Chapter 24 - Alaska

Emily slept most of the way. She woke up only the few times they had to stop for fuel. Soon, she saw the dark colors of the mountains turn to white as far as she could see in any direction. Chevalier handed her a warm parka, and she slipped it on while he wrapped Alexis up in a down blanket. Quinn set the helicopter down on top of a large mansion out in the rough wintery tundra.

“Where is this?” Emily asked, when Maleth helped her out of the helicopter.

“It’s Quinn’s house,” he said, and walked over to open the door.

“Isn’t he coming in?” Quinn hadn’t moved from the pilot’s seat.

“He’s going to get supplies. Come in before you freeze to death,” Chevalier said, and walked inside with Alexis. Allen watched the helicopter take off and then went inside.

Emily walked in and blew warm air into her hands. Even inside the house she could see her breath. Maleth went over to a fireplace and started a fire easily. She sat down on the floor with Alexis and tried to get warm. The mansion was cold and sparsely decorated.

“How long do we stay here?” she asked.

“Just until the Council calls and says it’s safe for our return,” Maleth explained, and sat down on a beautiful overstuffed white couch.

The whole mansion seemed to shake when the helicopter landed on the roof several hours later. When the engines died, the house grew eerily quiet. Maleth and Chevalier went up the stairs to help with the supplies as Allen read on the couch, and Emily and Alexis stayed warm by the fire.

“Come, I’ll show you to your room,” Quinn said to Emily. She stood up and took Alexis’ hand, and followed Quinn to a stark white bedroom. The bed looked comfortable, but the decorations all looked untouchable and highly breakable.

Several times, Alexis headed to a large vase and Emily had to lead her away. The fire in the room was roaring, and it was warm enough they could finally take off their coats. Emily thought for a moment, and then took out her cell phone and dialed.

“Em? What’s wrong?” Kyle asked frantically.

“Find anything yet?” she asked.

Kyle laughed, “Do the Elders know you called?”

“No, I don’t need their permission to call you.” She sounded irritated.

“Yes you do. You’re gone for your protection, and I can’t know where you are.”

“I can’t tell you. I have no idea where I am.”

Emily could tell that Kyle was amused, “No, we haven’t found any leads, but we will.”

“Emily! Who are you talking to?” Quinn yelled from behind her.

Emily shut the phone quickly.

“Who was it?” Quinn asked angrily.

“I just called Kyle,” Emily said, and stood up when Quinn took the phone from her. “Give it back.”

“No, you apparently have no idea the regulations in place for our safety, so until you decide to learn them and comply, I keep it,” Quinn said, and stormed out of the room.

Emily slammed the door behind him.

“Phone?” Alexis asked.

“Mean ol’ Quinn took it,” Emily said, and sat down by Alexis on the floor.

Emily heard the helicopter and ran out into the living room. The only one she saw was Allen.

“Where’d they go?” she asked him.

Allen looked up from his book, “They went to feed.”

“All of them?”

“Yeah, they’ll bring me back some.”

Emily yelled, frustrated, and started going through everything to find a phone.

“Are you looking for something?” Allen asked, watching her.

“Yes, I want a phone.”

“They took their phones. Dad said you’d try to find them.”

Emily went into the kitchen and made Alexis a sandwich. Alexis climbed into a chair and ate while Emily watched her.

“Are you going to eat?” Allen asked from the doorway.

Emily frowned, “I’m the Mom here.”

Allen shrugged, “Dad asked me to tell him if you eat.”

“Yeah, well, you aren’t my warden, so go back to your book.”

Allen sighed, “I’m sorry, ok. I only asked because Dad told me to.”

Emily nodded, “I know, I’m sorry too.”

Allen sat down at the table, “Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah”

“I was worried about you,” Allen said, and looked down at the table uncomfortably.

Emily smiled, “Thanks.”

“I found some games… do you want to play?”

Emily felt her heart leap. Allen hadn’t shown any interest in her in almost two years. She nodded and Allen ran off to get a game.

He came back just as Emily was getting Alexis a glass of milk, “Want some?”

“Milk, Mom? No,” he said, and sat out the scrabble game and a dictionary.

“So… you used to like food,” Emily said, and sat down.

“Yeah well, I guess I can eat it if I have to… but I prefer… you know,” Allen said. It was obvious talking to her about drinking blood was awkward.

“You go first.” Emily smiled and they started a game of scrabble. They played for hours before the rattling of the windows signaled the helicopter was back.

“Permutation isn’t a word.” Emily laughed and grabbed the dictionary.

“It is too, it means a rearrangement of the elements of an ordered list,” Allen said, and wrote down his score.

“How do you know that? I’m 100 years older than you are and I didn’t know that,” Emily said, and put the dictionary down.

“Not quite 100, Dear,” Chevalier said, and kissed her on the head.

“I think he’s cheating,” Emily joked.

“I don’t cheat,” Allen said in a way too old for his age.

“Allen,” Chevalier said, and motioned him into the kitchen.

“Call anyone?” Maleth asked, smiling as he walked past her.

“As a matter of fact, I did. Bet you didn’t know I kept an extra cell phone for emergencies. By the way, Sotomar wants to come for dinner,” Emily said, putting away the scrabble game.

“Very funny,” Quinn said smugly, and disappeared up the stairs.

“It’s ok. I told them it was my fault. I forgot to tell you about the no phone call rule,” Chevalier said, amused.

“He didn’t have to rip it out of my hands,” Emily said, and turned to Chevalier.

“Allen said you didn’t eat,” Chevalier said.

“Stop putting my son in charge of me. It’s not fair to him,” she said.

“So you didn’t eat to prove a point?”

“No, I didn’t eat because I’m not hungry.”

“Em…”

“Stop it, ok?” Emily said, and then stood up and walked out.

“Yeah, stop.” Alexis grinned and walked off after Emily.

“Hey, Alex,” Chevalier called after her. She came back in and smiled up at him, “Tell Mommy to eat.”

Alexis nodded and ran off, “Mommy, eat!”

“Chev!” Emily screamed, and slammed the bedroom door. She became furious when she could hear him laugh.

Emily dressed Alexis in her pajamas and then stripped down to just a t-shirt and climbed into bed. She watched out the window as it began to snow and eventually fell off to sleep.

“Moooomy?” Alexis said, and poked Emily on the cheek.

Emily opened her eyes and stretched. The clock said 9am but the house was quiet. Alexis ran out of the room in her pajamas and Emily followed after throwing on a robe.

She poured a bowl of cereal for Alexis and then went out to look for the others.

“Chev?” she called.

“Stop yelling, I’m right here,” Chevalier said, and walked down the stairs.

“Are you ok?” she asked, his color looked off and he was scowling.

“None of your damn business,” he said, and knocked against her as he passed, sending her into the wall.

Emily rubbed her elbow and walked after him, “What’s your problem?”

“You are... damn mortals won’t stop talking,” he yelled, and sat down with a book.

Emily glared at him and went back into the kitchen. She started up a pot of coffee and sat down by Alexis.

“What is that horrible smell?” Maleth asked, and walked into the kitchen. “Do you have to make the entire house smell?”

