Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (42 page)

Emily pulled in to the designated gas
station and opened her phone.

“
We’re here,” she told
Exavior.

“
It’s a dark blue
Durango.”

“
Sure, why not,” Emily
said, and hung up the phone.

“
He’s sending a van to take
us the rest of the way. He doesn’t want us to know where his coven
is,” Emily told them.

Kyle nodded,
“Understandable.”

Within five minutes, a white van
pulled up beside the Durango. Emily looked at the heku inside and
opened the door. Suddenly, the Durango was surrounded by Valle and
they flung open the doors. Emily heard a scuffle as a blindfold was
placed over her eyes and her hands were secured behind her
back.

“
Hey!” she yelled, as she
heard Alexis scream. It was the scream the baby reserved for when
she was being held by a stranger.

“
Let me go,” Kyle growled,
and Emily cringed when she heard a large snapping sound.

Emily was lifted into the van and
pushed to sit on the floor. An arm brush against hers, someone else
was restrained by her. She felt the sway as the van began to
move.

“
This wasn’t part of the
deal. Where’s Exavior?” Emily asked angrily.

“
This is just a
precaution,” a strange voice said.

“
Let me have the baby.
She’s afraid.”

“
She’ll live,” a gruff
voice said.

“
Get Exavior on the phone,
now,” Emily said angrily.

“
Sir, she wants the baby,”
he said into the phone.

“
Yes, Sir, I do hear the
baby crying.”

“
Sorry, Sir… right away.”
Emily heard the click of the phone and someone let her hands
go.

“
You can hold the baby, but
you have to keep your blindfold on,” he said.

“
Why does she have to be
blindfolded when we don’t?” Silas asked, irritated.

“
We aren’t stupid. She has
to see someone to turn them to ash. We aren’t going to take that
risk.”

The van silenced when they handed
Alexis to Emily. Emily held her tightly and rocked her from the van
floor.

No one spoke for several minutes. The
Equites watched Emily rock the baby as her hands shook. They wanted
her to be able to see, but it was advantageous for the Valle to
think she couldn’t use her abilities while her eyes were
covered.

Alexis started to act up again, and
Emily couldn’t get her calmed down.

“
I can’t see to feed her,”
Emily said, frustrated.

“
We aren’t uncovering your
eyes, so figure it out,” the gruff heku said.

“
Fine, then turn
around.”

“
Why should we?”

“
Do you know how she feeds
the baby, genius?” Mark asked him.

“
No, how should I
know?”

Emily heard whispers and a blush shot
into her cheeks. She could only imagine what he was
saying.

“
Seriously?” said a strange
voice.

“
So turn around,” Kyle said
sternly.

“
Ok, Em, go ahead. We’re
making sure they are turned around,” Silas told her.

Emily nodded and adjusted her shirt,
with as little skin showing as possible, so the baby could eat. She
sat in silence as the grunts and groans of the nursing baby filled
the van. Emily hadn’t noticed before how nosily Alexis ate, and she
wished the baby would finish quickly.

Just as Emily pulled down her shirt,
the van came to a stop and the back doors opened. Emily held the
baby tightly against her shoulder.

“
York!” Exavior yelled.
“How dare you cover her eyes. She wasn’t to be touched.”

“
Sir, she could turn us to
ash.”

“
Right now I should let
her,” Exavior said, and the blind was pulled off of her
eyes.

“
Let them go, too,” Emily
said, pointing at her guards.

“
Sorry, that is necessary,”
Exavior told her, and he extended a hand to help Emily out of the
van.

“
Move your hand. I don’t
need your help,” she snapped at him.

Emily stepped out of the van after
Kyle and Silas, with Mark bringing up the rear.

“
Let me show you to your
room. We’ll start in the morning,” Exavior said,
smiling.

Emily glared at him and took Kyle’s
arm. His hands were still restrained behind his back with a
material that Emily hadn’t seen before. He smiled reassuringly at
her, and they all walked into the large mansion.

“
Wait! They come with me,”
Emily said as six Valle guards took the Equites the other
way.

“
They’ll be fine, I
promise,” Exavior said, and motioned for Emily to go up the
stairs.

“
Go, Em, it’s ok,” Kyle
said, and turned to walk away with the Valle.

“
I don’t like this,” she
hissed at Exavior, and walked past him.

“
It’s all necessary. They
won’t be hurt,” Exavior promised.

Exavior stopped at the third floor and
opened up a door, “You’ll be staying in here tonight. I took the
liberty of having dinner brought up. You’re going to need your
strength, so please eat and then try to get some sleep.”

“
Yeah, right,” Emily said,
rolling her eyes.

“
I’ll need your cell phone,
too,” he said, and held out his hand.

“
Why?”

“
Just a precaution. We’re
taking a risk having you here,” Exavior explained.

Emily handed her phone over and walked
into the room, holding Alexis tightly. She jumped slightly as the
door shut and locked behind her.

She looked around the cold room. It
wasn’t large, but had enough room for a bed and a table. The
fireplace was empty and a draft came through it from the outside,
sending shivers through her. She laid Alexis down on a soft rug and
looked at the food on the table. She was hungry, but could imagine
Chevalier yelling at her for eating it. It would be too easy to
poison.

Emily opted not to eat and picked up
the baby, then looked out the window. All she could see in the dark
night were trees. She sighed and went back to the bed. She crawled
in, fully dressed, and curled up next to Alexis for what she would
imagine would be a long night.

Emily didn’t sleep at all, and when
she heard a knock on the door slightly after dawn, she was still
tired and irritated that her guards weren’t with her.

