Chapter 4 - Horses

“Tell me again why I can’t go?” Chevalier asked as he watched Emily hook up the trailer.

“Because I want to do this alone,” Emily said, smiling at him. She was enjoying seeing Chevalier’s discomfort at watching her hook up the trailer. She knew he could do it twice as fast, but there were some things she enjoyed doing herself. She also knew that her limp caused by the cast was bothering him more than anything.

Chevalier sighed and looked around the lawn, “Take Kyle then.”

“No,” Emily said.

“Mark?”

Emily looked over at Chevalier, “Are we going to go through the entire guard list?”

“Maybe”

“Mark doesn’t want to drive for three hours each way, just to pick up some horses,” Emily said to him.

“Mark does too, he’s taken your safety personally,” Chevalier said, grinning.

“He’s done enough,” Emily told him, hooking up the wires for the turn signals and brake lights.

“Mark,” Chevalier said under his breath.

Mark appeared and leaned up against the horse trailer, “What’s up?

Emily glared at Chevalier, “Don’t do that.”

“What?” Chevalier asked innocently.

“I’m going out to buy some horses, Mark… alone,” she added, and struggled to haul a bale of hay into the trailer. Mark tried to help her, but she glared at him and he backed off.

“Em,” Chevalier sighed. “Your back.”

“It hurts, big deal,” she said, going into the stable.

“Mark,” Chevalier whispered again. Mark grinned and stepped into the horse trailer, ducking behind the pile of hay.

Emily came out of the stables carrying three bridles. She let Ford into the back of the trailer and went around to the Durango, “I think that’s it.”

“Last chance to take a handsomely dashing heku with you,” Chevalier said, smiling.

“I apparently am, and he should at least come ride up front. It’ll get cold back in the trailer,” Emily said, hoisting herself into the Durango.

Mark chuckled and blurred to the side of the Durango and stepped inside. As soon as the Durango was out of sight, Chevalier went back inside and met up with Kyle, and then they both headed down into the prison.

“Let me talk to her!” Exavior yelled at them.

“You know, we could start an Emily wing of the prison. Lock all of her suitors in there,” Kyle said jokingly.

“That’d save her from having to search for them when she visits,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Hello, Greg,” Kyle said, turning to the shackled heku in the cell.

Greg looked up at them wearily.

“We are here for some more fun. With Emily out of the building for seven hours or so, we have plenty of time,” Chevalier said, unlocking the door. Kyle turned the electrical current off to the shackles and unlocked them. He and Chevalier each took an arm and roughly dragged Greg to the interrogation chamber.

“We don’t spend nearly enough time in here anymore,” Kyle said, shutting the door behind them. He looked around the room, smiling.

The perfectly square room had dark rock walls and a plain dirt floor. Several tables stood toward the center, each with varying amounts of wires hooked up to it. One of the tables had ropes along the top and bottom, and could double as a rack torture if the need arose. An iron maiden stood up against one of the rock walls, and a guillotine sat across from it.

“I’m actually afraid if I come here too often, Emily will find it,” Chevalier said, forcing Greg onto the rack torture table.

“No!” Greg screamed.

“Maybe we need to reinforce the door somehow. Just in case she stumbles into it,” Kyle said, fixing Greg’s arms to the ropes as Chevalier tied his feet.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know, I swear,” Greg pleaded.

“Good idea. I’m so afraid she’s going to stumble in here someday. I know for a fact she wouldn’t understand,” Chevalier said, leaning back against the wall.

“Please… don’t do this! I’ll cooperate,” Greg begged.

“We don’t need information from you. Zohn got us what we needed to know,” Kyle told him, and sat down comfortably on a chair.

“Then why are you doing this? Please stop,” he screamed.

“The problem is, Emily’s stubborn. If she sees the door, she’ll wonder what’s inside and then she’ll find a way in,” Chevalier tried to explain over the sounds of Greg’s screaming.

“If she finds it, just tell her it’s Damon’s playground.” Kyle grinned.

“What is my playground?” Damon asked, stepping into the room.

“This place. If Emily ever finds it, we’re going to say it’s yours,” Kyle told him.

Damon nodded, “Fine by me.”

“What’s up with you two anyway? Damn, it gets annoying,” Kyle asked Damon.

“Ask the spoiled mortal. She starts it.”

“Damon,” Chevalier growled.

“Sorry, I mean… ask Emily. She starts it,” Damon said, grinning. “What are you two up to? I thought we got the information we needed out of this brave heku… who, I might add, spilled it before any torture actually happened.”

