“Let me go,” she screamed.
“No, I wanna look at you for a while,” he said, and stood in front of her, running his eyes down her body as he reached out and softly touched the exposed skin on her thigh.
Emily kicked out at him and caught his knee cap, displacing it and sending him screaming to the ground.
“Stop it!” the tallest man said, and pressed his body against hers as he forced her face up with his hand so she was looking at him. “You better watch it, Princess. You is going to get yourself killed.”
He looked into her eyes and then pressed his lips to hers as she pushed against him. When his tongue began to run across her lips, she quickly bit it, and he screamed and moved away from her. Suddenly, he backhanded her and she slid down against the tree until she was sitting on the forest floor.
“You’r ay or at,” he mumbled, not able to talk properly.
She spit out a mouthful of blood and looked up at him.
***
“I smell death,” Kyle said, and looked around the forest.
“Yeah, I just caught that too… it’s mortal,” Mark said, and started through the trees toward the smell.
“Hold off calling the Elder until we find what it is,” Kyle whispered, and followed him.
Within just a few minutes, Mark found the body of a mortal man, and he knelt down beside it and pulled the dead man’s face toward him, “His nose is broken.”
“Em did it,” Kyle said, and looked around. “I smell others here, but it’s been a while.”
“He didn’t die here. There’s no blood on the ground,” Mark said, and stood up.
“Here’s a trail,” Kyle said, and blurred through the forest, followed closely by Mark. They both stopped when they smelled more mortals and a campfire. They walked forward slowly, using the night’s darkness to hide them from view.
Mark hissed softly when he spotted Emily tied to a tree off to the side of the camp. She was wearing only the camisole and panties and was bound and gagged. Her head was away from them, and it looked to them like she was asleep against the tree, though her arms were bent at abnormal angles around it.
Kyle’s hands tightened into fists and he moved closer to hear what the men around the campfire were saying.
“Are you ok, dude?” one of them said.
“’At ithi’ my ongue!” he mumbled.
Another man laughed, “Man, she bit you good, you c’aint even talk.”
“Stop laughing, idiot! She broke my knee and ‘bout busted my balls,” another said, irritated.
“Feisty that one. What are we going to do with her?”
“Rest up and then we’ll have some fun. We’ll kill her when were done,” he said, and shifted slightly, groaning when he moved his knee. Kyle and Mark saw that he had his pants pulled up above his knee and it was swelling badly and bruised deep blue and purple.
“You can have her, Dude! If she bit off his tongue, imagine what she’d do to your pecker,” the smallest man said, and laughed before opening another beer and taking a drink.
“Oh, I ill,” he mumbled, his words slurred and he spit out another mouthful of blood.
“Who the hell are you?” the short man asked, and stood up when he saw Mark and Kyle walk into camp.
“We’re with her,” Mark said, and moved to untie Emily from the tree. She jerked at his touch and then looked wide-eyed at Kyle.
The men all stood and faced Kyle, “You can’t have her. She kilt our friend and assaulted two of us. She owes us.”
Kyle grinned, “You got beat up by a girl?”
“You’re about to get beat up by us. How’s about them apples?” one of them said, and stepped forward. Mark moved to stand by Kyle once Emily’s hands were untied, and he watched them angrily.
“Bear attack,” Kyle whispered, and eyed the man closest to him.
“Ain’t no bears near this camp,” the closest said, and grinned slightly.
The fight was fast. It lasted only a few seconds and the men were lying in heaps around the campfire while Kyle and Mark came out unscathed.
“Where’d she go?” Kyle asked, and looked toward the tree.
Mark walked over, “I untied her. Didn’t think she’d run off.”
“Her scent is strong. I’m going after her. You go get the others,” Kyle said, and ran off in the direction Emily left.
Mark turned and blurred the other direction, heading to the staging location almost six miles to the west of them.
“If we have to, we can call in Thukil,” Chevalier was telling Dustin at the staging location.
“We found her,” Mark said, blurring up to them. “She ran off though.”
“Is she ok?”
“Some poachers had her, she… she wasn’t dressed anymore… and was bound and gagged, tied to a tree. When I let her go, we killed the men and by the time we turned around, she was gone,” Mark explained.
Chevalier growled and disappeared to the east, following Mark’s scent through the trees. He stopped in the camp of the poachers and looked over at the piles of bodies.
Mark picked up a heap of clothes matching the Encala uniform, and then headed after where Kyle disappeared thirty minutes before. Chevalier glanced quickly around the camp and then followed him, with Dustin, Silas, and Kralen close behind.
They stopped when they saw Kyle and Mark facing a cliff. Emily was standing dangerously close to a steep drop off, and Chevalier moved to stand beside them.
She looked over at him, “Don’t come any closer.”
“We won’t,” Chevalier said, and took the clothes from Mark. “Here though.”
She watched as he tossed the Encala’s clothes at her. She reached down and pulled them on quickly, keeping a close eye on the heku. When she stood back up, she carefully rolled up the sleeves and clutched the pants tightly to her chest.
