Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “There’s a hurricane coming.” She walked out into the corral as Sam followed.

  “Yes, I know.”

  She glared at him, “Why am I the only one that didn’t know this?”

  “I don’t know.” He watched her put the reins on Patra.

  A sudden sharp pain shot up Emily’s abdomen, and she doubled over against the mare. Sam was on her in an instant, supporting her.

  “Emily?” he asked, concerned.

  The pain eased up and she stood back up, catching her breath.

  “What happened?” Sam asked, tugging on her arm. He was trying to get her back into the house.

  “Nothing.” She adjusted the reins on Patra and took a rope over to the colt. She rubbed her belly, trying to get the last of the pain to go away.

  “You better get inside. The doctor will want to know about that,” Sam said, taking the rope from her.

  She turned to him, “No one will know, Sam, that’s an order.”

  She took the rope from him, and was pleased when his shoulders fell. Now he wasn’t able to tell anyone. She was kind of impressed at how he had to obey her.

  “Don’t say that, please,” he said in a panic.

  “No one includes Chev,” she said, taking the rope from the colt and the reins on Patra, and walking them back into the barn.

  “I know, Ma’am,” Sam said sadly.

  At the barn door, Emily froze and winced. An irate Chevalier was standing in the barn, glaring at her. Sam came up behind her and sighed. Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, he thought Sam looked guilty and wrongly assumed it was because of the horses.

  “Good evening,” Sam said to Chevalier as he took the ropes from Emily and led the horses back into their stalls.

  “Want to explain this?” Chevalier asked, through clenched teeth.

  Emily took a step toward him, “I saw Patra and the colt out, and the storm is coming.”

  “What do you think Sam is for?” His face was dark and furious.

  Emily looked at the ground, “It was Patra, Chev.”

  Chevalier was at her in one step and swept her up into his arms a little roughly. Without a word, he headed back into the house.

  “I can walk,” she said, a little softly. She wasn’t sure how much trouble she was in.

  He didn’t answer, but headed up the stairs and put her down on the bed and left the room. Emily watched him leave, and then curled up on her side to watch more TV. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

  Another sharp pain woke her up and she sat up, clutching her stomach. She moaned softly, squeezing her eyes shut tightly as she fought to breathe. It eased up again, and she looked around the room, glad she was alone. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched as soon as the pain stopped entirely.

  The melted ice cream and cold Brussels sprouts were still sitting on her table.

  “Kyle?” she asked softly, and he blurred to her side.

  She looked up at him. She wanted to ask how mad Chevalier was, but the fury in his eyes kept her from asking.

  “Never mind,” she said, looking at the floor.

  Kyle grabbed the old tray and disappeared from the room, never saying a word. She watched as figures appeared on her balcony and began to board up the large plate glass doors. Soon, her room was shrouded in darkness. She debated for a few minutes. She should ask Kyle to turn on her lights, but she cringed at the thought of seeing his furious face again. She stood up and lightly walked to the wall and flipped on the light.

  “Damnit, Emily,” Kyle yelled when he appeared in her room. She’d hoped his keen hearing wouldn’t catch her bare feet against the wood, but she was wrong. She could feel her temper rising.

  “I turned on a light, Kyle. I didn’t even sprain my finger, look.” She childishly flipped him off and returned to bed. As she sat down, she saw Kyle walking away and he was laughing.

  Emily looked around the room, irritated. There was nothing to do, and she was feeling fidgety after sitting in bed for so long. She debated taking a bath, but figured she would probably get either Kyle or Chevalier mad. Her face flushed as she thought about them treating her like a child. She often wondered if they did consider her a child, they called her one often enough. Here she sat, almost 25, and very much pregnant, yet they still acted as though she needed a babysitter.

  She suddenly felt an odd tightening in her abdomen and touched her belly lightly. It was hard, like the muscles were tensing. It wasn’t painful, it was just weird, and she watched in wonder as the muscles relaxed and she felt the baby kick her. She grinned, and hoped the baby had her temper, just so Chevalier would think twice about having another.

