Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (12 page)

***

“Where are your guards?”
Robert asked as he walked into the kitchen. Emily was at the table
with a cup of hot coffee.

“Oh, around I would
imagine.”

“They are the strangest
bodyguards I’ve ever met,” he said, and poured himself a
cup.

“How so?”

“They break some of the cardinal
rules… like never letting you out of their sight.”

Emily watched as he sat
down beside her, “I don’t even need bodyguards. They’re just here
to make Chev happy.”

“He must think there’s a
reason.”

“Well, yes, he does.”

“Then they shouldn’t just
disappear.”

Emily cringed slightly
when Mark and another member of the Cavalry came into the
room.

“Right on cue,” Robert
said, irritated, and looked over at them. “You all really shouldn’t
let her out of your sight.”

“Enough, Robert,” Emily
grumbled, and finished her coffee.

“Not sure we need your
help, Boy,” Mark said, and spun a chair before sitting in it
backwards. The other member of the Cavalry moved quietly to the
wall and stood still.

“Boy? I bet I’m older than you are,”
Robert told her.

“Stop it,” Emily sighed.

“Where are dumb and dumber,
anyway?”

“Who?” Mark asked,
frowning.

“The two blokes that are always
here.”

“Kralen and Silas had other business
today.”

“Robert, please…” Emily
said.

“Sorry,” Robert told her,
but grinned at Mark.

Mark’s eyes narrowed, “Em, are you
heading in to work today? Dain is having issues.”

She looked up at him, “Yes, as soon as
I finish my coffee.”

“You should fire that
Dain. He seems to cause a lot of problems,” Robert said, and got up
to get more coffee.

“I’ll keep that in mind,”
Emily said, and grinned.

“Is there anything you
don’t have an opinion about?” Mark asked, repeating what Silas
asked before.

“Nope,” Robert replied,
and sat back down.

“Are you going to finish that bathroom
today, then?” Emily asked.

“Yes, what do you want me to do after
that?”

Emily thought, “I think we’re about
done.”

“I can tackle that extra room, with
all the antiques and stuff.”

“No, I need to do that
one.”

“You could always go try
to find another job,” Mark suggested.

Robert frowned, “Then who would
protect her against vampires?”

The other member of the
Cavalry, quiet up until now, smirked, “I think we can cover
that.”

“You three are worse than
kids,” Emily said, and stood up to rinse out her cup. “I’m off
then. I’ll be back tonight in time to make dinner.”

Robert nodded and watched
as Emily left, followed by Mark and the other guard. They climbed
into the Jeep and set out for Council City.

“He is such a pain in the ass,” Mark
growled.

“He’s not either. You just
antagonize him,” Emily said.

“No I don’t. He has to
stick his nose in everywhere and it’s uncalled for.”

“He’s not hurting anyone.”

“He’s falling in love with
you.”

“No he’s not. Now stop
that before you convince Chev.”

“I don’t need to convince him, he’s
already seen it,” Mark told her.

“Great,” Emily sighed, and
pulled into Council City. She parked in the garage, and before she
got out of the Jeep, saw Derrick appear in the doorway and
wait.

Mark chuckled, “That was
fast.”

Dain ran past him and
toward Emily. She reached down and picked him up when he stopped in
front of her, then kissed his cheek as she walked into the
palace.

“What Mommy do?” Dain asked
Derrick.

Emily frowned, “Yeah,
what’d I do?”

Derrick shrugged and smiled, “They
don’t tell me.”

Emily sighed and braced
herself before walking into the council chambers, still carrying
Dain. Her eyes grew wide when she saw Dustin in his chair, so she
walked over to the trial area below the Elders.

“Good Morning,” Quinn
said, and smiled at her.

“Depends on why I’m here,”
she told him, and looked over at Chevalier.

Emily looked down at Dain
when she heard him hiss, and then noticed he was looking over at
Dustin. She grinned and looked back at the Elders.

“You aren’t in trouble. We
are just concerned about your houseguest,” Zohn told
her.

“Robert is harmless.”

“He claims to be a vampire
hunter?”

“Yes”

“Have you spoken to him at all about
that?”

“Not really.”

“The Cavalry doesn’t seem
to like him.”

“I know.”

Chevalier turned to them,
“He’s a bit of a know-it-all and now that he’s fallen for Em, it’s
getting worse.”

“He has not,” she said,
and rolled her eyes.

Kyle frowned slightly, “That sounds
dangerous.”

“He’s done with the house
now, right?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes,” Emily said. She
knew where this was going.

“So he’ll be moving out.”

“I can’t kick him out.”

“Why not?”

“It’s rude.”

Zohn raised an eyebrow,
“Living off of you is also rude, is it not?”

“He thinks he’s
helping.”

“How?”

She sighed, “By protecting me from
vampires.”

Kyle chuckled, “You have
guards, though.”

“Why is this any of the
Council’s concern?” Emily asked, frowning slightly.

“Because he’s been causing some
problems in the city,” the Chief of Defense told her.

“Like what?”

“Like confronting some of
our guards. Like storming into our donor bar and demanding
names.”

Emily cringed,
“Oh.”

“We also feel that the entire
situation is dangerous,” Quinn told her.

“So what is the Council
suggesting I do?”

“Tell him it’s time to
leave.”

