Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (67 page)

“What!?” Mark roared.

“Find her,” Chevalier
ordered the Cavalry.

“How long has she been gone?” Mark
asked the Coven Liaison Officer.

He sighed, “Two days.”

Mark disappeared without another
word.

“I expect you to be able
to take care of things in our absence,” Quinn said to the Council.
“We felt it necessary for all three of us to confront the Encala
about the attacks on our guards… yet we come back and things have
gone amiss.”

“One missing mortal isn’t as if
everything was neglected,” the Chief of Finance said.

“One missing mortal?” Zohn
asked. “What were the effects on her from the last
stroke?”

“Well… we aren’t sure… exactly,”
Dustin said.

“So she could be out right now wiping
out an Equites Coven.”

“I highly doubt that.”

Chevalier’s hands slammed down onto
the desk in front of Dustin, “So help me… if she’s
hurt…”

***

Emily was surprised at the
lack of guards around the gate into the Encala’s main city. She
pulled the Aero slowly through the burnt out city and watched as
shades were pulled and doors slammed when she passed. Once at the
doors to the palace, she stopped and turned off the car.

Taking a deep breath, she
stepped out of the purple car and looked up at the broken windows
along the face of the once majestic palace. She stepped over the
rubble from the stone archway that used to frame the front doors,
and emerged in the silent palace.

“William?” she called out.
She heard a slight sound off to the side of her and turned quickly,
but saw no one.

Making her way slowly up
the stairs, she pushed aside the broken door into the council
chambers and stepped inside. The nine Encala council members looked
up at her and gasped.

“Emily?” the Chief Interrogator
whispered.

“Where’s William?” she asked
him.

“He’s not
here.”

“Aaron?”

“I’m here,” Encala Elder
Aaron said, coming in through the back entrance and sitting in his
seat. He sighed, “You cannot be here.”

“Did Chevalier do this?” she asked,
looking around at the destroyed room.

“He led the way, yes.”

She frowned, “I didn’t
realize.”

“You must leave,” Aaron
said, looking nervously around the council chambers.

“Why?”

“If Chevalier finds you here, we will
be punished.”

Emily looked closely
around the room and walked over to one of the walls. She reached
out and touched a shiny spot on the surface of the dark rocks and
realized it was blood.

“Please… you have to go,”
Aaron said.

“Where’s Frederick?” she
asked, and turned to Aaron.

“We don’t know.”

“Do you have him?” the Chief
Investigator asked.

“Not this time,” she
replied, and picked a torn Encala banner up off of the floor. She
turned and laid it across part of a broken desk.

“Emily, we aren’t joking… you have to
go,” Aaron told her.

“No, I want to know what
the Equites did to this place,” she said, and walked out of the
council chambers. Aaron appeared at her side and touched her
arm.

“You have to go. We can’t
take any more anger from the Equites.”

“I’ll handle them, ok?”
she said, and walked up to the room the Encala kept for her. She
opened the door and stepped in. The room had no damage at all. Her
favorite book was still sitting by the dead fireplace, propped open
to where she’d left it. Clean clothes for her hung in the wardrobe
and an empty tray sat on the wooden table.

She picked up her hairbrush and looked
around the room.

“This is the only room they didn’t
destroy,” Aaron said as he walked into her room.

“I didn’t ask for them to do this,”
she whispered, and set her hairbrush down on the table.

“We know that,” he told
her.

Emily sat down on the bed and ran her
hand along the soft comforter, “I don’t know what to
do.”

Aaron ordered the other
heku to leave and then sat down beside her, “I’m not sure there’s
anything you can do.”

“Was this because I was gone for a
year, or because you all held the Council members?”

“Both”

Emily looked over at
Aaron, “Where’s your guard staff?”

“Either dead or in
hiding.”

“Servants?”

“Same… though there are enough here to
take care of what Council is left.”

“Do you think Frederick is
dead?”

“No, I honestly don’t know what he’s
doing.”

Aaron looked toward the
door suddenly.

“What?” Emily asked.

“Your phone is ringing in your
car.”

“You can hear that from
here?”

He smiled, “Yes.”

“How many Encala are left?”

“It’s hard to say… a mere
fraction of what we once were though. Some are still in hiding, so
it’s hard to get exact numbers.”

Emily nodded and pulled her pillow
into her lap, “Have any joined the Equites or the
Valle?”

“The Equites won’t take
them. The few that have petitioned to join the Equites have been
wiped out.”

“I can ask Chevalier to
stop.”

“It could make it worse… as will you
being here.”

“He doesn’t know I’m here.”

“I figured.” Aaron gently
took her hand, “Are you ok?”

“I’m dying.”

“You’re immortal though.”

She shook her head, “No… I
don’t age, but I’m far from immortal.”

“You seem fine though.”

“I keep having strokes… and since the
last one… I feel on the edge of something.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, watching
her closely.

“I don’t know how to
describe it. It’s like at any moment, I can lose
myself.”

“Let me take you home.”

“No… it’s ok. I’ll drive
back and don’t worry, I won’t tell the Equites where I
went.”

“They’ll know.”

Emily looked over at Aaron
and the pain in her eyes made his heart jump, “When I die…
Chevalier and Kyle are going to kill everyone.”

“You think they will come after the
Encala?”

“I suspect so.”

“We have nothing to do with your
illness though.”

