Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (36 page)

“Just kill him!” the Captain
yelled.

“No,” the Elder told him,
and turned to the guards. “Whoever has the council chambers… tell
them to start taking it apart.”

“Yes, Elder,” one of the
Equites guards said, and bowed before blurring away.

Crashes were almost
immediately heard coming from the council chambers and Chevalier
smiled at the Captain.

“It’s disgusting,” the
Encala yelled.

“I would imagine… however, you should
never let the enemy into your palace.”

“Elder,” Silas said,
coming up the stairs. “We’ve found how to get the palace out of
lockdown, and the city is almost clear, battalions 3, 4 and 5 are
waiting outside for access.”

“Open it up, have them come in and get
some frustrations out… destroy this building,” Chevalier
ordered.

Silas grinned, bowed, and then blurred
away.

“This is getting boring,”
Chevalier said, and tore the head from the starving
Captain.

“Just kill me!” the last
remaining Captain hissed. Blood quit pouring from his missing arm
and skin had already grown to cover the area.

“Nope, you’re my new toy,”
Chevalier said, and turned to one of the guards. “Make sure he’s
taken, unharmed, to Council City and put in prison.”

“Yes, Elder,” he said, and
then hauled the Captain away.

Chevalier looked down at
the suffering General. The skin had grown back over his chest wound
but the pain his face showed was intense as his body struggled to
live without the missing heart, “You… I think we’ll just leave
you.”

The General’s back arched as the pain
increased.

“Elder, the city is
finished,” Thukil Captain Darren said when he walked up. “The
houses are either in ruin or burning. We figure only about 400 heku
fled, the rest were killed.”

Chevalier grinned, “Alert
the Valle and our Council that we’ve taken the Encala City, and its
palace is now under our control. Make sure the Valle know we won’t
tolerate even them within the city walls right now.”

“Yes, Elder,” Darren said,
and disappeared to make the calls.

“What now, Elder?” Horace
asked. “We’ve never actually taken the palace before.”

“Now we hold it. The
Encala will put out a call for help, and covens will begin to
arrive… We hold them off.”

“Yes, Elder,” he replied,
and moved off to alert the troops.

***

Chevalier sat on Encala
Elder William’s chair in the council chambers. His feet were
propped up on what was left of the desk while he listened to
everything around him, trying to catch where the next Encala attack
was coming in.

“Dad?” Allen said, and
moved up beside him.

Chevalier looked up at his
son.

“It’s almost time for Mom to
call.”

He nodded, “I’d like to listen
again.”

“I figured, that’s why I’m
here,” Allen said, and brushed the rubble off of another chair
before sitting down. It was only a few minutes later when the phone
rang. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, how are
you?”

“I’m fine. Sitting bored
on the island is all.”

“Sounds nice actually.
I’ve been so busy.”

“Doing what?”

“Just stuff. I’m getting
ready for a horse sale and we have hay that’s about ready to
harvest.”

“That sounds like fun. How
is Dain?”

“He’s good. He’s pretty
proud of himself because he’s taller than I am now,” she said, and
sounded amused.

“I bet he is… and Alex?”

“She’s studying. I had to
hire a tutor. I tried to put her in regular school, but that didn’t
work out.”

“I would image it
wouldn’t.”

There was a slight pause.

“So… nothing new going
on?” Emily asked.

“Not really,” Allen said,
and grinned slightly at Chevalier. “Heku stuff is all.”

“Right, right, are you still
studying?”

“No, Dad’s letting me try out for the
Island Coven guard staff.”

“Ew, be careful, I don’t trust
them.”

“I know you don’t. I wish
you would.”

“Just be careful around them. I’d
prefer if you didn’t join the guard staff… can’t you do something
else?”

Allen grinned, “I can I suppose, but I
don’t want to.”

“Then join Thukil and do Cavalry
instead.”

“Mom… Miri and I like Island Coven and
I want to be a part of Dad’s guards.”

“I wish I had my dogs. Do
you know if they’re being taken care of?” Emily asked.

Allen sighed, “They were…”

“What?”

“The fake Dad… had them
killed.”

“What!?” she gasped.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t
find out until after the fact or I would have taken
them.”

“Stop with the fake Dad
shit too. I’m not up for that.”

“Ok,” he whispered. He
knew if he pushed the issue that she would hang up, “Is there any
way we can meet, just you and I?”

“I’ve been trying to
decide how best to do that. I really miss you.”

“Just name it, I won’t tell
Dad.”

“I’ve told you, I’m not
going to do anything that makes you choose between him and me. I’ll
keep thinking and come up with a way.”

“Well, at least let’s
webcam next Sunday. I’d like to be able to see you.”

There was a slight pause and when she
spoke, she was laughing slightly, “You’re going to check for
injuries, aren’t you?”

“Not injuries… or… I just want to see
you,” Allen told her.

“Fine, I’ll webcam in next
week.”

Allen smiled, “I can’t
wait.”

“I better go. Dain’s been
complaining about being thirsty, dang he drinks a lot.”

“How are you feeding him
then?”

“Alexis wants to talk to
you. I can’t trust her yet, but just know she misses you really
bad.”

“Mom, I have one more
question.”

“Ok,” she asked, sounding
unsure.

“Rumor has it, around the Equites,
when you left… that you are pregnant.”

“I know he’s listening,”
Emily said, and her voice sounded angry. “So… Chevalier… mind your
own fucking business.”

Allen glanced over at his Dad when she
disconnected the line.

“When are you heading
back?”

