Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series
Page 11
Alexis frowned, “Who did it?”
“A heku,” Allen said, and then looked at his sister’s face. “Dad!”
Chevalier looked over and stood up quickly, “Alexis, no!”
Alexis scanned the heku in the room. Her angelic face held a hint of anger, and she started to get the faraway look that Emily used to get before she turned a heku to ash.
“Silas,” Quinn said hurriedly.
Silas came in and quickly took Alexis out of the room.
“I hope she doesn’t turn him to ash,” Zohn said after they left.
“She won’t, she trusts Silas,” Chevalier explained, and sat back down.
“How does Exavior keep finding out private information?” Zohn asked.
“He either has this room bugged, or an informant… and I want to know which,” Chevalier said angrily.
“I’ll get a team in here to search for bugs as soon as she wakes up,” Zohn said.
“Do it now, while she’s unconscious.”
Zohn nodded and blurred away.
Chapter 6 - Exavior
“Em?” Mark asked.
Emily looked up from her breakfast, “Come… sit.”
“I can’t, Sotomar and William are here. They are waiting for you in the council chambers,” Mark said.
“Damnit, they’re early,” Emily said, and stood up. Her left arm was in a full cast, and was propped up high on a stick that attached to her waist.
“Yes, they are,” Mark said, and held the door open for her. “They’re all anxious to talk to you.”
Emily nodded and walked sideways through the door, careful not to bump her arm. She walked into the back of the council chambers and sat in the chair that was made for her during the trial.
Sotomar and William watched her carefully.
“You are injured?” William asked, frowning.
Sotomar sighed, “I’ll go ahead and get it in the open. She was injured by our Chief Interrogator.”
William growled, “Exavior interrogated her?”
“No,” Sotomar hissed. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“Has he been punished?”
“Yes, he has,” Sotomar told the Council.
“That’s part of what I wanted to bring up,” Emily said. “During the attack, he reminded me that I couldn’t turn him to ash, or I would negate the peace agreement.”
“Was he… feeding?” William asked.
“No, he was…” Emily glanced nervously at Chevalier, “Kissing… mostly.”
William frowned, “I see no reason why you wouldn’t be able to defend yourself against unwanted sexual advances.”
Emily winced at his terminology.
Sotomar nodded, “We as the Valle agree.”
“Lastly,” Emily said. “I wanted to remind you… I warned of any of the three factions messing with my family. That means my entire family.”
Chevalier glanced at her, unsure where she was going with this.
“We understand that,” William said.
“That goes for trying to turn my Uncle,” Emily said, directly to Sotomar.
Chevalier frowned at her, “Who is trying to turn Alec?”
“Exavior is, and if it’s done, it activates the ultimatum of the peace agreement. My uncle is part of my family,” Emily said angrily.
Sotomar nodded, “I wasn’t aware Exavior was planning on turning any of your family.”
“Well he is, and he has neglected to tell my Uncle about the heku. He doesn’t even know the name of your species.”
“That’s not really uncommon,” Zohn said.
Emily glared at him and he sat back in his chair.
“Leave my uncle alone,” Emily said to Sotomar.
“I assure you, he won’t be turned, not while I’m an Elder,” Sotomar said.
“No more bugs… or spies… or whatever it is the Valle have either.”
Sotomar frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean that private conversations I have with Chev are being listened to, and the information is being spread throughout the Valle,” Emily told him angrily.
“Every faction has spies,” William said in the Valle’s defense.
“You damn well better not have them on me.”
Sotomar nodded, “No, we don’t have them on you. We are leaving you alone.”
“Then how does Exavior know things that only Chev and I know?”
“He has a dangerous obsession. We thought it was harmless, but after the… attack…” Sotomar sighed, “In New Mexico, we realized how precarious it really is. We have taken all precautions to ensure it won’t happen again, and that includes spying.”
Emily nodded, somewhat pacified.
“We also know he told you about the…”
“Hush,” Emily told him, blushing. “Any private conversations between Exavior and me are also to remain between just us two.”
Sotomar frowned slightly, “That’s not what I was….”
“No,” Emily said again firmly.
“Well I, for one, want to know about this conversation between you and Exavior… that no one seems to want to talk about,” Chevalier said, watching Emily.
Sotomar took a step back and Emily’s blush deepened.
“Yes, what exactly is it that we are all accused of?” Kyle asked.
“Sotomar… can I trust you?” Emily asked him.
Sotomar nodded, “Yes, I won’t bring anything up.”
Emily smiled, “Thank you… now… I hear some pancakes calling my name.”
The Council watched as Emily walked out.
“Ok, spill it,” Chevalier told Sotomar.
“I’m not going to defy the Lady,” Sotomar said, grinning slightly.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “Can you at least tell us if what he told her is true?”
“I can assure you, I don’t know. I’m not sure we were talking about the same thing.”
“Well, damnit, someone needs to tell us… she can’t even look at some of the guards, and now she watches us like we’re doing something wrong,” Chevalier said, frowning.
“Now, let’s go over next Friday’s attack on Powan,” Zohn said, changing the subject.
