Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (94 page)

“
Let’s see you off-road
those babies,” Emily said, and popped the Durango into 4-wheel
drive on the fly, and then turned a hard right. She watched the
Reventon’s screech to a halt as she mowed down a barbed wire fence
and sped across a rocky field.

She didn’t slow, even when
the terrain became dangerously rocky and the Durango began to make
horrible clunking noises. The engine died at the tree line, and
smoke began to pour from under the hood.

Emily glanced quickly
behind her and stepped out of the Durango. She slipped on a pair of
cowboy boots that she kept in the back of the car and grabbed a
Smith & Wesson .357 from the glove box. Looking behind her
again, she ran into the woods, cursing the bulky robe.

She didn’t stop or slow
down as she ran through the trees. She no longer knew which
direction she was going, and her senses were aware of every noise
around her. She knew she gained a head start by taking the Durango
off-road, but she also knew that the Valle would be blurring behind
her, edging closer quickly.

Emily realized she was
running in a blind panic and stopped to lean against a tree to try
and get her bearings. She couldn’t see the sky through the dense
trees, but there was just enough light she could see the ground.
She found a patch of moss beside one of the trees and ran left,
heading west toward the palace.

“
Emmmily,” she heard
someone yell from behind her. She didn’t turn around, but kept
running toward what she hoped would be the safety of Council
City.

Emily knew she was slowing
down. She couldn’t see as well anymore, and she had been running
for too long. She couldn’t keep up the pace. She hoped that the
guards were partying in the woods again, like they had for Quinn’s
coronation. If she could reach them, she knew she would be
safe.

Emily suddenly saw a light
ahead and realized it was a campfire. Soon, she could hear music
playing. As she got closer, the music grew louder and she heard the
smashing of glass against a tree. She pushed harder and ran into
the clearing. The music suddenly stopped, and the partying guards
looked at her, confused.

Mark came up from behind some of the
others, “Emily?”

“
Mark...” Emily panted.
“Valle.”

She felt a rush as the guards blurred
to her.

“
Where?” Mark asked,
looking into the woods.

“
Emmmmmily,” someone yelled
again from the dark woods.

Emily had barely even
blinked when the clearing emptied out, and she heard the sounds of
movement behind her. She turned and ran toward where the guards had
gone. It wasn’t far before she heard the sounds of fighting. She
drew her pistol and ran forward, unsure how many Valle were after
her.

The trees suddenly filled
with fighting heku. Emily couldn’t tell in the dark which were
Equites and which were Valle. Blood and body parts were flying, and
the woods were filled with growls and hisses.

Emily saw Silas and ran
toward him. He had three Valle attacking him, and she stood off to
his side and concentrated. One of the Valle fell to the ground,
screaming, but didn’t turn all the way into ash. He stood up slowly
and his eyes fixed on her.

Emily took a step back and raised her
gun toward him.

“
Go ahead, Sweetheart,
shoot me,” he said, stepping toward her.

Emily pulled the trigger,
but the heku turned into a blur and the gun was ripped from her
hand. The Valle smashed the butt of the gun against the side of her
face, and she fell back against the mossy ground as blood poured
from her cheek. She saw him disappear as someone slammed into him,
then she slowly got to her feet and steadied herself against a tree
as her head cleared.

A strong arm wrapped around
her waist and lifted her from the ground as a hand pressed against
her mouth.

“
Shhhh, Child, don’t make
this painful,” a heku whispered into her ear. “Come with me, and
the Valle will leave some of your guards alive.”

Emily bit his hand and her
mouth filled with blood as he screamed, but quickly began to heal.
She head butted him hard and heard his nose shatter as she finally
pulled loose from his grasp. He looked up at her with infuriated
eyes and appeared just inches from her. She turned just as he
punched and hit her lower ribs. She felt the painful stab as her
ribs broke and she fell to her knees, gasping for
breath.

“
You bitch, that hurt,” he
growled, and then disappeared when one of the Equites blurred into
him and pushed him into a tree. The thick tree cracked and then
fell with the force of the hit, and Emily got to her feet, holding
onto her side.

The woods quickly grew
silent as the fighting stopped. Emily looked around but couldn’t
see what was going on. She turned away from where the fighting had
been, and started to run, unsure if the Equites or the Valle had
won. She wasn’t able to move as fast as she would have liked, her
ribs were stabbing painfully into her side with each
breath.

“
Em, stop!” Mark yelled
from behind her, and she turned slowly. She saw the familiar
Equites guards step closer to her. They were covered in blood,
their clothes were torn, and some were supported by others as they
fought against wounds that healed too slowly.

“
Meet in the clearing,”
Mark said, and picked Emily up. She groaned as the movement sent
painful stabs through her chest. He blurred her back into the
clearing by the fire and laid her gently on the ground.

Emily looked up and saw the
Equites guards all emerge into the clearing. Those that were
injured were laid down beside her. She jumped when she heard a loud
shout.

“
That was awesome!” one of
the guards shouted, and she saw the euphoric expression on his
face. Others joined in, cheering, and the clearing filled with the
excited talks of battle.

Mark knelt down beside
Emily and looked down at the bloody robe, “Where are you
clothes?”

Emily sighed, “It’s a long
story.”

Mark grimaced and wrinkled his nose,
“You smell like the Valle.”

“
Like what?” she asked, not
sure she heard right.

“
Very strongly like the
Valle, ugh,” Mark said, and turned her head toward the fire so he
could see the gash on the side of her face.

“
I’m sorry I broke up your
party,” Emily said as he studied the cut on her face.

Mark laughed, “That’s the most fun
we’ve had at a coronation party.”

