“Emily is in Washington?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Put her on the phone.”
Lord Dexter cleared his throat, “There’s a slight… problem… Sir.”
“Such as?” he growled.
“When she arrived, she was wearing a blonde wig and had on an Encala robe. She was immediately mistaken for an Encala and thrown into prison.”
“Understandable, so let her out.”
“She’s threatened to turn the entire coven to ash if anyone gets near the cell, Sir.”
“So she knows Kralen’s there?”
“Yes, Elder. They’ve been conversing.”
“Has he agreed to return?” Chevalier asked hopefully.
“No, Elder, and she says she’s not leaving without him and has gone to sleep on the cement floor of the cell.”
“Of course she has,” Chevalier sighed. “I’m on my way. I’ll arrive by helicop…”
“Sir… there’s a blizzard warning, high winds and heavy snow.”
“Damnit, when’s that supposed to clear?”
“It’s supposed to last a good two days. We’ve moved her Mercedes into the coven and have locked up for the storm warning.”
“Let me talk to her then, take the phone to the prison.”
“She threatened to turn the coven to ash if we notified you though,” Lord Dexter told him. “Also… she’s offered to give Frederick to Kralen if he’ll return as her guard.”
“She did!?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Wow… damn… let me talk to the Council. Have Kralen call us at 8am.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Just toss a blanket and pillow into the cell if she’s going to be that stubborn.”
“Right away.”
Chevalier shut his phone and looked around the room.
“Is Mommy coming back?” Dain asked from beside the fire.
“Not yet, I’m going to talk to the Council. You stay here ok?”
Dain nodded and ran his hand through the malamute’s thick fur as Chevalier left.
“Convene the Council,” he said, and left for the council chambers. When he arrived, most of them were already at their seats. Kyle and Dustin were still missing, as they had a hunch and were headed for Thukil and Powan.
Chevalier sat down and conferenced Kyle and Dustin on speakerphone, “She’s at Okanogan Coven.”
“I’ll head that way,” Kyle told them.
“Lord Dexter said there’s a good sized storm there… plus, she’s threatened to ash his coven if he notified me,” Chevalier explained.
“Tell them to just send her home then.”
“It’s not that easy. She’s in their prison and threatens to ash anyone who touches the cell.”
“Why would she do that?” Dustin asked, shocked.
“Because she’s trying to get Kralen to come back.”
“Let her try… I’m heading back.”
“There’s more,” Chevalier said, and looked over at the Elders. “She’s offered to give Kralen Frederick’s ashes if he’ll return.”
“She did!?” Zohn gasped.
Quinn shook his head, “And he said?”
“He said no, but I have him calling in a couple of hours to see what we can arrange.”
“How did she get put in prison?” Kyle asked, confused.
“Somehow, she showed up with a blonde wig and an Encala’s robes. They mistook her for an Encala and tossed her in.”
“They mistook her for an Encala? She’s barely 5-foot tall.”
Chevalier looked over when the Chief of Defense chuckled.
“Sorry, Elder,” he said, and turned away.
“They didn’t really have a choice. She smelled like an Encala.”
“Where would she get an Encala robe from then?” Kyle asked, mainly to himself. “I mean… to have their scent, it had to have been obtained recently.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask… however, if we can convince Kralen to return, we can end this abduction,” Chevalier told him.
“You sure you don’t want me to go? I can take the truck,” Kyle suggested.
“No, come back here. We need to convince Kralen to stay, and then hopefully, she’ll hand Frederick over.”
“On my way,” Kyle said, and hung up.
“I’m an hour outside of Powan, may I continue?” Dustin asked.
“Yes, go,” Chevalier said, and turned off the phone.
The Council was deep in discussion when Derrick came in, “Kralen is on the phone.”
Quinn nodded, “Right at 8am… patch him in here.”
Zohn turned on the speakerphone when it rang, “Hello, Kralen.”
“You asked me to call?”
“Yes, we know Emily is there and that she offered to give you Frederick.”
“Yes”
“Did you agree?”
“No, I did not. I can’t protect her.”
Chevalier sighed, “I trust you more than most of those guards.”
“That’s what she said. However, history speaks for itself. She’ll give Frederick back without me involved,” Kralen told them.
“What’s it going to take to get you back here?”
“I can’t protect her.”
“No one can,” Quinn said. “However, you were one of the most capable.”
“He’s right, even I cannot protect her and I’m married to her,” Chevalier told him.
“Mark,” Zohn called out, and it was silent until he entered.
“Yes, Elder?”
“Are you completely capable of protecting Emily?”
Mark grinned slightly, “No, am I getting replaced?”
“No, you are not. Is anyone able to fully protect her?”
“I don’t believe so… no disrespect, Elder,” Mark said to Chevalier.
Chevalier smiled, “None taken.”
“That ritual was performed right in front of me,” Kralen reminded them.
“I was there, too,” Mark said.
“I tried to go with Emily and Miri when the Encala took them, yet I backed off when asked.”
“We all do that,” Chevalier said.
“I allowed her to be hunted and to commit murder.”
