Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (53 page)

“I promise! Yes, I’ll send
them right over,” she said, and pretended to hang up the phone,
then turned to the guards. “There’s a problem with the Encala, and
the Council needs you to wait in the Council’s ante-chamber until
you are called in.”

The closest one tensed, “Let’s
go.”

“They said I can stay here if I
promise not to leave,” Emily told him.

“We can’t just…”

“Go! The Council can’t be made to
wait.”

He nodded, and the four
blurred from the house. Emily grinned as she slipped the phone into
the pocket of her black leather jacket and then headed out for the
garage. The Harley started right up, so she pulled her hair into
the helmet and drove out into the night.

Once she got onto the
Interstate, she turned away from Council City and toward a small
town 45 miles away. She knew of a quaint coffee shop there that was
open 24-hours a day and had one of her favorite lattes.

***

“I don’t agree. I think
that deserves a harsher punishment,” Chevalier said, and looked
down at the cowering heku that was knelt before the
Council.

“I concur,” Kyle said, and
growled slightly when the prisoner’s eyes left the Council for a
moment. The prisoner heard the growl and immediately turned back to
the Elders.

“It’s a first offense,”
Quinn said, and looked over at Zohn. “Does it warrant 800
years?”

Zohn shrugged, “First offense or not,
it was stupid and careless on his part.”

The Chief of Defense turned toward the
ante-chamber briefly and then back to the trial area, “Nothing like
making a first offense a big one.”

“Just for sheer stupidity,
I vote for the 800 years,” the Chief of Staff said.

Quinn’s eyes narrowed as
he watched the panicked heku. The way the heku cowered and shifted
nervously irritated the Elder, and he began to agree with the
harsher punishment, “Is something wrong with you?”

“No… no, Sir,” he
whispered, and swallowed hard. His eyes darted nervously between
members of the Council, and he breathed in short, rapid
bursts.

“Sit still then.”

The prisoner froze for only a few
seconds before he gasped and turned to look at Derrick, who was
standing behind him.

Quinn sighed, “Maybe death
is warranted. I’m not sure he’s completely sane.”

“I am! I am! I swear!” he yelled, and
shuffled a bit to the side.

“Then sit still!” Zohn
yelled.

The heku nodded and held
still for no more than 10 seconds before looking back at Derrick
again. Derrick shook his head and kneed the heku in the
neck.

“The Elder said to hold
still,” Derrick growled.

“How old are you?” Dustin asked
him.

“It’s… well… maybe around… no, wait,
it’s more like…”

Dustin sighed, “Tell me
your age. This isn’t a hard question.”

“84, I think… no wait… 82.”

“Just kill him, get him out of my
sight,” Chevalier hissed.

“Agreed,” Zohn said.

Quinn grinned, “Kyle?”

In an instant, Kyle removed the head
of the heku and stepped back.

“Now who in the hell has
been in our ante-chamber for the past hour?” the Records Keeper
asked, and turned his chair.

Derrick blurred to the
back door and opened up the doorway to the ante-chamber while the
entire Council watched.

“Is there some reason you’re standing
in the ante-chamber?” Zohn asked, irritated.

“Yes, Sir. We’re doing as
instructed,” the tallest guard said with a slight bow.

“By whom?”

He frowned slightly, “We
received a phone call that the Council needed us to wait here
because the Encala were acting up again.”

“You received a call from us?” Dustin
asked.

“Well… sort of. Actually,
Lady Emily did, and relayed the message to us.”

Chevalier shook his head, “Did you
actually hear someone on the phone?”

“No, Sir.”

Quinn sighed, “Dustin, get
some guards and go find her.”

He nodded and blurred
away.

***

Emily sighed when the
Mustang she was following began to slow down. There wasn’t any
traffic for miles and she wasn’t paying much attention until she
slowed to keep from hitting the black car. She turned and saw four
more cars surrounding her. She had been so deep in thought about
Dain that she didn’t see them arrive.

Slowing the Harley, she
edged over to the side of the road and stopped. Before anyone got
out of the cars, she had her helmet off and sat sideways on the
seat. She didn’t have much time to wonder who was bothering her,
when she saw the Encala’s Chief Interrogator step out of the first
black car.

He looked over at her and
the cars emptied out. Suddenly, eight Encala were standing with her
on the dark, empty Interstate.

“What now?” she asked, and
set her helmet down on the seat beside her.

“We just want to talk,” the Chief
Interrogator said, not moving any closer.

“Did you want to feel the burn? Or
should I just ash you before you get the chance to take a
step?”

He smiled slightly, “Talk… that’s
all…”

“You threatened to put me into your
torture room,” she reminded him.

“You had my Elder.”

Emily looked at the motionless heku,
“Ok… start talking, I’m busy.”

“We are merely waiting for
one more car to arrive. It won’t be long.”

She looked down the road
just in time to see a silver sports car come into view. She watched
as it slowed and then stopped behind the line of black cars. The
Encala Guards saluted as William stepped out of the car. He smiled
and walked toward her.

“Stop there,” Emily said, and he
complied.

“I just want to talk.”

“You can talk from there.
I don’t trust you.”

“We were surprised to see you out
alone this late at night.”

Her eyes narrowed, “You came to talk
to me about slipping my guards?”

“No, we came to talk to you about
Chevalier.”

Emily smiled, “You’re afraid of
him.”

