After checking out the bar and finding that Chevalier had, indeed, emptied it of alcohol, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a spoon and a gallon of vanilla ice cream. As she sat down and tore the lid off of it, one of her heku chefs came in.
He watched her for a moment, and then silently handed her a bowl.
She looked up at him just before shoving a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, “Do I look like I need a bowl?”
He glanced at the door, and then back to her, “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Then you need glasses,” she mumbled with her mouth full. She took the entire gallon, filled the top with chocolate sauce, and limped out of the kitchen, irritated at the chef for no good reason.
Horace looked at her as she walked out of the kitchen, “Do you need a bowl?”
“I unt fu’in nee a owl,” she said with a frozen tongue. She was digging another spoonful out of the gallon container as she walked out the doors and toward the stables. Horace contemplated reminding her not to use her injured arm but decided it wasn’t his battle to fight, and he didn’t want to irritate her further.
After a few minutes in the tack room, she came out with her 9mm in one hand and the gallon of ice cream firmly clutched in the other. A red cape was thrown over her shoulder, and all of her pockets were full of bullets. She walked past Mark as he spoke to Horace.
“Whoa… gun?” Silas asked, blocking her from leaving the stables.
“It’s therapeutic,” she said, and took another bite.
Mark turned to look at her, “Who are you going to shoot?”
She rolled her eyes, “I’m not going to shoot anyone.”
Silas eyed the red cape, “Why do you have an Encala’s cape?”
“Now that… I’m going to shoot,” she said before taking another bite. Silas shook his head and moved aside, so she could pass. She mumbled something about therapy again and walked over to the south lawn.
Chevalier looked up and cringed when he heard gunshots.
Kyle, who was sitting across from Chevalier in his office, sighed, “I wonder who she’s shooting.”
“I guess we'd better go see,” Chevalier said, standing up. He and Kyle walked out and followed the gunshots to the south lawn where they saw Mark, Silas, and Horace standing back and watching her.
“What’s up?” Kyle asked.
Mark didn’t even look over at him, “Well… somewhere between the vat of ice cream and the 9mm, she said it’s therapy.”
Chevalier nodded, “She had a fight with the Encala.”
He nodded, “Leave it to Em to fight with an entire faction.”
“Andrew mostly, but Iuna got caught in the middle.”
Kyle watched as Emily took a massive bite of ice cream and reloaded her gun, “At least it’s not alcohol or cigarettes. She’s not supposed to be using that arm though.”
“I’m not going to bring that up. I hope she doesn’t make herself sick,” Chevalier said as she put another dozen rounds into the red cape. The cape was now torn and hanging loosely from the limb of the tree.
The heku all turned when they heard a snorting sound from behind them. The bulldog was running up covered in slobber and breathing heavily through his thick lips.
“I hate that dog,” Chevalier said, turning back to Emily.
“What purpose does he serve?” Horace asked. “I mean… Devia obviously helps her around the horses, and even Sebastian seems to like work. That thing sleeps all day.”
“She says he’s cute,” Kyle told him, and then grinned when Quiesco fell to the ground with a loud fart.
Horace’s nose wrinkled, “What is she feeding him?”
“Who knows,” Kyle said, turning back to Emily. She was in the process of taking another bite when Chevalier finally walked up.
“Em, I think you killed it,” he said, just as the cape fell in pieces to the ground.
She looked down at the torn pieces of fabric, “Damn, lost my target.”
“Why don’t you come inside and let’s talk.”
“About what?”
“You know what about,” he said, shaking his head.
“I’m better now.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, I no longer want to shoot Iuna in the nuts,” she told him as she dug in for another bite.
Chevalier reached over and took the gallon of ice cream, “I think that’s enough.”
She eyed him, “You afraid I’m going to get fat?”
“No, I’m afraid you’re going to make yourself sick.”
She shrugged, “I guess. I’ll go get dinner, that’ll help.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Chevalier took the gun from her and handed it to Mark as they walked back into the palace. He wasn’t sure where she was going to put dinner, but she ordered chicken and headed for the dining room.
When Emily sat down, she was told dinner would be done momentarily, so she tried to take the ice cream from Chevalier, but he handed it off to a chef.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about Andrew?” Chevalier asked her.
She looked over at him, “I promised to stay out of the Council’s business.”
“Not sure how that applies.”
“Iuna said things are tense.”
“They are always tense,” Chevalier said. “We’re at war… always have been, always will be.”
“So what’s changed?”
“Andrew getting you kidnapped would be my guess.”
“By an Equites coven.”
Chevalier nodded, “Yes, I’m aware of that.”
“So why blame him?”
“The Chief Interrogators are the second most captured members of the Council…”
“The Elders being the first.”
“No, the Records Keeper being the first.”
Emily frowned, “Why kidnap Jerry?”
“He knows more about this faction than any other heku. He’s memorized everything from strategical layout of our resources, to coven information, and response capabilities.”
“I thought he just filed.”
