“Leave it for now,” Kyle whispered as his heart pounded quickly. “Clear out this house, let’s get out of here.”
“Are you going to take her out of there?”
“No, we’ll take the cage.”
Mark nodded and ordered his Cavalry to move faster and clear out the house.
Silas turned after hanging up his cell phone, “No answer.”
Kyle nodded, “Let’s just get her back to Council City. Call ahead and have Dr. Edwards waiting and find Lori in the Dover Coven, tell her to come to the palace.”
Silas nodded and left to make arrangements.
Mark shut the cage door and pulled the blanket over it again. Her scent immediately disappeared from the room. Kyle took one end and Mark took the other, and they carefully picked up the cage and carried it down the stairs. By the time they reached the main floor, the building was cleared out.
“Burn it,” Kyle whispered, and some of the Cavalry immediately set out, catching anything on fire that would burn.
As Mark and Kyle gently slid the cage into the helicopter, Horace climbed in with his troops, “What did you find?”
Kyle couldn’t speak. He could clearly hear Emily’s heart racing and her breathing was rapid and shallow as her fear escalated.
Mark looked over at Horace and whispered, “Nothing… just get us back, now.”
Horace nodded and ordered the pilot to head back for Council City. The ride was silent. The Cavalry could tell their leaders were upset and didn’t want to push the issue. Mark, Silas, Kralen, and Kyle all were too deep in thought to notice the flight and didn’t move until the pilot set the helicopter down on the roof of the palace.
“Clear out the fifth floor,” Kyle ordered, and then watched the Cavalry leave immediately for their posts. When only the four were left on the roof, Kralen and Silas gently lifted the cage out of the helicopter and followed Kyle and Mark into the palace.
“What’s going on?” Quinn asked from the fifth floor. He frowned slightly as his top Cavalry Officers carried an old cage into Chevalier’s bedroom.
“Come in,” Kyle said, and moved to the corner of the room beside the dead fireplace. “Set her down over here.”
“Her?” Zohn asked, watching them.
Kralen immediately started the fires, instantly sending warmth into the room.
“Shut the door,” Kyle whispered.
Zohn and Quinn watched curiously as Silas shut the door and turned to face the cage.
“Brace yourselves,” Mark whispered, and took the thick blanket in his hand.
Zohn grinned, “For what?”
The second Mark pulled the blanket off of the cage, the enticing aroma filled Chevalier’s bedroom and the Elders recoiled as their predatory nature raged. Both of them were too stunned to move, even with their mouths salivating at her scent. Emily was still curled up on the worn blanket and was rocking slowly, her face buried in her arms.
Quinn was the first to calm enough to step forward, “Is that…?”
Kyle nodded, “Yes.”
Zohn finally gained control and watched her, “My God.”
“What did they do?” Quinn asked.
Mark dropped the blanket and shook his head, “We don’t know. She’s not talking.”
“Get her out of there,” Quinn whispered.
“We can’t… touch her and she screams,” Kyle explained.
“They’re here,” Silas said, turning toward the door.
“Let them in.”
Silas opened the door and let in the two heku, then immediately shut it behind them.
Dr. Edwards’ eyes immediately fell onto the form in the cage, “What the hell?”
Lori, the female Psychiatrist that Chevalier once brought in for Emily, stepped forward and knelt down beside the cage. She began to study Emily’s precise rocking movements and her mind flooded with questions.
“We found her in the home of the Valle’s Chief Interrogator,” Mark whispered. “We can’t touch her. She’s not very responsive, and she won’t talk.”
Once they’d acclimated to Emily’s scent, the heku began to smell the stench of the unwashed blankets and clothing.
“Get Chevalier back here now,” Quinn whispered.
Kralen nodded and disappeared from the room.
“Emily?” Lori asked softly. She sighed when she didn’t get a response and the rocking continued.
“We can’t get her out of that cage?” Zohn asked, covering his nose against the disgusting odor coming from the cage.
Kyle shook his head, “She screamed when I tried.”