“What can we do then?” Kyle asked.
“Just stay back and let me think,” she said, and glanced behind her. The drop off fell hundreds of feet to a shallow river below.
“If we move back, will you step away from the cliff?” Mark asked.
“No,” she said, and looked at those gathered.
“We know about the look-alikes the Encala had,” Mark said. “Will it be easier if Silas and I leave?”
“No”
“What did they do, Em?” Chevalier asked, watching her.
“Those men?”
“Yes”
“Threats”
“That’s it?”
“One hit me.”
Chevalier nodded, “What can we do to get you to move away from the cliff?”
“Nothing… just let me think,” she said, and looked off to the side. The moon was shadowed by thick black clouds and she wasn’t able to see far from her.
“We killed the men and the Encala are back at the palace in prison,” Kyle told her.
“I’m going to prison,” Emily whispered, and looked around.
“What for?” Chevalier asked.
“I… I killed… people,” she said, and her voice cracked at the end.
“You aren’t going to prison for that. No one will ever know.”
“I always get caught.”
“Not this time, we’ve gotten rid of them.”
She shook her head, “I can’t trust you.”
“I know.”
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” Kralen told her, and took one small step forward.
“What?” she asked, edging back another inch toward the cliff.
“About a girlfriend… I think you’re right. I don’t want the lifetime commitment.”
She looked closely at him, “You don’t?”
Ignoring odd glances from the others, he grinned, “No… I’m not admitting to being what you called me, but I will admit that one woman for the rest of my life… seems boring.”
Emily ran forward and into Kralen’s arms. She leaned her head against his chest and shook, “I can’t trust the others. You should
n’t either.”
“I do trust them, though,” Kralen told her, and held her tightly. He looked over at Chevalier and got a nod of approval, “Let’s go.”
“No,” Emily told him and began to push him away from the others. “You need to trust me, get back.”
“Em…” he started, but she turned to face the others.
“Get back.”
“We can all give you personal information, Em, to let you know it’s us,” Chevalier told her.
Emily turned and looked at Kralen, whispering, “I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me take you back to the palace,” he suggested.
Emily glanced at the others and then nodded, “Ok.”
Kralen gently picked her up and blurred back toward the Interstate where her Jeep and the other heku’s vehicles were waiting. The others kept a safe distance behind them and Emily leaned her head against his shoulder and shut her eyes as he ran. When a light snow began, she pulled the red cape closer around her.
She’d barely started to drift off when Kralen slowed and she looked over at the Jeep surrounded by Equites cars. Kralen set her down, and she crawled into the passenger seat and cranked the heater up when Kralen started it and drove off for Council City.
Emily curled up on her side and watched Kralen for a while before speaking, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, and glanced at her.
“Coming to get me.”
“It’s the least I could do, Em. I let them get to you.”
She frowned, “That wasn’t your fault.”
“It was my fault. I knew we should have taken a helicopter back to the palace.”
“Right… and I said no.”
“I should have known they would expect and plan for us to off-road the Jeep.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“When I saw they were all mortals. I should have just blurred you away and not tried to fight them.”
“Kralen…” she whispered, and touched his arm. “It’s not your fault.”
“Tell me the truth. What did those hillbillies do to you?”
“I did tell the truth, one of them hit me, but that’s it.”
“They took your clothes.”
“Just the big stuff.”
“And?”
“And that’s it. I know what they were planning, I’m not stupid, but they hadn’t recovered enough they said.”
Kralen grinned slightly, “You did do some pretty good damage.”
“I didn’t mean to kill one of them,” she said, and turned back to face forward.
“You had to, it was self-defense.”
“It was murder.”
“Self-defense is not murder. By that point it was either you or them.”
“I killed someone,” she whispered, and bit at her knuckle.
Kralen pulled the Jeep into the palace’s garage and shut the engine off. He looked over at the doors, “The Valle are here for some reason.”
Emily looked over at the door, “I don’t want to see them.”
He nodded and got out as she did the same. She limped slowly toward the door, still clutching the Encala’s pants at her chest to keep them from falling.
“Here, Em,” Kralen said, and picked her up. It was obvious that the damage to her feet was hurting her, and the Encala’s shoes were too big to help. As he headed up the stairs with her, Sotomar and Quinn came out from the council chambers to greet them. Emily turned away from them and put her face against Kralen’s shoulder.
“How badly is she injured?” Quinn asked, looking her over.
Kralen glanced at Sotomar, “She doesn’t wish to see you.”
He looked her over and then nodded, and disappeared back into the council chambers. Quinn followed Kralen up the stairs as he put Emily down on the bed and knelt down to slip her shoes off.
She looked up when Dr. Cook came in, but then watched Kralen carefully peel off the blood soaked socks and sigh, “This looks pretty bad.”
“Let me see,” Dr. Cook said, and knelt down by Emily. She leaned back on the bed and let them do what they could with the cuts and bruises on her feet.
“Feet and a bruised cheek, anything else?” Quinn asked, and sat down beside her.
“No, that’s it,” she whispered, and looked around the room. The fires were lit and were quickly warming the room.