  She drew her feet back into bed when someone knocked on her door. Before she even had time to speak, Kyle entered, carrying a tray. She glared at him as he sat it down beside her bed and left. It infuriated her that he was grinning.

  Emily was out of bed as soon as he left and she headed into the bathroom awkwardly. She realized it was harder to walk this morning and that just made her even madder. She heard the door open as she got into the bathroom, but it shut quickly again.

  She sat down on the edge of the tub when the world began to spin. Emily realized she wasn’t feeling that well and her heart was racing in her chest. She steadied her breathing and waited for the world to stop moving. When it did, she felt the odd tightening in her stomach and this time it hurt some. A panic set in as she recognized that she was starting labor.

  At first she wanted to yell out to Kyle, but she couldn’t. Again she was gripped with the fear that while in pain, she may accidentally kill a heku. She looked around the bathroom, terrified.

  She knew what she needed to do. Her first plans were to leave the island in secret, but with the windows boarded up, that took away that option. She could still get out of her room with no problems, no one found out yet how she did it. The problem was that everyone in the castle was watching her, waiting for her to make a mistake so they could alert Chevalier. She would never make it out of the building.

  The second option wasn’t as safe for the heku. The second option would only move her further away from them but wouldn’t fully protect them.

  ***

  Kyle heard her footsteps again, and he figured she was getting back in bed. He knew she hated being watched, but his orders were clear, and he would much rather face Emily’s wrath than that of his Chief Enforcer. He waited long enough for her to get back in bed, and then peeked in on her to make sure.

  Kyle frowned and stepped into the room when he saw that she wasn’t in bed, “Emily?”

  When she didn’t answer, he went to the bathroom, “Emily?” he asked again, but there was no answer. He growled and blurred down the stairs and into the barn.

  Sam looked up when Kyle entered.

  “Is she in here?” Kyle asked angrily.

  “No, Sir,” Sam said as he returned to feeding the horses.

  Kyle appeared back in the house. He was faster when he was mad. He checked the TV room, the pool, library, even the prison, but her scent wasn’t anywhere. Sighing, he knew he had to enlist help.

  “Come,” he heard Chevalier say.

  Kyle opened the office door and stepped inside, shutting it behind him, “She’s gone.”

  “What?” Chevalier asked, surprised.

  “Yup, not in her room. I checked the barn and all over the castle, I can’t find her.” He winced as the fury rose to Chevalier’s eyes.

  Chevalier shut his eyes to focus on Emily. He felt fear, intense fear. His eyes shot open and he inhaled sharply, “Find her, she’s afraid.”

  “Afraid? Of what?” Kyle gasped.

  “I don’t know, put out an all call, find her,” Chevalier said, getting to his feet.

  “It could be the hurricane. The wind has started up,” Kyle said, heading off to give the orders.

  Chevalier nodded, he hadn’t thought of that. He could see how she would find the hurricane frightening, and he couldn’t help but smile. He went back
to his paperwork and let the others find her. He knew hiding was partly a game to her, so he decided that if she was afraid of the storm, he’d let her hide for now.

  ***

  Emily sat on the stone cold floor, shivering. She looked out into the darkness, trying to see if her eyes would adjust so she could see something… anything… but as of yet, they hadn’t. She wasn’t sure if she was far enough away to keep the heku in the castle safe. This was as far as she could get without attracting attention. She knew they wouldn’t find her here easily. She wasn’t supposed to know how to get down here.

  The tightening in her stomach was getting more painful, but she was easily able to breathe through it and relax when it went away. Emily was glad she couldn’t hear the wind. As she descended, she caught the sound that the hurricane was near. She adjusted her weight as her back started to ache.

  ***

  “Still?” Chevalier asked, shocked. “How can she hide from us? We’re bred to seek out prey.”

  “I know, but so far nothing.” Kyle was flustered.

  “Fine, we’ll just let her hide. Maybe if we stop playing her hide-and-seek game, she’ll stop initiating it,” Chevalier said, irritated.

