“I’m not in pain anymore.”
“So it is labor…”
“No, it’s not! Now go away.”
He growled and then stormed out of the room, slamming the heavy stone door behind him.
Emily tried to relax and take deep breaths. Her head started pounding when Chevalier first started arguing about the hysterectomy.
***
“I don’t want to go,” Emily said as Chevalier grabbed her bag.
“You can’t stay here forever.”
“Why not?”
He smiled, “No. You talked me out of an extra week and I think 4 weeks is long enough to be in this room.”
“What if they come for me?”
“I think they would have come for me by now if anyone was going to get attacked.”
“I don’t know,” she said, watching the door.
He put his hand out, “Come on. Besides, if I don’t prove to Kyle that you’re not dead, he may come after me.”
She rolled her eyes and took his hand, “Fine.”
Chevalier stopped at the door and pulled a scarf out of his back pocket.
“What?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“You can’t see where this is.”
“Why not?”
“You just can’t,” he said, trying to put it over her eyes. She ducked away from him.
“I didn’t have a blindfold when you brought me here.”
“I was mad. I’m considerably faster when I’m mad.”
“No, I walk out.”
“No, I carry you.”
She backed away from him when she saw the twinkle in his eye, “Don’t even…”
He became a blur, and the first Emily could fight back was when she was already blindfolded and gripped tightly in his arms. Somehow, hers were held at her sides as the wind flew past her.
When Chevalier set her down gently, she immediately began swinging and caught him on the chest a few times before he moved. She quickly pulled the scarf from her eyes and ran at him, pounding him on the chest. It infuriated her more when he started to laugh.
“Em…”
“Don’t do that!” she screamed, still swinging.
“Em…”
“What!?”
Chevalier reached out and spun her around to face the Council and she could hear him still laughing behind her.
She glared at them and then turned and hit Chevalier in the stomach, “I don’t care if they see me beat the crap out of you!”
Chevalier turned his side toward her when she tried to punch him in the groin, “Stop it before you hurt yourself.”
Just before her fist connected with his chest again, Kyle gently pulled her away from Chevalier, “Calm down.”
“Don’t… touch… me,” she screamed, and accentuated each word with a hit to Kyle. He blocked her easily and couldn’t help but laugh some.
Quinn shook his head and appeared behind her, then quickly restrained her, making sure she didn’t head butt him, “Emily, calm down before you hurt yourself.”
“Let me go!”
“Not until you’re calm.”
Kyle and Chevalier met up and were laughing behind her as she glared at the Council.
When she stopped struggling, Quinn looked up at Zohn, “We safe?”
Zohn shrugged, “Hard to tell.”
“I’m letting go, just stay calm,” he said to her, and then let go. Emily spun and slapped him as hard as she could, and then stormed out of the room.
Quinn chuckled and returned to his seat, “A tad moody is she?”
Chevalier just grinned and sat down, “She didn’t want to leave.”
“She didn’t?” Kyle asked, frowning.
“No, she knows how badly she messed up and it scared her.”
“Do we know for certain that no one’s after her?”
“No, I don’t,” Chevalier said. “Which is why I’ve upped her guards to 6, though she doesn’t know it.”
“How are you going to hide that?” Quinn asked.
Chevalier chuckled, “Easy… 2 will always be asking Mark for help with something when she’s around.”
“That’ll never work.”
“She didn’t want to come back.”
“Is she anti-Council City again?”
“No, she just felt more protected where I had her.”
“Which was where exactly?”
He smiled, “Not telling that.”
“She doesn’t feel safe here?” Kyle asked.
“Not really. I suspect she’s not really felt safe since Salazar had her, but that room somehow gave her an added protection that she’s needed,” Chevalier explained.
The Council looked toward the doors when they heard Emily walk down the stairs quickly.
“Good morning, Lady Emily,” Derrick said.
“Bite me,” she grumbled, and continued down the stairs.
Chevalier chuckled, “Just a tad moody?”
“Ok, so extremely so,” Quinn corrected.
Emily walked out to the stables, hoping to find the Cavalry. She hoped watching them beat each other up might help her mood. Once saddled, she used a bale of hay to climb up onto her stallion and then rode out toward the city gates where training was being held, followed by six members of the Cavalry, though she didn’t really notice the extra two.
“Welcome back,” Silas said to her when she rode up.
“What’s going on?” Emily asked. She saw Mark, Silas, Horace, and Kralen, but no Cavalry.
“You sure you should be on a horse?” Mark asked, frowning.
She glared at him and he moved his horse back a bit.
“We’re just waiting for the Cavalry to get back,” Kralen said, trying to take the pressure off of Mark. “We hid items in the trees and they have to sniff them out and bring them back.”
“Great… turned the Cavalry into drug dogs,” she grumbled.
Silas grinned behind her back.
“Where were you?” Horace asked.
She shrugged, “Grouchy won’t tell me.”
“Grouchy?”
“Yeah… the royal pain in the ass.”