“We’re here for fun.” Kyle smiled chillingly at Greg.

“He fed off of my wife, that’s reason enough,” Chevalier said, watching the panicked look on Greg’s face.

“The beauty is, we don’t have to worry about faction issues… he was an Equites before being banished a few hundred years ago. He’s free game,” Kyle told Damon.

“So what’s on the agenda? I’m assuming Emily is preoccupied,” Damon said.

“Gone for about seven hours. She and Mark went to get some horses up north,” Chevalier said.

“Why does that make me cringe?”

“Because you care as much about her as we do, you just won’t admit it,” Kyle said.

“You just keep thinking that,” Damon growled. “Maybe I’m nervous because any time she leaves the palace, she somehow manages to find trouble.”

“She’s with Mark, she’s ok,” Chevalier said, and looked down at Greg.

“Please, no,” Greg whispered.

“You’re an idiot,” Chevalier said. “What made you think you could kidnap my family, and feed off of my wife?”

“I didn’t know, ok? I didn’t know they were yours.”

“Sure you did,” Chevalier said, and turned the crank once, stretching Greg’s limbs painfully.

Greg’s piercing screams rang through the prison.

***

“Give me the map,” Mark said, amused.

“No, I know where we’re going.” Emily looked both ways, trying to decide which to turn.

“Sure you do, so do we go north or south?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Emily pulled out the map and turned it around several times before Mark took it from her.

“Turn left,” Mark told her, and handed her the map.

“I knew that,” she said, irritated, and turned left onto the county road.

“What are we getting again?”

“Three horses, a palomino and a paint stallion, and then an appaloosa mare.” She looked up at the clouds forming.

“Are you going to breed Patra?”

“Yes, this time not with Chevalier’s Arabian,” Emily said, pulling into a large horse ranch.

“That Arabian has personality.”

Emily stopped the Durango and slid out, “Stay here, let me go see if he’s here yet.”

Mark watched Emily carefully as she went up to the house and knocked on the door. An older man answered and shook her hand, then invited her inside. Mark turned his head slightly so he could better hear what was going on inside the house.

“I’m almost ready, you’re a little early,” the man said.

“That’s fine, I’ll go wait by the trailer,” Emily told him.

“No, no, it’s going to rain soon. Wait here and I’ll be right back. Help yourself to some coffee.”

Mark settled back in his seat to wait. He could hear the man shuffling around the house while Emily sat inside and tapped her fingers impatiently against the table.

A short time later, the man came out, followed by Emily. He looked at Mark sitting in the Durango, and tipped his cowboy hat toward him. Mark just nodded and watched them.

“Here’s the appaloosa mare. She’s two years old, but broken, and a very gentle horse,” the man said.

“Do you mind if I try her out?” Emily asked.

“Not at all, let me get a saddle.”

“It’s ok,” Emily said, and used a bale of hay to hoist herself onto the mare.

The man sat back and watched Emily maneuver around the front of the ranch, “You’re right. She’s a beautiful creature.”

“The other two are over here,” he said, taking her to another part of his large stable.

Mark met them inside and took the mare out to the trailer. Emily didn’t ride the other two. They were a lot taller, and even though she wouldn’t admit it, Mark knew her back was still bothering her and it was hard for her to get onto the taller horses.

Mark loaded the paint and palomino into the trailer and heard Emily gasp. He looked over quickly, and saw that her eyes were fixed on a black stallion out in the open corral, “He’s beautiful.”

“He’s a handful,” the man said, coming to stand beside Emily. “Mustang… we caught him down in Colorado last month. We haven’t been able to break him.”

Emily watched him rear back and buck when he saw the people watching him.

“How much?” she asked, her eyes glued on the mustang.

“Ma’am, I don’t know if I’d feel right selling that beast to you. He’s an ornery old fella, mean as they come,” he said, watching the stallion wearily.

“I can handle him,” Emily said.

Mark cringed. He could just hear the fight when Emily decided to try to break the mustang herself.

“I’ll tell you what. You promise to not get yourself killed breaking him, and I’ll give him to you. He’s useless. I can’t train him, and all he does is fight me,” the man said, glancing back at Mark.

Emily nodded, “I’ll take him.”

“Ok, but let your husband put him in the trailer,” the man said, and Mark stepped forward.

“No, I’ll get him,” Emily said. She crawled through the fence and into the corral.

