Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (8 page)

“
Thanks” Emily said, and
took them.

“
I’ll be back tonight. We
have a full list today,” Chevalier said, standing up.

Emily nodded, “No problem, Allen and I
are going riding.”

Chevalier turned, “You sure you’re
supposed to do that?”

“
I don’t see why
not.”

“
Your back though,” he
said, concerned.

“
I’ll keep Patra at a walk,
I promise,” she said, smiling. “Tell Damon I said he’s an
idiot.”

Chevalier chuckled and left the
room.

“
Sam, get Patra and Damnit
ready, please,” Emily called out. Sam came out of Allen’s room and
smiled.

“
He’s excited to go out,”
Sam said, and left the room.

“
Allen, get some
breakfast,” Emily called out, and she stood up slowly and
stretched.

“
What’s for breakfast?”
Allen asked, stepping out of his room. He was dressed in jeans, a
western cut shirt, small black cowboy boots and a small black
Stetson.

“
Why… don’t you look
handsome,” Emily said, sitting down in the wheelchair.

“
Aww, Mom,” Allen sat at
the table.

Emily drove her wheelchair to the door
when she heard a knock, and let in the servant. He sat their
breakfast on the table and was out of the room before she even
turned around.

“
Eew, eggs,” Allen
complained.

“
Eggs are good for you,”
Emily told him, wheeling up to the table.

“
Do we get to race
today?”

“
Not today, Hun. When my
back is better, I’ll show you how fast Patra is,” she said, and
grinned.

When they were done eating, Emily
drove her wheelchair out into the foyer and then used her crutch to
stand up. She looked down the long flight of stairs, five floors
worth, and started down them slowly.

“
Ma’am?” one of the guards
said as they followed her.

“
Yes?”

“
May I… assist?” he asked
nervously.

Emily thought about it, and then
nodded, “Sure, then you two are off. I ride alone.”

The guard nodded and picked her up,
carrying her swiftly down the stairs. He sat her down on the ground
floor, and the two guards left for the barracks. Emily hobbled out
toward the stables while Allen ran ahead, and was visiting with Sam
when she got there. Sam bowed to Emily, and then left, going back
into the palace.

“
Ok, up you go,” Emily said
to Allen. He hopped on a bale of hay and then slid onto Damnit’s
saddle.

Emily walked up to Patra and looked up
at the saddle, “Ok, so I didn’t think this through,” she said,
smiling slightly at Allen.

Emily gasped when she felt strong
hands on her waist lift her up into the saddle.

“
Thanks,” she said, turning
toward the strange heku.

He nodded and left,
nervously.

“
Walk him,” Emily told
Allen as she clicked her tongue and brought Patra into a smooth
walk. It felt good to be out with the mare again. There was an
exhilarating sense of freedom in being out on a horse. Emily and
Allen made their way slowly through the streets of Council City and
out onto the hills.

“
Run Damnit to the trees
and back,” Emily said, smiling.

Allen took off quickly, kicking Damnit
into a fast gallop. Emily watched him proudly. At five, he was
already handling a horse like a seasoned cowboy. Allen brought his
horse to a stop about halfway back to Emily, and she kicked Patra
into a walk to meet up with him. She wasn’t sure why he
stopped.

As Emily approached Allen, she saw a
group of people heading toward them.

“
Are they heku?” Allen
asked.

“
I don’t know,” Emily said.
“If I tell you to run, you kick that horse and get into the town,
ok?”

“
Ok,” he
answered.

Emily sat tall on Patra as the twenty
mortals walked up to her.

“
Hiya, Ma’am,” the front
one said to her.

“
Hello,” she answered,
politely. It was strange to see a large group of mortals so close
to Council City.

“
Just out for a ride?” he
asked, smiling.

Emily nodded. She got an uncomfortable
feeling as she watched the mortals. She jerked Patra hard when she
saw one of the mortals take the reins on Damnit, and another on
Patra.

“
Get out of here, Allen!”
she yelled, and then kicked the horse, but the mortal already had
control of the stallion.

Emily was pulled off of Patra, and she
screamed when her back spasmed.

She saw Allen in the arms of one of
the mortal women. Suddenly, Emily was in the grips of a large
mortal man. She struggled against his muscular arms, but couldn’t
get free as she was led to a black van, parked alongside the
road.

***

“
Sir,” Mark said, stepping
into the trial area. Quinn was about to chastise him for barging in
on a trial, but his voice was urgent.

“
What’s wrong, Mark?”
Maleth asked.

“
Patra and Damnit were just
found wandering outside of the city. Emily’s guards said she and
Allen are out riding,” Mark said quickly.

“
Take some guards out and
search the woods. They probably got off of them to do something,
and the horses took off,” Chevalier said. He felt a knot in the pit
of his stomach. Emily knew better than to leave her horse
un-tethered, and he couldn’t imagine her walking a lot with her
back hurting.

As soon as Mark left, Damon stood up,
“So we are all in agreement that you are guilty of treason, by
means of fraternizing with an Encala.”

The heku looked nervously up at the
Council, “I told you, I didn’t know his faction.”

“
It is your responsibility
to know his faction.” Damon glared. “Five years for
that.”

A guard came and removed the heku from
the trial area.

“
Shall we break?” Maleth
suggested. He knew Chevalier was anxious to go out and look for
Emily, himself.

“
Yes, that sounds good,”
Quinn agreed.

“
Damon,” Chevalier said,
and headed out of the council chambers, followed by the Chief
Enforcer.

“
You don’t think she
wandered off, do you?” Damon asked. He was proficient at reading
body language.

