Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (6 page)

Quinn sighed. Sitting in the driver’s seat
beside Emily, was Exavior. The Equites got out of the Range Rover
and surrounded the Durango. They could hear whispers, and from the
look on Emily’s face, she was mad. Exavior glanced nervously
between Emily and the Equites.

Quinn finally opened the door and Emily
stopped whispering and looked at him.

“
What’s up?” Quinn asked,
looking at Exavior.

“
I’m just checking up on
her, and find it disturbing that she’s living out of a broken down
car in the middle of nowhere,” Exavior said angrily.

“
She’s not living in the
Durango,” Zohn told him after opening the passenger side
door.

“
Just get out, all of you!”
Emily scowled.

Exavior turned back to her, “Get the test.
It’s not worth your life.”

“
It’s none of your
business,” Emily told him.

“
How do you even know?”
Zohn asked, watching Exavior’s face closely.

Exavior smiled, “I’m not stupid. I’m a Chief
Interrogator, and I’m not falling for that.”

“
Last warning. If you are a
heku, then I suggest you leave me the hell alone. I’m tired, I
don’t feel well, and I want to take a nap,” Emily said
angrily.

“
What’s wrong?” Quinn
asked, frowning.

“
Exavior, go home. I’m not
coming with you.”

Exavior took her hand, “But I love you, you
have to see that.”

Kyle reached into the Durango and pulled
Exavior out by the collar on his shirt. When Exavior got to his
feet, he turned and crouched at Kyle.

“
Leave her alone,” Kyle
scowled, his hands balled into fists.

“
No, I love her, and I can
take better care of her than you can,” Exavior said, and
grinned.

Kyle took a menacing step closer to Exavior,
“Don’t push me.”

Emily scrambled out of the Durango when Kyle
and Exavior blurred into a fight. She heard growls and hisses
coming from the fight as she ran toward it. Quinn grabbed for her
just as she disappeared into the brawl. Kyle and Exavior continued
to blur around her as she tried to catch one of them to make them
stop.

Exavior’s instincts had kicked in, and all
he felt was the need to kill, the feral desire to feel blood on his
hands. He felt a neck between his grasp and slammed Emily to the
ground, pinning her to the mud with his hand. His other hand balled
into a fist, ready to crush her skull and end the fight.

“
Exavior,” she whispered,
her hands pulling at the hand wrapped around her neck.

Exavior pulled her up to standing by her
neck and turned to face the Equites. He had Emily’s head grasped
between his hands and had it turned precariously to the side. A
fraction more and her neck would snap.

“
Stay back,” he
growled.

“
Exavior… you have Emily,”
Kyle said sternly.

Exavior’s instincts began to calm and he
started to understand what happened. His innate desire to kill
whoever was between his hands began to fade as he saw the long red
hair, and felt her soft skin beneath his fingers. He felt her body
shake against him as her hands pulled at his.

Emily watched the Equites with wide eyes.
Her neck ached at the angle, and she realized that Exavior was
about to kill her. She knew that the Equites were afraid to move.
Any movement could send Exavior’s predatory nature over the edge of
reason, and she would be killed instantly.

“
Exavior,” Emily
whispered.

Exavior spun her around quickly and grasped
her head in his hands to look into her swimming green eyes. He
paused, and then pressed his lips hard against hers as she fought
to get away from him.

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders as
Zohn pulled her away from the Chief Interrogator. Kyle tackled
Exavior, and Zohn held her back as the two heku continued to fight.
Blood soaked the snow and Emily fought to get free of Zohn’s grasp,
to stop them from fighting.

“
Stop it!” Emily screamed,
pulling at Zohn’s arms.

The fighting stopped and Emily was finally
able to see what was going on. Kyle had Exavior pinned against the
snow. There was blood pouring out of the Valle where his arm used
to be. Kyle’s hands were grasping Exavior’s neck and the dark cloud
covering his expression made Emily shrink back away from him.

“
Don’t kill him, please…
Kyle,” Emily whispered.

Kyle looked at her. His eyes were uncaring
and cold.

“
Please,” she whispered
again.

He looked back down at Exavior and wrenched
his neck to the side, snapping his neck, then stood up and
straightened his shirt before walking back to the other Equites.
Zohn began to lead Emily back toward the Jeep as she watched the
bloody heap on the snow.

“
We can’t leave him,” Emily
said to Zohn.

Zohn glanced at Exavior, and then opened the
door to the Jeep, “Yes we can. He’ll be ok.”

Emily slid into the passenger seat of the
Jeep and watched Zohn get into the driver’s side. The other Equites
took off in the Range Rover, and Zohn followed while Emily watched
Exavior start to move as she rubbed the back of her neck.

“
Zohn,” Emily whispered.
“He’s hurt.”

“
He was going to kill you.
Do you understand that?” Zohn asked, frustrated that she still
wanted to make sure the Valle was going to be alright.

Emily brought her knees up to her chest and
wrapped her arms around them, laying her forehead on her knees. Her
entire body shook. She could still feel the pressure of Exavior’s
hands as he considered breaking her neck.

Emily didn’t move, even when Zohn turned the
Jeep’s engine off and stepped out. He glanced over at Quinn, Mark,
and Kyle as they walked over toward the Jeep. Kyle had calmed some,
but the image of Emily perched to die at the hands of a Valle was
still fresh in his mind and his hands were still clasped into tight
fists.

“
Is he ready?” Quinn asked
Silas when he appeared in the garage.

“
Yes, and he’s pissed,”
Silas said with a smirk.

Zohn chuckled, “I bet.”

“
Let’s go then,” Silas
said, and opened the passenger door of the Jeep.

“
Maybe we should postpone
this,” Kyle said, watching Emily shake.

