Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Mark, Silas, and Kralen, on Keith’s fastest horses, caught up quickly with the heku, followed shortly by the rest of the Cavalry. They surrounded the five in purple capes and Mark slid off his horse. Emily got off of her stallion and also walked into the circle.

  “What have we here?” Mark asked.

  The Captain glanced nervously at Emily.

  “Idiots thought they could kidnap me,” Emily said. “So I made a decision to not ash them and do as I’m told… I left them for you.”

  Silas grinned, “Nice.”

  “What’s the point of kidnapping her?” Mark asked. “Ransom? Release of prisoners?”

  “We want our Elder returned to the Council,” the Captain said.

  “Your Elder?” Kralen asked.

  “Yeah, geniuses think I’m one of their Elders,” Emily said, walking around them slowly.

  “Ok, Elder Emily, what do you want done with them?” Mark asked, watching the enemy Captain closely.

  Emily shrugged, “Heku’s choice… I don’t really care.”

  “Kill the four… leave the Captain,” Mark said, taking the Captain by the arm.

  “You can’t do this! We need our Elder,” the Captain yelled. The other four Ferus crouched as the Cavalry got off of their horses and closed in on them. Emily moved out of the way quickly, and got back on her stallion.

  She headed for the palace, not really wanting to watch the four heku torn to pieces. The sound of snarls and growls from behind her made her skin crawl. She started to feel like there were eyes on her, so she kicked her horse into a gallop and tore toward the palace.

  Emily sighed when she saw the Elders out in front of the palace, looking over the unfinished section of the new stable annex.

  Chevalier frowned, “I thought you were with the Cavalry.”

  Emily grinned slightly, “They’re busy.”

  “Doing?” Quinn asked, irritated.

  “They’re tearing apart four Ferus that had the dumb idea to kidnap me in front of 36 members of the Cavalry.”

  “Em…” Chevalier growled.

  “What? I did what you asked, I let the heku have them,” she said, and slipped off the stallion. She led him into the stables, followed by the Elders.

  “Four of them then?” Zohn asked her.

  “Five, Mark wanted to keep the Captain for some reason,” she said, and pulled the saddle off the thoroughbred.

  Silas and Kralen were first back into the stables. They were laughing about something, but stopped suddenly when they saw the Elders. Their white shirts were splattered with blood and they had drops on their faces and hands.

  “Care to explain?” Quinn asked.

  Silas slid off his horse, “We were training, when Emily was approached by five heku from Exavior’s… coven… I guess it’s called, the Ferus.”

  Kralen took his horse into the stall as Silas was questioned by the Elders.

  “What did they want?” Chevalier asked.

  “They wanted their Elder,” Silas said, shrugging.

  “You had the opportunity to ash them?” Quinn asked Emily.

  Emily nodded and locked the stall door, “Yes... but I did what I’m supposed to, and let you all have them.”

  “That’s surprising,” Zohn said, and Emily glared at him.

  Mark rounded the corner with a tight grip on the heku Captain. His purple cape was smeared with the blood of his four companions and he was snarling at the Elders. The rest of the Cavalry came up and started putting their horses away as Mark shoved the Ferus Captain onto his knees.

  “What’s irritating,” Chevalier said, looking down on him, “Is that just when Emily brings peace between the factions… another rogue coven appears and takes over where the violence ended.”

  “Yes, but they’re not smart enough to do it correctly,” Emily said, sitting down on a bale of hay.

  “We’re not a rogue coven, we’re the Ferus faction,” the Captain growled, his hands tightening into fists.

  “Hello?” Emily asked, answering her cell phone.

  “Oh, hi Bruce, yeah, I’m ok.”

  Emily sighed, “Seriously? Right now?”

  Chevalier glanced over at her.

  “Yeah… I’ll go.”

  Kyle cringed and looked at the Elder.

  “No, no, you can’t go alone with that many vampires.”

  Mark shrugged and hauled the Captain into the palace.

  “Sure, I’ll be there in an hour,” Emily said, and hung up. She turned to Chevalier, “I need to be gone for about a week.”