“No, you did not,” Mark said. “Now get your ass back here before I drive to Washington and get you.”
“Good, you can share a cell with Em,” Kralen said, slightly amused.
Mark gasped, “Emily’s in your prison?”
“We’ll explain later,” Chevalier said. “Emily aside, I see it as your duty to protect the Equites and you can do that by returning Frederick to us immediately.”
There was a long silence while Kralen spoke, “If it happens again…”
“It will,” Zohn told him.
“If she’s injured on my watch. I want to be free to leave.”
“She will be though,” Mark growled. “She’s always injured and takes unnecessary risks. She tased me just to get to you!”
Kralen chuckled, “Yes, she told me that.”
“As soon as the snowstorm is over, return her to us,” Quinn said. “Then we’ll handle Frederick, and you can meet with the Elders on the rest.”
There was another silence, “Ok.”
Mark grinned, “Great!”
“Just understand that once I return Frederick, there are no guarantees that I will stay.”
“Fine, but next time you have to tell Emily yourself,” Mark said, and then smiled before leaving with a bow.
“Call when you are on your way,” Chevalier said, “And get her out of that cell.”
“Yes, Elder,” Kralen said, and hung up.
“So?” Lord Dexter asked as he watched Kralen hang up the phone.
“I’m going back, long enough to return the Encala Elder, and then I’ll decide,” Kralen told him.
Lord Dexter smiled, “You’re too good to be in my prison. Return to Council City where you belong.”
“Let me get Em out of pris
on, and then we’ll leave when the snow breaks.”
Kralen walked back down to the prison. He still wasn’t sure if he felt right about claiming to be one of Emily’s protectors, when he doubted his ability to do so, but the others had valid points. He stopped in front of her cell and shook his head. The blanket and pillow Lord Dexter gave to her were sitting in a pile in the corner, while she slept on the cement with her arms inside the Encala robe.
“You’ve been sprung,” Kralen told her.
Emily looked up, “You’re out!”
“Yes, get out of there,” he said, and then opened the cell door.
“You’re coming back?”
“Yes”
“Good, this place is awful,” she said, and followed him back up into the main house.
“Good to see you out of our prison,” Lord Dexter said, and smiled at her.
“He’s so stubborn,” she told him.
“Yes, he is… seems to be contagious though.”
Emily just grinned.
“Come, I’ll show you to your room,” Lord Dexter told her, and Emily followed him up with Kralen behind her.
He opened a door and she stepped in and moved to the side so Kralen could enter.
“I will see what we can do about food,” Lord Dexter said, and shut the door.
Kralen sat down on a chair, “We’ll be here for a couple of days until the weather clears.”
Emily nodded and watched him from across the room.
He looked over at her, “What?”
She shrugged.
“Tell me.”
“You won’t tell?”
His eyes narrowed, “Depends.”
Emily swallowed hard and then sighed, “I’m… kind of… late.”
“For what?” he asked, and frowned.
“Late… late.”
“Not following.”
“Don’t make me say it, please.”
“Oh!” Kralen gasped, and looked at her with wide eyes.
“Can you smell me?”
“It’s normal,” he assured her.
“Get closer,” she said, and walked toward him with her wrist out.
“You’re going to get me banished on my first day back,” he told her, and took her wrist, then lightly ran his nose along the vein. “Nothing.”
She sighed, “Neck then, get closer.”
“No,” he told her, and stood up.
“Please”
“No, are you kidding? If someone saw…”
“Who is going to see? I need to know.”
“Don’t you have tests for that?”
“Yes, you, now please.”
Kralen looked up at the ceiling and sighed before he walked up to her as she pulled the hair away from her neck and tilted her head.
“You’re going to get me banished,” he said, and bent over to run his nose along her neck.
She grinned, “No one will see.”
His body tensed and she looked over at him when his voice was strained, “Damn, do you know how appetizing you smell?”
“So?”
“It’s normal… just… stronger,” he said, and again lightly ran his nose along her neck.
“When’s the last time you ate?” she asked when his body pressed lightly against hers and she heard him hiss softly. She pulled away from him and he turned suddenly toward the window.
“Months”
“Go, I’m ok here while you’re gone.”
In an instant, he was gone. The only sign of his movement was the softly shutting door. She sat down on the edge of the bed and called Chevalier.
***
Kralen stopped his truck at the front gates to Council City and turned to Emily, “No more slipping me?”
“Right”
“No tasing me to get away?”
“Right”
“If I feel I need to go somewhere with you.”
“Then you can go, right.”
“Frederick?”
She smiled, “He’s yours.”
Kralen nodded and put the truck back into drive. The front guards waved him through, and he pulled into the garage and turned off the engine.
Emily looked toward the palace’s door, “Am I going to get eaten?”
Kralen grinned, “No, your smell is normal.”
“Or are you just used to it?”
“It’s normal.”
“Check again,” she said, and held her wrist out.
Kralen looked around the garage and then took her hand in his and smelled at her wrist. He gasped and dropped her hand when Chevalier appeared beside the truck with Zohn, Kyle, Mark, and Silas.