Emily frowned, “It’s just coffee.”

“Yeah, well, do us all a favor and dump it out,” Maleth growled. He grabbed the pot and slammed it into the sink, shattering glass around the kitchen, and then smashed the coffee maker. He walked out angrily.

Emily picked Alexis up and walked out into the living room, away from the shards of glass. She took her up into their bedroom and shut the door. Alexis started playing with a doll on the floor while Emily looked out the window at the snow.

“Can you not be quieter?” she heard Chevalier yell from outside of the door.

Emily looked at the door, unsure if he was even talking to her.

Chevalier flung open the bedroom door, “Did you hear me? Be quiet.”

Emily could feel her temper rising, “We are trying to be quiet.”

“Well, try harder,” he said, and slammed the door.

Emily picked Alexis up again and opened the door. She listened for a moment and heard Quinn and Chevalier arguing in the living room on the 1^st floor.

“I don’t care whose house this is, the chair doesn’t belong by the window,” Chevalier growled.

“That’s what you know! Stop moving my furniture,” Quinn yelled.

Emily took Alexis and ran down the stairs, behind the fighting Elders, and headed down the back stairs. She was looking for a place far away from the moody heku. She emerged in the cold basement. The floors and walls were all cement and the corridor had doors along it. She opened what doors she could, but most of the rooms were empty. One was larger and had cells along the wall with pristinely clean bars.

At the end of the corridor, Emily found a room with a couch and carpeted floors. She sat Alexis down and started up the fire, then watched Alexis play while listening carefully for the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Mommy?” Alexis asked, breaking Emily out of her listening trance.

“Yes, Baby?”

“I’m hungry,” she said, and began to fake feed her dolls.

Emily sighed, “Ok, you stay here. Don’t move. I’ll bring you something.”

Alexis nodded and went back to her toys.

Emily stood up and opened the door. When she didn’t hear anyone, she walked as quickly as she could up the stairs. The house seemed eerily quiet. No one was in the living room, so she ran into the kitchen and pulled out the ingredients for a grilled cheese sandwich. She shivered in the cold, and noticed that she could see her breath again, even with all of the fireplaces in the mansion being lit.

Emily put the sandwich on a plate with some chips and stepped back out into the living room. She felt a cold draft coming from down the hallway, so she sat the plate down and followed it. The doorway out into the snowy yard was open. She sighed and went to shut it.

“Chev?” she gasped, when she saw four bodies lying face down in the snow covered yard.

Emily slipped on some boots that were by the door and walked out toward them. She first knelt down by Allen and turned him over, “Allen?”

His eyes were open, but fixed, and his breathing was shallow. He had dried blood around his mouth, and the snow underneath him was stained red. Emily picked him up and carried him inside. She laid him down on the couch and threw a blanket over him.

Running as fast as she could, she grabbed Alexis from the basement and took her up by the living room fire.

“Allen, sick?” she asked, looking at her brother.

“Listen to me Alex, stay here,” Emily said sternly.

Emily went back out into the snow and tried to turn Chevalier over, but he was too heavy, “Chev, come on, wake up.”

She tried each of the other Elders, but couldn’t turn them over, and the crimson color was seeping out from underneath them. She was able to see that each of them was breathing, barely, and they were ice cold.

Emily ran back inside and into the garage. She looked around for anything that could help her. There was a newer Chevrolet pickup in the garage with a winch on the front. She looked around the garage for a rope. Hanging high on a shelf she found one, and was able to reach it after climbing up onto the counter. She tied the rope to the winch and stretched it the short distance through the house out to the Elders.

“Please don’t tear off their legs,” Emily said as she tied the rope around Chevalier’s ankles. She braced herself and managed to turn him onto his side. His eyes were dull and fixed, like Allen’s.

“Heal if this hurts you,” Emily said frantically, and ran back into the garage. She started up the winch and ran back into the house. Chevalier’s body was just being pulled into the house and she tried to help protect his head as the winch hauled him toward the garage. She pulled the rope off of him when his body made it into the hallway by the living room.

Emily repeated it with each of the Elders and then shut the door and turned off the winch. She grabbed blankets and covered each of them, then sat down, out of breath, and went through Quinn’s pockets until she found her cell phone.

“I thought I told you it isn’t safe to call.” Kyle laughed.

“Kyle something’s wrong.”

“What’s going on?” Kyle asked. The tone in her voice was frightened.

“I don’t know. I found Allen and the Elders outside in the snow. They won’t talk, and there’s blood all around them,” Emily said, looking at the dead expression on their faces.

Emily heard Kyle talk to Zohn and then came back to the phone, “When did they feed last?”

“Last night,” Emily said, still out of breath from hauling them inside.

“Were they moody?”

“Yes… what’s wrong with them?” she asked. “They look dead.”

“Where are you? Zohn and I are coming,” Kyle said. His voice was commanding and fierce.

“I don’t know, I told you that. In one of Quinn’s houses is all I know.”

Kyle again talked to Zohn and their frantic speaking made her more afraid.

“Kyle, what’s wrong with them?”

“Emily I need you to listen carefully to me, ok, calm down and listen to everything I say.”

“Ok,” Emily said, trying to calm herself.

“They are very sick, and will die if we can’t get them the help they need.”

Emily couldn’t breathe, how could heku be sick enough to die? They were immortal, “What?”

“I’ll explain later, first thing you need to do is get them inside. Is there any way you can do that?” Kyle asked.

“I did, I had to use the winch,” she said softly.

“Good, that’s really good, Em. Now you need to keep them cold, if they get too warm… it’s not good,” he said.

“Then I should have left them outside!” Emily yelled.

“No, outside can get too cold. You need to just keep them covered with ice. Do you think you can get to a store?”

“No, I can’t… Quinn had to take the helicopter to get food. I have snow, lots and lots of snow, though. Do I just dump it on them?” she asked.

“Yes, that should work. Check them often and make sure they don’t get too hot.”

Emily reached down and felt Allen’s forehead, “Oh my God, Allen’s warm.”

“Put him in the tub, now, and get snow on him.”

Emily hung up and picked Allen up. She pulled his shirt off and laid him down in the bathtub. She ran back out into the garage and grabbed a bucket and then opened the garage door. She started shoveling buckets full of snow into the bathtub until he was covered and only his face visible. She felt his forehead and he was cold again.

Emily ran out and started piling buckets of snow onto the Elders, starting with Chevalier. Once she had three high piles of snow in the hallway, she called Kyle again with frozen fingers.

“Em, did you do it?” he asked.

“Yy yyes,” she said, shivering from the cold.

“You need to keep snow on them, they can’t get warm, ok?”

“Ok”

“Zohn is pulling up records, to see if he can find where you are. How many gas stops did you make on the way?”

“Five,” Emily said. “Kyle, they look dead.”

“Just keep them cold for now, ok?”

“Can’t you track my cell phone?” Emily asked.

“We tried that already. I think Chevalier had that turned off after Damon.”

Emily’s voice cracked as she fought the tears, “How are they sick? Heku don’t get sick.”

