Encala (19 page)

“
Yeah well, he’s my Elder.”
Kyle disappeared into the kitchen and came back out with a wet
dishtowel. He started cleaning the blood off of Emily’s face and
arms. Other than small cuts from the glass, and a cut on her
forehead, she didn’t seem injured.

“
I’ll go talk to him,” she
said, sitting up.

“
I’ll go with
you.”

“
No, let me talk to him
alone… outside.” She got to her feet and steadied herself, then
headed for the door.

“
If you pass out, he’s
going to catch you,” Kyle said, watching her.

“
Fine… come with,” she
said, and opened the front door. Chevalier looked over from inside
the Humvee and opened the door, then stepped out.

“
Stay back by the car,”
Emily told him, and he leaned back against the black
Humvee.

“
Are you ok?” he asked,
looking her over.

“
Yes, why did you have me
arrested?”

“
I needed to know where you
were.”

“
Why? You promised me that
the next time I left you would let me go,” she reminded
him.

“
I know I did, but I never
thought you would do it.”

“
You know now, so you can
go, and take Kyle with you,” she said to him.

“
Wait a minute,” Kyle said,
but she held a hand up to stop him.

“
I can’t start a new life
if I’m still surrounded by heku,” she told him.

“
If I leave tonight… I’ll
tell him,” Kyle said, narrowing his eyes.

“
You wouldn’t!”

“
I would and I
will.”

“
Tell me what?” Chevalier
asked, taking a step toward them.

“
Get back to the truck,”
Emily hissed at him, and he shrugged and went back to the
Humvee.

“
Why are you doing this?”
Emily whispered to Kyle.

“
You need someone with
you,” he whispered back, knowing full well that Chevalier could
hear them.

“
I have Sam and Allen. We
can handle a ranch on our own.”

“
I stay or I tell, period,”
he smiled as she fidgeted.

“
Fine… then just you go,”
she said to Chevalier.

“
I’m not leaving until I
find out a few things,” he said, looking at Kyle.

“
What was I supposed to do?
Tell you where she is and then have her disappear alone… or stay
here with her and at least she would have my protection?” he
explained.

“
You still disobeyed a
direct order.”

“
Yes I did, and I would do
it again. When I get back you can punish me then,” he said,
matter-of-factly.

“
Oh I plan on
it.”

“
Will you two just stop!”
Emily cried from behind them. “Don’t you see how this can be
irritating? I can’t deal with it anymore.”

“
We can stop,” Kyle said to
her.

“
No you can’t… he gives
orders, and they are obeyed, it’s sickening.”

“
It’s my job,” Chevalier
said, watching her.

“
Exactly… and it’s not
going to stop, but I want no part of it. Or are my fragile human
emotions making me stupid again?” she asked, angrily.

“
No one’s ever called you
stupid, Em,” Chevalier said, sighing.

“
You did,” she
snapped.

“
We told you… that wasn’t
us,” Kyle said to her.

“
Yeah, that’s what you say…
well hell,” Emily said, and disappeared back inside.

Sam stepped out onto the porch with Allen in
his arms. Chevalier smiled, and when Sam put Allen down, he ran
into his Dad’s arms.

Chevalier hugged Allen tight.

“
Mommy’s sick,” Allen told
him.

“
She is?” Chevalier looked
at Sam.

“
She’s had the flu,” he
said, coldly.

Allen asked to be let down, and then took
Chevalier’s hand, “Come inside.”

“
I don’t think I’m
welcome,” he said to the toddler.

“
You think right,” Sam
said. “Come on Allen, let’s get back inside.”

Allen pulled closer to Chevalier, “Daddy’s
here.”

Chevalier picked Allen up again, “What do
you say I take him back with me?”

“
I think Emily would have
something to say about that.” Sam glared.

“
Then bring her out and let
me ask her.”

“
She’s busy,” Sam said,
crossing his arms.

“
Doing what? She was just
here,” Chevalier asked, and frowned.

“
Mommy’s sick,” Allen said,
pointing inside.

“
She has the flu right
now?” Chevalier asked Kyle.

“
Yeah she does, and you had
her locked up,” he told the Elder.

“
I should go tell her I’m
sorry,” he said, walking a few steps forward.

“
No, we’ll tell her for
you,” Sam said, stepping in front of the door.

“
What’s in that house that
you two are trying to keep from me?” he growled, setting Allen
down.

“
Don’t do it,” Kyle said,
crouching near the door.

“
Are you going to stop me?”
Chevalier asked, crouching low and hissing.

“
Yes, I am,” Kyle
replied.

“
So am I,” Sam said, though
he knew he couldn’t fight a heku.

Sam watched as Chevalier blurred into Kyle,
knocking him into the house. Kyle pushed off of the brick wall and
landed against Chevalier, sending him back into the snow. The rest
was too fast for Sam’s eyes to see, but he put his body in front of
the door. When Chevalier stood up, Kyle was in a bloody mess at his
feet.

“
You can’t stop me,”
Chevalier said, walking toward the old man.

“
She’ll never trust you if
you do this,” his only defense was words.

“
She’ll get over it.”
Chevalier blurred past Sam and into the house. He was moving so
fast he didn’t have time to breathe until he was in the main living
room. He stopped and looked around, and then frowned. His body
tensed as he inhaled deeply.

Kyle appeared ahead of him, crouched, “Don’t
do it.”

Chevalier’s instincts were overwhelming. The
scent of his prey was all he had on his mind. The need to quench
his thirst was so strong it killed any rational thought. He ran his
tongue across his sharp canines and scanned the room. One thing was
standing in his way, another heku, about to take his kill.

Chevalier crouched low and hissed as his
hands curled into claws.

