Chapter 19 - Alert Take 2

Emily sat up in bed and looked toward the window when she heard the alarm sound. Soon, her room was full of both Cavalry guards and guards from the castle.

“Come on, down to the cave room,” Kyle said, pulling the covers off of Emily and Alexis.

Emily handed Alexis up to Silas, “Keep her safe.”

Silas nodded and ran the toddler down to the cave room.

Emily grabbed some clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.

“Come on! We have to get you down there,” Kyle said frantically.

Emily came out and was tying up her hair, “Nope, not hiding.”

The guards from the castle looked at her, surprised, and the Cavalry guards all looked to Kyle.

“Oh no, you’re not going to fight,” Kyle said, taking her arm.

“Yes I am. $10 says they are here after me.” Emily put on her shoes and headed for the door.

Kyle grabbed her wrist, “I’ll have you restrained.”

“I’ll ash you first, I’m fighting… period,” Emily said, glaring at him.

Kyle grinned, “You can’t ash me.”

They all turned when they heard the front doors to the castle crash in, and the sounds of fighting from down below them. Emily ran to the secret doors, so the heku all headed down toward the sounds of battle. She shut the secret door and ran for the stairs.

Emily took the stairs down two at a time, looking for some of the attackers. She saw three Valle on the second floor and walked up to them, “Good day for an attack, eh?”

They turned quickly and their eyes grew wide when they saw her. One of them grabbed her while another tied something around her eyes.

“Damn, we could get promoted for getting her,” one of them said.

“Not what we came for, but pretty damn valuable,” another said, excited.

“Stay calm, Sweetheart, taking you to the General,” she heard someone say to her.

Emily nodded. She thought that was perfect. They were going to take her to whomever was leading this attack. She was thrown over the shoulder of a large heku and felt the wind fly past her as she was blurred out of the castle. Just as the sounds of the ocean grew closer, she was set down and her mouth was uncovered.

“Damnit, Vick, you shouldn’t carry her like that! It can hurt the baby,” a gruff voice growled.

“Sorry, Sir… I didn’t realize that.” His voice sounded tense and panicked.

Emily sighed, irritated.

“Oh, he’ll be pleased we found her though,” a voice said.

“So glad to oblige,” Emily said, grinning.

“Did he hurt you, Child?”

“Nope.” Emily was trying to hide the excitement from her voice.

She swayed slightly when the ground moved out from under her as she felt the familiar rocking of a boat. The engines started up and the sounds of the waves breaking on the beach began to fade.

“Good, good. I’m very pleased,” someone said from behind Emily. His voice was soft, yet confident, and it sent a shiver up her spine.

“You might as well take the blindfold off,” Emily said calmly.

“And allow you to turn us to ash? I think not.”

Emily chuckled, “Like a blindfold’s ever kept me from it.”

The boat suddenly grew silent and Emily just stood quietly, waiting for the heku to say something. She could hear whispers, but wasn’t able to tell what they were saying.

“All the same, we leave the blindfold on,” she heard from a different voice beside her.

Emily shrugged, “Have it your way.”

“Have a seat, Child,” she heard, and someone took her arm and led her to a soft chair. As she sat down, she felt a handcuff tighten onto each wrist and discovered she’d been restrained to the chair.

“Are you comfortable?” someone asked her.

“Handcuffs aren’t really my thing, but sure,” she said, smiling.

“Do you require sustenance?”

“You mean am I hungry? No, I’m fine.”

“Good, we weren’t planning on having a mortal on board, not sure what we could scrounge up.”

There were whispers again, and the one Emily thought might be the leader finally spoke, “How far along are you?”

“You need to stop listening to Damon,” Emily told him.

“Why is that? Though, it’s hard to listen to him when he’s been banished.”

“Who are you?” Emily asked him.

“You don’t know me. I’m Chris, the Valle’s Chief Interrogator.”

“So you replaced Exavior?”

“Yes,” Chris said, and Emily heard him move a chair up to her.

“Well, Chief Interrogator… I’m not pregnant.”

“Until you cooperate, you can stay down in the hold,” he said, and the room grew quiet.

Emily sighed and tried to slip out of the restraints. She couldn’t ash the boat if she wasn’t able to get loose. Without being able to see, they felt like regular handcuffs, but they were tight enough she couldn’t even begin to slip her hand out.

Emily sat back and waited for someone to come down again. It seemed like hours passed before she heard someone sit in the chair in front of her.

“Are you ready to talk?” Chris asked.

“I am. I have a question first though.”

“What might that be?”

“Aren’t Chief Interrogators supposed to be able to detect when someone’s lying to them, or is it just Zohn that can do that?”

“We all can, it comes with experience.”

“Ahh, I see, and you’re new, so I guess you are just learning, maybe not very good at it yet,” Emily told him. She heard a hiss and the chair slammed back against a wall.

“How far along are you?” Chris asked angrily.

“I’m not pregnant. You should be able to smell that,” Emily said again, accentuating each word.

“You will tell me,” Chris yelled, and stormed out of the room.

Emily shrugged and then listened carefully when the engines to the boat turned off. She couldn’t hear the lapping of waves, and wondered if they were anchored out in the ocean.

“Hey geniuses… why don’t you walk your little selves into a grocery store and buy a pregnancy test? I pee on it, and you’ll see that you were all lied to,” Emily called out.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? Have us pull in to shore so your little Equites could come and rescue you?” Chris said from behind her.

“Yes because I have contact with them as we speak, and my implanted GPS system has given them our exact location.” Emily was going to say more, but stopped when Chris slapped her.

Chris hissed, “Respect, Child.”

“You hit like my grandmother.”

