Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “So true,” she said, and tied her hair up. “Come swimming later with Dain and I.”

  “No thanks… heku don’t swim.”

  “Why is that?”

  Allen shrugged, “I don’t know… enjoy your office. I’m going to go talk to Captain Lon.”

  Emily followed him out, and on the first-floor, she headed to her office and stopped at the door, turning to her guards, “Alone time… why don’t you two go watch Alex and Dain.”

  Jaron glanced around, “You won’t leave your office?”

  “If I do, I’m sure you’ll hear me,” she told him, and took a cup of coffee from a servant before going into her office and shutting the door.

  Emily sat down and flipped on the six monitors. She knew Silas was messing around with her computers, but also knew that’s how they found her. She reissued the no heku rule and sat back to watch the logs of the V.E.S. flash in front of her, reading each one carefully.

  After a few hours, she got up to stretch and moved over to a mirror on the wall. She studied her face. The nose brace was still taped on, but her black eyes were almost gone. Her bottom lip was swollen a bit and had a long scab, but that was healing too. Her left cheek was puffy because of the broken bone underneath and it was still showing a light purple bruise. She had one bite on her neck, but the rest were hidden beneath her clothes and all were fading with time.

  “Ok, I can talk here,” she heard someone whisper from the hallway. She got nosey and froze, listening carefully.

  “I don’t know. I can’t get into the prison at my rank… if I had to guess though, Ossie is probably dead. Her husband has been down there.”

  Emily frowned. She wished she knew the name of the V.E.S. member they brought back from the boat.

  “No, they sunk it. Everyone on board but Ossie was killed.”

  “Yeah, she’s up and around again, so no time like the present to attack. How many are you bringing?”

  Emily shut her eyes and concentrated, making sure to hear every word.

  “That’s not enough, there are over 1200 vampires on this island…. No, no… don’t underestimate us. We can take out 10 humans a piece.”

  “Yes. She’ll come help. She can’t keep her nose out of anything,” the voice said, and paused before speaking again. “I’ll try, but damn, if they find out that I told you all when the bitch was going out of the walls… I’ll be dead next.”

  “Sure, sure, I’ll be waiting, and I’ll make sure no one sounds the alarm in time to shut those bloody bars at the pier... Ok… if you don’t hear from me again, then consider it a go.”

  As soon as he hung up, Emily narrowed her eyes and heard him scream as his cell phone crashed onto the floor. She heard heku from all over the palace run toward the screams and the hallway outside of her office filled with guards.

  When she released him and stepped out, all eyes turned to her. The heku on the ground was panting and resting against the floor.

  “Did you do that?” Jaron asked, turning to her.

  “Get him to the helicopter, he needs to talk to Chevalier,” Emily said, glaring at the heku on the floor.

  “Yes, Ma’am,” Jaron growled, and grabbed the heku from the floor.

  “Lock down the island until we get back.”

  Two of the Island Guards ran off to follow her orders.

  “Get back to your posts,” Emily said, and watched the rest of the guards disappear. She followed Jaron, Silas, and an Island Guard up to the helicopter. Her personal pilot was just powering up Winchester 1 when Emily crawled in. She sat on the plush couch while the guards held the frantic prisoner on the floor, then she reached over and grabbed some juice as they headed for the palace.

  “Please… let me go… I don’t know why I’m being taken to the palace,” he said.

  “Shut up, Wade,” Jaron hissed, and tweaked his arm painfully behind him.

  The prisoner screamed and tried to catch his breath, “She’s… wrong… I didn’t do… anything.”

  Jaron brought his elbow down onto the back of Wade’s neck, and he fell to the floor as a loud crunching sound filled the helicopter, “I said… shut up.”

  ***

  “It may not work,” Quinn said. “Plus… we don’t have room for any more horses to add members of the Cavalry.”

  “Unless they share horses,” Zohn said, deep in thought.

  “Not sure how well that’d go over, they’re pretty protective of their horses.”

