“Here’s your damn test,” she told him, throwing the blue plastic stick to him. He caught it and looked at it for a few seconds.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and tossed it into the trash.
“I don’t need this right now. I don’t need to be pregnant while I try to set up a new life,” she told him, slipping down the wall onto the floor.
“I know,” he whispered, and watched her. He sighed when the phone in his pocket rang. For the past few weeks they had been in Kyle’s house, it had gone off several times a day
“Let me have it,” Emily said, reaching her hand out. She hadn’t spoken to anyone from the palace since Chevalier’s first call, so she thought she’d give Sam a break. He handed the phone to her.
“What?”
“Emily?” Chevalier asked, surprised.
“Who were you expecting?”
“You sound like something’s wrong, tell me,” he said, concerned.
“Why did you call?”
“You have to listen to me, Em. We were being controlled by the Encala. We didn’t hurt you, I swear. Kyle is out of jail too, that wasn’t him,” he spoke as fast as he could, before she could hang up.
“Nice try, don’t you get it? I’m tired of it… the attacks, the bites, being watched, and chastised like a child when I need to get away,” she explained.
“I know, but we can work it out.”
“It’s too late. Do you know how many times I’ve been hit since I left? None… and how many times someone’s bitten me since I left? None.”
“Please, Emily, I love you.”
She squeezed her eyes together, “I know,” she said, her voice cracking, “But it’s over. I can’t do it anymore.”
“We can change,” he said, desperately. She clicked the phone shut and leaned her head back. Sam left quietly and went out to the living room to play with Allen.
Emily came out a short time later with crackers. She handed one to Allen, and then sat down on the couch to eat the other one.
“We could get rid of it,” Sam said, watching her.
“What?” she asked, looking at him.
“The baby.”
She sighed, “I can’t do that.”
“I figured.” He then turned into a cat and pawed at Allen playfully.
***
“We don’t know what you’re talking about and are offended by the idea of it,” the Encala Elder said. They sent only one Elder and three of his guards.
“We already know you did it. Your weak mortal pawn told us that. What we need to know is how,” Damon said, looking down at him.
“I won’t stand here and be insulted.” The Encala Elder turned for the door.
“You do realize you aren’t leaving here until we get what we want,” Damon said, as the room filled with the Cavalry.
He spun toward the Council, “You can’t hold me here.”
“We can. You broke all rules when you controlled us to gain access to the Winchester,” Maleth told him angrily.
“Oh? Is she gone then?” the Encala Elder smiled.
“No, we stopped her, but we know what your plans were,” Damon told him.
“She’s not here.” He grinned, “We are watching her closely.”
“That’s a lie,” Chevalier said. “If you know where she is, you would have her already. You wouldn’t stand by and watch her.”
“Believe what you want,” he said. The Encala turned to leave, but was stopped by the strong hands of the Cavalry.
“Let us know when you are ready to talk,” Damon said, and nodded. The Cavalry roughly forced the Encala out of the room and into prison cells.
“After the interrogation room, flood light into their cell. I don’t want them seeing darkness,” Chevalier ordered, and then stood up and left the room. He hadn’t been back to their bedroom yet, and he hesitated outside of the door.
As he walked in, he noticed how quiet and cold the room seemed. Emily’s things were scattered around the room, her suitcase, half packed, was still sitting on the bed. He picked up her sweater and held it in his hands, feeling the softness of it and he could pick up a trace of her scent.
Sitting on the bed, Chevalier reached out for her and again felt nothing. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t tell how she felt, but the silence was foreign to him and he growled.
***
“Emily, I brought you some breakfast,” Sam said, walking into the dark room.
“I’m not hungry,” she said from under the covers.
“You haven’t gotten out of bed in four days. You can’t hide.”
“Just leave,” she said, and sighed when the phone rang again.
“Sam here,” he said, answering.
“Emily,” He turned to her, “It’s Kyle.”
A hand shot out from under the covers and he handed her the phone, “When will you stop calling us?”
“Emily, are you ok?”
“Yes”
“You sound sick.”
“Thanks”
Kyle paused, “Chevalier is telling the truth. Remember when I told you in the prison that I couldn’t remember the island? It also happened to him and Maleth.”
“Even if I believed you, it wouldn’t matter. I can’t live with the heku anymore. I can’t be trapped, and watched, and monitored.”
“We’ve talked about that, and it will be different, I promise.”
“You say that now, but the next time I’m attacked, it will all come back. Don’t you realize how much easier life at the palace will be without me?”
