“No”
“We can protect you from the vampires.”
“There’s no such thing as a vampire,” Emily said. “What exactly are you hoping to gain here?”
“We’re here to search the premises. To look for signs that this island is full of vampires.”
Emily laughed slightly, “So… you are anti-vampire?”
“Yes”
“And you think this island is full of them?”
“Yes, we do.”
“There are… what? 50 of you?” Emily asked, putting her hands on her hips.
“54, actually,” he said, glancing at the pier guards.
“So… you’re going to bring 54 vampire haters onto an island that you think is full of vampires?”
“Yes”
“How is that smart?”
The leader frowned, “Excuse me?”
“It just seems to me that that leaves you gravely outnumbered… no pun intended,” Emily said, and turned. She whispered very quietly behind her, too low for the others to hear, and then turned back around.
“No more games, let us on this island, immediately,” the man said, stepping forward.
Emily stood her ground, now only a few feet from him, “Or what?”
“Or we invade.”
“All 54 of you? I’m terrified.”
“There are more.”
“Ma’am?” one of the pier guards said from behind her.
Emily turned around and took her 9mm from him, “Thanks.”
“You going to shoot me?” the leader asked, grinning as she turned around to face him.
“It’s my understanding that the state of Maine has a ‘Make my day’ law,” she said, and checked to make sure she had bullets.
“Yeah… so?”
“Soo… Deadly force justified to terminate criminal trespass and another crime within a home.”
He frowned and took a small step back, “Criminal trespass, yes... but no other crime has been committed.”
“Then you all shouldn’t have threatened to kill me,” Emily said, and leveled the gun at him.
“We didn’t…”
“I heard you,” one of the pier guards said from behind her.
“We… no, I won’t stand for this,” the leader said, glancing nervously at the man behind him.
“I also heard you threaten to kill her,” another pier guard said.
“This is my island, and I’m getting tired of being harassed by the V.E.S.,” Emily said, and took aim, shut one eye, and squeezed the trigger. Blood flew up from the leader’s kneecap as she shot a hollow-point bullet through it. He screamed and fell to the ground, grasping his knee.
“You Bitch!” the other man screamed, and knelt down to help the leader.
Emily motioned for the ferry’s Captain to take them back, and they were soon sailing away from the island. Her hand was shaking as she watched them leave. Her insides were tied into knots as she saw them disappear into the dark night. She was tired of the V.E.S. and hoped they finally got the message to leave the island alone.
She felt a strong hand on her shoulder, “You ok, Ma’am?”
Emily turned and saw one of the pier guards and she nodded. She glanced again at where the ferry disappeared and then headed back toward the castle.
***
“Emily, the Council would like to see you,” Derrick said as Emily walked up from the garage.
Emily sighed, “Am I in trouble?”
Derrick chuckled, “They don’t tell me.”
Emily nodded and walked in. The Council looked up from papers they were studying, “What’d I do now?”
“Guilty conscience?” Zohn asked.
“Yes”
Chevalier shook his head, “Did you shoot someone, Em?”
Emily cringed, “Yes.”
Kyle chuckled, “You owe me, Dustin.”
Dustin handed Kyle a $100 bill and shook his head.
Emily frowned, “You bet on me?”
“I couldn’t see you injuring anyone,” Dustin said. “I find myself corrected.”
She sighed, “Ok… so…”
“We know the story,” Chevalier said. “I just wanted to confirm.”
“What…” Emily started, but her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and answered it, “Hi, hold on.”
Chevalier watched her curiously.
“I’ll be back,” she said, and ran out of the room.
“I can’t believe she shot someone,” Quinn said, frowning. “Have they filed a complaint?”
“Dr. Edwards? Sorry, I wanted to get alone,” Emily said, sitting on the bar.
“I don’t know if this is good news or not,” Dr. Edwards said. “I’ve ran this by my friend’s entire forensic anthropology department to confirm.”
“I’m not aging, am I?” she whispered.
“Long bones, like those in the arm and leg, have an end cap called an epiphysis. After the age of 20, those end caps fuse completely with the bone… yours aren’t fused,” he said, and paused before continuing. “There’s another epiphysis on the collar bone that fuses just after the age of 30… again, yours aren’t fused.”
“How old am I?” Emily asked. She suddenly felt it hard to breathe.
“As you get older, over 30, you have pitting on the ribs that is used to determine age… you don’t have any pitting.”
“How old am I?”
“Somewhere between 18 and 20,” Dr. Edwards said. “I ran your MRI by them from when you were pregnant with your oldest, there’s been no change, no aging since that time.”
“I’m mortal,” Emily whispered.
“I’m not sure you are, entirely.”
“I can die.”
“Yes, I think you can.”
“I can get injuries, I can have children…”
“Yes, however, you may never die of old age, you may never get arthritis, or cataracts, or wrinkles. Have you ever noticed that you don’t have any scars? From what I’ve seen, your back should be covered in scars, and it’s not…”
“I have them on my neck.”
“Yes, but those were there from when you were a child, while you were still growing.”
Emily sat on the bar, staring at the damages to the wall, unable to speak.
