Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (21 page)

He knelt down beside her and pulled
the needle from her arm. He handed the bag of blood to a member of
the Cavalry, who dumped it out onto the forest floor. Chevalier
picked her up gently in his arms and carried her limp body back
toward the others.

“
Are any left alive?”
Chevalier growled and darkness fell over his features.

“
Yes, three of them, they
are restrained,” Mark said, catching up to the Elder.

Kyle ran forward when they got close,
“Is she ok?”

“
I don’t know yet,”
Chevalier growled, his eyes fixed on the three Encala.

Chevalier handed Emily off to Kyle and
walked forward.

Kyle looked down at her and frowned,
“Did they force-feed her blood?”

Mark walked up to her and touched the
blood with the tip of his finger, he tasted it and grimaced, “It’s
heku blood.”

Chevalier stopped in front of the
three restrained Encala, “Take them to the prison. I’ll take care
of them myself… no one touches them.”

The Cavalry members nodded and began
walking back towards the palace. Chevalier hopped up on his Arabian
stallion and led him over to Kyle, then reached down and Kyle
handed Emily up to him.

“
We’ll get the horses and
be right in,” Kyle said angrily.

Chevalier kicked the stallion into a
gallop and headed back for the palace, with Emily cradled
motionlessly in his arms. A guard came and took the Arabian as
Chevalier slid off of him and carried Emily inside. Damon met them
at the door.

“
What happened?” Damon
asked, his eyes wide.

“
Encala attack,” Chevalier
hissed. “Get the doctor.”

The faction doctor arrived just as
Chevalier was laying Emily down on the bed. Damon was standing by
the door watching.

“
Chloroform,” he said. “I
can smell it on her. That means she should be awake
soon.”

The doctor got out a stethoscope and
listened to Emily’s heart and lungs, then took her blood pressure.
He moved it down to her belly and listened carefully to the baby
and then pulled her shirt up a bit and pressed down around her
entire abdomen.

The doctor then pulled out a Doppler
and held it against Emily’s tummy. He quickly picked up the rapid
heartbeat of the baby. He got a measuring tape and measured from
her breastbone to her pubic bone and put it back in his bag just as
Emily started to stir.

“
Whose blood is this?” he
asked, and wiped her mouth clean.

“
It’s heku blood,”
Chevalier said chillingly.

The doctor frowned, “Why would they
force her to drink heku blood?”

Chevalier growled, his hands balled
into fists.

“
To strengthen the runes,”
Damon said from the doorway.

“
Chev!” Emily screamed, and
sat up suddenly.

He sat down beside her and took her in
his arms, “It’s ok, I’m here.”

“
The Encala…” she
whispered, and grabbed his shirt in her fists.

“
They’re dead,” he said,
and kissed her forehead.

“
I can taste… something,”
she said softly.

“
Drink this,” he said, and
handed her some chocolate milk that Damon had already requested for
her.

Emily drank all of it quickly, and
then leaned back against Chevalier. He touched her hair
softly.

“
I’m so sorry,” she said
softly.

Chevalier frowned, “Why are you
apologizing?”

“
They were after
me.”

“
That’s still not your
fault,” Chevalier told her, and looked up at the doctor.

“
Everything with Emily and
the baby looks good. I’m worried though, that’s a big baby,” the
doctor said to both of them. “Your blood pressure’s high too. I’ll
want to check that again tomorrow.”

“
Are you hurt anywhere?”
Chevalier whispered to Emily, and she shook her head.

Chevalier whispered under his breath,
too low for Emily to hear, and watched as Damon nodded and blurred
from the room. The doctor followed him and shut the
door.

Emily looked down at the small
puncture wound on the crook of her arm, “What did they
do?”

“
They were taking blood
from you,” Chevalier told her.

“
Why?”

“
The runes, I suspect they
were taking it back to Vaughn,” he said. “They gave you his blood,
too.”

Emily frowned, “I drank Vaughn’s
blood?”

“
I think so. There’s really
no way to be sure.”

“
That’s disgusting,” she
said, and looked up at Chevalier. “Are you ok?”

Chevalier smiled, “I’m
fine.”

“
There were so many of
them.”

“
I’m fine.”

“
Why did you tell me not to
ash them? There were only 12.”

“
You don’t need that strain
on your body right now. I knew I could handle them, of course, you
had to go and call the Cavalry to take my glory.” Chevalier smiled
and ran his lips softly against hers.

“
This taste is awful,”
Emily said, and wrinkled her nose.

“
Even heku don’t like heku
blood. What would you like?”

“
Ice cream,” she said, and
crawled onto his lap. “Does that mean my day is over?”

“
Why would you say that?”
Chevalier asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Emily shrugged and took the ice cream
from the servant who brought it in. She took a bite and looked
around the room.

“
What do you want to do for
the rest of the day? Sam is taking Allen to a movie after school,”
Chevalier said, and shook his head when Emily offered him a bite of
ice cream.

Emily put down the empty bowl and
turned to Chevalier, “You’re covered in blood, go shower and I’ll
think of something.”

Chevalier nodded, kissed her softly,
and got up, disappearing into the bathroom. Emily scrambled off the
bed as soon as she heard the water running and ran down the
stairs.

When Chevalier came out she was
sitting on the couch waiting for him.

“
Much better,” Emily said,
and smiled.

“
Miss me?” he asked, and
sat down beside her.

“
Always.” Emily turned away
from him quickly when she felt the tickle of blood in her
nose.

“
What’s wrong?” he asked,
touching her shoulder.