  Kyle smiled, “Ok, I’ll call off the troops.”

  ***

  Emily’s back began to ache, and the pain was worse than the tightening in her abdomen. She felt around until she found the bed and crawled up to sit on it. She hoped sitting on the soft bed would help. She leaned back against the headboard and groaned as another pain came.

  The pains were coming faster now and the ache in her back was relentless. She was having problems concentrating, and the panic was stronger. Emily suddenly no longer wanted to be alone. She had a vision of dying down here in the dark by herself. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been down there, it seemed like hours had passed. After a strong contraction ended, she got to her feet, but her legs buckled out from under her and she hit the ground hard.

  Emily fought to breathe through the pain, and felt wetness spread across the floor, soaking her nightgown. She stared into the darkness, trapped by her own body. The pains were coming faster now, and she counted off the seconds in the darkness. The contractions were only three minutes apart. The room grew colder now that her nightgown was wet, and she finally managed to crawl into the bed and pull the covers up around her.

  “Chevalier,” she called into the darkness, just as another pain wracked her body and she groaned, tightly gripping the covers.

  ***

  Chevalier’s body tensed as a small voice whispered his name. Hours had passed since he called off the search for Emily, but now he felt a different emotion from her. She was more terrified than before, but he also picked up pain. He cursed himself as he left his office, he shouldn’t have called off the search.

  “Kyle!” he bellowed from the hallway.

  “Yes, Chevalier?” Kyle asked casually from behind him.

  “She’s injured, find her.” Chevalier saw Kyle’s body stiffen as he blurred away. He heard Kyle barking orders into the shadows and the entire castle came alive. The wind outside beat against the side of the castle viciously, the hurricane had arrived.

  Chevalier fought against the wind as he made his way to the barn. Sam had the animals tucked in safely, but hadn’t seen Emily. Chevalier ordered him to join the hunt and Sam disappeared into the house.

  ***

  Emily heard footsteps outside of the room.

  “Who is it?” she asked, panting.

  “It’s Sam.” She felt him sit on the bed next to her.

  “Help me,” she said as another contraction ripped through her. She groaned and strained against the pain.

  “Just breathe,” he told her, and took her hand.

  “Don’t tell them, Sam. It’s not safe for them,” she said, controlling her breathing.

  “Ok, Child.” He had to agree, he didn’t have a choice. He tried to find a way to let them know without breaking her order. He’d lost enough of his charges to childbirth and only now did he begin to panic about also losing this one.

  Emily screamed as the pain hit and she squeezed Sam’s hand, breaking two of his fingers.

  ***

  Chevalier looked at the heku gathered around him. They called everyone to the foyer to begin searching again. The wind blew the roof violently, and a loose board banged from above.

  Kyle looked around, “I thought Sam was with us.”

  “He is.” Chevalier looked around, but didn’t see the short, squat man.

  Kyle hissed, “He found her didn’t he?”

  Chevalier could feel that Emily was no longer alone, and he growled deeply. She was still in pain and still afraid.

  “Yes, he better hope I don’t find him.” Chevalier ordered the gathered heku to check again, to check every inch including hidden rooms.

  Kyle froze and touched Chevalier’s arm, “The cave, beneath her room.”

  Chevalier blurred up the stairs the moment Kyle spoke. He could feel Kyle close on his heels as they appeared in her room. They activated the security door and heard a scream the second the door opened. Halfway down the stairs, Sam met them, blocking the way.

  “She doesn’t want you down here,” he said, hoping they wouldn’t obey.

  “Why?” Chevalier asked angrily.

  “She is afraid she will lose control and kill you,” Sam said, and he grimaced at the angry way Kyle looked at him.

  “She’s hurt, let me by.” Chevalier didn’t want to hurt Sam just yet, but knew he would make the familiar pay for this later.

  “She’s not injured,” Sam said quietly.

  Chevalier began to ask questions, then it hit him and he pushed past Sam and appeared in the dark cave room. He could hear Emily on the bed, her breathing was hard.

