Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series (15 page)

“You may not have a castle left when you go
back,” Quinn chuckled.

“What are we going to do about the gifts?”
Chevalier asked, heading with the Elders back to their conference
room.

“It’s not really hurting
anything,” Zohn said. “We can just watch and see if it starts to
disturb Emily, then we’ll intervene.”

“They are trying to bribe her though,” Quinn
said.

“She knows that,”
Chevalier told him. “So it won’t work.”

Once they sat down in the private Elder’s
conference room, Zohn sighed, “Now that we’re alone… Emily wasn’t
telling the truth about hay poking her when she fell.”

“So she is getting fed from?” Chevalier
growled.

“I don’t know.”

“If I had to guess, those two idiots did it
when they attempted to have a threesome,” Quinn suggested.

“Odd places though, who bites on the
shoulder… or side?” Chevalier asked, confused.

“Maybe it’s really
nothing. We are all so paranoid that she’s being attacked in our
care, that we may be seeing things that don’t exist,” Zohn
said.

***

“Jump… come on, jump,”
Emily said, smiling. She had her hands out to Dain and was trying
to coax him to jump into the water.

“No, no,” Dain said, and
shook his head as he stood naked at the side of the
pool.

“Come on, Dain,” she said,
and gently took his hands, pulling him into the water. “See,
easy.”

“No, no.”

Emily leaned back to float
on the surface of the water, and Dain leaned against her chest to
float with her. She shut her eyes and only looked up when the
one-year-old touched her stomach.

“Ow”

“Yeah, ouch,” she said,
and glanced down at the tiny puncture wounds on the side of her
stomach. “You better stop that before Daddy finds out.”

“Bad”

“Right, bad… we don’t bite do we?”

Dain grinned, “No,
no.”

Emily kissed his soft cheek and put him back
up on the cement. She pulled up against the side of the pool when
Silas came in.

“Gordon wants to know if you want dinner in
here,” Silas asked, grinning.

“I’m coming, take Dain will you? Have Anna
dress him.”

“Come on, Screech,” Silas
said, and held his hand out.

“Stop calling him that.”

“Sorry, Em,” he said, and
airplaned Dain out of the pool room.

Emily got out of the pool
and dried off with a towel. She glanced in the mirror, noticing how
distinctive the six bites were on her body. One set on her upper
arm, one on the back of her shoulder and the rest across her
abdomen. It was getting harder to hide them from Chevalier, but so
far she’d managed to. She dressed quickly in the dressing room and
then headed out to have dinner.

“Lady Emily?” Storm asked,
catching up with her. “One of our guards was caught with a member
of the Encala. Chevalier is on a mission, and the Council asked if
you can just take care of it.”

Emily frowned, “I don’t do
that anymore.”

Storm smiled slightly, “What should I tell
them?”

“What would you do to him?”

“Demotion and probation.”

“Sounds good. Tell the
Council we’re demoting him and putting him on
probation.”

“What about a trial?” Storm asked.

“Do we have to give him a trial?”

“I suppose not. I’ll write
it up and send it to the Elders.”

Emily sat down at the
table and looked up at the sound of a helicopter landing before
picking up the cheeseburger and starting to eat. Several minutes
later, Kyle and Zohn came in and sat down.

“You’re too late, I
punished him,” she said, and grabbed a French fry.

“Who?”

“The guard who was fraternizing with an
Encala.”

“You punished him?” Kyle asked,
grinning.

“I demoted him and put him on
probation.”

“Oh,” Kyle said, nodding.
“Tell Storm thanks for taking care of that.”

Emily flipped a fry at
him, and hit Kyle on the shoulder.

“We didn’t come for that,”
Zohn said. “Seems the Encala thought you needed an
airplane.”

She almost choked on a fry, “What?”

“The Encala sent you an
airplane. It’s at the Equites hangar being checked
over.”

“Why would they send me an airplane?”

“Because you don’t have
one?” Kyle suggested, and took Dain from Anna. “Hi,
Screech.”

