Maleth turned and snarled at the guards, giving Emily just enough time to get to her feet and run into Allen’s room.
“Skip packing, we’re leaving,” she whispered to Sam, and then picked Allen up.
Sam grabbed one tiny bag and followed her out into the bedroom. Emily moved past the Elder, and as he tried to grab her, she turned on him.
“Last warning, I can ash you and you know it,” she hissed, and then took off out of the room. She heard footsteps behind her, and turned to see the guards following behind Sam.
“Go away,” she said, turning back down the stairs.
“We’re not leaving you,” Mark told her, still confused about what was going on.
“I’m no longer under the protection of the Equites.” She hit the ground floor and ran, holding Allen close to her.
“You can’t just make us leave,” Mark said from closer to her.
She spun on him, “Mark, I like you, but I will ash you if you don’t turn around now.”
Mark’s eyes grew wide and he put his hand out to stop the other three guards. He watched her leave and then turned back toward the guard house.
Emily opened the door to the massive underground garage. It didn’t take her long to find the black Humvee among all of the sleek sports cars. She tucked Allen into the car seat and slammed it into drive, spinning out and driving too quickly out of the garage. She didn’t even look back until she had hit the Interstate and was cruising along at 80 mph.
“Emily?” Sam asked from her side.
“What?”
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know if I should say,” she said, focusing on the road. Her head was pounding and her cheek ached. A quick glance in the rear-view mirror showed the bruise forming.
“I was afraid that someday he would kill you,” Sam said, turning to check on Allen.
“Yeah… well it’s not just him, this beauty,” she said, pointing to her cheek, “was Maleth.”
Sam frowned, “But Maleth was always so kind.”
“Was”
Emily drove all night, and when she got tired, Sam took over. All he knew was that he was headed for Colorado. Sam pulled into a fast-food restaurant when Allen asked for food, and Emily looked up.
“Where are we?” she asked, slipping on her sunglasses.
“We’re about twenty miles outside of Colorado,” Sam said, and ordered Allen a hamburger.
“Ok, I’ll drive from here,” she told him, and swapped Sam seats. Once Allen was fed, she pulled back onto I-70.
Sam watched the hills turn to mountains and said nothing. He knew asking again wouldn’t get him any information.
Emily turned off of I-70 and headed toward the ski community of Breckenridge. She pulled over and took the envelope from her back pocket. She opened it, hands shaking, and took out a map. She carefully maneuvered past the mansions and ski resorts until she found the snow covered road she was looking for. The Humvee came in handy as they plowed through the abandoned road. She stopped and looked up when the mansion came into view.
“Here we are,” she said, and stopped in front of the mansion. She then pulled a key out of the envelope, “Stay here.”
Emily walked up to the house, slipped the key in the door, and opened it. She soon found the garage and opened the door, waving Sam in. He pulled the Humvee into the garage and she shut the door behind him. There were four other vehicles in the garage, which was perfect. The Equites knew she had the Humvee.
“Where are we?” Sam asked, looking around the foyer.
“Kyle’s house,” she told him, and headed up the stairs to look around.
Sam was shocked, “We’re staying in Kyle’s house?”
“He offered it to me years ago, in case of an emergency. There’s money in here for us too. As soon as things calm down, we’ll buy a ranch.” He noted how her voice cracked at the end.
“Ok,” he whispered.
The mansion wasn’t as large as the one Chevalier had, but it was still too large for the three of them. They each picked out a bedroom and Emily dropped Allen’s bag on the bed, then headed down to the kitchen. It was full of brand new appliances, but no food.
“Sam?” she asked after opening the fridge.
“Yes?”
She handed him several hundred dollars, “Take one of Kyle’s trucks and get some food.”
He nodded and left.
“When’s Daddy coming?” Allen asked, looking around the cold house.
“I don’t know.” She didn’t have the heart to tell him.
Chapter 6 - Breckenridge
“You two have some explaining to do,” Leonid said, glaring at Maleth and Chevalier.
“Explain what?” Maleth asked, shocked that another Elder would talk to him like that.
“Where’s Emily?” Leonid asked Chevalier.
He shrugged, “I’m guessing in her room or in the stables.”
“Are you two insane? Do you not remember?” Leonid asked, frustrated.
“What are you talking about?” Chevalier asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Emily left three days ago in the Humvee,” he reminded them.
“She did what?” both Maleth and Chevalier said together.