When Chris’s fist connected with her face, it threw the chair back and she landed hard against the floor.

“Respect,” he said again. Chris righted her chair and then left, slamming the door behind him.

Emily sighed, “Ok, so that one hurt,” she said to no one, and flexed her jaw.

“Are you ready to talk?” Chris asked when he came back.

“Yes,” Emily nodded.

“How far along are you?”

“Three months,” Emily said softly. She knew how to play this game.

“See, how hard was that?”

Emily jumped when she felt an ice pack pressed against the side of her face, “I don’t need that, thanks.”

“Very well,” Chris said, and she heard him sit down in the chair. “Is the Elder the father?”

“No,” Emily said. She figured why bother telling the truth at all now.

“Your essence ring is still on, do not lie to me.” He was getting angry.

“It wasn’t infidelity. It was Chevalier’s idea to let Damon have a go.”

“Damon is the father?” Chris asked.

“Yes”

“Interesting,” Chris said, obviously thinking it through.

“He wasn’t interesting at all, he had a little dick,” Emily said, and grinned some.

“Do you always speak what’s on your mind?”

“Yes, pretty much.”

“Do you find that often gets you into trouble?”

“Yes”

Chris sighed, “Slow learner then aren’t you?”

“Me? Haven’t the Valle learned anything from trying to take me in the past?”

“Such as?”

“Such as… it never works, and when I retaliate, heku tend to turn to ash,” she explained.

“Yes, we are aware of that and have taken precautions.”

“Your little handcuffs are hurting me,” Emily said truthfully.

“I bet they are, but we can’t risk taking them off.”

“Loosen them at least before I lose a hand.”

Chris chuckled, “No… however, I will move you to the bed for the night.”

Emily tensed. The last time she’d been restrained to a bed by the Valle, the pain had been excruciating. She felt her hands come loose from the chair, and Chris helped her to her feet and led her to a bed. She laid down and her hands were both fastened above her to the headboard. She relaxed some when she realized the position wouldn’t cause the muscle spasms.

“Good night, Child,” Chris said, and Emily was alone again.

She slipped in and out of sleep all night. She wasn’t tortured by muscle pain, but staying flat on her back all night wasn’t very comfortable. What Emily assumed was the next morning, she heard the door open.

“We have more questions for you,” Chris said, and released the handcuffs from the bed. He moved Emily back into the chair and refastened them.

“Can I have one hand?” she asked him, and after he laughed, he let her right hand go.

Emily smiled slightly.

“Do you know where the political prisoners are kept?” Chris asked.

“No, I know where the regular prison is,” she said.

Chris sighed, “Don’t lie to me, Child. I want to know where Selhman and Ingram are.”

“How am I supposed to know that?”

“We know all about you. You spend a lot of time down in the prisons, and we need to know where they are.”

“Yeah… well… I don’t stop and ask everyone’s name.”

“Where are they?” Chris yelled, slamming his fists onto Emily’s chair.

“I don’t know!” Emily yelled back.

She heard Chris sit back down and when he spoke, his voice was calm, “I find it hard to believe that you, of all people, don’t know where these prisoners are.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re nosey. You go where you don’t belong, you ask what you shouldn’t, and you know more than any mortal should,” Chris told her.

Emily frowned, “Nice.”

“Tell me what I want to know and we’ll let you free.”

“You would not… I may not be 9,000 years old, but I wasn’t born yesterday.” Emily could feel her temper rising, something she reveled in. She would need that anger to retaliate.

“I’m sure the Equites would gladly trade two small prisoners for the Winchester, especially the pregnant Winchester,” Chris said, and he sounded pleased with himself.

Emily felt the familiar pull as she was able to draw from the emotions and ready herself for the attack, “I don’t need to see.”

“What do you mean?” Chris asked, and she heard him stand up quickly.

“You made the same mistake the Encala did… assuming I have to be able to see to attack.” Emily grinned.

She heard a frantic commotion moments before letting go and sending out waves of anger. The boat fell silent and Emily slipped off her blindfold. She shielded her eyes against the bright light until they adjusted, and then looked around.

The boat was about as big as the one Chevalier had. Emily was in a red stateroom that was lavishly decorated with vases and delicate statues. One handcuff dangled from her right wrist, and she was able to kick at the arm of the chair to free the other hand. Moving quickly up the stairs, she looked out over the ocean. There was no land in sight. The deck was covered in ash, and she wiped a trickle of blood from her nose.

Emily moved swiftly through the boat to make sure no heku was left alive, and ended her search on the bridge. Brushing the ashes from the Captain’s chair to the floor, she sat down and looked at the controls. They were the same as the ones David taught her to use, but she had no idea which way to go to get back to the island.

She heard quiet voices over the radio, so she reached over and turned it up.

“Council City is clear, heading back to base,” she heard a man say.

“Copy that, Island Coven is clear, team ten heading back to base,” a woman said a few seconds later.

There was static and a soft voice said, “Base, Team 4 leaving Thukil.”

Emily frowned. She wasn’t sure if the Valle had wiped out the city and the island, or if they were just clearing their forces.

“Navis did you copy? All heading back to base,” a female said.

There was a long pause.

“Navis do you read?” she asked again.

“Team ten to Navis,” a man said.

Emily picked up the microphone, “Is Navis the boat?”

There was silence for a few moments.

“Who is speaking?” the woman asked.

“Angela, I’m out with Chris, but he’s busy with the Winchester,” Emily said, and grinned.

“Yes, Angela, the boat is Navis. Tell Chris to return to base with her,” the woman said, irritated.

“Roger that,” Emily said, and started flipping through the channels on the radio until she heard idle chatter.

