“I’ve heard.”
He moved her close against his chest and looked around the nursery, “So how long is Andrew going to stay here?”
“I’m not sure. He’s helping keep an eye on Alec.”
Chevalier gasped, “Alec is here?”
“Yes”
“You trust him?”
“Nope… that’s why Dain and Andrew are here.”
He nodded and then thought for a moment before putting the baby to his shoulder, “So show me around the house.”
“Do you just want to see, or are you checking for security risks and scrutinizing the Encala’s work?”
He smiled, “Just show me.”
Emily turned and walked out into the hallway on the third floor, “This is just for bedrooms.”
Chevalier went down the long hallway and looked into each room as he expertly cradled the baby. When he came back, Emily’s eyebrows rose.
“See any security risk?”
“Nope… pretty empty though.”
She shrugged and started down the stairs, “No use filling them all. Not sure why they are there, actually. I asked the Encala for 8 bedrooms and ended up with 16.”
Chevalier smiled, “16 is better.”
“Not if you have to clean them.” Emily stopped on the 2nd floor, “This floor has offices for each of us…”
“Me too?”
“Yes, though it’s empty. I don’t know what you want in it.”
He nodded, “Ok, what else?”
“There’s a game room, a home theater system, and a playroom for when Megs grows up.”
“Nice”
“There’s also a billiards room, but I haven’t filled it yet.”
“You asked for a billiards room?”
“No, actually, I didn’t,” she said as she started down to the ground floor. Chevalier chuckled from behind her.
“The first floor is pretty simple. There’s a kitchen, pantry, butler’s pantry… I don’t even know what that’s for and I don’t have a butler. There’s also a study, library, music room, sun room, sitting room, and a dining room.”
“Wow, it’s bigger than it looks.”
She shrugged and started across the grand foyer, “There’s a little garden off of the kitchen, so I can keep fresh herbs on hand.”
Chevalier stopped in the hallway and looked closely at a blank wall.
Emily frowned, “How do you even see that?”
“What is it?” he asked, running his hands along an invisible line.
“It’s my panic room.”
He smiled and turned to her, “You have a panic room?”
“Yes, a heku-proof one.”
“Interesting”
Emily opened up a double door and headed into the basement, “Down here is a wine cellar, hot tub, the laundry with an attached maid closet…”
“You have a maid?”
“No, I do the cleaning.”
“We can get you a maid.”
“I don’t want one. The house stays pretty clean, it’s nice.”
He nodded and looked around, “Cells?”
“No, I specifically said no prison, no torture room, nothing heku-ish.”
Chevalier chuckled and smiled at the baby when she looked up at him and smiled.
Emily opened a door and walked into a large sitting room with a bar in one corner and a large TV on the wall. Hundreds of DVD’s lined the walls in neatly organized shelves.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a pool,” Chevalier said as he sat down on one of the plush couches.
Emily sat beside him on her knees and looked around, “I may put one in eventually.”
“Or just use the one in the palace.”
“Not with an Ancient running around.”
He sighed, “I’ll take care of that. Contrary to what the Council told him, we can’t keep him around.”
“He wants me destroyed.”
“Yes, I would imagine he does.”
“He refers to me as a ‘thing’ and thinks I’m weak and puny.”
“Ancients don’t like mortals… I told you that.”
Her eyes narrowed, “Apparently, neither do you.”
Chevalier looked over at her, “Why did I deserve that?”
“Oh I’ve heard… the great Equitis hates mortals.”
He sighed, “That was a long time ago.”
“I know what the Chief Enforcer’s original job was.”
“Again… a long time ago.”
She shrugged, “We’ll see.”
“I don’t hate mortals.”
Emily reached over and took the baby from him. She immediately reached out for her Dad, and then started to cry when Emily kept her in her arms.
“I don’t hate mortals, Em.” Chevalier stood up and looked at her, “You’ve known me for how long?”
“I’m not fully mortal.”
“I didn’t know that at first.”
“You knew it before taking me to Colorado.”
He sighed, “Yes, but I didn’t know the extent.”
Emily turned and headed back up the stairs, with Chevalier following silently.
Alec, Kyle, Dain, and Garrett met them in the foyer.
Chevalier looked over, irritated, “Where have you been?”
Garrett bowed, “Elder, we were patrolling outside.”
“Avoiding me…”
“No, Sir.”
“You and I need to have a chat later,” Chevalier said to Kyle.
Kyle nodded, “I figured.”
“Where is Andrew?”
“He’s outside checking the perimeter of the house.”
“What’s his deal?”
“He’s just here to watch Alec,” Emily said. She watched Kyle for a moment as he looked at Chevalier, and she figured out they were talking too silently for her to hear, “Stop it!”
“What?” Kyle asked, looking over at her.
“If you’re going to talk, might as well say it in the open.”
Garrett stifled a grin.
“Megs and I are going to bed anyway, whisper away,” Emily said, irritated, and walked up the stairs.
The heku watched her disappear up the stairs, and then turned when Andrew walked in and shut the door.