  “You’re going vampire hunting?” Chevalier asked, amused.

  “Apparently… will you see whoever has a coven just east of Great Falls? Tell them not to break my cover,” Emily said, and headed inside.

  “That’d be us,” Zohn said. “I’ll talk to them.”

  Chevalier followed her inside, “A week?”

  “That’s what Bruce said,” Emily told him, and headed into the bedroom.

  “Why even go? I thought you were going to quit that job.”

  “I want to keep an eye on them. I won’t do this often,” she said, and disappeared into the bathroom to change.

  “Just seems reckless to keep the job. What if they find out you’re Madison?”

  “They won’t, everyone from that compound either quit or was sent to Louisiana.”

  “What exactly do you do when you’re out on a vampire hunt?”

  Emily came back out in her leather pants, high heeled leather boots, and a pale pink tank top, “Well…”

  “Leather?” Chevalier asked, suddenly worried.

  Emily ignored his question, “We go talk to them, make sure they don’t have any mortals. Then we try to gain access within their walls.”

  “Why leather?”

  Emily grinned, “I’m taking the Harley, and leather’s safer if I wreck it.”

  Chevalier growled slightly.

  “Oh stop it, you need to trust me.”

  “I do trust you. I don’t trust anyone else and that’s… rather… tight.”

  Emily stopped in front of the vanity mirror and started to braid her hair. He noticed that when she raised her arms, a strip of skin showed between her low-rider leather pants and the light halter top.

  “What’s wrong with jeans and a t-shirt and taking the Jeep?” Chevalier asked, frustrated.

  “Seriously, Chev, rein it in,” Emily said, and grabbed her leather jacket from the closet.

  “Why a week?”

  Emily sighed and turned to him, “Because we have to plan first. We’re meeting at my apartment, but aren’t leaving until Wednesday.”

  “You have an apartment?”

  “Of course, did you think I lived in the park while I was gone?”

  “Where is it?”

  “No,” Emily said, and crawled into his lap, facing him. “I’m not going to have you post guards at my apartment.”

  Chevalier kissed her softly and then looked into her eyes, “I don’t want you to go. It’s dangerous for you to hang around the V.E.S.”

  “It lets me keep track of them, keeps them away from those I care about.”

  “You’re protecting the heku again,” Chevalier said.

  Emily grinned, “Ever consider it’s my job on this planet to protect you?”

  “Not a chance,” he said, and brushed a stray hair away from her face.

  “Don’t fight it… you’re being protected by a mortal,” she said, and kissed the tip of his nose.

  “How humiliating.”

  Emily slapped him on the arm, “Be nice.”

  He took her face in his hands and kissed her again and then looked into her eyes, “Hurry back.”

  Emily nodded and crawled off of his lap, “I will.”

  Chevalier followed her down and glared at one of the guards whose eyes lingered too long on her as she walked by.

  “She’s seriously going on a vampire hunt?” Zohn asked skeptically.

  “Seems so… call the
Mario Coven, tell them we can turn their mortal,” Chevalier said, and headed to his office.

  “Em,” Kyle called out as she came into the garage.

  Emily turned around and smiled, “I’ll be back in a week.”

  Kyle raised his eyebrows, “Wearing that?”

  “Yes, give Chev a message for me?” she asked as a mischievous smile crossed her face.

  “Depends, I don’t know if I like the look on your face.”

  “Remind him he’s being protected by a mortal.”

  Kyle laughed, “Nope, not relaying that.”

  Emily started up the Harley and quickly pulled out of the garage. Kyle watched her go and headed into the council chambers.

  “She said anything about the aging?” Kyle asked, sitting at his chair.

  “Not yet,” Chevalier said, looking at a file. “I thought we were going to turn someone, but had to wait for the medical clearance.”

  “They couldn’t pass,” Quinn said, pulling out a file. “We all heading over to Clark Coven?”

  Chevalier grinned, “Are we that mean?”

  “Do I want to know?” Zohn asked, sitting down.

  “It’s just outside of Great Falls,” Kyle said, laughing.

  “That’d really tick her off, I’m in,” Zohn chuckled.

