Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (122 page)

“
We didn’t really have a
choice.”

“
I know,” she said, and
cradled Dain to feed him. She gasped and pulled the bottle away
from him. “What is in here?”

“
Em, we told you he’s
heku.”

“
Still, damn, did you even
try formula?”

“
What’s formula?” Kyle
asked.

Emily sighed, “No wonder he cries… you all
feeding him blood.”

The heku watched as Emily grabbed her purse
and headed for the door.

“
Where are you going?”
Chevalier asked, frustrated.

“
To buy baby formula,” she
said, irritated, and walked out.

“
Damn,” Chevalier
whispered, and followed her out. “Em?”

“
Yeah?” she asked, and
turned to him.

“
He likes it.”

Emily looked down at the baby and handed him
to Chevalier, “Then you feed him.”

“
Em…” he said, and watched
her walk down the stairs and out of the palace.

Dain immediately began to scream and kick as
Chevalier went back into the bedroom. He took the bottle and began
to feed the baby, the room growing suddenly quiet.

“
It may be a while before
she can feed him,” he told the others.

“
I can see that,” Kyle
said, nodding.

“
What’s she doing?” Zohn
asked, looking out at the stables.

Chevalier walked over and looked out the
window, “I hate when she does that.”

Kyle peeked around them, “She won’t let
anyone else do it.”

“
What’s she doing?” Quinn
asked, still sitting down.

“
Breaking in that
2-year-old horse,” Chevalier said, and sat down. “Course, it’s kind
of anger management… she can take it out on us, or the
horse.”

Dain finished his bottle and began to scream
as he kicked his tiny legs.

Chevalier held Dain up so he could look into
his eyes, “Do you seriously have to scream? She’s right
outside.”

The baby’s lower lip began to quiver, and he
screamed again as tears streamed down his face.

“
Take him out there, maybe
if he sees her he’ll be ok?” Kyle asked, wincing slightly as the
high-pitched wail filled the palace.

“
I’ll try it,” Chevalier
said, and blurred down to the corral, followed by Kyle and Allen.
Mark, Silas, and Kralen were already leaning against the fence,
watching Emily try to break the paint.

“
I want to learn though,”
Mark said. “I like working with the horses.”

Emily shrugged, “Ok, come on in.”

Mark grinned and scaled the fence, and then
walked up slowly to the stallion. Emily hung onto the bridle from
the ground while Mark pet him and glanced at her.

“
Up you go… then hold on,”
she said, grinning. “Try not to bruise your ass.”

Mark grinned and hoisted himself up onto the
paint. Emily let go and dove for the fence just as Mark came flying
toward her. He landed on her and pinned her to the ground, then
scrambled off of her and knelt down just as the others got to
her.

“
Are you ok?” Mark asked,
touching the back of her head.

Emily rolled over, laughing, “That was so
funny.”

“
That was not funny,” Mark
said, helping her to her feet. She was still laughing as she went
over and took the reins and rubbed the soft nose of the
horse.

Emily grinned at him, “Up you go.”

“
No, not again,” Mark said,
and headed back for the others.

“
Coward”

He turned slowly and looked at her,
“What?”

“
Get on the damn horse,”
she said, grinning.

“
You can’t order me around,
I’m a Captain.”

“
And I’m an Elder… just get
on the horse.”

“
Not my Elder,” he said,
and put one foot in the stirrup.

“
Hold on this time,” she
said, and got ready to run.

“
I know he’s not crying out
here, but I can’t watch this,” Chevalier said, turning away from
them.

Kyle grinned, “I’ll keep him, it’s kind of
amusing to watch.”

“
Just call an ambulance if
he kills her,” Chevalier said, then handed the baby to Kyle and
disappeared inside.

“
Ready… go,” Emily said,
and let go of the reins as Mark moved into the saddle. She made it
through the fence and turned as the horse bucked, but the heku
managed to stay on. After a few seconds, the horse quit bucking and
Mark took a deep breath.

“
Ok, now softly kick him,”
Emily said quietly.

Mark gently kicked the horse, and with one
quick buck, the paint threw the heku over his head and he landed on
the back of his neck and fell silent onto the ground.

Emily scrambled through the fence and ran to
Mark, then knelt down, “Mark?”

Mark didn’t answer, so she tried to roll him
over onto his back, but she couldn’t do it. Silas came in and
rolled the Captain onto his back as Emily watched, unable to even
breathe. Mark laid, unmoving on the ground and Emily touched his
face softly, “Mark?”

Mark grinned and started laughing, “Now that
was funny.”

Emily slapped him hard on the chest and
stood up.

“
Ouch,” he said, and stood
up, still laughing.

“
That was not
funny.”

“
Sure it was,” Mark said,
and turned back to the horse. “One more time.”

“
You’re on your own and I
hope he kills you,” Emily said, joining Kyle beside the
fence.

Kyle turned when he heard someone walk up
behind them, “Em, take the baby.”

“
Elder?” a soft voice said
from behind her.

Emily took Dain and turned around to face a
purple clad heku.

“
Are you seriously kidding
me?” she asked, irritated.

The Ferus looked at Kyle, “I just… have… a
message for… the Elder.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “What is it?”

“
It’s private,” he told
her, and glanced at Kyle. Silas moved to stand on the other side of
her.

“
They’re deaf… start
talking,” Emily said.

“
The… Council said… if… if…
you…”

“
Spit it out!”

The heku sighed, “The Council said that if
you bring Vaughn back with you, the punishment won’t be as
bad.”

“
Damnit, Em,” Kyle growled
when the heku turned to ash.

“
Tsk tsk, Kyle, you
shouldn’t have ashed him,” Emily said, and headed into the stables
with the baby.

“
I’m not telling him,”
Silas said, looking down at the pile of ash.