Dr. Edwards sighed, “I don’t know how to help you. I can’t talk to any colleagues about this, and I have no reference, no one to run ideas by.”
“I’m only 49% mortal,” Emily whispered.
“If I can do anything, call me,” Dr. Edwards said softly.
Emily hung up the phone and looked around the room. She couldn’t think, her mind was running past ideas, and thoughts, and fears too quickly and she grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels before leaving.
“Drinking and shooting, how very western of you,” Zohn said when she came back in.
Chevalier frowned, “Em?”
Emily walked in slowly, her eyes were confused and she was starting to panic.
“What’s wrong?” Quinn asked, frowning.
Emily sat down on the dirt floor of the trial area and pulled the lid off of the whiskey. She took a long drink while the Council watched her.
“Em, what’s wrong?” Chevalier asked, kneeling down beside her.
“I’m not aging,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Damon and Alec… told me… that Exavior realized I don’t age.”
Chevalier sighed, “Don’t believe what Damon tells you.”
“I saw Dr. Edwards… he did an MRI.”
Kyle and Quinn walked slowly down to the trial area to kneel beside her.
“And?” Chevalier asked.
“My body is somewhere between 18 and 20 years old.”
“Is he sure?” Kyle asked, touching her shoulder lightly.
Emily nodded, “Yes.”
“I’m not entirely shocked,” Quinn said, and sat down beside her. “You’re more heku than human.”
“I can get injured, I can be killed, I can have children... but
I don’t age,” Emily said, mainly to herself.
“This isn’t all bad,” Chevalier said.
Emily looked up at him, confused, “Yes it is…”
“How? You don’t age… that means you won’t die.”
“I’m mortal enough I can be killed, I can be injured.”
“Not if you’re protected,” Quinn told her.
“All of the pain… all the tortures and punishments… they could happen to me for hundreds of years.”
“They don’t have to, Em,” Chevalier said. “The factions were fighting over you, that’s over, Exavior is gone, Vaughn’s in prison… there’s no reason you have to live your entire existence in pain.”
“The new faction though.”
“Is a farce. We’ll destroy them, and they will no longer be a threat,” Quinn told her.
Emily sighed and stood up. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey and left the council chambers without another word.
“Well, didn’t see that coming,” Zohn said, amused.
Chevalier glared at him.
“That child has no idea where she belongs in this world, and it’s just become a thousand times worse,” Quinn told him, irritated as he took his seat.
“This may cause the factions to want her again… it may not be enough to have a friend,” Kyle said, sitting down at his chair. “What if this breaks the alliance we’ve formed?”
“So we keep it from them,” Zohn suggested.
Chevalier returned to his seat, “If they find out, which eventually someone’s going to notice, it’ll cause a deeper rift… we have to let them know.”
“I agree with Kyle though, it may cause them to begin fighting for her again,” Dustin said.
“We may want to wait and see what Emily wants,” Chevalier said. “It’s her life we’re talking about, and it just got a lot longer.”
The Council heard Mark call for the entire Cavalry to mount up and they summoned him to the council chambers.
“Yes?” Mark asked from the trial area.
“Is there a problem?” Quinn asked.
“No, Sir, Emily has called a training,” Mark said. “I know it’s weird, but I see no reason not to.”
Chevalier nodded, “I think it’s a good idea.”
Mark shrugged, “I think she’s been drinking though. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
“She has been,” Kyle said, grinning slightly. “She’s had a bad day so far.”
Mark turned, “She’s yelling for me.”
The Council watched as Mark blurred from the room.
“Is she about to assault our Cavalry?” Zohn asked, concerned.
“I have no idea how mad she is,” Chevalier told him. “Want me to call her in here and ask?”
“No… no… I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Zohn said, and opened up the docket book. “Derrick, bring them in.”
Emily sat on her stallion out on the hills west of town while the Cavalry lined up in perfectly straight rows ahead of her. Mark rode his mare up to her side and faced the guards. The once quaint group of 7, was now an ominous force of 36 mounted guards.
“I’ve been thinking about some of the things I’ve seen this Cavalry do, or try to do lately, and one of the biggies is run your horse at full speed through trees,” Emily said. Mark glanced at her and nodded.
“I’ve seen that,” Mark said.
“I want to see what we have to work with. Those of you on the racing horses are going to have more of a problem. The faster the horse, the more they will try to lead you through the trees to save themselves,” she explained. “If you want the horse to go left, but he feels the safer way is right, he may not want to go.”
“This is a good idea. We’re completely surrounded by trees here, and more than I’d like, we’ve had to chase someone through them,” Mark said.
“He means me,” Emily said, grinning slightly. “Keep your heads low, keep control of your horse, and don’t get distracted.”
“The scent is going to be the hard part, though,” Mark told her. “On horse, we have to contend with the animal’s scent overpowering the others.”
“Fine then… let’s play a game...” Emily said, and smiled at him as she pulled a paintball gun out of the saddlebag on her horse. “Give me a 5-minute head start… and don’t let me shoot you.”
The Cavalry glanced at each other, grinning. Emily kicked the stallion, and he lurched into a fast gallop as she disappeared into the trees.