  “I have an idea,” Kyle said. “If you want Em to be too mad to talk to you for a week? Let’s go.”

  “I think I’ll stay here,” Quinn said. “I’ll take care of the other mortal ceremony while the rest of you push the ultimatum.”

  Chevalier grinned, “I’m so in.”

  Chapter 21 - Clark Coven

  “We’ll be ready in the morning,” Bruce said, looking around the cramped living room. There were eight members of the V.E.S. going into Montana to try to rescue a mortal the vampires were said to have captured.

  Emily nodded, “Sure, 6am.”

  Bruce sat down by her on the couch and put his hand on her knee, “Any questions then?”

  “I know you already told us, but how big is this group?” a man asked, he was tall and slender with a long gray beard and a thin gray comb over.

  “He said, like, 7 of them,” a young boy told him. Emily was skeptical whether he was even the required 18 years of age, but he and his girlfriend were very new age and came to every meeting, determined to rid the world of vampires.

  “Meet here at 6am then,” Bruce said, and saw everyone to the door. The apartment was tiny. The living room was only half the size of Emily’s closet at the palace, and the bedroom barely had room for her twin-sized bed. She went into the kitchen, which consisted of a hot plate, sink, and half a fridge that doubled as a place to stack the clean dishes.

  Bruce’s arms wrapped around her as she cleaned the cups from the meeting.

  “I appreciate you helping with this,” he said, and kissed the back of her neck softly.

  “Bruce…” she sighed, and he pulled away from her.

  “I know, I know,” he said, grinning as he leaned against the wall. “You’ll change your mind, I’m sure of it.”

  “I told you, I have a boyfriend.”

  “When do I get to meet him?”

  “Never, he doesn’t agree with the vampire thing,” she said, and dried her hands. “Now go home. We have to get up early.”

  “Or I could just stay over,” he said, smiling.

  “Or you could just go home,” Emily replied, and pushed him toward the door, shaking her head

  After Bruce was gone, she called Allen on his cell phone and said goodnight to him and his sister, then shut the phone and changed into a t-shirt she kept in the apartment. She fell asleep quickly, tired from the late meetings.

  Emily glanced over at the clock when she heard someone knock on the door, it was only 5am. She crawled out of bed and went to the door, “Who is it?”

  “It’s Bruce.”

  She sighed and let him in, “I haven’t gotten ready yet.”

  “I brought breakfast,” he said, holding up a bag of donuts and warm coffee. He was already in jeans and black leather chaps with a tight white t-shirt and black leather jacket. Emily stepped aside and let him enter. She watched him set the items on the table and smiled slightly at the vast differences between him and Chevalier. Bruce was middle-aged and slightly balding with a tummy that pushed out above his jeans and made them look uncomfortably tight.

  “Great, let me shower and I’ll come eat,” she told him, and stumbled into the bedroom. She shut the door and headed in to the bathroom, scooting around the toilet to reach into the rust stained shower. She locked the door before stripping and climbing into the hot water.

  “Hmm,” Bruce sighed, watching her when she came out. She’d changed into black, leather low-rider pants and a fitted black leather vest. His eyes ran down from the hint of cleavage to her exposed abdomen and grinned. The side of the vest was decorated with thin gold chains and it rattled a bit when she walked.

  “Still loving the tattoo… E for exterminators, I love it,” Bruce said, grinning.

  “Boyfriend… remember…” Emily said, and grabbed a donut and a cup of coffee. The coffee was too strong and the donut was stale, but she managed to choke it down.

  “He lets you dress like that?” Bruce asked, winking at her.

  “Yes,” Emily said, “Or… I do what I want, more like.” She got up to get the door when someone knocked. The other six members of the V.E.S. came together, and they all headed for the donuts on the table. All of them were also wearing mostly black leather except the new age couple, and they had tie-dyed t-shirts and torn jeans.

  Emily opened a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a 9mm. She checked the clip and then slid it into the back of her pants, then sat down to pull on her leather boots, “We all ready to go?”

  “We should be there by tomorrow night. If it’s too late, we’ll get hotel rooms, if not we’ll just get it over with,” Bruce said.

