Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  The Valle doctor went back out into the bedroom, “She won’t let me look, but I can take my mask off around her. That means either the pregnancy is in trouble, or her blood volume is extremely low.”

  “Damn,” Zohn said. “I can’t call Kyle or Chevalier, and I don’t know her doctor’s phone number.”

  “My first instinct is to take her to an emergency room,” the doctor said.

  “Let’s do it. I’ll change into civilian clothing,” Sotomar said, and disappeared.

  “I will go as well,” Zohn said, and also disappeared.

  The doctor looked into the bathroom and debated whether he should tell her. He finally decided that he didn’t feel like being turned to ash, and left the notifications up to the Elders.

  “Right, now shall we go?” Sotomar asked.

  Zohn sighed, “It’s not that easy… she’s afraid of hospitals, and doctors, and needles.”

  Sotomar looked at her, “She is?”

  “Yes, very… she already hates me, so I’ll do it… just revive me soon is all I ask,” Zohn said, and went into the bathroom.

  “Don’t,” Emily whispered when Zohn picked her up.

  “We’re going for a ride,” Zohn told her, and they started down to the garage. Sotomar led them over to a Porsche 911 and got into the driver’s seat.

  Zohn thought for a moment and then sat in the passenger’s seat with Emily on his lap. She glared at him and he froze, and then frowned, “You can’t ash me can you?”

  Emily sighed, “Where are we going?”

  “Were you trying to turn him to ash?” Sotomar asked, shocked.

  “Maybe,” she whispered, and tried to pull at his hands, but he wouldn’t let go. Zohn frowned, worried about her lack of strength and how she didn’t have the ability to even burn him.

  Emily was too tired to fight him for long, and she finally leaned back and watched the strange city fly by. It wasn’t until Sotomar pulled into the Emergency Room that she knew where they were going.

  “No,” Emily said, her eyes wide.

  “No use trying to fight us,” Zohn said, crawling out of the Porsche. He headed into the E.R. while Emily fought to get out of his grasp.

  “May I help you?” an older woman asked, unconcerned.

  “Yes, this young woman is pregnant and she’s not feeling well,” Sotomar said. “I have a doctor on staff that thinks there might be a problem.”

  Zohn turned to look at whoever just walked in, and saw six heku come in, all wearing jeans and t-shirt and trying to blend in. Their size alone set them far apart from everyone else in the waiting room.

  “Nothing’s wrong with me,” Emily growled.

  “How far along are you?” the nurse asked.

  “None of your business.”

  “She’s about 2 ½ months along,” Zohn said, amused.

  “Fine, insurance card please.”

  “This will be a cash transaction. Money isn’t an issue,” Sotomar said, and glanced back at Zohn.

  “Can you walk?” the nurse asked her.

  “Yes, I can walk right out of here,” Emily whispered, glaring at Zohn.

  “She has a fear of anything medical,” Zohn explained, trying not to grin.

  “Ok, wait for her name to be called,” the nurse said, and shut the little glass window that divided them.

  “Put me down,” Emily said, and pushed at Zohn again. He set her onto her feet, but kept a hand near her back. She sat down in the nearest chair, away from the others, and watched the fish tank. Dozens of bright orange fish swam in the coral filled tank and it was soothing for her to watch.

  “Emily Winchester,” a man said from the doorway. Emily stood up and the world shifted. Strong arms lifted her up and she looked over into the face of a strange heku. He carried her as he followed the nurse, even though Emily was pushing at his arms to let go.

  “Lay her here,” the man said, and grabbed a blood pressure cuff.

  The Valle guard laid her down on the bed and she tried to sit up, but the nurse held her down. He took her arm and quickly took a blood pressure as she shut her eyes against the spinning room.

  “Good evening, I’m Dr. Vasili,” an older man said when he came in. “What seems to be the problem?”

  Sotomar and Zohn watched the doctor while the heku guard stood over Emily.

  ***

  General Skinner and his troops returned to where the others waited.

