Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Want to come help me snoop?” Emily asked, and Alexis nodded and followed her down a long hallway. Emily used Quinn’s keys to open up another door and found a room full of file cabinets. She opened the first one and found an alphabetical listing of what seemed to be heku. She looked behind the files in each drawer and then sat down to rest when she was done.

  Something caught her eye, and she went over and pulled a map out from under an old radio. Emily smiled and picked up the phone.

  “Em?” Kyle asked.

  “I found a map of Alaska,” she said.

  “Damn, that’s a big state.”

  “I know, but I bet I’m in Alaska. It’s cold here, and it’s been snowing nonstop.”

  “Ok, we’ll see what we can find, are they still cold?”

  “Yes”

  Kyle sighed, “And are you taking care of yourself?”

  Emily hesitated, “Yes.”

  “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “My alarm’s going off. Time to go get some snow,” Emily said, and shut the phone. Alexis followed her back out to the living room and crawled into bed with her dolls as Emily slipped on the large snow boots and went back outside.

  By nightfall, Emily was finding it harder and harder to get warm. When she went outside for snow, the fierce wind bit at her painfully as she brought bucket after bucket full of snow into the house. She’d stopped searching the house and collapsed in front of the fire between the loads of snow that were taking her longer each time.

  After hours of moving snow, she propped her hands up close to the fire and watched the flames as Alexis slept. Emily’s phone alarm woke her up and she got to her feet slowly. She opted to take a few more bites of coffee grounds before heading back out. Even though she wore one of Quinn’s warm coats, the cold night air seemed to slip through it and lash painfully at her skin.

  She topped off the snow around Allen and then headed back through the garage where she could get to new snow. After dumping a bucket of new snow on Chevalier, she gasped and looked at Quinn when she saw his eyes move.

  “Quinn?” she whispered. He blinked once and looked at her, his body still unmoving.

  Emily quickly grabbed her phone and dialed. She had to dial four times before her cold fingers hit the right buttons.

  “How is it going?” Kyle asked when he answered the phone.

  “Quinn’s eyes moved,” Emily said hurriedly. She was watching Quinn and he was staring at the ceiling, but there was movement in his eyes and he blinked.

  “That’s great! Now we change course, you need to get him warm,” Kyle said.

  “Are you kidding me?”

  Kyle chuckled slightly, “No, he has to get warm.”

  “Freak, do you know how much these guys weigh?”

  “Do what you can, but get him warm,” Kyle said again, and started to update Zohn.

  Emily shut the phone, cutting him off, and went back to Quinn. She knelt down beside him and started to brush the snow off of him and onto the others, “I don’t suppose you can just walk into the living room?”

  Quinn’s eyes turned to look at her. Emily sighed and ran down the hallway. She had seen a pair of shears in one of the drawers in the interrogation room. She plugged her nose when she went in, and grabbed the shears quickly, shutting the door as she left, then ran back to the hallway by the garage and started cutting the wet clothes off of the Elder.

  Emily sighed and grabbed Quinn’s wrists. She pulled, using all of her body weight, and was able to move him an inch at a time toward the fire in the living room. She had to make two snow runs to cover the other three before she got Quinn by the fire. She stoked it and put blankets on him as he watched her, quiet and unmoving.

  Emily ran another bucket of snow into the bathroom and saw Allen’s eyes move toward her. She smiled and picked him up out of the snow filled bathtub. She laid him down on the kitchen table and cut his wet clothes off and then moved him to the couch. She began pulling blankets off of the guest beds in the mansion and layered five of them on top of him.

  She checked the clock and then went into the bathroom and turned the water on hot and let it run for a few minutes, “Damnit, no hot water.”

  Emily dug around in the kitchen until she found an old pot. She filled it with cold water and set it by the fire to warm up. After putting more snow on Chevalier and Maleth, she went back to the pot by the fire and dipped a washcloth into it. She went to Allen first and started to gently wash the blood off of his face.

