“Don’t talk about my Council like that!” he yelled, and turned on her, crouching slightly.
“Fine… I’m done with you,” she said, and then grinned. “Mark!”
Suddenly, the entire Cavalry surrounded her and Mark appeared beside the Encala, “What did you find?”
The Encala spun suddenly and his hands balled into fists.
“Putz here came to ask me to stop picking on his faction,” Emily said, and lowered her Taser. “I figured you all might need a new toy.”
“All contact with the Encala has to be reported to the Council,” Mark told her, and then turned to the Encala. “Let’s go tell them.”
He growled and then started off with the Cavalry. Silas and Kralen started after them, but turned and walked back to Emily.
“You have to come too,” Silas told her.
“No I don’t.”
“You encountered him first. The Council will need a report,” Kralen said.
“The Council can figure it out on their own. I’m going swimming,” Emily said, and started for the out-building. She stopped and sighed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Seriously, Em. They need to talk to you,” Silas said.
“Where are your guards, anyway?” Kralen asked, scanning the area.
“I didn’t have any.”
“Then you should have called for us.”
Emily grinned slightly, “That’s what the front door guard said, so I assured him I wasn’t going to get attacked between the palace and the pool.”
“Yeah? How’d that go for you?” Kralen chuckled.
“Well I wasn’t attacked.”
“Close enough.”
Emily glanced toward the doors, and then whispered, “Please don’t make me talk to the Council.”
“What’s wrong?” Kralen asked, watching her closely.
“I just… I just don’t want to.”
“Ok… ok… I’ll go talk to them for you,” Silas said. “Kralen can stay with you while we find out who’s on the roster to guard you.”
She nodded and then left for the pool, followed by Kralen. They both got into the steamy pool room and Emily sat down on a chaise. Kralen hesitated and then sat down beside her.
“Not swimming?” he asked.
“No, I just don’t want to face the Council.”
“Why is that exactly?”
Emily looked over at him, “They let it all happen.”
“Do you realize how bad they feel about that?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Zohn and Quinn mainly.”
“It’s just hard to trust them is all.”
“They are trying really hard right now to help you feel welcome again.”
“I can’t let myself become that meshed with the Council again,” Emily explained. “It made the year alone that much harder.”
“How so?”
“You can’t tell anyone…”
“I won’t.”
“I’m safe here… or was at least,” she started, and then cut Kralen off when he started to argue. “When I was out on my own, I wasn’t just alone, I was a target and I knew it. When the Encala started to attack, I realized just how dangerous my life is.”
“There’s a reason we guard you. We already know how dangerous it is just to be you.”
“Yeah… well it took months before I could even breathe. Months before I could stop double checking every shadow and could answer the phone without being afraid.”
Kralen nodded, “So if you get comfortable here again, in our protection, then next time you’re alone you’ll have to do it all again.”
“Right… if I just keep my distance, then it won’t be so hard.”
“Why does there have to be a next time?”
“Why should I assume there isn’t going to be?” she asked, watching him closely.
“The Council isn’t going to fall for that again.”
“Not that, no, but there are always other methods. Next time I’m alone, I probably won’t have my kids with me.”
“Is there anything I can do to change your views?”
“No, not really.”
Kralen glanced at the door, “The Council is asking for you again.”
Emily bent her knees and pulled them close to her chest, “They’ll live.”
She could tell his lips were moving quickly, but couldn’t hear what was being said.
Finally, Kralen turned back to her, “Did the Encala touch you at all?”
“No”
“What did he say?”
“He cowered and begged that I ask the Council to leave the Encala alone. Then when I refused, he tried to bully me.”
“Did he say how he got in?”
“He said he waited until the gate guards were busy.”
Kralen again turned toward the door and Emily grinned.
He looked over at her, “What’s so funny?”
“The Council, using you to get information from me because I refuse to come in.”
“It would be a lot more efficient if you’d go tell them yourself.”
“I don’t want to.”
He sighed, “What do you want, exactly?”
“Let’s go for a ride.”
“Where?” he asked, standing when she did.
“You and I… out alone.”
“Why?”
“Stop being so paranoid, let’s go,” she said, and started for the garage. Before she got there, Silas and Mark joined them.
“We going somewhere?” Mark asked.
“Kralen and I are going out,” Emily told him, and slid into the driver’s seat of the old beat-up Chevy pickup.
“We’re not taking Silas and Mark?” Kralen asked, looking into the passenger window.
“Nope, get in.”
Kralen glanced at Mark and, after he nodded, got in. Emily grinned and drove out of Council City.
“You just love driving them insane, don’t you?” Kralen asked, buckling his seat belt.
“I do, it’s the small joys…”
“You’re so female.”
“What?” she asked, glancing at him.
“You were just saying how comfortable you felt in our protection, yet all you do is struggle to get out of it,” he told her, and then grinned.
“This trip is a necessity.”
“Oh? So where are we going?” he asked as she pulled onto the Interstate.
“Away”
“That’s it?”