William frowned, “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I mean… one of your insiders told us everything, including names and dates, so I suggest you back off. Now that we know, we’ll reinforce.”
Sotomar shrugged, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Zohn grinned, “Apparently we, as Equites, have a new interrogation technique that’s quite effective, and your guy sang.”
“We have no attack plans on Powan,” William said indignantly.
“Sure you don’t,” Kyle said. “Before we let you go, Ingram and Selhman have been banished.”
Sotomar frowned, “You had no right to do that.”
“We did. They were punished as traitors,” Zohn told him.
“They should have been turned over to us,” Sotomar said.
“Why would we do that, when it’s our coven they destroyed?”
“We should have been notified before!”
Zohn turned to William, “You’re not mad at all? We banished your spy, too.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” William said.
“Oh don’t play stupid. We know the attack on Randolph Coven was a combined attack from the Valle and the Encala, and that the Encala were disguised as Valle,” Quinn said.
“That’s insane, why would we do that?” Sotomar asked, irritated.
“You underestimate our new interrogation technique. We know exactly what happened.”
“We would never disguise ourselves as Valle. We wouldn’t stoop to that level,” William said, and Sotomar glared at him.
Zohn shrugged, “Either way, they have both been banished.”
“I want to know what happened to Exavior,” Chevalier said. “Now that Emily is out of the room.”
“He’s none of your concern. He has been
dealt with,” Sotomar told him.
“He is of my concern! He assaulted my wife, and I personally want to have a chat with him.”
Sotomar grinned, “I’m sure you do. However, he is restricted from communicating with the Equites at all.”
Chevalier frowned, “That’s his punishment? He can’t call her anymore?”
“That is all it will take to stop his obsession with the Winchester.”
“If that is all, I will be going. I just wanted to ensure that the Valle didn’t cause the Lady to disappear,” William said. He turned and then left the palace.
“Anything else?” Sotomar asked.
“No, you may go,” Quinn said, and watched as he left.
Chevalier sighed, “Where’s she going now?”
The heku all listened and heard her Dodge Ram leave the garage.
Emily pulled up to the derelict Durango and climbed out of the truck. She crawled under the back end and pulled off the tracking device. Once she got back to her feet, she chucked it into the trees and then chained the Durango to the back of the truck. She sighed and started to change out the shredded tire for the spare. It was taking longer to do one-handed.
“Moving it?” Exavior asked from behind her.
Emily stood up and turned toward him, “What the hell are you doing here? I thought Sotomar punished you for being a jerk.”
“Oh, he did,” Exavior said, grinning. “I’m not to contact you at all.”
“Erm… so what is this, exactly?”
“Breaking orders… I needed to apologize.”
Emily moved aside when Exavior started to change out the tire for her.
“Apology accepted, now go away or I’ll call for Chev,” Emily warned.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Exavior said, standing up after he finished with the tire.
“You have too much of a temper and I don’t feel safe around you, so you need to leave,” Emily said, and headed for the truck.
“Found my truck, seems to be missing a door,” Exavior said, blurring to block Emily from the door to her truck.
“Move,” Emily yelled, glaring at him.
Exavior smiled, “Forgive me first.”
Emily sighed and instantly turned Exavior to ash, “Forgive that.”
After scooping Exavior into an empty cup from the truck, Emily slowly towed the Durango back to the road and headed for the trees to the east of the city. She started off-road across a path she found through the trees, and left the Durango almost 2 miles off of the main road, in a spot surrounded by woods.
A few hours later, Emily walked into the palace and was stopped by Dr. Cook.
“I got the results back,” Dr. Cook said. “It came back negative. It’s not conclusive though. It’s hard to find this particular virus.”
“I’m sure I’m fine, thanks,” Emily said, and walked into the council chambers. She sat the cup in front of Kyle and he looked inside.
“Tell him to leave me the hell alone,” Emily said, and headed for the doors.
“Wait…” Kyle called out, looking at the ashes. “Who is this?”
Emily turned around, “Exavior.”
Kyle gasped, “He contacted you?”
Chevalier growled, “Sotomar said he was taken care of.”
“Yeah, well, he’s back and wouldn’t let me into my truck… so I ashed him,” Emily told them, smiling.
“What did he do?” Chevalier hissed.
“He changed the tire I was in the middle of changing, and then blocked my way. That’s all he had time to do. He did mention that he wasn’t supposed to contact me anymore.” She thought about it and frowned, “Anyway, do whatever you want, but tell him to leave me alone.”
Kyle nodded, “Oh, we will.”
“Next time he comes near me, I’m going to ash him and scatter it,” Emily said, and some of the Council gasped, surprised.
“We’ll pass that along,” Kyle said, grinning.
“And you can stop planning my immortality, the tests were negative.”
Chevalier smiled, “Good to hear.”
Emily headed out of the council chambers, so Quinn dialed the Valle Council on speakerphone.
“What now?” Sotomar said, sighing.
“Your Chief Interrogator contacted Emily again and has been turned to ash,” Quinn said, amused.
