Encala (25 page)

“
Tempting… but I think
not.” He watched her, and in that instant, she lost all of the
color in her face.

Chevalier opened the door a bit, and stuck
his hand out. When he brought it back, he was holding a cold glass
of Sprite.

“
Here,” he said, handing it
to her.

“
You don’t want any?” She
smiled and took a drink.

“
I don’t know how you
handle it.”

“
It’s pretty good,
actually.”

“
You should try
blood.”

“
Maybe I will someday,” she
said, sipping the Sprite.

“
That, I want to
see.”

“
I hate when you do that,
by the way.”

“
What?”

“
Hold your hand out and get
what you want without even asking.”

“
I asked.”

“
When?” She eyed him
suspiciously.

“
Just before I opened the
door.”

“
You did not.”

He grinned, “You just couldn’t hear it, but
I did.”

“
It’s
irritating.”

“
You can do it, too… you
won’t be able to hear them answer, but you can still ask.” He
raised an eyebrow.

“
I can?”

“
Yes”

Emily sat up and looked at the door,
“How?”

“
What is it you want? Don’t
say it… not even a whisper… just think it.”

Emily shut her eyes and then opened them and
nodded.

“
Ok… now, in the quietest
voice you can use… too low for even you to hear it… ask for it.” He
watched her amused.

Emily bit her bottom lip and grinned, “This
is stupid.”

“
Just do it.”

Emily’s lips moved, but no sound came out
that she could hear. She grinned as Chevalier began to laugh, “You
asked for it.”

There was a knock on the door and she
frowned.

“
Who is it?”

“
I have what you
requested,” the strange voice said.

“
No way!” Emily yelled, and
crawled to the door. She opened it and the heku handed her a black
and white ball of fur. She shut the door and sat back as the puppy
licked her face.

“
If you told me you wanted
a puppy, I would have given you one.”

“
I don’t want a puppy… I
tried to think of the one thing no one would be able to bring me,”
she said, holding the puppy close to her and petting
him.

Chevalier leaned his head back and
laughed.

“
Where did they get it?”
she asked, holding him up and looking into his precious face. She
guessed he was no more than 18 weeks old, a Border collie, her
favorite dog.

“
I don’t know. I’m not the
one that got it,” he said, watching her. “I’ll take it back to them
though.”

Emily pulled the puppy away from him and
glared, “He’s mine.”

“
You said you didn’t want a
puppy.”

“
I do, his name is Ford,”
she said, kissing the top of the puppy’s head.

“
Ford?” he
asked.

“
Yes… get it… now I have a
Chevy and a Ford.” She grinned and Chevalier shook his head. Emily
put the puppy down and pressed her palms into her eyes.

“
Headache?”

She nodded as the puppy pulled at the hem on
her pants. Chevalier picked him up and heard a low, tiny growl.

“
What did you do to him?”
Emily asked, looking at Chevalier and taking the puppy from
him.

“
I didn’t do anything,”
Chevalier looked at the puppy, suspiciously. His hackles were
raised, and his tiny teeth were showing, but he was watching the
wall of the bathroom.

Emily screamed as her back arched against
the cold bathroom tiles, and her hands dug at the sides of her
head. The bathroom suddenly filled with heku guards eyeing
Chevalier suspiciously. He crawled to her and scooped her into his
arms. He ignored the guards and laid her down on the bed, taking
her hands to keep her from hurting herself.

Everyone looked over as a tiny howl erupted
from the puppy and he started to paw at his ears.

“
Stop them!” Emily
screamed, and the guards looked around, trying to find who she
needed saved from.

“
Who, Em?” Chevalier asked,
frantically.

“
Stop them, please.” Her
eyes locked on his and he saw the fear.

When the puppy began to bark furiously, one
of the guards picked him up and locked him in the bathroom, out of
the way.

“
I won’t do it,” she
screamed, as her body writhed in pain.

“
Do what, talk to me,”
Chevalier said, watching her.

As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and
she fell silent on the bed. The room became eerily peaceful as the
heku looked around at one another.

Emily opened her eyes slowly and looked
around the room, “How… how did I get here?”

“
Tell me, quickly. What are
you refusing to do?” Chevalier asked her.

“
Refusing? Did I refuse
something?” she asked, and sat up. She looked around for her glass
and a guard handed it to her.

“
My head,” she said after a
long drink. “I need some ibuprofen.”

Within a minute, a guard appeared and handed
her a bottle. She took four of the pills and looked around the
room, “Where’s Ford?”

Chevalier looked to the bathroom door, “I
don’t think he likes me.”

“
Why? What did you do?” she
asked, accusingly.

“
I didn’t do anything!”
Chevalier said, and told the guards to let him out. The puppy ran
into the room and began to chase his tail, “See, he’s fine… and as
smart as ever.”

Emily frowned, “Be nice.”

She set the glass down and laid back, then
sat up quickly, looking around.

She blushed, “Why are you all in here?”

“
Disperse,” Chevalier
ordered, and the guards blurred from her room, except for the one
in the corner.

“
What do you remember?” he
asked her.

Her eyes were closed, and she spoke softly,
“We were in the bathroom and Ford growled at you.”

“
That’s it? Nothing
after?”

She shook her head, “I’m so tired.”

He sighed, “Rest, Em.”

Emily only napped for a few hours, and when
she woke up, her headache was down to a dull throb. She sat up and
ate a few crackers before standing up. Her room was empty, so she
was able to throw on some clothing out in the bedroom. She pulled
her shoes on, picked up Ford, and left her room.