“Stop calling him Screech!
You have the Cavalry calling him that,” Emily said,
frowning.

Kyle grinned, “It fits.”

“We also came because we
heard that the V.E.S. is going to raid the island again, and
thought we’d come help.”

Emily sighed, “You’re just afraid I’ll shoot
another one.”

“That too,” Zohn said. He picked up a fry
and smelled it, then wrinkled his nose and put it back down.

“Why don’t you two forget
about the Council, and take a vacation… swim, ride horses, walk on
the beach.”

Zohn grinned, “I don’t think that’s
possible.”

“Sure it is. I ignore the
Council all the time.”

Kyle sighed, “Would you stop doing that? It
makes us nervous when we call and you don’t answer.”

“Ow,” Dain said, and
pointed at Emily.

“Injured?” Kyle asked her.

“No, believe it or not,
I’m not always injured.”

“I do smell a fresh
wound,” he said, and smiled at Dain.

“Cut myself shaving.”

“No, bi,” Dain said, shaking his head.

“Nope, not going anywhere for a while,” Kyle
told him, misunderstanding the 1-year-old.

Emily sighed, “What am I supposed to do with
an airplane?”

“Fly places, explore the
world,” Zohn said, glancing around the dark dining room.

“Why do I get the impression you two are
babysitting?”

“You do?”

“Yes”

“We aren’t,” Kyle said,
and put Dain down on the floor to play.

“I doubt you’ve missed me.
I’ve only been gone for two months. It’s not the V.E.S. either. I
can handle them… so spill it.”

Zohn glanced at Kyle, and
then back to Emily, “Fine… Jaron reported to the Council that you
seem to have a suspicious amount of small injuries
lately.”

“Small suspicious injuries?” Emily asked,
leaning back in her chair.

“Yes, nothing big or life threatening, but
just little stuff.”

“I’m accident prone, always have been.”

“Very well, may I see the
cut you got shaving?” Zohn asked.

“No”

“Why not?”

“Because maybe it’s not on my legs.”

Zohn grinned, “You forgot
your poker face, and I know you didn’t cut yourself
shaving.”

“Damn, that’s hard to do for long periods of
time.”

“So tell the truth and you won’t need your
poker face,” Kyle told her.

“I’m sure Jaron will tell
the same thing to Chevalier, wouldn’t you rather we know, than
him?” Zohn asked.

“There’s nothing to tell.
I’m accident prone and I get cut a lot… big deal.”

“Ok, if that’s it, then we
can go back.”

“Stay a while. Take a load
off… shut off the cell phones.”

Kyle smiled, “We can’t do that.”

“Where’s Chev, anyway?” Emily asked, picking
Dain up off of the floor.

“He and Quinn are visiting Thukil for a
week.”

“They taking a vacation?”

“No, it’s business.”

“Lady Emily… he’s out
again,” a heku servant said from the back of the dining
room.

Emily sighed, “Is it a full moon?”

“Yes, Ma’am, and your horse is ready.”

Emily nodded and stood up, “Do me a favor,
stay here.”

“Where are you going?” Kyle asked.

“Just stay here… I’ll be
right back.”

“Sure,” Zohn said, and
they watched her go. After giving her a few minutes to get to the
barn, Kyle and Zohn blurred out the front doors of the palace and
watched her from the shadows.

Emily hopped onto the
saddled mare and kicked her into a gallop, heading out into the
night. The full-moon helped show her the way, and she saw him,
exactly where he was on every full moon.

Zohn and Kyle watched them closely, confused
as to what exactly was going on.

Emily stopped at the naked
heku that was kneeling down on the pasture’s grass. She got off her
horse and touched him on the shoulder, “Nicholas, we talked about
this.”

“Oh, Lady Emily, you’re here… you shouldn’t
be out here at night,” he said, looking up at her.

“I have to come out, you know that. I told
you already that when you come out here and howl at the moon, it
scares the horses.”

“I forgot about that. I’m
sorry.”