  “True”

  “I’m guessing she would tell us to have the more experienced Cavalry train them though,” Chevalier said. “I doubt she’d move here for the six weeks of horse training.”

  “Damn,” Kyle said, and stood up. “We have a helicopter asking to land.”

  “Maybe it’ll bring us something to do,” Quinn said, and leaned his head back to stare at the ceiling. “It’s been too quiet.”

  Kyle grinned and disappeared up the stairs to the roof.

  Chevalier frowned and looked over at Quinn when the helicopter got closer, “That’s Winchester 1.”

  He nodded, still looking at the ceiling, “She probably just came to get more of her stuff.”

  “Yeah, true.”

  “I’m surprised actually,” Dustin said. “I figured she wouldn’t come out into public until her wounds were completely healed.”

  “I didn’t either,” Chevalier said. “Must have left something important.”

  Quinn finally looked up when there was a scuffle outside of the trial room doors, “Hrm… then again, maybe there’s a problem.”

  The door flew open as Jaron and Kyle roughly escorted one of the Island Coven Guards into the trial room. Chevalier’s eyes grew wide when he saw Wade, one of the castle guards, pushed to his knees before the Council. Wade looked up at the Council, his eyes full of terror.

  “What’s going on?” Chevalier asked, angry that a member of his guard staff was brought before the Council.

  The doors opened and Emily stepped in, blushing when the Council looked over at her.

  “Welcome back, Dear,” Quinn said, smiling. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Good to see you too,” she said, and stepped up under the lights. The Council gasped and fell silent when their eyes took in the visible bruises left on her even after a week.

  Kyle walked up and sat in his place, noticeably angry. Jaron stayed with Wade on the trial floor, but the heku stayed on his knees, no longer struggling.

  “Ok, now that the Chief Enforcer has returned… what seems to be the problem?” Dustin asked.

  Emily glared at him and didn’t speak. He shifted nervously until Chevalier spoke.

  “What’d he do, Em?”

  She finally looked over at Chevalier, “I actually didn’t want to address the Council. I wanted him to talk to you and Kyle.”

  “Why not the entire Council?” Zohn asked, confused.

  Emily shrugged, “It’s just a matter of coven business is all.”

  “It’s ok, we’re all bored… go ahead,” Quinn told her.

  She started to panic. She envisioned Dustin ripping the head off of Wade, and blood pouring across the trial room floor, his dead eyes watching her. She felt the walls closing in and the old hatred creeping back.

  “It’s… well… the, um… I changed my mind,” she said, and spun quickly, heading for the door. Mark stepped in just before she got to the door and she stopped and looked up at him.

  Mark smiled and took her arm gently, “Come on…”

  He walked her back to where Wade and Jaron were, and she looked up at the Council again.

  Chevalier eyed Wade, “Tell me.”

  Wade glanced up at Emily, “I… I don’t know why she brought me here…”

  “He’s lying,” the Chief Interrogator said.

  “Want to try that again?” Chevalier asked him.

  “It was… it was a misunderstanding… it was just a phone call… to my Commander.”

  “It was not a misunderstandin
g,” Emily yelled at him. “Did you or did you not tell someone on the phone that you told the V.E.S. when I went on a walk outside of the cement walls?”

  “No! I wouldn’t do that.”

  Chevalier’s eyes narrowed when the Chief Interrogator shook his head, “Lying… again.”

  “Do you also deny that you told someone on the phone that you would let the V.E.S. onto the island before the security bars closed? And that they needed to bring more support because a heku could easily take out 10 mortals?” Emily yelled again. She headed for the heku, but Mark took her shoulders in his hands and held her back.

  “No… no, I… I didn’t do that,” Wade said, fearfully watching Chevalier.

  “Stop, don’t kill him yet,” Quinn said when Chevalier stood up. “I want to find out more.”

  Chevalier growled, “How long have you been giving information about the island to the V.E.S?”

  “I didn’t!” Wade yelled, panicking.

  Quinn stood up, “Let’s start at the beginning… Emily, where were you?”

