“I’m not finished with you,” Chevalier said to Sotomar. “She’s in pain… and she’s afraid…”
Sotomar’s face showed a brief flicker of alarm before falling neutral, “I’m sure they are only doing what they need to.”
Just after Equites 1 took off for Council City with Kralen at the helm, Chevalier turned to Zohn, “Do we know where she is?”
“No, we thought she was still with you.”
“They took her on the 4th day and she was screaming,” he whispered. Kyle glanced over, not surprised at the malevolent look on Chevalier’s face.
“We’ll find her,” Zohn said. “The former Council has been contacting covens all over the world looking for supporters. If we get the word out, one of the covens can follow them back and give us a location.”
“She’s in pain,” Chevalier told him as he watched out the window. “Why do they always have to hurt her?”
“Because it’s the only way they can get back at her. She’s too strong to cave.”
“I’m sure they know by now they can’t kill her too,” Kyle added. “I just wish she’d give in to their wishes until we can get her back. It’d save her a lot of pain.”
Chevalier looked down at his hands, “I told her to ash the city and run…”
“Did she try?”
“No, she ignored me and tried to set me free.”
“Damnit”
***
“Then we’ve hit an impasse,” Kirt said. He believed himself to be one of the Equites Elders, although none of the Equites Covens had agreed to follow them.
Emily nodded.
“We realize we can’t banish you, or kill you,” their Chief Interrogator said. “However, once we reclaim our seats in the true palace, we will have to deal with you.”
Emily stayed silent.
“For now, you will return to your cell. If you decide to help us and follow heku tradition, then we will reconsider,” Kirt told her. He motioned for the heku at the door to return her to her cell.
She jumped slightly when the heavy metal bars slammed shut behind her, and then she looked around the small cement cell. There were no windows, no furniture, and nothing to keep her warm. She wrapped her arms around herself, cringing at the pain in her forearms from their interrogation, and sat against the cold cement wall.
Fear gripped her and she couldn’t bring herself to look any heku in the eye or speak. Without thinking about it, she curled up into a ball and began to rock on the hard, cold floor. She knew they were getting mad at her silence, but they had learned from the Valle, proven by her forearm pain, and she was sure they were going to go the way of Salazar.
She couldn’t cry, but continued to rock slowly as the sounds of the prison swarmed around her. Prisoners called for help for anyone that could hear them. They were tortured relentlessly and unjustly imprisoned by the Equites pseudo-Council.
***
“How many are here now?” Chevalier asked as he looked out over the mass of heku on the lawn.
Captain Darren from Thukil looked over the gathered army, “We’re at just over 1800.”
General Skinner came up with a stack of papers, “We’ve assigned groups, each led by a member of your Cavalry. The groups have been given an area of the globe. It’s still going to be hard to find this other Council… so we’re going to have to focus in on Emily’s scent.”
Chevalier nodded, “Break up into the teams then, I want to see it.”
Kyle blurred up, “Still no word. The Valle and Encala have denied allowing Bahadir Coven to join them.”
“Then they’ve joined the pseudo-Council.”
“That’s all we can figure. They haven’t been wiped out. Our sources saw them in their coven. They just aren’t answering calls from us.”
“Send Mark’s team immediately to Istanbul then,” Chevalier told him. “We’ll start looking there. If they have joined the pseudo-Council, then they would have to be close by. Either way, I want them killed.”
Kyle nodded and disappeared to talk to Mark.
“Elder…,” Silas said. Chevalier looked at him and then followed his gaze.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Chevalier whispered when he saw Andrew coming toward the castle, followed by four City Guards.
“My guess is he wants to help.”
“Well get rid of him.”
Silas nodded and then walked up to Andrew, “We don’t need your help.”
“Yes you do,” Andrew said. “You don’t know what kind of state Emily is going to be in and she trusts me.”
“She trusts us too.”
“Not as much as she does me. I know how to take care of her if they’ve used Salazar’s methods.”
“We can handle it,” Silas growled.
Chevalier sighed when he realized that Andrew was right, “Wait up…”
Andrew looked up at the Elder and crossed his arms, “Going to throw me out?”
“No, I’m going to put you in Silas’ group.”
“What!?” Silas hissed.
“He’s right. Emily trusts him. I’m not sure if the pseudo-Council will turn her against the Encala, but they sure as hell will try to turn her against the rest of us.”
“Get in line,” Silas said to Andrew, and then returned to his team. “We’ve been given Western Europe, specifically Holland, Belgium, France, and Switzerland.”
“It’s The Netherlands now, and that’s a lot of area for this little group,” Andrew said from the back row.
Silas’ jaw tightened, “We’re going to be splitting up and checking in with HQ each night. If you don’t call, we’ll assume you are in trouble, and you damned well better be because if we have to come find you, we’ll be off Emily’s track by then.”
Andrew was ignoring Silas and watching Mark’s team. They seemed ready to head out and anxious to check something out. He broke formation and walked over to Chevalier.