“I need to get some things,” Dr. Cook said, and blurred from the room.
“Em, the others want to come in,” Kralen told her, and stood up.
“How can I trust them?” she asked, and leaned up on her elbows.
Quinn frowned, “We have the Encala imprisoned, even those that look like Mark and Silas.”
“There could be more.”
“I don’t think so, that took a lot of pre-planning to do.”
“How did they do it?” Kralen asked.
“They found mortals that looked similar and then sent them to a plastic surgeon… once finished, they were turned.”
“My God,” Kralen gasped. “I’ve never heard of anything like that.”
“None of us have. The amount of preparation is astounding,” Quinn said. “I even wonder if this was planned before Frederick’s disappearance.”
Kralen sighed, “It’s going to get worse.”
“Yes, it will.”
Emily sighed, “All because of Frederick.”
“It’s worse than you could imagine,” Quinn told her, and watched the doctor come back and begin working on her feet.
“How bad?” Chevalier asked when he walked in.
Emily looked up at him and studied his face and movements to see if she could trust him.
“Cuts, bruises, and I need to clean out the wounds. They are full of dirt and rocks,” he said, and pulled out a small needle.
“Come here, Em,” Kralen said, and sat down beside her. He reached over and pulled her onto his lap and trapped her arms down.
“What…” she started to ask, and then gasped and screamed when the doctor began injecting lidocaine into her feet. “No!”
“It’s almost done,” Kralen whispered and held her tightly as she squirmed to get out of his grasp.
“Please, it hurts,” Emily cried, and leaned against his shoulder.
“I know.”
Chevalier watched them carefully. He knew Emily only trusted Kralen, but their closeness made his jealous tendencies pull forward. He also noticed an odd behavior from Kralen and wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Ok, that’s done, now you won’t feel a thing,” Dr. Cook said, and began picking rocks and dirt out of the cuts on her feet with tweezers.
Kralen loosened his grasp on Emily, but held her in case he needed to restrain her again. The doctor worked quickly and it was only an hour later when he finished and handed two pain pills over to Emily.
“I suggest you stay off of your feet for a day or two, and after that, think about wearing shoes,” he said, and left the room.
“Here,” Kralen said, and handed her some juice. She looked up at him and then took the two pills and crawled off of his lap to lie down on the bed, “You need to trust the Elder.”
Emily looked over at Chevalier, “Do you trust him?”
“Yes”
Kralen, Quinn, and Chevalier watched her until she fell asleep and then moved to the council chambers.
“How is she?” Zohn asked when they walked in. Quinn and Chevalier took the chairs on the stand and Kralen moved to the trial area.
“Sleeping, the doctor had to do some work on her feet,” Chevalier explained and looked over at Kralen. “Do you want to give a report?”
Over the next hour, Kralen explained everything that happened before her disappearance, until they arrived back at the palace. Chevalier filled the other Elders in on the search for Emily and the death of the poachers.
Quinn nodded, “We will return William and the Chief Interrogator then, and keep the other Encala to try them for this.”
“Sir?” K
ralen said, and turned to Chevalier. “I am hereby resigning from my position and will return to my coven immediately.”
Chevalier frowned, “Why would you do that?”
Mark and Silas entered, and walked up by Kralen.
“That’s the second time she’s been injured in my care. I allowed mortals to get to her, the Encala to try to kidnap her, and I allowed her to commit murder, something she’s not equipped to handle.”
“None of this is your fault.”
He slipped off his cape and handed the rank pins to Mark, “It is, and I care too much about her to put her through that.”
“Kralen…” Mark started, but the heku merely bowed to the Council and then left.
“Talk to him,” Chevalier said to Mark and Silas, and both nodded and followed after him.
“He tried to get Emily to take a helicopter home from the Valle,” Chevalier said. “He said he had a feeling that the Encala might try to attack.”
“Let me guess, Emily talked him out of it,” Quinn said.
“Yes, she did.”
“He’s one of our best guards. That attack would have happened even if the Council had been there.”
“I know. She’s not going to take it lightly when she finds out he quit.”
“Nor is she going to take it well that by quitting his position here, he’ll more than likely be either imprisoned or ostracized by his coven,” Zohn sighed.
“Maybe Mark and Silas will get him to stay,” Dustin said.
“I will try, too,” Kyle told them, and left the room.
“He’s blaming himself for physical and emotional pain that Emily is going through, and will go through,” Chevalier whispered. “I don’t think he’ll change his mind.”
“Do you blame him, at all?” Zohn asked.
“No, I don’t. In fact, his quick thinking got Emily away from a ledge and got her back here.”
“She’s difficult to guard and needs to learn some control before she drives away the entire Cavalry,” Dustin said calmly.
Chevalier glared at him, “Shut up, Dustin.”
“This wasn’t her fault,” Zohn said to the Powan. “Yes, kidnapping Frederick started it, but this attack couldn’t have been prevented.”
Mark returned to the Council several hours later. He was visibly upset, “He’s gone.”
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 14