“No, the damn fish were not biting up there,” she heard a man say, irritated.

“Yes they were. You’re just not using the right bait,” someone answered him.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I could use some help,” Emily said into the microphone.

“Well hello, Ma’am, how can we help?” another stranger said.

“If I give you my coordinates, can you tell me which direction to head to get back to northern Maine?” She knew that sounded childish and uncertain, but that’s all she could think of.

“We can try, what’s your location, Darlin?”

“Please don’t think I’m stupid, but I don’t really know how to read this… I’ll give you the numbers.”

“Ok, are you out here alone, Ma’am? You sound like you’re in trouble,” one of them asked.

“I’ll be ok if I can just get back to Jonesport, Maine. So… 42 degrees, 58’35 point 39 north and 67 degrees, 29’31 point 84 west.”

“If you head northwest, you should come close.”

Emily nodded and started up the engines.

“I’m only about an hour from you, Ma’am. Why don’t I come help?” he asked.

“No, no, I can find my way, thank you,” Emily said, and turned the radio back to the Valle channel.

Emily tapped the compass. She knew it always pointed north, or was supposed to, but she’d always been irritated how it fluctuated though, and if you tapped it, it could point the complete opposite direction. Emily searched around and found a clock, it was 11am.

Pointing the boat away from the sun, Emily kicked up the engines and headed off toward the northwest. While the boat slowly made its way back to Maine, Emily found a broom and started sweeping ashes into the Atlantic Ocean. She guessed everyone would be upset about that, but she didn’t care.

Once the ashes were swept into the water, she started nosing around. The boat was mostly empty. There were no personal belongings, or any sign that anyone was staying there. She did find one door marked ‘office,’ but it was locked. It took a lot of kicking and then one strategically placed hit with a hammer before the door opened.

Emily sat down at the desk and started looking through papers. Not much of it made sense. Most were papers about disciplinary action against members of the Valle or crew rosters. She flipped open a large book and thumbed through the pages. It was an atlas with little names handwritten on some of the pages. She paused on the map of Rhode Island when she saw the name “Exavior” written in long-hand above one of the cities.

“Hrm… idiots,” Emily said, and shut the book. The other book on the desk looked like a journal, but when she opened it, it was more like a chronological outline of the Winchester family. Emily turned to the back of the book where she saw herself listed with Allen, Alexis, and then Baby3. She laughed when she saw that Chevalier was listed as the father of the first two, and Damon of the unnamed baby.

Emily started searching the office for anything else of importance, but all she could find was an empty briefcase. She put the map book and the Winchester book into the brief case, along with all of the papers from the desk, then she shut it and took it with her up onto the deck.

Emily ran for the bridge when she heard the radio.

“Navis, why are you not returning to base?” the woman asked again, aggravated.

Emily picked up the microphone, “What makes you think I’m not heading to base?”

“We show you heading west of the staging area. Head back to base this instant. The Elders want to talk to the Winchester immediately,” the woman demanded.

Emily cringed. She hadn’t considered they had GPS on the boat. She scanned the area for any boats and sighed.

“Fine, I was going to leave this as a little surprise… but… this is actually Emily. I ashed your entire crew,” she said, and heard only silence for a few minutes. “Hello?”

“This is no time for jokes, Angela,” an angry man said.

“If I see one boat approach me, they’ll be ash before you can read the name of this boat. Is that understood?” she asked sternly.

The channel fell silent and Emily kicked the boat up faster. She ignored the whine in the engines. She was in a race for Maine, and had to get to the island before the Valle caught up with her.

Emily turned the radio over to scan and sat back to watch. From the Captain’s chair, she had a 360 degree view of the ocean. She searched for binoculars but didn’t find any. She supposed with the eyes of a heku, they wouldn’t need them.

Hours passed as Emily watched the compass and the location of the sun, and tried to keep a heading going directly northwest. Just before dark, she saw land approaching and turned the boat north, hoping to run into something familiar. She’d been on the ferry enough at Jonesport, that she hoped she could find the town from the water, but she knew it would be hard in the dark.

Emily stopped the engines and slipped on the large coat that was on the back of the Captain’s chair when it got cold. She also put on the Captain’s hat and tucked her hair up into it.

She sat back and watched waves pass as she waited for the sun to rise so she could see better. Just as the sun was coming up, she saw a helicopter off in the distance, heading away from the land.

Emily grabbed for the microphone when she heard Kyle’s voice, “Equites 1, you are clear for the north lawn.”

“Kyle?” she asked into the microphone.

“Copy, Island,” someone responded.

“Kyle?” Emily asked again, and then listened.

“Equites 1, can you hear me?” she asked when no one answered.

“Equites 2 from Island,” Emily heard Kyle say.

“Equites 2 here.”

“ETA?”

“Thirty minutes, Island.”

“Copy, you’re clear for the roof,” Kyle said.

“Kyle!” Emily screamed into the microphone.

“Thukil 1 arriving at Island in ten minutes,” she heard a voice say.

“Copy, clear for East lawn,” Kyle said.

Emily looked up as she saw another large helicopter fly overhead. She turned the boat to follow it, and pushed it into full speed.

“Island, you have a boat approaching,” she heard a man say, and felt relieved.

“I.D., Thukil?” Kyle asked.

“Colors suggest Valle, though I see no one on board,” the pilot said.

“Equites 1 and Equites 2, join Thukil. Powan, are you near us?” Kyle asked.

“Powan is fifteen minutes south, heading to Thukil,” a strange voice said.

Emily tried again, “Kyle?”

When no one answered, Emily threw the microphone, frustrated, then saw two helicopters approaching.

“See it, definitely Valle.”

