Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “I’m fine.”

  Kyle sighed, “He’s miserable, Em. Actually, we all are. The three of us… myself, Maleth, and Chevalier are all devastated by what we did to you. It was a mind controlling ancient.”

  “That doesn’t change anything.”

  “It should, you’re safer with us.”

  “Oh? You know… since I’ve been in this house, I’ve not been attacked or bitten. Seems to me like I’m safer here.”

  “For now, but the Encala and the Valle are looking for you… and they will find you.” He took another step towards her.

  “I can take care of them myself,” she said.

  “Only small groups of them. They know that, and I’m sure they’ll send hundreds.” He took one step closer.

  “Stay back,” she said, taking a step back.

  “I hadn’t planned on going back without you,” he said.

  “That’s fine, as I said, in a week you can have the place to yourself.”

  “Just think about it. Let me spend that week with you,” he asked.

  “No, stay back,” she said again, and started to panic when he advanced on her and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

  “We’ve missed you,” he told her, and then his body froze and he pulled back from her, his eyes wide.

  “Go away,” she said, and opened the door.

  “Emily, does he know?”

  She stopped and lowered her head, “No.”

  “He needs to know. This changes everything,” Kyle said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  She pulled away from him, “No it doesn’t. It makes things worse if I go back. I can do this alone, and that’s what I plan to do.”

  Kyle stepped into the house and winced slightly. He turned toward the door and smelled the fresh air. He hated the feeling her pregnant scent gave him, the primal urge to drink, “I’ll stay with you this week.”

  “See, the heku have a hard time doing as I wish,” she said, shutting the door behind them.

  “Give me one week. Just one week.”

  “You’ll leave if I tell you to?”

  “Yes, even though it’s my house.”

  “Kyle!” Allen yelled, running for him. Kyle scooped Allen up in his arms and hugged him.

  Emily fought it for as long as she could, but finally ran for the bathroom.

  “Mommy’s sick,” Allen told Kyle.

  “Yeah I see.” Kyle put Allen down and poured a glass of 7up. He went to the bathroom door and knocked.

  “Go away,” she said to him.

  “I have some 7up for you.”

  She thought for a moment, “Ok.”

  Kyle opened the door and handed the glass over to her. She was sitting on the floor, leaning up against the wall.

  “Do you need anything else?”

  She shut the door with her foot and heard a phone ring.

  Kyle answered, “Yes?”

  “I’m in Colorado.” Emily cringed and listened.

  “No sign yet. I checked at your house up by Buford, but no one’s been there.”

  “I guess maybe Nevada after I check out one more thing here.”

  “Yes, I will, as soon as I find anything.” He hung up the phone.

  “You lied to him,” Emily said from the doorway.

  “Right now, my main concern is you,” he told her, sliding the phone back into his pocket.

  “I’m ok, Kyle. I’ve made up my mind. Moving Allen and I back into the human world is what’s right for us,” she said, sitting down with a box of crackers.

  “He’ll go into stasis, you know that.”

  “I figured as much, but I have to look after Allen and… all of us,” she said, biting a cracker.

  “What will you do if the Encala or Valle find you?”

  “Fight back. I’ll do the best I can to take them out,” she said, starting to feel sick again.

  “It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when.”

  “I know… but I have to take my chances.”

  “Was it that bad?”

  “Yes, being watched and babysat was humiliating, and I refuse to raise my son confined and trapped. Boys need to run, and play, and climb trees. They need to skin their knees and break bones,” she said to him.

  “We know that, and we’ve discussed how things can be different if you’ll come back.”

  “I can’t come back. I’ve been attacked more since I moved in with the heku than before,” she reminded him.

  He nodded, “We realize that. We also realize that the more we pushed you under our protective thumb, the more you put yourself in harm’s way to get away.”

  “I’m going to take a nap. Will you watch Allen?” she asked, standing up and wobbling slightly.

  “Emily, you don’t look well,” he said, steadying her with his hand.

  “I’m fine,” she told him, disappearing through the foyer and upstairs to the bedroom.

  “She’s stubborn,” Kyle said, and smiled at Allen.

  “Where’s Daddy?”

  “He’s at the palace.”

  “Call him!” Allen asked, handing Kyle Emily’s cell phone.

  “Let’s not, he’s busy at work.”

  Allen frowned and crawled down from the table to play with a toy fire truck. Kyle watched him and listened to Emily cry in her room. After twenty minutes, she finally fell asleep. Kyle put Allen down for a nap and then went into his office. He glanced a few times at his phone, and then let his mind fall into a trance. The sound of footsteps brought him out, but he hadn’t made any decisions yet.