  She looked up at him, “In my office.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Just stuff.”

  “Ok… and then what?”

  “I heard a voice in the hallway.”

  “That’s when you heard what this heku was saying?”

  “Yes… when he was done, I burned him until guards arrived, and then I brought him here.”

  “Very well, Wade… were you in the hallway outside of Lady Emily’s office?” Quinn asked.

  He nodded, “Yes.”

  “Were you on the phone?”

  “Yes”

  “Who were you talking to?”

  “My Commander, Rockwell,” Wade explained nervously.

  “He’s lying… still,” the Chief Interrogator told the Council.

  “Em, come here please,” Chevalier said, still watching Wade. Emily walked around the guard and up onto the Council stand. She knelt down beside Chevalier and he took her hand, then got a faraway look in his eyes, and she shut her eyes as the conversation she overheard replayed in her mind.

  A low growl was heard as Chevalier let go of her hand and looked over at Wade. He blurred down to the trial floor and backhanded the guard, shattering his jaw and sending him to the floor as blood poured out of his mouth.

  Emily stood up and looked down, wide eyed.

  “Sit, Dear,” Quinn said, and motioned for Chevalier’s chair. She nodded and sat down. She’d seen the rage in Chevalier’s features before, and knew it was best to stay out of his way.

  Chevalier grabbed Wade around the neck and hauled him out of the trial area, followed by Kyle. The door shut behind them and Emily turned to Quinn.

  “It’s ok,” he said, and smiled at her.

  She glanced at Dustin and back to Quinn, “I’ll be heading back then.”

  “Wait…” Zohn said. “Stay… in case they have more questions.”

  “Chevalier saw it all. He knows as much as I do now.”

  “Yes… but what if there are more V.E.S. supporters on the island?”

  Emily frowned slightly, “What can a heku gain by helping the V.E.S?”

  “That’s what I keep wondering,” the Chief Investigator said. “What could they offer? Money? Protection?”

  “Like a heku’s ever needed money.”

  Quinn grinned slightly, “We don’t start off with fortunes. It’s gained over time.”

  “Still… everything he needs is on the island right?”

  “Yes, Chevalier’s coven is well provided for.”

  Emily stood up, “Doesn’t matter, I’m going back anyway.”

  “Lunch then?” Zohn asked, also standing. “Is it not lunch time?”

  “I can eat when I get to the island.”

  “We have a sick horse,” Mark said, and continued when she turned to him. “We’ve been treating it, but would you take a look?”

  “What’s wrong with it?”

  Mark shrugged, “Not really sure… runny nose.”

  Emily sighed and started down toward Mark, “Why do I get the feeling this is just a ruse to stall me?”

  Mark grinned, “Because you’re paranoid.”

  “Let’s go then…” she said, and followed Mark out.

  “Is there really a sick horse?” Quinn asked.

  “Nope, he was lying,” the Chief Interrogator said.

  “That just means she’ll be leaving in 5 minutes instead of immediately,” Dustin said.

  Zohn thought for a moment and then called out, “Dunn?”

  A heku appeared in the trial area after only a few seconds, “Yes, Elder?”

  “Winchester 1 is here, why don’t you go give it a good look over and do some maintenance?”

  “Sure, Elder, though we did that only a few weeks ago.”

  “Do it again… this time, find something wrong.”

  The heku nodded and disappeared.

  “She’ll just drive it,” Dustin told him.

  “Probably,” Zohn said.

  The Council debated on various ways to make Emily stay, until Kyle came into the council chambers and sat down, “He sung…”

  “What did you find?” Quinn asked.

  “He’s been giving the V.E.S. information on Emily in exchange for donors…”

  “Donors?”

  “Yeah, free donors. There is an attack coming on Wednesday that he was supposed to help with. If the V.E.S. doesn’t hear from Wade, they will go on with their plan.”

  “Where’s Chevalier then?”

  “Just letting out some frustrations. We got all we need from him.”

  Quinn thought for a moment, “I guess we reinforce the island. That’s a large number of mortals to kill though without risking exposure.”

