Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

“Where did Emily end up?” Quinn asked Mark.

  “She’s in a prison cell with the heku,” Mark said. “She threatened to ash the palace if we didn’t put her in with him… and… well… he cried… kind of, until she joined him.”

  Chevalier sighed, “Ok, now, let’s calmly figure out what’s going on here. I’m still confused as to where Nicholas originated from.”

  “She doesn’t know,” Zohn explained.

  “So she found him in Jonesport and brought him to the island?”

  “Yes”

  “She somehow managed to keep him there for 6 months, unbeknownst to any ranking member of the coven.”

  “Right”

  “Then on full moons, he strips and howls, and she puts him to bed.”

  Zohn grinned slightly, “Yes.”

  “Has anyone tried to talk just to Nicholas?”

  “Yes, and we couldn’t get anything out of him. I’m not sure he knows where he is or what he is,” Zohn said.

  “And Emily thinks he’s safe to be around?”

  “Apparently”

  “If he’s truly confused, we’ll need to dispose of him before he hurts someone,” Quinn said, deep in thought.

  “If you don’t mind facing the wrath of Emily,” Zohn reminded him.

  “How intertwined is she in Island Coven?” Chevalier asked.

  “Very much so… she corrected the guard roster, two of them can’t work together because they argue, and some heku named Lewis was reinstated as a guard with the condition he can’t leave the cement walls…”

  “What did Lewis do?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “She’s completely taken over Island Coven,” Dustin said matter-of-factly.

  “I’m not sure it’s on purpose. I know that we, as the Council, have asked her to handle a few discipline problems in Chevalier’s absence, and her very presence dictates she be consulted on important matters,” Quinn said.

  “I don’t mind if she makes everyday decisions, but bringing a heku onto the island to live is not within her power,” Chevalier explained, and glanced at Kyle.

  “She’ll never return here now… everything she wants and needs is on that island. She has friends, safety and stability. She’s needed and wanted,” Zohn said. “The fact that she allowed Nicholas to live on the island proves that she may not be ready for the responsibility that comes with being married to the Coven Lord, and live there in his absence.”

  “So you suggest I move back?”

  “No, of course not. Quinn and I don’t live with our covens either, it’s part of the responsibility of being an Elder.”

  Chevalier tapped his pen on the table while he thought, “I guess I thought she merely lived there. I didn’t realize she made decisions.”

  “How can she not?” Dustin asked. “You once put her in charge of the guard staff. Did you revoke that? They come to her because you put her in a position of authority with the guards.”

  “I’m not as concerned about decisions with the guard staff, as I am with her allowing a strange heku to move onto the island.”

  “It’s obvious that she has taken on a mother role with him, appealing to the human female’s instinct to nurture,” the Chief Interrogator said.

  Chevalier nodded, “That’s where the bigger fight is going to come in.”

  “We cannot allow him to live on the island,” Kyle growled.

  “I realize that. What I don’t see is how to do that without further separating Emily from this Council,” Chevalier told him.

  “We still need to ascertain what she was doing on the mainland without a guard,” Zohn said.

  “I suggest we bring Emily into the Elder’s conference room and talk to her in there, just the Elders,” Chevalier said.

  Kyle growled.

  “You need to calm down,” Quinn said to Kyle before standing up.

  “Mark, bring Emily to the Elder’s conference room,” Zohn called out, and followed Quinn and Chevalier out of the council chambers.

  The Elders only waited a few minutes before the door opened. They were somewhat surprised to see Nicholas come in with Emily. She sat down, far from the Elders, and Nicholas sat down on the floor beside her.

  “We apologize for the temper outburst,” Quinn said. “Things will be calmer in here. We just want to help you.”

  “You can help me by letting Nicholas and I go back to how we were,” Emily said.

  “We can’t allow him to run free on the island,” Chevalier said. “He has no control. His mind isn’t strong enough to restrain any of his innate desires.”

  “In 6 months, he’s done nothing more than howl at the moon.”

