Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (17 page)

“Meaning?”

“Meaning… we as heku are violent, that’s no
secret. When you involve Lady Emily and her guards, it seems to
increase that exponentially.”

Silas smiled, “She thought we could have just
advised the Council and not killed him.”

“I’m not sure his death will benefit the Lady
in the long run.”

“Neither will his life,” Silas told her.

Lori nodded, “It’s just shocking is all.”

Kralen cleared his throat, “I was afraid by
killing him the Council might find that I overstepped again.”

Kyle shook his head, “It doesn’t sound like
you did.”

“Does Em know?” Chevalier asked.

“No, it was in the morning paper, but we took
it before she saw it,” Silas explained.

“Do you know why Emily needed to speak to
Alec so badly?”

“No, Elder,” Kralen and Silas said
together.

Lori sighed, “I do.”

“What then?” Chevalier asked her.

“Pat is having financial difficulties and is
facing abandonment issues by his father. He’s about to lose his
ranch and is deeply upset that Alec has disappeared,” Lori said. “I
suspect Emily is mad at him for putting Pat through that.”

Silas chuckled, “That’s why we brought
Lori.”

Lori glared at him and then faced the Elders,
“I think that Emily is going to force Alec to do something to help
Pat.”

“Force him?” Chevalier asked.

“Maybe… though he doesn’t have the financial
ability to help, and he can’t return to Pat looking younger than
when he left,” Lori said. “I’m not sure what all he can do.”

Chevalier nodded, “I’ll take care of Pat’s
ranch. Let Alec handle the abandonment issue. That's something a
lot of us have to deal with when we turn.”

“Is that all then?” Quinn asked them.

“Yes, Elder,” the heku said, and then started
for the door.

Just as Silas and Lori stepped out of the
room, the Council heard Lori whisper, “You didn’t have to torture
him first.”

Silas sounded amused, “Drop it, ok? He had no
right treating Emily like that.”

“Death is enough though…” Her voice trailed
off as they left the palace.

The Chief Interrogator chuckled, “Can you
imagine being married to a Psychiatrist?”

“Can you imagine being a heku with a
conscience?” Zohn countered.

“True”

“The Encala have been waiting for an
audience,” the Court Reporter reminded them.

Zohn sighed, “Fine, let them in.”

The Council turned to the doors when Derrick
opened them and let in Andrew and some of the Encala Palace
Guards.

Andrew stopped in front of Chevalier, “I came
to talk to her.”

“About what? She’s pretty mad at you.”

“I want to apologize. The Council has granted
me the ability to see her.”

Chevalier smiled, “I wouldn’t tell her
that.”

“I know. I realize that sounds pretty
bad.”

“She doesn’t understand why you are forced to
abide by what your Council said,” Kyle told him. “I don’t know if
we should allow you to upset her again by coming back into her life
on a temporary basis.”

“It was done to protect her,” Andrew
said.

“We know why it was done,” Zohn said. “What
we don’t know is how you returning will affect Emily.”

“I didn’t mean to upset her.”

“Upset? You devastated her by doing what you
promised you wouldn’t, by abandoning her when you joined the
Council,” Chevalier said.

“I’m working with the Council now though. I
think they are on the verge of letting me resume our
friendship.”

“Not good enough,” Zohn said. “She’s having a
rough time right now and the last thing she needs is you showing up
to remind her of yet another loss.”

Andrew’s jaw tightened, “What happened?”

“I don’t think it’s our place to tell
you.”

“I know you have a group turning next week,
and that Powan, Thukil, and the Island are staging in Europe. What
will you do with Emily?” Andrew asked.

The Chief of Defense growled, “How do you
know all of that?”

Andrew ignored him and looked at Chevalier,
“She can come stay with us.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “I doubt she wants
to.”

“Can I at least offer?”

“No”

“You’re still afraid she’s going to join
us.”

“No, I’m not. She has enough on her plate
right now without you stirring up that pot.”

Andrew smiled, “When my Council gives me
permission to see her again, I’ll be around.”

“Not in this palace you won’t,” Zohn said.
“We’re not going to have the Encala’s Interrogator running around
the palace.”

“Do I scare you?”

“No”

Andrew chuckled and turned to leave, “I’ll
send her a note.”