  They all headed out into the parking lot, and Emily looked along the long row of motorcycles. Hers was one of four Harleys. The other three were homemade motorcycles in varying shapes and sizes. She slid onto the Night Rod Special and pulled her hair up to slip on the helmet.

  “Why don’t you ride with me?” Bruce asked, patting the seat behind him.

  “I don’t ride bitch,” Emily told him, and pulled on the sleek black helmet.

  Bruce chuckled and started up his engine, followed by everyone else. The new age couple were riding tandem and stayed in the back while the others pulled out and headed west toward Montana.

  They made good time and arrived outside of Clark Coven when it was still light enough to see. They stopped a few yards back from the entrance to the house and pulled off their helmets.

  “Emily and I will go in first. You 5 come in behind us,” Bruce said.

  Emily swung her leg off the motorcycle and looked at the building. It was a single house, old Victorian style, but well-kept and homey. She hadn’t seen a coven this small before, and there were no guards, iron fences, or cement walls. The front gate had an elaborately decorated ‘E’ with ‘Clark’ written underneath it.

  As Emily and Bruce walked up toward the gate, a dark skinned heku came out. He was close to 7 feet tall with broad, muscular shoulders and long curly hair. He crossed his massive arms and looked down at them.

  “What now?” he asked, sizing up Emily and Bruce.

  “We’re from the V.E.S.,” Bruce said. “We heard you have a mortal here and we demand you let us in.”

  Emily gasped when she saw Zohn, Chevalier, Kyle, and Richard, the Chief Interrogator come out of the house. They had blood soaked shirts, long sharp fangs, and Kyle had blood dripping down his chin. She glared at Chevalier when she noticed he had on a black cape, similar to those worn on Halloween by 5-year-old vampires.

  “What have we here?” Bruce asked angrily.

  “Just fed, no more mortals in there,” Kyle said, winking at Emily.

  She didn’t know what to say. She was torn betw
een glaring at them and laughing. Zohn grinned at her, and one of his fake fangs was slightly crooked in his mouth.

  “You… you just killed a mortal?” Bruce asked, shocked.

  “Not on purpose,” Chevalier said. “He was just so yummy.”

  “She’s next,” Kyle said, pointing at Emily.

  She shook her head and pulled the 9mm out from the back of her pants, leveling it at Kyle, “Bring it on, vamp.”

  “She does look tasty,” Richard said, running his tongue along the fake teeth in his mouth.

  “Back up, Em,” Bruce said, putting a protective arm in front of her.

  “No, I think I can handle these vampires. They look like wimps,” she told him.

  “Wimps? We look like wimps?” Zohn asked, grinning at Emily.

  “Yes… wimps…” she said, and moved the gun over to point at Zohn’s groin. His face fell suddenly and then he grinned.

  “Let’s destroy them now,” one of the men behind Emily said, and she turned briefly as he pulled a wooden stake out of a bag.

  “That one’s kinda cute,” Emily said, motioning to Chevalier. “I get to kill him.”

  Chevalier grinned at her, and she noticed he had a fake rubber arm in his hand, “Bring it on, Tiny.”

  Bruce took a step back when half of the Council City Cavalry came walking out of the Clark house, covered in blood. They looked menacing and ominous in their uniforms, with blood soaked shirts, and blood dripping down their arms. Mark glared at Bruce furiously.

  “Fall back,” she heard from behind her, but she stood her ground.

  “Em… come on, they outnumber us,” Bruce said. He went to put a hand on her arm to pull her away, but drew it back quickly when the tallest of the vampires growled at him.

  “No, I think I can take them.”

  Bruce’s eyes grew wide, “Seriously, come on.”

  Emily grinned at Zohn, “Let’s take the little one with us.”

  Zohn glanced around, “Are you referring to me?”

  “Emily, I order you to come back, immediately,” Bruce said sternly.

  Emily grinned and whispered, too low for the V.E.S. to hear, “I’ll get you for this.”

  She turned and ran back to her bike, then watched the heku as she drove off with the others.

  “Interesting outfit,” Zohn said, turning to Chevalier.