Kyle knelt down and began to scoop the ashes
into a bag, “Fine, then I did it because I’m not telling him
either.”

“
Captain?” Silas asked,
watching Mark in the corral. He was sitting on the paint, not
moving.

“
What do I do now?” he
whispered.

“
Kick him softly,” Kyle
said, turning to watch.

“
I did… and he didn’t
move.”

“
Kick him
again?”

Emily came out on her stallion, with the
baby still up against her shoulder, “Open the gate.”

Silas went over and opened the gate, and
Emily led her stallion into the corral. She took the reins from
Mark and led both horses out of the corral.

“
He’s scared. He needs
another horse to follow,” Emily said as Mark relaxed on the back of
the stallion.

Derrick walked into the council chambers,
“He’s here.”

“
Show him in,” Chevalier
said.

A tall, blonde heku came into the room. He
wore Equites green robes and bowed to the Council, “I came, as
requested.”

“
We got your report, on
finding another Winchester,” Chevalier said. “We wanted to talk to
you in person.”

“
Yes, Sir,” the heku
said.

“
You said she is…” Zohn
glanced through the report, “Approximately 5’6” tall, short black
hair, and blue eyes?”

“
Yes, Sir”

“
What makes you think she’s
a Winchester?” Chevalier asked.

“
Her scent,
Sir.”

“
Derrick, call Emily in
please,” Zohn said.

Emily came in a few minutes later with
3-month-old Dain against her shoulder, “What now?”

“
Em, this heku thinks he’s
found another Winchester. Will you stand close enough so he can
catch your scent?” Chevalier asked.

“
Sure, I love being
sniffed,” she said, and moved closer to the heku.

He looked at her and frowned, “Close, but
not the same.”

“
Close?” Kyle
asked.

“
Yes, very similar, but
there’s something different.”

“
I’ll be on the roof
getting some sun if someone else wants to sniff me,” she said,
irritated, and left the council chambers.

Chevalier watched her go, “Hmm.”

“
Elder… ancients room,”
Quinn chuckled.

“
I know, I know… so,” he
turned back to the heku. “Where exactly did you see
her?”

“
In the city, out late at
night. She was dressed in a long black dress with heavy black
make-up.”

“
The scent, however, wasn’t
the same?”

“
Not exactly, but very much
alike.”

“
Very well, let us know if
you see her again,” Zohn said, and had Derrick usher him
out.

“
That’s the fourth
sighting. Can it really be another Winchester in our city?” Quinn
asked, frowning.

“
I don’t see how. There’s
no other line,” Kyle said.

“
Maybe there’s an unknown
descendant.”

“
I guess there could
be.”

“
Let’s do as we considered,
and post heku all over the city to watch for her. She seems to be
elusive,” Quinn said.

“
Sure, do it,” Zohn
suggested.

Chevalier shrugged, “Fine by me. If she is a
Winchester, there’s a good chance she’s as plagued by attacks as
Emily was.”

“
Was?” she said from behind
them. “Never seemed to stop.”

The Council turned toward her, and then
faced the front again when they saw she’d changed into a bikini and
sarong.

“
You have to admit it’s
gotten better,” Chevalier said, admiring the way the bikini showed
off her soft curves.

“
Some… I need a break,”
Emily said, and handed Dain over to Chevalier. Chevalier’s golden
Equites Crest pin immediately went into the baby’s mouth. He
watched her walk out of the council chambers, noticing how the
sarong clung to her hips and accentuated the way she moved when she
walked.

“
Chevalier!” Zohn yelled.
“Thousands of years of control.”

“
I can look,” Chevalier
said, grinning slightly.

“
No you can’t. We want to
know about that ancient’s room,” Kyle chuckled.

Chevalier sighed, “I’m in control,
seriously.”

“
Sure you are,” Zohn said,
and turned back to the trial area.

Chevalier called for a bottle and cradled
Dain as he fed him, “Wish Em could do this.”

“
It’s ok, this isn’t a bad
one coming,” Derrick said. “The Lord and Lady of Soph’s Coven would
like to have their temporary status removed.”

“
Very well, bring them in,”
Zohn said, and looked through the file.

Emily put the towel down on the soft grass
on the north lawn and laid down. The roof had helicopter
maintenance workers on it, so she opted to go to the grass by the
stables. She looked around and got onto her stomach, carefully
slipping off her top, then pulled on her sunglasses and laid her
head down, letting the sun do its work to warm her up.

She began to drifted off when she felt soft
fingers run along her spine, she smiled, “Chev, no.”

Silas grinned from inside of the stables,
“Looks like we’re getting a pool.”

“
Maybe not, he may be
toying with her,” Kralen said. “Course, she’s topless, so who
knows.”

“
You better keep your eyes
off her,” Silas told him, brushing his horse. “If the Elder sees
you.”

“
Well I don’t stare, but
one can’t help but admire.”

“
Chev, I said no,” Emily
said again, and Kralen grinned at Silas.

“
It starts tomorrow,” Mark
said as he led the three Elders in through the back of the stables.
“We have...”

“
Chevalier?” Silas asked,
wide eyed.

Chevalier looked at him, “Yes?”

“
Then who is Emily talking
to?” Kralen asked, and disappeared from the stables.

The heku appeared on the grass and crouched.
Emily was still lying on her stomach on the grass, but a strange
heku was running his fingertips along her back, unaware he was
being watched by her guards and the Elders.

“
Step back, Son,” Zohn
growled.

Emily glanced up and gasped. She rolled to
sit up, bringing the towel with her to cover herself.

The heku turned to look at the others, “I…
umm…”

His words were cut off with a swift kick to
his jaw by Emily. She got to her knees and started hitting him with
her fist. Each word brought a new hit, “Don’t… touch… me…”