Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (34 page)

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck and
laced her fingers through his hair.

All of a sudden, Chevalier
gasped and let go of Emily. She fell to the ground, frowning,
“What’s wrong?”

Chevalier slowly sunk to his knees, his eyes
wide.

“Chev…” Emily said, and
took a step toward him. He fell forward onto his hands and she saw
an arrow sticking out of the center of his back.

She looked up and saw
Laythan in the trees holding Keith’s compound bow. He grinned at
her, and she took a step back and screamed, “Mark!”

Silas and Kralen blurred
past her as Laythan disappeared into the woods. She knelt down
beside Chevalier and watched Mark pull the arrow out of his
back.

“Is he going to be ok?”
she asked, and looked down at his blood soaked shirt.

“He’ll be fine,” Mark told
her, and disappeared into the trees.

Zohn and Quinn appeared and helped Chevalier
to his feet.

Emily screamed and took off for the
stables.

“Where’s she going?” Zohn
asked, and then slung one of Chevalier’s arms over his
shoulder.

“Not sure,” Quinn told
him, and helped support Chevalier as they took him into the
palace.

“Damn… Jaron!” Zohn yelled
when Emily flew past them on her horse, headed into the
trees.

Within seconds, Jaron and
two other members of the Cavalry rushed past them on their
horses.

“Now I’m really pissed,”
Chevalier growled, fully healed, and disappeared into the
trees.

Zohn wiped the blood from his hands onto the
grass and stood up, “So much for her letting us handle it.”

Emily finally stopped her
horse and looked around. She didn’t see any sign of where the heku
went. She turned when she heard footsteps behind her and saw
Chevalier walk up with Jaron.

“Which way did they go?”
she asked, and turned back to the trees.

“There are 5 heku out
looking for him, let’s go back,” Chevalier told her.

“No, no one messes with my family.”

Jaron grinned slightly and looked away.

“Again… my job, come on,”
Chevalier said, and slid onto the stallion behind her.

Emily crossed her arms
angrily when Chevalier took the reins, and they followed Jaron out
of the trees where the entire Council was waiting.

“Any sign of them?” Dustin asked, scanning
the trees.

“I don’t know. We went
after Em,” Chevalier said, and dismounted. “She went the opposite
way the others did.”

“Nice,” Emily grumbled,
and steadied the horse.

“I thought you were going to let us handle
him,” Zohn said to her.

“That was before he shot my husband with my
own bow.”

“Ahh, I see.”

“I think he may have been
trying to shoot Em,” Chevalier told the Council. “One second sooner
and he would have.”

“Elder?” a strange heku said from behind
them.

Zohn turned around and the heku handed him a
package, “This came to the farmhouse for Lady Emily.”

“Very well, go,” he said
sternly, and the heku blurred away.

“Be nice,” Emily told him, frowning.

Zohn shrugged and handed
the box to her. She opened it and took out the card, read it, and
then looked down into the box with a smile.

“So?” Chevalier asked.

“Present from William,”
she told him, and put the card back into the box.

“What is it?”

“An M26.”

“The Encala bought you a grenade?” Quinn
asked, frowning.

Emily reached into the box and pulled out a
strange looking handgun. She triggered the laser sight and pointed
it at Dustin’s chest, “Nope… not a grenade.”

Dustin shifted nervously, “You’re going to
shoot me?”

“It’s not a gun,” she told him.

Mark walked up behind her,
“Why do you have a Taser pointed at a member of the
Council?”

Silas and Kralen were behind him.

“Or… why do you have a
Taser, period?” Silas asked, and stepped in front of Dustin so the
sight was on his chest instead.

Emily sighed and turned off the laser,
“Apparently William thought I needed one.”

Chevalier thought for a
moment, “Damn, that’s not a bad idea… Derrick, bring Wade to
me.”

“Just, please, don’t use it on Dustin,” Zohn
said, looking her in the eye.

