Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (68 page)

Quinn came in, un-phased by their position,
and sat in a chair by the bed, “They’ve agreed.”

Chevalier pulled the covers back to his
waist and put a hand under his head, “Good, we’ll see what else I
can manage and then call that a done deal.”

“
Oh my God, Quinn, get out
of here,” Emily said from under the covers.

Quinn raised his eyebrows, amused, “I’ll be
done in a moment. They won’t agree to any talks or
negotiations.”

“
Damn, why not?” Chevalier
said, irritated.

“
Get out!” Emily yelled
again.

Quinn chuckled, “Dear, it doesn’t bother
me.”

“
It does me,” she said
timidly.

“
They said because their
minds are made up. Nothing we can say will prevent them from
leaving the Equites,” Quinn told him.

“
Ouch! Damnit, Em, stop
biting me,” Chevalier said, wincing slightly.

“
Make him leave,” Emily
whispered.

“
Still, they have to know
we’re going to fight back… truce talks would be a lot less bloody,”
Chevalier said, sighing.

“
We know that… I honestly
think they believe we can’t re-take the coven.”

“
I’ll go ash the entire lot
of them if you’ll just get out,” Emily said, irritated.

Quinn grinned, “Really?”

“
Yes… go!”

“
If I knew that’s all it
would take…” Quinn said, and left the room.

Emily peeked out from under the blankets,
“My God, Chev. How could you let him in here?”

Chevalier shrugged, “I wasn’t aware we were
hiding it from anyone.”

“
Still, damn, now they know
what we were doing,” Emily said, and streaked into the
bathroom.

Chevalier laughed, “I’m pretty sure they
already knew.”

“
How?” Emily called
out.

“
I came to look at your
bruises two hours ago,” Chevalier reminded her, amused.

Emily came out wrapped in her bathrobe, her
face deeply flushed.

“
We’re married, I’m pretty
sure they know… besides… you called yourself a sex kitten in front
of all three factions,” Chevalier said, laughing.

Emily knelt down on the bed, “Did I just
agree to do what I told Zohn I wouldn’t?”

“
Yes, you did,” Chevalier
said, and pulled her down to him so he could kiss her.

Emily sat back up, “When do I have to
leave?”

“
In the morning is
fine.”

“
Zohn’ll be happy for
once.”

Chevalier chuckled, “No he won’t… you told
him no... but told Quinn yes.”

“
Damn, can’t win, can I?”
Emily asked, frowning.

“
Let’s get it over
with…”

“
What?”

“
What I came up after…
start with your neck bruise.”

“
I can sum all of them up,
except my back one… restraint escape techniques.”

Chevalier grinned, “I gotta see this.”

“
It’s worse than what you
all taught me, bloodier, more painful,” Emily said,
frowning.

“
That’s it… get dressed,”
Chevalier said, and slipped out of the bed and started getting
dressed.

“
Seriously… it’s bloody.
One heku was in so much pain he almost attacked me,” Emily told
him, frowning as she remembered the look on his face.

Chevalier turned and growled, “What?”

“
He didn’t get to me, the
guards stopped him.” She dressed quickly in the sports bra and
cut-offs and started to tie her hair up.

“
What good is teaching you
self-defense if it only makes the attacker angrier?” Chevalier
asked.

“
He couldn’t even move for
almost 4 minutes, by that time I could be in a car and gone… or
called for help…”

“
I want to see these
techniques. They may be too dangerous,” he said,
irritated.

“
No then, I’m not showing
you.”

Chevalier growled, “Yes you are. The Encala
are too stupid to understand that the moves could be too dangerous
to you.”

“
They aren’t stupid… they
helped me, and now when Exavior finds me, I can at least fight
back,” Emily told him, and crossed her arms.

“
You need to show me,”
Chevalier said angrily. “I can’t have you fighting off heku if it’s
only going to make them madder.”

“
No,” Emily frowned. “I
trust the Encala.”

