Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (18 page)

“What kids don’t want to go to
Disneyworld?!”

“Heku kids, Em.”

“Still… are they so opposed to a little
fun?”

“It’s not in their nature to take a
vacation.”

“Did you talk to Garrett?”

“Yes, and he didn’t refuse to go solely to
keep Alexis here.”

“Sounded like it to me,” she said, stuffing
socks into the bag.

“Garrett said he couldn’t go because he’s
assigned to palace duty for three days during the turnings.”

“And she can’t go without him? If I only went
places my husband could go, I’d be stuck in the council chambers
for the rest of my life.”

Chevalier couldn’t help but smile, “Kralen
and Gifford are going. You won’t be with all strangers.”

“I should force Megara to go.”

“You can try, but you know she’ll make you
miserable complaining.”

“What was her excuse for not going?” Emily
asked him.

“She doesn’t want to miss her Physics
final.”

“She’s not old enough to have a Physics
final!”

“I can force her to go if you want.”

“I should get longer than five years with my
kids before they hit adulthood,” she snapped, and disappeared into
the bathroom.

He waited until she came back out and then
took her suitcase when she zipped it.

“I didn’t want to go to Disneyworld
alone.”

“Kralen will be there.”

“I wanted to go with the kids.”

“Sit back and relax,” he said, and then
kissed her softly. “You’ve wanted a vacation, and Disneyworld will
be fun. Take advantage of Lord Massey’s over anxiousness and be
pampered.”

“Great,” she said, and then took his hand and
walked up the stairs with him. “It’d be better if I could
drive.”

“It takes too long to drive. What’s wrong
with Winchester 2?”

“I don’t like helicopters.”

“You’ll be ok,” he said, handing her bags in
to one of the Cavalry.

Chapter 6

“Elder,” Silas said, bowing slightly.

“How’s it going?” Chevalier asked, looking
over at the door of the training room.

Silas couldn’t help but grin, “She got the
job, no problem, and we didn’t even have to control the owner. Now
she’s practicing though.”

He cringed, “In there?”

“Yes, Elder… and Garrett’s pretty upset.”

“I’ll talk to him. We need her for this.”

“He’s not upset about Alexis on a mission…
he’s upset because… well… he’s never been to a strip club, so we
were, you know… giving advice.”

“The Cavalry is teaching my daughter how to
strip?”

“Pole dancing moves, mainly.”

Chevalier chuckled and walked over to the
gathered heku.

“You didn’t have to tell her to gyrate her
hips more!” Garrett yelled.

“She asked for help,” Horace said.

“I don’t care! You don’t talk to my wife like
that.”

Horace started forward, and then saw
Chevalier and bowed slightly.

“Garrett, I’m sure they were only trying to
help,” Chevalier said. He wasn’t all that thrilled about sending
his daughter into a strip club but saw no other option, other than
her Mom.

Garrett crossed his arms, “No one’s getting
in there while she’s practicing.”

Chevalier’s eyebrows rose, “Oh?”

“Well… you, Sir… you can.”

“Back off of the Cavalry. Alexis doesn’t have
the experience to pull this off without help.”

“I got her a video. She can learn from
it.”

“The video isn’t going to tell her how to get
the attention of a heku.”

Garrett fumed but didn’t respond. He was too
mad and didn’t want to risk upsetting the Elder.

Chevalier grinned at him and then stepped
into the room. He was shocked at how Alexis was dressed. She’d
borrowed the black leather outfit that Emily had put on for Damon’s
trial, and it fit her tighter and was a few inches shorter. Alexis
was facing away from him and was leaned up with the pole at her
back. Watching the video, she bent down and ran her hands up her
legs while flipping her hair on the way up.

She watched the video and arched her back a
bit, then jumped when Chevalier cleared his throat. Alexis
scrambled to pull on a pink robe from the pool room, “Dad! Don’t
come in here.”

“I’m allowed. I’ve seen you naked.”

“Not as an adult,” she said, and hurried to
turn off the video.

“Are you going to be ready for tonight?” he
asked her.

“Yes, I think so. If Garrett lets me go, that
is.”

“He will. I appreciate you doing this. We
have to catch this heku.”

“I know, and I’ll try.”