“
Come,” she
snapped

Exavior came in with a tray of
pancakes and sausage, “I hope you’re hungry.”

He eyed the untouched dinner and then
turned to Emily. She was huddled under the blankets, trying to keep
herself and the baby warm.

Exavior sighed, “Are you cold,
Dear?”

“
I’m fine,” she
lied.

Exavior sat down on the bed, “I wanted
to go over this with you, to explain why we have to do some of the
things we do.”

Emily nodded and stayed deep under the
covers.

“
We have to keep your
guards in the prison. We can’t risk them messing things up. If any
part of this is interrupted, there’s a risk the runes will become
permanent.”

“
Why would they mess it
up?”

“
Because it’s painful. I
can’t have them running in if you scream,” Exavior said. “The first
part is breaking the bond with the maker, an Encala, if I remember
correctly.”

Emily nodded, “Yes.”

“
The second part is where
the actual mark is removed. That’s the painful part.”

“
Ok”

“
The third is kind of a
sealant, to make sure it all took.” Exavior smiled at
her.

“
Alexis is still nursing,”
she said, touching the soft black hair of the sleeping
baby.

“
I understand that. You
will have the ability to feed her between the different
parts.”

Emily nodded, “So let’s do
it.”

“
As soon as you eat, we
can’t have you weak from hunger,” he said, and held out a
plate.

Emily sat the plate on the pillow and
ate quickly, staying under the covers. When she was done, Exavior
led her into a large round room with a dirt floor and runes on the
walls and ceiling. Emily felt like she’d seen the room before in a
far away dream, and started to panic. There was a bassinet against
one of the walls.

“
That’s for the baby to
stay in,” Exavior explained, and Emily laid her down and covered
her with the blankets.

“
I’ll leave you for a
moment, please put on the gray robe,” he said, and pointed to a set
of robes hanging from the wall.

As soon as he was gone, Emily stripped
off her t-shirt and jeans and pulled on the soft gray robe. She
felt uncomfortable in them, the gray a symbol of the Valle. She
turned and watched as thirteen heku in long blue robes came into
the round room.

“
No,” she said when she
recognized the robes, and finally remembered the round, runed
room.

“
Emily, it’s not what you
think,” Exavior said. “All ceremonies are done this way, not just
the one you have seen.”

Emily nodded. She didn’t remember
telling him she’d seen the turning ceremony before, but she must
have at some point.

“
The first part is simple.
You just lie down in the center, and let us do what we have to. You
won’t feel a thing,” Exavior explained.

One of the heku threw a pillow down on
the floor and Emily sat down hesitantly, and then laid back as
another heku threw a warm down blanket over her. The heku began to
sway slightly and started a soft, rhythmic chant. Emily wasn’t sure
how long it went on, because the monotonous tone, coupled with the
lack of sleep the night before, put her to sleep almost
immediately.

“
Emily?” she heard Exavior
whisper.

Emily opened her eyes and looked
around the room. The twelve other Valle were standing perfectly
still along the walls.

She sat up quickly, “I’m sorry. I fell
asleep.”

“
It’s ok, how does it
feel?” he asked.

Emily smiled, “It’s not
burning.”

“
Good, that means the bond
to its maker is broken… now we just have to remove the runes. Are
you ready for that?” Exavior asked, his voice was tense and Emily
could tell he didn’t want to do this second part.

“
Just give me twenty
minutes alone, ok?”

Exavior nodded, and the blue robed
heku all left the room.

“
The first part worked,”
Exavior said, stepping down into the prison. He faced the three
cells holding the Equites.

“
How many parts are there
to this?” Kyle asked skeptically.

“
Two, we first remove the
bond… that was finished. Now we just have to take the runes off,”
Exavior explained.

“
Then you will let us see
her?” Mark growled.

“
No, actually, that’s not
really part of the plan,” he said, and stepped aside. The Valle’s
Chief Enforcer was just walking into the room. The Equites already
knew him, and crouched defensively.

“
You promised Emily that we
have diplomatic immunity! The Equites won’t stand for this,” Silas
hissed.

“
Yes, well, when you
attacked our guards, we had no choice but to take action,” Exavior
said, and turned to the Chief Enforcer.

“
She trusted you,” Kyle
said to Exavior.

“
One of her many faults,”
Exavior told him, and disappeared up the stairs.

Emily looked up when she heard a
knock, and laid the baby back in the bassinet, “Come
in.”

The thirteen heku entered. She hated
how she couldn’t see their eyes from under the robes. They took
their spots along the outer rim and Emily laid back down on the
makeshift bed.

“
We’ll do this quickly,”
Exavior said softly.

Emily nodded.

Mark growled when he heard the
screams. He fought to free himself from the bars, but they wouldn’t
bend. Kyle was already ash in his cell, and the Chief Enforcer was
resting to do the rest of them.

Silas looked up toward the stairs as
Emily’s screams grew worse. Anger flooded through him and he
lunged, shoving his shoulder against the door of the cell, trying
to break free. He looked over, wide eyed as Mark was turned to ash
by the Valle’s Chief Enforcer.

“
It’s over,” Exavior said,
touching Emily’s sweat covered arm softly.

She fought to catch her breath after
the intense pain of the ceremony, during which it felt like her leg
was forcibly removed from her body by fire.

“
Take your time, we will
wait,” Exavior said, and the heku filed out of the room.

Emily groaned and turned over onto her
hands and knees. She used the wall to stand up and walked on weak
legs over to the baby. She sunk down against the wall to nurse
Alexis, feeling weak and tired from the hour of pain, and she just
wanted to sleep.