Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (40 page)

“You know that through all
of that, the Cavalry was behind you.”

She stopped and turned toward him, “I
know.”

“So talk to us.”

“Us?” she gasped, and
looked out the window, “How many heku are out there?”

She took a step back when Kralen
walked in behind Mark, “You owe me, Emily.”

“I owe you nothing. I held
my side of the bargain, until I was thrown out on my
ass.”

He cringed slightly, “All we ask is
that you listen to us.”

“How much of the Cavalry
is out there?”

“What Cavalry?” Tucker
asked as he walked into the hallway. He looked out the window and
grinned, “I’d like to see the Cavalry, but you’re a long ways from
any military bases around here.”

Emily sighed, “Tucker, I
need you to go back out to your bunkhouse.”

“And leave you alone with
these guys? No way,” Tucker said, and turned toward the heku. He
crossed his arms and looked at them.

“We won’t hurt her,” Kralen said to
him.

“Don’t matter. I’m not
leaving.”

Emily sighed, “Alex, go find out why
Dain hasn’t brought my truck.”

Alexis nodded and left,
moving around Mark and Kralen carefully.

Mark grinned slightly when he heard
Silas, “Shhhh, Lexi, it’s me.”

“Silas? Uncover my eyes.
What are you doing?” Alexis whispered.

“I can’t uncover your
eyes, just trust me,” Silas said, and Mark heard him move back into
the trees with her.

“Tucker, I’m not kidding.
Get your ass out of here!” Emily yelled at him.

Tucker faced her, “Are
these guys the reason you are always checking over your shoulder?
The reason you are afraid to answer the phone or the
door?”

“No,” Emily said softly.

“Are they the reason you won’t date
anyone? The reason you don’t trust a soul?”

“Go, Tucker,” she told him
again.

“Damnit, Emily, stop it… I
don’t care how big your gun is, or how mean your Taser looks.
You’re barely 5-foot tall and weigh nuthin’. You can’t keep acting
like you’re tough,” Tucker said, frustrated. “You don’t even have
both arms right now.”

Mark watched Tucker
carefully.

Emily glared at him,
“Unless you want to find yourself out of a job, I suggest you get
your ass out of my house!”

Tucker yelled and then
threw his hands up in the air before leaving.

Emily looked at Mark and Kralen,
“Don’t move a muscle.”

“We won’t,” Mark told her.

She moved to the large picture window
and looked out before returning to them, “Where the hell are my
kids?”

“They aren’t hurt. They’re
out with the Cavalry so you’ll talk to us.”

Emily swallowed hard, “There’s nothing
you can say that’s going to keep me here until… he… gets
here.”

She spun when she heard footsteps
behind her and saw Silas walk in the back door, “Stop
it!”

He stopped and looked at her,
“What?”

“You’re surrounding me and
I don’t like it,” she said, and they heard her heart begin to race
in her chest.

“Em, calm down,” Mark told
her. “We called Silas in so we can all talk to you about what’s
going on.”

“Nothing’s going on! I
live here, I work here, my life is normal… I have no desire,
whatsoever, to return to that place and be insulted and
humiliated,” she said, and took a step up the stairs.

“Listen to us… give us 10
minutes to explain what happened,” Kralen asked.

“Is that how long it takes
until the entire Council arrives?”

“No, Chevalier is on his
way, but it’ll take him a few hours to get here,” Mark said. “I
swear to you, I’m not lying.”

“We stood behind you,”
Kralen told her, “Even up against the Elder… We ask now that you
trust us.”

Emily looked over at Silas, “Where’s
my baby?”

“Baby? You mean that massive
7-year-old?”

“Where is he?!” she
screamed.

“He’s out with the
Cavalry. He’s ok, Em,” Silas said, and stepped into the living
room. “Let’s sit in here and talk.”

Kralen cleared his throat, “Is there…
is there another, here in the house?”

Her eyes narrowed, “Another
what?”