Sotomar hissed, “Your Chief Enforcer turned him to ash?”
“No, Emily did after he blocked her way to her truck.”
“Revive him then, we will punish him.”
“I think not,” Chevalier said. “Your punishment didn’t work. He’s now our prisoner.”
“Not for long,” Sotomar said, and hung up.
Kyle grabbed the cup of ashes, “This will be fun.”
“Yes, it will be,” Chevalier said, and they both left for the interrogation chamber.
Emily woke up after her nap and stretched. The room was nice and warm, and she stayed in bed for a few minutes, replaying in her mind the encounter with Exavior. She eventually got out of bed and propped her arm up on what she called its ‘perch’.
Emily walked out and turned to Mark, “Where’s Chev?”
Mark tensed slightly, “He’s in a meeting.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed, “So he’s in the council chambers?”
“No”
“Council’s conference room?”
“No”
“His office?”
“No, Em,” Mark said.
Emily couldn’t help but feel her heart sink, “Where is he?”
“I told you, he’s in a meeting.”
“Is he… with… someone?” Emily asked.
“I think Kyle and Zohn are with him,” Mark told her.
“I see,” Emily said, deep in thought. “Take the night off.”
Emily ignored the complaints and headed into the game room. The room was empty, and she quickly spun into the bar, then looked up at the high windows and pushed one of the tables up underneath it. With a lot of time and effort, she was able to stack another table on top of it, and a chair on top of that table.
“Don’t fall, Emily,” she whispered, and slowly headed up the tower with only one arm. After a few perilous saves, she made it to the top and was able to climb onto the ledge by the windows. She crawled to the clean window and peeked down into the round room. Someone was just leaving, and all she could see was the green cape and then the door shutting.
Emily crawled back down, and once she was on the floor, she knocked the table off of the other one and ignored the loud crash as she took the spinning door back into the game room.
Several guards looked at her, shocked, as she emerged, blushed, and ran out of the room. She ran down the stairs and stopped when she saw Zohn, Chevalier, and Kyle walking toward her from an unknown hallway. She quickly calculated in her head where that room might be, and she surmised it would down that hallway.
“Hi, Em,” Kyle said, and then stopped in front of her. “Em?”
“A meeting?” Emily asked, tears filling her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Chevalier asked.
“You were… in a meeting?”
“Yeah… so what’s wrong?” Kyle asked.
Chevalier frowned, “Emily, tell me what’s wrong,” he said, and touched her arm. The second his hand met her skin, a vision invaded his thoughts and he saw Exavior and Emily talking. This vision gave him a close up view of their conversation and he could hear it.
“Do you remember when I told you that there are some things in a heku’s nature that you aren’t aware of?” Exavior asked Emily.
Emily nodded, “Yes, I remember that.”
“That’s one of them and… don’t kid yourself… Chevalier goes in there.”
Emily frowned at him, “He does not.”
“Yes he does. We all do.”
Emily stopped her mare, “You go in one?”
Exavior nodded, “Every one of us does.”
“Why though? Why would he?”
“Kyle?”
“Yes, boyfriend, too.”
“Elder?” Kyle asked as he watched Chevalier’s face. He had suddenly gone expressionless and his eyes were far away.
Chevalier let go of Emily, and she stepped back and looked down at her arm, “What was that?”
“What did Exavior mean when he told you, ‘Don’t kid yourself… Chevalier goes in there?’” he asked.
Emily looked from Chevalier to Kyle and blushed, “How do you know about that?”
“It started a few years ago, but just recently got clearer. I’ve been able to see what you’re thinking about when I touch you… what did he mean? Something he said Kyle does too.”
Emily frowned, “Then don’t touch me, that’s private.”
“Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“How did I get brought into this?” Kyle asked. “What is it I do?”
Emily blushed, “Nothing, just forget about it.”
Chevalier grabbed her arm when she turned to leave, “Tell us.”
“It’s… something…” Emily looked from Kyle to Zohn. “No, well… so… no.”
“Emily, I’m getting angry,” Chevalier growled, and Emily took a step back. “It’s time you tell us what Exavior accused us of.”
“I’m… trying to understand, ok? I want to be open… about… heku nature,” Emily said, and felt her chin quiver slightly as her eyes filled back up with tears. “So just… give me time. I’ll be ok with it.”
Zohn moved to stand in front of Emily, and she looked up at him, “Was it ceremonial?”
Emily shook her head, “I don’t think so.”
“Was it something with donors?”
“No”
“Was it entertainment?”
Emily frowned, “Don’t interrogate me.”
“So it was entertainment,” Zohn said, and Emily turned away from him. She hated his natural ability to tell when someone was lying to him, “Was it the interrogation chamber?”
Emily didn’t turn toward him, but headed up the stairs to her room. She didn’t stop running until she was in the room and the door was locked.
Kyle sighed, “She already knows about the interrogation chamber.”
“Yes, but she never did verify if we do it for fun,” Chevalier said. “I get the feeling this is something different.”
“Let’s go see what Exavior has to say about it,” Zohn said, and the three heku headed down into the prison.