  “What did you find?” Chevalier asked.

  “It’s a lot bigger. The cement walls are topped with electrified barbed wire and there are six guards at the front door. Easy enough to take out, but if it’s as protected inside those walls, there may be problems,” Skinner told them.

  “So we all get to cram through the front gates?” Kyle asked.

  “Let’s cut power, and then go over the cement walls,” Chevalier said. “One disadvantage of a new compound is that it won’t have the backup generators yet.”

  Skinner nodded, “We can do that.”

  “Let’s go at first light. I don’t want to give them the advantage of the dark.”

  The heku waited through the night. Things were tense, and everyone was excited for the upcoming raid. Allen kept close to Chevalier, to learn how he did things, and how to run a battle, the kind of things not found in books.

  As soon as the sun peeked out over the Nevada desert, a wave of black filled the sand as the Equites made their way to the second Ferus encampment. Powan was the first to arrive, and had the power cut before the others got to the front gates. Thukil quickly killed the first set of guards, as the Council City Cavalry swarmed into the compound, killing anyone they came across.

  Allen fought alongside Chevalier, watching his back and finishing off anyone he left barely alive. The young boy knew that his Dad was leaving him the final kill, and also knew he could never tell Emily about it. His adrenaline was pumping and he was furiously killing the heku. He found it surprisingly exhilarating and was able to keep up as Chevalier moved through the city.

  As planned, they stormed into the main building, pulling all inside into the largest room. Equites non-Cavalry stayed with them, while the others continued to search the rooms. Kyle and Chevalier moved side-by-side, opening each door they came to. If it was occupied, they would toss the heku out to a waiting guard, if it was empty, they moved on.

  Chevalier threw open a door and gasped.

  “Daddy!” Alexis yelled, and ran into Chevalier’s arms. He held her tightly and went back down the stairs.

  Kyle ordered the rest to keep searching and to gather each heku found into the room with the others. Chevalier finally let Alexis down in the long hallway and sat down on a chair to look her over. He saw no injuries and she looked well taken care of. He cringed at the deep purple Victorian era dress and tiara, but she didn’t seem as uncomfortable in it as Emily would have been.

  “Did they hurt you?” Chevalier asked, checking her neck and wrists.

  “No, they were very nice to me,” Alexis said, and smiled at Allen.

  Chevalier studied her face and the nodded, “Ok, let me take care of these and then we’ll go. Silas, Kralen?”

  The two Commanders appeared at his side, “Take these two back to the helicopters and wait for us.”

  “Dad, no, I want to stay,” Allen said.

  “Not for this, go with them,” Chevalier said, and watched as his kids were escorted from the large building. He smiled when he saw that Allen was furious about leaving.

  “We’re done, Elder,” Captain Darren said, and they both headed into the large banquet room where the Ferus heku were being held.

  “How many? Chevalier asked, stepping in front of them.

  “154, Sir,” Skinner told him.

  “Do we recognize any?”

  “Yes, there are 13 known banished in here from the Equites, 3 from the Encala, and 4 from the Valle. I’m sure there are more though that we just don’t know.”

  “Kyle… get to work on the previously ba
nished Equites. We’ll take the Encala and Valle back theirs to do with as they will.”

  “And the others?”

  Chevalier scanned them, “Kill them.”

  Kyle began the long and exhausting process of banishing 13 of those gathered, and putting each into a small leather bag for re-burial in the ancient’s room in the palace. The others started to kill the unknown heku. Chevalier joined in and personally was able to kill eight of them before there were no more. He looked around the blood covered room and grinned. The feeling of excitement filled the makeshift banquet hall.

  Kyle finished his task two hours later, and returned to the Elder after resting a bit, “I’m done.”

  Chevalier glanced around the building and turned, heading toward the door, “Burn it.”

  By the time the heku got back to the helicopters, a dark plume of smoke rose from out of the Mojave Desert. The helicopters rose into the afternoon sun and headed back for Council City.