“Emily 2, can you engage?” Kyle asked.

“Emily 2 is off, will intercept in fifteen minutes,” she heard Mark say.

“Full force, no telling how many are on that boat,” Kyle said.

“Copy that, Island,” Mark replied.

“Equites 1 to Island.”

“Island here,” Kyle said.

“Second boat approaching fast, another Valle. This one has heku on board,” the pilot said.

Emily stood up on the bridge and looked around her. She couldn’t see anything but the helicopter overhead.

“Island, Valle boat 2 is going to reach the first before Emily 2 arrives.”

“Powan with 2^nd Valle boat,” she heard a strange man say.

Emily headed out onto the deck. The wind from the one helicopter was strong, and she had to fight to keep from falling over. She turned to the radio when she heard a voice.

“Thukil to Island,” she heard a deep voice say.

“Go Thukil,” Kyle spoke fast.

“One Valle on deck. Do we take him out?”

“Affirmative, if you can knock him into the water, take the shot,” Kyle said.

Emily dove for the bridge and shut the door behind her. She grabbed the microphone and again tried to contact them.

“Kyle!” she screamed.

“Valle went back inside, Island.”

Emily looked out of the windows and could see a boat approaching from the horizon. Above it were two large black helicopters.

“Valle 2 is ignoring us and heading straight for Valle 1. Guessing they will intercept in 3 minutes.”

“Island copy, Emily 2, ETA?” Kyle asked.

“Emily 2 approximately 5 minutes away from Valle 1,” Mark said.

Emily pulled off the Captain’s coat and hat and again ran out on deck. She could barely hear the radio and the briefcase in her hand seemed heavier as she fought against the wind from the helicopter.

“Woman on deck of Valle 1!” she heard the pilot yell.

“Equites 1 breaking off to Valle 1.”

“Is she alone?” Kyle asked.

Emily fought to get back into the bridge. The powerful helicopter’s wind was too strong for her to handle, and she was afraid of being blown overboard.

“Not seeing anyone else. She just went back inside.”

“Valle 2 on intercept. They wouldn’t ram their own boat would they?” one of the pilots yelled.

“It’s not slowing!”

Emily looked out the window and the boat was closing in on her fast. She tried to turn the engines back on, but they sputtered and wouldn’t turn over. She saw the boat barreling up on her as hectic voices sounded over the radio.

“It’s going to ram!”

“Emily 2, get there now,” Kyle yelled, his voice frantic.

“Emily 2, ETA 2 minutes.”

“She’s out on deck again,” Emily heard the pilot say as she stepped onto the front deck. The pilot pulled the helicopter back to lessen the wind on her. She glanced once more to the boat as it headed for her, and then ran toward the back of the boat, still gripping the suitcase. She could hear the crash as boat hit boat just as she dove off of the back deck and into the cold water.

The air was sucked out of her as she submerged into the freezing water. She began to swim frantically away from the burning rubble of the two boats, determined to hold onto the briefcase that was slowing her down. She wasn’t sure what was happening when she saw three large splashes ahead of her.

Three heku appeared in the water ahead of her, “Stay back or I’ll ash you!”

Emily saw their mouths move, but with the sound from the helicopter, she couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“Get back!” she yelled again, but then she saw the closest one had on a green cape.

“Emily? We’re Equites,” one of them yelled when he got to her.

“Stay back anyway. I don’t know you,” she yelled at him. He smiled and then began to tread water beside her.

The second heku got to them and treaded water as the third arrived, “Behind you!”

Emily turned just as four heku came from the wreckage, and the three Equites swam for them. They fought in the water and Emily couldn’t tell what was going on through the splashes and screams. Slowly, the water around them turned red and the three Equites slowly swam back to her.

Emily turned to the side when a large boat approached. It slowed beside them, and before Emily knew what was happening, she was being pulled up onto the boat by Mark. Someone wrapped a blanket around her and Mark carried her down into the bedroom and sat her on the couch.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked. Emily could hear the engines roar as the boat began to move.

“Alexis?” Emily asked him.

“Alexis is fine,” Mark said, smiling.

Emily nodded and began to shake slightly.

Mark slipped his shirt off, “Go put that on.”

Emily took the shirt and stumbled into the bathroom. It took a while to get her wet clothes off, but when she was dry and slipped on Mark’s dry shirt, she immediately felt better. She picked the briefcase up and went back into the bedroom where Mark was waiting.

“Come, I made you some coffee,” Mark said, holding out a steaming cup.

Emily took it and tucked the briefcase between her knees so she could wrap her cold hands around the hot cup. She sipped the coffee slowly and wiggled her toes as soon as she could feel them. The carpet felt warm against her bare feet.

“Tell me again, are you ok?” Mark asked her.

Emily smiled, “Perfect, thanks.”

“They didn’t do anything to you?” Mark asked skeptically.

“How many did Council City lose?” Emily asked him.

“You first, answer my question.”

“No, answer mine.”

“Ok, not many. We suspect that the attack was to keep the city occupied while the two largest Equites covens were attacked.”

“How many?” she asked again.

“Four”

Emily leaned over. She felt like she was going to get sick. She rested her head against her knees.

“How many on the island?” she whispered.

“Are you ok?” Mark asked, laying a hand on her back.

“How many?”

“Forty three,” Mark sighed.

“And from the other coven?”

“Emily, this wasn’t your fault.”

“Tell me,” she said softly.

“The other coven lost eighty six.”

Emily wrapped her arms around herself.

“I know what you’re thinking… and this wasn’t about you. This kind of thing happened long before the Winchesters came around. The Equites have some very valuable political prisoners that the Valle want released,” Mark explained.