Chevalier turned to the others when Andrew
left, “How in the hell does the Encala have that kind of
information?”

“I’m not sure, but I plan on finding out,”
the Chief Interrogator said.

“Do it,” Quinn hissed. Once the Interrogator
and the Investigator left, Quinn looked at Chevalier, “What are we
going to do with Emily?”

“I haven’t even talked to her yet,” Chevalier
said. “I was going to ask her what she wanted to do.”

“My guess is either Hall or Okanogan Covens,”
Kyle said. “She’s friends with them.”

“I’ll find out tonight.”

“We still need to handle Dain. We haven’t
spoken to him since we let him out of prison.”

Chevalier sighed, “Bring him in.”

A few minutes later, Dain came in, obviously
furious. He stood before the Council but glared angrily at his
Dad.

“How do we get across to you that you aren’t
to defy orders from the Council?” Chevalier asked him.

“When you give me my post with the
guards!”

“No, you’re immature and don’t follow orders.
We aren’t going to have a loose cannon on the guard staff.”

Dain hissed softly.

Kyle cleared his throat, “You haven’t shown
us the responsibility it takes to be one of the Council City
Guards.”

“I’m stronger than they are.”

“Strength is nothing if there’s no ability
for us to control it.”

Dain glared at Kyle but didn’t answer.

“Once you show us the maturity it takes to be
a responsible, obedient guard, then we’ll re-consider,” Quinn told
him.

“I’ll prove to you that I’m better than those
idiots in the city.”

“Calling them idiots won’t help your case,”
Kyle told him.

Dain snarled slightly and then blurred from
the room.

“Damn, I wonder what he’s off to do.”

Chevalier shook his head, “Not a clue.”

Derrick came into the council chambers,
“Elders, there’s been more attacks.”

“What kind?” Zohn asked.

“In the city. Four women were dancing last
night and woke up in a hotel room with bites on them and bruises,”
Derrick said angrily.

“Are the police and doctors involved?”

“No, Elder. We caught the ambulance call and
beat them there. The women are being seen by Dr. Edwards in the
farmhouse.”

“Do as before. Treat them and wipe their
memories,” Quinn said.

Derrick nodded, bowed, and then left.

The Chief Investigator stood up, “I’ll go
find out where the hotel is and see what I can find.”

“Get Emily back into the city walls,”
Chevalier said to Kyle. Kyle nodded and blurred out to his car. He
sped to Exavior’s old house and parked next to Emily’s Jeep. After
checking to make sure the Cavalry hadn’t seen anything, he went to
the house and knocked as he heard Emily yelling at Alec.

“He’s your son!” Emily screamed.

“Em, let me in,” Kyle said when no one came
to the door.

“I know!” Alec yelled. “I care, believe me, I
care, but what am I supposed to do?”

Kyle sighed and walked in uninvited, and then
quickly stepped between them when he saw Alec in an attack posture
and Emily furious, “Calm down…”

Emily stepped around Kyle to continue
yelling, “You abandoned him! He’s alone. He's broke, and he’s
trying to raise a family without any help. He loves you!”

“I love him too, but it’s too late. I can’t
go to him now.”

“Yes you can! Screw the heku secret and go
help your son. He needs you.”

“I can’t do that…”

“Em,” Kyle said, turning to her. “He can’t
give the secret away.”

“He needs you! Jess is gone and he’s
alone.”

“Emi, he’s an adult. He'll be ok,” Alec told
her.

“Chevalier’s going to save his ranch, Em,”
Kyle told her. “That’ll help things.”

“That still leaves him believing that his
father loved him so little that he abandoned him,” Emily said
angrily.

“I call him. He knows how much I love
him.”

“You call him?! He needs a father, not a
phone friend.”

“Alec, stand down,” Kyle hissed when Alec
balled his hands into fists.

“She has no right telling me this! She
doesn’t know how much I love him and how much I wish I could do
more to help.”

“You picked Exavior over your own son…
abandoned him and his family to follow the psychotic whims of a
tyrant.”

Alec hissed softly and then advanced on Emily
but found himself face-to-face with Kyle, “I said stand down.”

“You disgust me,” Emily growled.