  When she was done, she moved over to Quinn after rinsing out the warm rag, and cleaned the blood from his face and neck. She pulled the blanket down to wipe the blood off of his chest and frowned, he had scars from deep gashes down the left side of his chest. She touched them softly with her fingers and then covered him back up.

  Emily moved back up by his head and touched Quinn’s face softly, “Can you talk?”

  His eyes watched as a tear fell down her cheek.

  “Please, Quinn, if you can talk, I need to know where we are. I need help,” she begged, but he just stared at her.

  Emily leaned back against the wall, “I went through your house, actually, I still need to go through more. I just need an address, even a city. Kyle and Zohn are trying to find us so they can come help.”

  “Are you going to be mad at me for going through your house?” Emily asked him, and then looked toward the fire.

  “I never did get to thank you, for helping me when I came off of belladonna. I know you probably didn’t have a choice, but you could have just tossed me out on my ass.” Emily glanced at him and then back to the fire, “Leonid was my friend, and I’m sorry I have been mean to you about taking his place. They just replaced him so fast, and no one even mourned him, you know?”

  Emily looked over at him, “Do you understand me?”

  The phone alarm went off, and Emily pulled on the coat and boots and headed back out into the snowy night. The warmth from the living room was making the snow melt faster on Chevalier and Maleth in the hallway, and it was taking twice as long to replenish it.

  Emily slid down the wall by Quinn to catch her breath, “If you have the sudden urge to stand up, I could use some help.”

  Emily’s phone rang and she answered it, still out of breath, “Hi, Kyle.”

  “How are they?”

  “Chevalier and Maleth are still on ice. Quinn and Allen are out here by the fire.”

  “You sound exhausted.”

  Emily rolled her eyes, “Yeah… well.”

  “We still can’t find you. We have covens out looking for your scent, but the state is huge,” Kyle said.

  “It’s creepy how Quinn watches me, will he remember this?”

  “I don’t think he will.”

  Emily grinned, “Ok.”

  “We’ve given the Equites covens a keyword. If you see a heku, ask for it and if it’s wrong… ash them, ok?”

  Emily smiled slightly, “Ok, what is it then?”

  “Didactic is the code word.”

  “Couldn’t use like… red or sleep?”

  Kyle chuckled, “It’s didactic. If you don’t hear it, then ash them.”

  “Sure, if I can. I have to go get snow,” Emily said, and shut the phone.

  Emily looked at Quinn, “He’s mother henning, and driving me crazy.”

  Emily reached over and felt Quinn’s forehead, it was nice and warm. She checked his feet also but they were ice cold, “Crap, you should have told me your feet were cold.”

  Emily checked on Allen, and his entire body was warm. She headed out to get buckets of snow while Alexis sat by Quinn and played with her dolls. Emily dumped six buckets of snow on each of the Elders in the hallway, and then stood outside to watch the sun come up.

  “If this weren’t a nightmare, it might actually be pretty here,” she said to herself, watching as the vapors from her breath dissipated into the cold air.

  Emily looked over to where she had been digging in the snow and noticed a
large boulder. She stared at it for a while and then had an idea. With a lot of effort, she was able to pry it off of the frozen ground and took it in and sat it in the fire. She then went into the kitchen and made a grilled cheese for Alexis, and ate more coffee grounds to help keep her awake. She went back into the living room and handed Alexis her sandwich.

  Emily disappeared back into the kitchen and dug around, looking for some hot pads. She sighed when she didn’t find any, and went out in search of a towel. She finally came back with a towel and an expensive down pillow.

  “Who doesn’t have hot pads? You can’t get mad at me for this,” she said to Quinn when she cut the end off of the pillow. Using the towel to protect her hands, she picked up the hot rock from the fire and shoved it into the pillow, and then set it up against Quinn’s feet and pulled another blanket over him.

  She sat down against the wall again and looked around the room. Emily took Quinn’s hand and laced her fingers in his, “I wish you would wake up.”

  “I’m afraid he’s going to die,” Emily said, and glanced over at the hallway, her voice cracked slightly. “I mean, why aren’t the other two looking around yet?”

