Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (61 page)

“
Oh”

“
Are we free to ask
anything?”

“
Sure”

“
Did you ever consider me
instead of Chevalier?”

Emily nodded.

“
When?”

“
When we spent so much time
together, after I thought Chevalier left, there at the
first.”

Kyle just watched her.

“
You were so different from
Keith and Chevalier. Don’t tell him I said this… but, at that time,
I saw a lot of similarities between the two of them. When you
brought Patra to me, it showed me you cared. Then all of that time
together, you never tried to fight with me, or hit me, or bite me.”
Emily’s eyes were far away.

“
They are a lot alike,”
Kyle knew how mad the Elder would be to hear him say
that.

“
I know. Odd how I attract
that kind isn’t it? One might think I liked bruises.” Emily frowned
and then smiled, “I do see the differences though. Keith hit me for
fun, Chevalier just has a temper… and it’s a lot better
now.”

“
I’m waiting for the day
when he oversteps and you disappear. If anyone on this planet could
disappear forever, it’d be you,” Kyle said.

Emily nodded, “I almost did
in Colorado. If I hadn’t ended up pregnant… I would have been
gone.”

“
That’s what scares me. If
you hadn’t been pregnant, I don’t think you would have still been
at my house.”

“
Probably not.”

“
Let’s make a pact. If you
ever leave, you have to promise you’ll tell me where you are, and
I’ll swear to not tell a soul,” Kyle said seriously.

“
I can’t promise that,”
Emily said softly.

“
Just keep it in
mind.”

“
I will.”

“
We should go in. You’re
cold.” Emily heard Kyle stand up.

“
I don’t want to. We never
get to talk, and down here we know no one can hear us.”

Kyle sat down beside her and she
leaned against his arm.

“
I want to try it, Kyle,
and I want it to be you,” Emily said, looking up, though she
couldn’t see him.

“
I’m not going to risk
draining you.”

“
So we’ll have Mark
there.”

“
Still too dangerous.” Even
the thought of feeding from her made his mouth water. She was so
close to him that her scent was strong and enticing.

“
Do the heku in Council
City think I’m only kept in the palace for sex?” Emily asked,
laying her head back on his shoulder.

“
Of course not!”

“
Damon said it, and often,
and I think I believe him.”

“
Damon was an idiot,” Kyle
reminded her.

Emily laughed, “Yes I know,
but he has a point. Why do they keep me?”

“
I thought we covered
this.”

“
I’m a moody pain in the
ass with violent tendencies and the desire to run at any
confrontation. I get attacked, kidnapped, tortured, I hate having
guards…”

Kyle stopped her with a
kiss. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. For one
brief moment, Emily leaned into him and touched his face lightly.
Suddenly, she stiffened and pulled away from him.

“
You are a moody pain in
the ass,” Kyle said, amused.

“
I’m sorry,” Emily
whispered.

“
Don’t be… I’m not. No one
thinks you’re in the palace just as a sex object for the Elder. I
swear,” Kyle said, and took her hand, kissing it softly.

“
Now that things have
turned awkward, shall we go?” Emily asked, laughing
slightly.

“
I guess we should. I’m
sure everyone’s wondering where we went,” Kyle said. He stood up
and helped Emily to her feet.

“
I bet they don’t even know
we’re gone,” Emily said, and took a timid step forward into the
dark.

“
Oh I bet they do. It’s
already 9am.”

Emily gasped, “Dang.”

Kyle picked her up and held her
closely to him. Emily wrapped her arms around him as he blurred out
of the crypt. Kyle replaced the cement slab and they walked back to
the castle slowly.

“
If Mark says he’ll help,
can we?” Emily asked when they neared the castle.

“
No,” Kyle said, laughing.
“Drop it, ok?”

“
You do realize, I’ve set
my mind to giving it a go. If it’s not you, then I’ll find someone
else.” Emily grinned. She knew that would get him.

“
I could tell the Elder.
One order from him and no one’d do it.”

“
Not in this
faction.”

Kyle turned to her, shocked, “You
wouldn’t.”

Emily raised her eyebrows, “I
wouldn’t?”

“
I was about to come check
on you,” Mark said from the door. He looked at them and then
narrowed his eyes, “What’s up?”

“
I want to try an
experiment, and I can either try it with you and Kyle, or I can go
to the Valle.” Emily grinned, watching Kyle.

“
No, Em,” Kyle said
sternly.

“
What experiment?” Mark
asked.

“
Let’s just say I have the
urge to drain Kyle,” Emily said, and walked past Mark into the
castle.

Mark looked at Kyle, “Do I want to
know?”

“
No, you don’t. Damn we’re
going to end up doing this,” Kyle mumbled, and walked into the
castle.

“
Why am I here? It’s making
me nervous,” Mark said as he looked around the bathroom.

Emily smiled, “For future
reference, this is all my idea, and I threatened you both into
this.”

“
Don’t do this, Em,
please?” Kyle asked.

“
Here’s what we do… first
we drain all the blood out of Kyle,” Emily said.

“
No, we don’t! Not with you
around,” Mark said, shocked.

“
Then, when he’s drained,
he feeds off of me.”

Mark growled.

“
Then it’s your job to stop
him before I die.” Emily smiled.

“
No, I won’t be a part of
this,” Mark said sternly.

“
See, Em. He agrees, this
is not a good idea,” Kyle said, standing by Mark.

Emily shrugged, “Fine, but I bet the
Valle will help me.”

Both Kyle and Mark growled.

“
Calm down. I’ll take the
blame… I want to know if this works,” Emily said, squaring off with
the two heku.

“
There’s no good that can
come of this,” Mark said.

