Equites : Book 4 of the Heku Series by T.M. Nielsen Page A

three hours each way, just to pick up some horses,” Emily said
to him.
    “ Mark does too, he’s taken
your safety personally,” Chevalier said, grinning.
    “ He’s done enough,” Emily
told him, hooking up the wires for the turn signals and brake
lights.
    “ Mark,” Chevalier said
under his breath.
    Mark appeared and leaned up against
the horse trailer, “What’s up?
    Emily glared at Chevalier, “Don’t do
that.”
    “ What?” Chevalier asked
innocently.
    “ I’m going out to buy some
horses, Mark… alone,” she added, and struggled to haul a bale of
hay into the trailer. Mark tried to help her, but she glared at him
and he backed off.
    “ Em,” Chevalier sighed.
“Your back.”
    “ It hurts, big deal,” she
said, going into the stable.
    “ Mark,” Chevalier whispered
again. Mark grinned and stepped into the horse trailer, ducking
behind the pile of hay.
    Emily came out of the stables carrying
three bridles. She let Ford into the back of the trailer and went
around to the Durango, “I think that’s it.”
    “ Last chance to take a
handsomely dashing heku with you,” Chevalier said,
smiling.
    “ I apparently am, and he
should at least come ride up front. It’ll get cold back in the
trailer,” Emily said, hoisting herself into the Durango.
    Mark chuckled and blurred to the side
of the Durango and stepped inside. As soon as the Durango was out
of sight, Chevalier went back inside and met up with Kyle, and then
they both headed down into the prison.
    “ Let me talk to her!”
Exavior yelled at them.
    “ You know, we could start
an Emily wing of the prison. Lock all of her suitors in there,”
Kyle said jokingly.
    “ That’d save her from
having to search for them when she visits,” Chevalier
chuckled.
    “ Hello, Greg,” Kyle said,
turning to the shackled heku in the cell.
    Greg looked up at them
wearily.
    “ We are here for some more
fun. With Emily out of the building for seven hours or so, we have
plenty of time,” Chevalier said, unlocking the door. Kyle turned
the electrical current off to the shackles and unlocked them. He
and Chevalier each took an arm and roughly dragged Greg to the
interrogation chamber.
    “ We don’t spend nearly
enough time in here anymore,” Kyle said, shutting the door behind
them. He looked around the room, smiling.
    The perfectly square room had dark
rock walls and a plain dirt floor. Several tables stood toward the
center, each with varying amounts of wires hooked up to it. One of
the tables had ropes along the top and bottom, and could double as
a rack torture if the need arose. An iron maiden stood up against
one of the rock walls, and a guillotine sat across from
it.
    “ I’m actually afraid if I
come here too often, Emily will find it,” Chevalier said, forcing
Greg onto the rack torture table.
    “ No!” Greg
screamed.
    “ Maybe we need to reinforce
the door somehow. Just in case she stumbles into it,” Kyle said,
fixing Greg’s arms to the ropes as Chevalier tied his
feet.
    “ I’ll tell you anything you
want to know, I swear,” Greg pleaded.
    “ Good idea. I’m so afraid
she’s going to stumble in here someday. I know for a fact she
wouldn’t understand,” Chevalier said, leaning back against the
wall.
    “ Please… don’t do this!
I’ll cooperate,” Greg begged.
    “ We don’t need information
from you. Zohn got us what we needed to know,” Kyle told him, and
sat down comfortably on a chair.
    “ Then why are you doing
this? Please stop,” he screamed.
    “ The problem is, Emily’s
stubborn. If she sees the door, she’ll wonder what’s inside and
then she’ll find a way in,” Chevalier tried to explain over the
sounds of Greg’s screaming.
    “ If she finds it, just tell
her it’s Damon’s playground.” Kyle grinned.
    “ What is my playground?”
Damon asked, stepping into the room.
    “ This place. If Emily ever
finds it, we’re going to say it’s yours,” Kyle told him.
    Damon nodded, “Fine by me.”
    “