“Sometimes we do, just not very often. It comes from a sick donor. I’m guessing Quinn had an old list,” Kyle said.

“Is… is it often… you know, fatal?”

“Just do what we ask and they’ll be ok,” Kyle said.

“I’m not kidding, they look dead. Their eyes are glassed over. There’s blood everywhere,” she said.

“I know, I’ve seen it,” Kyle sighed.

“Hurry”

“We are trying to get there to help you. Zohn’s working to find out where you are. Can you look around? Break into Quinn’s office if you have to. Try to get us an address or even a State,” Kyle said.

“Ok,” Emily whispered, and shut the phone.

Emily poured more snow on top of all of them and then searched through the house for Quinn’s office. She went through all of the drawers in the house and couldn’t find even a phone book. She dug through the snow to Quinn’s pockets and went through them all until she found a set of keys.

She went back through the house and used the keys to unlock any of the locked doors. She set her cell phone to alert her every hour, and when it went off, she would go pour snow onto the heku. Nothing seemed to change. Their eyes were still pointed, unseeing, toward the ceiling. She jumped when her phone range.

“Hello?”

“Finding anything?” Kyle asked.

“No, I’ve found a bunch of prison cells, Quinn’s gross little torture room, and about six thousand empty bedrooms,” she sighed.

“Keep looking, Quinn has this house hidden well. We’ve found six houses he owns, but none of them would be in snow right now.”

“I’ll keep looking,” Emily said.

“I know you’re tired, I can hear it in your voice. Take a break, sit down for a bit,” Kyle said.

“Maleth broke my coffee maker,” Emily said, and looked at the glass in the kitchen.

“Don’t forget to take care of yourself. It won’t do them any good if you kill yourself,” Kyle said.

Emily nodded, knowing he couldn’t see it, but she was afraid her voice would give away the fact that she felt helpless and afraid.

“We’re looking, Em,” Kyle said, and hung up.

Emily went into the kitchen and made Alexis another sandwich. She needed something fast, and it was almost time for new snow.

“Mom, it’s told,” Alexis said, shivering. Emily put another set of clothes on her. She couldn’t risk the house getting any warmer. The snow was already melting too fast.

Emily eyed the coffee can and sighed. She grabbed a spoon and quickly choked down a few spoonfuls of coffee grounds. She washed them down with some orange juice and cringed at the bitter taste in her mouth. Her alarm went off and she went outside with the bucket for new snow.

When she was done, she hauled a mattress from the closest bedroom into the living room, and then tucked Alexis in under four heavy blankets. She read a book quickly and then sat down for a few minutes to watch the toddler sleep.

Emily could feel her heart race. She had been eating spoonfuls of coffee to keep awake, and it was doing its job, but making her jittery and anxious.

Emily worked throughout the night. When she wasn’t searching Quinn’s house for an address, she was pouring snow onto the sick heku. Just after dawn, her phone rang, and she answered it before it could wake Alexis up.

“Kyle?”

“It’s Zohn, Emily. How is it going?”

“Nothing’s changed,” Emily said, wishing he would put Kyle on. “I think… I think they are dead.”

“They aren’t dead, not if they are cold still.”

“They are,” she said.

“Then they are ok. I know they look bad, but the cold is all they need right now,” Zohn told her.

“How long does this last?”

“It all depends on how much they drank, could be a couple of days,” Zohn sighed.

“I’m still going through Quinn’s house. I can’t find his office, but I’ve only gone through about half of the house. This is going to make him mad,” Emily explained.

“He’s not going to be mad, I promise.”

“Ok,” Emily said, suddenly more worried. “I have to go, my alarm is going off.”

Emily shut her phone and grabbed the bucket, then went out and started pouring more snow over the heku. Each time she added snow to Allen, she was able to drain the tub and let out all of the water. The three heku in the hallway though, were leaking water all over the house and down into the basement, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“Mommy?” Alexis asked from the makeshift bed on the floor.

“I’m coming, Alex,” Emily yelled from outside. She dumped the last of the snow over Quinn and went inside.

“Befast, Mommy,” Alexis said, and Emily picked her up. “Ew, told.”

“Sorry, Baby,” Emily said, setting her down. “I know my hands are cold. Let’s go get breakfast.”

Alexis followed Emily into the kitchen and sat at the table.

She opened the fridge and pulled out the eggs, cheese, and milk. She had been feeding Alexis cold cereal and sandwiches for two days, and she wanted a hot meal for once. Alexis scarfed down the scrambled eggs, and then went out into the living room to play. Emily ate a few bites of coffee grounds and then took a few bites of eggs to take the taste away.

“Want to come help me snoop?” Emily asked, and Alexis nodded and followed her down a long hallway. Emily used Quinn’s keys to open up another door and found a room full of file cabinets. She opened the first one and found an alphabetical listing of what seemed to be heku. She looked behind the files in each drawer and then sat down to rest when she was done.

Something caught her eye, and she went over and pulled a map out from under an old radio. Emily smiled and picked up the phone.

“Em?” Kyle asked.

“I found a map of Alaska,” she said.

“Damn, that’s a big state.”

“I know, but I bet I’m in Alaska. It’s cold here, and it’s been snowing nonstop.”

“Ok, we’ll see what we can find, are they still cold?”

“Yes”

Kyle sighed, “And are you taking care of yourself?”

Emily hesitated, “Yes.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“My alarm’s going off. Time to go get some snow,” Emily said, and shut the phone. Alexis followed her back out to the living room and crawled into bed with her dolls as Emily slipped on the large snow boots and went back outside.

By nightfall, Emily was finding it harder and harder to get warm. When she went outside for snow, the fierce wind bit at her painfully as she brought bucket after bucket full of snow into the house. She’d stopped searching the house and collapsed in front of the fire between the loads of snow that were taking her longer each time.

After hours of moving snow, she propped her hands up close to the fire and watched the flames as Alexis slept. Emily’s phone alarm woke her up and she got to her feet slowly. She opted to take a few more bites of coffee grounds before heading back out. Even though she wore one of Quinn’s warm coats, the cold night air seemed to slip through it and lash painfully at her skin.

She topped off the snow around Allen and then headed back through the garage where she could get to new snow. After dumping a bucket of new snow on Chevalier, she gasped and looked at Quinn when she saw his eyes move.

“Quinn?” she whispered. He blinked once and looked at her, his body still unmoving.

Emily quickly grabbed her phone and dialed. She had to dial four times before her cold fingers hit the right buttons.

“How is it going?” Kyle asked when he answered the phone.

“Quinn’s eyes moved,” Emily said hurriedly. She was watching Quinn and he was staring at the ceiling, but there was movement in his eyes and he blinked.

“That’s great! Now we change course, you need to get him warm,” Kyle said.

“Are you kidding me?”

Kyle chuckled slightly, “No, he has to get warm.”

“Freak, do you know how much these guys weigh?”

“Do what you can, but get him warm,” Kyle said again, and started to update Zohn.

Emily shut the phone, cutting him off, and went back to Quinn. She knelt down beside him and started to brush the snow off of him and onto the others, “I don’t suppose you can just walk into the living room?”

