Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series (90 page)

“
Quinn’s awake. He said
we’re sixteen miles east of Barrow.”

“
Hang tight, we’re on the
way,” Zohn said, and disconnected.

Quinn tried to sit up, but
Emily pushed him back down. He was still too weak to even resist
her, “Stay down.”

Quinn looked over at the fire and back
to Emily, “How long?”

“
Almost six days,” Emily
said, and took his hand. “Are you ok?”

Quinn smiled slightly, “Just really
thirsty.”

Emily nodded and held her wrist to his
mouth, “There, have at it.”

He shook his head and
turned his face away, “No.”

“
Just do it.”

“
No,” he said again, but
she saw the strained look on his face.

Emily went into the kitchen
and returned with a knife. Quinn was watching her
carefully.

“
What are you doing?” he
managed to say in a whisper.

“
Force feeding you,” Emily
said, and smiled.

Quinn’s eyes grew wide,
“Don’t…”

It was too late, Emily had
cut her wrist slightly and blood trickled out of the wound. She saw
his eyes shut and he opened his mouth slightly as he inhaled. Emily
pushed her wrist to him and he grabbed it weakly and began to feed.
When she thought he’d had enough, she pulled her wrist away from
his grasp. He was weak enough it was easy for her to do.

He shut his eyes and
relaxed. Emily went back into the kitchen and tore a towel into
strips, and then wrapped one around her wrist to stop the bleeding.
Alexis had finished eating, so she took her out to the living room
and tucked her into bed. She curled up beside the toddler until she
was asleep and then Emily stood up and silenced her alarm just as
it went off.

The light was starting to
come up on the sixth day as she hauled buckets of snow into the
house and dumped them on top of Maleth. She knelt down by him and
watched his eyes, but there was still no movement.

Emily went back into the
living room and stoked the fire. She was running out of wood and
coal, and she knew she only had enough for another 24 hours. She
sat back and watched the others as they lie motionless. Quinn
seemed to be in some kind of trance, almost asleep, but deeper. Her
eyes grew heavy and she shut them as she started to feel the warmth
from the fire.

The phone alarm scared
Emily, and she jumped up and turned it off quickly.

“
Emily?” Quinn asked, and
his voice was a little stronger.

She crawled over to him and
looked into his eyes, “I’m right here.”

“
Who is dead?” he asked,
his eyes pained.

Emily shook her head, “No one
is.”

“
I smell death.”

“
Nothing’s changed, now go
back to sleep. I need to get more snow on Maleth.”

She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm,
“He’s gone.”

“
No, he’s not,” Emily told
him, and pulled on the parka and boots. She felt Quinn’s eyes on
her as she walked out the door and into the frigid wind. Six
buckets of snow later, Emily came back into the living room and sat
down by the fire to thaw her frozen hands.

“
Em?” she heard Chevalier
whisper, and her heart jumped in her chest. She turned around
quickly and he was looking at her.

She glanced at Quinn and he
was watching Chevalier also, “Chev?”

He nodded slightly and shut his
eyes.

Emily crawled to him and took his
hand, “Are you awake?”

“
Yes,” his voice was soft
and weak.

She kissed his hand, “You scared
me.”

Chevalier tried to sit up,
but she held him down, “No, stay down.”

Emily grabbed the knife from beside
the fireplace.

“
Emily, don’t,” Quinn said
as she cut her wrist slightly. She held it to Chevalier’s mouth,
and he grabbed her arm and began to feed.

“
You aren’t strong enough
yet to feed us,” Quinn said, concerned.

“
I’m fine,” she said, and
pulled away from Chevalier when he had enough. She grabbed another
strip of the towel and wrapped it around her wrist.

“
Don’t do that,” Chevalier
said, and watched Emily.

Emily grinned slightly, “I’d like to
see you stop me.”

“
Where’s Allen?” Chevalier
asked, panicked.

“
He’s on the couch,” Emily
said, and saw Chevalier frown. He looked around the
room.

“
It’s Maleth then?” he
asked her.

“
What’s Maleth?”

Chevalier glanced at Quinn and he
nodded.

“
He’s not dead,” Emily
yelled angrily, and got up to put more snow on Maleth.

The wind died down, and as
she shoveled the second batch of snow into the bucket, she heard
the sound of an approaching helicopter. She watched as it circled
them twice and then landed beside the other one on the roof. She
finished filling the bucket and went inside to put it on Maleth.
When she was done, she heard voices from the living room and she
went back to get a third bucket.

Emily felt a hand on her arm and Kyle
spoke, “We don’t need more snow.”

Emily pulled away from him, “He’s not
dead.”

Kyle took the bucket from
her and began filling it, but she tore it away from him, “I don’t
need your help.”

She finished filling the
bucket and went inside to the hallway and dumped it over Maleth.
Kyle watched as she filled and dumped three more buckets, and then
shut the door and slipped off the large boots. She pulled off
Quinn’s parka, hung it on a hook, and went back into the living
room.

Zohn was sitting by Quinn
on the floor and they were talking quietly. Chevalier was watching
her as she slipped the rock out from beside Quinn’s feet and put it
back in the fire. Kyle walked over and sat by Allen and pulled
Alexis up onto his lap.

Emily looked up from the
fire when she heard Allen’s voice. She crawled over and kissed his
forehead softly, “How are you feeling?”

“
Ok,” he
whispered.

Emily got up and poured him
a glass of milk, and then held him up so he could drink. He
grimaced at the taste, but drank it anyway. She looked over just as
Zohn disappeared into the hallway and she laid Allen back onto the
couch.

“
What’s with the towels?”
Kyle asked, motioning to her wrists.

“
I cut myself,
accidentally,” she said, and sat down against the wall.

“
She fed us,” Quinn told
him, and ignored Emily’s glare.

