Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (37 page)

When her phone rang, she picked it up and
answered without looking at it, “Hello?”

“It’s me,” Dain said.

With the fight still too fresh in her mind,
Alexis just started to cry.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Dain asked.

She wasn’t able to talk but curled up on the
couch and let the tears fall.

He sighed, “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“He…” she managed to sob.

“What did Dad do now?”

“Nothing!” she yelled. “Stop blaming
everything on Dad.”

“Ok, so what did Garrett do?”

“He left me,” she said through renewed
sobs.

“He did?! Why?”

“Why do you think, Dain? I ran off with you
without telling him! I was there when you killed Mom and when we
broke into the Equites caves…”

“He can’t blame you for that.”

“Well he did! He’s moved into the barracks,
and now I’m alone.”

“Have Dad talk to him.”

“I don’t want Dad to talk to him!”

“Why not?” Dain asked. “He has to be good for
something.”

“He has enough to deal with right now trying
to save Mom.”

“I thought she was getting better.”

Alexis frowned slightly, “How do you
know?”

“Do you want me to talk to Garrett?” Dain
asked.

“No! That’d be even worse. Everyone wants you
dead.”

“I would imagine so. I didn’t mean to hurt
her.”

“They don’t care. They see you as reckless
and irresponsible… a danger.”

“And you?”

She fought to calm her voice, “I see you as
lost, and in desperate need of someone to forgive you and get past
what happened.”

“You don’t blame me?”

“No, I blame Dad,” she said, clearing her
head enough to follow through with her plan.

“How so?”

“He won’t let you grow up. I don’t know what
he has against you… maybe it’s because you’re full heku, but he
never treated you like a son.”

Dain sighed, “Tell that to the faction.”

“It’s not just the faction, Dain. The entire
species is out to find you, and I’m afraid for you.”

“They won’t catch me. I’m more careful than
that.”

“So promise me you’re far away from Council
City.”

“I can’t promise you that.”

She gasped, “Dain! Get away from here.”

“Meet me.”

“What?”

“Meet me.”

“No, what if I’m followed? I’m not going to
be the one responsible for your banishment.”

Dain seemed pleased, “Then I guess I can
trust you.”

“You have to. No one else is on your
side.”

“Things will calm down eventually.”

“I don’t think so. Heku hold grudges against
this kind of thing. You’re not doing it anymore, right?”

“I’ve mostly quit.”

“Mostly?!”

“Well… it’s hard to stop.”

“Damnit, Dain! You have to stop, or you’re
going to kill someone eventually.”

“I think it’s too late for that.”

She was finding it hard to breathe, “Who did
you kill?”

“It was an accident, ok? I didn’t mean to
kill her.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know who she was. Someone from the
city outside of Council City.”

“And you’re still here?”

“No, I left. I was just testing you.”

“Where is she?”

“I buried her where no one will find
her.”

“Where, Dain?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You have to stop,” Alexis told him.

“I know. I'm trying. Now… I want to talk to
Garrett.”

“Why? You can’t fix this, and all he’ll do is
yell and threaten you.”

“I fully plan on it, but someone has to stick
up for you.”

“I can take care of this myself.”

“I wish you would find a mortal, Alex.”

“Why? I’m not fully mortal.”

“Because the heku all have one goal in mind…
protect the heku. You’ll always be standing behind the Council as
long as you love a heku.”

“You hate mortals though.”

“I do, yes. However, I think one would be
good for you.”

“Well it’s out of the question. I want
Garrett.”

“He’s Cavalry, which makes his devotion to
the faction even worse. One small conversation…”

“It’ll make things worse! He knows I’m on
your side. That's part of the problem. If you call him, he’ll just
get madder.”

“I have to do something, Alex,” Dain said,
and then hung up.

Alexis tried to call him back, but the
payphone didn’t accept incoming phone calls. Knowing he was
probably already on the phone with Garrett, she decided to go get
Asher and wait for what was sure to be a call from the Council.

