Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  His eyes narrowed, “Why do you care?”

  “We do! We care deeply… when we left, things didn’t look well.”

  “She’s of no concern of yours, and I would advise you not to speak about her,” Dustin said.

  “Can we see her?”

  “No!” Chevalier growled.

  “Please, let us talk to her. We need to see if we can smooth things over,” Sotomar begged.

  “That’s out of the question. You are forbidden to speak to her,” Quinn said.

  “That’s it then… you are speaking for her now?”

  Chevalier stood up angrily, “Yes we are! Thanks to you, she’s not in the position to answer for herself right now.”

  “Is there anything we can do?”

  “You’ve done enough,” he said, through gritted teeth.

  “Just… we just want to see her, to talk to her and apologize,” Ryan told them.

  “No, now if that’s all, then you can leave,” Quinn said.

  “That is unacceptable,” Sotomar said. “We demand to see her!”

  Chevalier’s eyebrows rose, “You what?”

  “You yourself have said that the Winchester does not belong to the Equites… therefore, we don’t feel that the Equites can speak for her.”

  “As her husband, I have that right.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Emily said when she opened the door. The heku turned toward her as Mark and Derrick blurred to stand between her and the Valle.

  “Emily!” Sotomar said, and smiled. “May we talk to you?”

  “I said no!” Chevalier yelled, and appeared between Mark and Derrick.

  “Please, Emily, talk to us,” Ryan called toward her, but she was obscured by the Equites.

  “Chev,” Emily said softly, and touched his arm. Chevalier spun toward her and he saw recognition in her eyes, “Let me say something.”

  Chevalier stood up out of a crouch, and moved to the side so she could see the Valle. She moved forward slightly, in obvious pain.

  “I can help that,” Sotomar told her softly.

  Emily glanced at the Council, and then to the Valle. Her whisper carried to the Council, “I’m going to say this nicely, and only once… Leave Council City, and don’t come back. I want nothing to do with you.”

  Sotomar gasped, “Emily… please…”

  “No,” she whispered, sadly. “I’ve said what I wanted.”

  “Please,” Ryan said, but she turned slowly and used the wall as support to leave.

  “Emily,” Sotomar called out, and started toward her. Derrick jumped for him and slammed into the Valle, pinning him to the ground.

  “The Lady spoke her peace,” Derrick growled.

  “Let him up so they can leave,” Quinn said as he walked down to the trial area.

  Derrick stood up and straightened his uniform.

  Ryan blurred out into the hallway and looked up at Emily as she struggled up the stairs, “I thought we were friends.”

  Before Mark could reach him, the three Valle Elders fell to ash where they stood, and Emily sunk slowly and sat down on the stairs, her head in her hands. Chevalier appeared out in the hallway and walked up the few stairs to her. He sat down beside her and she leaned against him as he wrapped an arm around her.

  “Are you ok?” he whispered, and kissed the top of her head.

  “No,” she said, her voice cracking. “I don’t want them here.”

  “I know.”

  “I want to go lay down, but my head…”

  Chevalier picked her up gently and carried her to their room. She laid her head against his shoulder and relaxed onto the bed as he pulled the curtains and turned off the lights.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were in there… I just wanted to let you know I remembered,” she whispered.

  Chevalier smiled, “It’s a good thing. I would hate to have to woo you again. You weren’t an easy catch.”

  She smiled slightly, “You make me sound like prey.”

  He disappeared for not even a second, before returning with a cold rag and laid it across her forehead.

  “How’s your back?”

  “It hurts… they put a log under it.”

  “I know, I took it out.”

  She reached her arm up and touched one of the long thin scabs with her hand, “Why did they do this?”

  “It’s part of the ceremony.”

  She looked over at him, “Can I know now what Exavior was hoping to accomplish?”

  Chevalier nodded, and over the next hour, explained the history of Yisolatara and how it was performed and then banned by the ancients. He also explained that only the few ‘old ones’ left knew how to do it, and that Exavior must have learned the ritual from Ulrich.

  “How could he ensure that I wouldn’t have killed his coven when I was freed?” she asked, still surprised that Exavior was willing to make her a killing monster.

  “He couldn’t have. I think he figured they could control you… but that’s the problem with Yisolatara, they can’t be controlled.”

  “You would have had to kill me?”

  Chevalier sighed, “Yes.”

  “Where are Silas and Kralen?”

  “They haven’t woken up.”

  “Will they?”

  “I don’t know… Mark did, and he said he’s refreshed, like he had a long deep sleep,” Chevalier explained.

  Emily touched his arm, “Are you sure he’s dead?”

  “Yes”

  “That ancient can reattach heads though. You said he could bring back a heku.”

  “That ancient is buried far beneath this palace.”

  “If Exavior comes back …”

  “He won’t.”

  “What happened to the Ferus in that coven?”

  “William sent an Encala Coven in. They beheaded all of the Ferus and then set explosives inside the cave.”

  “I’m hungry,” she said, looking around.

  Chevalier smiled, “Name it.”

  She looked up at him, “I drank blood… a lot of it.”

  “I know.”

  “It was so good though… I was… thirsty.”