Quinn’s eyes turned to look at her. Emily sighed and ran down the hallway. She had seen a pair of shears in one of the drawers in the interrogation room. She plugged her nose when she went in, and grabbed the shears quickly, shutting the door as she left, then ran back to the hallway by the garage and started cutting the wet clothes off of the Elder.

Emily sighed and grabbed Quinn’s wrists. She pulled, using all of her body weight, and was able to move him an inch at a time toward the fire in the living room. She had to make two snow runs to cover the other three before she got Quinn by the fire. She stoked it and put blankets on him as he watched her, quiet and unmoving.

Emily ran another bucket of snow into the bathroom and saw Allen’s eyes move toward her. She smiled and picked him up out of the snow filled bathtub. She laid him down on the kitchen table and cut his wet clothes off and then moved him to the couch. She began pulling blankets off of the guest beds in the mansion and layered five of them on top of him.

She checked the clock and then went into the bathroom and turned the water on hot and let it run for a few minutes, “Damnit, no hot water.”

Emily dug around in the kitchen until she found an old pot. She filled it with cold water and set it by the fire to warm up. After putting more snow on Chevalier and Maleth, she went back to the pot by the fire and dipped a washcloth into it. She went to Allen first and started to gently wash the blood off of his face.

When she was done, she moved over to Quinn after rinsing out the warm rag, and cleaned the blood from his face and neck. She pulled the blanket down to wipe the blood off of his chest and frowned, he had scars from deep gashes down the left side of his chest. She touched them softly with her fingers and then covered him back up.

Emily moved back up by his head and touched Quinn’s face softly, “Can you talk?”

His eyes watched as a tear fell down her cheek.

“Please, Quinn, if you can talk, I need to know where we are. I need help,” she begged, but he just stared at her.

Emily leaned back against the wall, “I went through your house, actually, I still need to go through more. I just need an address, even a city. Kyle and Zohn are trying to find us so they can come help.”

“Are you going to be mad at me for going through your house?” Emily asked him, and then looked toward the fire.

“I never did get to thank you, for helping me when I came off of belladonna. I know you probably didn’t have a choice, but you could have just tossed me out on my ass.” Emily glanced at him and then back to the fire, “Leonid was my friend, and I’m sorry I have been mean to you about taking his place. They just replaced him so fast, and no one even mourned him, you know?”

Emily looked over at him, “Do you understand me?”

The phone alarm went off, and Emily pulled on the coat and boots and headed back out into the snowy night. The warmth from the living room was making the snow melt faster on Chevalier and Maleth in the hallway, and it was taking twice as long to replenish it.

Emily slid down the wall by Quinn to catch her breath, “If you have the sudden urge to stand up, I could use some help.”

Emily’s phone rang and she answered it, still out of breath, “Hi, Kyle.”

“How are they?”

“Chevalier and Maleth are still on ice. Quinn and Allen are out here by the fire.”

“You sound exhausted.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “Yeah… well.”

“We still can’t find you. We have covens out looking for your scent, but the state is huge,” Kyle said.

“It’s creepy how Quinn watches me, will he remember this?”

“I don’t think he will.”

Emily grinned, “Ok.”

“We’ve given the Equites covens a keyword. If you see a heku, ask for it and if it’s wrong… ash them, ok?”

Emily smiled slightly, “Ok, what is it then?”

“Didactic is the code word.”

“Couldn’t use like… red or sleep?”

Kyle chuckled, “It’s didactic. If you don’t hear it, then ash them.”

“Sure, if I can. I have to go get snow,” Emily said, and shut the phone.

Emily looked at Quinn, “He’s mother henning, and driving me crazy.”

Emily reached over and felt Quinn’s forehead, it was nice and warm. She checked his feet also but they were ice cold, “Crap, you should have told me your feet were cold.”

Emily checked on Allen, and his entire body was warm. She headed out to get buckets of snow while Alexis sat by Quinn and played with her dolls. Emily dumped six buckets of snow on each of the Elders in the hallway, and then stood outside to watch the sun come up.

“If this weren’t a nightmare, it might actually be pretty here,” she said to herself, watching as the vapors from her breath dissipated into the cold air.

Emily looked over to where she had been digging in the snow and noticed a large boulder. She stared at it for a while and then had an idea. With a lot of effort, she was able to pry it off of the frozen ground and took it in and sat it in the fire. She then went into the kitchen and made a grilled cheese for Alexis, and ate more coffee grounds to help keep her awake. She went back into the living room and handed Alexis her sandwich.

Emily disappeared back into the kitchen and dug around, looking for some hot pads. She sighed when she didn’t find any, and went out in search of a towel. She finally came back with a towel and an expensive down pillow.

“Who doesn’t have hot pads? You can’t get mad at me for this,” she said to Quinn when she cut the end off of the pillow. Using the towel to protect her hands, she picked up the hot rock from the fire and shoved it into the pillow, and then set it up against Quinn’s feet and pulled another blanket over him.

She sat down against the wall again and looked around the room. Emily took Quinn’s hand and laced her fingers in his, “I wish you would wake up.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to die,” Emily said, and glanced over at the hallway, her voice cracked slightly. “I mean, why aren’t the other two looking around yet?”

She sighed softly and put her other hand on the one laced with Quinn’s fingers, “You must think Chevalier is crazy to be with me. I’m nothing but trouble. I get kidnapped, tortured, poisoned, and sniffed more than anyone I’ve ever met. You know how irritating it is to get sniffed all the time? It’s annoying, but you all seem to do it constantly. It’s weird to walk through a hallway and get sniffed.”

“You know who never sniffed me?” she asked him, his eyes still watching her. “Exavior. Odd huh? He tried to turn me into a heku, but never sniffed me. At least not that I remember. That’s another thing… why do these heku keep making friends with me, and then turn on me at the last minute? Can’t I trust any of you?”

“I know. You don’t have to answer. It’s because I’m gullible. That’s another reason why Chevalier should dump me on the side of the road. He keeps telling me how mean heku are, but I don’t see you all that way, and it keeps getting me into trouble. Then there’s Kyle, he never turned on me… well… once, but that was the Ancient. He’s been my friend from the start and hasn’t ever attacked me. He did feed once, but that was my idea, ok, so… twice.”

Emily brushed a strand of hair away from Quinn’s eye, “I’ve been thinking about another baby. What do you think? Wonder if Chev’d go for that, he’s a tad overprotective. I’m too afraid to ask so I guess no baby, oh well. I’ll be too old soon enough to even try.”

Emily grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm, “I’ll be back, don’t run off.”

She got up and pulled on the huge parka and boots and headed back out into the snow. Emily went from sitting by Quinn, to piling more snow on Chevalier and Maleth throughout the day. She fed Alexis and played games with her as she could, but the other tasks kept her busy. A blizzard started late in the evening and it made getting snow harder. The wind was strong enough that she had a hard time standing up outside.

Emily put the last bucket of snow on Maleth and then slipped off her boots. She walked past them in the hallway, and then turned quickly when she saw movement. Chevalier was watching her.