Garrett was required to tell them immediately
that Dain had contacted Alexis, and she needed some time to think
about how to handle that. The walk to the palace seemed to take
forever, and she felt like heku were watching from behind close
curtains.

It wasn’t uncommon for two heku to fight
enough that the City Guards were called in to stop it, but being
the Elder’s daughter would make it all the more interesting to
spread in gossip circles.

The Cavalry at the doors to the palace seemed
to ignore her as she passed, and she knew that word of the fight
had already hit them. Megara was still in the game room with Asher,
and she looked up and smiled when Alexis came in.

Megara saw Alexis’ red eyes and frowned,
“What’s wrong?”

Alexis picked Asher up, “Nothing… I just need
to take Asher home to bed.”

“Are you fighting with Garrett still?”

Alexis just turned toward the door.

“Don’t treat me like I’m a kid,” Megara said.
“You know as well as I do that I’m not.”

“It’s…”

“Over Dain?”

Alexis nodded.

“Do you want to talk?”

“No, I just need to get Dain to bed.”

“Asher…”

“Yes, get Asher to bed.”

“You’re not Dain’s mom, Alex,” Megara said
from behind her. “He’s the one that messed up, and it’s not your
job to fix it.”

Without another word, Alexis walked out of
the game room and down the stairs. Even before she got to her
house, she knew there would be someone waiting for her. She wasn’t
sure how high up the ranks would be, but she knew at least she
would be summoned back to the palace.

Alexis wasn’t all that surprised to see Mark
and Silas waiting for her. Silas was fixing the door as Mark
watched her walk up.

Not knowing what to say exactly, Alexis just
walked inside and put Asher down in his crib. Once he was settled
in, she went back out into the living room to meet with Mark and
Silas, who were now sitting on the couch waiting for her.

As soon as she sat down, Mark cleared his
throat and then began, “You already know he called Garrett…”

“Yes”

“He mentioned to Garrett that he’d been
talking to you earlier.”

She nodded.

“What about?”

She looked down at her hands, “He caught me
on the phone right after Garrett left me.”

“So he just calls randomly?”

“Yes”

“Did he tell you where he is?”

“No”

Mark sighed, “We have to go to the Council
with this.”

“I figured.”

“It would go smoother if you go with us,”
Silas said to her. “We’ll have Garrett there too, in fact. He's
already on the way.”

“I…”

“Alexis… take my advice,” Silas said softly.
“Stay away from Dain. Sister or not, he’s dangerous.”

She couldn’t tell him that her plans were far
from what he was saying, so she just nodded.

Mark stood up, “Fran is coming to watch Asher
while you talk to the Council.”

Alexis stood up and nodded.

“It’ll be ok,” Silas said, smiling at her.
“We’ll be there, and they just want to ask you some questions.”

“I’m not afraid to talk to them,” Alexis
said.

Mark nodded, “You just don’t want to be
around Garrett.”

Not wanting to talk to them about her
marriage, she started for the door. They walked in silence to the
palace. Not even the guards they passed said anything, but they
bowed slightly to their Officers and then turned away from
them.

Derrick was waiting for them at the front
doors, “The Council’s waiting for you.”

“Is Garrett in there?” Alexis asked, finally
looking up from the ground.

“Yes, but he’s not speaking yet. They wanted
you in there first, as soon as they heard it involved you.”

“Can’t he just go first?”

Derrick shook his head and started up the
stairs, “They want both of you. They also know about the
fight.”

“Perfect”

When they arrived at the fourth floor,
Alexis’ phone rang, and she quickly answered it.

“Hello?”

“Did they drag you into the Council?” Dain
asked.

“Now’s not a good time,” she said, and hung
up the phone.

Mark was starting to get mad, “Get in
there.”

Derrick opened the door, and Silas walked in
with Alexis as she tucked her phone into her pocket.

She walked up to stand to the side of Garrett
but made sure to keep her distance. She could tell that Chevalier
was furious and saw that Kyle was missing.

Silas walked up and whispered to the Elders
before bowing and leaving the council chambers.

