Encala (40 page)

“
You didn’t call him an
idiot,” Chevalier said, trying not to smile.

“
Oh… well I should have,”
she sighed, and turned back to the fire.

Chevalier picked Emily up, sat in the chair,
and then sat her down on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her
and looked into the fire, “What exactly is it about him that you
don’t like?”

“
He’s pompous.”

“
Ok”

“
Arrogant, selfish,
egotistical, conceited, rude, impolite, crotchety, and I think he
might be in the middle of a homosexual panic,” she said, leaning
her head back against Chevalier.

“
Oh is that all?” he
chuckled.

“
You better watch out. He
might think I’m competition for your affection,” she said, running
her fingers along the muscles in his forearms.

Chevalier chuckled, “Heku aren’t
homosexuals.”

“
None of them?” she asked.
She had some very close gay friends back in Montana.

“
None.” He held her
tightly.

“
So it would offend a heku
to call them such?” she asked.

“
Yes, very much so,”
Chevalier said.

“
Hey Damon!” Emily yelled,
and then felt Chevalier’s hand over her mouth.

“
He’s trying to get the
rune off of your leg. Would you please leave him alone?” he asked,
and removed his hand.

“
I bet I could get it
removed,” she said.

“
Yes I’m sure you could,
but it is his job.”

Emily turned and sat facing Chevalier on his
lap, “And the arm bands?”

He smiled, “That’s my job.”

Emily threw her arms around him and kissed
him so passionately, that the chair they were sitting in fell
backwards and crashed them to the floor. Chevalier cushioned her
fall and didn’t even have time to ask if she was ok before she
pressed her lips to his again.

***

Chevalier kissed her shoulder and looked
over at the roaring fire. They were curled up on the rug in front
of the fireplace, with a thin sheet covering them. He took her
wrist and pulled it up from her body, slipping the arm band off of
her. She pulled the other one off.

“
Finally,” she said,
tossing it into the fire.

Chevalier chuckled, “It won’t burn.”

Emily took the other band and rolled over
onto her back. She held it up to the firelight to look at it, “It
seems so harmless.”

“
Funny, how the most
harmless looking things, can be the most dangerous,” he said, and
kissed her lightly.

She looked over at him, “You’re not
referring to me, right?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Of course not.”

“
How do you say ‘I love
you’ in Latin?” she asked him.

“
Te amo,” he
answered.

“
How is it you all speak
Latin?” she questioned, propping up on her elbow to face
him.

“
It is our native language.
We taught it to the mortals, though they’ve tweaked their version a
bit.”

“
Oh”

“
Where did you learn your
fun little Latin phrase?” He brushed some hair from her
face.

She smiled, “I asked David, a long time
ago.”

“
Do you know
more?”

“
Sure… how about… Magister
mundi sum!” she grinned, throwing her fist up into the
air.

“
Anything other than odd
sayings and mean names?” he laughed.

“
No, that’s about
all.”

“
Tell me the truth. Did you
throw the Encala out over New Jersey?”

“
Not all of them. Some I
dumped in the river,” she said, wondering if he was mad. He
answered her concern with a kiss.

Emily spun the roulette wheel,
“Call’em.”

“
One,” Allen said, watching
the small ball spin in the wheel.

“
Red,” Mark said, and sat
chips down on the felt table.

The other heku thought and put chips down,
“Two through twenty.”

The heku on the end thought for a moment and
then put some chips down, “Black.”

“
Are you sure this is how
this game is played?” Mark asked Emily.

“
Nope, not at all. I don’t
gamble.” She grinned and watched the wheel slowly stop. The ball
landed on a black zero.

Everyone pushed their chips across the
table. Emily stole one and ate it, then went back to the wheel.

“
You aren’t supposed to eat
the chips,” Mark chuckled.

“
Fine, you can each have
one too,” she said, taking another potato chip.

“
Pass”

Emily frowned, “That reminds me… Kyle lost a
bet and owes me a pedicure.”

“
I thought you didn’t
gamble,” Mark said, placing more of his chips on the
table.

“
Oh, it wasn’t a gamble, it
was a sure thing,” Emily spun the wheel and let the ball go.
“Call’em.”

“
One,” Allen said,
grinning.

Mark got a faraway look in his eyes and then
stood up, “We have to go.”

“
Why?” Emily asked, but the
heku had already blurred away.

“
Where’d they go?” Allen
asked her.

She shrugged, “I have no idea. Want to watch
a movie?”

“
Popcorn, too?”

“
Sure, popcorn too. Go get
settled and I’ll make it,” she said, turning to the microwave. It
had taken a few weeks to talk them into putting a microwave in
their game room. The heku complained about the awful smell of
popcorn, but now it was installed into the wall and stacked with
popcorn.

“
What movie?” Emily asked,
going over the DVDs.

“
Lost Boys!”

Emily turned to him, “You’re 4, you can’t
watch the Lost Boys.”

“
I do,” he told
her.

“
Who lets you watch
it?”

“
Daddy”

“
Of course… what else do
you want to watch?”

“
Pete’s Dragon,” he said,
pouting.

Emily put in the movie and got the popcorn
out of the microwave. She curled up by Allen to watch.

Emily looked toward the wall when she heard
soft whispers.

“
Did you hear that?” she
asked Allen.

He nodded, looking at the same wall.

Emily finished her handful of popcorn and
walked over to the wall. She stood back and looked at it, listening
to the soft whispers. The wall was the one used for darts. It had
several targets attached to it and a wooden rack full of darts.