  “How does he feed?”

  “He goes in with Henry and Yvonne.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Ok… but that still doesn’t make us feel safe.”

  “If you want me to feel safe, then get me out of this palace.”

  “Nicholas?” Zohn asked, glancing at the heku on the floor.

  The heku looked up at Emily, but when she smiled at him, he turned to Zohn.

  “Who turned you?”

  “Into what?”

  “A heku.”

  Nicholas shrugged, “I’m not a heku, I’m a wolf.”

  “Do you know who we are?” Quinn asked.

  “Yes, the Equites Elders.”

  Quinn smiled, “Good, so you know we’re heku?”

  “Yes”

  “But you aren’t one?”

  “No”

  “How do you know who we are?” Zohn asked him.

  “Because the Valle Elders said you are bad.”

  Emily cringed, “Nicholas, enough.”

  Nicholas nodded.

  “So he’s a Valle,” Zohn said.

  “No, he’s not… he has no idea what he is, and all he needs is a little care and maybe he’ll remember,” Emily said.

  “He’s a Valle and needs to be returned to them.”

  “No! You know as well as I do that they’ll kill him.”

  “As will we,” Quinn said softly.

  “Over my dead body!” Emily yelled, and stood up.

  “You better not hurt Emily,” Nicholas said, and stood up next to her.

  “Sit, please,” Chevalier said. “We haven’t decided anything yet.”

  She hesitated and then sat back down, “I get the feeling I’m also about to get reprimanded for helping out on the island.”

  “It does seem you have taken on a lot of responsibilities there. Some of which, we don’t feel is appropriate that you handle,” Zohn told her.

  “I suppose that’s my fault! I get calls from the Council asking me to handle discipline problems when Chev’s gone… I get asked roster questions by the guards, because they don’t want to bother their Elder. I get woken up at 2am because two of the guards are fighting, and no one can calm them down but me,” Emily explained. “Yes, I have responsibilities, but none of which I’ve brought on myself… except Nicholas, and he’s none of your concern.”

  “We aren’t blaming you, Em,” Chevalier said. “I just didn’t realize how heavily the coven was utilizing you.”

  “What are their other choices? You abandoned them.”

  Chevalier sighed and took a moment to calm his temper, “I didn’t abandon them, and they know that.”

  “So what now? Are you telling me I can’t go back to the island?”

  “No, I’m not saying that.”

  “Are you telling me that I’m to ignore anyone that asks me for help?”

  “No”

  “Then what!? What is it you want me to do? I can go to the island and ignore any calls for help, anyone that needs an immediate decision… is that what I do?”

  “Yes, that’s what I want.”

  Emily’s eyes filled with hurt, “So when I’m on the island, I’m nothing more than a guest?”

  “Is that so bad?” Chevalier asked.

  “It’s your island, though Kyle has a lot of authority too… and I’m just your
wife.”

  “Just?”

  “Yes, just. I have no responsibility, no authority, I can sit on my ass and be fed and catered too, yet I can’t help make a single decision… Do I have that about right?”

  “It’s not your place to make decisions on my island,” Chevalier said softly. He frowned slightly at the look on her face. He could tell she was fighting back tears.

  “I don’t think the Elder meant it that way,” Quinn said when he saw the hurt feelings. “It’s not that we don’t appreciate all you’ve done to help the coven. It’s just that we would prefer if you let the Elder or Kyle handle things, they can get dangerous.”

  “I see,” she whispered, and looked down at Nicholas.

  “Maybe if you made decisions along with Storm, then things might go smoother.”

  “No, you’re right… it’s not my place, it’s Chevalier’s coven.”

  Chevalier frowned, it wasn’t often she called him by his full name.

  She stood up and put her hand out, “Come on, Nicholas, let’s go.”

  Quinn frowned, “We can’t let him go. It’s not safe.”

  “He needs me,” Emily whispered. She took his hand and turned for the door.

  “Emily, we cannot let you go with him,” Zohn told her.