Chevalier smiled, “Trust me. He’s the most wanted member of the Council.”
“Fine then… so Andrew’s an Interrogator, and everyone wants him. Why does that have to break into our friendship?”
“It’s dangerous for you to be around him.”
“You let me.”
Chevalier nodded, “I had to let you. I’m trusting you now, remember?”
“Right. I think what bugs me the most is that he didn’t seem to fight it.”
“He can’t fight the Council on a decision.”
“Sure he can. It’s our God given right to argue.”
“Not a heku. Heku are immediately drawn to obey those above them.”
“He didn’t care…”
“I’m sure he does. Right now, he just can’t defy the Council on orders.”
Emily took the plate from her heku chef and then pushed the chicken around on the plate, “If he at least acted like he didn’t like their decision...”
“He’s good, Em. Good Interrogators don’t show that kind of thing. It’s too easy to use against them.”
She nonchalantly took a bite and immediately spit it out into her napkin, “What the hell is that?”
Chevalier frowned and called for the chef. When the young heku came in, Chevalier stood up, “I don’t know you.”
“I’m new, Elder,” he said, bowing slightly.
“What did you serve her?”
The chef looked down at Emily as she drank her glass of ice water to wash away the taste, “It was Chicken Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms in a white wine and white truffle oil sauce, Sir.”
“It tastes like dirty sweat socks,” Emily said, looking up at him apologetically.
“I’m sorry. I can make you something else…”
“No, I’ll make it,” she said, and headed into the kitchen.
The chef tried to follow her but froze when Chevalier whisper
ed, “Stay…”
He turned around and swallowed hard, “Yes, Elder?”
“Who hired you?”
“Eastwick, Sir.”
“Are you a trained chef?”
“No, Sir.”
“Then what made him think you can cook?”
“I can, Sir! I cooked for my family before I turned,” the chef told him.
“Apparently not well!”
“I can, Sir. I swear. Maybe that dish was just… off…”
“Get in there,” Chevalier said, pushing him toward the kitchen. They both walked in and saw Emily plucking a chicken by the sink. She was covered in soft down feathers and was yanking the feathers out to put into a bag she had tied to her side.
“I can get that, Ma’am,” the chef said, watching her. He was afraid to get too close to her for fear of accidentally touching her and sending Chevalier over the edge.
“No, I’m good,” Emily said, and tore out another handful of feathers. “Stick around, I’ll show you how I make fried chicken.”
“Fried chicken, Ma’am?”
She looked over at him, “Do you not know what fried chicken is?”
“I do, Ma’am… I just… it’s unhealthy.”
Chevalier reached his hand out, “Let’s go, Em. I’ll take you to dinner.”
Emily smiled, “You’re going to take me to dinner?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Twice in the same century?”
He chuckled, “Plucking chickens isn’t approved by the doctor. I figured a date might get you away from it.”
“My shoulder’s getting better.” Emily stepped off of the stool and washed her hands.
“If you don’t want to go out, we can order pizza.”
“No! You brought it up. We're going.”
Chapter 4
The Gate Guards for Council City moved to block the flatbed truck as it backed up to the gate.
“You can’t bring that thing in here,” one of the guards said, eyeing the tarp in the back of the truck. He wasn’t sure what it was covering, but whatever it is was big.
“Delivery for Emily Winchester,” the mortal driver said as he dug through the litter in his truck to find the paperwork.
“What is it?”
“Motorcycle,” he said, and handed the paperwork over to the Equites guard.
The guard looked over it and then glanced back at the cargo, “I’ll take it to her. You can’t bring the truck in here.”
“Why not?”
“Because I said so.”
The driver shrugged and crawled out of his truck and handed a box to the guard. It only took a few minutes for him to unload the motorcycle and drive away.
The Gate Guard checked over the motorcycle and called for Mark.
Mark blurred up and immediately caught sight of the deep purple, Suzuki bullet bike, “Whose is that?”
“Delivery for Lady Emily,” the Gate Guard told him, and handed the paperwork over with the box.
Mark read it and then frowned and looked up at the motorcycle, “I’ll take it in.”
He looked over the motorcycle himself before getting on and starting it up. Once he was sure it wasn’t going to explode, he rode toward the palace.
“Nice bike,” Kralen said, curiously. “I don’t think purple is your color though.”
Mark shook his head and turned off the engine, “It’s for Em.”
“You got her a motorcycle?”
“No, Andrew did.”
Kralen winced, “That’s going to go over well.”
“I’ll have it looked over first. I don’t trust them.”
Within just a few seconds, two mechanics appeared and began going over every inch of the bullet bike. Kralen pulled a full-face, purple helmet from the back of the bike and began inspecting it.
“This looks fine,” Kralen said. “Other than it has a two-way radio inside, but we don’t have the frequency.”
Mark shrugged, “My guess is it’s connected to a similar helmet that Andrew has.”
“I thought he couldn’t contact her.”
“That’s what he told her last month during their fight.”
“So he broke Council’s orders and bought her a bike?”