Emily looked at him, “Fun?”

One of the guards ran over,
“Great move, Lady Emily! You should bring Valle to all of our
parties.”

Emily just shook her
head.

Mark sighed, “Course, someone’s got to
go tell the Elder.”

Emily grinned, “Can’t I just go to a
hotel for a week?”

He picked her up as gently
as he could, and then chuckled, “I’m not going to be the one to
tell him where your clothes are, or why you smell like the
Valle.”

“
If you all would stop
sniffing me, you wouldn’t notice,” Emily said, and leaned her head
against his shoulder.

“
Are cowboy boots and a
robe this year’s new mortal fashion?” Mark asked, and then blurred
her back to the palace.

“
I’m thinking
not.”

“
Where did you come from
anyway?”

“
I have no idea. I was
getting chased by the Valle in sports cars, so I took the Durango
off-road and it died by the trees.”

“
You know what?” Mark said.
“I’m thinking I don’t want to know.”

Mark stepped into the
palace and started up the stairs when he heard someone behind him.
He turned just as the entire Council stepped out of the reception
hall in a crouch and looked up at Mark. He was covered in blood and
his clothes were torn. Chevalier appeared at his side and growled
when he saw Emily.

“
This should be good,” Kyle
said, and then he frowned when he saw Emily’s blood covered robe
and the gash on her cheek.

“
We smelled Valle,” Zohn
said, looking around.

“
Erm... that’s Emily,” Mark
told him, and then winced.

Zohn leaned forward a bit
and smelled her, “Ew, that is Emily.”

“
Stop sniffing me!” Emily
yelled, and pushed him away.

“
Let’s talk in the
bedroom,” Chevalier suggested, and they all blurred into the room.
Mark laid Emily down carefully on the bed, but she groaned slightly
when the stabbing pain hit.

Chevalier rubbed the back of his neck
with his hand, “Who wants to start?”

Emily and Mark both looked at each
other.

“
He does,” Emily
said.

“
She does,” Mark said at
the same time.

Emily sat up and grimaced as she
grabbed her side. She stood slowly and walked toward the
bathroom.

“
Do you need something to
drink?” Kyle asked, amused when he noticed the blood around her
mouth and chin.

Emily nodded, “Yes, I have heku blood
taste in my mouth.”

Kyle chuckled, and it
irritated her, but when she tried to walk faster, her painful ribs
made it hard to breathe and she winced when she slipped off the
cowboy boots.

“
Em?” Chevalier asked from
her side.

“
What’s up with the rib
punches? Is that a required technique for heku finishing school?”
Emily hissed, and shut the bathroom door on him.

Chevalier sighed and turned to Mark,
“Start talking.”

Mark nodded, “We were
partying in the woods, when Emily came running into the clearing
from the east. She said something about the Valle, and then we
heard someone call her name from the trees. We fought them and I
realized too late that Emily had followed us, and was in the middle
of the fight.”

“
Damn,” Kyle said,
frowning.

“
The Valle then?” Quinn
asked.

“
We killed them. There were
only about twenty following her.”

“
Why does she smell like
Valle, and where are her clothes?” Zohn asked,
irritated.

Mark shrugged, “That, I don’t
know.”

The heku turned when they
heard the shower turn on and then continued.

“
Did we lose anyone?” Quinn
asked.

Mark shook his head, “No,
just a few injuries, but they are at the clearing now,
healing.”

“
Did you save us one for
interrogation?” Zohn asked him.

Mark grinned slightly, “No,
it all happened too fast.”

“
Very well, you can go
back,” Quinn told him, and Mark smiled and blurred from the
room.

“
You honestly can’t leave
her alone for a minute, can you?” Zohn asked, and turned to
Chevalier.

Kyle went to the door and
got the tray from the servant and took it to the table. He lifted
the dome and carefully smelled for poisons, and then put the dome
back on to keep it warm.

Zohn grimaced, “That smell is so
strong.”

Kyle walked over and picked
up Emily’s boots and smelled them. He wrinkled his nose, opened the
window, and tossed them out, “That should help.”

“
This story should be
interesting,” Quinn said, and sat down on a chair to wait for
Emily. The shower had just turned off and they could hear her
getting dressed.

Emily came out a short time
later, brushing her wet hair. She’d changed into jogging pants and
a halter top. She looked at the eager faces of the heku and
frowned, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“
I’m not sure that’s an
option,” Zohn said bluntly.

Chevalier glared at him as Emily sat
down slowly, “I don’t think I asked you.”

“
Why don’t we start with
the obvious… injuries,” Quinn said, trying to calm everyone
down.

“
Nothing serious,” Emily
told him, and took a large drink from the orange juice.

“
We don’t have a doctor
anymore. We need to ascertain if you need to go to the
hospital.”

“
I don’t,” Emily said, and
picked up the cheeseburger. She looked over at the watching heku
and sat it down, “Fine… the cut on my face doesn’t need stitches,
and I’m pretty sure some ribs are broken but I know how to deal
with those.”

“
Why…” Chevalier said,
frustrated. “Why did you jump into the fight?”

“
The Valle were following
me… I had to help.”

“
Why not just ash them
then?” Kyle asked.

Emily looked down at the table,
“That’s… sort of… broken right now.”

“
Broken?” Quinn asked,
concerned.

“
What do you mean broken?”
Chevalier asked.

“
Broken… as in… right now
it just causes burning pain but no ash.” Emily took a bite of the
cheeseburger and ignored the eyes watching her.

“
When did this
happen?”

“
I’m not sure. I didn’t
even know until I tried to ash Sotomar and…” Emily stopped
suddenly, and lowered her head to the table.