“Come on, I’ll walk you
home,” she said, and the heku stood up. Kyle started to move toward
them when they saw the large heku standing naked beside Emily, but
Zohn held him back, watching curiously.

Emily put her hand on his hairy back and
guided him toward the city.

“I can carry you faster,” Nicholas said to
her.

Emily grinned slightly, “That’s ok, let’s
walk.”

Emily took the reins to her mare and walked
quickly to keep up with the heku.

“Nicholas… now… I
understand, I really do, why you want to join Powan, but you can’t
keep coming out here every full moon,” she said, glancing behind
her. She had the feeling she was being watched.

“I almost had it this time though,” Nicholas
told her.

“I bet you did, Nick. The problem is… you
scare the horses and then I have to come out here and get you. Why
don’t you just stay here on the island and forget about joining
Powan?”

“I can’t stay here. I
belong with the wolves.”

Emily nodded, “Ok… well… can you not howl so
close to the barn? Why not go out onto the beach, away from the
houses and the castle?”

“I have to go there. It’s
the best view of the moon.”

“Then why don’t you try
wearing clothes next time?”

“I can’t turn into a wolf
if I have clothes on.”

Emily smiled and nodded, “Ok, Nicholas.”

“What the hell…” Kyle
whispered as they followed Emily and Nicholas through the
streets.

Zohn shrugged, “I have no idea.”

Emily and Nicholas got to a small house on
the outskirts of the island city. The house was worn and unkempt.
Kyle growled when Emily headed inside. Zohn appeared at a window
and peered inside just in time to see Emily start going through a
small dresser.

“Ok, here,” she said, and
handed over a pair of boxers and a t-shirt.

“Thanks, Ma’am,” Nicholas
said, and got dressed.

“I’ll tuck you in bed.”

“I am tired.”

Emily went to a large bed
and pulled the covers down. Nicholas crawled into the bed and she
pulled the covers over him.

“Promise me you’ll stay in
bed tonight,” Emily said as she sat on the bed beside
him.

“I will, I promise. I’m too tired to turn
into a wolf tonight,” he told her.

“Ok then,” she said, and
headed for the door.

“Lady Emily?”

Emily turned toward him.

“Did you talk to General Skinner?”

She smiled, “Yes, and they
are still full over at Powan. You’re on the list
though.”

Nicholas smiled, “Ok, good night.”

Kyle and Zohn backed away
from the windows when Emily opened the front door. She turned the
lights off and the heku shut his eyes, burrowing deeper into the
covers. Emily shut the door and took the reins on her horse. She
started to mount up, but someone called her.

“Lady Emily!” a woman said
from a house a few down from Nicholas.

“Evening, Pam,” Emily
called out.

“As promised,” the heku
woman said, and walked up with a large tray.

“No way, the ones your grandma made?”

The heku smiled and nodded, “Hot from the
oven. I figured you’d be out with Nicholas tonight.”

“Great, thanks,” Emily
said, and grabbed a cookie. She took a bite and shut her eyes, “Oh
my God, these are good.”

“Well… I’m sure they are,” Pam said,
smiling.

Emily reached over and
snatched a few more, “Some for the road.”

“Did you do what I suggested… talked to the
Elder?”

“Nope, I can handle it.
Thanks for the cookies,” Emily said, and headed off toward the
castle. She walked the horse as she ate more of the
cookies.

Kyle glanced at Zohn and
they both followed her. As she neared the edge of the city, they
watched a heku blur towards her.

“Lady Emily!” he called out.

Emily turned around, “Oh, hi, Blaine.”

“First one of the season,”
the heku said, and handed her a long red rose.

Emily smiled and took it, “Thank you, it’s
so pretty.”

“Did Pam find you? She’s
been carrying cookies all over the city looking for you… nasty
smelling things.”

Emily grinned, “She did and they were really
good.”

Blaine smiled, “Out with
Nicholas again?”

“Always”

“Did you talk to the Elder?”

“Nope, I have to head back
though. Kyle and Zohn are up at the castle.”