Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (71 page)

By the time Chevalier got
Emily to the Humvee, a black Suburban was parked inside of the
garage and several members of the Cavalry were inside waiting,
while Kyle sat patiently in the driver’s seat.

Alexis and Dain crawled
into the Humvee and Chevalier buckled Emily into the passenger seat
and leaned it back. It took less than 5 minutes for everyone to be
ready as Chevalier pulled his car out of the garage and headed
west.

***

“It’s clear,” Kralen said,
coming into Chevalier’s office. Chevalier looked out his window at
the snow covered trees outside of his Colorado mansion and
nodded.

“I want regular checks outside, cover
a 1 mile radius.”

Kralen nodded, “Yes, Sir.
The dogs should be here from Island Coven in a few
hours.”

“When they get here, have them on
regular rotations out there.”

“Yes, Elder,” Kralen said, and
disappeared when Chevalier’s phone rang.

Chevalier had just gotten off the
phone with the Council when someone knocked on his door,
“Enter.”

Dain came in, “Alexis and
I are back from the store. Dr. Edwards said Mom won’t eat
though.”

“I’ll see what I can do,”
Chevalier said, and followed his son out. Emily was back in the
same room where she’d recovered from the horse falling on her 23
years prior. She didn’t look up or respond when Chevalier and Dain
walked in. She was slumped over in a soft recliner and her distant
gaze stared at the wall.

Chevalier knelt down beside her,
“Em?”

Again she didn’t respond.

“Em, you need to eat.”

He picked her hand up and
laced his fingers through hers, but her hand laid limply in
his.

He sighed and looked up at
Dr. Edwards, “Anything?”

“No, she’s completely unresponsive,
even to pain.”

Chevalier frowned, “You hurt
her?”

“Not in that way, Elder,”
Dr. Edwards explained. “It’s a medical stimulus to try to trigger
some type of response.”

“What did you do?”

“I simply poked her fingers with a
needle, nothing dangerous.”

“You got nothing?” Chevalier asked,
and turned back to her.

“No, Elder.”

“Come on, Em, heal,” he whispered,
watching her unmoving eyes.

Alexis was crying softly
from the corner of the room. Dain walked over and pulled her into a
hug and she cried against his chest.

Dain looked over at his Dad, “Is this
how her father was?”

Chevalier nodded, unable to
speak.

“If we can keep Frederick
away… she should be able to heal,” Dr. Edwards said, watching
Emily.

“Will she starve?” Dain
asked.

“No, if she doesn’t eat by morning,
I’ll feed her by I.V.”

Chevalier studied her,
desperately looking for some way to bring her out of the catatonic
state. She looked unharmed, though there was no expression on her
face and it was abnormal for her to sit so still and unmoving. He
watched her for hours, waiting for her heku blood to heal her
damaged brain. By nightfall, nothing had changed and he gently laid
her in bed and stoked the fire before leaving. As he headed out,
Mark and Kralen moved into the bedroom to watch over her while she
slept.

Chevalier stepped out into the snowy
night and met up with one of the Island Coven Generals.

“We have six heku with dogs out,
watching for any sign of a heku,” the General reported.

“I don’t care what faction or who it
is… if it’s heku, destroy them.”

“Yes, Elder,” he said, and bowed
before leaving.

Chevalier quickly scanned
the dark trees before stepping back into the warm
mansion.

“Dad?” Alexis asked timidly, walking
up to him.

He turned toward his
daughter.

“Allen and Miri just
caught the snowcat,” she told him. “They should be here in an hour
or so.”

“Ok,” he whispered.
Chevalier studied her. He could tell she was fighting back tears so
he pulled her into a tight hug and felt her tears wet his
shirt.

“I… I don’t want to join the Valle,”
Alexis sobbed.

“I know.”

“I’m afraid,” she said against his
chest.

Chevalier smiled slightly,
remembering when Emily had told him the exact same thing. He
reached down and kissed the top of her head lightly, “Don’t be
afraid, she’ll heal.”

“What if she doesn’t?”

“We took her away from the attacks…
she’ll heal.”

“I can’t live without her.”

Chevalier’s heart pounded
in his chest at the thought of Emily dying. He finally was able to
smile and his voice calmed, “Just give her time, Alex. She’ll be
ok.”

“But Grandpa…”

“Emily’s Dad wasn’t half
heku.”

Alexis finally pulled away from him
and looked up at her Dad with red, swollen eyes, “You
promise?”

Chevalier nodded, “Just give her more
time.”

“Alex?” Dain asked from behind
them.

Alexis turned and looked at her
younger brother.

He grinned, “I found Dad’s
interrogation chamber.”

She smiled and followed him toward the
door.

“Wait…” Chevalier said,
and then called them both back with the bend of a finger. “What,
exactly, are you going to do?”

“Just check it out,” Alexis told
him.

“Can’t you find something more
productive to do?”

“Why?” Dain
asked.

“I’m not sure Em would want you in
there.”

Alexis rolled her eyes, “We’ll be
fine.”

“If you get hurt, I’ll deny knowing
you were in there,” he said, and watched them both run
off.

Dain led Alexis through
the labyrinthine corridors and then turned at a bookshelf. He
reached out and moved it aside easily, revealing a door behind it.
Alexis stepped in first and her eyes grew wide at the torture
devices in the large room.

“Nice, eh?” Dain asked,
and stepped inside. He immediately opened up a large iron maiden
and looked inside.

Alexis wrinkled her nose a
bit at the smell, and then crawled up onto the rack to reach
something high above the ground.