“But that many dead,” she said, her voice was starting to crack.

Mark rubbed her back softly, “Are you sure you’re ok?”

Emily nodded.

“The Elder and Kyle want to talk to you. They can’t figure out how the Valle got you when the Equites held them off.”

Emily sighed and turned her face back toward her knees.

“That’s a good size bruise you have on your cheek,” Mark said, still not believing that she wasn’t hurt.

“I’ve had worse.”

“Are you still going to tell me that they didn’t hurt you?”

Emily grinned slightly, “Just the bruise. Remind me never to tell a heku that they hit like my grandma.”

Mark got up and put some ice in a bag and handed it to Emily. She pressed it against the bruise on her cheek.

“We should be at the island in a few minutes,” Mark told her.

Emily cringed, “Maybe I’m better off with the Valle.”

Mark frowned, “Why’s that?”

“Because Chev and Kyle are going to be mad after they talk to me.”

Mark chuckled, “However mad they are, can’t be worse than being with the Valle.”

“Why all of the helicopters? The Island has been attacked before and no one came to help,” Emily asked, still sipping the hot coffee.

“They are bringing support to the island. The injured from all three locations have been flown in. The island is very secure and is a good place for those that are injured to gather in safety,” Mark explained.

Emily frowned, “I don’t understand. Heku heal so fast, why bother?”

“Heku have a way of injuring a heku in a way that’s not so easy to heal.”

“How?”

“Bites… broken bones we heal from quickly, bites, not so much. Then there are those that healed incorrectly, like I did after the helicopter wreck.”

Emily nodded, “I remember now. I’d forgotten when Kyle was bitten, he took a few days to recover.”

Emily tensed when three strange heku entered, but when she saw their soaked clothing, she realized they were the ones that jumped from the helicopter to her in the water.

Emily ran up and hugged the closest one, “Thank you.”

The strange Equites looked at Mark with wide eyes and Mark just chuckled. Emily hugged and thanked each of them and then asked them to sit down.

Mark started to take off the handcuffs she still had dangling from each wrist, but stood up instead when the engines died down.

“We’re here, come on,” Mark said, and helped her to her feet. He debated taking the briefcase for her, but she had such a tight grip on it that he was sure she wouldn’t let him have it.

Emily stepped out on deck and faced hundreds of Equites, all looking at her anxiously. She felt exposed in just the guard’s shirt with the handcuffs, and turned suddenly and ran right into Mark. He caught her just as she began to fall backwards.

Chevalier was on the deck before Mark had Emily standing again, and she was in his arms. He hugged her tightly and she wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m ok, Chev, really,” she said. Emily looked up as Kyle also appeared on the deck.

She tried to pull away, but Chevalier’s strong arms held her.

“Seriously, I’m ok,” she said, laughing slightly.

Chevalier took a step back away from her and quickly ran his eyes down her, “How badly are you hurt?”

“I’m not,” she said, smiling at Kyle.

“Just one bruise?” he asked, touching her cheek softly.

Emily nodded, “Just the bruise, I swear.”

Chevalier reached down and pulled the handcuffs off of her wrists and then dropped them onto the deck, “Let’s get inside.”

“No,” Emily said, peeking around him to the crowd.

Chevalier laughed, “Come on, Killer… no time to be shy.”

Emily sighed and took Chevalier’s hand as he helped her off of the boat while she grumbled about the nickname.

Chevalier picked Emily up on the pier and blurred toward the castle.

“Stop!” Emily yelled when they got to the south lawn. The lawn was full of injured heku, laying in various stages of mutilation. Most of them were groaning in pain, and some weren’t moving at all.

Chevalier stopped, “What’s wrong?”

Emily wiggled out of his arms and walked toward the injured.

“Come on in, Em,” Chevalier said softly, and put a hand on her shoulder.

Emily moved forward, out from under his hand, and knelt by a heku who was in a lot of pain. He looked up at her with terror in his eyes. His body was covered in vicious looking bites that were swollen and smelled like decay, and he was breathing rapidly. She touched his face softly and smiled.

“Will you be ok?” she asked him, her voice calm and caring.

He nodded and watched her face.

“Can I get you anything?”

He smiled slightly, “No, Ma’am.”

She smiled when she saw his breathing slow and his body relaxed some.

“There are over 500 injured heku on this lawn, is she going to visit all of them?” Kyle asked.

Chevalier sighed, “I bet she does. Damn, was hoping she would go inside.”

Emily took the heku’s hand and turned toward Kyle and Chevalier, “Why are they alone? No one’s out here helping them.”

Kyle looked at Chevalier and shrugged, “They don’t need help healing.”

“Nothing can be done to help them, they’ll heal by themselves… why don’t you come into the castle,” Chevalier said.

Emily frowned, “That’s awful.”

She turned back to the heku and touched his arm softly, “If you need me, I’ll be around.”

He nodded and watched her stand up. Emily walked over to one of the unmoving heku and knelt down. She glanced quickly over his body and then back to his face.

“Are you ok?” she asked, and touched his cheek lightly.

Emily frowned. She could barely hear his breathing and he didn’t respond to her. She leaned over and laid her ear against his chest. His heart was beating too slowly.

“Lady Emily?” someone said from behind her. She turned and looked at him, “He’s gone already… he won’t make it.”

“Is he in pain?” she asked him.

“Yes, but it’ll be over soon.”

Emily turned and whispered, “I’m so sorry.” She let go of his hand as he turned to ash.

Emily leaned over with her hands on her knees and her head bowed. She couldn’t fight the tears. She looked up when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“That’s enough, come in,” Chevalier said softly.

Emily shook her head and moved to the heku she had been talking to. She took his hand in hers, “Are you ok?”

