“Em…” Chevalier sighed.
“What? I helped free them.”
Vaughn frowned, “I don’t understand.”
“She turned them to ash,” Kyle chuckled.
Vaughn’s eyes grew fierce, “You’ll pay for that.”
“You can’t punish an Elder,” Emily said calmly, and leaned back in the chair, putting her bare feet up against the desk.
“I demand you bring them back and return them to us,” Vaughn said to Kyle.
Kyle shrugged, “I’ll bring them back, we weren’t done with them... but I’m not returning them to you.”
Emily leaned up and looked at Quinn, “Can I head into town if I take some guards?”
Quinn glanced at Zohn and Chevalier and then nodded, “Yes, you may.”
Emily stood up and looked at Vaughn, “As Elder, I give the Equites permission to put you in prison.”
“What?” he yelled.
“Just saying…” Emily mumbled as she left the council chambers.
Vaughn was furious, “She cannot do that! I demand you release Damon and Samuel.”
“No,” Zohn said bluntly. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this... but I agree with Emily, I say we incarcerate him for impersonating an Elder.”
“That might be an Encala call, though,” Quinn said.
Chevalier shrugged, “Get them on the phone.”
The Council all cringed slightly when they heard the Jeep leave the garage. Zohn whispered into the air and found that she had four guards with her.
“Encala Council,” William said, sounding unsure.
“William, it’s Zohn… we want to know if we may incarcerate Vaughn for impersonating an Elder.”
“Vaughn? Our Vaughn?” he asked, shocked.
“Yes, he’s saying he’s an Elder for the Ferus Faction, along with Emily and Exavior.”
William sighed, “Yes, take him.”
“You have no right to imprison me! That would leave the Ferus without an active Elder. Tradition dictates you must let me go.”
“Hold on,” Chevalier said, and conferenced in the Valle.
“Ryan here,” the Valle Elder said.
“Speakerphone please.”
“Done, what’s up?” Sotomar asked.
“We have the Encala also…”
“Ok”
“Former Encala Elder Vaughn is here. When we tried to imprison him, he claimed that as sole active Elder for the Ferus Faction, tradition says we have to let him go,” Chevalier explained. “So to make it official… we wonder if either of you are going to back his claim that there even is a Ferus Faction.”
Sotomar chuckled, “We don’t recognize it.”
“Neither do we,” William said. “I say lock him up.”
“This is outrageous! Until Exavior’s release, or when Emily joins us as Elder, I am the only Elder left, and therefore, should be granted diplomatic immunity.”
“Sorry Vaughn, the Ferus is not a recognize faction, so its leadership doesn’t fall under heku tradition laws,” Zohn said. “Derrick, have him and his friends locked up.”
“How many more of the banished are going to come forward?” Sotomar sighed.
“We just wait and see I guess… Encala out.”
The phone line suddenly went dead.
“I really thought that by taking Exavior out of the picture, this fourth faction would disappear,” Quinn said, frowning.
“We’re going to have to find out where there city is and destroy them,” Chevalier said. “Easy as that.”
“Send Emily over as their Elder,” Zohn suggested.
“No,” Quinn and Chevalier said together.
“Derrick, next?” Zohn said, amused.
Derrick brought in a struggling heku. He was in torn clothing and hissed at the Council when he dropped to his knees.
“What have we here?” Quinn asked, looking down at him.
“Winston, a former Equites from the Danish Sørensen Coven, went missing fifty six years ago and recently turned up in New York City. He’s decided to become an incubus, but can’t quite get it down and keeps attacking women, who assault him, and twice now he’s been left in a gutter to heal after an attack,” Derrick said. He grinned slightly and then left the room.
Quinn sighed and leaned his head back on his chair, staring at the ceiling.
“That sounds like a job for Kyle,” Chevalier said, irritated.
“He hasn’t fed without consent… he keeps getting beaten up before he can,” Kyle chuckled. “I think we need to put him out of his misery.”