“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” he said, watching her.

Mark sighed from behind the man, “No use trying to stop her.”

“Yeah well, she’s pregnant and that mustang is pure evil, not a good mix,” the man said nervously.

“Emily, let me get him, please,” Mark said, stepping into the corral. He passed Emily quickly as the old rancher watched. He would tell his friends later that the man with Emily moved faster than any man he’d ever seen.

Mark took the rope that was around the nervous horse’s neck and had to use a lot of strength to get him to move. The horse reared back, but Mark held him to the ground with the rope. He was only kicked a few times before he got the door on the trailer shut and locked.

“You ok there?” the rancher asked, worried.

“Yeah, glancing blows, he barely hit me,” Mark said, smiling as one of his ribs healed.

Emily paid the man and headed back to her Durango as the rain started to pour.

“Why don’t you come on in and eat first, it’s lunch time,” the man said. Emily glanced at Mark, and he nodded.

“Sure, I’ll come eat, but Mark’s not feeling well,” Emily said, and followed the old rancher inside.

Mark sat back and listened to their conversation. It was obvious that the elderly rancher was lonely, and currently running the ranch by himself. He also kept an eye on the rain. It was a torrential downpour by the time the mortals began to eat, and he was worried about the river a few miles back.

After almost an hour, Emily poked her head out of the house and motioned for Mark to come inside. He sighed, already knowing they were staying for the night.

“The bridge is impassable because of the rain,” Emily said when Mark came in. “Grant said we can stay here tonight, he has an extra room.”

“An… extra room?” Mark asked nervously.

“It’s ok, we’ll manage one night. The phones here are out though, and I’m not getting a cell signal, are you?” Emily asked.

Mark checked his cell phone and shook his head, “Nope, no signal.”

“I hope you don’t mind a full sized bed. It’s comfortable, but small,” he said, leading Mark and Emily into the back room.

“No that’ll be fine. I hope we aren’t putting you out,” Emily said, smiling at him.

“Not at all, it’ll be good to have company tonight,” Grant said. “I’ll let you kids get settled. Feel free to take a shower if you need it, and I’ll go start dinner.”

“Oh please, Grant, let me,” Emily said, and made her way to the kitchen. Once again, the everyday busy work kept her mind occupied and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Mark was forced to watch two hours of M*A*S*H reruns with Grant, but he didn’t complain. He sat by and let the old man visit.

Emily and Grant sat down to eat dinner while Mark thumbed through the three TV channels that were available, hoping for some news on the weather. After dinner, Grant broke out Monopoly, and Mark endured two games.

Emily grinned at Mark. She could tell he wasn’t enjoying the night, but there wasn’t much else to do.

***

“Since when?” Kyle asked Greg.

Greg was panting and his face showed the pain he was feeling, “Please, it’s been a while.”

“Hrm, interesting,” Chevalier said, raising his eyebrows.

“I won’t do it again, I swear,” Greg said, screaming in pain as Damon touched the button to the electrical circuit.

“That’s almost funny. Kidnapping Emily and Allen was an accident,” Kyle chuckled.

“Almost funny,” Chevalier said, watching Greg scream. “Not funny enough, though.”

“Speaking of Emily, isn’t she late?” Damon asked, and then took his finger off of the button.

Chevalier frowned, “Yes she is. Let’s finish up here and I’ll go call her.”

“Finish up? I was just getting started,” Kyle said, frowning at Greg.

“Please, please let me go,” Greg cried.

“She is with Mark,” Damon said, and watched Greg.

“True,” Chevalier said, grinning.

***

Emily rolled over and looked at Mark. He was standing by the window, looking out, “Are you going to stand there all night?”

Mark nodded, “Yes… unless you would like me to go back to the Durango.”

“No, but you’re making me nervous.”

“Oh?” Mark turned to her.

“Your nerves… Chevalier is not going to be mad about tonight. What were we supposed to do? Float the Durango and trailer across?” Emily asked him.

“I’m not nervous, just watching the rain,” Mark said, turning back to the window.

“Ok,” Emily sighed, and curled up on her side.

Mark listened to Emily’s breathing until it turned slow and rhythmic, and then he turned to watch her sleep. He thought watching her sleep was fascinating, something he hadn’t done for almost 1300 years. She was animated and full of emotion, when most were calm and still. It wasn’t long before Emily began moving in her sleep. It started with her hands clasping, and slowly moved up her body until she was frowning.

