Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series (95 page)

“
All the more reason to go
out,” Silas said. “So you aren’t afraid to leave… remember… if you
fall of your horse?”

“
Walk home?” Emily asked,
grinning apologetically.

Silas took her arm gently, “Let’s go.”

Emily sighed and followed them out, then
grinned when she saw the dark blue Ford F450 idling in front of the
barracks. It was jacked up with oversized tires and KC light along
the top and fog lights lining the front grill.

“
Now that’s a truck!” Emily
said with eyes wide. She wondered where Kralen kept this truck. The
palace garage was full of sports cars.

Mark opened the door and lifted Emily into
the truck, “I could have gotten in,” she reminded him.

“
I know,” he chuckled, and
climbed into the back with Silas. Emily’s feet didn’t reach the
floor, but she grinned and buckled herself in.

“
Sports cars are for men
who can’t handle a truck,” Kralen said, grinning, and pulled out of
Council City.

“
I knew I liked you,
Kralen,” Emily said, laughing.

“
Hey now…” Silas warned.
“You two are gravely outnumbered by sports car
fanatics.”

Emily was surprised how safe she felt with
the three heku, even with hundreds of V.E.S. looking for her. She
wrinkled her nose when Kralen pulled up to the Italian restaurant
that she met Exavior and William in.

“
I’m not sure I’m welcome
in here,” Emily said, turning to Kralen.

“
Why’s that?”

“
This is where William,
Exavior, and I got into a fight.”

Kralen chuckled, “You’ll be fine. We aren’t
going to drink.”

Emily jumped out of the truck, shocked at
how far down the ground was. She staggered slightly, but Silas put
a hand on her back to steady her. They went into the restaurant and
were sat at a booth. Mark let her slide in before sitting next to
her. She scanned the other people, looking for anyone who might
recognize her.

“
Stop looking for V.E.S.,
that’s what we’re for,” Silas said, grinning.

The waitress came over and handed them
menus, “What can I get you all to drink?”

“
Sprite, please,” Emily
said, and glanced at the others.

“
Just bring 4 of those,”
Mark told her, and winked at Emily.

“
Are you feeling sick?”
Silas asked.

“
No, I actually like
Sprite,” Emily told him, and took the drink from the
waitress.

“
What can I get for you?”
she asked, watching Silas and smiling.

Silas grinned, “The Lady’s ordering.”

“
We’ll have a large pizza,
load it up with everything but anchovies,” Emily told her, and
handed her the menu. The waitress glanced again at Silas and walked
away.

“
She likes you,” Emily
said, watching her. “Want me to set you up?”

“
No,” Silas chuckled. “I
don’t date mortals.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What’s wrong with
mortals?”

“
I’m not going there,”
Silas told her, grinning.

“
Wimp,” Emily said, and
took a drink of Sprite. She looked around the restaurant when the
three heku stopped moving and locked eyes. She was sure they were
whispering, though their lips were perfectly still, and she
couldn’t hear anything.

The waitress brought their pizza and Emily
grabbed a slice. The heku were holding still and looking at one
another.

“
I’m going to panic if you
don’t tell me what you’re doing,” Emily said, taking a
bite.

Mark turned toward her and whispered,
“V.E.S. talk is all. We’re listening, so far there are only two of
them and they haven’t recognized you.”

Emily sighed, “Perfect, they’re like gnats,
swarming everywhere.”

Mark grinned, “Kralen wanted to provoke
them, but I vetoed that idea.”

Emily glared at Kralen, “Behave.”

Kralen shrugged and smiled, “Need some
fun.”

“
I’ll give you some fun… go
back to my apartment and get my favorite pair of jeans,” she said,
and took another bite.

Silas raised an eyebrow, “Really?”

“
Can we?” Kralen asked
Mark.

Mark shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me, we’ll
go after dinner.”

“
I was kidding,” Emily
said, shaking her head.