“Remember, don’t confront the heku. If you
know he’s heku, just memorize as much as you can about him, but
don’t talk to him if you can help it.”

Alexis frowned slightly, “Can’t I just ash
him and bring him back?”

“I don’t want to risk that. According to
Kralen, this strip club is always packed and there’s too much of a
risk of getting caught.”

“You let Kralen go to strip clubs?”

“We don’t dictate what they do in their
personal lives.”

“It’s gross,” she said, and then grabbed a
can of hair spray and started to tease her hair.

Chevalier watched her and felt a bit
uncomfortable when she started to apply thick make-up, “Another
thing. No word to Emily on this.”

“No way! She’d kill me.” Alexis opened up a
tube of bright-red lipstick and began to apply it with shaking
hands.

He touched her shoulder lightly, “Calm down.
It’ll be ok.”

“I know… it’s just…”

“You’re afraid the heku might attack
you?”

She grinned sheepishly, “No, I’m not
comfortable being half dressed in front of men.”

“Oh! Yes, that too.”

Alexis pulled on a black dress that covered
the outfit, and then grabbed her purse and turned to Chevalier, “I
think I’m ready.”

“You’re sure about this?”

“No, but let’s get it over with.”

He opened the door and watched her walk out,
“Just don’t do anything dangerous. You’re on recognizance
only.”

“I know… Garrett!” Alexis yelled when she saw
him in a standoff with high-ranking Cavalry.

“I don’t care what I said to your wife,”
Horace hissed. “You stand down or I’ll make you.”

Chevalier sighed and pulled Garrett away from
Horace, “Calm down, Garrett. That’s an order.”

“I’m going!” Garrett yelled. “She’s not going
in there without me.”

Silas shook his head, “No you’re not! We
don’t need you attacking anyone who slips a $20 into her
G-string.”

“G-string!?”

Alexis sighed and stood before Garrett, “You
know I have a G-string under this skirt. It’s required that I strip
down to it. We went over this.”

“No! You aren’t going.”

She kissed him lightly, “It’ll be ok.”

“I suppose you’ll go topless too,” he
growled.

“No,” she said, and then glanced at the
Cavalry as she blushed. She turned back to him and whispered, “I
have pasties.”

His response was a low growl.

“Garrett, do we need to toss you into prison
until this is over?” Chevalier asked. He was finding it hard to be
mad at the young heku. If the roles were reversed, Chevalier would
whisk Emily away and refuse to let her go on this mission.

He sighed, “I’ll be ok if I can just go.”

Alexis shook her head, “I don’t need the
pressure of you there. Kralen’s already told us that I’m going to
get touched, and whistled at, and called names. You would freak
out, and I can’t concentrate on these moves if I have to keep an
eye on you.”

“It’s just…”

“No,” Mark said, stepping up. “Horace is
taking Alexis and dropping her off. No Equites will be seen in that
building.”

“I’m not comfortable with that.”

“None of us are,” Silas said. “We aren’t
going to risk Alexis by being there though.”

“She can handle herself,” Chevalier told
them.

“Stop!” Alexis said sternly. “Stop fighting.
Garrett, I’ll be ok and maybe I can stop this heku. I can’t fight
with you every night on this. This could take months for me to
catch him, and I need you to trust me.”

Horace started for the door, “Let’s get
going, Alex. Your shift starts in 30 minutes.”

Alexis kissed Garrett softly and then
followed Horace out.

***

“She’s only a few minutes out,” Zohn said,
and then looked down at Garrett in the trial area.

Garrett nodded slightly but watched the
ground.

“We understand how hard this is, but you
can’t scream at a superior. That’s grounds for an insubordination
charge.”

He nodded again, “I’m sorry, Elder.”

“We need to hear Alexis out, and you will
need to be silent.”

“Yes, Elder,” Garrett said. He turned and saw
Alexis come in. She was back in the black dress but blushed when
she walked in to stand before the Council.

Alexis smiled, “Not too bad, I guess.”

“Did you see any heku?” Quinn asked.

“No, Elder.”

“Were you able to blend in with the other
dancers?”

“Sure, that was easy. They are pretty good
girls, just doing what they can to make a living.”

“Were they able to give you a
description?”

“No, and everyone wants one from them.
Everyone’s nervous that they may be next,” Alexis explained.