  “Call and tell them we’re on the way back. They can meet us in Council City,” Chevalier told Kyle. He would have made the call himself, but Alexis was asleep in his arms.

  Kyle opened his cell phone and dialed, “Elder, we’re done… Chevalier would like you to meet us back in…”

  Chevalier glanced over and frowned at the worried look on Kyle’s face.

  “What happened?” Kyle asked, staring down at the floor of Equites 1.

  “Yes, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” he said, and shut his phone. He turned to Chevalier, “Emily’s been admitted to the hospital in the city just outside of the Valle’s main city.”

  “What’s wrong?” Chevalier whispered, trying not to wake Alexis.

  “I don’t know. That was one of the Valle guards. Zohn couldn’t take his phone into the hospital, so he was waiting outside for our call and didn’t know much.”

  Kyle disappeared up by the pilot and came back out a few minutes later, “He’s going to route us to the Valle and then return to Council City.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Silas and Kralen can take the kids back. You and I will stay with the Valle.”

  Kyle nodded.

  “No, Dad, let me go,” Allen said.

  “I need you to go back and stay with the guards and Alex. You will not step a foot out of the palace until I return, or I give them permission to put you in prison,” Chevalier said sternly.

  Allen glared at his Dad and sat back in the chair.

  ***

  “Em?” Chevalier said softly, and touched her cheek.

  Emily opened her eyes slowly and then shut them again, too tired to keep them open for long.

  “What happened?” he asked Zohn and Sotomar. “Her blood smells different.”

  “She’s had a few transfusions,” Zohn told him.

  “She couldn’t eat anything, even crackers came back up and she started to get weaker and weaker,” Sotomar explained. “Zohn and I decided to call in a doctor, and he told us to bring her here.”

  “The rest we’ll leave for the doctor,” Zohn said, and turned when the doctor came in. He smiled at them and went for Chevalier with his hand out.

  “I’m glad you finally got back into the country,” the doctor said, shaking Chevalier’s hand. “I’m Dr. Vasili, and I’ve been taking care of Emily for the last two days.”

  “What exactly is wrong?” Chevalier asked.

  “A few things,” he began. “First and most important, is that the morning sickness made it so she couldn’t eat, which dropped her blood sugar dangerously low and lowered her blood volume. That caused severe anemia.”

  “She’s on iron pills for that,” Chevalier said.

  “Those only help. She needs to eat to make it all work together. We have her on some medication that should help her eat better and keep things down.”

  “Why is she so tired?”

  “That… is because we had to sedate her to keep the I.V. in for the blood transfusion. We are going to let her return home, and I’ve been in touch with Dr. Hayden, so he knows what’s going on.”

  Chevalier nodded, “When can we go then?”

  “We can check her out now. I’ll send some Zofran pills with you. She needs to take one every 4 hours to help her stomach calm down enough to eat. Try to push red meat, and lots of it.”

  Chevalier grinned slightly, “She’s never been a good eater.”

  “See what you can do. The baby’s fine, but it may not be if we can’t get her blood volume regulated. That should help her mood. She wasn’t very happy to be here, and let everyone know it.”

  Kyle couldn’t help but glance down at her neck and wrists, but found no other cause for the low blood.

  Chevalier chuckled, “I’ll bet.”

  “I’ll send in the nurse. Dr. Hayden wants to see her the day after she gets back,” Dr. Vasili told them, and then took her chart and walked out.

  The nurse came in to remove Emily’s I.V. and the heku all stepped out of the room quickly. She grinned, thinking they couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and proceeded to remove the I.V. and wrap Emily’s arm up. She then dug through Emily’s bag and pulled out a blue summer dress, and then changed her into it before going back out to talk to Chevalier.

  “She’s ready. I gave her some medicine and she should be waking up now,” the nurse said. “I’ll go get a wheelchair.”

  “Can I just carry her? It’s easier,” Chevalier asked.

  The nurse thought, “I guess you can, if you can carry her without dropping her. She’ll still be pretty groggy.”

