Encala : Book 3 of the Heku Series Page 20

  “Anything you want.” He smiled, two weeks gave him enough time.

  “I shouldn’t have ashed him,” she said, before grabbing a cracker from him and taking a bite.

  Chevalier laughed, “I can’t believe you did it.”

  “I think I let my hormones get the best of me. He was irritating me,” she said, sitting cross-legged on the floor.

  “Remind me never to irritate you.” He laughed.

  “You sure you don’t want to just kill me now? I bet I taste good,” she said, leaning her cheek against the cool wall.

  “Tempting… but I think not.” He watched her, and in that instant, she lost all of the color in her face.

  Chevalier opened the door a bit, and stuck his hand out. When he brought it back, he was holding a cold glass of Sprite.

  “Here,” he said, handing it to her.

  “You don’t want any?” She smiled and took a drink.

  “I don’t know how you handle it.”

  “It’s pretty good, actually.”

  “You should try blood.”

  “Maybe I will someday,” she said, sipping the Sprite.

  “That, I want to see.”

  “I hate when you do that, by the way.”

  “What?”

  “Hold your hand out and get what you want without even asking.”

  “I asked.”

  “When?” She eyed him suspiciously.

  “Just before I opened the door.”

  “You did not.”

  He grinned, “You just couldn’t hear it, but I did.”

  “It’s irritating.”

  “You can do it, too… you won’t be able to hear them answer, but you can still ask.” He raised an eyebrow.

  “I can?”

  “Yes”

  Emily sat up and looked at the door, “How?”

  “What is it you want? Don’t say it… not even a whisper… just think it.”

  Emily shut her eyes and then opened them and nodded.

  “Ok… now, in the quietest voice you can use… too low for even you to hear it… ask for it.” He watched her amused.

  Emily bit her bottom lip and grinned, “This is stupid.”

  “Just do it.”

  Emily’s lips moved, but no sound came out that she could hear. She grinned as Chevalier began to laugh, “You asked for it.”

  There was a knock on the door and she frowned.

  “Who is it?”

  “I have what you requested,” the strange voice said.

  “No way!” Emily yelled, and crawled to the door. She opened it and the heku handed her a black and white ball of fur. She shut the door and sat back as the puppy licked her face.

  “If you told me you wanted a puppy, I would have given you one.”

  “I don’t want a puppy… I tried to think of the one thing no one would be able to bring me,” she said, holding the puppy close to her and petting him.

  Chevalier leaned his head back and laughed.

  “Where did they get it?” she asked, holding him up and looking into his precious face. She guessed he was no more than 18 weeks old, a Border collie, her favorite dog.

  “I don’t know. I’m not the one that got it,” he said, watching her. “I’ll take it back to them though.”

  Emily pulled the puppy away from him and glared, “He’s mine.”

  “You said you didn’t want a puppy.”

  “I do, his name is Ford,” she said, kissing the top of the puppy’s head.

  “Ford?” he asked.

  “Yes… get it… now I have a Chevy and a Ford.” She grinned and Chevalier shook his head. Emily put the puppy down and pressed her palms into her eyes.

  “Headache?”

  She nodded as the puppy pulled at the hem on her pants. Chevalier picked him up and heard a low, tiny growl.

  “What did you do to him?” Emily asked, looking at Chevalier and taking the puppy from him.

  “I didn’t do anything,” Chevalier looked at the puppy, suspiciously. His hackles were raised, and his tiny teeth were showing, but he was watching the wall of the bathroom.

  Emily screamed as her back arched against the cold bathroom tiles, and her hands dug at the sides of her head. The bathroom suddenly filled with heku guards eyeing Chevalier suspiciously. He crawled to her and scooped her into his arms. He ignored the guards and laid her down on the bed, taking her hands to keep her from hurting herself.

  Everyone looked over as a tiny howl erupted from the puppy and he started to paw at his ears.

  “Stop them!” Emily screamed, and the guards looked around, trying to find who she needed saved from.

  “Who, Em?” Chevalier asked, frantically.

  “Stop them, please.” Her eyes locked on his and he saw the fear.

  When the puppy began to bark furiously, one of the guards picked him up and locked him in the bathroom, out of the way.

  “I won’t do it,” she screamed, as her body writhed in pain.

  “Do what, talk to me,” Chevalier said, watching her.

  As suddenly as it started, it stopped, and she fell silent on the bed. The room became eerily peaceful as the heku looked around at one another.

  Emily opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room, “How… how did I get here?”

  “Tell me, quickly. What are you refusing to do?” Chevalier asked her.