“You work again tonight?” Zohn asked.

“Yes, Elder.”

“Thank you then. Get some rest.”

Alexis bowed slightly and then took Garrett’s
hand and led him out of the trial area.

“I can’t blame him entirely,” Chevalier said
when Alexis and Garrett were gone.

“I can’t either. However, we can’t have him
yelling at his superiors,” Zohn said.

“I realize that. I still think we need to cut
him a break though and maybe not allow him to leave his house while
Alexis gets ready, practices, or is about to leave.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

***

“No, Elder,” Alexis said to Quinn. She’d been
working at the strip club for almost a week and had yet to see a
heku.

“Maybe he’s moved on,” Kyle said. “We haven’t
had any more attacks.”

“I’d like to think so, but we can’t drop this
mission until we know for certain.”

“Are you handling it ok?” Chevalier asked
her.

She smiled slightly and shrugged, “I guess.
It’s weird, but I’m kind of getting used to it.”

“And Garrett?”

“He’s surviving.”

“Emily will be back in a few minutes.”

“I’ll head to the house. I want to get
changed and then see how her trip was.”

“You are excused,” Zohn said, and they
watched Alexis leave.

Outside of the council chamber’s door, Alexis
turned to Horace, glanced around for Garrett, and then smiled at
her guards, “$200.”

“No way! You’re lying,” Horace said,
shocked.

She nodded and held out her hand, “Pay
up.”

Derrick chuckled and shook his head.

Horace sighed and handed her a $100 bill, “I
can’t believe you made $200 in tips in one night.”

“I told you I could,” she said as she slipped
the extra $100 into her purse. When they heard the helicopter
landing, Alexis and her guards quickly ran out of the palace to
avoid running into Emily.

It was obvious to Derrick that neither Emily,
nor her heku guards, were happy when they walked down the stairs.
To avoid being yelled at, he quickly opened the door and let them
into the council chambers.

“Welcome back,” Chevalier said smiling. His
face fell when he saw the angry expressions on their faces, “What
happened?”

Emily glared at Kralen and then turned to the
Council, “That wasn’t a vacation. That was a prison sentence!”

“Were you confined?!” Kyle yelled.

“Well… no… but it wasn’t any fun! They
wouldn’t let me on any rides. We walked around in the heat and did
nothing.”

Chevalier thought for a moment, “Why were you
not allowed to go on the rides?”

Kralen sighed, “Have you seen them, Sir?”

“Not in person, no.”

“They’re mortal concocted contraptions built
by the lowest bidder! They aren’t even remotely safe.”

“It’s Disneyworld! Everyone loves
Disneyworld, and you had no right keeping me on the ground.”

“I wasn’t going to let you go hang upside
down by a death trap!”

“Calm down,” Zohn said, shaking his head.
“Kralen, it seems as though there was a misunderstanding. It was
assumed by the Council that Emily would be allowed to actually
enjoy the park.”

“She had plenty of opportunities to enjoy
it,” Gifford said, shifting nervously.

Emily spun on Gifford, “Just because I may
fit in the kiddie rides, doesn’t mean they are fun!”

“There was… the… you know, carousel.”

“I can ride real horses here! Why would I
want to get onto fake ones?!”

“Em, calm down,” Chevalier said, trying not
to sound amused. “I’m sure they just had your best interest at
heart.”

Kralen looked over at the Council, “There was
plenty to do. I’ve never seen that much food before. There were
shows, and skits, and games…”

“I wanted to ride upside down and scream for
my life!” Emily yelled.

Kralen looked at her with wide eyes,
“But…”

“No buts! That was the dullest vacation
ever.”

“I’m sorry, but I felt it was prudent to keep
your feet on the ground.”

“We let you go on that one ride,” Gifford
reminded her. “The one in the little shuttle looking thing with the
3D glasses.”

“You mean the one that every time it moved,
Kralen put his arm across me, so I didn’t fall out of me
chair?!”

Gifford nodded and looked down at the ground,
“Yes that one.”

“You’re lucky I don’t go base jump off of the
Statue of Liberty!” Emily turned and then walked out of the council
chambers.

“Sir…” Kralen started to talk, but Chevalier
held his hand up.