Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Gabe? Your former guard?” Mark asked.

  Alexis nodded, but didn’t speak.

  “She’s had it out for him for a while but no one knows why,” Mark said, and looked around the stables. “Maybe we need to go to the Council.”

  “No!” Alexis yelled, and then lowered her voice. “No, we can’t tell them.”

  “Tell us, Lexi. Why is Emily after Gabe?” Silas said softly.

  “Not after! She ordered Gabe into her truck and then drove off.”

  Mark frowned, “How long ago?”

  “Two hours,” Alexis said, and began to wring her hands.

  Silas touched her arm, “Tell us what happened so we can fix it.”

  Alexis glanced at Kralen and Mark. They were again struck how much she looked like Emily, but with Chevalier’s black, haunting eyes and dark hair.

  “Gabe… we were talking,” Alexis whispered.

  “Keep going,” Kralen urged.

  “Well… he just moved a piece of hair off of my face and Mom overreacted and…”

  “Wait… moved or lovingly brushed?” Kralen asked, frowning.

  “Moved! Kralen, not all of us are perverts.”

  “How does that make one a pervert?”

  “Shut up…” Alexis growled. “So she took off with him and Dain in the truck.”

  Silas grinned slightly, “If I ask what the topic of conversation was, will I get called names too?”

  “No,” Alexis said, and rolled her eyes. “We were just talking about stuff.”

  “Did he touch you?” Mark asked her.

  “Well… I guess probably.”

  “Then you’re damned well lucky it wasn’t the Elder,” Mark whispered harshly.

  “He didn’t do anything wrong!”

  “Wait,” Kralen said, thinking. “When your Mom fired Gabe as your bodyguard… was it because you had a crush on him?”

  Alexis just blushed and looked down at the ground.

  Silas nodded, “So you had a crush and your Mom replaced him… dang, I wondered what he’d done. He didn’t even know it.”

  “I know,” Alexis told him. “He had a girlfriend back then.”

  “Right… her name was… Heidi?”

  Alexis nodded and looked over when Mark put his cell phone to his ear. They all waited for a few seconds before he shut it, “It went to voicemail.”

  “We have to tell the Elder,” Silas said.

  “No!” Alexis gasped. “Dad would kill him.”

  “This is big, Lexi. We can’t just let it go.”

  “Mom’s taking care of him… but I’m afraid she’ll ash him and hide it like she did Frederick.”

  “She may, depends on her mood.”

  “Mad is what she was, I could tell.”

  “Yes, mad it would be,” Mark said. “Or furious more like.”

  “See! She’s going to kill him,” Alexis said, and then tears filled her eyes.

  “Calm down, ok? We’ll go look for them… but the Council is going to start asking questions,” Kralen told her.

  “Damnit, we run the risk of a lot of trouble for not telling the Elder,” Mark sighed. “Kralen’s already on thin ice from the coffee trip.”

  “Please, Mark,” Alexis said, and touched his arm lightly. “She’ll kill him, but if Dad finds out… he’ll torture him first.”

  “Silas take Alexis… Kralen and I will go out together. We’ll see if we can find her and figure out what’s going on,” Mark said. They all ran for the garage and Kralen chuckled as he buckled in.

  Mark looked over at him, “What?”

  “You have a soft spot for Em and Alex.”

  “So?”

  “So… all they have to do is bat their eyelashes and you cave.”

  “That’s not true,” Mark told him, and headed out of the city.

  ***

  Emily shivered in the dark night, “If that’s what you say.”

  “It is! I swear, we’re just friends,” Gabe explained.

  “But you left your girlfriend?”

  “Yes, while you were gone. It wasn’t because of Alexis.”

  “Was it because of someone else?”

  “No”

  She sighed, “You know I spent time with the Encala’s Chief Interrogator and picked up some tips.”

  “No… I didn’t know that.”

  “Yeah, well, I did. Now start telling me the truth. We’ve wasted 3 hours out here with you lying to me and I’m not all that happy about it.”

  Gabe looked down at the ground, “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  “She’s 15, Gabe.”