“Can you blame her?” Mark said angrily from behind them, and then dropped his eyes. “Sir.”
“Explain yourself,” Chevalier hissed at the guard.
“I’m just saying, if I were her, I would have left too,” he explained.
“Why’s that?”
“I saw, Sir. I saw it all, and you’re lucky you didn’t kill her,” Mark growled.
“What are you talking about? I didn’t almost kill Emily.”
“Slamming her up against a wall isn’t trying to kill her? It may be safe to do that to one of us, but she’s mortal,” Leonid interjected.
“I didn’t slam her against a wall,” Chevalier hissed, and crossed his arms.
“I beg to differ,” Mark said, meeting his eyes. “Then Elder Maleth came in and sealed the deal by backhanding her across the room.”
“I… I did not,” Maleth said, shocked.
“Who told you we did these things?” Chevalier asked, and took a menacing step toward Mark.
“I saw them with my own eyes. At least two of them… it was one of the prison guards that saw you throw her against the prison wall. I just got to see you slam her several times into the bedroom wall,” Mark said, not moving.
“I did no such thing,” Chevalier growled.
“I didn’t hurt the child either,” Maleth said, hurt.
“If you two didn’t, then who did? When she ran out of here, she had blood on her and a bruise forming on her cheek and arm. Too many witnesses placed you two as the assailants,” Leonid said, watching them both.
“That’s insane, and let’s go get her, she can’t be far,” Chevalier said, pushing past Mark.
“Can’t be far? She left three days ago,” Leonid reminded him.
“No she didn’t. I was just with her last night,” He frowned.
Mark shook his head, “She’s been gone for three days.”
“That’s impossible, I was with her last night,” Chevalier said, to Leonid this time.
“Three days,” Leonid agreed, and then thought for a moment. “What day is it?”
“Wednesday,” Chevalier told him.
“It’s Friday.”
Chevalier sat down and looked at Maleth, “When’s the last time you saw her?”
“Yesterday, she was heading down to dinner with Allen,” Maleth said, looking at the guards.
“Three days,” Leonid said again.
“I think you are confused,” Chevalier pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed.
“Em, where are you?” he asked casually, and then frowned.
“Are you ok?” He winced at her answer and then shut his phone.
“She hung up on me,” he said, looking at them. “Did I really do those things?”
Leonid nod
ded, “I think we need to talk to Kyle.”
The three elders headed down to Kyle’s cell. He stood up and faced them, “Hello.”
“Kyle, we have a few questions for you,” Maleth said softly. His mind was still reeling with the thought that he may have hit Emily.
“Ok”
“Do you remember your time on the island?” Leonid asked him.
Kyle shook his head, “I didn’t even know I had been on an island until Emily told me.”
“When did you see Emily last?” Chevalier asked.
“Three days ago, right before she left,” Kyle glared at him.
“Was she upset?”
“Are you kidding me? You pulled her out of here by her collar and threw her against the wall. She came back down with bruises on her arm and tried to get me to leave with her. So yeah… I’d say she was upset,” Kyle watched him coldly.
“So it’s true, I did it,” Chevalier said, and he headed back up the stairs.
“What’s going on?” Kyle asked, as Leonid let him out of his cell.
“No one seems to remember what they did to Emily. We need to get to the bottom of this,” Leonid said. “Did she tell you where she was going?”
“No, I told her not to tell anyone,” Kyle told him, not ashamed of what he told her.
Chevalier was already in the Council’s conference room, deep in thought, when the others appeared.
They all sat down and Leonid sighed, “As it seems I’m the only one with a clear memory, we need to figure out what’s going on.”
Chevalier sighed, “She’s gone. I told her that the next time she felt afraid, that I would let her go. I even gave her enough money to buy her own ranch.”
“We just need to figure out what happened and then let her know,” Maleth said, he looked at his hand. He couldn’t imagine hitting a mortal, especially not Emily.
Damon stepped into the chambers and sat down, “You called for me?”
“When’s the last time you saw Emily?” Leonid asked him.
“It was three days ago, just before she left,” Damon explained, and looked around the table.
“Seems there’s a memory problem in our midst,” Leonid told him. “Neither Kyle, nor the Elders, remember assaulting her.”
“She shouldn’t have slipped her guards and gone into the prison,” he said, calmly.
“That’s no reason to be beaten,” Chevalier hissed at him.
***
Sam handed a small bag down to Emily, “I got you something.”