  Kyle shrugged, “Not sure the island needs reinforced… and I suggest we do the mass cult suicide setup.”

  “For 800 humans though?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “Send 100 of our army over, just in case,” Zohn said. “Then prepare for the suicide story.”

  Kyle nodded and disappeared to gather the forces.

  “Well how was I supposed to know?” Mark asked, opening the door for Emily.

  They both walked into the council chambers, “You know because her snot is clear…”

  “I didn’t inspect it.”

  “You have to. Giving the poor mare antibiotics for no reason isn’t good for her.”

  “Seriously, how can a horse be allergic to hay?”

  “Just soak her hay before you give it to her, tell Linford.”

  Mark nodded, “I will… but just imagine being allergic to your favorite food.”

  “So the horse is well?” Zohn asked.

  Emily nodded, “She’s fine.”

  “We’re having some work done on your helicopter,” Quinn told her, and winced slightly when she turned to him.

  “How convenient.”

  “Your pilot said there was a light on the instrument panel that indicated a problem. We’re having it checked out.”

  “Sure he did. I’m sure any pilot would fly a helicopter that’s broken… might as well go look at the pool.”

  Quinn grinned when she left with Mark, “Doesn’t miss a lot, does she?”

  Emily ended up with six Cavalry members with her by the time she walked the short distance to the new recreational out-building. The first room she stepped into was the small foyer, it was inviting with a fireplace, soft chairs, and black and white checkerboard tiles. The long hallway was just past the fireplace, and the first door she came to opened into a large classroom with rows of desks.

  She shut that door and went to the next, which opened into a massive room with mirror lined walls, padded floors, and hundreds of stuffed dummies.

  The pool was next. She stepped in, followed by the Cavalry. The pool was twice as large as the one in the castle, but the room was still warm and muggy. There were four hot tubs laid into the cement around the pool and a six-stall d
ressing room at the end of the room.

  Emily reached down and touched the pool water. It was as warm as a bath and she smiled and looked around, “Pretty nice.”

  “Never even been used,” Mark said as he walked past her to look down at the deep end. He gasped when two hands hit his back and pushed him into the water. He surfaced and turned toward Emily, who was smiling.

  “Now… it’s been used.”

  Emily screamed when Jaron picked her up, and she hooked her arm around his neck when he tossed her into the pool, bringing him with her. She surfaced and began to tread water as she laughed. Jaron surfaced shortly after her and swam over to the edge of the pool. Suddenly, two more of the Cavalry were thrown into the pool as Jaron pulled them in when they tried to help him out.

  Emily laughed and swam a little ways from the others when they started to wrestle in the water. She used the ladder to climb out and pushed the last guard in when he brought her a towel.

  “Hey… you aren’t drying off,” Mark said when Emily started for the towels. He blurred behind her and pushed her back into the pool, laughing.

  They all turned when they heard someone clear their throats. It wasn’t until then that they noticed all three Elders were in the pool room.

  Emily was in the middle of trying to dunk Jaron, and she climbed off his back when she saw them, “Oh… well… hello.”

  Quinn was grinning at the sight of six members of the Cavalry, all soaking wet and looking guilty. Emily was the only one acting as if she wasn’t in trouble, though it was obvious who started it all.

  “Having fun?” Chevalier asked, and put a hand out to help Emily out of the pool.

  “Always,” she said, and grabbed his hand. He pulled her out of the water and handed her a towel.

  Mark was just climbing out of the water when he turned suddenly at the sound of a splash. The Cavalry watched, in shock, as Emily pushed Chevalier into the water. He surfaced and even his face was surprised.

  Emily was laughing until Quinn pushed her in, “Might as well face him on even terms.”

  She faced Chevalier, but started to swim backwards, “I’m not afraid of an Elder.”

  “You’re not?” he asked, moving slowly towards her.

  Emily looked around when the entire room suddenly emptied out, leaving only herself and Chevalier, “Well… now I am, my backup just left.”