She smiled and knelt by him, “Welcome back… can you talk?”

His eyes looked into hers, but he didn’t move, “Ok… here we go.”

Emily went back into the living room and grabbed the shears. She used the bucket to take the snow off of Chevalier and poured it onto Maleth. Once he was uncovered, she cut off his wet clothes and took his wrists. Again she used her body weight to pull him, inch by inch, toward the living room. He was heavier than Quinn, and taller, so he was harder to move. His eyes watched her the entire time.

Three hours later, Emily was able to edge him into the living room so he was lying beside Quinn. She went into the guestrooms and brought back a bunch of blankets, then piled them on Chevalier and stoked the fire again. Her arms ached from the pulling and shook uncontrollably.

Emily sat back against the wall to catch her breath. When her alarm went off again, she went outside and got more snow for Maleth. She returned to the living room when she was done and got a warm rag to clean Chevalier off with. She gently wiped the blood from his face and neck and kissed his forehead softly.

She went back outside and found another boulder and sat it in the fire, then returned with another pillow, cut the end off, and looked at Quinn, “That’s number two, you can bill me.”

Emily got the rock out of the fire and slipped it into the pillow and then put it up against Chevalier’s feet. She returned to his side and curled up next to him, laying her head against his chest, “I’m scared, Chev, why can’t you talk? I really need you.”

Emily started to drift off. It had been days since she’d slept, and curled up against Chevalier and the warm rock, she was finally starting to get warm. She jerked awake when her phone rang.

“Dominos”

“What?” Kyle asked, confused.

“Never mind.”

“We’re in Juneau, Zohn and I. As soon as we find out where you are we’ll at least be closer.”

“Still no idea?” Emily asked. How hard could it be to find a house?

“None, how are things?”

“Chevalier’s eyes are opened, but Maleth is still covered in snow though.”

“Oh good, just keep doing what you’re doing,” Kyle said reassuringly.

“Yeah, no problem.”

“How are you holding up?”

“Me? Peachy.” She started to get irritated.

“We’ll find you, just hang in there.”

Emily sighed and hung up the phone.

She touched Chevalier’s cheek lightly, “Kyle is driving me batty.”

Emily turned off her phone alarm and sighed, “Time to go outside.”

She went out into the blizzard and covered Maleth with snow, then checked his eyes closely, but there was no movement yet. When she was done, she went into the kitchen and ate a few more spoonfuls of coffee and then made Alexis some soup.

“Alex, come eat,” Emily called out to the living room as she set the bowl on the table.

“Alex?” Emily asked, when she didn’t hear a response. She peeked out and started to laugh.

Alexis was sitting on Chevalier’s chest and was kissing all over his face as she said, “Daddy,” between each kiss.

“Come on, Nut,” Emily said, and picked Alexis up off of Chevalier. She took her into the kitchen and sat while she ate.

“Emily.” The hoarse whisper came from the living room. Emily jumped out of her chair and ran into the next room and knelt by Quinn.

“Are you awake?” she asked him, not sure she had actually heard his voice.

Quinn nodded and whispered, “The others?”

“Allen and Chevalier are out here. Maleth still hasn’t moved his eyes,” she said. “Quinn, where are we? I need to tell Kyle.”

“We’re,” he said, and was suddenly wracked with a cough. He settled down after a few minutes, “We’re sixteen miles east of Barrow, Alaska.”

Emily kissed his cheek, “Thank you.”

She dialed the phone quickly, “Kyle?”

“It’s Zohn.”

“Quinn’s awake. He said we’re sixteen miles east of Barrow.”

“Hang tight, we’re on the way,” Zohn said, and disconnected.

Quinn tried to sit up, but Emily pushed him back down. He was still too weak to even resist her, “Stay down.”

Quinn looked over at the fire and back to Emily, “How long?”

“Almost six days,” Emily said, and took his hand. “Are you ok?”

Quinn smiled slightly, “Just really thirsty.”

Emily nodded and held her wrist to his mouth, “There, have at it.”

He shook his head and turned his face away, “No.”

“Just do it.”

“No,” he said again, but she saw the strained look on his face.

Emily went into the kitchen and returned with a knife. Quinn was watching her carefully.

“What are you doing?” he managed to say in a whisper.

“Force feeding you,” Emily said, and smiled.

Quinn’s eyes grew wide, “Don’t…”

It was too late, Emily had cut her wrist slightly and blood trickled out of the wound. She saw his eyes shut and he opened his mouth slightly as he inhaled. Emily pushed her wrist to him and he grabbed it weakly and began to feed. When she thought he’d had enough, she pulled her wrist away from his grasp. He was weak enough it was easy for her to do.

He shut his eyes and relaxed. Emily went back into the kitchen and tore a towel into strips, and then wrapped one around her wrist to stop the bleeding. Alexis had finished eating, so she took her out to the living room and tucked her into bed. She curled up beside the toddler until she was asleep and then Emily stood up and silenced her alarm just as it went off.

The light was starting to come up on the sixth day as she hauled buckets of snow into the house and dumped them on top of Maleth. She knelt down by him and watched his eyes, but there was still no movement.

Emily went back into the living room and stoked the fire. She was running out of wood and coal, and she knew she only had enough for another 24 hours. She sat back and watched the others as they lie motionless. Quinn seemed to be in some kind of trance, almost asleep, but deeper. Her eyes grew heavy and she shut them as she started to feel the warmth from the fire.

The phone alarm scared Emily, and she jumped up and turned it off quickly.

“Emily?” Quinn asked, and his voice was a little stronger.

She crawled over to him and looked into his eyes, “I’m right here.”

“Who is dead?” he asked, his eyes pained.

Emily shook her head, “No one is.”

“I smell death.”

“Nothing’s changed, now go back to sleep. I need to get more snow on Maleth.”

She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm, “He’s gone.”

“No, he’s not,” Emily told him, and pulled on the parka and boots. She felt Quinn’s eyes on her as she walked out the door and into the frigid wind. Six buckets of snow later, Emily came back into the living room and sat down by the fire to thaw her frozen hands.

“Em?” she heard Chevalier whisper, and her heart jumped in her chest. She turned around quickly and he was looking at her.

She glanced at Quinn and he was watching Chevalier also, “Chev?”

He nodded slightly and shut his eyes.

Emily crawled to him and took his hand, “Are you awake?”

“Yes,” his voice was soft and weak.

She kissed his hand, “You scared me.”

Chevalier tried to sit up, but she held him down, “No, stay down.”

Emily grabbed the knife from beside the fireplace.

“Emily, don’t,” Quinn said as she cut her wrist slightly. She held it to Chevalier’s mouth, and he grabbed her arm and began to feed.

“You aren’t strong enough yet to feed us,” Quinn said, concerned.

“I’m fine,” she said, and pulled away from Chevalier when he had enough. She grabbed another strip of the towel and wrapped it around her wrist.

“Don’t do that,” Chevalier said, and watched Emily.

Emily grinned slightly, “I’d like to see you stop me.”

“Where’s Allen?” Chevalier asked, panicked.

“He’s on the couch,” Emily said, and saw Chevalier frown. He looked around the room.