  “That’s normal for the ritual… and now?”

  “I’m thirsty, but I’d much prefer a Coke,” she said, and grinned slightly.

  “What do you want to eat?”

  “I want a triple cheeseburger with chili cheese fries and cheese cake.”

  Chevalier chuckled, “You shouldn’t have said that.”

  “Wait, I was kidding.”

  “Too late… it’s ok… they are enjoying cooking.”

  “I’m sorry I turned the doctor to ash. I didn’t know who he was and he had a needle.”

  “Oh, I know exactly why you did it, and we’re making him wait a bit to revive him… so he knows he did something wrong.”

  “He’ll be mad.”

  Chevalier looked over at the door and stood up, crouching slightly.

  “What?” Emily whispered.

  “The Valle are revived and trying to get up here,” he hissed, and then stood up with an odd expression on his face.

  “Not anymore.”

  He sat down, “Would you stop?”

  “I would say I’m sorry…”

  “But you’re not, I know… I’m not worried about the Valle. I’m worried about you,” he told her.

  “I know. I’ll stop for today.”

  “Kyle’s going to go revive them at the front gates.”

  “Chev?”

  “Yes,” he said, and took her hand.

  She sighed, “I hurt really bad… do you think… well… did the doctor…”

  “Did he leave you anything?”

  “Yes”

  “Let’s see,” Chevalier said, and picked up the doctor’s bag. He dug through it and produce a bottle, “I’ve seen him give you these before… 2 of them.”

  She nodded and he helped her sit up and take them. After going to the door, Chevalier came back with Emily’s order
and she grinned at the size of it.

  Chapter 19 - Revenge

  “One more lap and we’ll call it good,” the heku said from beside the pool. Emily’s arms shook as she struggled to make it another lap across the pool. She’d been working with a Physical Therapist that Chevalier drummed up out of Canada. In the three weeks since her rescue from the Ferus, she’d spent two of those in the company of the stern heku.

  Mark, Jaron, and two other members of the Cavalry stood inside the pool room and scrutinized everything the therapist did. For no good reason at all, they didn’t trust him, and any time Emily was in pain, they would hover over the therapist until he nervously changed what she was doing.

  Emily stopped at the edge of the deep end and rested against the side of the pool, panting. Her back wasn’t hurting as much lately, but the laps in the pool made it ache for a few hours.

  “Good job today!” the heku said, and stood up. “Want to get into the hot tub?”

  “No,” she panted. She’d refused to get into the hot tub since she got back, and no one pushed it.

  Mark reached down and helped Emily up out of the pool, steadying her with his hand when she swayed slightly. After swimming that many laps, her legs were shaky.

  “Go get something to eat and I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, and left Emily alone with her guards.

  “Go get something to eat,” Emily said, mimicking the heku.

  Mark grinned, “It’s not just you, none of us like him.”

  “He’s a pain in the ass. Why won’t Chev send him home?”

  “Because the Elder thinks he’s doing some good.”

  “Yeah, well let Chev do ninety minutes of hard laps,” she said, and reached for her phone when it rang. “Hello?”

  “Emily, it’s William… are you alone?”

  “No,” she said, and glanced up at Mark.

  “Please call me when you are,” he said, and hung up.

  “Who was that? Didn’t say much,” Mark mentioned.

  “Wrong number… let’s go,” Emily said, and slipped on a robe.

  “They aren’t awake yet.”

  “I don’t care,” she told him, and slowly limped out of the out-building. Mark and Jaron walked alongside her as the other two guards fell in behind. All of the heku were suspecting that Silas and Kralen weren’t going to wake up. They weren’t dead though, and talks were set in motion for their retirement, to see if a few hundred years of rest would help them wake up.

  She took the stairs slowly, using Mark’s arm as leverage. The heku were all trying to decide how to hint that they carry her up the numerous flights of stairs, but they knew she would refuse. When they got to the floor with the infirmary, she stopped in the foyer and waited until she could catch her breath.

  “Ok, wait here,” she told them, and went into the infirmary and shut the door while guards waited in the foyer.

  Emily walked over and slowly sat down on the chair beside Silas. She could see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and was somewhat comforted by that, “Silas?”

  He didn’t respond or move at all. She took his hand in hers, “Silas, please wake up. I’m sorry I did this to you.”

  She studied his face and kissed his forehead lightly before standing up and sitting down on the side of the bed Kralen was lying on.

  “Kralen, please wake up. I’m sorry,” she said, and took his hand. She watched him sleep for a few minutes and then moved to a chair where she watched them sleep for almost an hour.

  She looked up when there was a knock on the door. Mark poked his head in, “Dinner’s ready, you still want to eat in the dining room? We’re a lot closer to your room.”

  “No, the dining room is fine,” she said, and checked Silas and Kralen again before leaving. She suffered through the pain it took to walk back down the stairs, but smiled when she saw Alexis and Dain already seated.

  “Do I have to, Mom?” Alexis asked, looking down at a plate of lasagna.

  “Yes, you do,” Emily replied, and sat carefully.

  “Owie?” Dain asked.

  She smiled, “Sort of… drink up.”

