“I wonder how tall you are now…” she said, and stood up to look down at him. “If I had to guess, you’re close to your Dad’s height now. Ever noticed how he’s bigger than most heku? I bet you will be, too.”
She turned to the window and sat down to watch the happenings on the lawn, “Something’s going on down there. Seems Quinn and Zohn have all of the guards out.”
“Emily, can I please come talk for a moment?” Dr. Edwards asked from the hallway.
“Oh, your Dad’s home,” Emily told Dain when she saw the long line of black Suburbans returning.
***
“What’s going on?” Chevalier asked as he approached Quinn and Zohn. They were still out on the lawn with the guard staff.
“Mark?” Quinn shouted.
“Yes, Elder?” Mark asked when he walked up to them.
“Get them ready to reinforce the city streets.”
“Right away.”
“Come, Chevalier,” Zohn said, and headed for the palace.
Chevalier glanced again at the gathered forces and then followed Quinn and Zohn inside. When he stepped into the Elder’s private conference room, he frowned and sat down. Quinn and Zohn were obviously upset and hesitated to tell him something.
“What?” he asked, somewhat irritated.
Quinn sighed, “Dain had an attack while you were gone.”
“Ok”
Zohn lowered his voice, “He didn’t make it.”
“I’m so sorry, Elder,” Quinn said.
“What do you mean he didn’t make it?” Chevalier asked, confused.
“The doctor was there, but he couldn’t save the boy.”
Chevalier stood up suddenly, “He’s dead?”
“We did what we could,” Zohn told him. Chevalier blurred from the room with the Elders right behind him.
“Elder… don’t…” the guard said when Chevalier reached for the bedroom door.
“Why not?” he growled.
“She’ll burn you. She won’t let anyone in.”
Chevalier turned to Zohn.
“She kicked us out and won’t let anyone in. She swears he’s not dead.”
Chevalier turned and knocked lightly on the door. He took a step back when a burn started in his chest and he clutched at the front of his shirt.
“She won’t let me in either,” Allen said when Chevalier joined them.
“Emily?” Chevalier said, stepping back up to the door.
“Go away,” she shouted from inside.
“He’s my son, too. I want to see him.”
“No”
“Emily…”
“He’s not dead!”
“Just let me look. I won’t take him, I swear.”
“Fine,” Emily said, and then stood up to block Chevalier from the bed. He walked in and shut the door softly behind him. He immediately smelled the scent of death and looked over at his son. She was right, he had grown, but the unmistakable scent of death was strong.
“You can look, but don’t touch him. He’s sleeping and needs the rest,” Emily told him, and crouched the slightest bit. The small heku gesture shocked Chevalier and he fought the instincts to meet her posture. It was deeply ingrained in the heku nature to immediately attack when anyone stood defensively. When Emily began picking up some of the heku postures, they had to quickly teach themselves not to react to it.
Chevalier watched Dain and tried to decide how to handle this and lessen the stress on Emily.
Emily smiled, “He’s grown a lot.”
“Yes, he has,” Chevalier said, and pulled a chair up to the bed. He sat down and watched his son.
“I hope he’s done with this. I’m guessing he’s as tall as you are now.”
Chevalier simply nodded.
“When he wakes up, we are going to the island for a bit. He wants to go visit Allen.”
“He’s not going to the island.”
She frowned, “He’s not dead.”
“I’m imagining he just couldn’t take it anymore.”
“If you want to keep talking about him like he’s dead, you can get out,” she whispered, and walked over to look out the window.
“He is. I know it’s hard for you, but you have to understand that nothing could be done to stop it.”
“No, you understand. He sleeps deeply, he’s not dead. This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”
“I can smell death.”
“Then get some menthol and get over it.”
“Please…”
“What’s going on down there?” she asked, continuing to watch the city and palace guards out on the lawn.
“They are preparing for a mass pilgrimage to the city.”
“Why?”
“For the funeral.”
She turned suddenly, “Get out.”
Chevalier stood up, “I hate to do this to you, but for your health, you have 10 more minutes before we take him away.”
She glared at him, “Over my dead body.”
“Ten minutes,” he said, and left the room. As soon as the door shut, Emily crawled into the bed beside Dain.
“Dain, come on, Baby. You need to wake up,” she said, and shook his shoulders slightly.
He sighed softly and she glanced at the door before turning back to him.
“Dain, listen to me,” she whispered. “You need to open your eyes.”
Suddenly, his eyes opened and looked at her. A low growl erupted from his chest and she slowly crawled away from him. His hands tightened into fists and his eyes darkened as his body tensed.
“Chevalier…” Emily whispered, unsure what was going on.
Chevalier suddenly appeared in the room just as Dain sprung at Emily. Mid-air, Chevalier slammed into the 7-year-old and they both went through the bathroom door and into the bathroom. The door shattered and Emily was whisked out of the room by the palace General.