“
Mark…” Chevalier hissed,
his hands balled into fists.

“
Sir?” Mark asked, his eyes
growing wide at the standoff.

“
Bring Emily to the
training room. She has some things to show us,” Chevalier
ordered.

“
No,” Emily said, and
glared at him.

Mark appeared at her back, and as he brought
his arms around her, she hit the crooks of his arms hard with her
elbows. The motion dropped his arms slightly as she spun and
brought her right palm hard up against his nose, shattering it and
sending splinters into his brain. He dropped suddenly, unmoving
onto the floor. Emily was out the door as fast as she could run as
Chevalier watched with wide eyes, too stunned to move.

Emily passed Kyle as she took the stairs,
two at a time.

“
What’s up?” Kyle asked,
calling after her. He shrugged and blurred into the bedroom and
glanced down at Mark, “What happened?”

“
Em… well… damn,” Chevalier
said, looking down as Mark finally began to move.

“
Em did that?” Kyle asked,
surprised.

“
Get her… tell her I’m not
mad, I’m now impressed,” Chevalier said, still watching
Mark.

Kyle blurred to Emily’s scent and found her
out in the stables, slipping a bridle on her racing horse.

“
He wants to see you,” Kyle
said, stepping into the stall.

“
I’m not in the mood to
fight,” Emily told him angrily.

“
Actually, he’s no longer
mad… he’s impressed.”

Emily turned and looked at him, surprised,
“He is?”

“
I’m interested to see what
you did to Mark… he’s still not recovered,” Kyle told
her.

“
If you’re lying to
me…”

“
I’m not, come on,” Kyle
said, and put his hand out.

Emily sighed and took it, and Kyle led her
back to the bedroom. Emily walked in just as Mark was slowly
sitting up. Chevalier was watching Mark get up and turned toward
Kyle and Emily when they walked in.

“
I’m sorry,” Chevalier told
her. “I just got mad because the Encala seem to have taken your
protection too seriously, and that’s our job.”

Emily nodded and knelt down by Mark, “I’m
sorry. Are you ok?”

“
It’s not easy for us to
see you befriend the other factions,” Kyle added. “Actually… it’s
infuriating.”

“
They were helping me
though,” Emily told them as she helped Mark stand up. “They are as
worried about Exavior as you are, so they went over ways he
restrained me and taught me how to get out.”

Mark shook his head when he stood up,
“Sonofabitch, that caught me off guard.”

“
I’m curious what exactly
you did,” Kyle said, admiring how much pain Emily put Mark
in.

Emily nodded, “Restrain me from behind.”

Kyle frowned, “You going to floor me?”

“
No, I won’t actually hit
you. Mark just surprised me, and I didn’t think to go easy,” Emily
explained.

“
Damn, the Encala did a
good job then, if you can do that on instinct,” Chevalier said,
grinning slightly.

Kyle walked up and went to put his arms
around Emily from behind. In one fluid movement, she knocked his
arms down with her elbows, spun and brought her palm up against
Kyle’s nose. He jerked back and took a step away from her.

“
Nice,” Kyle said,
grinning.

“
That fucking hurt,” Mark
hissed.

“
Mark!” Chevalier
snapped.

Mark jerked and looked at Emily,
“Sorry.”

“
What else did they show
you?” Kyle asked, still impressed.

“
Stuff like that,” Emily
said, still not sure she wanted to show them.

“
Do we get to see it?” Mark
asked. “Not that I’m offering.”

“
I’d rather not,” Emily
said. “I’m still sore from football and self-defense. I’ll already
be too sore to even walk tomorrow.”

“
That, and she may need to
use them against us,” Chevalier said, grinning. “Don’t think I
haven’t figured this out.”

“
Most of them… I’d ash you
first,” Emily told him. “You’d never grab me in those
ways.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Like what?”

“
Like pulling me by my
hair.”

“
Who the hell did that?”
Mark yelled furiously.

“
Exavior,” Emily said
softly.