  She sighed softly and put her other hand on the one laced with Quinn’s fingers, “You must think Chevalier is crazy to be with me. I’m nothing but trouble. I get kidnapped, tortured, poisoned, and sniffed more than anyone I’ve ever met. You know how irritating it is to get sniffed all the time? It’s annoying, but you all seem to do it constantly. It’s weird to walk through a hallway and get sniffed.”

  “You know who never sniffed me?” she asked him, his eyes still watching her. “Exavior. Odd huh? He tried to turn me into a heku, but never sniffed me. At least not that I remember. That’s another thing… why do these heku keep making friends with me, and then turn on me at the last minute? Can’t I trust any of you?”

  “I know. You don’t have to answer. It’s because I’m gullible. That’s another reason why Chevalier should dump me on the side of the road. He keeps telling me how mean heku are, but I don’t see you all that way, and it keeps getting me into trouble. Then there’s Kyle, he never turned on me… well… once, but that was the Ancient. He’s been my friend from the start and hasn’t ever attacked me. He did feed once, but that was my idea, ok, so… twice.”

  Emily brushed a strand of hair away from Quinn’s eye, “I’ve been thinking about another baby. What do you think? Wonder if Chev’d go for that, he’s a tad overprotective. I’m too afraid to ask so I guess no baby, oh well. I’ll be too old soon enough to even try.”

  Emily grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm, “I’ll be back, don’t run off.”

  She got up and pulled on the huge parka and boots and headed back out into the snow. Emily went from sitting by Quinn, to piling more snow on Chevalier and Maleth throughout the day. She fed Alexis and played games with her as she could, but the other tasks kept her busy. A blizzard started late in the evening and it made getting snow harder. The wind was strong enough that she had a hard time standing up outside.

  Emily put the last bucket of snow on Maleth and then slipped off her boots. She walked past them in the hallway, and then turned quickly when she saw movement. Chevalier was watching her.

  She smiled and knelt by him, “Welcome back… can you talk?”

  His eyes looked into hers, but he didn’t move, “Ok… here we go.”

  Emily went back into the living room and grabbed the shears. She used the bucket to take the snow off of Chevalier and poured it onto Maleth. Once he was uncovered, she cut off his wet clothes and took his wrists. Again she used her body weight to pull him, inch by inch, toward the living room. He was heavier than Quinn, and taller, so he was harder to move. His eyes watched her the entire time.

  Three hours later, Emily was able to edge him into the living room so he was lying beside Quinn. She went into the guestrooms and brought back a bunch of blankets, then piled them on Chevalier and stoked the fire again. Her arms ached from the pulling and shook uncontrollably.

  Emily sat back against the wall to catch her breath. When her alarm went off again, she went outside and got more snow for Maleth. She returned to the living room when she was done and got a warm rag to clean Chevalier off with. She gently wiped the blood from his face and neck and kissed his forehead softly.

  She went back outside and found another boulder and sat it in the fire, then returned with another pillow, cut the end off, and looked at Quinn, “That’s number two, you can bill me.”

  Emily got the rock out of the fire and slipped it into the pillow and then put it up against Chevalier’s feet. She returned to his side and curled up next to him, laying her head against his chest, “I’m scared, Chev, why can’t you talk? I really need you.”

  Emily started to drift off. It had been days since she’d slept, and curled up against Chevalier and the warm rock, she was finally starting to get warm. She jerked awake when her phone rang.

  “Dominos”

  “What?” Kyle asked, confused.

  “Never mind.”

  “We’re in Juneau, Zohn and I. As soon as we find out where you are we’ll at least be closer.”

  “Still no idea?” Emily asked. How hard could it be to find a house?

  “None, how are things?”

  “Chevalier’s eyes are opened, but Maleth is still covered in snow though.”

  “Oh good, just keep doing what you’re doing,” Kyle said reassuringly.

  “Yeah, no problem.”

  “How are you holding up?”

  “Me? Peachy.” She started to get irritated.

  “We’ll find you, just hang in there.”

  Emily sighed and hung up the phone.

  She touched Chevalier’s cheek lightly, “Kyle is driving me batty.”