“Kralen!” Kyle called out, and then
restrained Alec. Kralen appeared after only a few seconds and
quickly took Emily’s arm when he saw the stand-off.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Alec roared. “Until you do, you can just stay away from me.”

“Someone has to tell you the truth!” Emily
screamed.

“Get her back to the palace,” Kyle hissed as
he pulled Alec into the den.

Kralen gently led Emily out of the house and
crawled into the driver’s seat when she was belted into the
passenger’s seat of her Jeep.

As he drove, Kralen glanced at her, “You
ok?”

“How can he so easily abandon his only son?”
she asked, watching out the window.

“I can’t speak for him…, but it’s not an easy
choice for anyone deciding to turn.”

“Who did you abandon?”

He smiled, “No one.”

“Who did Silas abandon?”

“I don’t know. You'd have to ask him.”

“Why am I getting dragged back to the
palace?”

“There’s been another heku attack in the
mortal city.”

“Strippers?”

“Yes”

“Are they dead?”

“No”

She nodded and then got out of the Jeep when
Kralen killed the engine.

“Lady Emily?” Derrick said from the
doorway.

Emily sighed, “What’d I do now?”

He smiled, “Elder Chevalier would like to see
you in his office.”

“No Council?”

“As far as I know, it’s just the Elder.”

Emily sighed and started up the stairs. When
she was seated in the chair in Chevalier’s office, he smiled and
walked around to sit on his desk in front of her, “How did it go
with Alec?”

She fought back the tears, “Not very
well.”

“I’ve paid off Pat’s debts. That should
help.”

Emily stood and moved quickly into his arms,
“Thank you.”

“I know how much your family means to you.
There’s no reason for Pat to be suffering.”

“I don’t think Alec cares about him
anymore.”

“I’m sure he does, in his own way.”

“No he doesn’t. If he loved Pat, he wouldn’t
have abandoned him to follow Exavior.”

Chevalier lightly kissed the top of her head,
“Either way, Pat’s taken care of. I paid off all of the ranch
debts, and Thukil is going to be regular buyers of horses and
cattle from him.”

Emily reached up and kissed him softly, and
then smiled, “Thank you so much. That helps a lot.”

He leaned back and then watched her return to
her seat, “Now, we still need to talk about next week.”

“Oh right, I need to disappear for a
week.”

“Thukil, Powan, the Island, and Council City
will all be off limits. I suggest the yacht again,” Chevalier said,
watching her.

She wrinkled her nose, “I don’t want to go
out on the yacht.”

“Well… we could send the Cavalry into Europe.
Name the country and you can visit.”

Emily thought for a moment and then smiled,
“I know…”

“Where then?” he asked, frowning
slightly.

“I’m going to Disneyworld.”

“You are?”

“Yes, it’ll be fun. I’ll take the kids if
they want to go, and we’ll call it a much needed vacation,” Emily
explained.

Chevalier nodded, “That’s doable. Tibet Coven
is nearby, and they can house you.”

Emily laughed slightly, “You have a coven in
Florida called Tibet?”

“It’s outside of Lake Tibet.”

“Just seems odd.”

“I think it sounds like a good idea. Lord
Massey is a mortal supporter and very close to this Council. I’m
sure he’d love to have you for a week.”

Emily nodded, “It’ll be fun.”

“I’m sending Cavalry.”

“You are? It’s Disney, Chev! Who’s going to
attack me in Disneyworld?”

“Granted, heku don’t take vacations, so
chances are you won’t run into one in a theme park but still…”

“How many?”

“25”

“10”

“10’s not enough… 20.”

“12”

Chevalier smiled, “12?”

“Yes, 12.”

“Plus members of Tibet?”

She sighed, “Fine… 12 Cavalry and whoever
from Tibet that wants to visit Disneyworld.”

“Deal”

“But Kralen has to go,” she said, standing
up.

Chevalier grinned and watched her leave his
office. He informed Mark of the plans, and the Court Reporter
contacted Lord Massey with the Tibet Coven. He reported back to the
Council that Lord Massey was ecstatic about housing the Winchester
and Council City Cavalry, and plans were immediately put into
motion to outfit the small Tibet castle with human amenities.

***

Chevalier sat down and watched Emily move
around the room, angrily packing.

“I can force them to go,” he offered.