“For now, I agree,” she
said, and watched two guards blur out with Wade struggling in their
grasp.

Everyone on the lawn
turned to Wade as he was knelt on the grass. The guards let go and
took a step behind him.

“Ok, let’s see it,”
Chevalier said, and crossed his arms.

Emily shrugged, turned on
the laser, and pointed it at the heku’s chest. Wade started to get
up moments before she pulled the trigger and dropped him to the
ground. He screamed in pain as electricity filled his body and
incapacitated his senses. The initial shock was fast, but he
remained in agony for several minutes before falling silent to the
grass, panting.

“Hmm, interesting,” Quinn
said, and walked up to Wade.

“What’s the range on that
thing?” Zohn asked, and turned to Emily.

When she shrugged, Mark spoke up, “35
feet.”

“Handy… but too
dangerous,” Chevalier said, and put his hand out. “Let’s lock it in
the weapons room.”

Emily frowned, “No.”

“No?”

“No… William gave it to me for protection
and I like the idea.”

“Em…”

She sighed and handed it
over, and then kicked her horse into a canter toward the
stables.

“Wow, she gave it up,” Zohn said,
impressed.

Jaron grinned and followed
her, along with the other two members of the Cavalry.

“So?” Chevalier asked, turning to Mark.

“No sign. He ran off
pretty fast when he saw us coming.”

Chevalier glanced over his
shoulder to make sure Emily was in the stables before returning to
Mark, “If she leaves the palace, make sure the woods are covered
anywhere near her.”

“Yes, Elder,” Mark said,
and took the Taser from the Elder when he offered it. “And
this?”

“Lock it up, we’ll need it locked away to
protect Dustin.”

“Oh, ha-ha,” Dustin said,
and headed inside.

Mark chuckled and blurred to the weapons
room as Silas and Kralen went to the stables.

Emily sighed and pulled
closer to Chevalier in her sleep. He tightened his arms around her
and shut his eyes to continue with her dream. It was
uncharacteristically calm and relaxing, with no horror or drama to
fill it. He grinned when it started to turn risqué, with scenes of
them out on a deserted beach together.

“Mama,” Dain called from the nursery.

Emily opened her eyes and sat up.

“Damn,” Chevalier mumbled.

“What?” she asked, and
looked over at him.

He smiled, “Nothing… let
me go get him. He’s not eaten.”

Emily nodded and watched
Chevalier go into the nursery, “It’s not right that I can’t hold
him until he’s fed.”

“It’s all we could come up with until he
stops biting everything he comes in contact with… Damnit, Dain, no
biting!” Chevalier growled.

“No biting,” Dain
repeated, and Emily grinned. She knew Chevalier had just been
bitten.

“I’m sure it’s just a phase,” she told
him.

“It better be, this is getting old.”

“Good morning, Baby,”
Emily said, and smiled at him when they walked out.

“Daddy bit me,” Dain said,
and frowned.

“No… you bit me, Screech,”
Chevalier said, and took the sippy cup from the table and handed it
to him.

“Stop with the Screech already, it’s
awful.”

“Sorry,” he said, and sat
down with the baby on his lap.

“Tell me again why you
have to go?”

“We’re turning four
mortals this weekend. I need to be there.”

“Why though? I can hit 13
heku with one stone from here.”

“Two of them are
important, and all three Elders need to be there,” he explained,
and brushed the hair out of Dain’s eyes.

“So the other two get
measly un-ranking heku?” she asked, somewhat irritated.

“Measly?”

“You know what I mean.”

“There’s no need for all 3 Elders to be at
the other ones.”

Emily grinned, “How many
Elders would need to be there if I turned?”

“Eight,” he said without
thinking.

“What? Eight Elders?”

“Yes”

“You’d call in the Valle and Encala Elders
if I turned?”

“Yes, to warn them of the impending end of
the world.”

“Very funny, and why 8?
Who’s missing?”