“I don’t want to say. I wouldn’t put it past the Council to bug my truck.”
Kralen grinned, “Good to know you aren’t paranoid or anything.”
“I’m not paranoid.”
“Ok”
Kralen jerked slightly and looked out his window.
“What?” Emily asked, looking over at him.
“Nothing”
“Then stop being jumpy, we’re not breaking any laws.”
“I am”
“How so?”
“Per Elder’s orders, you’re to have no less than 3 guards with you at all times.”
“Well… it feels good to be bad.”
“I’m sure it does… but you won’t be banished for it.”
“You’re not going to be banished by coming with me to get coffee.”
Kralen looked over at her.
Emily sighed, “There, I said it… we’re going for coffee.”
“So it’s two rules I’m breaking.”
“No one will know.”
“Why are we in this truck?” Kralen asked when the old Chevy pickup backfired.
“There’s nothing wrong with this truck.”
“Have you had one of our mechanics look at it? It doesn’t sound right.”
“No, I did an oil change a few weeks ago and it’s fine.”
They drove the rest of the way in silence until Emily pulled up at the small coffee shop, “I can smell it from here.”
Kralen chuckled, “I didn’t realize you savor also.
”
“Oh… I do,” she said, and got out of the truck. She grabbed her purse and they headed inside.
They waited in line and Emily was getting excited for a taste of her favorite drink.
“Yeah?” the teenage boy behind the counter asked.
“I’ll have a double, half caf, skinny quad with legs and extra whip,” Emily told him, and pulled out her purse.
“Is that even English?” Kralen asked, frowning.
“And for the virgin?” the boy asked, looking with irritation at Kralen.
“The what?” Kralen gasped.
“He’ll have the same,” Emily told the boy, and then paid him. She pulled Kralen’s arm until he quit glaring at the tiny boy behind the counter, and they sat and waited for the drinks.
“I’m not drinking that,” Kralen told her.
“I didn’t think you would. I’ll drink one here and there’s one for the road.”
“Why does it sound like you just ordered two thin minotaurs with a knout?”
“A what?” she asked, and took the drinks from the server.
“Never mind,” Kralen said and looked at her. “You’re really going to do it.”
“Do what?” she asked, blowing on her drink to cool it.
“Drink coffee… you know what that’ll do.”
“But it’ll be soooo worth it,” she said, and removed the lid. As she brought the drink to her lips, it was torn from her hands, “Hey!”
Kralen grinned when she looked over at him, but he didn’t have her drink.
“Why?” Dustin asked from the doorway.
Emily glared at him, “Just give me my drink.”
“You know we can’t let you do that.”
She looked over at Kralen, “You called him?”
“Nope”
“Then how did he know?”
“I suspected it when you left,” Dustin said, pouring her drink into the trash.
“Don’t make me ash you,” Emily whispered.
Dustin grinned and held up the keys to the truck, “Get in, I’ll drive back.”
“No”
Kralen sighed, “Em, I’m in enough trouble as it is without you staying here.”
“Tell me again why he’s in trouble,” she told Dustin.
“He not only left without sufficient guards for you, but allowed you to have something expressly forbidden by the Elders,” Dustin explained.
“He can’t get in trouble for that. If he hadn’t come, then I would be alone.”
“Still…” Dustin held the door open. Emily finally walked out with Kralen, glancing once more at the coffee left on their table. Most of the drive was silent, until Dustin spoke again, “I find it hard to believe that you didn’t realize that by taking one of the Cavalry, they would have to be punished.”
Emily leaned up from the backseat and whispered quietly into Kralen’s ear, “Take the wheel.”
“What?” Dustin asked, just as he turned to ash. Kralen quickly grabbed the wheel and he pulled over to the side of the road.
“Damnit, Em. Are you trying to get me banished?” he asked, and scooped Dustin’s ashes into a cup.
“No, but he needs to chill. You did nothing wrong,” she told him, and crawled into the front seat of the truck.
Kralen slid into the driver’s side and started back for Council City, “Well the Council is going to want to know why we’re returning with a pile of ash instead of their Coven Liaison Officer, don’t you think?”
“They can figure it out on their own. I’m not talking to them about it.”
“You have to!”
“No, I don’t.”
Kralen growled slightly and his hands tightened on the steering wheel. Emily sat back and they drove the rest of the way in silence.
They walked into the palace together, but when Kralen stopped at the fourth floor, Emily turned and walked back down to her office. He sighed and then entered the council chambers when Derrick let him in.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Zohn growled.
Kralen nodded, “I would imagine I do… first though, we need to have the Coven Liaison Officer revived.”
Kyle sighed, “Bring him up here.”
Kralen walked up and placed the large cup of ashes in front of Kyle. It was only a few minutes later when Dustin was sitting back in his chair, furious at having been turned to ash yet again.
“What made you think it was ok to leave with Emily?” the Chief of Defense asked Kralen.
“I know the look on her face. Had I insisted on more guards, she would have gone alone,” Kralen explained.
Chevalier nodded, “I know that look.”