  “Refusing? Did I refuse something?” she asked, and sat up. She looked around for her glass and a guard handed it to her.

  “My head,” she said after a long drink. “I need some ibuprofen.”

  Within a minute, a guard appeared and handed her a bottle. She took four of the pills and looked around the room, “Where’s Ford?”

  Chevalier looked to the bathroom door, “I don’t think he likes me.”

  “Why? What did you do?” she asked, accusingly.

  “I didn’t do anything!” Chevalier said, and told the guards to let him out. The puppy ran into the room and began to chase his tail, “See, he’s fine… and as smart as ever.”

  Emily frowned, “Be nice.”

  She set the glass down and laid back, then sat up quickly, looking around.

  She blushed, “Why are you all in here?”

  “Disperse,” Chevalier ordered, and the guards blurred from her room, except for the one in the corner.

  “What do you remember?” he asked her.

  Her eyes were closed, and she spoke softly, “We were in the bathroom and Ford growled at you.”

  “That’s it? Nothing after?”

  She shook her head, “I’m so tired.”

  He sighed, “Rest, Em.”

  Emily only napped for a few hours, and when she woke up, her headache was down to a dull throb. She sat up and ate a few crackers before standing up. Her room was empty, so she was able to throw on some clothing out in the bedroom. She pulled her shoes on, picked up Ford, and left her room.

  As she made her way down the staircase, she saw a large gathering of heku guards and they all turned to look at her. Chevalier and Kyle were among them.

  “Feeling better?” Chevalier asked her, and she nodded.

  “I’m going shopping,” she said, handing the puppy over to Chevalier.

  “Ok… give me a few minutes and I’ll go with you,” he told her, and handed the puppy over to Kyle, who looked at him confused.

  “Nope… taking… him,” she said, pointing to a random heku guard, “and… him.” She pointed at another. The two chosen heku looked at Chevalier curiously.

  “Ok,” he said, and nodded to them that they could go.

  “You have to change though… jeans and t-shirts, I’ll wait for you.” The guards looked again at Chevalier nervously, and he grinned and then nodded. Guards weren’t to be out of uniform, even for informal occasions. They both blurred off to try to find the required clothing.

  “Anything else?” Chevalier asked, amused.

  She put her hand out, “Your credit card.”

  He reache
d into his back pocket, pulled out an old leather wallet, and handed her the platinum card.

  “What’s the limit?” she asked, putting it in her purse.

  “I don’t know… a few hundred grand.” He frowned slightly. He knew she hated to shop, and he also knew she hated to use his money. Her small savings had dwindled over time, though, with purchases of clothing and other necessities.

  She nodded, “That’s enough I guess.”

  “You guess?” He laughed.

  “Are you going to have me arrested if I take your Humvee?”

  “Only if you disappear in it.”

  “Deal, we’ll be back in a few hours.” Emily headed toward the garage as soon as the guards arrived, looking out of place and uncomfortable in their new clothes.

  “Be nice to Ford!” she yelled as she walked around the corner and into the garage.

  Emily crawled into the Humvee with some difficulty and complained, “Could he not find a higher car?”

  She put the car into gear and then looked at the heku guards. They were looking nervous and fidgety.

  “You two ok?” she asked, frowning.

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  “You look like I’m going to ash you,” she said, and watched as they both flinched.

  “Oh for hell’s sake… are you seriously afraid of me?”

  “No, Ma’am,” they both said.

  Emily put the Humvee back into park, “We’re not going until you two lighten up.”

  They looked at each other and then back to Emily.

  “What?” she yelled, starting to get irritated.

  “Why did you choose us?” the younger one asked.

  “Because I needed big guys with me… mean looking ones, and you two were as grouchy looking as they come.” She put the car back into drive and slowly pulled out of the garage.

  “Will we be fighting?” one of them asked.

  “In a way.”

  “How many?”

  “How many what?” She was watching the rear-view mirror, making sure Chevalier hadn’t sent his own backup.

  “Heku… how many will we be fighting.”

  Emily laughed, “We aren’t going to fight heku… you’ll see, just do as I say.”

  They nodded officially and she rolled her eyes.

  “You… Blondie, what’s your name?” she asked, looking at the guard sitting next to her.

  “Eric,” he said, watching out the window.

  “Eric, you’re my husband,” she said, and then frowned. “Can you act?”

  He was frozen.

  “Erm… Eric… can you act?” She glanced at him then back to the road.

  “Husband?”

  “Yes, and I need you to be a mean one… got it?”