Emily’s breathing changed, it became rapid and strained. She was clutching the covers in tightly fisted hands.

“No, don’t go,” she whispered softly.

Mark wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want Grant to hear Emily cry out in her sleep. He watched her closely and knelt down beside the bed when she became more restless and her cries got louder. He touched her shoulder softly and she settled down a little.

Mark began to wonder what horrors Emily had been through since joining Chevalier in the world of the immortal. Her peaceful ranch life, upended, as she was thrown into an ancient war full of violence and deceit. It didn’t surprise him that she had nightmares often. Mark resigned himself, after watching Emily, that if he ever fell for a mortal, he wouldn’t involve her in his world. It wasn’t worth it.

Mark’s eyes fell to the bulge on Emily’s stomach and he realized how rarely it happened, a mortal and a heku. It was almost too much to even think about, the improbable odds of it happening. He made the choice before he turned immortal to give up any of the mortal emotions having to do with love and family. Now though, he looked at this mortal, one who loved a heku, fought for a heku, and carried the child of a heku, and suddenly, everything seemed possible again.

“Don’t… it hurts,” Emily said softly.

Mark sat on the floor beside the bed and took her hand. She laced her fingers through his in her sleep, and settled back down for the night as she pulled his hand close to her.

***

“She’s asleep,” Chevalier said, after taking a moment to see if he could figure out where Emily was. He’d called her cell phone, but there was no answer. One of the servants found a storm warning in the area Emily was visiting.

“She’s with Mark. This just means we can keep going,” Kyle said, watching Greg cry tearlessly.

“He’s kind of pathetic,” Damon said, hooking a clamp on Greg’s left foot. “I saw this once during the Crusades. We’d just run into a group of Cathars who had a hold of one of the Knights, and they were doing this to some of the Crusaders. I always wanted to try it.”

Damon went over to a newly stoked fire, and pulled a hot poker out of it and looked at it as it glowed red, “They burned their feet… guess it’s pretty painful.”

“No, please,” Greg said, his voice hoarse from screaming.

Damon shrugged and touched the glowing poker to the bottom of Greg’s foot. Greg screamed an almost soundless scream, his voice had given out and his wails were nothing but whispers.

“That smells awful,” Kyle said, watching Damon.

“Yeah it does, maybe that wasn’t a good idea.” Damon returned the poker to the fire.

“Let’s call it. It’s almost morning and I’m hoping Emily will be home soon,” Chevalier said.

Damon nodded, “Ok, I’ll have a guard return him to his cell. I’m in the mood for some breakfast.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kyle said, grinning. “I haven’t had a night like that in a while, deserves some feeding time. Come with, Chevalier.”

Chevalier thought for a moment and then nodded, “Sure, let’s go.”

***

“Those were some good pancakes. My Beth used to make pancakes every Sunday morning,” Grant said, taking a few more pancakes from the stack.

“Thanks, they are always my favorite.” Emily smiled.

“You still feeling too sick to eat?” Grant asked Mark.

Mark nodded, “Yes, sick.”

Emily finished up breakfast and drove out with Grant to check the bridge. It was cleared of debris. Emily and Mark were on the road headed back to Council City within the hour.

“Can I ask you something, purely in confidence?” Mark asked.

“Sure, ask away,” Emily said, slipping her sunglasses out of the visor.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked, looking at her.

“I’m fine, why?”

“It’s just… you know. Nightmares, they seem pretty bad.”

Emily shrugged, “I guess I’m getting used to them.”

“Did you have them before you met Chevalier?” He knew this was crossing the line, and hoped Emily wouldn’t say anything to the Elder.

“No”

“I guess I just worry about how much you’ve been through lately. It seems you can’t spend a nice quiet day doing nothing.” Mark turned back to the fields by the Interstate.

“Yesterday was a nice quiet day. I know you were bored, but I enjoyed it,” Emily said, smiling.

“You’re probably the strongest mortal I’ve ever met,” Mark said, impressed.

Emily laughed, “Too bad no one else thinks so.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. Everyone knows it, and it scares them.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s your strength that gets you into trouble. If you weren’t strong, you wouldn’t take on the Encala alone, or survive being captured and tortured by the Valle.”

“I didn’t have a choice though.”

“Doesn’t matter. Any mortal I’ve met would have curled up into a ball and withered away,” Mark said, smiling.

“Not my style.”

“My point exactly.”

“While we’re talking in confidence…” Emily said, and glanced at Mark.

“Yes?”

