise or even movement from behind her, but had the feeling that Kyle and Chevalier were whispering to each other.

  The electricity was shut off to the door again and four heku entered. One stood by Kyle, and one by Chevalier, while the other two picked Emily up off of the floor and led her out of the room, one on each arm. She didn’t fight them, but followed silently, still fuming at what happened in the cell.

  Emily was led through a door and she recognized the familiar setup as the council chambers. She looked up and saw Sotomar among twelve other heku.

  Emily sighed, “Nice.”

  “Welcome, Lady Emily,” Sotomar said, and stood up. “You are on trial by the Valle Council for the wanton killing of twenty of our members 7 months ago.”

  Emily raised her eyebrows, “I am?”

  “Yes, how do you plead?”

  “Erm… not guilty,” she said, and rocked slightly on her heels.

  “Not guilty? They were following you when they were killed, and you do have a history of turning the masses into ash,” Sotomar said.

  “Yes, but if you remember correctly, you had pretty much nullified that ability, so I just ran from them and they ran into some of the Equites guards,” Emily explained. “So nope, didn’t kill a soul.”

  “The Council finds you guilty and you are sentenced to fifty years in our prison,” he said, and sat down.

  “Oh great, well, that sounds like fun,” Emily said, frowning.

  One of the heku threw her a gray hooded robe, “Put that on.”

  “No thanks, I’m fine,” she said, and tossed it back.

  “That was an order,” Sotomar growled.

  “Fine,” she said, and slipped on the robe. The robe was several sizes too big. The sleeves hung almost a foot longer than her arms and the hem gathered on the ground beneath her.

  “Remove your clothing underneath,” Sotomar said.

  Emily slipped her arms inside and undressed discreetly, then tossed her jeans and shirt to a heku beside her, “There.”

  “Return to your cell,” Sotomar said, and the two heku took her arms and led her back down the hallway.

  They stopped in front of the cell and turned off the electricity to the door before pushing her inside. She ignored Kyle and Chevalier and returned to her corner to sit down.

  “Nice to know you’ll be here for the next fifty years, Sweetheart,” the Valle said, and laughed as he shut the door.

  There was a sudden scream from the hallway.

  “There, give me 50 more for that!” Emily yelled to the door.

  “Are you ok?” Kyle asked her.

  She didn’t respond, but pulled her arms into the robe and leaned against the cement wall.

  “Emily, are you ok?” Chevalier asked her, his voice finally calm.

  The cell fell quiet and Emily slowly drifted off to a restless sleep, shifting often as her arms and legs fell asleep.

  Emily slowly slid down to the cement floor while she slept, but sat up and looked at the door when the flow of electricity was cut off. Kyle and Chevalier stood slowly while Emily stayed on the floor, too sore from the cement floor to stand.

  Sotomar stepped in angrily, “You have earned yourself another 10 years for the little stunt you pulled yesterday.”

  The two guards by Sotomar both fell to ash, “10 more for those, too?”

  “Emily, stop it,” Chevalier whispered.

  “This is not a game. You would be wise to listen to your mate,” Sotomar said as two more guards came up behind him. They pushed in a dirty silver tray and shut the door quickly.

  “Please, stop antagonizing them. We don’t need any more trouble,” Chevalier told her.

  Kyle picked up the tray and smelled it before handing it to Emily, “It’s good to eat.”

  Emily took the tray and threw it against the door. When the metal tray hit the electrical current, it exploded in a bright flash and the electrical current to the door stopped. The sound was followed by several dozen footsteps from the hallway. The door flew open and four heku each grabbed Chevalier and Kyle and moved them out of the room while two grabbed Emily and pulled her out. They were escorted down the hall by dozens of angry Valle.

  They were thrown into an identical cell, and the door was locked and electrified behind them. Emily sat down in the same corner she had been in, while Kyle and Chevalier looked at her.

  Chevalier sighed and knelt down by her, “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I really hoped they wouldn’t get you this time.”

  Kyle sat down in the corner across from them.

  Emily shrugged, “I didn’t need that shit from either of you, and I’m still not happy about being treated like an imbecile.”

  “We didn’t mean it like that. We just hoped that you would send in the Equites Army or something, and wouldn’t try to come yourself.”

  “Sit down and be quiet?”

  “I’m sorry, ok, I... am… sorry.”