“
Nothing, runny nose,” she
said, and grabbed a tissue before walking into the bathroom and
shutting the door. She sat down on the floor and shut her eyes
against the new pounding in her head as she tried to stop the
nosebleed.

Chevalier went to the bedroom door
when he heard someone approach. Damon was just about to
knock.

“
What?” Chevalier
asked.

“
Am I supposed to revive
them?” Damon asked.

“
Revive who?”

“
Those three
Encala.”

“
What happened to them?”
Chevalier asked, confused.

Damon frowned, “Emily.”

Chevalier sighed, “Revive them. I’m
not done with them.”

“
Will do… I’ve never seen
her do that before though,” Damon said, turning toward the
stairs.

“
Do what?”

“
Hold them without killing
them. I have to say it’s kind of impressive. I could smell their
burning flesh for a few minutes before they actually turned to
ash.”

“
Just revive them,”
Chevalier told him.

Damon nodded and headed down the
stairs.

Chevalier stepped back inside and
knocked on the bathroom door, “Em? Can I come in?”

When Emily didn’t respond, he stepped
into the bathroom and saw her sitting on the floor with her hands
pressed against her eyes. There were bloody tissues beside her on
the floor.

Chevalier sat down beside her, “How
bad is it?”

“
Shhhh,” she
whispered.

“
Damon’s going to revive
them. I haven’t had a chance to hear what they have to say,”
Chevalier said softly. He reached up and turned the light off in
the bathroom.

Emily looked up now that the light
wasn’t hurting her eyes, “Can I watch?”

“
Watch what?”

“
You and them… in the
interrogation room?”

“
No, that’s… that’s out of
the question,” he said, frowning.

“
Why?”

“
It’s hard to explain. The
smell of blood and fear, the sounds of them screaming in pain… it
triggers almost a primal urge to cause pain. You can’t be near when
that’s happening, it’s too dangerous,” he said, and helped her up.
“Let’s stay in this afternoon, put in a movie, ok?”

Emily nodded and let him lead her into
the bedroom. He blurred to the windows and pulled the heavy drapes,
drowning the room in darkness.

***

Emily rolled over in bed and realized
she was alone. She sat up and looked around the dark room. She
could hear voices outside in the hallway, so she stepped out to see
who it was.

“
Good morning,” Chevalier
said, smiling when she came into the hallway.

Emily nodded and leaned back against
him. Chevalier wrapped his arms around her.

“
I think we’re all ready,
unless Emily wants to use the room first,” Damon said with a
mischievous grin.

Emily didn’t need to be told what he
was talking about, “You offering to let me practice on
you?”

“
Like you could hurt me,”
Damon laughed.

“
Is that a
challenge?”

“
Hey,” Chevalier warned
them both.

“
What would you do? Sit on
me?” Damon asked, smirking.

“
Are you calling me
fat?”

“
If the tent
fits…”

“
Damon…” Chevalier
growled.

Damon looked at Chevalier just as
Emily drew back and punched him in the nose.

“
Blood-sucking parasite!”
Emily screamed at Damon, and stepped toward him.

Chevalier wrapped an arm under her
arms and lifted her off the ground, “Both of you calm down. You two
are worse than kids.”

“
She… but she…” Damon
hissed, but stopped when Chevalier glared at him. He turned on his
heels and blurred down the stairs.

“
Wimp!” Emily yelled after
him.

“
You better watch it. One
of these days he’s going to lose his temper with you,” Chevalier
said, carrying her into the room. He set her down inside and shut
the door.

“
Why is no one ever afraid
I’ll lose my temper with him?” Emily asked, crossing her
arms.

“
Because you aren’t a
naturally violent person, and he is,” Chevalier said, and took the
dome off of a tray.

Emily put her hand on her stomach, “No
food… ugh.”

“
Are you feeling ok?”
Chevalier asked as she laid down on the bed.

“
No, my stomach has been
upset since last night,” Emily said, and pulled the covers up. “Go
to work, I’m just going to nap.”

Chevalier nodded and left for the
council chambers, and she was able to quickly fall
asleep.

***

Emily looked up at the ceiling and
frowned. She sat up suddenly and started to panic. Nothing looked
familiar, her clothes were different, and her hair was longer. She
scrambled out of bed and backed up against the wall.

“
Keith?” she yelled, hoping
he would come explain what was happening. Emily caught sight of
herself in the mirror and gasped when she saw her pregnant
belly.

“
Keith?” she screamed
louder.

Mark opened Emily’s door to see if she
needed something, and saw the look of horror on her
face.

“
What’s wrong?” Mark asked,
stepping into the room.

“
Who are you?” Emily
whispered. She was too afraid of the strange man to speak
louder.

“
Emily, what’s wrong?” Mark
asked, frowning.

“
Don’t come near me,” she
said louder, and then screamed. “Keith!”

Mark raised his hands, “I won’t, I
promise.”

“
You’re one of them aren’t
you?” she asked, starting to get angry.

“
One of who?” Mark
asked.

“
The vampires.”

Mark narrowed his eyes, “Do you know
where you are?”

Emily glanced quickly around the room,
looking for a weapon. She saw a familiar item, her bag, tucked by
the dresser. She ran to it and opened it, then pulled out the 9mm
and turned it on Mark.

“
Where’s Keith?” Emily
asked, pointing the gun directly at his heart.

“
I don’t know,” Mark said,
unsure what to say or do.

Emily pulled on a robe she saw hanging
over a chair and tied it around her waist, “Get in the
closet.”