The Chief Interrogator stood up, “We’ll just
get it out in the open that we know guards were called to your home
tonight because of a domestic disturbance. We don’t wish to get
into that right now, as that’s something the Elder wants to address
with Alexis later.”

She just nodded.

“What we want to hear about is your
conversation tonight with Dain,” he said, and then sat down.

“Who spoke to him first?” Zohn asked them. It
was obvious that the Council was trying to minimize Chevalier’s
involvement with this issue.

“I did,” Alexis whispered.

“Did you call him, or did he call you?”

“He called me.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“No”

When Quinn glanced at the Chief Interrogator,
and he nodded, Alexis’s heart sunk. They were making sure that she
wasn’t lying to them, and she wondered when the Council would start
trusting her again.

“Please, tell us what was said,” Zohn asked
her.

She sighed, “Most of it was about
Garrett.”

“Most?”

“Yes”

“Let’s leave that part out then. What else
did he tell you?”

She shook her head, “It was private.”

“We need to know.”

“I told you. It’s private,” she said,
wringing her hands.

“It’s an order, Alexis,” Quinn said to her.
“Tell us what was said.”

The Chief Interrogator looked down at her, “I
see the lies forming. Do not lie to this Council.”

“Just tell them,” Garrett snapped.

Alexis fought back the tears, “No. I’m sorry,
but no.”

“Alex…,” Chevalier hissed. “Tell me. He’s
hurting innocents and risks exposing the entire species.”

When her phone rang, she just pressed her
hand against her pocket to muffle the ring.

“Maybe we need her phone,” the Chief of Staff
suggested.

Alexis finally looked up at them, and her
resolve was evident, “You can’t have it. I realize I’m breaking
Council order, so I’ll move out of Council City. I’m not telling
you anything that will help you track Dain down.”

“If you leave… we’re done,” Garrett said to
her.

Alexis turned and touched his arm, “Just
trust me on this, please.”

He looked at her and shook his head, “What
happened to you?”

“Everything will return to normal. Just hang
in there and trust me.”

“I can’t trust you anymore, Alex.”

Her eyes filled with tears, “Then I beg you
to wait for me. Let me figure this out, and I’ll make it up to
you.”

He just shrugged and she felt the coldness
coming from him.

When Alexis started for the door, Derrick
stepped in to block her way, “They aren’t done with you.”

She turned red eyes toward the Council, “If
you take my phone, it will be by force. Right now, I just want to
get out of here.”

“We need you here if Dain’s going to be
contacting you,” Zohn said to her. He seemed concerned and was the
only one that didn’t look like they were about to tear her
apart.

Alexis glanced at Garrett and then swallowed
hard, “You’ll get no information out of me.”

“Then stay for Emily. She’s still injured,
and she doesn’t remember anything we tell her. If you disappear,
she’ll be very upset and won’t understand,” Zohn told her.

“Everything will return to normal if you will
just let me go,” Alexis told them.

“She said it’s her responsibility to stop
him,” Garrett said to the Council.

“How is it your responsibility?” Chevalier
asked.

Without a word, Alexis stepped around Derrick
and headed up the stairs to her Mom. She knew that the Council had
to have backed off the Door Guard, or she wouldn’t have made it
even a step past him.

“Alex,” Emily said when she walked in.

Alexis looked at her and immediately began to
tear up.

“What’s wrong?”

She sat down beside her Mom and couldn’t help
but adjust the blankets slightly. It gave her something to do and
kept her hands from shaking.

“Alex?” Emily asked. She wanted to reach out
and touch her daughter, but only her legs were out of the body
cast, severely limiting how much she could move.

“Garrett left me,” Alexis managed to say.

“What happened?”

“It’s just really bad right now.”

“Tell me.”

“I can’t right now. Can I stay in your house
in the city for a while?”

“Of course you can. I wish you’d tell me what
happened though. Garrett loves you too much to just leave.”

“He left because I did something bad.”

Emily sighed, “Do you want me to talk to
him?”

“No, right now I just need some time alone.
If Asher and I stay in your house, then the Council will back
off.”

“You upset them too?”