“That doesn’t ensure he’ll leave the
city.”

“No, but at least then we don’t have
to worry about you.”

“And you?” Emily asked, turning to
Chevalier.

He smiled slightly, “I
have even more concerns that are between you and me.”

“As much fun as that sounds, Dain and
I are going to go to work.”

“Yeah,” Dain said, and
grinned.

“Now that renovations on
the house are finished, will you be returning to the palace?” Quinn
asked.

She shrugged, “Not sure.”

“Very well.”

Emily turned and left the
council chambers. She heard the Council begin talking as soon as
she left, and knew what the topic was. She put Dain on the floor
and took his hand as they walked up the stairs to her office. He
stayed with her while she waded through massive amounts of
paperwork and played on the floor with some of Allen’s old fire
trucks.

She sighed and looked down at the
toddler, “I think I’m done.”

Dain grinned, “Horse!”

Emily smiled, “You wanna
go ride?”

Dain nodded.

“Let’s go then,” she said,
and picked him up by his ankles. She carried him down the stairs
upside down as he giggled.

“Where are we going?” four
of the Cavalry asked as they followed her. She jumped slightly and
turned to them.

“Don’t sneak up on me!”

“Sorry,” the closest guard
said.

“Dain and I are going out on
horseback.”

“Great, we’ll go too.”

“Of course you will,” she
said, and headed out to the stables. Emily smiled when she saw the
lock was off of her stallion’s stall. She quickly saddled her horse
and slid into the saddle and pulled Dain up with her. When she led
him out of the stables, she saw Kyle waiting for her.

“Thought you and I would go
out.”

“No entourage?”

“No entourage.”

Emily whistled for the
dogs, and then kicked her horse into a canter out of the city,
followed by Kyle. Once they were out on the hills, they sat back
and watched the dogs play.

“The Council has a
request,” Kyle said, and glanced at her.

Emily sighed, “Remember when you and I
used to just hang out?”

“Yeah”

“No Council requests. No
hidden agendas?”

“We still can.”

“No, we can’t. You’re like
Chev now, too busy to just take a day off.”

“I’m sorry, Em. I think we
get so wrapped up in the faction business that we forget about
lives.”

“Take a vacation then.”

“Where would I go?” Kyle
asked.

Emily thought for a moment, “We could
go to Australia.”

“I guess we could.”

She shrugged, “What’s the
Council want now… other than Fredrick?”

Kyle grinned, “You could
really score me some Elder points if you’d tell me where he
is.”

“He’s buried… how’s
that?”

“Where?”

“What fun is that? Besides… I owe him
a lot of pain and I’m going to get it.”

“Damn then, if he’s buried then that’s
why we can’t sniff him out.”

She smiled, “I
know.”

“But besides Frederick…”

She looked over at him,
“What?”

“We want more information
on your houseguest.”

“Like what?”

“More about his vampire
hunting occupation. What he’s trying to accomplish, that sort of
thing.”

She frowned, “Vampire
hunting… would mean he’s out to kill vampires… What more do you
need to know?”

“Just talk about it,
please. See if you can find out more.”

“Seriously? What’s more to find out
other than he’s trying to kill vampires?”

“Weapons… how much he knows that’s the
truth…”

“Sure”

“Just no kissing,” Kyle
said, and chuckled.

Emily glared at him, “He does not have
a crush on me.”

“Oh, no he doesn’t… it’s way beyond a
crush.”

“How would you even know?
You’re stuck here.”

“I was on patrols last
night around your house. I saw him.”

She frowned and looked over at him,
“You were spying on us?”

“I wouldn’t call it
spying.”

“Sounds like spying,” she said,
irritated.

“Where is he, Em?”

“You know me better than
that.”

“True, however, I keep hoping you’ll
tell someone.”

“First rule of being a criminal, tell
no one.” She held tightly to Dain and watched the dogs chase after
a squirrel.

Kyle chuckled, “You’re
considering yourself a criminal now?”

“If I were heku, would I
be out here on horseback?”

“Well… no.”

“Then I am a criminal. One
with extenuating circumstances that let me free.”

“Extenuating circumstances? You mean
you sleep with the boss.”

Emily gasped and started
to laugh, “Oh… you did not just say that.”

“You must be good at it.
You get away with enough,” he said, and backed his horse up a
bit.

Emily’s eyes grew wide,
“Kyle!”

“Just saying…”

Her hand shot back into
the saddlebag and she produced a paintball gun, and shot him in the
shoulder as he turned his horse to run. She kicked her stallion
into a gallop after him and was able to shoot him six more times
before they got to the stables.

“Problems?” Mark asked when they rode
up and he saw the paint on Kyle’s shirt.

“He accused me of sleeping
with the boss!” Emily said, and handed Dain down to
Mark.

“Erm… you don’t?” Mark
asked.

Emily slid off of her horse, “Is it
just you in here, Mark?”

“Yes”

“Good, I have questions
for you and Kyle, then.”

Kyle shut the stall door
behind his mare, and hung up the bridle, “Ok, ask away.”

She leaned up against the
stable door, “Why is Dustin back on the Council?”

Kyle glanced at Mark
before answering, “There’s a law that allows members of the Council
to go above the Elder’s heads if they feel that the Elders are
being swayed in a decision, or are too involved to make an unbiased
decision.”