He stopped and looked at Chevalier, “Oh good, you’re back.”
“No sarcasm?” Chevalier snapped.
“Not at all. Emily was worried about you.”
“How long are you going to stay here?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. As long as she wants I guess… or at least until the Equites re-banish the Ancient.”
“Why don’t you keep out of it?” Kyle growled.
Andrew smiled, “I won’t keep out of anything that poses a risk to Em.”
Kyle and Alec both took an arm when Chevalier started forward, “We don’t need your help.”
Andrew started for the door, “If you’ll excuse me…”
Alec sighed, “You didn’t tell them about that.”
“Tell us about what?” Kyle asked.
Chevalier hissed when over twenty Encala blurred into the mansion and immediately began to clean.
“About who actually keeps this house clean,” Alec said, watching the fast workers.
“Wait… she doesn’t know the Encala are cleaning it?” Kyle asked, shocked.
“Nope,” Alec sighed. He watched the Encala for a few minutes and then walked up the stairs, followed by Dain.
“Well hell… just watch them,” Chevalier whispered. The Equites spread out to keep an eye on the Encala workers.
Andrew came back over and crossed his arms.
“What?” Chevalier asked.
He shrugged, “Nothing.”
“Why haven’t you told Em about the cleaners?”
“She wouldn’t allow it.”
“So you did ask her?”
“Nope… but I know her well enough to know she’d prefer to clean the house herself. I also know she can’t keep it clean
alone.”
“Well I’m back… so you can go.”
“That’s not up to you,” Andrew said smugly, and then disappeared up the stairs.
Chapter 14
“Daddy!” Megara called out, and then ran across the trial area and up the stairs, into Chevalier’s arms.
He kissed her soft cheek, “Good morning, Princess.”
She looked over at Quinn and smiled.
“Where is your mother?” Quinn asked, looking over at the doors.
“Simming,” Megara told him, and then shied away when Zohn smiled at her.
“Did Andrew come with her?” Kyle asked the 3-year-old.
Megara shook her head, “Adrew not like you.”
“Did he say that?”
She nodded and turned around to sit in Chevalier’s lap, “We do today?”
“We have trials,” Chevalier said, and called for McIntock.
“I can see?”
“No, you have to go for this one.”
McIntock appeared before the Council, “I was summoned?”
“Yes, take Megara please,” Chevalier told him.
“No,” Megara yelled, and then crossed her arms.
Kyle chuckled, “So much like Em.”
“You can’t stay for this,” Chevalier said, and lifted her over the desk and into McIntock’s waiting hands.
Megara turned and frowned at Chevalier, “He bit me.”
McIntock gasped.
“No, he didn’t,” Chevalier said, hiding a grin. “Now stop telling stories.”
Most of the Council erupted into laughs when Megara mimicked Chevalier, just like Emily does.
McIntock spun suddenly and disappeared with the toddler.
“She’s going to be a handful,” the Chief of Staff said, still laughing.
Chevalier nodded, “Like no other… I don’t doubt it.”
***
McIntock appeared beside the swimming pool and put Megara down so she could play.
Emily looked up from swimming laps, “Want to swim?”
Megara shook her head and sat down with her dolls.
“Is Chev still in a meeting?”
McIntock bowed slightly, “Yes, Commander.”
Emily sighed, “You’ve been Megs’ guard for 3 years… when will you just call me Emily?”
He smiled, “It’s not proper.”
“I don’t really care.”
“I do.”
“I thought I smelled a half-breed,” Thutmose said, appearing beside McIntock.
McIntock’s eyes narrowed and he called for more Cavalry before turning to the Ancient, “You aren’t to be with the Lady.”
“I won’t hurt her,” he said, smiling at her. Emily’s skin crawled when he even looked at her.
Mark, Silas, and Horace blurred in.
“Damnit, Thutmose!” Mark roared. “You are to stay away from Emily.”
He shrugged, “I’m an Ancient. I can do what I want.”
“No you can’t.”
Silas and Horace each took an arm of the Ancient.
“I’m reporting this to the Council,” Mark told him. “So I suggest you leave.”
Thutmose watched Emily, “You’re an abomination that shouldn’t be allowed to be in the presence of heku.”
Emily swam for the ladder and her mortal eyes missed when the Ancient was taken from the room by furious members of the Cavalry.
McIntock turned to her, “I’m sorry about that.”
She crawled out, “I’m just going to head home.”
“Don’t let him scare you off…”
“I’m not scared of him,” she said, drying off quickly. “However, as long as he’s here… this will be my last visit.”
“The Council will deal with him…”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said, picking up the toddler. “We’re still heading back.”
Chevalier and Kyle met Emily at her Jeep.
“We heard,” Kyle said when she walked up.
“I would assume the entire palace heard,” she told him as she put Megara into her car seat.
“Don’t go,” Chevalier said softly, and touched her arm.
She looked at him, “I don’t want to be around him.”
“We’ll put him in prison while you’re here.”
“Oh he’d love that.”
“I don’t really care what he loves… The Council has no right to keep him above ground.”