“What’s so appealing about my blood?” Emily cringed. She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to ask.

Mark winced, “Well… it’s… at least it smells… really good.”

“Yes, but how?”

“Hrm… sweeter smelling, it makes us…” Mark thought for a moment. “It’s hard to talk about. When you think about a mortal as a friend, it’s hard to think of them as nourishment also.”

“Try,” Emily asked.

“Ok… so when you’re not pregnant, your scent is sweet and extremely enticing. When you simply walk by a heku, it makes our instincts to feed kick in. It burns our throats and makes our mouths water. The instincts of a heku are very strong. We’re made predators, and that’s always at the forefront of everything we do,” Mark explained.

“And when I am pregnant?”

“That intensifies by a hundred times,” Mark said, smiling slightly.

“So how do you control it?”

“It’s hard, but we have to try to remember who you are, that you aren’t an available option for feeding. Then once in a while… you catch us off guard, and we may have to stay away from you for a few minutes while we re-acclimate.”

“Hrm,” Emily said, thinking.

“Did I offend you?”

“No, not at all. I appreciate your honesty,” she said, and smiled at him.

“While we’re being honest… are you going to try to break that mustang?” Mark asked her.

“Of course, after the baby comes.”

“Chevalier’s not going to like that. You can see the look in that horse’s eyes, he’s insane.”

“He’s never been given a chance. He’ll be ok.”

“I’m not worried about the horse. I’m worried about you.”

Emily patted his leg, “I’ve been doing this since I was a little girl. I know what I’m doing.”

“But your back…”

“It’s still touchy, but it’ll quit hurting.”

“Hopefully. I just can’t imagine if he bucks you off,” Mark said, concerned.

“Oh, he’ll buck me off.” Emily laughed, “Then I’ll crawl back on.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” Mark said. He watched as Emily pulled up in front of the palace’s stable.

It took Mark and Emily almost an hour to get the mustang into the open corral. By then, a lot of the Cavalry joined them to see what the fighting was about. While Mark and Emily worked to get a bridle on the wild stallion, the other members of the Cavalry took the three horses into stalls and made sure they were fed and watered, and then they came back out to watch.

Emily tried to calm the mustang with treats as Mark attempted to slip the bridle on him. After the third time Mark was sent flying with a kick from the malicious stallion, both of them took a break. Emily stood outside of the corral with her arms on the railing and her chin resting on her hands. The mustang was bucking and slinging his head, obviously unhappy with his situation.

“That’s the meanest horse I’ve ever seen,” Mark said, stretching as one of his ribs healed.

“He’ll calm down,” Emily assured him, watching the horse.

“You do realize he’s going to try to kill you.”

“Yes I do.” Emily smiled. The other members of the Cavalry looked nervously at Mark.

“Watch it, here comes the Elder,” one of the Cavalry said, and the rest of them turned and stood at attention.

Emily turned as Kyle, Damon, and Chevalier walked toward them. Without a word, Chevalier picked Emily up and kissed her. She felt a rush of wind and the bed at her back before she even realized they’d moved.

***

“Welcome back,” Chevalier said, and kissed Emily’s shoulder.

Emily looked at him and grinned, “I guess so. What did you do while I was gone?”

“Heku stuff,” he said as Emily looked into his eyes. She noticed they were spirited and invigorated.

Emily laughed, “You were doing something you don’t want me to know about.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because you had way too much fun while I was gone, and it had to have been something you can only do when I’m not here, or you’d do it more often… I’ll figure it out,” Emily told him, and rolled out of bed.

“Hey, get back here,” Chevalier said, reaching for her.

“Believe it or not, when I was kidnapped from the corral, I was doing something,” Emily said, laughing as she quickly got dressed.

“Hmm, I hadn’t noticed.”

“Yes, I would imagine not.”

Emily headed back to the corral. She was getting extremely frustrated with the cast, even though she didn’t need the crutches anymore, the cast slowed her down enough it was irritating her. When she finally got within sight of the corral, she frowned. The pen was entirely surrounded by heku.

“What’s going on?” Emily asked Kyle, and squeezed her way in between him and the Cavalry member beside him.

“Mark and Damon are trying to bridle that mustang,” Kyle said, amused.

Emily was watching them and she felt the fury rising. Mark had a bridle, and Damon was trying to walk up to the stallion with his hands out. The mustang’s ears were back flat against his head, and his tail was swishing angrily.

“Damnit,” Emily scowled.