“
No, now is perfect, come
on,” Quinn told him, and picked Emily up out of the
Jeep.

Emily was still shaking and she looked up at
Quinn, “No.”

“
Trust me, Child,” he told
her, and headed into the palace.

Emily watched as he carried her past several
guards and into the game room. She felt the fast whirl when the
secret door to the bar began to spin, and before she could stop it,
she was sitting on the cold, hard, wooden floor of the bar, and the
door had spun around.

“
Let us out!” Chevalier
yelled, and pushed against the door. Emily watched him, confused.
She stood up and pushed against the stone that spun the door
around, but it held steady.

Emily looked over at Chevalier. He was
furious and glaring at her, “Is this your idea?”

She shook her head, and moved to sit down
behind the bar, then curled up into a ball and hid her face. She
couldn’t get the feel of Exavior’s hands out of her mind, or the
fierce way he pressed his lips against hers.

Chevalier yelled at the others to open the
door, and Emily covered her ears with the palms of her hands. He
gave up after a few minutes and sat down on a table.

“
I know they mean well,”
Chevalier said, irritated. “However, this is going too
far.”

Emily leaned back against the bar as she sat
on the floor. She started to feel sick to her stomach and shut her
eyes against the feeling.

“
I guess we better make up
or we’ll never get out of here,” Chevalier said, and stood up. He
walked behind the bar and frowned when he saw the bruises on her
neck and the way she was trembling, “What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing,” Emily said, and
looked up at him.

Chevalier frowned, “You’re shaking.”

Emily shook her head, fighting back the
tears. Only once before had she come that close to dying at the
hands of a heku. The first was Damon in Paris, but this time it was
Exavior, someone she considered a friend.

Chevalier sat down beside her and then
hesitated before touching her arm. There was a jolt when he touched
her, and images from the fight with Exavior flooded into his mind.
Emily looked at him, shocked, as a slow hiss escaped his lips and
his hand tightened on her arm.

“
Chev, you’re hurting my
arm,” Emily said, and pulled at his hand.

Chevalier relaxed his grip and looked at
her, “He was going to kill you.”

Emily frowned, “How do you know?”

“
I saw it, when I touched
your arm,” he whispered, and she could see that he was remembering
the images.

“
I’m sorry,” she told him,
and looked down at her hands.

“
Why do you always
apologize when it’s not your fault?”

Emily shrugged.

“
I’m glad Kyle was
there.”

“
He was really
mad.”

Chevalier grinned slightly, “His temper puts
mine to shame. He just has more control over it than I do.”

Emily nodded slightly, “I’ve never seen
it.”

“
It’s controlled… amazingly
well controlled.”

“
I don’t know what to do
about Exavior,” Emily told him as he took her hand.

“
Nothing much you can do.
We just have to try to keep you two apart.” Chevalier tried to
control his voice, his jealous temper was about to rage out of
control.

“
How did he find
me?”

“
That’s something we’ll
have to find out when we get out of here,” he said, and touched her
cheek lightly.

“
We’re stuck in here?”
Emily asked.

Chevalier chuckled, “Yes, we are.”

“
There are some things I
want to tell you then, that may help.”

“
Like what?” Chevalier
turned his body toward her.

“
The Cavalry has things
under control. I see no reason why you have to keep me around, so
I’ve been looking… there’s a house in town that would be perfect
for Alexis and I,” Emily said, and pulled her hand out of
his.

“
You belong in the
palace.”

“
No, I don’t. You belong in
the palace… I don’t belong anywhere, so the city is the best
bet.”

Chevalier put his hand under her chin and
lifted her face, “You belong with me.”

“
I used to. I know that I
made a mistake in disappearing for two months, but I can’t erase
that.”

“
That wasn’t a mistake,”
Chevalier whispered, and suddenly realized his words were
true.

“
Yes it was. I put our
relationship in jeopardy for selfish reasons, and I fully
understand why you want nothing to do with me,” Emily
explained.

“
Is that what you
think?”

“
No, that’s what I
know.”

Chevalier brushed his lips lightly against
hers, “You’re wrong.”

“
I see it in your eyes. You
hate me, and can’t even stand to look at me,” she said, and pulled
a little further away from him.

“
I’ll admit that I was mad,
but it was never hatred.”

“
I’m sorry I went
away.”

“
It was necessary. You’re
the only one in the history of the heku that has put the factions
at a standstill. It’s quite amazing,” Chevalier smiled
warmly.

“
At what price
though?”

“
No price. We lost nothing,
I swear.”

“
Just us.”

“
Not us, damnit, Em. We
didn’t lose anything.”

“
I’m so confused,” Emily
sighed.

Chevalier grinned, “That’s normal.”

Emily frowned and hit him on the chest, “I’m
not confused all the time.”

He reached up and brushed her hair away from
her face, “We’re ok.”

Emily shrugged, “We’ll see.”

“
Shall we do our
normal?”

“
What?”

“
Give me two months to make
it up to you,” he said, and grinned.

“
What happens in two months
if I’m still getting ‘you’re in my way’ vibes?”

“
In your way vibes?” he
asked, and raised an eyebrow.

“
Yes”

“
Then I’ll buy you your
house in the city, any house you want,” he promised.

“
In any city?” Emily
asked.

“
Yes, in any
city.”

“
Deal.” She reached out to
shake his hand, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him
and kissed her softly.

“
You’re never in my way,”
he told her, and pulled her onto his lap, facing him.

“
Sure…”

“
So are you leaving me for
Exavior?”

“
Yes, I always love a heku
who tries to kill me, twice in one day even.”

Chevalier cringed, “Do I get to go talk to
him?”

“
No, I think Kyle handled
it,” Emily told him.