“The Elder,” Silas told him, still chuckling.
Suddenly, all four heku looked south and before Emily could ask what was going on, they all kicked their horses into a dead run down the road. Emily shrugged and did the same.
She pulled her horse to a hard stop when she saw a face-off between 12 members of the Cavalry, and a group of strange heku. One of them looked up at her and his eyes narrowed.
“There she is. Get her,” he growled.
Emily gasped as the Cavalry moved forward and blurred into a fight with the strangers. She turned her horse hard and raced back for the city.
“Get help!” Emily yelled at the Gate Guards. Within seconds, the rest of the Cavalry appeared and headed down the road to the sounds of fighting. She barely caught sight as Chevalier blurred past her to join them.
Kyle appeared at her side and she could tell he was ready to either fight anyone who came at her, or grab her if she tried to go to the fight.
“What’s going on?” she whispered as she watched the mass of blurring.
“I’m not sure exactly.”
“Who are they?”
“Heku from all three factions,” Kyle said, frowning.
“Equites too?”
“Yes”
His eyes grew wide and he quickly mounted behind Emily on her horse. She didn’t have time to react before he kicked the stallion and they rode quickly toward the stables.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Kyle didn’t answer, but when they arrived at the stables, Quinn and the Chief of Staff were waiting. Emily turned to ask Kyle again, but he was gone.
She looked over at Quinn, “Tell me what’s going on.”
He sighed, “The Old Ones are attacking.”
“They are?” she gasped.
“Yes, let’s get inside.”
“No! I can help.”
She frowned and then nodded and climbed down off of her horse. One of the Palace Guards came and took the stallion from her, and she followed Quinn back inside.
They all sat down in the council chambers, with Emily in Chevalier’s chair. It was less than an hour later when they heard the Cavalry come back in. Emily watched breathlessly to make sure everyone was ok.
Chevalier and Kyle were the first inside. They were both covered in blood and their clothing was torn, but they didn’t seem injured.
Chevalier kissed Emily on the top of the head and then picked her up, sat down, and put her on his lap.
“So?” Quinn asked, looking over at Kyle.
“It was what we were afraid of. Twelve Old Ones came to take care of Emily.”
“Where are they?”
He sighed, “They got away.”
“We held them off,” Chevalier said. “It’s not over though.”
Emily frowned, “Then I should go back to the room.”
“We can’t risk that now. If we leave, we risk being followed.”
“So now what?” she asked, frustrated.
“We wait… and watch,” Kyle said, looking over at her.
“No, I need to go away or they will come after the Council. You weren’t supposed to hear what I said,” Emily told them as she pressed her palms into her eyes and leaned back against Chevalier.
“We’re well protected here,” Zohn said, smiling. “There are only 89 old ones, two of which won’t attack you… maybe three.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes,” Chevalier told her, and kissed the back of her head. “Do you need to go lay down?”
She nodded and then stood up and wobbled slightly. Chevalier stood with her and walked her up to the bedroom. She was only slightly surprised to see Dr. Edwards waiting.
“How are you, Dear?” he asked as she laid down.
“Peachy”
“Headache?”
“No”
“Yes,” Chevalier countered.
“May I please just check your blood pressure?” Dr. Edwards asked as he began to dig in his bag.
Emily nodded, shocking both of them. She held her arm out and Chevalier frowned when she didn’t even complain as the doctor took her blood pressure.
“It’s too high,” Dr. Edwards said softly.
“I figured,” she mumbled, and rolled away from him.
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “You’re not going after them.”
“After who?” Dr. Edwards asked.
“Emily, did you hear me?”
She nodded, but didn’t answer.
“Stop protecting the heku!”
“They’re after the Council because of me,” she whispered.
“Get out,” Chevalier snapped at Dr. Edwards. His eyes grew wide and he disappeared from the room. Chevalier turned back to Emily, “No…”
“I’m not going to do anything until I feel better.”
“I’m doubling your guards.”
She sighed, “You know they can’t stop me.”
His eyes narrowed, “Stop being stubborn! You can’t take on a group of Old Ones.”
“I just need a nap, Chev,” she said softly.
***
Emily rolled over and took her cell phone from the table. She thumbed through some of the saved notes and read again how to summon and how to abolish the Old Ones. She couldn’t let them torment and eventually kill the Equites Council all because of something she did.
The Ancients worked out all of the details, and meticulously took notes, notes Emily had already read. They knew their lives were in danger, and were planning on getting rid of the Old Ones before they were all banished.
Faking a nap, Emily laid for hours and had a plan formulated in her mind. Her main concern was how to avoid hurting Chevalier, Sotomar, and Ovidius once she called the Old Ones to her. She already had a good location. Now she just needed to set her plan in motion.
She knew she couldn’t risk sleeping. Chevalier loved to watch her dreams and she was afraid of giving away her plan. When night fell, she sat up and looked sadly around the room. It was time to stop the Equites from being punished for her being there.
“Chev?” she whispered softly.