“I know how boring it will be.”
“Good-bye, Kyle,” she said, and hung up the phone. She felt guilty. She was in his house, using his money, and couldn’t even tell him where she was.
“Emily, I’m going into town for some supplies. Do you need anything?” Sam asked.
“Yes, I need some shoes. I still don’t have any… and some clothes. I can’t keep wearing Kyle’s shirts around,” she said, sitting up, “We need to start looking for a ranch.”
Sam smiled, he was glad to see her out of bed, “I’ll take Allen. He’s getting cabin fever.”
She nodded and headed in to take a long, hot shower. When she got out of the bathroom, she saw new jeans and t-shirts on the bed. She slipped into them and went downstairs, where Sam was looking through the paper.
“Find anything?” she asked, sitting down with a glass of 7-up.
“There’s some ranch property in Montana,” he said, looking up.
She shook her head, “I don’t want memories, no Montana, no Maine, and no Colorado.”
Sam frowned, “Morning sickness still bad?”
“Yeah, I guess, same as last time. What about Texas?”
He thumbed through the newspaper, “Wow, there’s a lot of property for sale in Texas. What’s our price range?”
“I don’t really know. I can call and find out,” she said, grabbing the envelope from the table and pulling out a bank card. She called the number, entered more numbers, and gasped. She hung up the phone and disappeared into the bedroom.
“Mommy’s crying,” Allen said, looking at Sam.
“Come on, let’s go look through those toys we got.” Sam took Allen’s hand.
***
Chevalier stood outside the strange ranch house and looked around. The house was quiet, and there was a black Dodge pick-up outside by the garage. He heard hoof beats as someone rode toward him. He turned and watched the boy on the horse. He was a teenager with black hair and green eyes.
“Who’re you?” he asked, stopping his horse at Chevalier.
“Are you Allen?”
“Yeah.” The boy looked at him curiously.
“I’m looking for your mother,” he said, studying the teenage features of his son. It had been 12 years since he’d seen him. For twelve years he held his promise and stayed away from them.
“She’s up in south pasture with Aaron.”
“Who is Aaron?” Chevalier felt a pang of jealousy.
He worried that she had found someone else and just hoped that he was good to her.
“My little brother,” the boy said, looking over his shoulder. “Here comes Mom.”
Chevalier looked at the horses coming closer and his heart pounded in his chest. Emily hadn’t changed at all. Her red hair spilled out from the cowboy hat and she was smiling at the boy next to her on the painted stallion. He was talking to her and smiling. Black hair peeked out from under his Stetson.
Emily stopped her horse as soon as she saw Chevalier.
“Get inside,” she told the boys.
Aaron and Allen both slipped off of their horses and tied them to a post, and then went inside, keeping a close eye on the strange man.
“What do you want?” she asked Chevalier, sliding off of her horse.
“Is Aaron mine?” he asked. Her piercing green eyes bored deep into his soul.
“Nothing on this ranch is yours,” she said.
Both turned to the house as Allen came out with a shotgun. He handed it to Emily, and then stood by her with his arms crossed. Chevalier was amazed how much he looked like her, how he stood like her, and the way he held his jaw.
“It’s nice to see you are taking care of your Mom,” Chevalier said, smiling.
Allen’s eyes narrowed, “Want me to call the Sheriff?”
“No, go back inside,” she said, and cocked the shotgun when Allen obeyed.
“Are you going to shoot me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t have to kill you. I just have to slow you down enough that I can get away,” she quoted something Kyle said to her long ago.
Chevalier nodded, “I just wanted to see that you’re ok.”
“We’re fine.”
She slipped off her leather gloves and laid them down on the horse’s saddle. Chevalier caught a glimpse of the essence ring as she pushed her hands into her pockets. He knew Aaron had to be his. She hadn’t found anyone else.
“Elder?” he heard someone calling him, and it broke him out of his trance. He frowned. He never slept or dreamed, but imagined that was what a dream would be like and wondered if the dream was Emily’s.
“Yes?” he asked Mark.
“The Encala Elder is requesting a conference with you.”
“Very well, I’ll go to his cell,” Chevalier said, standing up. The dream had shaken him. He couldn’t imagine going twelve years without seeing Emily or Allen. He pulled himself out of the thought and squared his shoulders toward the Encala Elder.
“You called for me?” he asked, leaning back against the wall.
“This is torture! I demand you destroy that interrogation chamber immediately,” the Elder scowled at him.