  “I know! I realize that, ok?”

  “Here’s the real problem… I don’t really care that she may have a boyfriend at 15. However, I think Chevalier will have problems with that.”

  Gabe nodded.

  “I’m not sure if you quite understand how he may react to this.”

  “I do, Ma’am. We were just friends. I can’t help it if it turns into more.”

  “Yes you can, Gabe… and if you value your life, then you may rethink that.”

  Gabe looked slowly around the park, “He has to understand that at some point, she may find someone.”

  “He’s not unreasonable, so I’m sure he does. I just don’t think he would agree with the age.”

  “You were married at 17.”

  Emily sighed, “Damn, does everyone know everything about me?”

  “Probably,” Gabe said, and then grinned.

  “Mom, it’s going to rain soon,” Dain said, walking back over to the picnic table. He’d been surveying the area and had just caught the scent of rain.

  Gabe stood up, “I appreciate the warnings, but I’d also appreciate it if you could keep this from the Elder.”

  Emily nodded, “Sure… unless it gets out of hand, and then the entire Council and Cavalry will come find you.”

  Gabe’s eyes grew wide before he walked back to the truck. Dain grinned and followed him while Emily looked around the small park and then climbed into the truck.

  Emily cranked up the heater when they got into the truck and then took off for Council City. With the dark clouds of the approaching storm, the night was pitch-black and it wasn’t long before lightning lit up the sky and the truck was pelted with hail.

  Gabe turned in his seat to face Dain, who was sitting in the backseat, “So is it true that you fed from your Mom for a year?”

  Dain’s eyes narrowed and Emily gasped, “What?”

  “Just curious is all.”

  Dain growled slightly before speaking, “That’s none of your business.”

  “You can’t expect to be as famous as you two are without speculation and rumors. I simply wanted to see if it were true. If it is… I say kudos.”

  Emily looked over at him, “Mind your own business.”

  “Fine,” Gabe said, still watching Dain in the backseat.

  “What?” Dain asked, now irritated.

  “How is it you’re full heku and Alexis isn’t?”

  “No one knows.”

  “I’m glad, don’t get me wrong… heku women aren’t built like your sister.”

  “What the hell?” Emily asked, glaring at him.

  He shrugged, “Do you have any mortal traits at all?”

  “Yeah,” Dain said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like the sudden urge to remove your arm.”

  Suddenly, the truck slammed into a tree. The force of the impact threw both Gabe and Dain out the front window and they slumped down against the mud. The night fell eerily quiet as the two heku healed, but no sound came from the truck.

  Gabe was the first to heal enough to stand up, and he stumbled over to the truck as steam poured out of the engine. He tore open the driver’s door and studied Emily, not quite sure what to do. She was leaned forward, still in her seat belt, and the airbag was deflated in front of her. She had blood covering her neck and chest, but he could tell she was breathing.

>   Dain roughly shoved Gabe away and leaned into the truck, “Mom?”

  “I need an ambulance at mile marker 321 on County Road 22,” Gabe said into his cell phone.

  “Mom… can you hear me?” Dain asked, and took her hand. It was completely limp in his.

  “There’s an ambulance on the way,” Gabe said, and then he inhaled deeply and a soft hiss escaped his lips.

  Dain turned toward him in a crouch, and Gabe’s feral eyes turned to the young heku as the smell of blood filled the area and his primal instincts came forward.

  “Get back,” Dain yelled.

  Gabe again inhaled and exposed his teeth menacingly moments before Silas slammed into him and they blurred into a fight in the muddy woods.

  “What happened?” Mark asked, and moved Dain out of the way so he could check on Emily.

  “We wrecked,” Dain said, frowning slightly. The smell of blood became stronger and he started to shake.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Kralen growled, and pulled Dain off into the trees.

  “Em?” Mark asked, and touched her cheek lightly. He looked up when he heard sirens, and ordered the heku all back into the trees instantly. He watched silently from behind a tree as the paramedics gently put Emily on a backboard and then strapped her onto it before putting her in the back of an ambulance.