“
You fed from her?” Kyle
asked, frowning.

“
She cut herself…” Quinn
started, but Kyle nodded, understanding.

“
When’s the last time you
slept?” Kyle asked, looking at the dark circles under her
eyes.

“
I sleep on and off during
the night,” she said, and glanced toward the hallway
again.

“
Don’t let her tell you
that. She’s been talking to me straight for three days,” Quinn
whispered.

“
Hey! I thought you weren’t
supposed to remember that.”

Quinn shrugged, “Well I
do.”

Emily blushed and glared at
Kyle, “Nice.”

“
What? I didn’t think they
were conscious,” Kyle said, and grinned slightly.

Emily heard movement in the
hallway and went quickly toward the noise. Her eyes turned furious
when she saw Zohn clearing the snow off of Maleth. She pushed him
and stood between them, “Don’t touch him.”

“
He’s gone,” Zohn said,
drying his hands on his pants.

Emily turned quickly and
started scooping the snow back onto the Elder, “Kyle said if we
keep him cold, he’ll be ok.”

Zohn touched her arm, “It’s too
late.”

“
It’s not too late,” Emily
said, slipping on the boots. “He’s been cold the entire
time.”

Zohn watched as Emily went out into
the snow with the bucket.

He walked back into the living room as
Kyle talked to Quinn, “I haven’t seen her sleep more than 5 or 10
minutes.”

Kyle nodded and looked at Alexis, “Did
Mommy eat?”

“
She ate toffee,” Alexis
said, and started to brush her doll’s hair.

“
Just drank coffee, eh?”
Kyle sighed.

“
No, ate toffee,” Alexis
corrected, and smiled at him.

Emily came in after
finishing with the snow and sat down by the fire to warm up. She
remembered the rock when she saw it, and pulled it out of the fire
with the towel and shoved it back into the pillow by Quinn’s
feet.

“
I’m warm enough,” he said
softly.

Emily nodded and pulled a
few of his blankets off and went into the kitchen. She made some
bacon and cheese eggs for Alexis again, and took out the plate.
Alexis sat down on the bed and started to eat.

She went back into the
kitchen and dug the coffee out from the cupboard. Emily went to
take a bite, but Kyle grabbed her hand and took the
spoon.

“
We’re here now. You need
to get some food and go to sleep,” Kyle told her, and took the tub
of coffee.

“
I’m not tired though,”
Emily said, and started to make a sandwich.

“
Of course not, how much
coffee have you eaten?”

“
I don’t know.”

Kyle looked around at the glass
shattered across the kitchen and then watched as Emily finished
making a sandwich and went out into the living room to eat. She sat
down by the fire and ate quickly, checking her phone to see how
long until the alarm went off.

Emily turned when Quinn sat
up, and she moved to him quickly and pushed him back down. She put
her finger to his face and yelled, “Stay down.”

Quinn looked at Zohn briefly and then
pulled the covers back up, “I don’t seem to have any clothes
on.”

Zohn and Kyle looked at
Emily.

“
Oh… don’t judge me! They
were wet,” Emily said, and sat back down by the fire to finish her
lunch.

“
Thank you,” Quinn said,
and Emily looked over at him. His eyes were sincere and
warm.

Emily nodded, “Your
welcome.”

“
You didn’t have to do any
of this, and I remember it all. You haven’t slept, haven’t eaten,
and not an hour has gone by when you haven’t trudged out into the
snow to cover one of us,” Quinn said. As the others watched Emily,
she shifted uncomfortably, “You didn’t have to show the kind of
care you did, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay
you.”

“
Don’t worry about it,”
Emily said, and smiled. “Consider it payback for taking care of
me.”

Emily turned off her phone
when the alarm rang, and grabbed the parka, heading off into the
garage.

“
We can’t let her keep
covering him with snow,” Zohn said when she’d gone.

“
She’s been eating straight
coffee grounds, but I’ve taken it away,” Kyle said. “When the
caffeine wears off, it’s going to drop her like a rock. Let her go
until then, and we’ll take care of Maleth.”

The rest of them nodded and
waited for her to come back.

“
I’m not dressed,” Allen
said, pulling the covers up.

Chevalier chuckled, “I don’t think any
of us are.”

“
As soon as she falls
asleep, I’ll get you all something to wear,” Zohn said, grinning.
“Until then, I’d suggest you lie still or face the wrath of
Emily.”

Emily came in from pouring snow onto
Maleth and sat down by the fire, warming her hands.

“
I’m not mad at you, by the
way,” Quinn said, and continued when Emily looked up. “I know you
went through the house, and cut up pillows, and I know why… I’m not
mad.”

Emily blushed again, “You weren’t
supposed to remember those conversations.”

“
It’s strange, I remember
all of it. I remember you pouring snow on us, and talking to us. I
remember the feel of the rope against my ankles, and how you pulled
me into the living room. Damn, that took forever, and I wanted to
talk but I couldn’t move,” Quinn said, thinking back.

“
Yes… well… you might
consider going on a diet,” Emily said jokingly, and sat against the
wall by the fire.

Quinn grinned.

“
I remember it all too.
It’s almost like a dream, but I do remember it all,” Chevalier
said.

Quinn chuckled, “I vividly remember
her begging something not to tear our legs off.”

Emily’s blush deepened, “I
had to use a winch to get you all inside.”

Quinn’s face fell, “You took such good
care of us.”

Emily turned toward the
fire and watched the flames. She felt her eyelids getting heavier
as the flames danced. Slowly, she began to relax. She couldn’t
fight the heaviness in her body and her eyes fell shut.

She jerked when her phone
alarm went off and wondered why Kyle cursed. Emily pulled on the
parka and boots, and went outside with the bucket.