“At least remove those shackles.”
“I don’t think she wants us to.”
Dr. Edwards walked slowly around the cage and studied what he could see of her, “I don’t see any injuries. Though by the look of her wrists I’m going to assume she’s underweight, and some of those stains on her nightgown look like old blood.”
“Emily,” Lori whispered. “Would you like something to eat?”
Emily’s breath caught slightly, and then she began to rock again.
“Was she covered?” Lori asked.
Kyle nodded, “Yes.”
“Cover her again.”
Mark picked up the blanket from the floor and again covered the cage. Almost immediately, they heard Emily’s heart slow as she began to feel more comfortable.
“Did you find Salazar?” Quinn whispered to the others.
“No,” Kyle replied, still watching the covered cage.
Zohn turned to the doctors, “So what do we do?”
“I suggest we sedate her so I can look at her better,” Dr. Edwards said.
“I need to watch her further,” Lori said, finally standing. “First we need to ascertain if this is really Emily.”
“You have doubts?” Kyle asked.
“No, but confirmation would be nice. I suggest we find out if she’s in her coffin.”
Silas clenched his jaw and nodded, “I’ll do it.”
“Go,” Mark whispered, and watched Silas disappear.
“So assuming this is Emily, what do we do?” Quinn asked.
“We have no idea what happened to her?” Lori asked Mark.
“No”
“Is anyone left alive from the coven?”
“Only if they weren’t in the coven during the attack.”
“Who, other than the Elder, was she closest to?”
Quinn looked over at her, “That would be Kyle.”
Lori nodded, “While she’s covered and calm, see if you can talk to her.”
Kyle knelt down beside the cage and lowered his voice, “Em? It’s Kyle. Can you talk to me?”
No sound came from the cage other than the bars creaking as she rocked.
“You’re in Council City, safe in the palace, and we’ve called Chevalier back off of a mission. I just… I just want you to talk to me.”
He sighed when he got no response, and looked over at the Psychiatrist.
Lori nodded and whispered so Emily couldn’t hear, “Then I suggest we do what Dr. Edwards said, and sedate her so we can look her over.”
“Let’s wait until Chevalier arrives,” Zohn said. “He’s only an hour out.”
Quinn sighed, “Agreed.”
The heku sat silently and listened to the soft sound of Emily rocking in the cage as they fell deep into thoughts about how to handle the Valle and how to help Emily. Silas returned after only 30 minutes and confirmed that Emily’s coffin was empty, though he reported there were scratch marks across the wooden ceiling and some of the satin was torn. When Chevalier’s car pulled into the garage, they heard Kralen meet him.
“Why was I called back?” Chevalier asked, irritated.
“We just got back from Salazar’s Coven,” Kralen explained. “There’s something you need to see.”
“Something worth canceling my mission!?” he asked angrily. The heku heard Kralen and Chevalier start up the stairs.
“Why the hell is everyone
in my bedroom?” Chevalier yelled. He stopped yelling and turned to the cage when he heard a soft gasp, “What is that?”
Kyle glanced at the Elders and then turned to Chevalier, “Salazar… had Emily.”
Chevalier frowned, “What?”
Mark walked over and pulled the blanket off of the cage, again filling the bedroom with the Winchester scent. Chevalier was too shocked to even notice the way his teeth ached at the smell of her blood. He watched the small form rock slowly and immediately took in the filth and the small worn blanket she sat on.
Slowly, Chevalier walked forward, “Are you sure?”
Kyle put a hand on his arm, “Don’t touch her, she’ll scream.”
Chevalier nodded and Kyle let him go when he walked forward and knelt down beside the cage, “Em?”
She didn’t respond, but continued to rock with her face hidden.
“She’s not responding to anyone,” Mark said. “Kralen finally got her to look at him, but only after yelling at her to do so.”
“It’s her?”
“Yes,” Kyle whispered.
Still in too much shock to grasp what was happening, Chevalier looked at the others, “What’s wrong with her?”
“We don’t know,” Dr. Edwards said.