It only took a second for him to appear and it was obvious he’d calmed down, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, watching him.
“For what?”
He turned to ash suddenly and within only a few minutes, she had scooped him into a bag and hid the ashes in her pockets. After knocking the six guards unconscious, Emily started for the garage.
“Where are your guards?” Zohn asked as she passed him on the stairs. Without a word, she turned him and Derrick to ash, leaving them in front of the council chamber doors.
Emily took her new Rubicon. It had never been driven. She’d had no desire to leave the palace and as she drove out of Council City, her heart sunk. She was shaking as she drove toward the East.
“Sir, the Winchester is here,” the Valle’s Door Guard said.
Sotomar smiled, “Let her in.”
Emily came in and stood before the Valle Council.
“You’ve returned.”
“Sort of. Can I talk to you for a second please?”
“Go ahead.”
“In private.”
Sotomar nodded and then walked down to the trial area. He and Emily walked out together, “What seems to be the problem?”
“Just sit in my car with me for a second, please,” she said, and her seriousness wasn’t lost on him.
He sat down beside her in the Rubicon and frowned, “Why do I smell the ashes of two heku?”
Before Sotomar even looked up at her, he’d turned to ash and Emily took off out of the Valle city. She now had Chevalier, Sotomar, and Ovidius. It was lucky that Ovidius Coven was near the Valle’s main city. While driving, she’d made the plane reservations she needed and immediately headed for the airport.
At the airport, Emily walked up to a young attendant, “I have an offer for you.”
He smiled and turned to her, “What might that be?”
“Want to make an easy $10,000?”
Suddenly, he became serious, “What did you have in mind.”
Emily held out a box, inside were the ashes of the three Old Ones, “Take this box with my mother’s ashes to an address I give you. Tell them Emily said to pay you $10,000 for it.”
He was obviously skeptical, “I take this box and get $10,000?”
“Yes”
“If they don’t pay it?”
“You have my Mom’s ashes, they’ll pay.”
He thought for a moment, “When do I have to deliver this?”
“In 3 days.”
“Jeff!” the kid yelled. When another boy joined him, they spoke for a second and then he turned to Emily, “Sure, we’ll do it.”
She smiled and handed the box over. After giving the address to the farmhouse and directions, she headed inside and within a few hours was over the Atlantic heading for Heathrow Airport.
Chevalier tightened his grip on Emily and focused in on the finer parts of the dream. He was aware that she had already worked out the details and was only replaying them in her sleep because of the time spent working on them.
She spent the entire flight to London reading the incantations she’d put into her phone, one to summon the Old Ones, and one to then abolish them. She watched out the window as the airplane landed in Heathrow Airport. From there she caught the bus to Amesbery.
Emily was the only one that got off of the bus at Amesbery and it was already nearing dusk. She watched the bus leave and then started the 2 mile walk to Stonehenge.
When she arrived, the last batch of tourists were just leaving and dark clouds were rolling in. Emily wandered among the massive stone structure and waite
d for darkness to set in.
Lightning cracked high above her as she pulled out her phone, took a deep breath, and began the incantation to call the ‘old ones.’
“I summon you,” Emily said, and then braced herself with the ground began to shake. “Come to me where the Ancients meet.”
Chevalier frowned. Those weren’t the ancient Latin verses used to summon.
She felt a rush of power run through her as her voice echoed through the dark night. Excitement grew, she could almost feel the Old Ones in the world frowning and wondering who dared to summon them.
Emily wasn’t sure how long it would take. They had to come from all over the world, but most had private jets. She sat down to wait, hoping they would all arrive the following night. She pulled her coat around her and wondered if the ashes had been delivered yet.
Back in Council City, the farmhouse guard appeared at the door to the council chambers with a box in his hands.
“What do you need, Dwight?” Derrick asked.
“I need to see the Council.”
Derrick nodded, announced him, and then opened the door, “Go in.”
“Come, Dwight,” Quinn said, motioning him forward.
“What do you need?” Kyle asked.
The farmhouse guard held out the box, “This was just delivered by two mortals from New York.”
“What’s in it?”
“I detect three sets of ashes.”
Kyle gasped, “Bring them to me.”
Dwight handed up the box and then stepped back, “I had to pay them. They said Lady Emily told them they would be given $10,000 for the delivery.”
Zohn nodded and watched Kyle open the box, “Return to the farmhouse.”
The guard nodded and blurred from the room.
“Three bags,” Kyle said, looking into the box. “Chev, Soto, and Ovi are written on them.”
Quinn sighed, “Call the Encala and Valle and let them know that Emily has returned the members of their factions that she took.”
The Court Reporter nodded and left to make the call.
“Just bring Chevalier back,” Zohn said. “We’ll let them revive their own.”
Kyle nodded and had Chevalier revived a couple minutes later. He growled deeply when the pain subsided, and then looked around, “Where is she?”
“We aren’t sure,” Quinn said. “We believe she’s gone to Europe.”
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 19