Emily slipped quickly through the fence and Ford followed after her. A murmur ran through the watching crowd as Emily appeared in the corral with the agitated mustang. They had seen it kick and step on the heku a lot in the last hour, and now the fragile Elder’s wife was with it.

“Damon, back up slowly,” Emily told him.

“You… get out of here,” Damon said, not even looking at her.

“Mark, get back,” she said, ignoring Damon. She saw Mark back up to the fence.

“Emily, maybe we should…” Mark started, but Emily cut him off.

“Damon, don’t be an idiot, back out of here, now,” Emily said, standing beside him. The horse was hunched back, ready to rear. Ford tucked his tail and ran for the fence, glancing at Emily nervously.

“Your dog is smarter than you are. Now get out before he kicks again,” Damon told her.

“He’s fighting because you’re a moron,” Emily said. She pushed Damon hard and he stumbled out of the way just as the mustang’s powerful hoof slammed into where his head had just been. Emily crouched low under his fighting hooves and rolled out from under him.

The mustang pulled back and watched, his ears pressed against his head. Emily took a treat and inched toward him, locking his gaze. His ears twitched forward as she approached.

“That’s right, listen to me,” Emily said soothingly.

“Emily…” Damon growled.

“Ford, get the heku,” Emily said, and grinned when she heard the Border collie’s low growl. She could almost see the low crouch of the dog, just as she’d taught him.

“What’s going on?” Emily heard Chevalier ask from behind her.

“Get your demon dog off of me before I snap his neck,” Damon growled.

Emily reached out her hand flat, with the treat perched on top. The mustang snorted and took the treat out of her hand. She reached out and gently rubbed the velvet on his nose.

“Emily inherited a mean mustang,” Kyle told Chevalier.

“Mean? That sonofabitch is more than mean,” Damon said, watching the dog. Ford’s hackles were still up as he growled at the heku.

Chevalier watched as Emily laid her forehead against the muzzle of the pure black stallion, “He doesn’t look very malicious, unlike the dog.”

Mark slowly hobbled over to the others, holding his side, “That mustang needs to be put down.”

“Is he really that bad?” Chevalier asked, eyeing Emily.

“Worse than bad, Elder,” Kyle told him.

Emily let go of the horse and backed away slowly to the fence. He again lowered his ears, and began to feverishly flick his tail back and forth. When her back hit the fence, she turned to Ford, “That’ll do boy.”

Ford stood up, tail wagging, and ran to Emily.

“Sic your dog on me again and I’ll kill him,” Damon said angrily.

Emily spun on him, glaring, “Touch my dog and I’ll let him eat your ashes.”

Kyle’s hand quickly sprang out and grabbed Damon as he started to step forward, “Calm down.”

“Me? She’s the one that taught her dog to attack heku,” Damon said, turning to the Captain.

“Emily, did you teach Ford to attack?” Chevalier asked, frowning.

“Yes, I did,” she said, patting the Border collie’s head. “If Damon would have done as I asked, I wouldn’t have had Ford attack.”

“I should’ve let that damned horse kill you,” Damon said, gritting his teeth.

“There is nothing wrong with that mustang.”

“Nothing wrong? You better open your eyes before he kills you,” Damon said, surprised. “That mustang is pure evil.”

“Says the vampire.”

“Spoiled brat.”

“Ford, get the heku,” Emily said, and smiled sweetly when her Border collie ran at Damon, then crouched low, growling.

“Emily…” Chevalier began, but stopped when he heard the loud angry whinny from the mustang.

Emily spun and saw a strange heku approach the mustang with a bridle. The mustang reared back and Emily broke into a run toward the feral horse. Just as the stallion kicked violently at the heku, knocking him into a bloody heap on the ground, Emily felt arms wrap around her waist and stop her forward movement.

“Let me go,” Emily said, kicking.

“No,” she heard Chevalier’s angry voice and stopped fighting. “Call Ford off of Damon.”

“That’ll do, Ford,” Emily said, and sighed. The dog ran over to her proudly.

“Damon, Mark, Emily… to the stables. The rest of you find something more productive to do,” Chevalier ordered.

The heku immediately blurred away and the stallion’s ears cocked forward. Chevalier followed Damon and Mark into the stables, while Emily slowly hobbled in, followed by Ford.

“What was that?” Chevalier asked, looking from Damon to Emily.

“He wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to back off of my mustang,” Emily said, putting her hands on her waist.