He nodded, “Just healing slower than usual is all.”

“Ok, call if you need me,” Emily told him, and stood up.

Emily moved to the next moaning heku as she heard Chevalier tell everyone to leave her alone before heading back inside. She knelt down and touched his face softly.

“Can I help?” she asked him.

He looked up at her with panicked eyes and groaned. His body was shaking with the pain. Emily looked him over and other than some blood on his torn shirt, she didn’t see any injuries. She reached over and unbuttoned his shirt and laid it open. The center of his chest had been ripped open. The skin and flesh were torn around a fist sized hole.

“I don’t understand,” Emily said, looking down at him. “Will you heal?”

He shook his head frantically.

“They took his heart,” Mark said from behind her.

“Can he heal from that?”

“No, that’s why they did it. It’s a slow, painful death.”

Emily took the injured heku’s hand and put her other hand on the side of his face, so he was looking at her, “Do you want me to turn you to ash?”

The heku nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

Emily kissed his forehead softly and then stood up after his body had been turned to ash, no longer in pain.

“Why don’t you come inside? Chevalier wants to leave for the palace,” Mark told her.

“No, tell him to go. I’m staying here,” Emily said, and looked around at the carnage caused by the Valle.

“They will either heal or die, nothing can change that,” Mark said.

Emily frowned at him, “They shouldn’t have to be alone.”

Mark sighed, “Ok, I’ll tell him you’re not going.”

Emily heard him walk off as she knelt down at another injured heku. She went to as many as she could. Some healed while she held their hand, while others died in her arms. Several times her guards would come out and ask her to come into the castle, but she always refused. Just before dusk, the helicopter took off for the palace.

Emily stood up from an injured heku and saw a heku that looked strange. The rest were covered in blood and bites, but this one was withered and gray. She walked over slowly toward him.

“Don’t go there, Lady Emily,” one of the heku said to her.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

The heku looked toward the one at the end, “He’s a rescued prisoner. He’s been starved for almost 150 years.”

Emily frowned “So he just needs to eat?”

“Yes, he’s been trying to get to you since he caught your scent. He’s too weak to move much though, but if I were you, I’d stay away.”

“Who is bringing him something to drink?”

“No one yet, I’m sure eventually they will get him a donor.”

“Hmmm.” Emily watched him for a moment.

“Don’t do it. He won’t be able to stop,” the heku was now starting to panic.

“I can stop him, he’s weak.” Emily took a step towards the starved heku.

The heku she was talking to reached out and took her ankle, “Please, don’t.”

“Lady Emily,” another heku said from beside her. “Don’t do it, it’s too dangerous.”

“Is he in pain?” Emily asked, her eyes still on the starving heku.

“No, he’s not himself either. He’s completely feral right now. Let the heku get him a donor,” a third heku said to her.

Emily looked over at the third heku and walked over to him. She knelt down and looked at the bites across his body, “Are you ok?”

He nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“Why haven’t they gotten him a donor?”

“They will. He’s not going to die, and they are busy.”

Emily stood up and walked toward the starving heku. She rolled the long sleeves of Mark’s shirt up past her elbow. The starved heku looked up at her, his eyes focused on her neck as he hissed. She ignored the whispers that suddenly filled the night air.

He tried to lunge at her as she got closer, but he couldn’t get the strength to move off of the ground. Emily knelt down beside him and he turned toward her wrist as she extended it out to him.

“Hey!” Emily screamed as someone picked her up from the ground. The starving heku growled and grabbed out for her.

“That’s not going to happen,” Kyle said as he threw her over his shoulder.

“Put me down!” Emily yelled at him.

“It’s best this way, Lady Emily,” a strange heku said to her.

Emily bit Kyle’s back when he started for the castle, and he winced, “Stop it.”

Kyle blurred into the castle and set Emily down in Chevalier’s office.

Emily hit him on the chest repeatedly, “Do not pick me up like that!”

Kyle grabbed her wrists, “Stop it.”

She growled and headed for the door, “I was busy.”

Mark appeared between her and the door, “We can’t let you feed the wounded, Em.”

Emily glared at him, “It’s my blood, and I can do what I want with it.”

“No, and that’s final,” Kyle said sternly.

Emily turned to face him. He was sitting calmly on the edge of Chevalier’s desk, “You have no right to tell me what to do.”

“I do, while Chevalier is away, I’m Commanding Officer of this island.”

“No one is my Commanding Officer, not even Chev,” she yelled, and then turned to Mark. “Move.”

Mark crossed his arms and didn’t move from in front of the door.

Emily drew back and tried to punch him, but he caught her wrist, “No.”

He twisted her around quickly, and grabbed her other wrist and turned her away from him, crossing her arms in front of her while he held her wrists at her sides.

“Watch your knees and her head butts,” Kyle told Mark.

Mark nodded, “Already am.”

Emily screamed in frustration.

Kyle answered his phone when it rang, “Kyle here.”

“Yeah we got her first,” he said, smiling at Emily and ignoring the way she glared at him.

“You could say that.”

“Mark is.” Kyle nodded slightly.

“Let me go!” Emily yelled, so whoever was on the phone would hear.

Kyle looked up at Emily, “Quinn said, no.”

“Fuck Quinn, let me go!”

Kyle chuckled, “Yeah, that’s what she said.”

Emily dropped slightly and spun under Mark’s arm. The second she came to face him, she brought her knee up and kneed him in the groin. He groaned and bent slightly, but didn’t let go.

“Damn.” Kyle winced, “Mark, are you ok?”

Mark nodded and groaned slightly.

Kyle sighed, “Ok, but I’m blaming you.”