  Police arrived shortly after the ambulance and they were going through the old Chevy pickup, trying to find out what happened. When the Ambulance left for the hospital, Mark ordered Kralen to return Gabe and Dain to Council City, while he and Silas blurred to the car waiting a mile away and sped off toward the hospital.

  They pulled up in Emergency Room parking just as Chevalier and Quinn arrived.

  “What happened?” Quinn asked, after Chevalier disappeared into the hospital.

  “We aren’t really sure. Dain just said they wrecked. Looks like Em hit a tree, but not sure how. She was a ways off of the road,” Mark explained. “When we got there, Gabe was about to attack her. There was a lot of blood.”

  Quinn nodded, “Let’s go see what they found.”

  The three heku went into the Emergency Room and waited while Chevalier spoke to the nurse. After arguing with her for a few minutes, Quinn took his arm, “Come on, we’ll wait out here.”

  Chevalier glared at the small nurse and then turned angrily and sat down in the waiting room. A few hours later, a young doctor came out to talk to them. She was in blood covered green scrubs and looked exhausted and worried.

  “Who is Emily’s husband?” she asked the four heku.

  “I am,” Chevalier said, and stood up.

  The doctor shook his hand before she spoke, “I’m Dr. Webb… have a seat.”

  She sat down after Chevalier and then leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, “I’ll just make this brief. Your wife is still unconscious, but it’s not from the wreck.”

  “Then why?”

  “We ran a CT and MRI on Emily and found signs of past strokes, but one new one. I suspect she had a stroke while driving and then fell unconscious.”

  Quinn glanced nervously at Kralen.

  “So she’s not injured from the car wreck?” Chevalier asked.

  “Not that we can find. She had a nosebleed and blood pooling in her ears, but we can’t find a cause for those. The strokes wouldn’t cause that. My main concern is how someone as young as Emily has that many strokes.”

  “She has blood pressure problems,” Dr. Edwards said, walking into the Emergency Room.

  “You are?” Dr. Webb asked.

  “I’m Dr. Edwards, Emily’s personal Physician.”

  Dr. Webb shook his hand and waited until he sat down, “We are suspecting they are just TIAs, but we won’t know until she wakes up and recovers for a few days.”

  “Did you CT?” Dr. Edwards asked.

  “Yes, she’s having Ischemic strokes. I’ve can clearly see six previous and then the new one today, but the bleeding has stopped.”

  “What antiplatelet is she on?”

  “We’ve started her on Clopidogrel, Aspirin, and dipyridamole, but when she goes home we’ll drop the Aspirin.”

  Dr. Edwards nodded, “When can we take her home then?”

  “I’d like to wait until she wakes up and we can evaluate her for brain damage.”

  “Can’t Dr. Edwards do that?” Chevalier asked her.

  “Yes, but I still don’t feel comfortable sending her home unconscious. Let’s just wait it out until she wakes up.”

  Dr. Webb stood up and left the heku in the waiting room. They all turned to Dr. Edwards and he spoke, too softly for the mortals to hear.

  “This is good, now that I know what kind of strokes she’s having, we can take preventative measures.”

  “Like what?” Chevalier asked.

  “Those medications she mentioned… We’ll keep her on those but I’ll warn you… they are anti-coagulants. If Emily is to be fed off of, she could bleed to death.”

  Chevalier hissed softly.

  “I don’t know if the medications will work. I lied to the doctor about her having high blood pressure, but that’s the best excuse for strokes in one listed as young as Emily is.”

  “What else can we do?” Quinn asked.

  “That’s it unless we can find out what’s causing them.”

  “Could this all be caused by her age?” Chevalier asked, mostly to himself.

  “She doesn’t age,” Dr. Edwards said.

  “What if part of her is aging though? She’d be 46 years old now.”

  “That’s still pretty young to be having strokes.”

  “Who all was in the car with her when it happened?” Chevalier asked, and turned to Mark.

  “Dain and Gabe,” Mark said, and then sighed. He had to tell the Elder the truth.