“Please, let me go, I’ll be good,” he begged, looking up at the Council nervously.
“You… you try to feed and can’t? They’re mortal women!” Zohn growled. “How stupid do you have to be?”
“Let’s send him to the Ferus Faction,” Quinn said, grinning to the ceiling.
***
Six hours later, they heard the Jeep return and noticed how long it’d been. The Council had endured trial after trial, and all were exhausted and irritated from what they’d seen come through for the day.
The door opened and Emily stepped in with a stack of papers in one hand, and a large Starbucks coffee in the other, “Derrick said I could come in.”
“You may, we’re taking a break,” Zohn said, leaning his head into his hands.
Emily grinned and walked up to the Council stand, “Was it that bad?”
“If I could drain myself, I would,” Quinn said, re-counting the tiles in the ceiling for the 2,312th time that day.
“This’ll make you laugh…” Emily said, and set her things down on the desk. “When Exavior and I got married, he changed his last name to Winchester, to match mine.”
Chevalier chuckled, “He didn’t.”
“Yup, he did,” Emily said, and leaned back against the wall.
Quinn finally looked down from the ceiling, “Why would he do that?”
“Because he’s an idiot?” Emily suggested.
“How did you find that out?” Chevalier asked, looking over at her.
“I filed for divorce,” Emily said, motioning for the papers. “It’s going to take 12 months though.”
“Why so long?”
“I had to file for abandonment, because he’s not here to sign.”
“Nice, another year and you’re single,” Chevalier said, grinning.
“Oh good, I heard Vaughn is free,” Emily said, and bumped his chair with her hip. Chevalier grabbed her in an instant and threw her over his knee.
“Just for that I should put you in the cell with him,” he grinned.
Emily tried to get up, “He always said I needed a real heku.”
“Don’t make me spank you.”
Emily glared at him, “Don’t make me burn you.”
Chevalier laughed and set her back up.
“Why are you all sitting here bored? You aren’t even holding a trial,” Emily asked, straightening her shirt.
Chevalier shrugged, “We are in session during certain hours in case we’re needed.”
Emily sat on the desk and grabbed her phone when it rang, “Hello?”
She grinned, “Hi, Bruce.”
Chevalier’s eyebrows rose.
“Yes, I had to, my sister died.”
Kyle shook his head, grinning.
“The vampires did?”
Dustin started to speak, but was hushed by Zohn.
Emily rolled her eyes, “I wasn’t aware that the vampires were after me.”
Chevalier reached over and ran his finger lightly up her back. She shivered and slapped him on the arm.
“Yes, I always have my vampire fighting kit with me.”
Emily blushed and turned away, whispering into the phone, “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t date the boss.”
“Yes, I know… watch for the teeth. Listen, I have to run, my dinner is burning,” Emily said, and hung up the phone. She blushed again when she saw they were all watching her, “What?”
>
“Don’t date the boss?” Chevalier asked.
“Watch for the teeth?” Quinn asked.
“Don’t judge!” Emily said, and grinned.
“What’s in a vampire fighting kit?” Kyle asked, turning toward her.
Emily sighed, “Let’s see… holy water, garlic, a wooden stake, silver, and alcohol.”
“Alcohol? Why alcohol?” Zohn asked, confused.
“Yeah, that’d be my fault. When Greg’s buddies were interrogating me on ways to kill a vampire, I told them that alcohol weakens them,” she explained, and grinned slightly.
“Nice, Em,” Kyle said, and laughed.
“Speaking of alcohol,” Emily said, and jumped off the desk. “Let’s go get drinks.”
Chevalier grinned, “Trying to get the entire Council to fight?”
“Use some control, come on,” Emily said, and headed for the door. “We don’t even have to leave the palace.”
“I’m in,” Zohn said, standing up.
“You are?” Quinn asked, shocked.
“Sure, why not?”
“May we?” Kyle asked.