“Get her out of that cage,” Chevalier growled, and tore open the door. The second his hands touched her, she screamed and pushed against the opposite wall of the cage, grasping the bars tightly. He quickly jerked his hands back and his eyes grew wide.
Lori knelt down beside him, “Right now we’re best to leave her be. If she’s comforted by the shackle and the cage… then I suggest we leave her where she is.”
Chevalier glanced down at the shackle and touched it softly, “It’s not even locked.”
“I know, that’s why we think she wants it.”
He stood up, “How can she want to be shackled and caged?”
Lori sighed, “We don’t know what she’s been through, but somehow she finds comfort in those.”
Chevalier looked over at Dr. Edwards, “How is she even alive?”
He braced himself, knowing this could get him killed, “She obviously healed. She must have just enough heku blood that after her death, she began to heal extremely slowly. We gave her 3 days…”
Chevalier glared at Zohn and Quinn, “I told you to leave her alone.”
Zohn nodded and looked at the floor, “When her essence ring came off, we assumed she was dead. I… if we had known she could heal…”
“Cover her,” Kyle said, and watched Mark put the blanket back over the cage. They heard Emily shift and return to rocking in her ball.
Chevalier sat down in a chair beside the cage and watched the blanket, “I don’t…”
“We didn’t get Salazar,” Mark whispered. “He wasn’t there.”
“Find him,” Zohn growled.
Mark nodded and disappeared with Kralen and Silas.
Chevalier looked up at Dr. Edwards, “What do we do?”
“I suggest we sedate her so I can look her over. She’s filthy, and will need cleaned up before we can do much.”
Lori nodded, “I agree with Dr. Edwards’ plan, but we wanted to wait for you.”
“I’m going to lead a delegation to talk to the Valle,” Quinn whispered.
Zohn nodded, “Good idea, though I suggest we keep Emily’s reappearance to those inside this room.”
“Agreed”
“Who knows she’s here?” Chevalier asked.
“Only those that were in this room,” Kyle replied.
“Keep it from everyone then. No one can know.”
“What about food?”
“Between us all we can do what we need to without drawing attention to it.”
Kyle nodded.
Dr. Edwards dug around in his bag and filled a syringe, “Ok, I’m ready.”
Lori nodded, “I suggest everyone leave the room but Dr. Edwards.”
“Why?” Chevalier asked.
“If this scares her… I don’t want any of us to be the reason. I don’t want her to fear us more than she already does.”
Chevalier nodded and they all stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. Chevalier’s heart sunk when he heard the terrified screams when Dr. Edwards gave Emily the sedative. It was only a minute later when they were called back into the room. Dr. Edwards had the cage door open and the shackle off, and was gently lifting Emily out of the cage. The horrid odor of filth filled the room.
Chevalier walked up and pulled the hair out of the grime on Emily’s face so she could clearly see her. His breath caught when he saw that it was Emily, and he kissed her forehead softly before taking her from the doctor.
“Lori, help me clean her up,” Chevalier whispered. She nodded, and they headed into the bathroom.
Dr. Edwards studied the cage, “This is what I think we need. First she needs a soft pillow for her to sit on. She’s sitting on bars right now. I think we need to pad the shackles too, she had callouses on her ankles from it. Then a blanket and pillow, if this is where she’ll sleep.”
“I think the pillows in the game room are about the size of the cage, I’ll get one,” Kyle said, and disappeared. He reappeared only a few seconds later with it and saw Zohn pull out the thin blanket she used to sit on and threw it into the fire. Quinn disappeared and came back with soft wool that he began to glue into the inside of the shackles.
Zohn sighed, “That blanket had the smell of old blood.”
Dr. Edwards pulled a soft down comforter off of the bed and one of the pillows and put them into the cage.
“I don’t like that she’s going to be staying in a cage,” Kyle whispered.
“Hopefully it won’t be for long,” Zohn said, looking down at the cage. “If we had a choice, she wouldn’t be in there.”