Emily leaned closer and pressed her ear
against the wall. She screamed when fell forward, landing on her
hands and knees on a dusty, dirt floor. She coughed a few times,
her landing stirred up some of the dust. Standing up, she brushed
herself off and looked around, but it was too dark to see
anything.

“
Hello?” she yelled, and
jumped slightly when several torches lit around the
room.

Now that she could see, she looked around at
the four walls. The room wasn’t large, smaller than her closet
even. The stone walls were lined with runes, and covered in
cobwebs.

“
Heku and their damned
runes,” she said, and went back to the wall through which she had
come. She put her hands out and touched it. It was a solid rock
wall. She felt along the four walls, but they were all
solid.

“
Great, Em, explain that
one. ‘Well you see… I walked through a wall in the game room, and
couldn’t get out’,” she sighed.

“
Allen?” she yelled, then
listened at the wall. She didn’t hear an answer.

“
Gah,” Emily growled, and
looked around. She noticed a small recession in the middle of the
floor. She knelt down and brushed the dust off, it was covering a
wooden plank. She tried to pry it open with her fingers, but it
didn’t budge.

Sighing, she stood up and looked around the
room again, trying to see if there was any way out. She felt hands
against her back push her onto the wooden plank, and it gave way
under her feet. Emily fell 10 feet and landed with a loud crash.
She felt around in the darkness and drew her hand back quickly when
she felt a skull. She got to her feet, and fought to see with the
little light that was coming from the splintered wooden plank
above.

Emily looked up and saw the wooden plank
repairing, and soon she was in total darkness.

“
Hello?” she yelled, and
again torches lit simultaneously around the room.

Emily gasped and spun quickly. The octagon
room’s dirt floor was covered with human bones and full skeletons
hung from shackles on the walls. There was one passageway, but the
entrance was entirely obscured with thick cobwebs. She could see
the vapor from her breath as she carefully looked around the cold
room.

Walking slowly toward one of the skeletons,
Emily reached her hand out. Just before she touched it, the head
rose slightly toward her. She screamed and ran for the passageway,
covering her face defensively when she broke through the
cobwebs.

***

“
Did you hear that?”
Chevalier asked, cocking his head to the side slightly.

“
What?” Kyle asked, looking
up from his roster.

“
I just heard Emily scream,
but it was… different.”

“
I didn’t hear her,” Kyle
frowned.

“
She’s probably in some
dire need of heku assistance,” Damon said, and pointed out a name
on Kyle’s roster.

“
Would you be nice?”
Chevalier said to Damon.

“
Yes, Sir,” Damon said,
holding back his irritation.

“
She can’t be in too much
trouble. We just barely left she and Allen in the game room,” Mark
said, concerned.

“
I’m sure it’s nothing,”
Chevalier turned back to the roster.

“
We could just leave it at
four,” Damon looked up at them.

“
The full seven gave us
even numbers on shifts though,” Kyle told him.

“
I’m not seeing anyone
else,” Mark said, looking closer at the roster.

Kyle sighed, “Her little trip into the
barracks narrowed it down. That ticked off a lot of guards.”

Chevalier nodded.

“
We could… you know…” Mark
said, and then stopped and shook his head.

“
What?” Kyle
asked.

“
Bring them
back.”

“
They were drinking,” Kyle
reminded him.

“
I know, it was just an
idea,” Mark said.

“
I say we bring in three of
them whether they like her or not. They don’t have to like it, and
training is only a few months,” Damon said, coldly.

“
We’ve not had good luck
with trainees who don’t like Emily,” Kyle said.

“
Is it the recruits, or is
it the mortal though?”

“
Watch it,” Chevalier
warned.

“
I’m just saying… if the
problem is the attitude of the new recruits, we can handle that.
However, as seen previously, if the problem is with the girl, then
we always just let it slide.”

Kyle frowned, “We don’t just let it
slide.”

Damon smiled, “Yes you do. That mortal has
all of you in this room wrapped around her little finger.”

“
I think not,” Mark
growled.

“
Ok”

“
Get back to the roster,”
Kyle snapped.

“
There aren’t any more
unless you start pulling them out of the individual covens,” Mark
said.

“
I didn’t realize how many
didn’t like her,” Chevalier said, narrowing his eyes.

“
They just don’t know her,”
Mark told him.

“
Pick three at random. Kyle
will control them, and we’ll let the girl just throw her temper
tantrums alone,” Damon said, shutting the book.

“
The girl, while doing
training, is to be considered an officer, and demands the respect
as such,” Kyle said, glaring at Damon.

“
Pull three from the
barracks, anyone except Kenneth. Kyle, you’ll just have to watch
them,” Chevalier said irritated.

Kyle nodded.

“
Damon will be with you for
the first few days, he’ll help,” Chevalier added, and Damon began
to scowl.

Kyle grinned, “Sounds good.”

“
I won’t coddle her,” Damon
said, bluntly.

“
She wouldn’t let you if
you tried,” Chevalier told him, and looked up just before someone
knocked on the door.

“
Come in,” Kyle
called.

The head gardener came in holding Allen’s
hand, “He was wandering the front lawn.”

Chevalier picked Allen up and put him on his
lap, “Oh? Where’s your Mom?”

“
In the wall,” Allen said,
picking up a pen. He brought the roster over by him and started to
draw loops on it.

Damon grinned.

“
What do you mean in the
wall?” Chevalier asked him.

Kyle reached over and pulled the roster away
from Allen.

Allen shrugged, “She fell into the
wall.”

“
That doesn’t make any
sense. How do you fall into a wall?” Chevalier asked,
confused.