“
So your favorite jeans
aren’t there?” Silas asked.

“
Well, they are, yes, but
you can’t go running into 100 V.E.S. over a pair of
jeans.”

“
Sure we can!”

“
You’re agreeing to this?”
Emily asked Mark.

Mark grinned, “It’s not like the V.E.S. can
catch us.”

“
So you’re going,
too?”

“
Sure, why not.”

“
That smells disgusting,”
Kralen told her, eyeing the pizza.

“
It’s not,” Emily said,
grabbing another slice. “Try some, I dare you.”

“
Oh no, I heard about Kyle
and the spaghetti.”

“
Mark, try it, it’ll go
with the Sprite.”

Mark grinned, “No way, that Sprite was
awful.”

“
If you can keep it down,
I’ll let you have my horse for a month,” Emily told him, and then
took a bite.

“
A month?” Mark asked. No
one was allowed to touch her horse. It was the largest and fastest,
and she liked to be able to outrun them.

“
Sure, a month.”

“
What if I
can’t?”

“
I need another pedicure,”
Emily told him.

“
How much?”

Silas laughed, “You aren’t seriously going
to do this.”

“
How much do I have to
eat?” Mark asked.

“
I may want in on this,”
Kralen said.

Emily laughed, “I could use a neck and
shoulder massage.”

“
Oh yes, the Elder would
love that.”

“
He likes a good bet,”
Emily said. “Besides… if you keep it down, then you get my horse
for a month after Mark.”

“
Silas wants in,” Kralen
said.

“
I do not! You are both
asking to lose this bet,” Silas told him.

“
I could use a manicure,”
Emily told him.

“
I don’t need your horse
though, mine’s plenty fast.”

“
So name it.”

“
I want a proclamation to
the Council.”

“
Saying what…
exactly?”

“
How magnificent I am,” he
said, grinning.

“
And how
humble?”

“
Sure”

“
Deal… you’ll never keep
that down,” Emily said. She grabbed a slice of pizza, and cut three
equal pieces, each a large bite, “That’s how much for the
bet.”

She sat back as they each took the small
piece of pizza and smelled it.

Mark grimaced, “Not sure this is worth your
horse.”

Mark and Kralen gasped when Silas popped the
pizza into his mouth, chewed quickly, and swallowed it with a
disgusted face. He sat perfectly still with his eyes shut as he
fought to keep it down. After a few seconds, he grinned.

“
Impressive,” Kralen said.
“Must not be that bad.”

Emily’s eyes were wide, “Oh my God, you kept
it down.”

Silas nodded, “I’ll write the proclamation
for you.”

Kralen glanced down at the pizza, and then
up to Mark, “Ready, Captain?”

“
On three… two… one,” Mark
said, and simultaneously, they both ate the pizza and began to
chew.

“
Bathroom’s that way,”
Silas said, pointing to the men’s room.

Kralen was the first to run, not bothering
to slow down to human speed. The only thing Emily saw was him
disappear from his chair and the men’s room door slamming shut. She
turned to Mark and saw the concentration on his face as he chewed
slowly.

“
Good, eh?” she asked,
grinning.

Emily moved back with wide eyes when she saw
Mark begin to gag. He covered his mouth and blurred into the men’s
room.

Silas grinned, “Pansies.”

An hour later, Kralen pulled up outside the
apartment complex. There were now only twenty V.E.S. outside of the
building, and the door to her apartment was shut, but the lights
inside were on.

“
Ok, where are they?” Silas
asked.

“
This is stupid,” Emily
told him. “I can buy more jeans.”

“
This’ll be fun, like a
game of keep away.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “When the Council
yells at you, I fully plan on telling them I objected.”

“
Sure… where are
they?”

“
In the bedroom, top
drawer,” Emily said, shaking her head as she handed him the key to
the front door.

Silas grinned at Kralen, “Ready?”

“
Let’s go,” Kralen said,
and jumped out of the truck. Silas met him and they walked up to
the front of the apartment.