  Emily glared at Kyle and Chevalier glanced at him.

  Kyle smiled, “I’m sorry, too.”

  “Are you hurt?” Chevalier asked, and sat down by her.

  “No”

  “Still mad though?”

  “Yes”

  “For now, stop ashing, ok? Let’s wait and see what the Equites come up with for our release,” Chevalier asked.

  Emily grinned slightly, “I got 50 years for killing those Valle that the guards killed, and more for the 4 or 5 I’ve ashed since last night.”

  “For now, stop, please,” he asked calmly.

  Emily nodded.

  “How did they get you?” Kyle asked.

  “One was hiding in the back of the Jeep,” she said, and looked around the cell again.

  “Damn, they seem to get into the palace easy,” Kyle growled.

  “There’s one… small… well… minor… problem,” Emily said, and looked down at the floor.

  Chevalier rolled his eyes, “What now?”

  “Never mind then, be that way,” Emily said, and turned away from him.

  “I’m sorry, ok. I just can’t imagine what could be more of a problem that the three of us in here,” Chevalier said.

  Emily frowned, “I can think of a lot worse things.”

  “Just tell us,” Kyle said, irritated.

  Emily brought her knees up to her chest and slipped her arms into the body of the robe and wrapped them around her legs. She leaned against the cold cement wall and shut her eyes.

  Chevalier moved over by Kyle and Emily could hear the faintest sound as they whispered.

  Chevalier and Kyle stood up when the sound of electricity stopped and a key rattled in the door. They both crouched and moved between the door and Emily when Exavior entered.

  “What do you want?” Chevalier hissed.

  Exavior smiled, “You know what I came for.”

  “Leave her alone,” Kyle growled, and his hands curled into claws.

  “Emily?” Exavior called to her, and she slowly opened her eyes.

  Emily stood up and frowned, “Exavior?”

  “Come, Child,” he said, and put a hand out for her.

  “Take me instead,” Chevalier growled, and batted Exavior’s arm away.

  “Oh, you’re not nearly as attractive as she is, and I desire company for a few minutes,” Exavior said, and guards piled into the room and pinned the Equites against the wall.

  “Let them go.” Emily glared at Exavior.

  “They will be when you come with me,” Exavior said, and Emily glanced at Chevalier and then took Exavior’s hand. They walked out of the room an
d Emily looked behind her as they walked down the hallway, and saw the Valle guards move out of the room and re-electrified the door.

  “What’s going on?” Emily asked him.

  “I had a talk with Elder Sotomar about your living conditions, and I feel they are unacceptable. I’m taking you now to sit somewhere comfortably and get something to eat,” he said, and smiled at her.

  “You tried to turn me,” Emily said angrily, and let go of his hand.

  “I still feel that is what is needed in your case, but I have decided not to push the issue.”

  “Why don’t you just let us go?”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “How did you even get out? Last I heard you were in Kyle’s ash collection.”

  Exavior laughed slightly, “I was released last year by the Equites Council in return for one of the political prisoners we held. Did they not tell you?”

  “No, they didn’t,” she said, irritated.

  “Part of the agreement was that I would not contact you, but when you are here, that is null and void.”

  “Great”

  “I wish you would trust me again. I’m not going to turn you against your will.”

  “You have a funny way of showing that.”

  Exavior smiled, “I’ll show you that we can be friends again. I miss that friendship.”

  Emily shrugged and followed Exavior into a bedroom. Her eyes grew wide and she turned to run, but slammed into one of the heku guards.

  Exavior laughed, “Don’t panic, it’s not what it looks like.”

  Emily turned slowly and looked at Exavior, “Then what is it?”

  “Your room, Dear, nothing more.”

  “Mine?”

  “Yes, you don’t have to stay in that cement cell. You can stay here where you will be comfortable.”

  “Chevalier and Kyle?” Emily asked, looking around the room.

  “They are heku. They will be as comfortable there as they would be here,” Exavior said, and pulled a dome off of a tray of hot pancakes.

  “I want to stay with them.”

  “Pancakes, your favorite,” Exavior told her, and poured steaming syrup over them.

  “No, take me back.”

  Exavior sat down, “You have got to be hungry. Now sit and eat, and then I promise that you can go back.”

  Emily hesitated, and then sat down, watching Exavior closely.