When the General gently put her down in the council chambers, she spun and turned towards the door, her eyes wide.
“What’s going on?” Dustin asked, standing slowly.
“I’m not sure, Sir,” the General said, and bowed slightly.
“He was going to attack me,” Emily whispered, still watching the door.
“Who was?” Dustin asked.
“Dain”
“He’s alive?”
She nodded, “I told you he was… but, why did he want to attack me?”
Dustin gasped and blurred from the room. Emily turned toward the Chief Interrogator, “Where did he go?”
“He went to help.”
“Chevalier needed help with Dain?”
“No, Child. Dustin went to intervene.”
Emily started for the door, but the General reached out and took her arm, “Our orders are to keep you here.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
He glanced at the Council, and then back to Emily, “Seems Dain is having troubles controlling his thirst around you.”
She frowned, “He never has before.”
“We’ll know more, the Elder is coming,” the General said, and let go of her arm.
Emily turned to the council chairs when Chevalier came in and sat down. She found it odd that he sat with the Council instead of coming down to the trial area to talk to her. As she looked up at the council stand, she felt irritation starting. Irritation at how she was being treated like a heku coming before the Council with a problem, and not like the wife of an Elder who considered herself an equal with her husband.
“What’s going on?” Emily asked.
Chevalier glanced at Dustin as he came in, and then turned back to Emily, “I think Dain’s transformation into a full adult heku is complete.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He died… which, actually, we do when turned. His thirst is stronger, and his senses are more in tune.”
“Why did he attack me?”
“It’s going to take time for him to re-acclimate to you,” Dustin said when Chevalier
looked down at his hands.
“He’s never had problems before.”
“He wasn’t full-grown before.”
Emily frowned, “I don’t understand.”
“When someone’s turned,” the Chief Investigator explained, “The process isn’t complete until the heart stops and then begins to beat again. It wasn’t until Dain’s heart stopped fully, before he completed his transformation into a full heku.”
“You all said he was a full heku from birth though.”
“He was… though not, apparently, complete,” Chevalier told her.
Emily fell silent as she thought about what they were saying. It didn’t make sense to her why he would be born full heku, yet not completely heku until his heart stopped.
“We apologize for telling you that he died,” Quinn said. Emily looked up suddenly. She hadn’t seen him come in.
She shrugged and started for the door, but found the way blocked by Chevalier, “Leave him for now.”
“No, I want to see him,” she said, and headed around him.
“No, Em. Let the guards feed him before he gets near you.”
Emily glanced back at the Council and then whispered to Chevalier, “Go back up to your Elder seat, and leave my family alone.”
He frowned slightly and took a step back, “Meaning?”
“Meaning… nothing,” Emily said, and then turned and left the council chambers. She walked down toward the garage, ignoring the guards that fell in behind her and climbed into the old Chevy pick-up.
“Where are we going?” her guard asked when he crawled into the passenger side.
“We… aren’t going anywhere. Get out,” Emily told him, and turned the key.
“Elder’s…”
“I don’t really care what the Elder’s orders are. Get out of my car.”
The guard looked over at the other three heku and then back to Emily, “You’ll have to ash me to get me out of this truck.”
“Fine,” she growled, and then took off from the palace garage with a pile of ash next to her on the seat.
As she drove, she smiled slightly. She realized the Equites would consider this running, but to her, she just had to get out of the tight control of the Council. She needed time to clear her head and consider what was happening with Chevalier.
She understood from the moment he became Elder, that she and the kids would always take second place to the Equites and his responsibilities as Elder. She also knew about that when she married him, but at the time it was only the coven and not the entire faction that she stood against.
Her mind was far away when she pulled past the iron gates of Exavior’s old house and stopped at the front doors. The sight of a new building brought her out of her deep thoughts and she got out of the old pickup and walked over towards it. What used to be a large open field of grass, was now a massive garage painted to match the dark exterior of the house.
She shook her head and opened the side door, somewhat surprised that it wasn’t locked. When she flipped on the lights, she gasped. The garage was full of cars, everything from an old Model-T to a sleek black convertible. Parked toward the doors, was her dark blue Dodge Ram 3500 and the green Rubicon. She walked over and ran her hand along the pristinely clean Rubicon before opening the garage door.
After pulling the Chevy pickup inside, she shut the doors and then laughed at the sight of the dirty gray truck parked among the expensive sports cars. Spying her Harley over in the corner, she walked over and swung her leg over to sit down. Sitting on the comfortable seat, she looked over the motorcycle and saw that it had been immaculately maintained and was in perfect condition.
“Hey! Who’re you?” a heku yelled from the door.
Emily jumped at the sudden voice and scrambled off of the motorcycle, “What?”
“You have no right being in here,” the heku said, and walked over towards her angrily. He was scowling and she was glad to see he wasn’t a big heku, at least by heku standards. His long blond hair was greasy and pulled back into a long braid.
“I do too, this is my house,” she said, and squared her shoulders towards him.