“What the hell?” Mark growled, and Chevalier opened Emily’s door.
She smiled and he lifted her out of the truck, “We’re back.”
Chevalier put Emily down on the ground and moved her behind him, then turned to glare at Kralen, “What was that?”
Emily pushed past him to stand between them, “Stop it. I asked him to smell my wrist.”
Kyle moved a few steps closer to Kralen, “Explain.”
Emily pushed Kyle hard against his shoulders, though he didn’t move, “Leave him alone!”
“I was just doing her a favor,” Kralen said, and took a step back.
“I spent 5 days getting him back, and now you all attack him?” Emily screamed.
“What kind of favor was that?” Kyle asked him.
“Stop it, Kyle, now,” Emily said, and pulled on his arm.
“Everyone out,” Chevalier growled. Everyone but Emily, Kralen, and Zohn blurred angrily from the room.
Emily walked over to stand by Kralen, “That was pretty much uncalled for.”
“It’s ok, Em. I’m sure it looked really bad,” Kralen told her.
“It doesn’t matter what it looks like, they need to trust us.”
“I do,” Chevalier said, calming himself. “Now why don’t you tell us why you consider that a favor to her?”
Kralen shrugged, “She asked me to.”
“Why?” the Elder asked, and turned to Emily.
She blushed and glanced at the others before speaking, “I just… Chev, this is private.”
“Between you and Kralen?”
“No, between you and me.”
Chevalier glanced at Zohn and then back to Emily, “It’s ok… just tell me why.”
She looked over at Kralen and then whispered to Chevalier, “I’m late.”
“For what?” he asked, confused.
Emily shook her head and took Kralen’s hand, “Let’s go get Frederick.”
Chevalier sighed and shrugged at Zohn before following them into the palace.
Emily stopped, wide-eyed, when she saw the entire Council gathered in the foyer along with Encala’s Elder William and Elder Aaron, with four members of the Encala Council. They all turned to look at her and she was able to see past them and noticed that two of the Valle Elders and four of their Council was also present.
“Welcome back,” Quinn said, and smiled.
Emily blushed, “Why are you all here?”
“We came to get our Elder back,” William said angrily.
“Watch it,” Kralen growled at him.
“I’m not showing you all where he is. You can wait here,” Emily told them.
“I am going,” William said, and stepped forward.
“No, you aren’t… Aaron can come.”
“Why not me?”
“Because I said so… now… the Equites can come in, but the Encala and Valle can wait out here, except Aaron.”
“You cannot dictate how this is going to go.”
“If you want your Elder back, I suggest you back off,” Kralen told him.
Chevalier stepped forward, “Yes she can dictate how this is going to work. As we’ve not been able to find him for 16 months, she has every right.”
William glared at them and stepped back.
“Get backup in here,” Kralen whispered, and Emily looked up at him. Seconds later
, ten of the Cavalry joined them, including Silas and Mark, who moved up to stand by Kralen.
“Ready?” Emily asked, and looked at Chevalier.
“Yes, is it far?”
She smiled, “Nope, he’s in the palace.”
“He is!?” William screamed.
“Stop it or I’ll ash you,” Emily said, and frowned. Instinctively, the Cavalry moved closer around her as Chevalier moved to her side.
“Let’s go then,” Quinn said, and walked over to her.
Emily nodded and started off down the hallway, followed by almost thirty heku. She stopped at the door to the ancient’s room and smiled slightly before opening the door.
“He is not in here!” Chevalier gasped.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to smell him in here,” she said, and walked in. She immediately went over to Damon’s banishment marker and started to dig.
“You buried him with Damon?” Kyle asked, watching her.
“Yes”
After a few minutes, she pulled out a small pink leather bag with a drawstring tie. She stood up with it and held it up, “Here’s Frederick.”
Mark shook his head, “He was right here the entire time.”
“Yes, he was,” Emily said, and knelt down on the dirt. She carefully opened the bag and dumped the ashes out onto the ground.
Kyle stepped forward, “Em, you better stand back, in case he knows you did this.”
Chevalier reached up and pulled her back to stand beside him, while the Cavalry fell in around her. Kyle checked with the Elders and then pulled the dagger from his pocket. The screaming started the instant his blood hit the ashes and Emily watched, shocked, as Frederick reformed.
She took a step back and Chevalier moved between them when Frederick’s furious eyes fell to her, “You Bitch!”
“Frederick, calm down,” Aaron said, and touched his arm.
“I will not calm down,” Frederick said, and pulled away from the Elder. “You need punished for that.”
“She will be, by the Equites,” Chevalier told him, and he crouched slightly, followed by the Cavalry.
“Not enough! She deserves pain beyond human tolerance… she needs to feel what a heku goes through.”
“No,” Chevalier told him. “Now you can go.”
“Give her to me,” Frederick hissed, and moved forward.
“Let’s go,” Aaron said, and started for the door.
“Fear me, little girl,” he said, and turned to follow Aaron out. Emily looked over as Kyle re-covered Damon’s banishment sight and stood up.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 20
