Encala (49 page)

“
Haven’t you heard? Life
isn’t fair,” he chuckled.

Emily’s body tensed when she felt his nose
close to her neck.

“
You’re a jumpy little
thing aren’t you? I’m not going to hurt you,” he said again. Both
of them turned and clapped when the band ended the song, and Emily
made a break for the door.

She stepped out quickly into the night air
and took a deep breath.

“
So how long are you here
for?” she heard him ask from beside her.

She jumped, “If you aren’t going to hurt me,
then why are you following me?”

“
You’re an attractive woman
and seems to me, you’re here alone,” he said,
matter-of-factly.

“
I’m married,” she
said.

“
Oh, I know,” he said, then
grinned.

Emily tried to go back inside, but he
grabbed her wrist.

“
Don’t go,” he
said.

“
What faction are you?”
Emily asked, crossing her arms.

“
Why do we have to play the
faction game tonight?” he asked her.

“
Because if you’re Equites,
then you have some explaining to do. If you’re Valle or Encala,
then I’ll be on my way,” she told him.

“
That’s why I won’t say.
Why can’t we suffer through this nightmare together?” he asked,
motioning in to the reception.

“
One wrong move…” she
warned him.

He raised an eyebrow, “Understood.”

They went back into the reception and
Exavior got Emily some punch. He saw Jeff heading toward them and
pulled Emily back out onto the dance floor.

“
I think Cowboy likes you,”
he said, pulling her close to him.

Emily looked to the side and saw Jeff
watching them.

“
I guess.” She turned back
to Exavior.

“
Hmm,” Exavior said,
glancing at Jeff. He dipped Emily again, and pressed his lips
lightly to hers. She gasped and tried to push him away, but he held
her tightly. When he let her back up, she glared at him.

“
What was that?” she
growled.

“
Showing Cowpoke who’s in
charge here,” Exavior chuckled.

“
No one’s in charge of me,”
she said, trying to push away. Exavior used her momentum to spin
her and then brought her back against his chest.

“
It’s instinctual, we heku
like to mark our territory. Tell your husband he owes me one,”
Exavior said, smiling.

“
I’m sure he’d be glad to
hear it,” she mumbled.

“
Oh cheer up. It was just a
little kiss and it worked,” he told her, amused.

Emily glanced at Jeff and saw him at the
bar, drinking.

As Emily and Exavior walked off the dance
floor, Jess ran up to them.

“
Oh I’m so glad you’ve
met!” Jess said, smiling at them. “Emily, this is Exavior, he’s a
friend of the family and he’s staying in the bunkhouse by
yours.”

Emily faked a smile and nodded, “Great.”

She could feel Exavior chuckle and she
stepped away from him further.

“
I’m going to be here all
night, so Exavior offered to take you home when you’re ready,” Jess
said, and ran off to talk to someone.

“
Nice of you,” she said to
him.

“
Just the gentlemanly thing
to do. I could let Jeff take you home,” he said, watching Jeff take
a shot of whiskey.

“
I’m ready to go,” she
said, grabbing the bag with her clothes.

“
After you.”

Emily stepped out into the cold air and
wrapped her hands around to cover her arms.

“
Why is it that mortals
never wear weather appropriate clothing?” he asked, handing her his
jacket.

Emily ripped it out of his hand and tossed
it over her shoulder, “I didn’t exactly pick this dress.”

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow, “You
should wear it more often.”

“
Yes, it would look great
in Council City,” she said, stopping at the jacked-up Ford
F450.

Exavior opened the truck door for her, put
his hands on her waist, and lifted her into the truck.

“
I could have gotten in,”
she said, indignantly.

“
Sure you could
have.”

Emily suddenly thought how furious Chevalier
would be with her right now. She was getting into a truck with a
strange, factionless heku.

Exavior easily jumped into the truck, “I
should call Chevalier and tell him.”

“
Tell him what?” she asked,
frowning.

“
That you are in a truck
with a strange heku.” He laughed.

Her eyes narrowed, “You wouldn’t.”

“
You’re right, I wouldn’t,”
he said, then turned on the heater and pulled out into traffic.
“You really should be more careful though.”

Emily was relieved when they arrived at the
ranch and he turned off the engine. She hopped out of the truck,
almost twisting her ankle when she landed. She steadied herself and
went into the house to get Allen.

“
Good night, Emily,”
Exavior called as he walked into his bunkhouse.

Emily took Allen, who was sleeping on the
couch, and went to her bunkhouse. She locked the door, changed into
a nightshirt, and laid down. She thought she would be up all night
worrying about Exavior, but soon fell asleep.

Emily woke up later than usual and panicked
when she didn’t see Allen. She ran out into the light rain still
wearing just a t-shirt and looked around quickly.

“
Alec took him inside,”
Exavior said, watching her from his doorway.

Emily nodded and ran back into the dry
cabin. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she could hear Exavior
laughing. She came out a short time later and ran into the
house.

“
Good morning, Em,” Jess
said from the table. Emily poured herself a cup of coffee and sat
down.

“
So you survived,” Emily
said.

“
Yeah barely. Her parents
are a disaster, all love PETA and ban guns,” she said with
disgusted.

“
But he loves her,” Emily
said, stating the obvious.

“
Yeah he does.”

After a few minutes of silence, Jess tapped
her forehead, “I almost forgot. I hope you don’t mind, but I
promised Exavior you would take him out horseback later. He’s never
been on a horse.”

Emily felt panicked, “You sure? Jeff could
take him, and I can help around the house.”

“
Oh I wouldn’t think of it!
If you’re both going to be here for the next ten days, you might as
well keep entertained,” Jess said, watching the morning
news.

Emily finished her coffee and looked out the
window at the sun coming through the clouds.