“Sure,” Chevalier said, and followed Zohn and Emily out of the room.
“This I gotta see,” Kyle said, and ran out.
“I don’t drink,” Dustin said, sounding insulted.
The Chief Interrogator stood up, “I’m in, too.”
Emily fell into the bar and got to her feet. She walked over and started wiping shot glasses clean with her shirt, and was surprised when Zohn, Chevalier, Kyle, the Chief Interrogator, and the Chief Investigator followed her in.
She grinned, “What’s your poison?”
“Let’s open that 1787 Chateau Lafitte,” Kyle said, sitting at the bar.
Chevalier glanced at the clean window and sat down, “I’ll go for that.”
Emily went through the bottles and found it. She pulled and tugged at the cork and then put it on the bar to find a corkscrew. She looked up when the Chief Investigator pulled it out easily with his fingers.
“Damnit, Em, what was the ancient’s room for?” Kyle asked, sighing.
Emily poured him a drink, “Not a chance.”
***
“You’re two weeks is up,” Chevalier said, and kissed Emily’s shoulder softly.
Emily sighed and rolled over in bed, “That it is.”
“Now what tortures are you going to put us through for the next two weeks?” he asked, running his fingers lightly up her back.
“It won’t be too bad. First things first, I’m going back to the island for a few days.”
“Sounds harmless.”
“Without guards.”
“Oh, right, well… ok.”
Emily grinned, “I hope the pool’s been cleaned out.”
“It has.”
“Good, I need some swim time,” she said, and crawled out of bed.
“Hey, get back here,” he hissed, and reached for her.
“I want to get on the road,” she told him, and flashed him quickly before disappearing into the bathroom.
She came out a short time later in jeans and a short halter top.
“Taking Allen and Alexis?” Chevalier asked, leaning back on the bed.
“Not this time, I won’t be long… at least I hope not.”
“Hm,” Chevalier sighed. “Sounds like you have plans.”
Emily grinned, “I do.”
“Mark has some things to do there, can he hitch a ride?”
Emily put on her cowboy boots and looked up at him, “No.”
Chevalier grinned, “Kyle?”
Emily leaned over him on the bed and kissed him softly, “No.”
“Silas”
“No,” she said, and dug her purse out of the wardrobe.
“Kralen”
“No.” she turned and headed for the door.
“Jaron?” Chevalier asked, following her.
“No,” Emily chuckled and headed down the stairs.
“Wayne”
“No”
“Jared”
“No”
“Brandon”
“No,” she said, and climbed into her Jeep.
“Dave?”
“No,” she repeated, laughing, and started the Jeep. “Good-bye, Chev.”
“Take Dan.”
“No”
“Me… take me.”
“No”
“It’s my coven.”
“No... but I love you,” she said, and drove out of the garage.
Emily drove all day and through the night, reaching the ferry just after dawn. She kicked back in the Jeep to take a nap during the ferry ride, and didn’t wake up until she heard the tug boats beside them. She stretched and sat the seat back up and pulled on her sunglasses. The pier guards waved her through, and she grinned and drove up to the castle.
“Good morning, Lady Emily,” Storm said, meeting her at the front doors.
“Hiya, Storm, hope this isn’t a bad time.”
“Never, Ma’am. Will the Elder be joining you?”
“I guess that depends on if I get molested or fed off of on this trip.”
Storm cringed, “Let’s hope not.”
“I’m going to grab some breakfast and go to bed actually. I drove all night.”
“I’ll have Gordon bring something up. The Elder informed us you were on the way.”
“Thanks, Storm,” Emily said, and yawned as she headed up the stairs.
With the quietness of the island, and being tired from driving all night, Emily slept through the afternoon and night, not waking up until early the next morning when her alarm went off. She crawled out of bed and stumbled into the shower, trying to wake up. When she came out, there was already coffee and muffins waiting for her. She ate quickly and ran down the stairs.