“
I just want to get my
hands on him for a few hours…” Mark hissed.

“
Don’t we all, but I think
we’d have to fight the Elder for torture rights,” Kyle
chuckled.

Chevalier grinned maliciously, “Oh, he’s
mine.”

“
Will you all stop it?”
Emily asked, frowning. “The thought of any of you going one-on-one
with him makes my skin crawl.”

“
Tell me what the ancient’s
room was for a few years ago, and we’ll drop it,” Chevalier said,
grinning.

Emily rolled her eyes, “You’re still harping
on that?”

“
We all really do want to
know,” Kyle said, grinning slightly.

“
I’m going to be in a
nightgown in 3 minutes, stay if you want,” Emily said, and walked
into the bathroom. She heard Chevalier usher Kyle and Mark out of
the room.

“
Em, getting called to a
meeting,” Chevalier said as she came out into the room.

“
Have fun, I’m going to
bed.”

“
I’ll get you up before the
helicopter needs to leave for Michaels Coven,” he told her, and
kissed her lightly before leaving.

***

Emily crawled into the helicopter early the
next morning, and briefly wondered who she’d have to pay to get a
uniform like the rest of the Cavalry. She checked again to make
sure her .45 was on her hip and then buckled into the seat with the
rest of the Cavalry.

Equites 2 took off and headed south toward
the troubled Michaels Coven.

“
Here’s what we know,” Mark
said to them all. “General Bowman and the entire guard staff
overthrew Lord Taylor and imprisoned him. Lord Taylor is one of the
current Council’s largest supporters, but the 397 other members of
his coven feel the Council needs replaced and have applied to join
the Valle.”

“
General Bowman has,
several times, refused to talk to the Council for peaceful
negotiations. That’s why we’re going in. We fully expect to
immediately be attacked upon arrival, and will drop down from above
the ground so they can’t swarm the helicopter.”

“
Ummm…” Emily said, holding
her hand up.

Mark grinned, “Got you covered. Emily’s here
for after the initial assault and if things get out of hand. Our
orders are clear, once Emily’s safely on the ground and the initial
fight has stopped, we leave it all up to her. We’ll be there to
make sure they don’t attack her, but the rehabilitation falls
solely on her shoulders.”

“
I can’t ash them, who’ll
revive?” Emily asked.

“
Kyle is arriving tomorrow…
first we’re going to give them the impression that if they
misbehave, they may permanently be banished,” Mark explained. “I’ll
warn you all, Emily has some… illogical and highly dangerous
methods. Let her do what she wants to do with no growls or hisses
from us… that’s a direct order from the Elders.”

“
For hell’s sake, Mark. I
know I offered to feed anyone who could get their teeth in me, but
get over it,” Emily sighed.

“
You did what!?” Kralen
growled.

“
Don’t judge…” Emily said,
glaring at him.

“
As I said, leave her alone
unless she gets attacked,” Mark said. “Polin, you’re going to drop
down last with Emily. Be gentle, that’s a long fall for a
mortal.”

“
Yes, Sir,” said one of the
newer members of the Cavalry.

“
Em… if we’re in custody or
losing when you arrive, ash them all and we’ll work on it from
there,” Mark told them.

Emily nodded, “Easy enough.”

“
If I give the evacuate
order, whomever is standing closest to Emily needs to get her away.
Head directly northwest and you’ll run into the Nodell Coven about
97 miles away.”

Emily started to panic the closer they got
to Michaels Coven. It was situated in the Nevada desert and was in
harsh contrast to the woodsy terrain around Council City. She felt
the heat beating off the sand as they got closer and the sun rose
higher into the sky.

“
Five minutes, all ready?”
Mark asked.

Emily checked for her gun again.

“
Why do you carry a gun? I
mean… what good is it going to do you?” a member of the Cavalry
asked her.

Emily smiled, “Two things… First, it can
give me a few seconds head start… and Second… the V.E.S. are
mortals.”