Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (84 page)

“
Going somewhere?” Zohn
asked, stepping in and shutting the door.

Emily ran at Zohn and rammed into him
with her shoulder. His arms wrapped around her waist as he fell
back against the wall. He picked her up, avoiding her head butt,
and threw her down onto the bed, then used his body to hold her
down while he fastened the restraints.

“
Let me go! Chev won’t
stand for this,” Emily yelled, trying to pull her hands
free.

“
Are you ok, Elder?” Zohn
asked.

Quinn nodded and stood by the bed,
“Yes.”

“
Please, don’t listen to
Damon,” Emily begged.

“
Dear, Damon’s dead,” Quinn
said, and glanced at the doctor.

Emily’s eyes grew wide when the doctor
brought out the supplies for an I.V., “Kyle!”

“
Hold her arm,” the doctor
told Zohn. He nodded and grabbed a hold of her wrist and shoulder,
so she couldn’t move.

“
Kyle! Help me,” Emily
screamed. “Mark!”

Zohn looked nervously at Emily when
she relaxed and stared at him, “We sure she can’t turn us to
ash?”

Quinn nodded, “Pretty sure that’s what
she’s trying to do right now.”

Emily yelled in frustration and
struggled against Zohn, “Let me go!”

The faction doctor taped down the I.V.
and strung up a bag of white liquid that began to pour into Emily’s
vein.

“
What is that?” Zohn
asked.

“
TPN; calories, nutrients,
that sort of thing,” the doctor said, and stepped back. “Now we
wait.”

“
Get rest, Child.” Quinn
told her.

“
Go to hell.” She scowled
at him and pulled at the restraints.

“
Did you get any
information out of the chef?” Quinn asked, turning to
Zohn.

“
Yeah, a little pain and he
sang. Orders came down from Sotomar. They started adding belladonna
about 5 months ago and have slowly increased it. It wasn’t until 2
weeks ago that they started adding in the nighttime stories,” Zohn
explained.

Quinn, “Interesting, is he
alive?”

Zohn nodded, “He doesn’t want to be,
but he is. I’ve left him for Chevalier.”

“
I know what you’re
planning, and you can’t get away with it.” Emily glared at
them.

Quinn glanced at her and then back to
Zohn, “It’s going to be hard to keep her at the palace. She keeps
getting attacked.”

“
Don’t talk about me like
I’m not here!” Emily yelled. “Let me go, now!”

Zohn nodded, “I know, I figure we’ll
get through this and deal with her leaving later.”

“
Oh, I’m leaving alright,”
Emily screamed.

The doctor took Emily’s face and
forced her to look at him. He was able to quickly put her to sleep.
The three heku visited through the day and into the night as she
slept. Any time she woke up, one of them would put her back to
sleep. Kyle and Mark sat outside of her door silently, each wanting
to go inside to see how it was going. Silas and Alexis were in
Kyle’s room as the baby slept.

“
Please, I need some
coffee,” Emily said softly, no longer pulling at the
restraints.

“
No, Child. Your coffee has
been doctored with a drug. We have to get you off of it,” the
doctor explained.

“
No it hasn’t, just give me
some, please. I have a headache.”

The doctor felt her forehead, “She has
a fever, the detox is starting.”

“
Don’t touch me,” Emily
hissed.

The doctor motioned Zohn and Quinn
over to the corner of the room, “This is going to get rough. I’m
afraid we may have a problem with Kyle and Mark when the pain
starts.”

“
If we have to, we’ll send
them away,” Quinn told him.

“
Shit!” Zohn yelled, and
ran for the bed.

Zohn jumped for Emily’s arm just as
Quinn turned around. The doctor went to the I.V. and shut it down
before it dripped all over the floor. Zohn managed to get the
restraints back on Emily’s free arm and then held her down while
the I.V. was replaced.

“
I hate you,” Emily said,
seething.

“
I know,” Zohn told her,
and stood up. He was overtly aware that she was trying to turn him
to ash.

The hours passed slowly as Emily’s
pain increased and her fever raged. Her screams filled the palace,
pleas for help that made everyone uncomfortable, afraid of what
would happen when Chevalier returned. She started having small
seizures as the belladonna spiked and then began to dissipate from
her system.

“
Quinn?” Emily asked
weakly.

“
Yes, Child?” he asked, and
sat on the edge of her bed.

“
Leonid wouldn’t do this to
me,” she told him.

“
Yes, he would
have.”

Emily shook her head, “No, he didn’t
hate me like you do.”

“
I don’t hate you. Your
life would be easier if you would see that.”

“
You agreed with
Damon.”

“
Yes, at first I did, but
that soon changed.”

“
I’m just a Winchester to
you, nothing more,” she said, starting to get angry.

Quinn simply smiled at her and stood
up. He walked over and looked out the window as night fell on the
second day.

Emily’s back arched as she writhed in
pain. Her screams were now whispers as she’d lost her voice earlier
in the night. Her entire body shook as the belladonna slowly left
her system.

Zohn stood up quickly from his chair
and frowned, “What’s going on?”

Quinn turned and looked at Emily,
“What do you mean?”

The doctor glanced up at Zohn, “Are
you ok?”

“
You can’t do that,” Zohn
said, and started to undo the straps on Emily’s feet.

“
Zohn, no!” Quinn yelled,
and grabbed his hand. “Don’t let her go.”

“
I won’t stand for this!
Why are you doing this to her?” Zohn was angry.

Quinn frowned, “You don’t know why
we’re here?”

“
No… and I’m sure Chevalier
won’t be happy either, let her go,” Zohn growled.

“
The belladonna, we have to
get it out of her system,” the doctor said, watching Zohn
curiously.

“
Who’s been giving her
belladonna?” Zohn asked, turning angrily to the doctor.