“That’s my guess. He seemed pretty by-the-book though, so maybe they relaxed a bit.”
Kralen set down the helmet, “That won’t make our Council happy.”
Mark sighed, “I know. They were able to keep Emily away from Andrew and not be blamed.”
“Does she even know how close we are to a major war with the Encala?”
“Nope,” Mark said, and then turned when the mechanic came up.
“Sir,” the mechanic said, bowing slightly. “The motorcycle is in good working order, but I did find a tracking device under the rear fender.”
Mark squatted down and looked under the fender. Hidden beneath the decorative edge was a small box with a tiny blinking green light, “Perfect.”
“What shall we do with it?”
“Let me get the Elder and he can decide.” Mark took the box that was also delivered and headed into the palace. The Council was in session, but Derrick told him they weren’t with a prisoner and let him in.
“Is there a problem, Mark?” Quinn asked as he stepped up to the Council.
Mark bowed slightly, “Sort of. Andrew sent Emily a motorcycle. It was delivered an hour ago, and our mechanic found a tracking device under the fender.”
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “That’s pretty stupid of them. They had to have known we’d check it out.”
Mark nodded.
“Does Emily know?”
“Not yet, Elder. He also sent her this box,” Mark said, and handed the box up to Chevalier.
Chevalier immediately opened it and pulled out a small electrical device, “This is a remote tracker.”
Zohn’s eyebrows rose, “So they put a tracking device on it and sent us the other side?”
“Looks like it.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea. If she takes off again, we’ll know where she is.”
Chevalier shook his head, “We can’t track her without telling her. She hasn’t taken off in a long time.”
“Just because the Encala sent us the tracking monitor, doesn’t mean they didn’t keep one also,” Kyle told them.
“That’s true,” Quinn said, and then took the device to look it over.
“Ask Emily in please, Derrick,” Chevalier called to the door.
“Can that be recalibrated to a different frequency, so we can track her without worrying the Encala are also?” the Chief of Defense asked.
Kyle shrugged, “I don’t know enough about them to say.”
The Council looked up when Emily walked in, holding the bulldog up against her shoulder like you would a baby. He was sound asleep and snoring as drool fell, soaking her shoulder. She stepped up to the trial area.
“You called for me?”
Chevalier shook his head, “Is the dog injured?”
“No, he’s sleepy.”
“Shocker”
She just smiled.
“Andrew bought you a motorcycle,” Chevalier told her.
She frowned, “I don’t want it.”
“We’ve had it looked over, and it’s a good bike. There is a tracking device under the fender though, but he sent us the monitor.”
“I don’t care if it’s a good bike. I don’t want anything from him.”
Chevalier nodded, “I kind of figured.”
“Where is it?”
“It’s out by the stables,” Mark told her.
Emily handed the bulldog off to Mark and started for the door. Mark wrinkled his nose when his shirt became soaked from the drooling dog as it started to wake up and look around.
“I’ll go with you,” Chevalier said, appearing by the door.
Kyle followed them out of the room and down to the stables where Kralen and Silas were inspecting the bullet bike.
“This is a
sweet bike,” Silas said, smiling. “Other than the color, that is.”
Emily walked over and looked down at it, “No note?”
“Just the box.”
“What was in the box?”
“That was the monitor for the tracking device,” Chevalier explained.
“No note in there?”
“No”
She nodded and walked around the bike before slipping on it and starting it up. She revved the engine a few times and then righted it, “I’ll be right back.”
“Can I go?” Kralen asked.
She nodded and then rode toward the city gates.
“Maybe she will keep it,” Kyle said, surprised.
Chevalier watched up on the hills as Emily took the bullet bike cross country toward the north, “She’s off-roading it.”
Silas cringed, “Does she know bullet bikes are for street riding only?”
“I don’t know, actually.”
Kralen kept pace with Emily as she rode silently through the trees. She stopped at the leech pond and looked over the still water.
“Do you like it, then?” Kralen asked.
Emily nodded, “It’s a pretty nice bike. Smooth ride, comfortable seat.”
“Wait!” Kralen yelled when Emily spun out and headed for the pond at a fast speed. He blurred forward and reached for her, just as she jumped off of the bike and watched as it splashed into the pond and disappeared beneath the murky water.
Kralen watched with wide eyes as the bike disappeared, “Wow.”
Emily stood up and brushed herself off.
“You could have given it away,” Kralen said.
“I don’t want anything he gives me.”
“Still…”
She turned and started back for the palace. Kralen caught up with her after watching the pond for a few seconds, “Did you get hurt?”
“No”
“It’s pretty dangerous to jump off of a moving motorcycle.”
“I know.”
“Nothing hurt at all?”
“No”
Kralen looked her over as they walked, and the only injury was a scrape beneath a torn part of her shirt where she’d landed when she jumped.
After a few minutes, he finally sighed, “Can I just carry you?”
Emily thought about it for a moment, and then jumped up onto his back, “How’s that?”
Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series Page 9