  “Emily,” he said, sitting on the bed beside her.

  “Go, please, go away,” she whispered, almost too softly to hear.

  “I’m not leaving you.” He kissed her forehead softly, “Let’s move you back up to your room.”

  “No, don’t touch me.” She pushed his hands away.

  “Leave her alone,” Sam said, standing beside them.

  Kyle turned and pushed Sam against the wall, “Get lost, Sam.”

  Emily let out a small scream that turned to a groan as another contraction hit. Chevalier watched helplessly as her body tensed in pain.

  “Get the helicopter,” he ordered Kyle.

  “We can’t fly… the hurricane,” he reminded Chevalier.

  “Then get the doctor on the phone, do something.” He was watching Emily as she slowly relaxed.

  Kyle ran up the stairs to make the call, but returned less than a minute later, “No phones, it must have knocked out a tower.”

  Emily began to groan again and clutched the blankets tightly.

  “Won’t be long now, the contractions are close together,” Sam said, still sitting by the wall.

  Chevalier glared at him, “Do you know how to deliver?”

  Sam nodded, “Yes, never done it alone, but I’ve been around for many of the Winchester deliveries.”

  “Fine,” Chevalier growled. “Get up here and do it.”

  “Nothing to do yet but wait until she needs to push,” he said, not moving from the floor.

  They waited for hours in the darkness, talking softly while Emily rested between contractions and watching helplessly during them. The bed sheets were soaked with sweat and the sound of the strong winds could be heard above them.

  Kyle stood by the wall, watching Emily as Chevalier sat beside her. She yelled at him any time he tried to touch her, which seemed to please Sam. Sam sat on the floor, well away from Chevalier and watched them.

  Emily groaned as another contraction hit her, but the sound was different and Chevalier studied her carefully to determine why.

  It wasn’t until he noticed her holding her breath that he hissed at Sam, “She’s pushing.”

  Sam stood up finally and touched her stomach
lightly. He nodded to Chevalier, “It’s time.”

  Emily was tired, she just wanted to sleep. Every muscle in her body hurt, and the contractions were unrelenting. They came faster and harder each time. She hated the way the three in the room watched her, but they ignored her pleas to leave. Something new happened, and instead of just the pain shooting from her back to her front, it was coupled with the urge to push, to bear down and end this.

  She kicked at Sam when he situated himself between her feet, but he dodged her and put his hands on her knees. Emily tried to get up, but the pains sent her back into the bed and she pushed, groaning loudly.

  Chevalier watched Sam closely and growled.

  “Do you want to do this?” Sam snapped when he heard the growl.

  Chevalier turned back to Emily. He took her hand in his and cringed when her hand crushed the bones in his fingers.

  When her body relaxed, Chevalier flexed his hand as it healed. He’d barely healed when Emily was up again. Her body shook with the pain and she pushed, screaming as Sam encouraged her.

  “Push hard, Emi, come on, Child,” Sam said in a harsh whisper.

  She fell back against the bed, exhausted, and almost immediately fell asleep.

  It seemed like an eternity that she had been pushing, but no progress was made. The storm raged above, but down in the small cave room, things were quiet as the heku and Sam watched her. Sam was nervous. He was afraid he might lose Emily and have to face the wrath of the heku.

  Emily’s body shook as she began to push again. She was too tired to scream, too exhausted to do more than groan with the pain.

  “Come on, Child. You have to push,” Sam said to her.

  “Can’t,” she whispered before falling asleep.

  “Is this supposed to go on this long?” Chevalier whispered to the familiar.

  “No, the baby is too big,” Sam whispered back.

  “If she dies, you’re next,” Chevalier hissed at him.

  “Chevalier, it’s not his fault,” Kyle said, sitting on the bed across from Chevalier.

  “No, it’s mine,” Chevalier snapped at Kyle.

  “Lord Ulrich told you to stay away from her,” Sam said mockingly.

  “Shut up, Sam,” Kyle told him.