“It’s Maleth then?” he asked her.

“What’s Maleth?”

Chevalier glanced at Quinn and he nodded.

“He’s not dead,” Emily yelled angrily, and got up to put more snow on Maleth.

The wind died down, and as she shoveled the second batch of snow into the bucket, she heard the sound of an approaching helicopter. She watched as it circled them twice and then landed beside the other one on the roof. She finished filling the bucket and went inside to put it on Maleth. When she was done, she heard voices from the living room and she went back to get a third bucket.

Emily felt a hand on her arm and Kyle spoke, “We don’t need more snow.”

Emily pulled away from him, “He’s not dead.”

Kyle took the bucket from her and began filling it, but she tore it away from him, “I don’t need your help.”

She finished filling the bucket and went inside to the hallway and dumped it over Maleth. Kyle watched as she filled and dumped three more buckets, and then shut the door and slipped off the large boots. She pulled off Quinn’s parka, hung it on a hook, and went back into the living room.

Zohn was sitting by Quinn on the floor and they were talking quietly. Chevalier was watching her as she slipped the rock out from beside Quinn’s feet and put it back in the fire. Kyle walked over and sat by Allen and pulled Alexis up onto his lap.

Emily looked up from the fire when she heard Allen’s voice. She crawled over and kissed his forehead softly, “How are you feeling?”

“Ok,” he whispered.

Emily got up and poured him a glass of milk, and then held him up so he could drink. He grimaced at the taste, but drank it anyway. She looked over just as Zohn disappeared into the hallway and she laid Allen back onto the couch.

“What’s with the towels?” Kyle asked, motioning to her wrists.

“I cut myself, accidentally,” she said, and sat down against the wall.

“She fed us,” Quinn told him, and ignored Emily’s glare.

“You fed from her?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“She cut herself…” Quinn started, but Kyle nodded, understanding.

“When’s the last time you slept?” Kyle asked, looking at the dark circles under her eyes.

“I sleep on and off during the night,” she said, and glanced toward the hallway again.

“Don’t let her tell you that. She’s been talking to me straight for three days,” Quinn whispered.

“Hey! I thought you weren’t supposed to remember that.”

Quinn shrugged, “Well I do.”

Emily blushed and glared at Kyle, “Nice.”

“What? I didn’t think they were conscious,” Kyle said, and grinned slightly.

Emily heard movement in the hallway and went quickly toward the noise. Her eyes turned furious when she saw Zohn clearing the snow off of Maleth. She pushed him and stood between them, “Don’t touch him.”

“He’s gone,” Zohn said, drying his hands on his pants.

Emily turned quickly and started scooping the snow back onto the Elder, “Kyle said if we keep him cold, he’ll be ok.”

Zohn touched her arm, “It’s too late.”

“It’s not too late,” Emily said, slipping on the boots. “He’s been cold the entire time.”

Zohn watched as Emily went out into the snow with the bucket.

He walked back into the living room as Kyle talked to Quinn, “I haven’t seen her sleep more than 5 or 10 minutes.”

Kyle nodded and looked at Alexis, “Did Mommy eat?”

“She ate toffee,” Alexis said, and started to brush her doll’s hair.

“Just drank coffee, eh?” Kyle sighed.

“No, ate toffee,” Alexis corrected, and smiled at him.

Emily came in after finishing with the snow and sat down by the fire to warm up. She remembered the rock when she saw it, and pulled it out of the fire with the towel and shoved it back into the pillow by Quinn’s feet.

“I’m warm enough,” he said softly.

Emily nodded and pulled a few of his blankets off and went into the kitchen. She made some bacon and cheese eggs for Alexis again, and took out the plate. Alexis sat down on the bed and started to eat.

She went back into the kitchen and dug the coffee out from the cupboard. Emily went to take a bite, but Kyle grabbed her hand and took the spoon.

“We’re here now. You need to get some food and go to sleep,” Kyle told her, and took the tub of coffee.

“I’m not tired though,” Emily said, and started to make a sandwich.

“Of course not, how much coffee have you eaten?”

“I don’t know.”

Kyle looked around at the glass shattered across the kitchen and then watched as Emily finished making a sandwich and went out into the living room to eat. She sat down by the fire and ate quickly, checking her phone to see how long until the alarm went off.

Emily turned when Quinn sat up, and she moved to him quickly and pushed him back down. She put her finger to his face and yelled, “Stay down.”

Quinn looked at Zohn briefly and then pulled the covers back up, “I don’t seem to have any clothes on.”

Zohn and Kyle looked at Emily.

“Oh… don’t judge me! They were wet,” Emily said, and sat back down by the fire to finish her lunch.

“Thank you,” Quinn said, and Emily looked over at him. His eyes were sincere and warm.

Emily nodded, “Your welcome.”

“You didn’t have to do any of this, and I remember it all. You haven’t slept, haven’t eaten, and not an hour has gone by when you haven’t trudged out into the snow to cover one of us,” Quinn said. As the others watched Emily, she shifted uncomfortably, “You didn’t have to show the kind of care you did, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Emily said, and smiled. “Consider it payback for taking care of me.”

Emily turned off her phone when the alarm rang, and grabbed the parka, heading off into the garage.

“We can’t let her keep covering him with snow,” Zohn said when she’d gone.

“She’s been eating straight coffee grounds, but I’ve taken it away,” Kyle said. “When the caffeine wears off, it’s going to drop her like a rock. Let her go until then, and we’ll take care of Maleth.”

The rest of them nodded and waited for her to come back.

“I’m not dressed,” Allen said, pulling the covers up.

Chevalier chuckled, “I don’t think any of us are.”

“As soon as she falls asleep, I’ll get you all something to wear,” Zohn said, grinning. “Until then, I’d suggest you lie still or face the wrath of Emily.”

Emily came in from pouring snow onto Maleth and sat down by the fire, warming her hands.

“I’m not mad at you, by the way,” Quinn said, and continued when Emily looked up. “I know you went through the house, and cut up pillows, and I know why… I’m not mad.”

Emily blushed again, “You weren’t supposed to remember those conversations.”

“It’s strange, I remember all of it. I remember you pouring snow on us, and talking to us. I remember the feel of the rope against my ankles, and how you pulled me into the living room. Damn, that took forever, and I wanted to talk but I couldn’t move,” Quinn said, thinking back.

“Yes… well… you might consider going on a diet,” Emily said jokingly, and sat against the wall by the fire.

Quinn grinned.

“I remember it all too. It’s almost like a dream, but I do remember it all,” Chevalier said.

Quinn chuckled, “I vividly remember her begging something not to tear our legs off.”

Emily’s blush deepened, “I had to use a winch to get you all inside.”

Quinn’s face fell, “You took such good care of us.”

Emily turned toward the fire and watched the flames. She felt her eyelids getting heavier as the flames danced. Slowly, she began to relax. She couldn’t fight the heaviness in her body and her eyes fell shut.

She jerked when her phone alarm went off and wondered why Kyle cursed. Emily pulled on the parka and boots, and went outside with the bucket.

“Damned phone,” Kyle hissed.

