“Yes we do. If it was only your scent, he would have fed from you and left you,” Kralen said, ignoring Silas glares in the rear-view mirror.
“Not necessarily, the scent continued to be there. He could be attracted to the scent, not to me.”
“So, let’s find out,” Kralen said.
“No,” Silas said. “We aren’t running experiments on the Elder.”
“How?” Emily asked.
“Mask your scent next time he’s here,” Kralen suggested.
“He’ll notice,” Silas said. “Then somehow he’ll find out about this conversation, and you and I will be banished.”
“I’m not going to tell,” Emily said.
“You don’t have to, all you have to do is think about it when he touches your arm.”
“That’s really annoying… where are you going?” Emily asked when Silas left the Interstate.
“To get fuel, and you need something to eat.”
“Why are you all so dead set that I eat all the time when I’m not hungry?”
Silas grinned, “Because you get grouchy when you’re hungry.”
“I do not!”
“Do me a favor, stay here,” Silas said before he and Kralen got out. Silas began pumping gas and Kralen went inside the convenience store. Emily got the baby out of his car seat and leaned back with him on her chest, she shut her eyes to wait for them to finish.
***
Emily rolled over in bed when she heard her phone ring. She glanced at the clock, it was only 12:30am. She sighed and grabbed it, “Hello?”
“Are you aging?” William asked.
“William? It’s 12:30.”
“Are you aging?” he asked again.
Emily sighed, “No.”
“When were you going to tell us?” Sotomar asked.
“I figured you knew. Seems everyone knew before I did.”
“Did the Equites know first?” William asked.
“No, Exavior did… I had some tests run to confirm it and then I told the Equites.”
Sotomar growled, “And when were the Equites going to tell the other factions?”
“I don’t know… honestly, I thought you probably figured it out.”
“This changes everything,” William told her.
“What do you mean?”
“What we mean is… the Equites kept vital information from us, and you’re no longer mortal. Therefore, no longer able to move into the mortal world. We are nullifying the alliance.”
“What!?” Emily said, shocked. “Don’t do that.”
“Consider yourself, once again, fair game,” Sotomar said, and the line disconnected.
“Silas!” Emily yelled, and scrambled out of bed.
“What’s wrong?” Silas asked, scanning the room.
“Lock down the island,” she said, and ran out of the room and down the stairs. She heard the alarm in the city sound as iron bars fell over the windows of the castle. She got to Kyle’s office and Silas opened the door for her. Both went in, and Emily put the phone on speaker.
“Council,” Zohn said, irritated.
“Zohn, is Chevalier there?”
“You’re interrupting a very important trial.”
“Is he?” Emily screamed.
“I’m here, Em,” Chevalier said.
“William and Sotomar called me. The alliance is off. They said I’m now fair game,” she told them, glancing at Silas.
“What? When?”
“Just now. I’ve locked down the island… they’re mad because we didn’t tell them I’m not aging, and said that because of that, they realize I can’t disappear into the mortal world.”
“Damnit, we knew they’d find out eventually.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Emily whispered.
“You’ve already locked the island down. We’ll send guards over, for now, stay there while we try to figure things out on this end,” Quinn told her.
“Is Silas with you?” Zohn asked.
“Yes, Elder,” Silas replied.
“Get three guards with you two and keep the baby close.”
“Right away, Sir.”
“They are my friends,” Emily said, mostly to herself.
“Let us talk to the other factions,” Chevalier said. “We’ll let you know what we find out.”
The phone disconnected and Emily looked up at Silas, “I suppose you’re going to tell me you knew it couldn’t last, and I shouldn’t have counted them as friends.”
Silas shrugged, “I think we all knew it couldn’t last, but I wouldn’t say you shouldn’t have made friends with them.”
“I did it again. I’m such an idiot.”
“Did what?”
“Made friends with a heku, ones I trusted, then had them turn on me.”
“It’s not your fault,” Silas told her. “You’re trusting and I, personally, think that’s part of your charm.”
“It’s part of what makes me gullible,” she said, and walked out of Kyle’s office. She ignored when three guards fell in behind her and went up the stairs to get Dain from Anna.
***
“She’s still dealing with it,” Chevalier explained. “It was hard for her and she hasn’t come to terms with it. We decided to tell you when she was ready.”
“It’s too late, Sotomar and I agree that the alliance has ended,” William said.