“I know… but I’m still
afraid for you.”

Aaron smiled slightly, “I
still don’t think you’re dying.”

“I’ve asked both the Equites and the
Valle to imprison Chevalier and Kyle when I die… but they both said
no.”

“I can see how that would be a
problem.”

She tightened her grasp on his hand,
“Can you do that for me?”

“We don’t have the
manpower anymore… the Equites would come after them, and we can’t
hold them off. Your best bet is the Valle.”

The door to Emily’s room suddenly
slammed open and Frederick walked in, his eyes furious, “What are
you doing in here?”

“Frederick!” Aaron gasped.
“Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you.”

“Why is she in here and not in the
prison?”

“Because she’s not a
prisoner.”

Frederick appeared at Emily’s back and
instantly threw her over his shoulder, “I’m glad she’s here… this
will be easier than I thought.”

When Frederick began to
haul Emily down the stairs, Aaron yelled, “No! Let her
go.”

Aaron appeared at the bottom of the
stairs and his eyes grew wide, “Frederick! What are you doing? We
can’t harm her or they’ll kill us.”

Frederick didn’t respond,
but put a hand against her back, ensuring she couldn’t get loose.
When Frederick continued down the stairs, Aaron ordered the palace
and city cleared.

Aaron gasped when he realized where
Frederick was going and he blocked the door, “You can’t take her
into the ceremonial room.”

“You going to stop me?”

“Yes, I am.”

Frederick growled and
threw Emily to the floor, knocking the wind out of her. Emily
looked up just as the two Encala Elders blurred into a fight. She
was scrambling to her feet when she saw Aaron’s lifeless body
thrown against the stone wall and heard the sound of helicopters
leaving the palace roof.

***

Mark and Kralen appeared
in the Equites council chambers. Both were furious and anxious to
talk to Chevalier.

“We’re busy, can it wait?” Zohn
asked.

“No, it can’t,” Kralen
said, and then turned to Chevalier. “It’s the Encala… Emily’s
attacks… the Heartbreaker Serial Killer… it’s all
connected.”

Chevalier frowned, “How?”

Mark took over, “The news
just announced that the Heartbreaker name came from the method the
killer uses. He bites the victim numerous times and then sends a
stake through their hearts.”

“There have been 12 bodies
found… 11 of those were killed on the same days that Emily passed
out,” Kralen said. “The 12
^th
was killed while Emily was with the Valle.”

Chevalier nodded, “They’re
turning a mortal, knowing he’s going to die… just to torture Emily.
Damnit! I should have thought of that when we couldn’t find
ash.”

“It has to be an Encala
attack… the strokes… those are from her abilities interfering with
the turning process over and over,” Mark growled.

“The Encala don’t know
where Frederick is. He has the most probable cause for the attacks…
It has to be him,” Quinn said, his eyes narrowing.

“We have to find her and
get her out of here,” Chevalier said. “She can heal if we can get
her where he can’t find her.”

“Allen is trying to get a
trace on her phone,” Kralen said, and quickly dialed
him.

Chevalier’s features grew
dark, “I’ve had enough of the Encala… it’s time to finish them
off.”

“Let’s find out if it’s
just Frederick,” Zohn said. “We honestly don’t know the long-term
repercussions from having only two factions.”

“Damnit!” Kralen yelled,
and turned to Mark. “Allen traced her phone… she’s in Encala
City.”

***

“Don’t do this!” Emily
screamed when the thirteen heku entered. Frederick was just pulling
up the hood on his black robe and one of the blue robed heku had a
frightened man in his grasp.

She fought against the
restraints, trying desperately to get out of the round ceremonial
room before she killed the mortal. She was afraid if she turned
them to ash, she might have another stroke.

Once the mortal was forced to lie down
on the dirt floor of the ceremonial room, Frederick controlled him
long enough to calm him down and the blue robed heku moved to the
outside of the walls.

“Please… Frederick… don’t do this,”
Emily begged.

“Mortal, do you know where you are?”
one of the heku asked.

“I do,” he said. His voice
was soft and monotone. Emily gasped when she realized that
Frederick had controlled the mortal into going along with the
ceremony.

“Do you know what is about to
happen?”

“I do.” His voice was hauntingly
displaced.

“Do you do so willingly and without
coercion?”

“Stop it!” Emily screamed.

“I do.”

She started to panic when
the heku moved forward and bent down to feed from the mortal. There
was nothing she could do, no way she could stop from killing him
when the ceremony finished. She could feel blood trickle down her
hand as she struggled to get out of the tight binds.

The mortal screamed when
thirteen sets of teeth sunk into his soft flesh and began to feed.
The control Frederick had wore off and he was now aware of his
impending death.

His screams echoed through the empty
palace as Frederick tore open his own wrist and the mortal began to
drink from it.

“Frederick, stop!” she
screamed. She was finding it hard to breathe and her time was
running out to save the man.

Frederick stood and began
to write the ancient runes into the dirt as the mortal’s blood
started to fill the deep trenches. Emily looked up when the ceiling
runes began to glow a deathly blue and she screamed one last time
before Frederick sent the wooden stake through the mortal’s
heart.

Emily’s body relaxed and she fell
forward onto the dirt floor as blood pooled around her
head.

Frederick smiled and
looked down at her, “The only thing worse than dying… is watching
someone you love die slowly when there’s nothing you can do about
it.”