Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (41 page)

“
I don’t know the policies
or anything. If they ask me something, I’ll look like an
idiot.”

“
I can get you a copy,”
Kyle said. “I have some in my office.”

“
I don’t have a
photographic memory, Kyle. I can’t do this.”

“
You can. It’ll be ok,
trust us,” Mark said, grinning. “So what caused all of
this?”

Emily blushed while Kyle told him what
happened. She turned to look at Mark as he grew furious.

“
Em, he’ll be calm when
he’s done with the two guards,” Kyle said.

“
Yeah, killing
them.”

“
He has to.”

“
I know, I really do, but
it’s just… hard,” Emily said, and stood up. “I need to go deal with
Sam.”

“
What are you going to do?”
Kyle asked, following her out of the courtroom with
Mark.

“
I don’t know. I want him
dead… seems all he’s going to do from now on is try to get me to
leave and go back to the mortal world.”

“
What? Why?” Mark asked,
still irritated.

“
He says it’s best for me
to leave the kids and the heku, and disappear.”

“
Tell him to stop,” Mark
suggested.

“
I did, but apparently he’s
going to do what he thinks is best for me. Even if it’s in contrast
to what I want,” Emily explained.

“
Just leave him in jail
then,” Kyle said.

“
I have an idea. Can I
borrow your phone?”

Kyle handed his cell phone to her. She
dialed and then waited.

Emily smiled slightly, “No, it’s Emily.”

“
No, I’m fine… I have a
question for you though.”

“
Exavior…” Emily sighed and
rolled her eyes. “Thanks Sotomar. My question is… how do I kill a
familiar, or get him to take a hike?”

Mark grinned, “She called the Valle Council
on your phone.”

Kyle cringed, “Yeah, I know.”

“
Because Ulrich was yours.”
Emily stopped in the hallway and leaned back against the
wall.

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “Stop calling him my
boyfriend.”

“
How far from the body?
Wait… here…” Emily handed the phone over to Kyle.

“
Ooooh no,” Kyle said. “I’m
not authorized to talk to the Valle Council.”

Emily shook her head and put the phone back
to her ear, “Ok, so how far?”

Emily sighed, “No, Exavior, I’m pretty sure
the heku here can manage that.”

Emily shut the phone and handed it to Kyle,
“They said the only way is to remove his head and separate it from
his body by at least a few feet.”

“
Who’s the boyfriend?” Kyle
asked.

“
You are.”

“
Nice,” Kyle said,
frowning.

Mark stifled a grin, “I take it Exavior
offered to come help do it?”

“
Exavior’s an idiot,” Emily
said, and headed up the stairs.

“
Is that what you want
then? One of us to decapitate Sam?” Kyle asked.

“
I don’t even know,” Emily
told them. “I’m going to leave him in prison for a while and see
what happens.”

“
I’m headed out to check on
the guards, want to meet me in the barracks?” Mark asked, watching
them from the ground floor.

Emily’s shoulders dropped, “I suppose I have
to.”

“
I wouldn’t say you have
to, but, it is our new mission.”

“
Great,” Emily said, and
disappeared into her room.

Mark stepped into the barracks and all eyes
fell on him. He walked through the rows of cots and chairs,
checking to make sure each heku had a copy of the Island Coven
Policies, and was reading it. Some of the guards watched him
nervously, while others glared at the intrusion of the Council City
Captain. He ignored the looks and went about what he was assigned
to do. His mind was also weighing through how to include Emily
without risking the guards retaliating.

Chevalier walked into the bedroom, covered
in blood and grinning, “That felt good.”

Emily glared at him and whispered, “How
could you put me over the guards?”

“
It’ll be good for them,”
Chevalier said, slipping off his blood covered shirt.

Emily pulled on her cowboy boots and stood
up to face him, putting her hands on her hips, “Retract it.”

Chevalier grinned and blurred to her, lifted
her up, and pressed his lips against hers. He set her back onto her
feet and caught her wrist when she tried to slap him.

“
I’m not retracting the
order,” he told her, then brought her wrist up to his nose and
inhaled.

Emily pulled her hand away from him and
moved backwards, “Tell them Kyle and Mark will be in charge.”

“
No,” Chevalier said, and
took a step toward her.

Emily crossed her arms and stood her ground,
“Do it.”

Chevalier pushed her against the wall and
held her shoulders while he softly began to kiss her neck.

Emily struggled against him, “Get away from
me.”

“
No,” he told her.
Chevalier let go of her shoulders and started to unbutton her
shirt.

“
Stop telling me no,” Emily
growled, and fastened the buttons he had undone.

“
No,” he chuckled, and tore
her shirt off.

“
I’m warning you,” she
said, pushing against him.

“
Noted,” he whispered,
picked her up, and blurred her to the bed.

Emily screamed at him and kicked toward his
face. He caught her foot and pulled off her cowboy boot, then
pinned her legs to the bed.

“
No kicking,” he said, and
ran his lips along her jaw as his hands worked at the button on her
jeans.

Emily brought her knee up and was able to
catch him directly in the stomach. He growled, and pressed his lips
to hers, pinning her body to the bed with his. Emily slid her hand
through his hair and clenched her fist tightly, pressing her lips
harder against his.

***

“
Tell them Kyle and Mark
are in charge,” Emily said, looking into Chevalier’s
eyes.

“
No,” he told her,
grinning, and then kissed her bare shoulder.

“
Come on… why are you
punishing me?”

“
It’s not a punishment. I
have my reasons.”

“
They can’t be any better
than my reasons for not doing it,” she said, and got out of bed,
wrapping the sheet around her.

“
I bet they are. Just do
it, it’ll be good for you and them,” he told her, and slipped his
hands under his head.