“I would be missing,” he
said, and handed Dain another sippy cup.

“Why? Where would you be?”
she asked, and headed into the bathroom.

“Hiding, I don’t like being turned to
ash.”

“Let’s count them before
we start feeling sorry for you… what’s more? You biting me or me
ashing you?”

“Not fair,” Chevalier
said, and put Dain down on the floor to play when he finished
drinking. “Mine’s more fun.”

“For you,” she told him,
and came out in a robe.

He watched her get ready
to go swimming, “Do me one favor, wear the one-piece.”

She grinned and tossed her
bikini at him, “Swear to never bite me again and I
will.”

“No way, I like biting you.”

“Mmm, I’ve had better.”

Chevalier gasped and then grinned, “You
have?”

“Sure… lots bite better
than you. Don’t make me name them,” she told him, and started to
tie her hair up.

Chevalier stood slowly,
“Want me to remind you?”

She gasped and turned toward him, “Don’t
make me ash you.”

“Maybe you’ve just forgotten how good it
feels.”

“Yeah for like 3 seconds…
hey… get back,” she said, and took a step away from him. She knew
the predatory look in his eyes and realized it was almost too late,
“You’ll regret it.”

“Yeah, for like 3 seconds.”

“It’s not funny, don’t bite me.”

“No biting,” Dain said,
and grabbed a toy truck.

“Or what?” he asked, and
pinned her to the wall, running his nose along her neck.

“Trust me, I’ll make you pay.”

She felt the familiar
pressure from his teeth sinking into her neck and her legs grew
weak as her body relaxed against his. He stopped after only a few
seconds and kissed her softly, then caught her hand when she tried
to slap him.

“You’ll pay for that!”

“I doubt it,” he said, and
went over to pick up Dain.

Emily glared at him and disappeared into the
bathroom.

Chevalier glanced around the room once and
then looked at Dain, “Ready to eat?”

“No,” Dain said, and shook
his head.

“You have to be thirsty,
you haven’t had anything since yesterday,” Chevalier said, and sat
at the table. He looked at the empty sippy cups, “Did Mommy feed
you?”

“No biting,” Dain said,
and pointed at the bathroom door.

He heard a weak call for
Mark from the bathroom, and by the time he sat Dain down on the
bed, Mark and Silas were already in the room. He walked in and
growled when he saw her, sitting against the bathroom wall with a
towel against her neck. He didn’t see blood, but there were two
fresh puncture wounds on her neck.

“Who did it?” Mark
growled, and looked around the bathroom.

Chevalier stormed into the bedroom and
searched it quickly.

Emily fought to keep her face fearful and
finally whispered, “Leave me alone.”

Silas checked to make sure
the windows were locked, and stepped out of the bathroom and shut
the door. When the door was shut, Emily dropped the towel and
grinned. She got up and looked into the mirror, frowning. She knew
he didn’t drink much, if anything at all, and was just proving a
point, but the puncture wounds were still there and she hated the
look of them.

“Em, are you ok?” Zohn asked from outside
the bathroom door.

Emily grinned and whispered, “Just stay
out.”

She grabbed a bottle of
fingernail polish and sat down to paint her fingernails.

Mark, Chevalier, Quinn,
and Kralen, began a systematic search of the entire palace,
smelling each heku they came to, but catching no hint of the
Winchester blood. No one saw anything. Her door guards saw no one
enter or exit the room, and there was no sign of anyone having
scaled the building.

After almost an hour, they
all met back in the main floor foyer and looked around.

“I’m not catching
anything,” Mark said, and shrugged. “How could someone get to her?
You were in the bedroom.”

Suddenly, Chevalier
sighed, “Damnit.”

“What?” Quinn asked.

“I did it,” he told them,
and started up the stairs.

“You did what?”

“I bit her.”

“You did?” Kralen asked, shocked.

“It was a bit of a
challenge,” he explained, and entered the room.