“Were you leaving?” one of the door guards asked nervously.
“Just for a bit. I’ll be back,” Emily said, crawling into the Jeep.
“Shall I go?”
“No, I’m good,” she replied, and smiled. The guards watched as she pulled away and headed back down toward the pier. Within five hours, she was walking into a familiar medical complex and her skin crawled. She waited in the lobby until the young nurse called her in, weighed her, and got a blood pressure.
Emily waited patiently and then smiled when Dr. Edwards came in.
“Emily! It’s so good to see you,” Dr. Edwards said, smiling.
“You too, I appreciate you seeing me.”
“Try not to disappear this time, shall we?”
Emily grinned, “I’ll try.”
“So… what is the problem?”
Emily sighed, “It’s a weird one. I’ll warn you.”
“Just tell me, Dear. I’ve seen enough weird things coming out of that island that I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Ok, here goes… I don’t think I’m aging.”
Dr. Edwards looked over his glasses at her, “What do you mean?”
“It’s something someone said to me. He said that I don’t age and thinking back… I’m not sure I have at all over the last 15 years or so.”
Dr. Edwards glanced at her, “You are 38, correct?”
Emily nodded.
“Well there’s an easy way to find out.”
“There is?”
“Yes, we did a complete MRI scan of you when you were pregnant with your first baby… we’ll do another and compare, as long as money is not a problem.”
“No, it’s not, will that tell us for sure?”
“It should. I’ll send it to a friend of mine. He’s a forensic anthropologist, and we’ll see what age he says you are,” Dr. Edwards said.
“You really are open minded,” Emily said, smiling. “Thank you.”
“Let’s get the scan, and I should know within the week.”
Emily nodded, “Thank you, please though… don’t tell Chevalier.”
“I won’t. I’ll talk to you directly.”
Emily tried to
relax in the tube as she remembered the heku from the experimentation room, how he’d been in that small tube for months, never moving, waiting patiently for someone to rescue him. She held perfectly still despite the feeling that the tube was closing in on her. She wondered what she would do if Alec was right. What if she was no longer aging? She was the first of her kind. The first anyone knew of that was over 50% heku, but the margin was so small, she couldn’t see how it could cause such a drastic effect.
“We’re done,” Dr. Edwards said as she slid out of the MRI tube. “I’ll call in a week.”
Emily nodded and went into the dressing room to get dressed. She drove back toward the ferry and waited on it, silently debating what she would do if it were true. How she would tell the Council and how she could survive as a mortal, trapped in the immortal world for centuries. She was frail, breakable, and killable. She wondered how she would manage in a world that seemed bent on hurting her.
The tug boats again brought her out of her thoughts, and she pulled off the ferry, ignoring the salutes from the pier guards and the deep growls from their dogs. She ran up the stairs in the castle and quickly changed into her jogging clothes. Within minutes, she was out on the sand, running across the beach in her bare feet, feeling the warm sand squishing between her toes as she ran. She passed the guards numerous times as they patrolled along the outside of the cement wall.
Emily stopped on the other side of the island from the pier and watched the sun setting over the ocean, and then shut her eyes, listening to the waves as they crashed against the rocks. Once it was too dark to see, she ran back toward the opening in the cement fence and stopped when she saw the pier. The ferry had arrived and was full of people with flashlights. She heard yelling and angry voices. As she walked closer, she was finally able to hear.
“We’ll get a warrant,” a man on the ferry yelled.
“Turn around, you have no rights here,” a familiar voice said. “We’re tired of the V.E.S. bugging us.”
Emily sighed and ran up, pushing through the gathered guards to the front, “What’s going on?”
The guards backed off. They’d seen her take care of the V.E.S. before, and knew she could handle it.
The leader’s eyes ran down to the exposed skin on her tone stomach and grinned, “You’re human?”
“Yes,” Emily said, and crossed her arms. “I live here.”
“Do you need help?”
Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series Page 62