“Yet you and Sotomar are together without a war. Does that mean that the alliance with the Equites has ended, yet the Valle and Encala remain aligned?” Zohn asked.
“For now, yes, our main goal now is to remove Emily from your care.”
“You tried for almost 16 years. What makes you think we’ll give her up now?” Chevalier asked angrily.
“We know her better now, and feel she will come to us to try to change our minds. When she does, the Equites will no longer be in control,” Sotomar said, and hung up.
“She will be safer here,” Quinn said, sighing.
“I’m not sure she’ll leave the island,” Kyle said. “She’s pretty happy there.”
“This goes deeper than the factions after her,” Chevalier told them. “Now it comes down to heku she considered friends, turning on her.”
“Again,” Kyle reminded them.
“Another personal violation,” Quinn said. “The worst kind for her.”
“I’ll go talk to her, though I doubt that she’ll come back,” Chevalier said. “In fact, the last person she’s going to want to face right now is Zohn.”
“What? Why? This has nothing to do with our argument,” Zohn said, frowning.
“Doesn’t matter, she’ll think she’s going to get an ‘I told you so’ from you, and will avoid that.”
“Then maybe I should go.”
“No, stay here, Kyle and I will go,” Chevalier said, and stood up. He and Kyle left the room and minutes later Equites 2 took off for Island Coven.
When the Blackhawk landed on the roof of the castle, there were guards waiting. Chevalier hopped out and walked over to look down over the island. He could see that the iron bars he installed were blocking the pier, and that the ferry was stationary. Guards patrolled along the outer rim of the cement wall, and the castle was inaccessible except for by helicopter, and that would soon be locked down.
“Elder?” Kyle asked, and opened the door. Chevalier turned to him and descended into the lower levels of the castle.
“Where’s the Lady?” Kyle asked one of the main-floor guards.
“Swimming, Sir,” he said, and saluted.
Kyle and Chevalier went to the door to the pool and saw Silas and three of Island Coven guards waiting.
Chevalier sighed, “How is she?”
“She won’t talk about it. She said she wanted to swim alone, so I posted a guard along the outer wall of the room and let her be,” Silas told him.
Chevalier opened the door to the pool and stepped inside. He didn’t see Emily in the pool, so he headed over to the hot tub, which was also empty. He wa
lked toward the dressing room and could hear her crying from inside. Dain was sleeping in a car seat by the door.
He knocked softly on the door, “Em?”
Emily scrambled to stand up, “Be right out… I got… chlorine in my eyes.”
Chevalier picked up the baby when he woke up and started to fuss. Emily came out a short time later, completely dressed and dry.
“I just have one question,” Emily said, watching Chevalier rock Dain.
“Ok”
“Is there any chance at all to realign the factions and live the rest of my life in peace?”
“No,” Chevalier said, refusing to lie.
Emily nodded and pulled close to him, leaning her head against his chest. Strong arms wrapped around her.
“We’ll protect you,” he told her, and kissed the top of her head.
“Forever?”
Chevalier smiled, “Yes, forever.”
Other books in The Heku Series
Book 1 : Heku
Book 2 : Valle
Book 3 : Encala
Book 4 : Equites
Book 6 : Ferus
Book 7 : Eternity of Vengeance
Table of Contents
Book 5 of the Heku Series
Chapter 1 - Belonging
Chapter 2 - Traitors
Chapter3 - Reconciling
Chapter 4 - Valle Trial
Chapter 5 - New Mexico
Chapter 6 - Exavior
Chapter 7 - Resolution
Chapter 8 - Paranoia
Chapter 9 - Owls
Chapter 10 - Mission
Chapter 11 - Island Coven
Chapter 12 - Guards
Chapter 13 - Encala Palace
Chapter 14 - Interrogation
Chapter 15 - Healing
Chapter 16 - Ultimatum
Chapter 17 - Enforcers
Chapter 18 - Last Chance
Chapter 19 - Negotiations
Chapter 20 - Four Weeks
Chapter 21 - Clark Coven
Chapter 22 - Dr. Hayden
Chapter 23 - Rumors
Chapter 24 - Coup
Chapter 25 - Coma
Chapter 26 - Breeding
Chapter 27 - Ferus Elder
Chapter 28 - Another
Chapter 29 - Home
Book 1 : Heku
Book 2 : Valle
Book 3 : Encala
Book 4 : Equites
Book 6 : Ferus
Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series Page 89