“I’m going with Mark,” Andrew told him.
“No, you’re not.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed, “They’re heading out first… He’s the highest ranking of your elite… They think they know where she is.”
“They aren’t even going out after Emily,” Chevalier told him. “Get back with Silas.”
Andrew glared at Chevalier and then walked over and stood in the back row of Silas’ heku.
Mark watched the transport helicopter land, and then ordered his team of 22 to get on board. They would be taken to the Equites Hangar outside of New York City and a jet would take them the rest of the way into Turkey.
The entire flight was silent, broken only when Gifford, a member of the Cavalry from Thukil, finally spoke, “We haven’t been told when we look for Emily.”
Mark looked over at him, “Once we ascertain where Bahadir Coven is, we’ll head out. We are going to cover Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Ukraine.”
“Is it suspected that Bahadir may have her?” a heku from Powan asked.
“No, but they aren’t responding to Council summons so something’s up.”
“Where are we landing?”
“Atakurk Airport in Istanbul. From there it’s only an hour to Bahadir Coven.”
“We running it then?” another heku asked.
Mark nodded and then looked outside when the pilot gave the 10 minute warning until landing.
“What do we do if they’re not in trouble?” Gifford asked Mark.
“If they’ve swapped sides or joined the pseudo-Council, then we kill them.”
“How many?”
“There are 133 in Bahadir Coven. Lady Seden is the Coven Leader, and she’s been holding a grudge against the Council since the early 1500s.”
“About what?” one of the heku from Thukil asked.
“The Council didn’t say. They strongly suspect that Bahadir has joined the Valle.”
Once the jet landed, the heku readied themselves for the run and then immediately headed out for the small compound outside of Gebze, Turkey. The compo
und sat eerily quiet and dark in the thick trees surrounding it. The high cement walls weren’t patrolled and there wasn’t the soft humming of electricity.
“I don’t hear a single heku,” Mark whispered. “Gifford, get closer.”
The heku nodded and stealthily moved forward until he was up against the cement. He turned to Mark and motioned that he heard nothing.
Mark frowned and then thought for a moment, “Team 3, you’re with me. I want Teams 1 and 2 to follow us in 2 minutes after we get inside the walls.”
When the heku acknowledged their orders, Mark moved in with 7 heku following him. He stopped just inside the walls and looked down at the two sleeping heku at the gate.
Gifford knelt down and studied the closest, “He’s not dead… He’s… well… sleeping.”
Mark’s heart pounded in his chest, “Damnit… find Emily, she has to be here.”
Mark’s heku spread out quickly through the compound and counted out the 120 heku they found unconscious throughout the compound. When they met at the center, Mark looked around the area.
“There are 13 missing,” he whispered to himself.
“Maybe they were attacked and 13 got away,” the heku from Powan said.
“I’ve never seen unconscious heku with no sign of trauma,” another said.
Mark sighed, “This doesn’t leave these walls… We were able to keep it pretty quiet, but this is what happens when you try to turn Emily.”
“Turn her?” Gifford gasped.
“The 13 have to be in the ceremonial room where they tried to turn Emily. The rest of the coven will wake eventually.”
“I didn’t see a ceremonial room.”
“It has to be in the main house then. Let’s go,” Mark said as he started for the largest house, offset a bit from the center of the coven.
The main house’s door was already open from when the heku had gone through it on initial checks. Mark immediately caught the faint scent of Winchester blood and he looked around the dark house. Gifford looked down at a female heku lying along the foot of the stairs, “This must be Lady Seden.”
Mark finally returned his voice to normal volume, “Search everything in this house. She’s either here or been here.”
“I don’t catch her scent,” a heku from Banks Coven said.
“I do, it’s very faint though.”
Mark’s team spread out through the house and within 10 minutes had located the heavy door leading into the ceremonial room. Mark appeared shortly after he was called, and looked around at the 13 unconscious heku in robes.
“Damnit, she was here,” Mark said. By now the rest of the heku could smell the faint trace of blood from Emily.
One of Mark’s team blurred around the room and removed the hoods from each of the unconscious heku, revealing their identity.
“None look familiar, except him,” the heku from Powan said, pointing to the one in black.
“Who is he?” Mark asked.
“He’s the pseudo-Court Reporter.”
Mark frowned, “Two of you go secure the gates. The rest of you stay here until I get back.”
He passed two heku already guarding the front gates and continued on, well out of earshot of any heku that might be listening. Once his cell phone got signal, he dialed the Council.
“Zohn here.”
“It’s Mark, is Chevalier around?”
“No, last I heard he’s in Louisiana.”
“Emily was here at Bahadir.”
“Was?”
“The coven is asleep. There are 13 in the ceremonial room in robes.”
There was silence while Zohn processed the information, “But she’s not there?”
“No, she was though. Her scent is very faint.”
“Do you recognize any of the 13?”
“One of them is a member of the pseudo-Council.”
“Kill them all, but bring me that one. Send two heku back to Council City with him, and the rest of you find that Council.”