“I doubt that. Now get out before I call the cops,” he told her, and stopped a few feet from her.
“I suggest you call the Council before you call the cops on me,” she said, and walked past him.
She heard him gasp, “You’re… are you Lady Emily?”
She ignored him and walked out of the garage, slamming the door behind her. She heard the heku follow her out and he was no longer bold and angry, now he seemed unsure as he followed her to the house.
“I guess I should ask then, who the hell are you?” she asked as she crossed her arms and turned to face him.
“Green, Ma’am,” he replied and bowed slightly. “It’s my duty to watch over the house and property.”
“Was your duty. Now get off of my property,” she hissed, and walked into the house. She was surprised when he didn’t follow her inside, so she locked the door and looked around. Not much had changed since she left, though she did appreciate that the house was kept clean and in order. She could smell fresh paint, and wondered how much they had changed since she left.
Emily set her keys on the small wooden table by the door and slipped off her shoes. The wooden floor was cold and she immediately headed for the thermostat to turn up the heat. After looking through the empty kitchen, she headed down the hidden passageway to see if the ceremonial room had been dealt with. The heavy stone door had been replaced with a much lighter wooden one, and when she peeked inside, she was pleasantly surprised to see solid white walls with shelves lining it. The Equites had turned the old heku ceremonial room into a large storage space.
The entryway was already warming up when she got to the main landing and started for the third-floor, where the bedrooms were. She slowly opened Exavior’s bedroom door and was surprised to see that it hadn’t been touched. The empty boxes she stacked in the room were still there, and dust covered every surface.
Emily turned her phone off when it rang, and then grabbed a box and sat down in front of Exavior’s DVD collection. When she opened the doors, she realized they were housed in an antique armoire. She ran her hands over the ancient wood and marveled at the craftsmanship that went into the intricately etched bears along the outer rim of the door.
She was able to fit Exavior’s porn collection into three boxes, and taped it up after writing Kralen’s name on the top, then stacked them in the corner and turned to the first set of drawers.
***
Derrick stepped aside and let Green into the council chambers. All seats were full, and he began to panic when 13 sets of eyes looked down at him. He quickly removed his red baseball cap and wrung it in his hands.
“Is there a problem?” Dustin asked him.
“No… well… maybe? I don’t know, could be I guess,” Green stammered out.
Dustin sighed, “Is there or is there not a problem?”
“Depends, I guess… well, not really.”
Chevalier growled, “Is there a problem with the house?”
“No, actually,” Green mumbled. “But I got fired.”
Zohn gasped, “Emily went to her house and fired you?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“And you felt that important enough to tell the Council?” Quinn asked, confused.
“Yes, Elder.”
“Why?”
“Well… she was pretty upset.”
Chevalier nodded, “So you came to us for punishment?”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Go back to your own house. There is no punishment needed.”
Green looked briefly at Chevalier and then instantly disappeared.
“He should be punished just for that display of hesitation,” Dustin sighed.
“I’m sure Emily just scared him,” Kyle chuckled.
“Just because she’s angry at the Elder, doesn’t give her the right to take it out on poor unsuspecting heku. He was doing his
job, and more than likely was verbally assaulted for nothing,” Dustin said.
“Wait… why do you assume she’s angry at me?” Chevalier asked, and turned toward the Coven Liaison Officer.
“She was.”
“How so?”
“By my guess… it’s because when you came to give her the news on Dain, you did so from your Elder’s chair.”
Chevalier frowned slightly as he thought about that.
“Elder… did you?” Kyle asked, and then sat back in his chair when Chevalier didn’t answer.
“It’s going to take time for all of us to get used to having her back,” Quinn explained. “While that may have been a poor lapse in judgment, I’m sure there was no harm intended.”
“Damnit,” Chevalier whispered. “I didn’t even think about it. No wonder she’s mad.”
“She can’t expect you to suddenly fall back into the husband roll after a year,” Dustin said, and thumbed through a coven listing book.
“Everyone’s a little on edge with her return,” the Chief of Defense said. “Things were hectic for a year while we searched for her, and once she returned, and the aftermath of the Encala was learned, it’s been worse. I suspect that Chevalier was simply in Elder mode, not something easily turned off.”
“I’m sure she’s still feeling uncomfortable around us also,” Zohn said. “She was alone for a year, and we’ve again thrown her under our protection.”
“It’s obvious to us all that things are not as they were before she left,” the Chief Interrogator mentioned.
“So what do I do?” Chevalier asked, and looked down the row of heku.
“Time will fix things,” Quinn told him. “I am guessing eventually, things will get back to normal and she’ll feel comfortable here.”
“She must feel like an outsider,” Dustin said, and then quickly became quiet with Kyle glared at him.
“Maybe you should court her again,” the Chief of Finance suggested.
Chevalier smiled slightly, “That wasn’t exactly easy the first time.”
“Mortals date, did you do that?”
Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series Page 35