“
Rain stopped, you should
go before it starts again,” Jess said.

Allen ran to Emily, “Mommy? Are you going
out with the heku?”

Emily pressed her lips to his ear and hushed
him, “Shhhhh baby, we don’t talk about heku here remember?”

He nodded, “Sorry.”

Emily put him down and he ran to Alec, they
had become inseparable.

Emily walked out of the house and saw
Exavior leaning up against the barn door, “Half expected you to
bail on me.”

“
Hey, Fun Size, you going
riding?” Jeff asked from behind her. She saw Exavior
tense.

“
Yes, I’m taking Exavior
out for a bit,” she said, not turning around. Emily jumped when she
felt Jeff pat her butt softly.

“
Keep your hands off,” she
scowled at him.

“
Sure thing, Tiny,” he
said, laughing, and walked off toward the cattle.

Exavior raised an eyebrow, “Does an Elder
for the Equites allow that?”

“
He doesn’t know,” she
said, tossing a bridle to Exavior. “I can handle
myself.”

“
Sure, you handled that
well.” He laughed.

She pointed to a saddle, “Bring that.”

Exavior lifted the saddle one-handed and
followed her. She found a calm mare and slipped a bridle on it.

Emily took the saddle from Exavior even
though he protested, “I can do that.”

“
So can I,” she said,
hoisting the saddle onto the mare. She finished with the mare and
went out to find her a horse. She found a beautiful buckskin
stallion and slipped a bridle on him, and then jumped up onto his
back.

When she led the stallion out, Exavior was
waiting for her on the mare, “Why do I have to have a saddle?”

“
Because I don’t feel like
scraping you off the ground,” she said, clicking her tongue and
leading both horses out of the barn.

When they were clear of the fences, Emily
turned to Exavior.

“
You better hold on,” she
said, grinning, and slapped his mare on the rump, which sent her
into a gallop. Emily kicked her stallion into a gallop and easily
caught up. She smiled at the way Exavior struggled to stay on the
horse.

The day passed quickly, and Emily found that
she was becoming more and more comfortable with the strange heku.
They rode back to the ranch just as the sun was setting.

Emily jumped off the stallion and visited
with Exavior while she unsaddled his mare and got both horses food
and water. They walked back into the house together.

“
Bout time you two show up,
you must be starving,” Jess said, as she shoveled piles of
shepherd’s pie onto two plates.

Emily took her plate from Jess and watched
as Exavior accepted his plate. They sat at the table together and
Emily took a bite, watching the heku. He smiled at her and took a
bite of the shepherd’s pie.

Emily frowned as he laughed and ate another
bite.

She ate quietly until Allen crawled up onto
the table. He looked at Exavior oddly.

“
Mommy he’s eating,” Allen
said.

Emily put her hand over his mouth, “Another
shhhh.”

Allen nodded, but watched Exavior eat.

They both finished their plates and Emily
took them to the sink, and started to wash them. Exavior sat Allen
on his lap and watched her. Her heart jumped when she saw Allen on
the heku’s lap.

“
Get down,” she told him,
and he crawled down sadly, and then went into the living
room.

“
Be nice, Emily. I wasn’t
hurting him,” he said.

The next week was spent out on horseback
every day. Sometimes with Allen, and sometimes without, but always
with Exavior. Emily was becoming more and more comfortable with
him, and they were now talking more in-depth about the heku
life.

“
I don’t know how you do
it, they must watch you like a hawk,” he said, smiling.

“
Sometimes,
yes.”

“
Sometimes?”

“
Ok, so most of the time,
yes,” she admitted.

“
Ever tell them to take a
hike?” he asked.

“
How do you think I’m away
from them for two weeks? Well away from my heku, seems I can’t get
away all together,” she laughed.

“
Sorry to ruin your
vacation,” he said, kicking his mare into a gallop. Emily did the
same and soon they were racing across the north pasture.

“
You aren’t, I’m having
fun,” she said.

“
Tomorrow you’re on your
own. I need to… well… go out,” he said, shrugging.

“
Time to feed, eh?” she
asked.

“
Yeah,” he said, amazed at
how casually she talked about it.

They pulled their horses into the barn just
after dark, and each got their own horse settled down for the
night.

“
Heading in?” Emily asked
him.

“
Nope, I’ll be back
tomorrow afternoon,” he said, chuckling, and climbed into the
Ford.

Emily waved to him and went into the
house.

The next morning, the sun was shining and
Emily dressed her and Allen quickly, and they went into the main
house. Jess was just finishing pancakes when Emily sat the eggs
down.

“
Seems like you’re on your
own today,” Jess told Emily as she gave her some
pancakes.

“
Seems so,” she said, and
started to eat.

“
We wondered if we could
take Allen into town and buy him a late birthday present,” Alec
asked.

Emily smiled, “Sure, just not too much.”

She watched as they left and then looked out
the window of the kitchen toward the barn. Smiling, Emily walked
out to the barn and pulled a bridle onto the buckskin stallion. She
kicked him immediately into a gallop and jumped the first gate,
heading deeper into the north pasture. She shut her eyes and
listened to the sounds of the wind through the threes and the
little stream that ran along the property line.

Emily heard the rattle moments before she
felt the stallion jerk. She gripped tighter with her legs and held
on as the stallion broke into a panicked run from the snake. Emily
fought to regain control by pulling on the reins, but the horse
overcorrected and reared back. She fell off and landed hard against
the ground, hitting her head on a rock.

Emily could feel the world spin as she
rolled over onto her knees. She felt the blood dripping down the
back of her neck and looked over at the horse.

“
You ok?” she heard Jeff
yell as he jumped off of his horse.

“
I’m fine,” she lied, and
tried to stand up. Her legs gave out and she ended up in Jeff’s
arms, so he put her back onto the ground.