“Baby”

“No,” she said. She’d
forgotten that when she left, she still thought she might be
pregnant.

“Let’s sit,” Mark said,
and joined Silas in the living room.

Kralen smiled at her and joined
them.

Emily slowly walked into
the living room and sat in an overstuffed recliner across from
where the heku sat. She pulled a blanket over her legs and sighed,
“You have 10 minutes and then I’m leaving.”

Mark smiled, “Thank you.”

“Make it good.”

“Have you ever heard of a
doppelganger?” Kralen asked.

“Evil twin… yes.”

“That’s what it was… That
wasn’t Chevalier, it was a look-alike. Doppelgangers were creatures
that the heku disposed of thousands of years ago, but the Encala
decided to keep a few, it seems.”

“Right,” she said, and
rolled her eyes.

“The entire time,
Chevalier, Kyle, Dustin, and Jerry were being held captive by the
Encala.”

“Likely story.”

Mark smiled slightly, “I
can get pictures… the Encala are in ruins. The Equites obliterated
their city, and occupied their palace for 5 months… That’s when
Chevalier considered his revenge for his abduction complete and let
them have it back.”

“What can we say to get
you to stay here long enough to talk to the Elder?” Silas
asked.

Her voice cracked, “I can’t see
him.”

Kralen sighed, “I
shouldn’t say this, but… he’s changed since you left.”

“Changed?”

“Yes, he’s become an
oppressor. He’s evil and malicious, and doesn’t care about a soul.
He kills for nothing, and the people in the city are afraid of
him.”

She shrugged, “What he
does doesn’t concern me anymore.”

“I just wanted you to know
how much he misses you, how insane he’s gone not knowing where you
are, or how you’ve been.”

“He knows I’m alive,”
Emily told him. “He can tell that I haven’t been able to get this
damned ring off.”

Silas grinned, “That
should be your first clue… If he were the one yelling insults at
you, that ring would have come off.”

Mark frowned slightly when
he smelled sweat and realized Emily was suddenly quiet. She stood
up slowly, and though she tried not to stoop, she was bent over
slightly.

“Em, what’s wrong?” Silas
asked, and took her arm. He gasped and fell back to the couch when
a flash of burning ran through his chest.

“Don’t touch me,” she
whispered, and walked into the kitchen. The heku heard the sound of
a pill bottle and Emily poured herself a glass of water from the
tap to take them with. They listened to her stand in the kitchen
for almost 20 minutes before she came back in and sat down. “You’re
down to 5 minutes.”

“Are you ok?” Kralen asked.

“Let’s just get this
clear. My health and well-being is of no concern to any heku… as
for that, the heku species as a whole, is of no concern of mine. I
don’t care that,” she paused and took a deep breath, “That
Chevalier is on a rampage. I don’t care that the Encala are in
ruins or that some mythical creature has returned.”

“You don’t mean that,” Mark
whispered.

“I do… Now, I need to go
get the kids. We are leaving,” she said, and stood up.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Silas
asked.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,”
she said, and started for the door. She opened it and the Border
collie ran in and wagged his tail at the heku.

“Damnit, Devia, get in the truck,”
Emily yelled. The Border collie spun suddenly and ran out to an old
Chevy pick-up parked in front of the barn.

The heku followed her out.
It was now dark and she looked around the empty yard before
yelling, “If my kids aren’t with me in 5 seconds, I’ll ash anyone
in those trees.”

“Em,” Kyle said from
behind her.

Her shoulders fell and she
stayed facing the trees, “You said he was a few hours
away.”

“I’m not with Chevalier. I
was with Thukil when I heard they’d found you.”

Emily saw Alexis and Dain
walking towards her from the trees. Dain’s face grew furious and he
blurred to her side and faced Kyle, “Did you touch her?”

“Who the hell are you?”
Kyle growled, and crouched slightly.

