Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series by T.M. Nielsen

do
that?”
    “I don’t know, but I don’t
feel a retaliation is necessary… sounds to me like he asked for
it,” Reese said, and looked over some papers.
    “Have we heard back from the Valle?” Aaron
asked them.
     
     
     

Chapter 4 - Compassion

    “Please, not my neck,”
Emily begged again. She couldn’t focus and wasn’t sure where she
was. All she knew was that her neck needed protected, and she was
desperate to convince him of that.
    Aaron nodded, “I know, Child.”
    She couldn’t find the
strength to speak more. Her eyes were heavy and her hands and feet
were so cold she could no longer feel them. She gasped slightly
when she felt the Elder’s teeth against her neck, and the relaxing
sensation no longer brought relief from the panic. He finished, and
then kissed her cold forehead lightly.
    “Sorry, Dear, it’s hard to
resist your neck,” he whispered, and brushed the hair off of her
shoulder.
    “I said, no, Exavior,” she
whispered, and her hand fell limply across her chest.
    Aaron watched her sleep
for a bit, and then held her hand while the sun set and darkness
fell over the Encala palace.
    Long after dark, Emily
felt strong arms pick her up out of bed. She wasn’t sure why she
felt so cold, but the warm blankets were left behind. She tried to
open her eyes when she felt the cold breeze fly past her as she was
blurred away from the palace. It seemed like hours passed before
she felt the cold ground beneath her. Her nightgown became wet with
mud, and the prick of branches dug into her skin. She shivered as a
light rain began to fall and quickly soaked through her
clothing.
    “You’re just a moron,” the guard said,
starting his nightly patrols with his partner.
    “No I’m not, it’s just been too long since
you were human,” the other guard said, laughing.
    “You’re older than I am,
and sorely mistaken.”
    “Gah, no I’m not. I
distinctly remember it… is that a body?” he asked, and stopped. His
green cape was heavy with the rain as he stooped down to look at
the still form lying silently on the forest ground ahead of
them.
    “It is a body…” the other
guard said, and took a step closer. “Is it dead?”
    “Doesn’t smell like
anything, death or not… saw that once when I found a fully drained
mortal body,” he said, and touched Emily’s arm lightly.
    “It’s a mortal, a girl…
she’s not dead though, not yet.”
    The guards both stood up and looked down at
her.
    “What do we do with her?” the tallest guard
asked.
    The other shrugged, “I don’t know. Leave her
here? She’s not really any of our concern.”
    The taller guard smacked the other one
upside the head, “We can’t leave her here.”
    “Well we can’t take her
into the compound. Lord Dexter wouldn’t like a mortal in
there.”
    “He is weird about that… no other coven has
to feed outside of their own city.”
    “So we leave her?”
    “I say we take her back.
She’s obviously injured or… almost dead,” he said, and touched her
arm with his boot.
    “Maybe we should ask
Kralen. He’s back from Council City for a while. I bet as one of
their guards, he’s seen everything.”
    “Not gonna bug him with a dead mortal.”
    “She’s not dead.”
    “Well she will be in a few
minutes. Take a whiff, no blood smell at all.”
    The taller guard thought
for a moment, still watching her, “She’s just a kid.”
    “Kid or not, she’s a
mortal,” the shorter one said. “I vote we just leave
her.”
    “I wonder if someone from
our coven drained her accidentally, and left her here for
dead.”
    “I doubt it. No one’s dumb
enough to do that.”
    “I’d drop her here before I’d turn myself in
for it.”
    The shorter guard knelt
down, “Are you alive?”
    “She can’t answer you,
idiot,” the tall guard said. “Ok… I’ll stay here. Go ask Kralen
what the big wigs in the city do with a dead mortal.”
    “You don’t think this is the Elder’s missing
wife, do you?”
    “Damn I