“Yeah, damned phone,” Alexis said, and frowned.

“Nice, Kyle,” Chevalier chuckled.

“Sorry.” Kyle laughed and sat back to wait for Emily to return.

Emily came back in a while later, her hair caked with snow. She bent over and shook her hair out and then sat down by the fire with her feet toward the heat. Finally, she leaned against a chair and lost the fight to stay awake.

The heku watched her sleep for a few minutes before Kyle risked picking her up after he took the phone out of her pocket. She mumbled something to him and he froze, but then went into the bedroom when she’d settled back down. He came out a short time later and shut her door silently.

The Elders were getting dressed in the bathroom when Kyle came back out. Zohn was sitting on the couch, talking to Allen. Kyle disappeared into the hallway to take care of the Elder’s body.

Quinn came out first and sat down on the couch. Zohn glanced at him and he grinned, “Still kind of tired.”

Chevalier came out and was instantly face-to-face with Alexis. She looked up at him and pointed angrily, “No, no, down.”

Chevalier grinned, “I’m not taking orders from you.”

Alexis stomped her foot and put her hands on her waist, “Down, Daddy.”

He smiled at her and stepped around her to sit down on a chair by the fire, “Damn, I hate being this weak.”

Zohn stood up and headed for the hallway, “I’ll go help with Elder Maleth.”

“She’s not going to take that well,” Chevalier said to Quinn.

Quinn nodded, “No, she’s not. She worked so hard to keep us alive and I can see how she’s going to blame herself. She did nothing wrong.”

Chevalier sighed, “I’ve seen this once before. The illness wiped out an entire family, 5 total, and not one survived. They had six heku taking care of them, yet no one made it.”

“This is the third time I’ve seen it, and only once did I see anyone survive it,” Quinn said. “Kyle and Zohn did a lot to help us, but I’m still amazed at what Emily went through to do it. I don’t recall her complaining once.”

Chevalier thought for a moment, “Maybe we need to re-think the Elder evacuation plan. It’s not safe for us all to go to the same place.”

“I was thinking that also,” Quinn said, and glanced down as Alexis started to play with her doll.

“I don’t know how to lessen this,” Chevalier said, mostly to himself.

Kyle and Zohn both came in and sat by the Elders.

“He’s in the cargo hold of the helicopter,” Kyle said. “That way we can bury him by the palace.”

“There’s a lot of damage to the floor in the hallway, and the ceiling underneath. The melted snow flooded that part of the house,” Zohn told Quinn.

Quinn smiled, “It’s ok, it was worth it.”

“You two don’t have to worry about Emily being mad at you. I lied to her, and she’ll blame me,” Kyle said, smiling slightly.

“You lied to her?” Chevalier frowned.

“I couldn’t tell her that 99% of the time the illness is fatal. I told her everyone was going to be ok.”

Chevalier sighed, “She’s not going to see that one loss is amazing for this. It should have been all four of us.”

“I wish I’d told her the lie. She already dislikes me,” Zohn said, watching the fire.

“Did you find who was killing in the palace?” Quinn asked after a long silence.

“Oh, yes we did,” Kyle said. “We were able to flush out six Valle that were working in the palace. One of them has been with us for twenty two years even.”

“They were killing anyone who got in their way to get Emily out of the palace, so they could rescue the prisoners,” Zohn explained. “I think we have them all now. The leader gave us a list as soon as he saw the rack.”

Kyle grinned, “They were pretty brave.”

“I suggest we go with the plan of getting rid of anyone who hasn’t been in the palace for fifty years and replacing them,” Zohn said.

“Quinn and I need to find a new Elder, too,” Chevalier said.

Quinn nodded, “I suggest we wait a week or so, and hold an official mourning for Maleth.”

Chevalier looked at him, confused, “You do?”

“Why would we do that?” Zohn asked.

Quinn chuckled, “Something Emily said to me while it wasn’t supposed to be remembered.”

“I wish I could hear everything she said,” Chevalier told him.

“She’s an interesting creature, completely selfless and insecure,” Quinn said, thinking back on what she told him.

“Insecure?” Kyle asked.

“Which reminds me, we need to find out who smells her as she walks down the hallway in the palace. Apparently, it’s often enough she said it’s annoying.”

Kyle frowned, “I didn’t know that was happening.”

“None of us did,” Quinn said. “I think she didn’t want us to know.”

“What other little tidbits of information did she tell you?” Chevalier asked curiously.

Quinn smiled, “The rest, I do believe, I’ll keep to myself.”

Chevalier and Quinn spoke among themselves for the rest of the day about the new Elder while Kyle and Zohn kept themselves busy by cleaning up the flood in the basement. Allen hadn’t recovered as much as the others, and stayed in bed, reading. Alexis busied herself with her dolls and stuck close to the warmth of the fire.

By nightfall, snow started to fall again and Kyle and Zohn had replenished the wood and coal supply. Chevalier made a quick dinner for Alexis, though she barely ate it and said it didn’t taste like what Emily made. She finally fell asleep in Chevalier’s arms as he rested by the fire. The wind began to blow harder as the night drew on and was soon whistling through the eaves in the attic. The heku had all gathered in the living room again and sat silently, each in their own thoughts.

Kyle and Zohn both stood up when they heard Emily running down the stairs, cursing under her breath. She passed them in the living room and stopped in the empty hallway.

“Em,” Kyle said softly from behind her.

She spun, livid, “Where is he?”

“He’s gone,” Kyle told her, and tried to touch her arm, but she backed away.

“Where is his body?” she asked, glaring at him.

“I put him in the helicopter, so we can bury him in Council City,” Zohn said, appearing behind Kyle.

Emily pushed past them, and ran through the living room. The heku heard bare footsteps as she ran up the stairs. Kyle gasped when he heard the roof door open, and blurred up to the helicopter. The wind was blowing snow across the roof and he could barely see Emily when she reached the helicopter. She pulled on the latch to open the cargo hold, but couldn’t get it open.

“Emily, you are going to freeze out here,” Kyle said, taking her arm.

“No! You can’t leave him out here! When he wakes up he’ll freeze,” she said, and pulled harder on the latch.

Kyle forced her inside and shut the door against the cold and pulled her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her, “You did an incredible job taking care of them, but Maleth didn’t make it.”

Emily hit him on the chest and backed away from him, “He’s not dead. You told me if I kept them cold, they would all be ok. He’s stayed cold.”

Kyle sighed, “I lied”

Emily glared at him, “What?”

“I lied, ok? This illness usually kills everyone, but I didn’t want you to have to deal with that alone. I had no idea that you would somehow manage to pull three of them through it, and I just hoped that we could get here before they died,” Kyle said softly. “We’re all very proud of you and, quite frankly, astonished at how this turned out.”

“Get him out of the helicopter,” Emily said, gritting her teeth.

“No,” Zohn said as he appeared between her and the door. “He’s gone.”

Emily’s body tensed and she looked from Kyle to Zohn, “One of you did this, didn’t you? You want to be Elder.”

Kyle frowned, “Emily… that’s not true.”

“We wouldn’t do that,” Zohn said, sounding partially insulted.