Chevalier listened briefly
to Dain and Alexis talking, and then returned to Emily’s room. Dr.
Edwards was sitting in a rocking chair by the bed, while Mark and
Silas watched her from beside the door.

“Irritating that legends
aren’t true,” Dr. Edwards said after a few moments of
silence.

“Do what?” Chevalier asked, sitting
down on the edge of the bed.

“In vampire lore, your blood would
have healing powers.”

Chevalier ignored the
insulting comment and focused on Emily. He watched for any sign of
movement, any form of communication, and didn’t look over until
Allen and Miri came in a couple of hours later.

“Has she woken up?” Allen asked,
moving to stand by the bed.

“No,” Chevalier told him, and brushed
a stray hair away from her cheek.

“How long has she been
unresponsive?”

“Two days.”

“We’re going to have to
start an I.V.,” Dr. Edwards whispered, then watched Emily for a
reaction.

Chevalier waited a few
seconds for Emily to respond before speaking, “Just do it. Not sure
you’re going to have a fight.”

“Em?” Chevalier asked,
taking her hand as he watched for any sign of response. He briefly
looked around the empty room and then sighed and turned back to
Emily. It was day nine of her recovery in Colorado, but nothing had
changed and Dr. Edwards suspected she’d had another stroke the
night before.

“Emily, if you can hear
me… give me a sign… any sign,” he told her. He gently touched her
pale cheek and again bottled up the fury at Frederick. He knew soon
enough he would get his revenge for this, but for now, he needed to
take care of her.

Chevalier turned toward the door when
he heard a knock, “Come in.”

Allen stepped in with a
cup of hot coffee. The steam trailed along behind him as he walked
into the room, “Dr. Edwards thought maybe a familiar scent might
get a response.”

He nodded and watched as his eldest
son walked up to Emily and knelt down beside the bed, “Mom? I
brought you some coffee.”

They both waited but she didn’t
move.

Allen sighed and tried
again, “If you want it you better hurry, Dustin’s coming, and he
won’t let you drink it.”

Chevalier smiled slightly.
If anything would make Emily move, it would be Dustin taking her
coffee. He squeezed her hand softly, hoping she would return the
gesture, but nothing happened.

Allen set the coffee cup down on the
bedside table and looked up at his Dad, “I had to try.”

Chevalier nodded, “I know… she’s still
healing.”

Allen’s eyes grew wide when the corner
of Emily’s mouth moved a tiny bit, “Mom?”

“Emily, can you hear me?” Chevalier
asked, watching as her mouth moved into a slight smile.

“It’s my Dad,” she whispered
softly.

Chevalier stood up, “Emily,
no!”

Allen couldn’t breathe as
the familiar scent filled the room. He stood up slowly and watched
as Emily relaxed on the bed and her eyes opened slowly, staring
lifelessly at the ceiling.

The heku in the house blurred suddenly
into the room when the scent filled the home, and then froze when
they saw Emily.

“No,” Mark whispered.

“Emily! Wake up!”
Chevalier growled, and shook her by the shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Alexis
screamed, and started into the room. Dain turned suddenly and
wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Kyle appeared beside the bed and his
hands balled into fists as he watched Chevalier try to wake
Emily.

“Emily!” Chevalier roared.

Dr. Edwards put a hand on
the Elder’s shoulder, “She’s gone.”

“No she’s not,” Kyle
hissed.

Dr. Edwards stepped back
when Chevalier stood up and his features grew dark.

“Fix it,” he told the
doctor.

Dr. Edwards looked down at
Emily’s body, “It’s too late. Too many strokes…”

Alexis fought against Dain’s hand,
“Mom, no! You can’t do this!”

“Alex…” Allen whispered,
and took his sister from Dain. She buried her face in his chest and
began to cry as Allen watched Emily, too stunned to
move.

Dain walked up to the bed and knelt
down, “Mom?”

They all watched her,
willing her to open her eyes and respond.

“Mom… you can’t die,” Dain whispered,
and took her hand.

Kyle took a few steps back
and his eyes turned black as he watched the lifeless body on the
bed. He could feel his temper already growing out of control and he
felt the need to kill, the need to inflict pain and seek revenge
for the death of his cherished friend.

Even before the heku could
tell what was going on, Chevalier disappeared from the room with
speed only available to an ‘old one’. A loud crash sounded deeper
in the house and Kyle blurred out after him.

Mark stepped up to the bed
and sat down, still unsure if this was really happening. He took
her hand, “Em?”

“She can’t be gone,”
Kralen whispered.

“She’s not dead,” Silas
growled, and moved up to the bed. “Emily… come on… look up at
me.”

Allen turned and led
Alexis out of the room, followed shortly by Dain. Mark came out of
Emily’s room a short time later cradling her gently in his arms.
His was confused and frowning, not sure exactly what to
do.

Chevalier appeared in
front of him and carefully took Emily from him. He held her close
to him in a loving cradle and softly kissed her before whispering,
“Heal, Emily… come on.”

Silas and Kralen
disappeared when they heard Kyle get into one of the snowcats.
Within a few seconds, the three heku were headed back to
civilization with blood in their eyes.

Dr. Edwards stepped out of
Emily’s room and looked over at Chevalier. He seemed dazed and
uncertain, and the doctor gently led him to the garage.

Mark followed them, and
crawled into the snow cat when Chevalier sat down in the backseat,
still holding tightly to Emily. When they made sure the kids were
following, Mark started the long drive back down the mountain to
the waiting cars.

***

Zohn sighed and looked down at
Sotomar, who was standing in the trial area with four Imperial
Guards, “We have no idea what you’re talking about.”