Quinn began going through one of Emily’s old dressers when Chevalier called out for a clean nightgown. He was only partially surprised to see that her things were still there. He handed in a clean nightgown and then sat down to wait. It was an hour later before Chevalier emerged with Emily cradled lovingly in his arms. Her hair was cut shoulder-length and she no longer smelled or was covered in filth.
“We had to,” Chevalier said when Kyle touched her short hair. “It was matted.”
Kyle nodded, “I know.”
“What did you find?” Dr. Edwards asked, motioning to the bed.
“She’s emaciated,” Lori said when Chevalier didn’t respond. She gently led him over to the bed.
Dr. Edwards nodded and sat down beside Emily on the bed when Chevalier laid her down. He immediately began listening to her heart and lungs while the others stood back and watched.
He strung the stethoscope around his neck and began pressing gently on her stomach, “She’s having heart palpitations from dehydration, but other than that her lungs and heart sound good.”
“She has burns on her back,” Lori whispered when she realized that Chevalier was too angry to speak.
Dr. Edwards looked up, “Burns?”
“Yes, across her tattoo. She also has lash marks.”
Lori grabbed a notebook and began writing frantically, “I need to know anything you find. Treating her will be easier if we aren’t hit with something new every time she takes a step forward.”
Chevalier disappeared from the room and a crash was heard from deep within the palace. After ordering the palace cleared of non-essential personnel, Zohn turned back to the doctor.
“So now what?”
Dr. Edwards looked up at Lori, “As far as medically, I’d like to put in an I.V. to rehydrate her, but she’s never left one in.”
“Do it while she’s sedated, bolus it if you have to. I don’t want an I.V. in her when she wakes up,” Lori said. “We need to do absolutely nothing against her will, nothing that will traumatize her further.”
“She needs to eat,” Dr. Edwards said. “I don’t think the cage will actually hurt her. It seems she’s been in it long enough that she’s u
sed to it, though the soft pillows and such will help.”
“Keep her children out of here for now,” Lori said. “We need to keep visitors to a minimum and we’ll keep her covered as much as we can until we get her to open up a bit.”
Dr. Edwards nodded, “The burns are in varying degrees of healing. My guess is he kept her Equites tattoo covered with burns and when it appeared, he did it again. Those will heal soon enough without any help. Now that she’s clean, she should at least feel better.”
When no one responded or added anything about Emily’s care, Dr. Edwards put in an I.V. and began to quickly rehydrate her.
Zohn finally was able to speak, “Talk to the Valle, demand they turn Salazar over to us for trial.”
Quinn nodded, “I won’t tell them why. I’ll make something up.”
“As soon as he’s in custody, find out what he was thinking,” Zohn whispered, still watching Emily. She looked peaceful and calm and images of her dead body flashed back through his mind.
When Emily began to stir, Dr. Edwards removed her I.V. and Kyle gently picked her up and returned her to the soft pillow in the cage. He carefully fastened the wool lined shackle to her calloused ankle and then shut the cage and covered it with the blanket.
Chevalier appeared in the doorway. His clothing was ripped and covered in blood. He seemed calm now and moved up to the cage. He knelt down and listened to Emily as she began to wake up. It wasn’t long before he heard the familiar sound of her rocking.
Mark came into the room with a sandwich on a plate, “I thought she might eat.”
Chevalier took the plate and lifted the front of the blanket, “Em?”
She continued to rock, not looking over at him.
“We brought you some food.”
His keen hearing picked up a soft gasp and her body tensed.
“I’ll just put the sandwich beside you,” he whispered. He watched as she peeked out from under her arm and looked at the sandwich briefly before returning to her tight ball.
“Move back some,” Lori suggested.
Chevalier hesitated and then stood up and took a step back. Emily slowly uncurled and looked from him to the sandwich.
“Go ahead, Em.”
Her hand twitched slightly and her breathing started to pick up as she watched the sandwich beside her.
Chevalier took another few steps back, watching her carefully.
Eternity of Vengeance (Extended Edition) : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 56