  Alexis gagged down her spaghetti while Dain took one of his sippy cups, and they all began to eat together.

  “Mom, I miss Allen,” Alexis said between bites.

  “I do too,” she said, and felt the familiar hole in her heart, made by her missing son.

  “Can’t we go see him?”

  “Soon, I promise.”

  Alexis nodded and finished her small bowl of spaghetti, then reached over to help Dain. Afterwards, Alexis and Dain went to watch a movie while Emily headed up to her room, telling her guards she wanted to lie down. Once she was alone, she moved to the back of her room and returned the phone call.

  “William here.”

  “It’s Emily,” she whispered.

  “Are you alone?”

  “Yes”

  “This is private, and we’d appreciate if you didn’t share any of what we’re about to tell you.”

  “Ok,” she said, not sure she wanted to hear.

  “The Encala have obtained a list of every known Ferus coven location.”

  She gasped, “You did?”

  “Yes, the other factions know we have it, but the alliance was terminated before we gave out copies.”

  “So why tell me?”

  “We want to exterminate them… the Encala do, with you.”

  Emily glanced toward her door, “The Equites wouldn’t like that. I’m not supposed to ash anymore.”

  William chuckled, “So is that a no?”

  “No, it’s not… what are your plans?”

  “Can you still slip out of the palace unnoticed?”

  “Yes”

  “Out of the city?” William asked.

  “Yes”

  “Good, next Friday night, meet us at your old Durango at 1am… can you do that?”

  Emily thought, “Yes, I think I can.”

  “Please, don’t mention this to anyone.”

  “Oh, I won’t. If I do, they’ll stop me.”

  “We’ll see you then,” William said, and hung up.

  Emily sat on her bed and laid back, deep in thought. She felt the need to get revenge on the Ferus, not just for the Yisolatara, but everything they’ve done. The Equites made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t to turn anyone to ash, except for emergencies, and asked that they be allowed to handle the Ferus situation on their own.

  The Encala’s offer sounded intriguing. If they could go coven to coven and wipe out the Ferus without the Equites knowing, then she could handle it without angering the Council. Her back was still touchy, any wrong turn would send painful stabs down into her legs and render her incapacitated for days. If the Encala were there with her though, she could merely wipe out some of them, and let the Encala handle the rest.

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Chevalier whispered from the doorway.

  Emily jumped slightly at the sudden voice and smiled at him, “It’s probably not worth a penny.”

  He shut the door and walked over to the bed, “Had to have been, you were quite deep in thought. You didn’t even hear me come in.”

  “That’s because you sneak.”

  “I don’t sneak.”

  She raised an eyebrow, “You all sneak.”

  “Maybe… so what were you thinking about?”

  “Silas and Kralen,” she lied, and looked over at him.

  “We’re going to have to put them into retirement soon.”

  Emily propped herself up on one elbow, “No!”

  “We don’t have a choice… they aren’t waking up and we hope that a few hundred years of sleep will revive them.”

  “No! I did this to them. I’m not going to let you put them in the ground.”

  “They wouldn’t blame you.”

  “I don’t care, you aren’t burying them alive.”

  “What do you want us to do with them?”

  “They aren’t hurting a
nyone sleeping in the infirmary.”

  “They wouldn’t want to stay in there.”

  “No,” she said sternly, and frowned.

  Chevalier sighed, “The Council is talking about it.”

  Emily slowly stood up and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To talk to the Council.”

  “Em…” Chevalier said, and followed her as she slowly made her way down to the fourth-floor.

  “I need to see the Council,” Emily told Derrick. He glanced at Chevalier and then opened the door.

  “Go on in.”

  Emily walked into the trial area and stood before the Council while Chevalier took his seat.

  “Good to see you,” Quinn said, and smiled.

  “I just have a message for the Council.”

  “Go ahead,” Zohn told her.

  “If Silas and Kralen are put into retirement, I’ll ash the entire Council.”

  Dustin gasped, “What!?”

  “Emily!” Chevalier growled.

  “That’s a promise,” she told them, and turned to leave.

  “Wait… you can’t just threaten the Council and leave,” Zohn told her, still shocked at what she said to them.

  Emily sighed and then turned to face them, “What else is there to say?”

  “Retirement is our way of protecting them.”

  “Retirement is your way of sweeping them under the rug.”

  “That’s not true,” Quinn said.

  “I’m not going to let you bury them.”

  Mark came into the trial area after being called by the Dustin.

  Emily glanced at him, “He’s not going to change my mind.”

  Dustin stood up, “He’s not here to change your mind. He’s here to protect the Council.”

  Emily smiled, “Mark is going to keep me from turning you all to ash?”

  “What?” Mark growled, and turned to Emily. “Why would you do that?”

  “Simple… if they bury Silas and Kralen, I will ash the Council.”

  “So now you can consider yourself in custody,” Dustin growled.

  “No… she’s not,” Chevalier and Quinn both said.

  “She threatened the Council, that’s grounds for death,” the Chief of Staff reminded them.

  Emily crossed her arms and looked at him, “You going to kill me?”

  “No, I was merely saying that being in custody is calm compared to what normally happens.”