“Stop it!” Emily screamed,
and put her hand out to stop Dain. “Don’t touch my son, or so help
me, I’ll scatter your ashes.”

Kyle’s eyes grew wide,
“Dain?”

“Dain, Alex, get in the
truck,” Emily said, and slowly backed away from Kyle.

“Em… listen to me, it’s
important,” he said, and took a step forward.

“No, I’ve listened to
these three for 10 minutes, the agreed on amount. Nothing changed
my mind. Now, if I find you following me, you’ll regret it, that’s
a promise.”

“Mom,” Dain said from
behind her. His voice was cracked and it was obvious he was in
pain.

Emily’s eyes grew wide and she ran to
him, “Not now, Dain, please…”

He groaned and fell to the
gravel, writhing in pain.

Emily knelt down beside
him and took his hand, “I’m here, Baby.”

Kralen moved quickly to
his side and started to slip his hands under the young heku, “Let’s
get him inside.”

“Get away from him!” Emily
screamed, and Kralen blurred back to Mark when he felt a burn begin
in his chest. “Alex!”

“I’m here, Mom,” Alexis
said. Between her and Emily, they managed to get Dain to his feet.
He leaned on his Mom and she struggled to get him inside while the
heku watched helplessly. When Alexis shut the door behind her Mom,
she turned and faced the heku.

“Lexi, we can help her,”
Silas said, and stepped forward.

“She can handle it, stay back,” Alexis
growled.

“Allen told us what’s
going on with Dain,” Mark explained. “We can keep him from hurting
your Mom. We won’t hurt him, I swear.”

“Mom taught me how to ash
without looking,” Alexis said, and shut her eyes. “Want me to show
you?”

Mark sighed, “No, I don’t.”

Alexis looked over at Kyle, “Don’t
move.”

“I won’t,” he whispered.

A crash sounded after a
loud roar from Dain. The heku were tense, wanting to go help, but
were at a standoff against the teenager.

“She needs our help,” Kyle
said to Alexis. “Listen to that, he’s going to kill
her.”

“Dain won’t hurt
Mom.”

“Not on purpose. You’ve
seen him. He’s huge compared to her, and when a heku is in pain, we
just don’t think rationally. He’s going to hurt her.”

“Mom said you stay out
here, and that’s what’s going to happen,” Alexis said, and crossed
her arms.

The standoff continued
into the night with Alexis standing her ground by the front door,
while the heku waited in front of her. Silas tried once to move
around back, so Alexis yelled for Emily. When the pain began, he
quickly went back with the others. They all turned when a black
Chevy Tahoe pulled up and stopped at the side of the
house.

Alexis gasped when
Chevalier got out, followed by the Chief of Defense.

“Mom! Dad’s here,” Alexis
yelled.

“Alex, what’s going on?”
Chevalier asked, and started toward her. He gasped and stopped
moving when a brief burn was felt in his chest.

“Stay back,” Alexis said.
“Mom’s orders.”

“Dain’s in pain,” Mark
told him. As if on cue, another crash sounded and Dain screamed in
pain.

Chevalier started forward
again, but Alexis stepped in front of him, “Stay out.”

“That’s my son, too,”
Chevalier hissed.

“Mom said to keep you all
out… We’ve practiced a lot and I think I can ash all of you at
once, so don’t push me,” Alexis yelled.

“She only has one good
arm, Lexi,” Silas said. “Let the Elder help.”

“No,” she screamed. “Stay
back.”

“Alex, what’s going on?”
Pelton asked, and ran up to her. This field-hand was taller than
Tucker and well-built, with blond hair and a thick blond
goatee.

“It’s Dain,” Alexis
whispered.

Pelton turned to the heku, “Can I help
you fellas?”

“We’re friends of Emily’s,” Mark said,
and smiled slightly. He couldn’t explain why they were all standing
outside while Emily fought with Dain alone. Dain roared inside the
house and Pelton turned to look at the upstairs window.