“Because I didn’t want her around that devil horse,” Damon said, glaring at Emily. “Then she had her damn dog attack me.”

Chevalier turned to Mark, “What are your impressions of the mustang?”

Mark looked at Emily apologetically, “Emily got him for free because the previous owner couldn’t break him. From what I’ve seen, he’s just plain nasty, and I’d wager… untrainable.”

“That’s not true!” Emily yelled at him.

“Mark, you can go,” Chevalier said, and he looked out at the mustang in the corral.

“No horse is untrainable,” Emily said when she started to feel she was going to lose this battle.

“I’m going to watch him closely,” Chevalier said. “If I think he’s dangerous, we’ll have to put him down.”

“Over my dead body,” Emily snapped.

“Is that an offer?” Damon said, infuriated.

“I swear, you two. I’m going to have to move you both to opposite ends of the continent if you don’t stop bickering,” Chevalier said, sighing.

“Just tell him to stay away from my horse,” Emily asked.

“You can have him, but I’m not cleaning up the blood when he kills you,” Damon told her.

“Fine, that’s settled. I’m going to watch the mustang…” Chevalier told them both.

“He’s mine,” Emily scowled.

“I’m going to watch the mustang,” Chevalier said again. “Damon will leave him alone, and Emily, just stay away from Damon.”

“My pleasure,” she said.

“Now… did you teach Ford to attack heku?” Chevalier asked.

“Ford… get the heku,” Emily said, grinning, and he turned on the two heku and growled, his teeth glaringly vicious.

Chevalier rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, “Why would you do that?”

“I’m actually being nice… I could have said…” Emily turned to the Border collie. “Ford, get the Encala.”

Damon jerked away just as the sleek dog launched at his throat. Ford caught Damon’s arm and began to tear at it while he dangled above the ground.

“Emily!” Chevalier yelled, shocked.

“That’ll do, Ford,” Emily said, and patted the dog’s head when he came to her.

Damon crouched, his eyes were furious and his hands were curved into claws. Emily had seen that look before and took a step back from him.

Chevalier appeared in front of Emily, facing Damon, “Stop it.”

Damon took a deep breath and stood up straight.

“Damon, take the night off,” Chevalier ordered, and Damon blurred from the stables.

“One of these days, you’re going to push him too far,” Chevalier said, turning to Emily.

“If he would just stop being so irritating,” Emily said, defending herself.

“I suggest you two just avoid each other.”

“I will if he’ll stay away from my horses.”

“I’ll talk to him about it,” Chevalier said, and looked down at Ford. “Do you want to explain why you taught the dog his new tricks?”

Emily smirked, “Thought it could come in handy, and it did.”

“Does he know any other fun little things?” Chevalier said sarcastically.

Emily nodded.

Chevalier sat down on a bale of hay, “Ok… let’s see it.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What’s with the attitude?”

“No attitude, I just want to see.”

“You are acting weird. What did you do while I was gone?” She crossed her arms and watched him. Somehow, he seemed haughty and overconfident.

“I didn’t do anything you would be concerned about.”

“Ford, get my cattle prod,” Emily said, and Ford ran off.

Chevalier disappeared and reappeared with the prod in his hand, “Very funny.”

“I’m going to find out what you did while I was gone,” Emily said, and headed out of the stable.

Chevalier felt a pang of panic creep into him. He knew if Emily set her mind to it, that she’d find the interrogation chamber. He set out to talk to Kyle about locking the room down further.

“Hey, Damon!” Emily yelled when she saw him up ahead of her.

He turned and looked at her suspiciously, then waited for her to catch up.

“Sorry about the dog, ok?”

“Yeah, ok,” Damon replied, and then turned to walk away.

Emily walked with him, “So… how’s it going?”

He looked at her and narrowed his eyes, “Ok.”

“Have fun last night?”

“Yes”

“Were you with Chevalier?” she asked, struggling to keep up with him.

“Yes”

“What’d you do?” Emily asked.

Damon turned and looked at her, “Why do you care?”

“Because I want to know.”

Damon shook his head, “Interrogate someone else.”

Emily sighed and hobbled back into the palace.

The second she had the heku take off her cast, she regretted it. It was harder to walk without it. Her leg still ached and the muscles were weak. Emily dug around in the storage room where first aid supplies were kept and found the ace bandages. She wrapped one around her lower leg, and another around her ankle, and it helped some. She was now limited to just a painful limp.

“Hi, Kyle,” Emily said, walking up to him casually.