Emily glanced quickly in the mirror as she
passed and then turned for a closer look. She brought her hand up
to the puncture wounds on her neck, “Damnit, Chev, you bit me?”

Chevalier chuckled, “You shouldn’t fight
me.”

Emily glared at him, “That’s going to look
just great when I’m trying to order your guards around.”

“
They’ll know it’s from me…
maybe it’s my mark,” he said, laughing.

“
What are you going to do
next? Pee on my boots?” she asked angrily, and disappeared into the
bathroom.

“
If I peed… then I probably
would,” he said, and Emily’s temper grew when she heard the
amusement in his voice.

Emily came back out dressed and saw that
Chevalier was still lying naked on the bed on his back, with his
hands under his head.

She tossed a blanket at him, “Cover up
before the kids see you.”

Chevalier chuckled, “You can’t seriously be
mad.”

“
Yes I can! You bit me and
then you’re sending me out to get glared at by your guards,” she
said, sitting down to pull on her boots.

“
They better not glare at
you, and they aren’t going to care that I bit you.”

“
I don’t want them to think
that you keep me around for sex and blood,” she said, standing up
and tucking in her shirt.

“
I’m sorry, ok? I can’t
help it when you fight me though,” he told her, and got up to get
dressed.

“
You have the control of a
peanut,” she said angrily, and then slipped on a turtle neck
sweater.

Chevalier grinned slightly, “Where you are
concerned, that is true.”

“
What?” Emily yelled when
someone knocked on the door. Mark and Kyle came in and Mark had a
tray that he sat down on the table.

“
They’ve all re-read the
policies and are lining up for drills,” Mark said, and frowned
slightly.

“
Were you attacked?” Kyle
asked, turning to Emily.

“
Yes,” she snapped, and
started to tie up her hair.

“
Do we need to deal with
them?” Mark asked defensively.

Chevalier chuckled again when Emily said,
“Yes.”

“
Sooo… where are they?”
Kyle asked, wondering why he was having to prompt her.

“
Sitting on the bed,
laughing,” Emily replied, and turned to the table to eat
dinner.

Mark and Kyle both turned to Chevalier,
shocked.

“
She deserved it,” he said,
grinning.

Mark turned back to Emily, “Are you coming
out for the line-up?”

“
Way to defend me,” she
growled, and took a bite of spaghetti.

“
You’re on your own with
this one,” Kyle said, slightly irritated.

“
No… I’m not coming out for
the line-up. Chev is here and he can babysit his own guards,” Emily
told them, and threw a piece of garlic bread at Chevalier’s back,
hitting him squarely between the shoulders.

“
Let her be. I told her to
start tomorrow when I can get some things here,” Chevalier said,
still laughing slightly.

“
I’m not doing it,” Emily
said, and sent a meatball flying. It landed with a dull thud
against the back of Chevalier’s head.

“
You’re asking for it,”
Chevalier said, amused.

“
You’re asking for it,”
Emily mimicked him.

In one movement, Chevalier blurred to Emily
and threw her over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs.

“
No! I’m not in the mood,”
Emily screamed as Mark and Kyle followed them.

Chevalier pushed the door aside and stepped
into the pool room just as Emily bit his back, “Ouch, damnit,
Em.”

“
I’m seriously not in the
mood for this,” Emily yelled.

With very little effort, Chevalier threw
Emily into the middle of the deep end of the pool and laughed.

Emily surfaced and swam to the ladder,
obviously livid. She climbed out and peeled off her soaked turtle
neck, and then glared at Chevalier as she struggled to get her wet
jeans off and then pulled off her t-shirt and grabbed a towel.
Chevalier glanced at Mark and Kyle, and they were conveniently
facing away from her.

Emily wrapped in the towel and pushed on the
door, but it wouldn’t budge. She tapped her foot and waited for
Chevalier to open it. He chuckled, and pushed the door open easily.
She passed by him without a word and headed up the stairs
angrily.

“
Em… it was a joke,”
Chevalier said when she stepped into the bedroom.

Emily turned to him and put her hand on the
door, “You better make very good friends with your hand,” she said,
and slammed the door in his face.

“
I think you’ve been cut
off,” Kyle chuckled.

“
Seems so… let’s go see how
those guards are doing,” Chevalier said, still grinning, and walked
down the stairs.

***

Emily rolled over and looked out the window.
Anna had already been in, and the curtains were opened some. She
was still irritated from the night before, and could tell she was
going to be in a bad mood. Alexis was already down eating, and she
crawled out of bed and grabbed the hot coffee from the table and
sat down in front of the fire.

“
Good morning,” Chevalier
said as he came in and shut the door.

Emily ignored him and grabbed a piece of
bacon. She pulled her knees up to her chest and watched the
fire.

“
Are you still
mad?”

“
Am I still stuck
babysitting your guards?” Emily snapped.

“
Yes,” he said, and fought
to keep from grinning.

Emily finished her coffee in silence and
went into the bathroom to take a shower. She locked the door, but
heard Chevalier come in anyway.

“
Your Thukil uniform
arrived,” Chevalier said, and admired the sleek curves of her body
as she showered.

Emily washed her hair quickly and wrapped in
a towel before stepping out of the shower.

“
I’m leaving in about an
hour,” he said as she walked past him again, purposely bumping into
his chest with her shoulder.

Emily dropped her towel and walked naked to
the wardrobe and pulled out the Thukil Cavalry uniform. She ignored
how Chevalier watched her as she got dressed, and then fastened the
cape around her neck. She wrapped the gun belt around her hips and
slid the .45 into the holster, and then flipped the left side of
her cape over her left shoulder and pulled on her riding glove,
hand brace, and the deep green cowboy hat after putting on her
black cowboy boots.