Kyle hung up the phone and looked at Mark, “He said do it.”

“Do what?” Emily yelled, and then screamed when Mark picked her up again and threw her over his shoulder.

“Damnit, put me down!” she said as he headed down to the prison. “You can’t put me in jail!”

Kyle nodded, “Yes we can.”

The guards in the prison looked at her nervously as the Chief Enforcer opened a cell and Mark dropped her inside. He blurred out and Kyle locked the door just as she hit the bars and threw her arm out, grabbing Mark’s collar.

“Emily?” David called to her. “I love you, please, listen to me.”

Kyle disappeared as Mark pulled her fingers off of his shirt. David’s words were cut off suddenly after a large crash and then Kyle came back to Emily’s cell.

Mark turned to the guards, “Do not let her out. Don’t let her threaten you either… if she ashes you, you’ll be compensated… if you let her out… you’ll be punished.”

They nodded at him and glanced at Emily nervously.

“I’m leaving before she turns me to ash,” Mark said with a grin, and walked up the stairs.

“Don’t think going upstairs would stop me!” Emily yelled after him.

Kyle came back to Emily’s cell.

“Don’t leave me here, please… the Valle put me in a cell,” Emily said, her eyes suddenly terrified.

“Nice try,” Kyle chuckled.

Emily glared and screamed at him, “Let me out!”

“No”

“Does Chevalier know about this?”

“Quinn will tell him as soon as he gets in,” Kyle said.

Emily just glared at him.

Kyle grinned, “I know that look, and you still can’t ash me. Next time you decide to make someone immune, maybe you’ll think twice.”

Emily watched as he walked up the stairs, and she sat down on the bed angrily. She felt the cold seeping into her body. The thin guard’s shirt wasn’t enough to shield her against the cold, damp prison. The bed had no blankets or pillows. It was for a heku, and there was no need for those comforts. She looked around, but it was too dark to see. Normally when she came into the prison, the lights were turned on so she could see, but when Kyle left, the prison fell to darkness.

Soon after Kyle left, the voices started. Soft hissing voices from all around her that grew louder as time passed. Voices that begged for a taste of her blood, whispers of how her blood called to them, voices that taunted her and promised riches for a simple taste.

Emily curled up on her side. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she pressed her palms into her ears to stop the sounds, the voices that surrounded her. She fought the urge to ash all of them. The stronger the voices, the more she wanted to stop them from whispering and hissing.

“Please… please stop,” she whispered, pressing her hands harder against her ears.

“Leave her alone, I love her!” David shouted. Emily heard his voice above the whispers.

Emily’s body shook, not only was she cold in the dark prison, but her body was flooded with anger and fear. She was left alone in a prison full of heku that wanted to drink from her, heku that had killed, heku that were here for unspeakable crimes.

“Don’t ash them… don’t ash them…” Emily said rhythmically. She concentrated, fighting the desire to stop them all.

The whispers grew louder. Even the hissing and the bloodthirsty sighs seemed to grow louder as the night drew on. Emily’s hands pressed even harder against her ears as she tried to block them out, tried to stop the voices. Her body shivered and she pulled into a tighter ball to keep warm and to stop the feeling that eyes were on her.

Emily cried out when she heard a loud crash, and buried her face in the bed when the bright lights were turned on.

She screamed when she felt hands on her, but they pulled her into a familiar cradle.

“Shhh, I have you,” Chevalier whispered, and she wrapped her cold arms around his neck as he blurred up the stairs to the bedroom.

Chevalier laid her down and covered her up with the down blankets. She saw the fire roaring and looked up at Chevalier, then saw the fury in his face. Emily watched him carefully to make sure he wasn’t mad at her, but he just paced, his fists clenching and unclenching.

“Chev?” she whispered.

“I didn’t know you were there,” he growled.

“I know.”

Chevalier’s voice was angry, “How dare they put you in a cell.”

“Please, send them all away… everyone from Council City, send them back,” she asked him softly.

Chevalier nodded, “If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Chevalier blurred from the room. Emily crawled out of bed, pulled off the dirty guard’s shirt, and stepped into the hot shower. She let the shower wipe away the whispers and the feeling of being watched.

Emily stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around her, and then went out into the bedroom. She gasped and turned around when she saw the heku in her room.

“Wait, Em,” Kyle said softly.

Emily held the towel tighter in her hand and turned around, “What?”

“They are leaving as soon as the helicopter gets here,” Chevalier told her.

“We wanted to talk to you first, to apologize,” Kyle said.

Mark sighed, “It all got out of hand, and we’re sorry and wish you would reconsider sending us away. Maybe even come back with us.”

Emily shook her head, “I’ll be back in a few weeks to get my things, but then I’m staying here.”

“You belong at the palace,” Kyle told her.

“No, I don’t belong anywhere… but I’m going to stay here.”

Chevalier frowned, “You never told me that.”

“Where do you think I belong? I thought I belonged in your world, but the Encala and Valle are always trying to get me and the Equites are always trying to control me. So I try to get back into my world, and my life is burned in the middle of the night. I try to live in the palace, and I end up with Damon as a controller, which Zohn and Quinn must have enjoyed,” Emily said.

“They didn’t…” Chevalier started.

“So I come here, where they actually seemed glad to have me. I feel comfortable here until Quinn has me incarcerated. So you see, I don’t belong anywhere, but the lesser of two evils is here at the castle.”

“I wish you would have told me you felt like this,” Chevalier said, watching her with concern.

“How am I supposed to feel? I don’t belong anywhere. There’s nowhere on this planet where I can go and truly be at home. The factions have made any chance at a human life impossible, but I don’t fit in the immortal world either.”