“
Emily wouldn’t get off of
Patra without tying her up,” Chevalier said as they blurred to the
hills outside of town.

“
When do we officially call
this what it is then?” Damon asked, looking around at the guards
searching the area.

“
Thirty minutes, then we
label it a kidnapping,” Chevalier sighed.

“
Encala or
Valle?”

“
I guess… both,” he
said.

Chevalier watched carefully as the
guards came back with no sign of Emily. The thirty minutes passed
too quickly, and Damon went back to the Council to alert them of
her kidnapping.

Quinn frowned, “Send diplomats to both
the Encala and the Valle, see if we can ascertain where she
is.”

Damon nodded and left for the
barracks.

Chevalier stayed out through the
night, searching for clues to her whereabouts. He knew that Kyle
had led a group of guards to the Encala Council, and one of the
Generals had led his troops to the Valle Council to try to get
information. They were due back in a few hours, and Chevalier
waited impatiently for them. Just after the sun rose, he returned
to the palace and stepped into the council chambers.

“
Kyle is on his way in,”
Quinn said. Chevalier took his seat and tapped his fingers on the
desk. Kyle came in looking frustrated.

“
What did you find?” Maleth
asked.

“
I met with Vaughn, and the
four members of the Encala Council. They are either very good
actors, or they have no idea where she is or that she was taken,”
Kyle said.

“
That leaves the Valle,”
Quinn said.

“
They were also going to
send representatives to the Valle. They were pointing the finger at
them and, of course, Vaughn was mad that the Valle had his…” Kyle
looked at Chevalier, “Wife.”

Chevalier growled.

The Council heard Kyle being summoned
by some of his guards, and they excused him.

“
Do you think the Encala
were faking?” Quinn asked.

“
Kyle is a good judge of
character and reactions. I’m going to believe him,” Chevalier
said.

“
Should we ready the troops
for a Valle attack?” Maleth asked Damon.

“
Let’s try it
diplomatically first. If they do have her, we will try a stealth
attack,” Damon said, deep in thought.

The Council looked at one another when
Kyle asked them to come to the game room. As one, they left the
chambers and appeared in the game room together.

“
You have to see this,”
Kyle said. The local news was paused on the large TV, and they all
turned to it when Kyle un-paused it.

The mustached man on the news laughed
and shuffled his papers, “In other news, the V.E.S. is claiming to
have rescued a pregnant woman and her young son from the hands of
local vampires. Leader Greg Hans said that his society is currently
undoing the brainwashing done to them by their captors.”

The mustached anchorman laughed a bit
and then returned to his paper, “Local Law Enforcement is trying to
arrange a meeting with the woman, to try to ascertain from where
exactly she was taken. They are afraid the V.E.S. kidnapped her
from her home, and is trying to further their cult’s standing in
the community. Currently, the V.E.S. has denied any Law Enforcement
from entering their compound.”

Kyle turned the TV off when the news
moved to weather. He looked at Chevalier, who was
frowning.

“
I didn’t know the V.E.S.
was even in this area yet,” Quinn said.

Kyle nodded, “One of their main
offices is in the city.”

“
Call back the diplomats
from the Valle, apparently, we have another problem,” Chevalier
said, still watching the blank TV.

“
It’s not going to be hard
to get into the V.E.S. compound and get her back,” Damon said,
smiling. “I could probably solo it.”

“
We can’t barge in and wipe
them out. Any sign of validity to their claim that vampires are
real, and we could expose ourselves,” Maleth said
sternly.

“
I suggest that Kyle
contact the police in the city that his wife and son are missing.
See if he can officially be named Emily’s husband,” Quinn
said.

“
Why not Chevalier?” Damon
asked.

“
Kyle has already been
marked as her husband by the police. We have to keep up those
appearances,” Maleth explained.

“
An abusive husband,” Damon
reminded them.

Kyle frowned, “I hate
that.”

“
As soon as Kyle is
recognized as her husband, he should get information on the
location of the compound, and updates on anything they find about
Emily,” Quinn said.

“
I want guards watching the
news. Any report on the V.E.S., and they are to notify me,”
Chevalier said angrily.

“
At least she’s not in
Encala or Valle hands. The V.E.S. are pretty harmless as far as
cults go,” Quinn said.

“
True, we can handle
mortals easier than the other factions,” Maleth smiled.

“
If I know Emily, she’s
ticked though, and I hope she doesn’t push them too hard,”
Chevalier said, smiling slightly.

“
I hate to say it, but we
may have to leave this rescue up to mortal law enforcement,” Quinn
said.

Maleth nodded, “Any action on our part
and we risk exposure.”

***

“
Keith, follow me,” the
Lieutenant said, motioning Kyle back toward his office. Kyle
followed him and sat down as he was handed a cup of
coffee.

“
You say she’s been missing
since when?” the Lieutenant asked.

“
Yesterday, she went
horseback riding with my son. When she didn’t return, we started
searching for her in the woods,” Kyle explained.

“
You think she might be the
woman the V.E.S. has?”

“
I think so, she’s 5 months
pregnant, and my son is 4 years old. It just sounded like it
matched,” Kyle explained. “She’s also recovering from a hiking
accident. Her back is still injured pretty badly, and she has a
cast on her right leg.”

“
Have you ever had a run in
with the society?” the Lieutenant asked.

“
No, I haven’t. I always
thought the Vampire Extermination Society was a joke, actually,”
Kyle said, shrugging.

“
A cult… but no joke. We’ll
see if we can verify that they have Emily and Allen, and we’ll get
in touch with you,” the officer said, standing up. He shook Kyle’s
hand and Kyle left the police department, headed back to the
palace.