  Emily slipped the phone out of her pocket and pushed it across the table, “Lewis is going to call, he wants reinstated to the pier now that his probation is over. Ying Lee wants to know if he can start guard training next week, and Wesley needs building rights for a greenhouse.”

  Chevalier nodded and took her phone, “I’ll come to the island this weekend, ok?”

  She nodded and opened the door, still holding onto Nicholas’ hand. Three members of the Cavalry were waiting outside of the conference room, and Emily looked up at them.

  “We need to take him,” the new Cavalry Lieutenant said.

  “I have to go with Emily,” Nicholas told him.

  “It’s ok, he’s coming with me,” Emily said.

  “Maybe if she agrees to never be alone with him,” Chevalier said, and turned to Zohn.

  Dustin, the Chief Liaison Officer from Powan, appeared suddenly at Nicholas’ back and instantly removed his head. Emily watched, wide eyed, as the heku’s body fell to the floor, spraying blood across her and the walls.

  She backed away slowly, watching Dustin as he looked down at the heku he just killed. She was finding it hard to breathe, hard to understand what happened. Nicholas trusted her. She took care of him and understood his needs and his kind nature.

  “I had to,” Dustin said to her, and then turned to ash at the feet of the Cavalry.

  “Hey!” one of the Cavalry started to yell, and then also turned into a pile of ash.

  Zohn immediately ordered the hallways clear and all nonessential personnel were to leave the palace immediately. The council chambers were locked down, with the Council inside, and the Elders stayed in their conference room.

  Emily turned and ran up the stairs to the roof. Her assigned heku pilot powered up the helicopter when she got inside, and soon they were flying toward Island Coven.

  Chapter 7 - In Sickness

  Emily rolled over and looked at the clock. It was 1am and she had yet to fall asleep. Her throat hurt, she had a headache, stuffy nose, and a dry cough. She hadn’t left her room in the two days since Dustin killed Nicholas. The coven was quiet. They knew Nicholas was missing and that Emily was being elusive.

  After a couple more hours of tossing and turning in bed, Emily finally got up and threw on a robe. She left Dain for a few minutes and went out into her ante-chamber.

  “Can I get you anything?” Anna asked.

  “No,” she said, and sneezed into a tissue. Emily walked up to the infirmary and started digging around in the bottles of medicine, put there for her use. She pulled out another box of tissue and a nighttime cold medicine, along with a handful of cough drops.

  After loading up on cold medicine, Emily went into the kitchen and started to boil some water.

  “Can I make you something?” Gordon asked, appearing beside her in the dark kitchen.

  “No, just making some tea,” she told him, and glanced up at the ceiling when she heard a helicopter landing. “Who the hell lands a helicopter at 3 in the morning?”

  Gordon smiled, “We don’t think about it… the time, I mean.”

  Emily dug the chamomile tea out of the cupboard and ignored the sound of heku entering the kitchen.

  “Good evening, Elder,” Gordon said with a slight bow.

  “Are you sick?” Chevalier asked.

  When she didn’t answer, Gordon finally turned back to her, “Would you like some chicken soup or pancakes maybe?”

  “Oh heavens, Gordon, don’t ask me… ask the Elder,” Emily said, and turned around with her cup of tea. She gathered up the cold medicines and cough drops and walked past Chevalier, Kyle, Zohn, and Quinn without saying a word, and headed back up to her room.

  Gordon turned to Chevalier, “I… don’t know… why am I asking you?”

  Chevalier shook his head, “Just ignore that… how long has she been sick?”

  “Just about a day. She’s kept to her room since she got back.”

  “I’m going to go check over the new roster and schedule,” Kyle said, heading out toward the barracks.

  “Shall we wait until she gets up?” Quinn asked, looking around the kitchen.

  Gordon hesitated and then started to leave, but Chevalier put his arm out, “Stay.”

  Gordon nodded, “Ok.”

  “You’re nervous,” Chevalier said. “Why?”

  “The… members of the coven have grown close to Emily.”