“Emily, you belong with us… we all care about you,” Mark said, frowning.

“No you don’t. I’m the pain in the ass mortal that gets in the way and throws temper tantrums to get her way. You’re so afraid of me, you can’t even say no. You must be terrified to even have me around,” Emily said.

Kyle sighed, “We’re not too afraid of you to say no.”

“Oh really? For heaven’s sake, Kyle, you let me drain all of your blood as an experiment.”

“Not out of fear though,” Kyle said, cringing at the look on Chevalier’s face.

“Nowhere… I belong nowhere,” Emily said, mad at the way tears were forming in her eyes.

“You belong with me,” Chevalier told her, and wrapped his arms around her. He glanced up briefly, and Kyle and Mark left the room, shutting the door behind them, “You should have told me.”

“Please, let me stay here,” Emily asked, looking up at him with red, tear filled eyes. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Chevalier kissed her softly, “You can stay here as long as you like.”

Emily nodded, “Thank you.”

“I have to go back now, though. I need to talk to the Council.”

“Oh wait, I have something.” Emily looked around for the briefcase she brought from the boat. When she didn’t find, it she slipped on a robe and looked again.

“What are you looking for?”

“The briefcase. I brought it from the Valle boat.”

“Kyle, Mark?” Chevalier called. Emily cringed when they came back in the room, “Where is the briefcase Emily had on the boat?”

“It’s in here,” Mark said, and opened up her wardrobe.

Emily pulled the briefcase out and opened it on the bed, “Oh good, things are still dry.”

“What exactly did you find?” Chevalier asked, looking into the brief case.

“An atlas with the location of the Valle covens,” Emily said, and then thumbed through it. She looked up when no one spoke and then frowned. The three heku were all watching her, wide eyed, with their mouths open, “What’d I do wrong now?”

“My God, Emily, are you joking?” Kyle asked, barely in a whisper.

“Damn, was I not supposed to take it?” Emily frowned.

Chevalier reached out, “Let me see.”

Emily handed the book over and started to look through the Winchester book.

“This… this is it,” Chevalier said, his eyes quickly scanning each page.

“It can’t be. We’ve been trying to get this book for three hundred years,” Mark said, and peeked over Chevalier’s shoulder.

“Where did you get this?” Kyle whispered.

“I stole it off of the Valle’s boat.” Emily was watching them, unsure of what to make of their reaction.

Chevalier shook his head, “They wouldn’t have put a prisoner on a boat with this book.”

“They didn’t come to the castle to kidnap me,” Emily said, and winced when they all looked up.

“Then how did they capture you?” Mark asked.

Emily sighed, “I kind of… went to them…”

“Wait… you what?” Kyle asked, confused.

“I went to them and let them capture me. I wanted to get to the person leading the attack and ash them. Which I did,” Emily explained.

Chevalier kept looking through the book, “Do any Valle know you have this?”

“No, I swept their ashes all overboard before I went snooping,” Emily said.

Mark grinned, “We’ve sent thousands of Equites out with the sole purpose of bringing us this book.”

Kyle started to laugh, “Leave it to Em.”

“Damn, Kyle, you need to spend less time with Emily, you’re starting to smell like her.” Chevalier handed Emily back the book, “It’s yours.”

Emily looked at it and held it back out to him, “I don’t want it.”

“It has to be presented to the Council in a ceremony,” Kyle explained, taking a few steps away from the Elder.

“No, it doesn’t. I’m presenting it to an Elder right now,” she said, and kept the book out toward Chevalier.

“He’s right. It has to be presented officially to the Council. Until then it’s soul bound to you, your sole property. The only way it can be taken from you is if you die,” Chevalier explained. “That’s why it’s even better that the Valle don’t know you have it.”

Emily growled, “Heku and their damned ceremonies. Just take it, I don’t want it!”

“We can’t take it from you,” Mark said.

“I just handed it to Chev and he looked at it… why can’t you just keep it?” She was getting frustrated. Being a part of another ceremony wasn’t what she had in mind.

“That was purely to ascertain its validity,” Kyle explained. “Now it must be handed over to the Council officially.”

“No,” Emily said, and put the book back in the briefcase. “No more ceremonies. You all have a ceremony for everything, and it’s annoying.”

“What? You have to,” Mark said, shocked.

“No, I don’t have to do anything.” Emily went back into the bathroom and got dressed. She tied her hair up in a high pony and came out to slip on some shoes.

“Where are you going?” Mark asked.

“Back out to help the wounded,” Emily said, and headed for the door.

Chevalier took her arm, “Wait… we are serious. If you keep that book, someone will find out and the Valle will kill you for it.”

“The Valle? Try to kill me? What’s new about that?” Emily frowned.

Chevalier grinned, “Why are you so afraid of ceremonies?”

“Why are you so dead set on putting me in them?”

“It’s a fast one… all you do is walk down and hand the book to one of us,” Chevalier said, amused.

“Read my lips…” Emily’s words were cut off by Chevalier’s lips.

Chevalier pulled back and looked into her eyes, “It has to be done.”

Emily frowned, “How’s about I strip, paint Equites across my ass with green food coloring, and hand you the damn book? Is that ceremony enough for you?”

Chevalier chuckled, “That’s a start. I’ll arrange the ceremony and come back to get you.”

“No,” Emily said, frustrated.

“I’ll be back in a few days.” Chevalier left with Kyle and Mark.

“No!” Emily yelled after them.

“Margaret will make you a dress,” he called down the stairs before disappearing onto the roof.

“No!” Emily yelled again. She heard the helicopter take off and slammed the briefcase closed. After checking that Alexis was asleep, she headed out to help the wounded heku on the lawn.