Mark grinned when she left, and turned back to the Cavalry, “New level of the game… get her gun, and you get 5 points. Get her on your horse, restrained, you get 10.”
Emily wove in an out, carving an odd path through the trees as she rode deeper and deeper into the woods with her paintball gun readied. She slid off the horse and tied him to a tree, and then ran toward where two trees were intertwined, giving her a good spot to hide. She heard the woods come alive around her as the sound of hoof beats filled the trees. She grinned and crouched down, waiting, her gun propped up on a branch.
Silas and Kralen were first on her trail, having worked as her personal guards long enough, they easily picked up her scent, even with all of the smells from the forest. They split up when each thought they found a newer trail and maneuvered their horses deeper into the woods.
Emily saw him approaching, one of the newest Cavalry members from Powan. He was by her stallion, scanning the area carefully when he felt the sting on his chest and looked down to see a splatter of green paint across his shirt. He grinned at Emily, and went back out to meet up with Mark, surprised to see four others with him, all with similar green paint splotches on them.
“Damn,” Mark said, laughing. “I thought this game would be too easy.”
Emily somehow managed to get high up into the tree using the twisted branches, and aimed at Jaron. She grinned just as he cursed and looked at his shoulder, a deep red paint was oozing down his white shirt.
Jaron sighed as he came out of the trees and saw Mark shaking his head at him, “Who’s left?”
“Silas and Kralen,” Mark said. “Everyone else is out.”
Emily watched from her perch on the trees. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she glanced behind her. She had the feeling she was being watched. She grinned and used the scope on the gun, but didn’t see anyone, then heard the sound of a horse walking and spun around and her eyes grew wide as her stallion set off walking toward the west.
“Damnit,” Emily whispered, and climbed carefully out of the tree. She ran after her stallion and cried out when her feet left the ground and her gun was taken from her.
“Gotcha,” Silas said, throwing her over the horse.
“That’s not the game!” Emily yelled, laughing.
“Ooooh Mark added some.” Kralen grinned and kicked his horse into a gallop, heading for the Cavalry.
“Let me up,” Emily said, struggling to get up, but Silas held her down.
“No way, you’re worth 10 points,” Silas said, amused. He clicked his tongue and headed after Kralen. Emily was laughing too hard to fight back, and she figured Silas wasn’t going to let her up anyway.
“Nice, Silas,” Mark said, and Emily looked up as the entire Cavalry watched. She saw Kralen had her stallion tied to his horse.
“They cheated!” Emily yelled, and slid off of Silas’ horse.
“How’d you get her?” Mark asked, laughing.
“They let my horse go,” Emily said, brushing herself off.
“Good job you two… the rest of you though,” Mark said, sighing. “That was pretty bad.”
Emily slipped back onto her stallion, “Pretty bad?”
“Yes, we’re born predators. Not being able to find you doesn’t look good on us,” Mark said, looking at his Cavalry. He jumped when he felt a sting on his back and turned back to Emily, “You shot me?”
Emily grinned, “You think you can find me?”
“Yes, I do,” Mark said, grinning.
“5-minute head start,”
Emily said, and kicked the stallion into a gallop.
“Good luck, Captain,” Silas said, patting him on the shoulder.
Emily hit the trees at a full gallop, determined to make Mark work hard to get her. She headed for the opposite end of the woods where she remembered a large log, hollowed out by time, which she thought she might fit in. Her stallion stopped suddenly and reared back. She was able to hold on, and it wasn’t until he lowered that she saw the five strange heku, all wearing purple capes.
“Are you kidding me?” Emily asked, rolling her eyes.
“Hello, Baby Girl. It’s time you took your place as our Elder,” one of the heku said. He stepped forward and smiled.
“Are you seriously trying to kidnap me?”
“Not kidnap, rescue.”
“I see… and there are only 5 of you?”
“Only 5? How’s a tiny mortal like you going to fight off 5 heku?”
Emily smiled, “I’m not going with you. This is seriously getting old.”
“You don’t have much of a choice,” another heku said, his rank insignia was for a Captain.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?” Emily asked him, sighing.
“Get down off the animal and let’s go,” the Captain said, touching the stallion’s soft nose.
“No”
“No? You can’t tell me no.”
“See, I have a dilemma” Emily said, watching him.
“What’s that?”
“Well, I can ash you… or I can do what I’m told and let my Cavalry have at you.”
The Captain grinned, “I don’t see any heku around… you’re out here alone, as usual.”
“How fast are you?” Emily asked, grinning.
“Faster than you, Sweetheart,” he told her.
“If you can catch me… I’ll go with you,” Emily said, and kicked her horse. He lurched and she tore off away from the Ferus, running straight toward the waiting Cavalry.
“She’s coming back?” Mark asked, looking toward the trees.
Kralen’s eyes narrowed, “I hear others.”
Mark kicked his horse and soon the Cavalry was running toward the trees. She emerged ahead of them, and they started to slow down as she neared them.
“Brought you a treat,” Emily yelled toward them, and turned just as the five Ferus heku came out of the trees. They turned course and disappeared back into the trees, followed by the Council City Cavalry.
Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series Page 63