“Very well… and we are aware that Mark knew you left with her,” the Chief of Staff told him. “However, there is a direct rule that Emily is not to drink coffee…”
Kralen sighed, “That I can be punished for. She’s an adult and I didn’t feel as if she needed anything more than a reminder of what it would cause.”
“So you felt you could do what you wanted, in contrast to Council orders?”
“More like… she’s an adult and again, had I tried to stop her, then she would have simply turned me to ash and did it anyway. I saw the Coven Liaison Officer pass us on the Interstate and knew he would intervene.”
“Bring Emily here,” the Chief Investigator called out.
Kralen looked over at him, “She won’t come before the Council.”
“Why not?”
“She doesn’t feel comfortable here in the palace and I get the impression that most of that is because of the Council.”
“Explain yourself,” Dustin growled.
“No disrespect, Sir. I just know what I’ve seen and she still feels like an unwanted outsider. Any time the Council is mentioned, she clams up and starts to panic.”
“I’ve seen that also,” Chevalier told them. “See if she comes now.”
Derrick returned a few minutes later, “She…”
“Is she coming?” Zohn asked.
“No, Sir. She asked me to tell you that it will be a cold day in hell before she steps before the Council for anything,” Derrick said, then took a step back. He wasn’t sure if delivering that message would be detrimental to him.
Quinn sat back in his chair, “I see.”
“That’s unacceptable,” the Chief of Defense growled. “Get her.”
“She’s in her office, Sir,” Derrick explained. “Orders from Elder Chevalier are that we aren’t to enter.”
“Make that can’t enter,” Kyle corrected. “We made that room heku proof.”
“She has to come out eventually. Bring her here when she does,” Dustin said.
“Forcibly?” Kralen asked, frowning.
“Yes”
“No,” Chevalier said, and looked over at Dustin. “We’re trying to rebuild a relationship with her as a faction. Forcibly dragging her here won’t help that.”
“I agree,” Zohn said. “We can punish Kralen without her here.”
“Fine,” Dustin hissed, and then turned back to Kralen. “I suggest 5 years in jail and removal of his rank.”
“Seems a bit harsh for a coffee infraction,” Zohn said, frowning at Dustin.
“He broke an order, no matter how minor it may have been,” Dustin growled, watching Kralen closely. Kralen stood confidently in front of the Council.
Chevalier thought for a moment, “Broke an order or not, if we punish him, Emily’s going to take that personally.”
“That is true,” Quinn said. “Reforming this trust with her has turned out to be harder than we first expected and this would delay it even further.”
Zohn nodded to Kralen, “That’s three. Please try to refrain from undermining our decisions for Emily’s health though.”
Kralen nodded, “Yes, Sir.”
“We can’t just let him walk!” Dustin yelled.
“You may go,” Chevalier told Kralen, who nodded and disappeared to stand by Emily’s door.
Chap
ter 16 - Gabe
A lone heku walked into the council chambers and stood before the Equites Council. She had no green cape, but wore civilian clothing like the regular residents of Council City.
“What brings you in today, Andrea?” Quinn asked her. She didn’t shift nervously or cower before the menacing eyes of the Council, but stood her ground and addressed them calmly.
“I wanted to come before the Council because of something I encountered while in the mortal city last night,” Andrea said. Her shoulder-length brown hair was flipped up in a 50’s style, indicative of the era in which she was turned into a heku.
“What might that be?”
“I assume you are aware that another body was found, another victim of the serial killer known as Heartbreaker?”
“Yes, we are.”
“I happened upon the crime scene… the park where the body was found, and the mortal police were just leaving the area. I got curious and went to the chalk outline on the sidewalk and found the fading scent of a heku,” she explained.
Quinn frowned, “Are you certain?”
“Yes, Elder. I wish I could place a faction, but I have never encountered an Encala or a Valle. It was not the scent of an Equites.”
“That’s disturbing.”
“The News isn’t saying much about the serial killer, but I also smelled no blood in the area.”
“None at all? Or just faded?” Zohn asked.
“None, Elder.”
“Were you alone?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Take the Chief Investigator to the scene,” Chevalier told her.
She nodded and left the room with the Equites Investigator.
“This takes on a new meaning if the serial killer is a heku,” Kyle said, turning toward the Elders.
Zohn nodded, “Yes it does, more so if it’s not an Equites.”
“We need to keep Emily and Alexis out of the mortal city,” Dustin said. “It’s not safe, especially if it is a heku.”
“That’s true,” Chevalier said. “I spoke to her though, and she hasn’t run off since she snuck out for coffee with Kralen 4 months ago.”
“Alert the Cavalry that the Heartbreaker may be heku. Have them up her security. I’ve seen, at times, she has only one or two guards,” the Chief of Defense said.
Zohn frowned, “What happened to 4?”
Kyle sighed, “We’ve been using the Cavalry more and more to handle Encala skirmishes, and she’s often left with the palace guards. While they may be more than efficient at protecting the palace, they are sometimes lax when assigned directly to Emily.”
Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 41