Kyle turned to her and frowned, “Where’s the cast, Em?”

“Gone. So… how’s it going?” she asked, leaning against the wall. She tried to make it look like she was just leaning casually, not that she was desperate to get pressure off of her injured leg.

“Cast…” he said.

“Got tired of it. Were you with Chev last night?” she asked him.

Kyle grinned, “Yes.”

“Doing what?”

“Heku stuff.”

“I want to know what, exactly,” Emily said.

“No, and drop it. Don’t let your scheming little mind turn this into a challenge,” Kyle said, amused.

“My scheming little mind?”

“Yes… you are going to turn this into a game… a challenge of sorts, until you suddenly find something you wish you wouldn’t have,” Kyle said, crossing his arms.

“For hell sake, just tell me.”

“Let me help you up to your room.” Kyle took her arm gently.

Emily ripped it out of his grip, “I don’t need your help.”

“So your leg doesn’t hurt at all?”

“No.” She glared at him. Now she was trapped. She knew if she took even a single step, he’d know. Her back was aching from the night in the hard bed and all of the driving. She knew she couldn’t hide that much longer either.

“Fine, then go by yourself,” Kyle said, watching her.

“I will when I feel like it.”

“That bad, huh?” he asked, leaning against the wall beside her.

“Go away.”

“Stop being stubborn and let me help you.”

“No”

She gritted her teeth and took a step away from the wall. The pain in her leg was much worse than before, and her back was seizing up. She held back the agony and walked slowly away from him. She knew he was watching, but she had to keep going. She was glad when Kyle stayed against the wall and didn’t follow her to the stairs.

Emily looked up the long flight of stairs and sighed. She put her good leg up a step and winced as her weight was on her injured leg and she pulled herself up. She tried another step, but her injured leg gave out and she cried out in pain and fell to her knees on the stairs. She hated the tears that were filling her eyes, and squeezed them, hoping to will away the pain.

“Are you ok?” Emily heard from behind her and she sighed, it was Damon.

“I’m fine,” she said, not looking toward him.

“It doesn’t look like you’re fine.”

“I am.”

“You are…” Damon said, lifting her gently, “The most stubborn being I’ve ever met, and that includes all species and races.”

“Put me down,” she demanded.

“I will in a second,” he told her, and blurred into her room. Damon sat her down softly on the bed, “See, that wasn’t that bad.”

“I didn’t need your help.”

“Oh, but you did.” Damon started going through a black bag high up on a shelf.

“What are you doing?” Emily asked, watching him carefully.

Damon put the bag back and turned with a syringe in his hand.

“No!” she screamed at him, and tried to crawl across the bed. She felt his hand against her good ankle.

“Chev! Kyle!” she screamed.

“Just hold still… damn,” Damon said, pulling the cap off of the medicine.

Emily brought the heel of her foot up hard against his jaw and heard it crack. Damon reeled back and cursed as he healed. When he turned back, Emily was limping toward the bathroom.

Damon was able to appear behind her instantly and give her the injection before she could turn.

“No!” she screamed, and turned angrily to him.

Emily swayed slightly and her eyes began to glaze over. She finally collapsed into Damon’s arms. He lifted her up and put her on the bed just as Kyle and Chevalier came into the room.

“Sorry about the jaw,” Chevalier said, taking the empty syringe from him.

“What’s up with her and needles?” Damon asked, flexing his jaw.

Kyle watched Emily sleep, “No one knows, thanks though. Conditions for her guards, I can’t give her any more pain meds. I don’t think she banked on us just finding someone else. She needed it though.”

“Yes, thank you. Now get the doctor, see if we need to re-cast it or what,” Chevalier said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I’ll put out an order about removing her cast… I don’t think she could get it off alone,” Damon sighed.

“I’m guessing it’s her back too,” Kyle said, frowning.

“She tried to find out about last night from me,” Damon said, leaning back against the wall.

“Yeah, me too,” Kyle said.

“Damn, it’s going to be hard to stop her now,” Chevalier sighed. “There’s no way she would understand that room.”

“We reinforced the door this morning. Even if she finds it, there’s no way she’s going to get in,” Damon told them.

“It’s Emily. She’ll find a way,” Kyle said, shrugging.

“You give the mortal too much credit,” Damon told them, glancing at her. “She’s a weak female mortal. I don’t expect she’ll get in there.”

Chevalier grinned at Kyle, “Weak female mortal… let’s keep that comment to ourselves, shall we?”