  “Mean?” he stammered, starting to panic.

  “Yeah mean… come on… calm down, for heaven’s sake. Here’s the story. You’re my mean husband, and you don’t want me buying a new car. That’s easy right?”

  He nodded and she sighed.

  “You,” she said, looking at the guard in the back. “You’re my brother… what’s your name?”

  “Francis, Ma’am.”

  “Ok, Frank, you’re my brother, and you want me to buy a new car.”

  He smiled, “Deal.”

  Emily grinned, at least one of the heku was on track with her. One of the best car deals she’d ever gotten, was when she bought a new truck when Keith thought she didn’t need one. Their ensuing fight made the salesman so nervous, he gave them an insane deal just to be done with them. She pulled into the first lot she came to with the Dodge symbol on the sign, and stopped the Humvee. Before she had even gotten the keys out of the ignition, four men were running toward her.

  “Better start acting,” she said, sliding out of the Humvee.

  “Good morning, something we can help you with?” the first man to arrive asked. He checked behind him to make sure the others were leaving.

  “Yes, I want a Durango,” she said, looking around.

  “I think I can help you out, what year?”

  “Next year’s model,” she said, as Eric and Frank joined her. The two heku towered over the short, skinny salesman, and he nervously adjusted his tie.

  “Good, good… we have some over here,” the salesman said, and the three of them followed him across the lot. Emily elbowed Eric hard in the ribs and he jerked.

  “I don’t think you need a new one, Ma’... erm… Emily,” he said, stiffly. Frank stifled a laugh and Emily frowned at Eric.

  “That is a pretty nice Humvee you have there, will it be a trade in?” the salesman asked with a cheesy smile.

  “Yes,” Frank said.

  Emily hurried and said, “No.”

  “Erm… is it then?” the salesman asked, looking back at them.

  “Ignore my brother, he’s an idiot… no, we aren’t trading in the Humvee.” She tried not to laugh, but could hear Frank laughing behind her. He was having a lot of fun with this.

  “Fine, fine... Here’s our base model, it has…” Emily cut him off.

  “I don’t want the base model… load me up,” Emily said, smiling sweetly.

  “What?” Eric said. “Show her the base model. The fully loaded is too expensive.”

  Emily looked at him, impressed.

  “She gets the best, Eric, only the best for my sister,” Frank said, putting his arm around her casually.

  “Base model,” Eric said, dryly.

  “If you ever treated her right, like she deserved, you’d get her the fully loaded model,” Frank said, letting go of Emily and pushing Eric.

  Emily had to fight to control her laughter, “Stop it… show me the fully loaded one.”

  The salesman was terrified. His eyes were wide as he watched the hulking heku start to push each other around. He would much rather deal with the tiny woman than her intimidating companions.

  ***

  Chevalier watched the clock closely. It had been six hours since Emily left with the two guards to go shopping, and he still wasn’t picking up any emotions or senses from her. He paced nervously across the foyer, getting angrier by the minute.

  “I did not!” he heard Emily yell, and he turned to face the doors to the large garage.

  “Yes you did! Oh my God, you did,” Frank said, laughing, and Emily slapped him playfully on the arm.

  “At least what I did isn’t going to get us arrested… Dear Brother,” Emily said, mocking fear.

  Frank’s face fell and he stood tall as Chevalier approached, “Elder,” he said, bowing slightly.

  “Hi, Chev,” Emily said, smiling.

  “Have fun?” Chevalier asked curiously. He watched Frank and could tell he was trying not to laugh.

  “I had a blast… though I’m not sure Eric will be ok,” she said, smiling.

  Frank stood perfectly still.

  Emily frowned, “Chevalier, tell him to stop… we were having fun.”

  Chevalier nodded at Frank, and he burst into laughter.

  “What is so funny?” Chevalier asked. He couldn’t help but smile.

  “Your wife is a flirt,” Frank said, and then tensed when he realized what he’d said.

  “I am not!” Emily said, and blushed. “You have to be attractive to flirt.”

  Frank started to say something, but stopped when he saw his Elder tense.

  Frank grinned when Chevalier spoke, “What did she do?”

  “She had this poor salesman wrapped around her little finger and scared to death of Eric,” Frank explained.

  “Of course he was afraid of Eric. Eric was afraid to talk. Seriously… he needs acting lessons.”

  “I’ll add that to the guard regime,” Chevalier said, as he buried his jealous feelings deeply.

  “I finally started prompting him, that helped,” Frank admitted.

  “Ooooh, is that why he started talking?” Emily nodded, finally understanding.