“Yes, Elder,” Mark said.
***
“He’s awake?” Chevalier asked as his hands balled into fists.
“Yes,” Zohn said. “Woke up this morning.”
“Richard, you’re with me,” Chevalier said as he and the Chief Interrogator left for the palace’s prison. Perkins, the pseudo-Council’s Court Reporter, was already hanging from shackles when they arrived. His eyes grew wide when he saw the fury in Chevalier’s features and he immediately began to beg.
“Please… I’ll talk…,” Perkins said nervously.
Chevalier grabbed a Spanish flayer and turned to him, “Yes, you will.”
“I meant without violence!”
Richard smiled, “He’s way past being able to reason with you. Emily’s been gone for 3 months and we can’t seem to find her. Not to mention you morons tried to turn her against her will.”
“It wasn’t against her will! She asked us to… I swear… begged us to turn her,” he said, seconds before screaming when the flayer slammed against his back and peeled the flesh away.
“She begged you to turn her?” Richard asked, studying his face.
He nodded vehemently.
Chevalier looked over at Richard, “Obviously a lie.”
“No, actually… he’s telling the truth, but there’s something else.”
“What!?” their prisoner screamed just as Chevalier removed a large chunk of flesh from Perkins’ back with the Spanish Flayer.
“Start talking,” Chevalier hissed.
“N… no! She be… begged us, I swear.”
“Wrong answer.” Richard dug into a vat of salt and gingerly tossed it into the wounds on his back.
Chevalier stood back and studied him as his horrific screams filled the prison. When he’d healed enough to talk, Chevalier went over and put an iron poker into the fire.
“Please…” Perkins gasped.
“Emily wouldn’t agree to be turned,” Richard said to him. “So explain what you mean.”
“It’s the truth… she begged us to turn her.”
“Why?”
“What?” Perkins asked, looking up with a wobbly head.
Chevalier reached down and tore his foot from his body, “He asked why… What possessed Emily to agree to be turned?”
Richard waited while Perkins healed enough to speak, but all he managed was a gurgled sob.
“Did you control her to agree?” Chevalier asked him.
“No,” Perkins managed to whisper.
“I don’t want to play the guessing game,” Richard said, and headed for the fire.
“Wait! No!”
When the orange hot tip pressed against Perkins’ lower back, he screamed and thrashed, trying to relieve the pain.
“Start talking or you get the tank,” Chevalier said as he walked over to his newest torture device, a sealed tank of water.
Perkins looked over at it and gasped, “What is that?”
“My new toy… want to try it?”
“No,” he squeaked.
“Why did Emily agree to be turned?” Richard asked calmly.
Perkins head lowered and he whispered, “Torture.”
“You tortured her until she agreed to turn?”
He nodded slightly.
“What kind of torture?”
“I… I don’t know… Lync did it all and wouldn’t tell us.”
“Who is Lync?”
“Chief Interrogator.”
Richard studied him, “You don’t know… but you saw the results…”
“Yes,” Perkins whispered.
Chevalier walked forward, “I want to know what kind of torture you put her through so she would agree to this.”
“When… when she came into the ceremonial room… she had casts,” he uttered.
“Where?”
“Lower arms,” he said, and then started to cry tearlessly.
Richard shook his head and his lip curled, “You disgust me. Stop crying and act like a man for God’
s sake.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Sure you did! Part of the turning laws say no one can be tortured into it!”
“I didn’t torture her! I asked if she’d been coerced and she said no.”
“But you knew she’d been tortured!” Chevalier yelled. “She had casts on her arm.”
“Both…” Perkins’ words were cut off when Chevalier slammed his head into the rock wall and caved it in.
“They must not have heard that Emily can’t be turned,” Richard said as he sat on the rack to wait.
“Or they thought that by her agreeing to it it would work.”
Richard sighed, “It had to have taken a lot to get her in there.”
“That damned forearm thing I’m guessing. The only ones that know about it won’t say what the hell it is… Emily’s been through it but won’t tell me.”
“Andrew knows,” Richard reminded him.
Chevalier looked over at him, “He’s on the Council… he was given the order to keep silent as a guard.”
“Have we found out who removed Emily once the coven was unconscious?”
“No, no one’s talking.”
“What are you getting from her?”
Chevalier leaned back against the iron maiden, “Not much. There’s lots of pain and always fear, but there are brief moments when it lessens.”
“We’ll find her.”
“We have to,” Chevalier said. “If the pseudo-Council can get Emily to follow them…”
“We’ll find her first.”
“No being, human or heku, can go through that much torture without eventually caving. To save herself she’ll have to agree and then we risk being re-banished and scattered.”
“Now let’s see if we can get him to tell us where the pseudo-Council is holed up,” Richard said when Perkins began to stir.
***
Chevalier and Richard returned to the council chambers 2 days later. The rest of the Council was waiting for a report and Mark was in the trial area.
“Did he talk?” Zohn asked when Chevalier sat down.
Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series Page 58