“
Damnit, why aren’t they
blurring?” Emily asked.

“
No fun in that,” Mark
chuckled.

Emily watched as the V.E.S. eyed the two
heku strangely. Silas and Kralen walked past them and opened up the
door, disappearing inside. The V.E.S. outside of the building began
to get nervous and moved closer to the door.

“
Should we go help?” Emily
whispered.

“
No… you need to stay
here.”

“
Then you go help, they
could be in trouble.”

“
They aren’t.”

A few minutes later, Kralen and Silas came
out with her jeans, grinning and laughing among themselves.

“
Halt!” Harold yelled,
pointing a gun at Kralen.

Emily reached for the door handle, but Mark
grabbed her hand, “He’s ok.”

Kralen turned toward him, “What?”

“
Who are you?” Harold
asked.

Kralen squared his shoulders and turned back
to the short, fat man, “I’m your worst nightmare.”

“
Oh God,” Mark sighed, and
rolled his eyes.

Silas grinned and walked back to the truck.
He got inside and handed Emily all the clothes from the dresser
except for the jeans that Kralen held.

Harold took a timid step back. His hand was
shaking so badly, that he couldn’t keep the gun on Kralen as the
hulking heku took a step towards him.

“
You have something to say
to me, Son?” Kralen asked, glaring at the cowering
mortal.

“
It’s… you… tell Emily to
stay way,” Harold said, almost tripping over a sprinkler
head.

“
Why don’t you come with me
and tell her yourself?” Kralen grinned broadly, making sure his
teeth showed.

“
What is he doing?” Emily
asked, starting to panic.

“
Toying with them,” Silas
replied.

Harold backed up against the brick wall, his
eyes wide, “She’s… in… we’re going to… get… her.”

Kralen reached out and pulled the toupee off
of Harold’s head, and laid it over the gun, “Bring it on.”

“
Kralen…” Mark whispered,
laughing.

Kralen turned and walked back to the truck
as the V.E.S. backed away from him. He crawled into the truck,
still laughing, and within the hour, the four had hit the store and
were turning off of the Interstate onto the private lane.

“
So… let’s keep that little
side trip to ourselves,” Mark said.

Kralen grinned, “Sure thing, Captain.”

“
I’m not telling anyone,”
Emily said, still shocked they confronted the V.E.S. over a pair of
jeans.

“
Deal,” Silas said, and got
out when Kralen parked in front of the Cavalry’s
housing.

Emily hopped out of the truck and headed
inside with the bag.

“
Let’s get it over with,”
Mark said, taking the bag from her. He pulled out a bottle of
fingernail polish and opened it, smelling it briefly and wrinkling
his nose.

Emily grinned and sat down on a recliner,
slipping her shoes off. Mark sat down at the foot of the recliner
and started messily painting her toenails while she laughed. Kralen
stood at the head of the chair and started massaging Emily’s
neck.

“
I can’t believe how bad
that pizza was,” Mark said, concentrating.

“
Remind me never to try
that bet again,” Kralen said, nervously massaging her shoulders. He
was afraid the Elder would see and kill him before he had a chance
to explain.

Silas sat back with a pen and paper, “Let’s
see here… a proclamation to the Council.”

Emily sighed, “This is nice.”

“
I just hope we don’t get
caught,” Kralen said.

“
You already did,”
Chevalier said from the doorway.

Kralen jerked his hands away from Emily’s
neck and stepped away, “Sir.”

Kyle and Chevalier walked in and looked down
at Mark.

“
Lose a bet?” Kyle
asked.

“
Hey,” Emily said. “Kralen,
you’re slacking.”

Chevalier chuckled, “Might as well
finish.”

Kralen grinned and began to massage her neck
again.

Kyle watched Mark struggle to keep the
fingernail polish on her nails, but his hand seemed to have more on
it than her toes.

“
What was the bet?” Kyle
asked.