Kyle nodded, “I agree.”

“
So the question is, how do
we drain Kyle? Won’t you die?” Emily asked.

“
We’re not draining Kyle.
It’s out of the question,” Mark said.

“
No, I won’t die,” Kyle
scowled.

“
You’re agreeing to this?”
Mark asked him, shocked.

Kyle sighed, “What are we going to do?
Let her go try this with the Valle.”

“
Damnit, this is crazy… and
I want no part of it.” Mark headed for the door, but Emily laid a
soft hand on his harm.

“
Please, you’re the only
one I trust to stop him before I get hurt.” Emily’s tone was soft
and timid, and Kyle cringed at how manipulative she could
be.

“
Damnit,” Mark said again
and turned around. “Lay down, Kyle.”

Kyle sighed and laid in the
bathtub with his wrist out.

“
Great! Wrist only on me
Kyle. I can’t hide the neck wounds from Chev.” She saw Kyle turn
away from her, and knew he was mad about this.

Mark knelt down, “You do
realize how against policy this is for me to drain a member of the
Council.”

“
My fault, remember,” Emily
reminded him.

“
He’s going to kill me,”
Mark said, moments before sinking his teeth into Kyle’s wrist.
Instead of drinking, Emily noticed he was just letting the blood
drain out and kept the holes open with his teeth.

“
Gah, this feels weird,”
Kyle said.

“
You sure this won’t kill
you?” Emily cringed.

“
No, but it’s damn well
going to make me thirsty.”

“
Good, that’s where I come
in,” Emily said, smiling.

Emily sat down by Kyle and
watched as the blood poured out of him and went down the drain. She
saw his breathing slow, and he shut his eyes and concentrated as
the color drained out of him. When the blood stopped draining, Mark
moved away quickly and Kyle’s eyes flew open. He inhaled deeply and
turned to face Emily.

“
Wrist, Kyle,” Emily said,
and stuck her wrist out for him.

Kyle lunged at her and
pinned her to the floor. His teeth punctured the skin on her neck
before she could resist. Emily shut her eyes and felt her body
relax. She no longer had the desire to fight him about the bite
location.

“
Enough, Kyle,” Mark said
after a few minutes, and then pulled at the Chief
Enforcer.

Kyle growled and continued to
drink.

Mark moved back a few steps
and lunged at Kyle, knocking him off of Emily. She looked up just
as they crouched to face each other, both ready to
attack.

“
Get back, Emily,” Mark
ordered, and she saw Kyle’s feral eyes fall to her.

Emily stepped back against
the wall, her body tense. She smiled when she saw Kyle frown and
shut his eyes, standing up straight. Mark stood also, but kept
himself between the two of them.

“
Holy shit,” Kyle
hissed.

Mark smiled, “That good,
eh?”

“
Hey, eeew,” Emily said,
watching them closely.

Kyle stood up, “I’m ok.”

“
Do we try it?” Emily
asked.

“
Oh, so I get to know why
we did this?” Mark asked her.

“
It’s supposed to make me
immune to Emily’s ashing,” Kyle said, and smiled
slightly.

“
Ok, ready?” Emily looked
at Kyle and he cringed.

Kyle opened his eyes and looked at
her, “Did you try?”

Emily nodded, “Yes, nothing? Not even
a burn?”

Kyle shook his head,
“Nothing.”

“
You two, I swear… you
didn’t think this through did you?” Mark asked them,
frustrated.

“
Yes I did,” Emily
answered.

“
So you knew that Kyle now
has your scent?”

Emily cringed, “He does?”

“
Damn,” Kyle said. “How
strong is it?”

“
The same as it is with
Emily. I could bite you myself,” Mark said, and smiled evilly at
Kyle.

“
I’ll… I’ll go to the
mainland and feed, a lot.”

“
You better. If the Elder
gets a whiff of you, the three of us will be banished for sure,”
Mark said, and left the room angrily.

Emily smiled at Kyle, “It
worked.”

Kyle moved to her and pressed his lips
against hers passionately. He wrapped his arms around her and
pulled her against him.

Emily turned her head away
from him, “Don’t.”

He kissed her neck softly
and then let her go. He spun quickly with wide eyes when he heard
movement behind him. Mark was at the door and had seen it all. He
was glaring angrily at Kyle.

Kyle blurred past him and disappeared
out the door.

Emily sighed and leaned
back against the wall.

Marked moved to her quickly, “Are you
ok?”

Emily nodded.

“
Please, forgive Kyle. I’m
not sure his instincts were as under control as he hoped,” Mark
explained. He put a scarf around Emily’s neck and followed her back
up to the foyer.

“
Oh good, there you are,
Lady Emily,” Storm said, walking up with her clipboard. “Elder
Chevalier called and he’ll be arriving tonight.”

Emily nodded and glanced
nervously at Mark. Storm left, frowning, and returned to her
office.

“
Tonight? He wasn’t
supposed to be here until Sunday,” Emily told him.

“
He’s going to notice, if
not the puncture wounds, then at least Kyle’s scent,” Mark
whispered.

“
What do we do?” Emily
asked him, starting to panic.

“
Tell him the
truth.”

Emily frowned, “You’re not a lot of
help.”

Mark followed her up to her
room where he was joined by another of the Cavalry. They waited
outside as she disappeared into the bedroom to think.

Emily pulled off the scarf
and looked into the mirror. The puncture wounds were deep and red,
obviously new. She threw the scarf back on and sat on the edge of
the bed. Before long, she laid back and shut her eyes. She always
felt tired after being fed off of.

Emily woke up suddenly when
she felt the pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes as a
strange heku was lowering his teeth to her neck.