  He walked toward the living room and saw Emily lying on the couch. He sat down next to her and looked at her pale face.

  “Emily, honestly, let’s take you to a doctor.”

  “No, I can’t leave the house,” she said, watching the TV.

  “You don’t look well.”

  “Funny, I don’t feel all that hot either, but I’m not leaving.” She flipped through channels.

  Kyle moved over and sat in his recliner and watched the TV as she flipped through the channels repeatedly. He looked over when Emily’s phone rang, then stood up and handed it to her.

  “Thanks,” she said, and flipped it open. “What?”

  “I’m so sorry I don’t sound well.” She rolled her eyes and Kyle smiled.

  “No, actually I don’t.”

  “No, I haven’t gone to a doctor, but wow, I’m hearing an echo in here.”

  Kyle chuckled and turned back to the TV.

  “Why did you call?”

  “I’m perfectly aware that the Valle and Encala are looking for me.”

  “Won’t matter, I’m moving soon,” she said, and hung up the phone.

  “How’s Chevalier?” Kyle asked, smiling.

  “Irritated, as usual,” she answered, and he saw her eyes fill up with tears, so he looked away.

  They were both quiet for a few minutes while they watched the news.

  “I’m going to take a nap,” she said, standing up slowly and grabbing her 7up.

  “You just woke up 30 minutes ago.”

  “Yeah and I’m still tired,” she snapped, and went back to bed.

  Kyle watched Allen, then fed him dinner, and put him to bed in a spare room. He snuck into Emily’s room and watched her all night as she slept. He still didn’t like her color, or the way she slept without moving. He’d seen her sleep enough to know she was naturally a restless sleeper, usually plagued by nightmares.

  He left her room when Allen woke up in the morning. He fed the toddler breakfast, and checked on Emily often. He grabbed her phone quickly when it rang, and looked at the ID. It was Sam.

  “Sam?” Kyle asked.

  The other end was quiet.

  “She’s ok, I’m here with her.”

  “Kyle, you better not lay a finger on her,” Sam said, angrily.

  “I won’t. I’m worried about her, she’s sleeping a lot.”

  Sam sighed, “Define a lot.”

  “Napped t
wice, but the last one was all night, so right about 16 hours,” Kyle said, concerned.

  “Did she sleep a lot when she was first pregnant with Allen?” Sam asked.

  “No one knows, the Valle had her,” Kyle said, irritated.

  “This deal fell through. I’ll be back tomorrow morning,” Sam said, and hung up the phone.

  Kyle decided it was time to wake Emily. He sat down beside her and touched her arm. She opened her eyes slightly.

  “What?” she mumbled.

  “Em, how far along are you?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, and fell back to sleep.

  “Great,” Kyle whispered. He left a note for Emily, dressed Allen in a warm coat, and left the house, locking the door behind him.

  When they got back to the house, Allen was enjoying an ice cream cone and Kyle carried a bag full of supplies. They visited the library, and he had a chance to research human pregnancy. He discovered that Emily was sleeping too much, and all he could come up with was low blood sugar.

  Kyle dumped the groceries out on the counter and pulled a cookbook from his coat, “Ok Allen, let’s cook.”

  Allen stood on a chair beside Kyle and watched as he began to cut up vegetables.

  Emily peeked around the corner, “Are you cooking?”

  “Yes, we are,” Kyle replied, stirring something in a skillet.

  “Don’t hurt yourself,” she said, and refilled her glass of 7up.

  Kyle sat a plate down by her, and she cringed away from it, “I’m not hungry.”

  “You need to eat. I did some research, and I think your blood sugar is low,” he explained, sitting down by her.

  “That’s what you think is it?” she asked, and picked up a fork, stabbing a piece of chicken.

  “Yes”

  “Hrm, this is good,” she said, taking another bite.

  Kyle smiled and high-fived Allen, “We did it, Kiddo.”

  “Yeah,” Allen said, and grinned.

  “Oh, Sam called. He said he’ll be back in the morning… he said the deal fell through.”

  Emily dropped her fork, “Great.”

  “There will be other deals, just eat,” he told her, handing her back her fork.

  “I liked that one.”

  “You can stay here as long as you like. I could even give the house to you,” he suggested.

  “I want a ranch, and I’m not going to take your house.”

  “You just don’t want me knowing where you are,” he mumbled.

  “You’re right,” she said, and smiled.