“
Mark,” Quinn said,
watching Zohn.

“
Yes, Elder?” Mark asked,
avoiding looking at Emily.

“
Get Zohn out of here and
bring a guard in here to help us,” Quinn said.

Mark took Zohn’s arm.

“
You’re letting them do
this to her? It’s despicable what you’re doing, and I won’t be a
part of it,” Zohn said, and walked out with Mark.

Several seconds later, Mark came back
in, “I’ll help.”

Quinn nodded, “How is
Zohn?”

“
He has no idea what’s
going on,” Mark said, frowning.

“
Mark! Help me, please,”
Emily begged. “You’re my friend. You can’t let them do
this.”

Mark sighed and sat down on the bed.
He put a cool rag on her forehead, “It’s for the best, trust
me.”

“
It hurts,” Emily
whispered.

Mark nodded and rubbed her wrist where
it was red from her pulling against the restraints.

As night came on the third day, Emily
fell to the bed, her body was exhausted from fighting. She had some
color back in her face, and her pulse was stronger. Mark stood up
from the side of her bed when Zohn entered.

“
I… I remember now, I’m
sorry,” Zohn said, and shut the door.

“
What happened?” Quinn
asked him.

“
I don’t know, all of a
sudden I forgot why we were here. A few minutes ago it all came
back.”

“
Odd,” Quinn said, and
turned back to the window.

“
What do we do when she
gets enough strength back to ash us?” Mark asked.

“
I guess we hope by then
she’s calmed down,” the doctor told him, shrugging.

“
Stop!” Emily screamed, her
back arched and her eyes had rolled back in her head.

Mark sat down on the bed and touched
her arm, “It’s ok, we’re here to help you.”

Emily relaxed on the bed and glared at
him.

Mark grinned, “Can’t ash yet, can
you?”

She screamed at him
furiously.

“
What in the hell are you
doing?” Quinn yelled, and blurred to Emily. He began to unfasten
the strap on her wrist.

“
Stop, Elder!” Mark said,
and put his hand out to hold Emily’s loose wrist.

“
Get him out of here,” the
doctor yelled, and helped restrain her again as Zohn pulled Quinn
out of the room.

Zohn came back in as Mark was putting
the cool rag back on Emily’s forehead. She seemed to be asleep
again.

“
He can’t remember,” Zohn
told them and shut the door. “He’s ordered us all out of
here.”

“
That means we have to
leave,” Mark said, and glanced at the doctor.

“
No, Maleth overrode the
order. As long as it’s a tie-vote, we stay,” Zohn explained. “If he
does what I did, he’ll remember in a few hours.”

“
I just hope it’s a talent
she can remember when she’s well,” Mark said, watching her
sleep.

“
What do you mean?” Zohn
asked.

“
Her father, the Ancient,
could remove memories. I suspect she’s inherited some of
that.”

Zohn nodded, “That would explain it. I
personally hope she doesn’t acquire that ability.”

Mark grinned, “She makes you
nervous.”

“
Doesn’t she
you?”

“
No,” Mark said
calmly.

“
She could destroy everyone
in the palace in a wink if she felt like it,” Zohn reminded
him.

“
Yes, she could. Yet, she
never has.”

“
It’s like giving a
three-year-old a gun.”

Mark laughed, “Except she has control
and loves the heku.”

“
For now.”

“
You’re just nervous
because she distrusts you.”

“
Distrust? Despise more
like, unwarranted I assure you.” Zohn seemed a little
insulted.

Mark grinned, “Unwarranted? You
interrogated her in Paris.”

“
That is my
job.”

“
I’m just saying she has
her reasons.”

Zohn turned to Mark, “You are too
wrapped around her little finger to see how dangerous she can
be.”

“
Oh, I assure you, that’s
never left my mind. I’ve seen her ash a heku without even pausing
to think. I do admit to being wrapped around her finger though. She
can be quite charming when she wants to be.”

“
A wolf in sheep’s
clothing,” Zohn said, and looked back down at her.

“
If you gave her half a
chance, you would be too. She’s fascinating and
intriguing.”

“
I doubt that, she’s more
of a ward. Something we are required to keep happy so we keep our
lives.”

Mark nodded, “Then you see, she is
right about you.”

“
Mark?” Emily
whispered.

He looked down at her.

“
Please, I need something
to drink.”

Mark glanced at the doctor, and he
ordered some orange juice.

“
We’re getting you
something, can you eat?” Mark asked.

Emily shook her head.

Mark released the restraints on her
arms and held both of her wrists. She sat up as the doctor held the
cup for her and let her drink. When she was done, she leaned
against Mark.

“
Please don’t put those
back on. I won’t take out the I.V., I promise,” she
begged.

“
I’ll leave you out for a
few minutes. If you fight me, you’ll have to go back,” he told her,
shocked at how she nuzzled her head against his chest.

Mark felt her body relax and her
breathing slow as she fell asleep. The doctor took the opportunity
to give her a quick checkup and then Mark returned her to the
restraints.

“
I’m sorry,” Quinn said,
coming in and shutting the door.

Zohn whispered, “We’re thinking Emily
has inherited some things from the Ancient.”

Quinn nodded, “That’s what Kyle and I
were just discussing.”

The heku jumped when Emily suddenly
screamed. Her back arched and she pulled against the restraints,
trying to free herself.

“
Em, calm down before you
hurt yourself,” Mark said to her softly.

“
Don’t do this, it hurts!”
Emily screamed.

Her bedroom door shattered with a
violent crash, and a fight erupted in the hallway. Zohn and Quinn
blurred out while Mark stayed with Emily on her bed. He watched as
the fight ensued and then gasped when Chevalier appeared in the
doorway.