“He’s not dead,” Emily whispered, and slunk down against the wall.

Kyle nodded to Zohn, and he blurred down the stairs as Kyle sat down beside her, “You did everything you could, but he didn’t make it.”

“Heku don’t die of illnesses,” Emily said to him, her eyes red and full of tears.

“Not often, no… but once in a while we get this illness from a donor,” he said. “Or, as in this case, from a family of donors.”

Emily leaned her head against Kyle’s chest and started to cry, “I tried, I mean… I put snow on him when I did the others. Maybe he needed more and I let him…”

“Stop, Em. You did a wonderful job. There’s nothing you could have done differently,” Kyle said, and touched her hair softly. “We’re all shocked that you were able to save three of them, it’s unheard of.”

“Oh my God,” Emily yelled, and stood up, then ran down the hallway to the stairs. “What if they still die?”

“Wait, Em!” Kyle said, and followed her down into the living room.

“Em?” Chevalier asked when she ran into the room. She pushed up the footstool on his chair and threw blankets on him, “What’s going on?”

Emily ignored him and went to where Quinn was sitting. She pushed a footstool up to him and propped his legs up, and then covered him in blankets. She dug both of the rocks out of the pillows and put them into the fireplace, and then disappeared and came back with clean washcloths, which she dipped in the steaming water on the fire. She put one against Chevalier’s forehead, and one across Quinn’s, ignoring anything anyone said to her.

Emily disappeared into the guestroom hallway.

“What’s all this?” Chevalier asked.

Kyle sighed, “She thinks you all might still die.”

“Well, tell her we’re fine,” Quinn said, and pulled the hot rag off of his forehead.

“I tried!” Kyle said. “She won’t listen though… here she comes.”

Kyle watched as Quinn put the rag back on his head. Emily came into the room with eight pillows stacked and dropped them onto the floor. She put one under Chevalier’s feet and one under each of his arms and then fluffed one and put it behind his head.

“Em, we’re not going to die, we’re getting better,” Chevalier said, but was shushed.

Emily did the same to Quinn and he was soon propped up on pillows. She took the rocks out of the fire and before long, they had yet another pillow by their feet, one that was hot and making it sweltering under the layers of blankets.

Quinn sighed and sat up, “You need to li…”

He stopped talking when Emily got in his face, “Sit down and shut up.”

Zohn turned to face the wall to hide his grin and saw Kyle smiling beside him. The Elders both sat back in their chairs and watched Emily work to stoke the fire. Allen stayed quiet under his covers, afraid he might get yelled at if he moved.

Emily disappeared into the kitchen after the room became stiflingly hot.

“She’s going to kill us with heat,” Quinn said, fanning the blankets.

“Sad thing is, she would probably win in a fight right now. I need to get my strength back… this is pathetic,” Chevalier whispered, and then deftly kicked the hot rock out from under the covers.

Emily came back out and handed a grilled cheese sandwich to Alexis. She sat down with a bowl of soup by Allen and propped him up on some pillows.

Allen looked pleadingly at his Dad, and then to the others, but they all gave him a sympathetic smile as Emily spooned hot soup down him.

Emily frowned when she saw Allen gag a bit, “Are you going to throw up? Is your stomach upset?”

Allen looked at Chevalier and then to Emily and nodded, “That soup, it’s awful.”

Emily tasted it and then sighed, “It’s fine.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Allen said, and watched when Emily disappeared into the kitchen.

She emerged a few minutes later with a strip of towel and a knife. She sat down by Allen and he watched her with wide eyes as she picked off the towel around her already wounded wrist.

“Give it back!” Emily scowled when Zohn blurred the knife out of her hand.

“No… a heku can’t resist you when we’re ill, so stop cutting yourself,” Kyle told her.

“He’s hungry,” Emily said, and put her hand out for the knife.

“No,” Chevalier said, and sat up. “We aren’t dying, not anymore at least.”

“How do you know? How do I know you aren’t about to keel over?” Emily asked him angrily.

“We just know,” Chevalier said, and nodded for Kyle to take the knife back to the kitchen.

Zohn sighed, “We need to get back to Council City, are you all ready to fly?”

“We can take the jet back, it’s faster. We’ll send someone after the other helicopter,” Kyle told them, and started up the stairs.

“They can’t travel, they’re sick,” Emily said sternly.

“We aren’t sick anymore, just weak, it’ll be ok,” Chevalier said, and stood up. The cooler air felt good after the heat from the blankets.

Zohn started to put out the fire and Allen stood up and wrapped himself in a blanket. Quinn took Alexis’ hand and headed up the stairs to the helicopter, followed by Zohn and Allen. Emily watched them all and stood silently in the living room, unable to accept that this was over and that Maleth was dead.

“Come on, let’s go,” Chevalier said, and held his hand out for Emily.

“I’m not going,” she whispered, and took a step away from him.

Chevalier stepped to her and took her hand, “We have to go. The Council is waiting for our return.”

“To hell with the Council, if you are so dead set on leaving, then by all means… but I’m not going,” Emily said, and sat down by the now dead fire.

“Sitting here, freezing to death by yourself isn’t going to bring him back.”

Emily turned her head away from him as the tears started to pour. She was tired, and angry, and felt like she killed Maleth. Her mind ran over everything that happened, and she searched for something that had gone wrong.

“I can’t pick you up right now, Em. You’re going to have to walk,” Chevalier said, and headed up the stairs.

Emily stayed in the chair and shut her eyes as the tears came faster. She felt someone kneel down beside her and looked over at Zohn.

Several minutes later, Zohn came out of the house with Emily cradled in his arms. He easily jumped into the helicopter and handed her to Kyle.

“Do I want to know?” Chevalier asked.

“Probably not,” Zohn said, and crawled into the pilot seat as the door shut.

Kyle spent the entire trip to the airport on the phone with the Council, and watched Emily uncomfortably. She wasn’t moving and was sleeping peacefully in his arms, something uncommon for her. When they reached the airport, the jet was just starting to warm up and the Equites pilot came to help them.

Chevalier was glad that Emily was still asleep when they transferred Maleth’s body into the jet. He picked Alexis up while Kyle carried Emily, still asleep. Quinn was the last to leave and followed Allen into the jet. The door shut behind them and soon, they were flying over Canada toward Council City.

When the helicopter landed on the palace roof, the door opened and the Cavalry came out, led by Mark. Chevalier noticed the guards had black arm bands and he glanced approvingly to Kyle. Zohn picked up Emily on his way out of the helicopter and shrugged when Chevalier glanced at him.

“She must have been tired. I just told her to sleep, that’s all,” Zohn said when Mark looked at Emily, worried.

The shades were all drawn in the palace and everyone had on a black arm band. The Equites banner was lowered and there was an abnormal silence among the guards and servants.

Zohn laid Emily down in bed and then bowed as he left, shutting the door behind him. Silas came and took Alexis and Chevalier laid down beside Emily and wrapped his arms around her. Her dreams were hectic and sporadic and lacked the softly flowing emotions that they normally did. He shut his eyes and rested as she slept.