“No”
“The Encala won’t stand for this.”
“Emily keeps them at bay. They are afraid to come and get you,” he said, coldly.
“They know she’s gone, I told you that. They will come.”
“Tell me what I want and I’ll let you go.”
“They have an ancient,” Chevalier heard from beside him. He turned to the cell by the Elder.
“Shut up,” the Encala Elder hissed toward the cell.
“An ancient did this?” Chevalier asked, stepping toward the cell.
“Please, let me feed,” he begged.
“Open the door,” Chevalier told the guard.
“You are a traitor!” the Elder yelled to his now former faction member.
The guards opened the door and Chevalier wrapped his hand around the back of the Encala’s neck, leading him upstairs. They stepped into the Council’s conference room, and he sat down as Chevalier sat by Damon, the only other one there.
“He said the Encala have an ancient,” Chevalier told Damon.
“A mind controlling ancient?” Damon asked.
“Please, let me feed,” the Encala said.
“When we are done, you’ll get your thirst quenched,” Damon told him.
“Yes, the Ancient can control minds,” the Encala said, licking his lips.
“How does he control us?” Chevalier asked.
“I don’t think they’ve asked him.”
“How do they know he’s not controlling him then?”
“It takes a mortal. There are no mortals in the Encala palace,” he said, proudly.
Chevalier frowned, “How does it take a mortal?”
“I don’t know. I just know that it takes a mortal in the area before the Ancient can control a heku. So they sent Tim, knowing he’d be thrown in the palace prison,” he explained. He seemed proud that he knew all of the information.
“Why not use Emily?”
“We knew she would leave, and we still needed control.”
“How is it you know all of this?” Chevalier asked him.
“I’m on the Council… or was… now I’m thinking I’m a free heku,” he said, frowning slightly.
Damon blurred to the Encala and tore his head off in one swift movement, “Do you think he was telling the truth?”
“One way to find out… we’ll ask for an exchange, their Elder for the Ancient,” Chevalier said, stepping over the mess on the floor.
Damon walked out with him, “That also means that it’s not safe for her to come back until we get that Ancient. They can use her to get to us.”
“I’m not sure she will come back,” Chevalier said, walking toward the foyer.
“We’ll find her, I’m sure of it. If you can just talk to her...” he suggested, and then fell silent.
***
“You go and check it out. I’m not sure I can leave the house yet,” Emily said, making lunch.
“I can’t leave you and Allen alone,” Sam said.
“I’m pretty sure that was an order. Make sure the house is nice and the stables are in good order. Also, check their farm logs and make sure they’ve been putting out good crops,” she said.
“I can’t believe he left us enough money for that large of a place.”
“I know,” she said, staring out the window.
“I’ll go in the morning then,” he told her, and disappeared.
“Where’s he going?” Allen asked, as Emily spooned him some stew.
“To Texas. He’s going to check on a new house for us.”
“With Daddy?”
“No, Baby, not with Daddy.” She sat down, but couldn’t eat. Her stomach was still turning circles, and her diet now consisted of 7up and crackers.
Emily curled up with Allen to sleep. She hated to sleep alone and Allen started sleeping with her. She watched as he slept and she felt her heart ache. She ran her fingers through his black hair and lightly kissed his forehead. Emily woke up a bit when Sam left the house for Texas, and then fell right back asleep. This baby was making her more tired than Allen had.
Emily sat up quickly when she heard a truck approaching. She pulled the covers over Allen and ran to the front door. She stepped out, still wearing one of Kyle’s old shirts, and waited for the truck to stop. The windows were tinted too darkly for her to see who it was. She gasped when Kyle stepped out. He stood by the truck and looked at her.
“Hello,” he said, unsure of how she would react.
“I would tell you to go away, but it’s your house,” she said, crossing her arms. It was cold outside with just the thin shirt.
“I just want to talk to you,” he said, stepping up toward her.
“Are you alone?”
“Yes”
“But I suppose they know where you are.”
“No, they don’t.” He stopped a few yards away from her.
“You didn’t tell them?”
“No,” he said, watching her eyes. “I didn’t want to scare you away. I’ve had a feeling for a few weeks that you were here.”
“I’m not going back, and if you’ll let me stay here for another week, I’ll be out of your hair,” she told him.
“Please, let me talk to you.”
“Start talking.” She was afraid of letting him too close t
o her. She wasn’t sure how strong the pregnancy scent was yet.
“At least let’s go inside where it’s warmer.”
Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series Page 13