  ***

  “We’ll be back in an hour or so,” Emily said, kissing Allen good-bye.

  “We’ll be here,” Sam said.

  Emily stepped out of the house for the first time in weeks, and hopped into the Humvee. Kyle crawled into the seat next to her and smiled. She looked out over the snow packed road and gripped the steering wheel with shaky hands.

  “Do you want me to drive?” Kyle asked, taking one of her shaking hands in his.

  “It’s not the drive… it’s not safe out here.” She watched the snow fall.

  “No one but me knows where you are. You have to get out of that house,” he said, and reached over to start the engine.

  Emily nodded and put the Humvee into drive, “You sure we shouldn’t take your truck?”

  “The Hummer is better in this kind of snow, it’s ok,” he said, sitting back in the seat.

  Emily moved slowly through the narrow snowy road and breathed easier when she saw black top. Her speed picked up as she hit I-70 for the road trip into Denver.

  “See, this isn’t so bad,” Kyle said, smiling as her hands quit shaking.

  “Not bad at all.” She grinned, but then her face fell when she heard the siren.

  Kyle looked behind them, “Are you speeding?”

  “No,” she said, and pulled off to the right hand side of the freeway.

  “Just act casual,” he suggested, leaning back.

  Emily rolled her window down and looked at the police officer. He was standing a ways back from her window with his hand on his gun.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked.

  “Step out of the car, Ma’am,” he said, as two more police cruisers pulled up.

  Emily looked at Kyle and then opened the door and stepped out. She went from looking down on the officer to him looking down on her when she got out of the jacked up Humvee.

  “You too, Sir, get out,” an officer said from Kyle’s side of the car.

  Emily heard Kyle’s door open and he walked around to her side. When he appeared, both were shoved against the truck.

  “Hey, watch it,” Kyle growled, as was Emily slammed into the truck.

  “Shut up,” the officer said, putting handcuffs on Kyle. Emily watched Kyle allow the handcuffs as she felt hers being tightened.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, wincing.

  “This vehicle has been reported stolen,” the officer said, spinning her around to face him.

  “It’s my husband’s car,” she said, frowning.

  “Yeah, well, you can tell that to the judge,” he said, and ushered her into the back of his car. Kyle was put in a different patrol car and Emily frowned at him. She wondered why he didn’t break the cuffs and blur away.

  Emily was so mad, she was shaking as they took her picture and fingerprinted her. She was furious when the deputy announced to the room, Kyle included, that she was five foot even. She blushed and saw Kyle turn away from her and laugh.

  Emily was separated from Kyle and given an ugly orange jumpsuit. She put it on and was taken to a cell. The loud bang of the door slamming made her skin crawl. She looked around at the empty cells and sat down on the hard bed.

  Kyle arrived at the cell next to her almost an hour later. Once his door was shut and the deputy left, he came to the bars that separated them.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “No, I’m not ok. My husband just put me in jail,” she said, angrily.

  “I called Sam. He wasn’t there, but I left a message for him to come and bail us out,” he said, amused.

  “This is not funny.” She glared at him.

  “Oh come on, it is a little.”

  “Why are you even here? Why didn’t you break the handcuffs and blur away?”

  “Because then, you would have to explain what happened, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah I guess.”

  Kyle smiled, “That was pretty smart of him.”

  She looked at him shocked, “Are you kidding me?”

  “Come on, it worked, he found you,” Kyle said, still laughing.

  “Yeah well he found you too… how well do you think that’s going to go over?”

  “Oh, hadn’t thought of that,” Kyle said, sitting down on the bed in his cell.

  Emily curled up on the hard bed and stared at the wall. She became more and more angry, both at Chevalier and at Sam as the night came and they were still in jail. It wasn’t until 3am when a deputy appeared and opened their cells.

  “You’ve been bailed out,” he said, tossing their clothes at them.

  Emily stormed out of the cell and changed quickly in the bathroom. Kyle was waiting for her in the lobby when she got out.

  “They said he’s waiting for us outside,” Kyle said, obviously having fun. He opened the door for her and she stepped out into the cold air. When they left the house it was still warm enough she hadn’t needed a jacket.

  “I’m so glad you find this funny,” she said, walking down the ice covered sidewalk.

  Kyle laughed and then stopped and put an arm out to stop Emily. She looked up and glared.

  “I was surprised when I found that I needed to bail out two of you,” Chevalier said, and leaned up against the Humvee.

  “You put me in jail,” she snapped at him.

  “Yes, I did. Now get in the Humvee where it’s warmer,” he said, opening the door.