  “Yes, and?”

  “They know something’s happened.”

  “Ok… keep going.”

  Gordon sighed, “There may be some… who aren’t happy about it.”

  “How much do they know?” Chevalier asked.

  “They know Nicholas is gone… they know Emily isn’t visiting in the city, and isn’t taking castle visitors.”

  “They’re upset about Nicholas?”

  “We’ve all been watching them closely… any time Emily was with Nicholas, someone was off in the shadows to make sure things were ok,” Gordon Explained. “She enjoyed taking care of him.”

  “I didn’t realize that.”

  “We protect her. She doesn’t allow it… so we do it in secret.”

  Chevalier nodded, “We had to dispose of him.”

  “I figured.”

  “You may go.”

  Gordon blurred from the kitchen and Chevalier turned to the other two Elders, “I’ll be in my office.”

  Chevalier sat in his office, alone, and went over everything that happened on the island in the last few months. From what he could find, everything Emily took care of was handled appropriately and even the arduous paperwork was meticulously filled out and submitted. He had to remind himself that the big one, a new member of the coven, was the only thing left out.

  “Come,” he said when someone knocked on his office door.

  Quinn and Zohn came in and sat down. Zohn was holding a large manila envelope, and he tossed it onto Chevalier’s desk.

  He picked it up and looked at it, “What now?”

  “It came this morning for her,” Zohn explained. “Do we open it?”

  “My vote is no. It’s specifically addressed to Emily,” Quinn said.

  “But from the Valle, my vote is yes,” Zohn said, and they turned to Chevalier.

  “No… and I need to apologize to Emily,” Chevalier said, and shut the log book. “Aside from Nicholas, everything’s been handled correctly.”

  “She doesn’t have the authority though.”

  “Maybe she does, as a member of the Council and my wife… she’s taken care of things that I would have had to fly out here to do, and from what I see, she did a good job at it.”

  “But Nicholas…”

  “Had I known my coven was watching
over her… it wouldn’t have been a problem.”

  Zohn sighed, “Except that no one with authority knew she added to your numbers.”

  “True,” Chevalier said, and he grew silent when he heard Emily get up, coughing.

  “So now what?”

  Chevalier grabbed the envelope and stood up, “Let’s go see what they sent her.”

  The Elders walked up the stairs to her bedroom, and Chevalier couldn’t help but notice how quiet the servants were being around him and how they sunk back into the shadows as he passed. Tension in the castle was high, and it started to irritate him.

  “Elders,” Anna said when they walked into the ante-chambers. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice.

  “Is there a problem?” Chevalier asked her.

  “No,” she said bluntly.

  Zohn knocked on the door and opened it when he heard Emily mumble for them to come in. The Elders walked into the stiflingly hot bedroom. Emily was sitting out on the balcony on a chaise. She had a heavy blanket over her and a box of tissues on her lap. Dain was on the floor playing with the puppies.

  “What?” she asked, her voice hoarse from the cold.

  Chevalier sighed, “How are you feeling?”

  “You flew to the island to see how my cold is?”

  Zohn handed her the envelope, “This came for you this morning,” he said, and leaned against the balcony railing.

  Emily sat up and opened the envelope. She pulled out a large stack of papers and held it away from heku eyes to read. She tried not to react as she read the deed in her name to a plantation outside of Savannah, Georgia.

  “Anything interesting?” Quinn asked.

  “Another gift is all,” she said, and slipped the papers back into the envelope.

  “What kind of gift?” Zohn asked.

  “A personal one,” she told him, and grabbed a tissue when she started to cough again.

  “I want to apologize,” Chevalier said. “I see now that I was being hasty in telling you to stop making decisions for the coven, and I appreciate you watching over things in my absence.”

  “Yeah, no problem,” she answered sarcastically.

  “No, no bi,” Dain said, walking out onto the balcony.

  Chevalier picked him up, “Nope, not leaving right now.”

  Dain shook his head and grinned, “No.”