  “I’m pretty sure I won’t drop her,” he said, grinning, and walked into her room. Emily was looking around the room in a daze, so he just picked her up and started for the door.

  Emily pushed against him, “Exavior has the kids.” Her words were slow and slurred.

  “We got them back,” Chevalier told her, heading down the hallway with the other heku following.

  “Exavior… put me down right now,” she mumbled, and pulled at Chevalier’s hands.

  “Yeah, Exavior, put her down,” Zohn said, amused. “Don’t drop her either.”

  Chevalier shook his head and climbed into the waiting Suburban. She crawled out of his lap and laid down on the seat beside him, “I just need a nap first.”

  Sotomar started the Suburban, and they were soon on their way to the Valle Palace.

  “So what did you find?” Zohn asked.

  “The first place we went to was just a Ferus coven, one Allen said was made for Emily to lead while she is Elder,” Chevalier explained. “Allen was in prison, dressed in guard uniform with a Commander insignia, guess he was going to help her run the place.”

  “Emily as head of a coven? That I’d pay to see,” Zohn chuckled.

  “The second was their main city, not much interesting there, but we did find Alexis. Burned the place to the ground when we left, I hope that does away with the 4th faction.”

  “How’d they even get your kids?”

  “Allen said they were out riding alone…” Chevalier said, frowning. “I need to deal with that when we get back.”

  Chapter 23 - Rumors

  “You called for me?” Allen asked when he stepped into Chevalier’s office. The boy glanced at his Dad, and then to Quinn and Mark before sitting down, “Am I in trouble?”

  Mark chuckled, “Runs in the family, that’s what your Mom always asks.”

  “Well, in her case it’s usually true.”

  “Allen, we’re worried about the kidnapping last month,” Chevalier said, leaning on the desk. “We expect you to help protect your Mom and Sister.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” Allen said.

  “It’s disconcerting that you felt it safe to take Alexis outside of the city by yourself.”

  “I told you, I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”

  “We also wonder if you have too much time on your hands,” Quinn said. “Your studying phase is over, and we realize that you have nothing to do.”

  Allen shrugg
ed, “I find stuff.”

  “That’s the problem,” Chevalier said. “So we want you to join the Cavalry. Not as a Lieutenant, but as a regular guard.”

  “Really?” Allen asked, smiling.

  “Yes, but we won’t give you special treatment because you’re my son. You will be expected to do whatever the others are doing and to keep up.”

  Allen cringed, “You realize I’m not as fast or as strong as a full heku.”

  “We do realize that,” Mark said. “However, it’s not very often we need full speed or strength to take down a problem heku, and you won’t be alone on the streets. We’ll pair you up with a mentor.”

  “Mom said ok to this?” Allen asked suspiciously.

  Chevalier sighed, “She’s not well enough to deal with this right now. When she’s stronger, we’ll tell her.”

  Allen crossed his arms, “And what’s being done about that?”

  “You worry about Cavalry training. We have your mother taken care of.”

  “So as a member of the Cavalry, I will also be one of Mom’s guards?”

  “No, that’s the one thing we consider you to have a conflict of interest with. You will solely cover the streets of Council City,” Mark told him.

  “And if we go to war?”

  “We’ll decide when it comes to that.”

  Allen nodded, “Ok, I’ll do it.”

  “Mark will get you started today, fit for uniforms, and set up with training,” Chevalier told him. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on you for a while. We aren’t sure how well the city guards will handle your presence.”

  “Will I be staying in the palace?”

  “No, you’ll be staying with the Cavalry,” Mark said. “There’s already a place for you. It’ll be safer than being in the barracks. Let’s go.”

  Allen smiled and then left the office with Mark, who shut the door behind them.

  “What are you going to tell Emily?” Quinn asked, sitting down across from Chevalier.

  “She doesn’t see him a lot anyway, he’s always studying… I hope that it doesn’t come up for a while. Mark knows that Allen’s to see his mom at least once a day to lessen the suspicion.”