She looked up from the bathroom floor, “I don’t want anything.”
He pulled out a small box and handed it to her.
Emily looked at the box, and then up to Sam, “It’s the flu, Sam.”
“There are some crackers and 7up on your bedside table,” Sam said, shutting the door.
Emily leaned her head against the cold wall and looked at the box. She hadn’t even considered this to be anything but the flu. She turned the box over in her hand several times, and then threw it against the wall.
She heard the cell phone ring in the bedroom and Sam answered it.
“This is Sam.”
“No, she can’t come to the phone.”
“None of your business.”
“She released me from having to obey you.”
“Yes, I will tell her.”
She heard him click the phone shut, “Are you ok?”
“Yes,” she said, finally managing to get to her feet.
She came out from the bathroom and lay down on the bed, “Feed Allen, I’m going to nap.”
“Did you do it?” he asked, picking Allen up off the floor.
“No, it’s the flu,” she said, and shut her eyes.
***
“There has to be a connection. It’s no coincidence that those of you closest to Emily were the ones affected,” Damon said, leaning on the table.
“An Encala or Valle attack maybe?” Maleth suggested.
“This did pit the Elders against one another for a few days. It could be that,” Leonid said.
“Or their goal was to get Emily out from under our protection… and it worked,” Chevalier said, and sighed.
“I agree,” Damon said.
“The question is… how did they do it?” Chevalier asked.
“And do they have her?” Kyle asked, looking at Chevalier.
“I don’t know. I’m not getting anything from her,” he said softly.
“Have any Encala or Valle been spotted in the city?” Leonid asked Damon.
“Not since the mortal that Emily knew, but that was a long time ago,” he replied.
“Tim?” Chevalier frowned.
“Yeah, him.”
“A mortal couldn’t do this.”
“Not alone, no.”
“Bring him up here,” Chevalier ordered the guards. The Council’s conference room was quiet while they waited for the guards to bring him up. Tim came in, cowering from the guards, and sat down on the end chair.
“You… you called for me?” Tim asked, looking around at them.
“What did you do?” Chevalier asked, pounding his fist on the table.
Tim jumped, “What?” he asked quickly.
“We know you did something… something that made us do things to Emily to drive her off,” Leonid said, watching Tim carefully.
“I didn’t do anything,” he whispered.
Chevalier brought his fist down on Tim’s hand, and everyone in the room could hear the bones crush. Tim screamed.
“Try again,” Chevalier said, sitting back down.
“I didn’t… I swear,” Tim cried, cradling his hand.
Chevalier began to get up, but Damon beat him to it, “Wrong answer.”
Damon quickly reached out to Tim and pulled his arm out of the socket. It dangled limply at his side as he screamed again.
“It’s not me… I promise… it’s the Encala,” Tim said, crying.
“What are they doing?” Leonid asked him.
“I don’t know. They sent me in to see who was closest to Emily... That’s all I know,” he said, as tears streamed down his face.
“So you are in on it. Who do you report to?” Damon asked, and purposely bumped his limp arm.
“Stop, stop, I’ll tell you everything.” Tim said, groaning.
“Start talking, Boy,” Maleth hissed.
“They have a mind controller… but they needed to know who she was closest too. I was to tell them when she left, so then they could pick her up,” Tim said, watching the floor and speaking through sobs.
“Did you do it? Did you tell them when she left?” Damon asked.
Tim nodded, “I had to, or they would kill me.”
“Who did you tell?”
“The Encala Elders.”
Damon blurred behind Tim and wrenched his neck to the side, easily killing him. Tim’s body fell to the floor of the conference room.
“Call the Encala Elders here, tonight,” Chevalier said, slamming his chair against the wall as he stood. “Kyle, call Alec, see if Emily is there.”
“She won’t go back there. She knows we would check,” Kyle said, deep in thought.
“Then where else can she be?” he asked.
“You gave her the money to buy a ranch, maybe she has it already,” Kyle suggested.
“No, I put more money in there last week and the full amount was there. It takes time to buy a ranch.” Chevalier narrowed his eyes, “Let me see how much is in there now.”
“You promised her…” Kyle said, and then stopped.
Chevalier dialed a number and after a few minutes hung up, “The full amount is there, so she’s not at a hotel unless she has money elsewhere.”
***
“Sam,” Emily called from the bathroom floor.
“Yes, Emily?” he asked, opening it slowly.
Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series Page 12