“
Chevalier, stop it,” Kyle
said, watching him closely.

Emily stepped out of the bathroom and gasped
when she saw Chevalier. He looked at her with primal eyes and
grinned. Kyle hit Chevalier full force from the side and sent him
through the large plate glass window. The two wrestled in the snow
and their movements were too fast for Emily to see. She grabbed
Allen and ran up to the bedroom, locking the door, and then into
the bathroom. She crawled into the empty tub and held Allen close
to her.

Outside, the fight stopped as Kyle pinned
Chevalier to the ground. Chevalier was panting and looking around,
frustrated.

“
Do I need to kill you?”
Kyle hissed.

Chevalier looked up at him, “You should have
told me.”

“
Are you in
control?”

“
Yes,” Chevalier said, and
got up when Kyle jumped off of him. He looked into the house. It
had been too long since he fed. He knew he couldn’t go back in
there.

Kyle watched him, still crouching
defensively.

“
You should have told me,”
he said again in a whisper.

“
I promised her I
wouldn’t,” Kyle explained, standing again when he saw the anguish
in Chevalier’s face.

“
I could have killed
her.”

“
I wouldn’t have let
you.”

“
Is that why she left?” he
asked, looking at Sam.

Sam shook his head, “She didn’t know until
we’d been here for a while.”

“
Whose place is this?”
Chevalier asked, looking up at the long row of windows in the
mansion.

“
It’s mine,” Kyle
said.

“
This whole time you knew
then?” Chevalier growled.

“
No, I didn’t. I gave her
this information a long time ago, in case of an emergency. I’d
forgotten about it until I was here in Colorado checking out your
place. I figured while I was so near, I might as well check here.
That’s when I found her,” he spoke quickly, justifying his
actions.

“
I’m going to go feed… and
I will be back. If she’s gone when I get here, I’ll find all of
you, and I’m not promising any of you will survive,” he growled,
and crawled into the Humvee, spinning out onto the
street.

Kyle clapped Sam on the shoulder and walked
back inside. They found Emily still huddled in the bathtub with
Allen. She gasped when they appeared, and Sam jumped in front of
Kyle, trying to block him from her abilities.

“
It’s us,” he said,
quickly.

“
Where is he?” Emily asked,
holding Allen tightly.

“
He went to feed, but he’ll
be back,” Kyle said, and put a hand out for her.

She stood up and handed Allen to Sam, “We
won’t be here when he comes back.”

“
He’s pretty mad. He told
us we better be here when he gets back, and I don’t think we should
mess with him on that,” Sam said, still shaken from how close the
attack had come.

“
I’m not afraid of him. I’m
not one of his minions.”

“
Doesn’t matter, he knows
now… at least talk to him, please,” Kyle asked.

“
Oh right, let him kill me
when he gets back? No thank you,” she said, walking into the
bedroom.

“
You know as well as I do
that if he had known about the baby, none of that would have
happened,” Kyle said in his defense.

“
That’s it though, isn’t
it? I’m always going to be someone’s snack.”

“
Talk to him,” Sam
suggested. “At least long enough that he won’t hunt us
down.”

“
You both think I should?”
She frowned.

Sam and Kyle nodded.

“
Fine… but Sam, you take
Allen away,” Emily said, running her hands along the back of her
neck.

“
Em?” Kyle said, moving to
her.

“
I’m just… a little…” she
said, and then sat on the bed, “just a little dizzy.”

“
You should go to the
hospital,” Sam said, getting her a glass of 7up.

“
No, no
hospitals.”

“
What hurts?” Kyle asked,
kneeling by her on the bed.

“
My neck and my head.” She
pressed her palms against her eyes.

Kyle ran his fingers along her neck. She
winced when he touched the muscles by her spine.

“
Stop it,” she said,
pulling away from him.

“
Lay down, I’m going to rub
that,” he said.

“
What? No. I’m fine.” She
started to stand up, but Kyle quickly flipped her onto her stomach
on the bed and straddled her, sitting on her thighs.

“
Hey,” she said, trying to
get up, but couldn’t.

“
Let him help,” Sam told
her, and took Allen out of the room.

“
See, no one cares what I
say,” she mumbled.

Kyle grinned, “Only when you’re being
obstinate.”

“
I’m not obstinate,” she
said, lying back against the bed.

In one fluid movement, Kyle pulled her shirt
up and over her head.

“
Wait!” she said, grabbing
it.

“
Calm down, I can’t see
anything,” he said, and undid her bra.

“
Seriously, you’re pushing
it,” she hissed.

He laughed and began massaging her back.

“
I should ash you,” she
told him, but began to relax under his touch.

“
Yeah, you should,” he
said, as he felt the knots in her back loosening. He grinned when
he heard her breathing settle down and become rhythmic. She had
fallen asleep.

He ran his fingers through her hair and
massaged her scalp for a bit, then moved back down to her neck.
He’d heard of whiplash before, and it sounded to him like something
she probably had. He knew she would be sore in the morning from the
car wreck. He just hoped she hadn’t left enough trace in the cab
for the police to come to the house asking questions.

Kyle lost track of time, but turned suddenly
when he saw someone at the doorway.

“
You’re really pushing it,
Kyle,” Chevalier hissed.

“
Yeah, that’s what she told
me,” Kyle said, grinning.

“
Then get your hands off of
my wife.”

“
Not yet, I’ve almost
gotten the knots out of her back. You can kill me later,” he said,
and found a new knot to work with.

Chevalier walked in and shut his eyes, “That
scent.”

Kyle nodded, “I know.”

“
How far along is she?”
Chevalier asked as he sat down on the bed beside her.