“Then they can make a decision,” Emily said, sitting down in the Jeep. “Either they get rid of prehistoric heku… or I stay at my house from now on.”
“I’ll talk to them.”
She nodded and started the Jeep, “I assume you’ve got minions still around my house?”
“Of course.”
“Tell them to keep out of my way.”
He nodded, “Horace is sorry that his Cavalry rushed into the house… but you did scream.”
“I stubbed my toe on the bed.”
“Still”
“Coming tonight?”
“Of course,” he said, and shut her door. Chevalier and Kyle watched as she drove out of the palace garage.
“I think Richard’s about to sway,” Kyle said, looking over at the Elder.
“Even if he does… that’s still only 4 to 9.”
“Still… if he votes for banishing Thutmose, then others may follow.”
“I hope so.”
***
“Dain?” Emily yelled as she dropped her keys on the table. When she didn’t hear anything, she tried another, “Andrew?”
“Where they go?” Megara asked from Emily’s arms.
“Not sure… Dain?” she called out again, and then walked toward the kitchen. It was getting late and almost time to start dinner.
Emily flipped on the light and then froze when a stranger appeared before her in the hallway. She took a step back as he grinned, his teeth almost glowing in the dull light.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“I am Cleto,” he replied, and looked at the baby. “This must be the child belonging to Equitis.”
Emily took another step back, but ran into someone and spun toward yet another stranger. He wasn’t smiling, but was scowling at her.
“No half-breed can be allowed to live.”
“Aharon, she is here,” Cleto said, still smiling at her.
Emily gasped when another heku appeared and looked down at her, “And with the infant even. Much easier this way.”
“Who are you?” Emily asked again, gripping the baby tighter.
The newest heku glared at her, “We… Child, are Ancients.”
“Andrew!” Emily screamed.
“Your heku can’t come to your aid. You know you shouldn’t be here… You should have been killed at birth,” Cleto told her.
Emily struggled when arms wrapped around her and she felt a cold nose run along her neck, “Mmm, the scent on this one is intriguing.”
“As a mortal, she is ours to play with,” Aharon said. “I’m sure Equitis won’t mind.”
She finally pulled away from the heku behind her and put her back to the wall, “I’ve about had enough of you…”
“Going to turn us to ash?” Cleto laughed.
“That’s right… she can turn simple heku to ash,” Aharon said, nodding.
“Have you turned any Ancients to ash, Child?”
Emily nodded.
The unnamed Ancient smiled, “I remember… she turned Arrianus to ash.”
Aharon then reached out and gently touched the locket of ashes that hung around Emily’s neck.
Cleto smiled, “I bet you can’t turn more than one Ancient at a time though.”
“Wanna bet?” Emily snapped, and then narrowed her eyes and concentrated.
Aharon began to laugh, “You’ll hurt yourself doing that… I feel nothing more than a tingle.”
“It’s an uncomfortable tingle though,” Cleto said, no longer smiling. “So I suggest you stop!”
Emily fell back against the wall when blood began to trickle from her nose. She was suddenly exhausted, but the three Ancients remained solid.
Aharon inhaled, “I’m first.”
“No, I am,” Cleto snapped at him.
“Stop fighting,” the third said calmly. “We’ll each get a taste.”
“Andrew!” Emily screamed.
“Step away from her,” Chevalier said when he appeared in the hallway. Mark, Kyle, Quinn, and Silas followed shortly and were crouched and ready to attack.
“Equitis! Good to see you, Boy,” Cleto said. “We were just about to snack on your wife.”
Emily gasped when the hallway turned into a mass of blurred fighting. She fought against arms that appeared around her until she realized it was Mark. He set her down in front of the panic room, “Open it.”
Without a word, she immediately put in the code and stepped into the tiny living space.
“No you don’t!” Andrew said, blurring into the room.
Mark slammed the door shut behind the three of them and Emily quickly locked it. Andrew turned to the monitors and started adjusting them to see around the house.
“Where did they come from?” Emily finally managed to ask, still holding tightly to Megara.
Mark looked over at her, “Thutmose has been reviving the Ancients.”
Andrew growled, “Leave it to the Equites to revive just enough to bring back the entire population of Ancients!”
“Watch it… Encala…”
“Stop it,” Emily hissed. “We need to go help them.”
She started to put the code in to leave the panic room, but Mark stopped her, “The Elder said we’re to stay in here until the Ancients are re-banished.”
“What!? That could take ages.”
“Never the less, we stay.”
Andrew nodded, “It’s not safe for you out there.”
“What provisions are in here?” Mark asked, looking around the small living room.
“There’s a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and this living room. It’s stocked with enough supplies to feed a mortal for 4 years,” Andrew said proudly.
Mark nodded, “Fine… then we stay.”
Emily frowned, “No we don’t.”
She swayed slightly and Mark put a hand against her back, “Sit down.”
Hoping not to pass out, Emily did as Mark asked and then set the baby down beside her.
“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked, watching as Emily laid down on the couch.
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 35