  Emily turned off her phone alarm and sighed, “Time to go outside.”

  She went out into the blizzard and covered Maleth with snow, then checked his eyes closely, but there was no movement yet. When she was done, she went into the kitchen and ate a few more spoonfuls of coffee and then made Alexis some soup.

  “Alex, come eat,” Emily called out to the living room as she set the bowl on the table.

  “Alex?” Emily asked, when she didn’t hear a response. She peeked out and started to laugh.

  Alexis was sitting on Chevalier’s chest and was kissing all over his face as she said, “Daddy,” between each kiss.

  “Come on, Nut,” Emily said, and picked Alexis up off of Chevalier. She took her into the kitchen and sat while she ate.

  “Emily.” The hoarse whisper came from the living room. Emily jumped out of her chair and ran into the next room and knelt by Quinn.

  “Are you awake?” she asked him, not sure she had actually heard his voice.

  Quinn nodded and whispered, “The others?”

  “Allen and Chevalier are out here. Maleth still hasn’t moved his eyes,” she said. “Quinn, where are we? I need to tell Kyle.”

  “We’re,” he said, and was suddenly wracked with a cough. He settled down after a few minutes, “We’re sixteen miles east of Barrow, Alaska.”

  Emily kissed his cheek, “Thank you.”

  She dialed the phone quickly, “Kyle?”

  “It’s Zohn.”

  “Quinn’s awake. He said we’re sixteen miles east of Barrow.”

  “Hang tight, we’re on the way,” Zohn said, and disconnected.

  Quinn tried to sit up, but Emily pushed him back down. He was still too weak to even resist her, “Stay down.”

  Quinn looked over at the fire and back to Emily, “How long?”

  “Almost six days,” Emily said, and took his hand. “Are you ok?”

  Quinn smiled slightly, “Just really thirsty.”

  Emily nodded and held her wrist to his mouth, “There, have at it.”

  He shook his head and turned his face away, “No.”

  “Just do it.”

  “No,” he said again, but she saw the strained look on his
face.

  Emily went into the kitchen and returned with a knife. Quinn was watching her carefully.

  “What are you doing?” he managed to say in a whisper.

  “Force feeding you,” Emily said, and smiled.

  Quinn’s eyes grew wide, “Don’t…”

  It was too late, Emily had cut her wrist slightly and blood trickled out of the wound. She saw his eyes shut and he opened his mouth slightly as he inhaled. Emily pushed her wrist to him and he grabbed it weakly and began to feed. When she thought he’d had enough, she pulled her wrist away from his grasp. He was weak enough it was easy for her to do.

  He shut his eyes and relaxed. Emily went back into the kitchen and tore a towel into strips, and then wrapped one around her wrist to stop the bleeding. Alexis had finished eating, so she took her out to the living room and tucked her into bed. She curled up beside the toddler until she was asleep and then Emily stood up and silenced her alarm just as it went off.

  The light was starting to come up on the sixth day as she hauled buckets of snow into the house and dumped them on top of Maleth. She knelt down by him and watched his eyes, but there was still no movement.

  Emily went back into the living room and stoked the fire. She was running out of wood and coal, and she knew she only had enough for another 24 hours. She sat back and watched the others as they lie motionless. Quinn seemed to be in some kind of trance, almost asleep, but deeper. Her eyes grew heavy and she shut them as she started to feel the warmth from the fire.

  The phone alarm scared Emily, and she jumped up and turned it off quickly.

  “Emily?” Quinn asked, and his voice was a little stronger.

  She crawled over to him and looked into his eyes, “I’m right here.”

  “Who is dead?” he asked, his eyes pained.

  Emily shook her head, “No one is.”

  “I smell death.”

  “Nothing’s changed, now go back to sleep. I need to get more snow on Maleth.”

  She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm, “He’s gone.”

  “No, he’s not,” Emily told him, and pulled on the parka and boots. She felt Quinn’s eyes on her as she walked out the door and into the frigid wind. Six buckets of snow later, Emily came back into the living room and sat down by the fire to thaw her frozen hands.