“It’s hard not to be. The
Encala have no chance of rebuilding if he won’t stop attacking our
covens,” William explained.

“Why should I care?”

“You once did.”

“Yeah… well a lot of things have
changed.”

“There are less than 1,000
Encala left,” William said, and stepped closer. “Your Thukil took
out one of our larger covens last week.”

“Again… why should I care?”

“They are doing it in
retaliation for what Frederick did to you.”

“I’m aware of that.”

William sighed, “We need you to stop
them.”

“Even if I wanted to help you,
Chevalier has a mind of his own and does whatever he
wants.”

“Correction… he would do anything for
you.”

She laughed slightly, “You
must have your wires crossed. He doesn’t listen to me.”

“I beg to differ,” William
said, and leaned against one of the black cars. “We feel that if
you were to appeal to him, on our behalf, that he might stop the
attacks.”

“You threaten me, tear my
family apart, ostracize me from my friends, and cause me daily
pain… What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by talking to me?”
Emily asked.

“The attack of that coven
was not authorized by the Encala Council. We cannot be blamed for
that.”

“Bullshit!” Emily yelled.
“Everything that’s happened over the last 18 months was done by
your Council.”

“We did not give permission for them
to poison you.”

“That’s minor compared to
kicking me out of my home.” Her voice dropped slightly as she
looked into his eyes.

“Please, Emily.” William
said. “Never has the heku had only two factions. As it stands, it
will take thousands of years for us to rebuild.”

“Maybe you shoulda thought of that
before you decided to mess with my family.”

“I agree that it got out of hand, but
you have to admit that you started this skirmish.”

“I did? I didn’t try to take out your
city!”

“We didn’t kidnap your
Elder.”

“You’ve kidnapped me enough
times.”

“Help us, please. Emily, I
beg you.”

“Things still aren’t the
same with me and the Equites. We’re like strangers, and that’s all
caused by you.”

“Why are you out here alone tonight?”
William asked, and took a small step forward.

“If you must know… I’m headed over to
the Junction to get coffee.”

“I thought you were on a
restriction.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Get out of my
business.”

“Go,” William ordered, and
two of the Encala got into their car and sped off.

“That’s a start… now why don’t the
rest of you go?”

“We’re not done talking. I
need to make you see why it’s best for the heku if Chevalier leaves
the Encala alone.”

Emily shrugged, “You’re still under
the mistaken impression that I could get him to stop if I
wanted.”

“You can. You’re sick and
in pain most of the time. He will do anything to lessen your
stress.”

William turned when
another silver sports car pulled up. Encala Elders Frederick and
Aaron stepped out and moved up with William.

“Three of you aren’t going to make any
more of an impact than just one of you,” she said, and watched
Frederick closely.

“We have to try,” William
said.

Emily watched the way Frederick looked
at her and she could feel the anger radiating from him, “Trust you?
Befriend you? Frederick would kill me right now if you weren’t
here.”

“He wouldn’t,” Aaron said.

Frederick growled softly.

“Then stop growling at
me!” Emily yelled. “You deserved every ounce of pain I caused you,
and I’d do it again if I could.”

The enemy Elder’s body tensed, “Do not
speak to me like that.”

“I’m done here,” she said,
and grabbed her helmet.

“Please, we aren’t done,”
William said, and took the keys out of her motorcycle.

“You’re pushing it,
William. You know good and well that I can ash all of you without
even a thought.”

“Yes, I am aware of that.
I’m also aware that you have a soft spot in your heart for us. You
always have.”

“Had… past tense. That
pretty much left when you kicked me out of my home and then forced
me to drink poison.”

“Again, we are sorry for
the unsanctioned deeds of that coven,” Aaron told her. “They have
been dealt with and won’t bother you again.”

“Yeah, I ashed them,” Emily reminded
him.

“Some of them… the rest of
the coven were killed.”

Emily sighed and watched
the dark trees as the Encala Elders spoke among themselves. She
wondered if calling for Chevalier would work. He hadn’t picked up
any of her feelings or emotions since she left the Equites for the
mortal world.

After what seemed like an eternity,
the Encala Elders turned back to Emily, “We’ve come to a
decision.”

“Yeah? About what?” she
asked, now irritated that she was being made to sit out in the
cold. Her leather jacket didn’t do much against the cold night
air.

“We want to make amends.”

She grinned, “To me?”

“Yes”

“How?”

“Name it,” Aaron said.

Emily turned when another
car pulled up. She saw it was the one William had ordered away
earlier. The two heku stepped out and Emily saw that one of them
held a large coffee in his hand. Coffee from the small shop she was
headed to.

She shook her head and smiled, “That’s
a start.”

The heku stepped forward
hesitantly and handed her the cup. She wrapped her cold hands
around the hot cup and inhaled the scent.

“It should help warm you,”
Aaron said, and smiled.

Emily pulled the tab on
the top of the lid and as she brought it to her lips, it was ripped
from her hand. She gasped and spun suddenly, just in time to see
Dustin pour the coffee out on the side of the road.

“Dustin!” she screamed.

He stood up straight as
the Encala all crouched. Emily turned suddenly and saw the green
capes as twelve Council City Guards walked around the small group
of Encala.

“What’s going on here?” Dustin asked,
and moved up to Emily.

“None of your business,
Benji. Why don’t you take your guards out of here?” Emily
snarled.