  “Gabe? Why?”

  “I think you may need to take that up with Emily.”

  “But you know?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Tell me.”

  Mark looked down at the ground for a second before addressing the Elder, “Emily caught Gabe and Alexis talking. From what Alexis said, Gabe brushed hair away from her face, thereby touching her and…”

  “What!?” Chevalier whispered harshly.

  “Emily then ordered Gabe into the truck and took off with he and Dain.”

  “Are we sure he touched my daughter?”

  “Yes, Elder.”

  “Put him in prison until I can deal with him.”

  Mark nodded to Kralen, who disappeared from the waiting room.

  “Is her old truck destroyed?” Quinn asked.

  “I would imagine so.”

  “Good, it was untrustworthy and badly in need of repair.”

  “Move her truck and Jeep back into the garage,” Chevalier said to Mark.

  ***

  “Get him out of prison!” Alexis screamed as she stormed into the council chambers.

  Zohn’s eyebrows rose, “Who are we speaking of… sorry… yelling about?”

  “Gabe,” she said, and then crossed her arms at her chest, which made her look even more like Emily.

  “I see… well… until he’s fully interrogated, he stays where he is.”

  “Get him out right now or I’ll ash this entire Council!”

  “We know you can’t do that Alex. Your Dad is on his way back from the hospital right now with Emily. You can discuss this with him.”

  Alexis carefully scanned the Council, and when no one would meet her eyes, she screamed and ran from the council chambers.

  “We’re lucky she doesn’t have Emily’s full abilities,” Dustin said after the door slammed behind her.

  “Yes, we are,” Zohn agreed.

  Kyle came in the back door and sat down, “Why is Alexis trying to catch my eye?”

  Zohn grinned, “To turn you to ash, no doubt.”

  “What’d I do?”

  “She’s trying to turn the Council to ash so we will release Gabe.”

  “Good luck, he�
�s waiting in the Interrogation Chamber for Chevalier,” Kyle said.

  “Just don’t tell her that. I’m not sure she realizes he’s to be interrogated in that manner.”

  “I’m not telling her,” Kyle said, and started to look through a stack of forms on the desk in front of him. He was so engrossed in the papers that he didn’t hear when he was called.

  “Enforcer?” Zohn said, a little louder.

  “Oh, sorry… yes, Elder?”

  “Seems Alex found someone to look at her.”

  Kyle sighed, “Where?”

  “The prison guards, both of them.”

  “I’m on it,” he said, and disappeared. When he emerged in the prison, the entire dungeon fell silent. He saw two piles of ash beside the door, but walked past them, following Alexis’ scent into the prison. He found her walking up and down the rows, “What are you doing, Alex?”

  “Where is he?” she asked, turning on him.

  Kyle made sure to avert a direct look into her eyes, “He’s waiting for the Elder.”

  “Dad’ll kill him. We’re getting out of here.”

  “No, you’re not. Go back upstairs. You don’t have the same privilege to be down here as your Mom does.”

  “Make me!”

  Kyle shrugged and threw her over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed as he hauled her up the stairs and out of the prison. New guards had already appeared to replace the piles of ash.

  “What now?” Chevalier asked from the first-floor stairs. He was just walking up with Emily when they heard Alexis scream at Kyle.

  “She’s trying to run away with Gabe,” Kyle told him, and set her down. He easily dodged when Alexis tried to slap him.

  “Alexis, upstairs, now!” Chevalier yelled.

  Alexis glared at Kyle and followed Emily up the stairs. Kyle grinned at the Elder, and then went back down to revive the guards. Mark, Kralen, and two members of the Cavalry were already waiting outside of their bedroom.

  “Welcome back,” Mark said, and smiled.

  “Is my truck really gone?” Emily asked. Her words were slow and somewhat slurred.

  “Yes, sorry.”

  She nodded and walked into the bedroom with an obvious limp.

  “Is she ok?” Kralen whispered to Chevalier.

  “We don’t know. Be careful around her though, she’s hard to understand at times and she’s getting frustrated with the weakness on her left side.”