As she made her way down the staircase, she
saw a large gathering of heku guards and they all turned to look at
her. Chevalier and Kyle were among them.

“
Feeling better?” Chevalier
asked her, and she nodded.

“
I’m going shopping,” she
said, handing the puppy over to Chevalier.

“
Ok… give me a few minutes
and I’ll go with you,” he told her, and handed the puppy over to
Kyle, who looked at him confused.

“
Nope… taking… him,” she
said, pointing to a random heku guard, “and… him.” She pointed at
another. The two chosen heku looked at Chevalier
curiously.

“
Ok,” he said, and nodded
to them that they could go.

“
You have to change though…
jeans and t-shirts, I’ll wait for you.” The guards looked again at
Chevalier nervously, and he grinned and then nodded. Guards weren’t
to be out of uniform, even for informal occasions. They both
blurred off to try to find the required clothing.

“
Anything else?” Chevalier
asked, amused.

She put her hand out, “Your credit
card.”

He reached into his back pocket, pulled out
an old leather wallet, and handed her the platinum card.

“
What’s the limit?” she
asked, putting it in her purse.

“
I don’t know… a few
hundred grand.” He frowned slightly. He knew she hated to shop, and
he also knew she hated to use his money. Her small savings had
dwindled over time, though, with purchases of clothing and other
necessities.

She nodded, “That’s enough I guess.”

“
You guess?” He
laughed.

“
Are you going to have me
arrested if I take your Humvee?”

“
Only if you disappear in
it.”

“
Deal, we’ll be back in a
few hours.” Emily headed toward the garage as soon as the guards
arrived, looking out of place and uncomfortable in their new
clothes.

“
Be nice to Ford!” she
yelled as she walked around the corner and into the
garage.

Emily crawled into the Humvee with some
difficulty and complained, “Could he not find a higher car?”

She put the car into gear and then looked at
the heku guards. They were looking nervous and fidgety.

“
You two ok?” she asked,
frowning.

“
Yes, Ma’am.”

“
You look like I’m going to
ash you,” she said, and watched as they both flinched.

“
Oh for hell’s sake… are
you seriously afraid of me?”

“
No, Ma’am,” they both
said.

Emily put the Humvee back into park, “We’re
not going until you two lighten up.”

They looked at each other and then back to
Emily.

“
What?” she yelled,
starting to get irritated.

“
Why did you choose us?”
the younger one asked.

“
Because I needed big guys
with me… mean looking ones, and you two were as grouchy looking as
they come.” She put the car back into drive and slowly pulled out
of the garage.

“
Will we be fighting?” one
of them asked.

“
In a way.”

“
How many?”

“
How many what?” She was
watching the rear-view mirror, making sure Chevalier hadn’t sent
his own backup.

“
Heku… how many will we be
fighting.”

Emily laughed, “We aren’t going to fight
heku… you’ll see, just do as I say.”

They nodded officially and she rolled her
eyes.

“
You… Blondie, what’s your
name?” she asked, looking at the guard sitting next to
her.

“
Eric,” he said, watching
out the window.

“
Eric, you’re my husband,”
she said, and then frowned. “Can you act?”

He was frozen.

“
Erm… Eric… can you act?”
She glanced at him then back to the road.

“
Husband?”

“
Yes, and I need you to be
a mean one… got it?”

“
Mean?” he stammered,
starting to panic.

“
Yeah mean… come on… calm
down, for heaven’s sake. Here’s the story. You’re my mean husband,
and you don’t want me buying a new car. That’s easy
right?”

He nodded and she sighed.

“
You,” she said, looking at
the guard in the back. “You’re my brother… what’s your
name?”

“
Francis,
Ma’am.”

“
Ok, Frank, you’re my
brother, and you want me to buy a new car.”

He smiled, “Deal.”

Emily grinned, at least one of the heku was
on track with her. One of the best car deals she’d ever gotten, was
when she bought a new truck when Keith thought she didn’t need one.
Their ensuing fight made the salesman so nervous, he gave them an
insane deal just to be done with them. She pulled into the first
lot she came to with the Dodge symbol on the sign, and stopped the
Humvee. Before she had even gotten the keys out of the ignition,
four men were running toward her.

“
Better start acting,” she
said, sliding out of the Humvee.

“
Good morning, something we
can help you with?” the first man to arrive asked. He checked
behind him to make sure the others were leaving.

“
Yes, I want a Durango,”
she said, looking around.

“
I think I can help you
out, what year?”

“
Next year’s model,” she
said, as Eric and Frank joined her. The two heku towered over the
short, skinny salesman, and he nervously adjusted his
tie.

“
Good, good… we have some
over here,” the salesman said, and the three of them followed him
across the lot. Emily elbowed Eric hard in the ribs and he
jerked.

“
I don’t think you need a
new one, Ma’... erm… Emily,” he said, stiffly. Frank stifled a
laugh and Emily frowned at Eric.

“
That is a pretty nice
Humvee you have there, will it be a trade in?” the salesman asked
with a cheesy smile.

“
Yes,” Frank
said.

Emily hurried and said, “No.”

“
Erm… is it then?” the
salesman asked, looking back at them.

“
Ignore my brother, he’s an
idiot… no, we aren’t trading in the Humvee.” She tried not to
laugh, but could hear Frank laughing behind her. He was having a
lot of fun with this.

“
Fine, fine... Here’s our
base model, it has…” Emily cut him off.

“
I don’t want the base
model… load me up,” Emily said, smiling sweetly.

“
What?” Eric said. “Show
her the base model. The fully loaded is too expensive.”