Allen nodded, “I’m actually heading
back today.”

“Let me know if she calls.”

“I will…” Allen stopped
talking when the phone rang again. He answered it on speaker,
“Mom?”

“No,” Alexis whispered.

“Alex! Please, tell me where you are,”
Allen said, shocked.

“I can’t,” she whispered
even softer. “I won’t betray Mom… but there are problems
here.”

“Heku problems?”

“Mainly mortal ones. I
don’t know what’s going on, but Mom keeps getting attacked by
mortal men.”

“Mainly?”

“Mainly”

“So there have been heku attacks?”
Allen asked.

“It’s irritating how mortal men seek
her out and end up over-stepping,” Alexis whispered.

Allen sighed, “We suspect
that mortals are attracted to the Winchester scent. They just don’t
know it.”

“She had a bad attack last
night. One of her ranch hands attacked her with a knife… if Tucker
and Pelton hadn’t shown up, I don’t know what would have
happened.”

“Who’re Tucker and
Pelton?”

Alexis grew silent for a few seconds,
“I can’t say.”

“Does Mom have a
boyfriend?”

“No, are you kidding? Her
employees are scared to death of her. They are just field-hands
that have been good friends.”

Allen shrugged, “What do you want me
to do? I can’t help if I don’t know where you are.”

“Alexis?” Chevalier said.

“Oh my God,
Dad?”

“Can you talk to your Mom?
She needs to understand what a doppelganger is.”

“I can’t. She clams up if
anyone mentions you.”

“Try, please, that wasn’t
me… those things that were said, and that she thinks I did, none of
that was me.”

“I know, and I’ll try… but
she’s pretty mean.”

“Mean?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes, she flies off the
handle in an instant. She demands things from the employees, and is
harsh with punishments. Everyone here is so afraid of her that we
have a very high turn-around rate. The only ones that’ve stayed the
entire 4 months are Pelton and Tucker.”

“Don’t put yourself at risk
then.”

“Dain is big, Dad… like…
scary big, and he follows Mom around and won’t let anyone near her.
He was upset because during the attack last night, he was inside
with me and wasn’t with her. I suspect now he won’t let Mom out of
his sight,” Alexis explained.

“How is he with her? Does she upset
him or anger him?” Allen asked.

“No, he adores her.”

“Please, Alex, where are
you?”

“She’s coming,” Alexis whispered and
hung up the phone.

“I’m heading back,” Allen
said when Chevalier sat back to think. His Dad simply nodded and
Allen left for Island Coven.

Chevalier held tightly to
the woman’s hand and sunk his teeth into her wrist. She gasped when
she felt the sting of his teeth and then began to relax back
against the bench. When finished, he tossed $100 onto the table and
left without a word

“Damn, that one hurts when he bites,”
she complained to her friend when Chevalier was out of the room,
though he heard and grinned.

He got back into his
Humvee and sped away from the house of his donor. He didn’t care
that he’d hurt her, didn’t care to bite softly, or even try to be
gentle. In the two months since the Encala city fell under his
control, his entire attitude had changed. He no longer bothered to
try to be nice, and enjoyed the way heku cowered when he walked by
and ran to get away from him as he passed.

The entire Cavalry was
scouring the country, desperate to find Emily to try and calm the
Elder. He banished heku for minor infractions, and killed anyone
who even came close to crossing him. The guards were strict and
conforming, eager to do what they could to please him.

Encala City was still
under Equites control. Even the Valle had asked for it to be
returned to the Encala, but Chevalier angrily told them that he
would occupy their palace for the 5 months they had him abducted.
The entire Encala faction was in ruins. What covens they had left,
no longer tried to retake the city, but stayed hidden in their
covens, hoping that the Encala could someday reclaim their
city.

Chevalier pulled the
Humvee up and stopped it at the front doors to the Encala Palace.
The four door guards bowed when they saw him, and he walked into
the palace, avoiding the rubble and ignoring how smoke poured out
of the seventh floor.

He stopped when he heard a
woman scream, and looked up just as a mortal woman came running out
of the second-floor foyer and down the stairs. She blew past him,
grasping her neck, and two of the Equites guards appeared
laughing.

Chevalier walked up to them, “Were you
feeding without consent?”

“No, Elder!” one of them
said. “I just don’t think she planned on it hurting.”

He nodded, “I take it she
was an exclusive Encala donor?”

“Yes, Elder,” he replied,
and grinned.

Chevalier started back up
the stairs and went into the Encala’s council chambers, where he’d
spent the last two months, overseeing any Encala attacks and
fielding questions from the Encala and Valle Councils.

***

Chevalier looked up when
Kyle walked in and sat down beside him, “We have a really good
lead.”

“Oh?”

“There’s an Equestrian
Ranch outside of Richmond, Kentucky. It was purchased 8 months ago
by a single woman. We’ve talked to some of the people in Richmond,
and no one’s seen her. They said she keeps to herself and one of
her field hands does all of the shopping.”

Chevalier thought before
speaking, “I want to go on this one. It’s too
coincidental.”

Kyle nodded, “I figured
you would. The helicopter is waiting.”

The flight to Richmond,
Kentucky, took most of the day and they arrived just as the sun was
setting. Four of the Cavalry were waiting for them at the landing
zone, including Silas and Mark. Chevalier stepped out and looked
around.

“We’ll wait until full
dark, and then run up to the house. Avoid contact with anyone, even
Dain and Alexis. I want no contact. I only want recognizance to
ascertain if this is the correct ranch,” the Elder
ordered.