Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “Eleven,” he told her, and smiled slightly.

  “Your turn,” Emily said, and ran her hands along his back.

  “I don’t think leeches are interested,” he said, and looked down at his arms. Emily and Silas both turned when the other members of the Cavalry came back, Jaron was still carrying the arm.

  Emily slipped her camisole and t-shirt back on as the others got to them.

  “What did you find?” Silas asked, taking the arm.

  “Nothing, we tracked to where the dog went, and there’re no other body parts,” Jaron explained.

  “Let’s get back and we’ll bring a team out here to search.”

  “Yes, Captain,” he said, and they all mounted up, though Emily kept jerking at tingles in her skin she thought might be another leech.

  Silas chuckled, “I got them all.”

  “I smell blood,” Jaron said, frowning.

  “There are leeches in that water,” Silas explained, and kicked his horse to catch up with Emily.

  Jaron grinned, “Nice.”

  They rode up to the stables as the Elders were stepping out after talking about yet another addition. They watched the five ride up, and were both shocked and pleased that Emily was out with members of the Cavalry. As they drew closer, the Elders all caught the scent of Emily’s blood and then saw Silas carrying an arm.

  “We’ll explain it all when we put the horses away,” Silas told them as he headed into the stables.

  Emily was the first to step into the stall with her stallion, and as she slipped off his bridle, she felt an odd tingle on her ankle. She reached down to scratch it, and felt the soft, slimy body of another leech. Panicked, she stripped off her wet jeans and fell out into the stables.

  “Silas!” she screamed, and began to pull at the leech.

  The Elders were watching her, confused, as she fell out of the stall only half dressed and began clawing at her ankle.

  Silas knelt down and pulled the leech off, tossing it over into a trash bin, “Got it.”

  She scrambled to her feet and turned around, “Do you see more?”

  Chevalier growled slightly when Silas stood up and looked along the back of her exposed legs.

  Quinn put a hand on Chevalier’s arm when his hands tightened into fists. Silas froze when he heard the growl, and turned around to face them. Emily was still inspecting her arms and legs, unaware of the confrontation going on behind her, all because she slipped off her jeans.

  “Sir…” Silas said, putting his hands out. “She went into a leech infested pond, that’s it… pulling leeches off, I swear.”

  Once Emily was sure she had no more leeches on her, she turned to see everyone watching her, and saw how Chevalier was growling at Silas. She blushed and stepped back into the stall. A servant appeared and gave Zohn one of the robes from the pool, and he handed it over the stall to Emily. She slipped it on and came back out, placing herself between Silas and the Elders.

  “Don’t be mad,” she told Chevalier. “He was picking leeches off me. I couldn’t get a hold of them.”

  Chevalier stood up out of a crouch but kept an eye on Silas, “And the arm?”

  “The dog brought it back when we were playing fetch,” Silas explained. “Jaron and Laythan went looking for the rest of the body, but didn’t find anything. I was coming back to get a search party.”

  “Do it,” Chevalier growled, and the Cavalry blurred from the stables.

  “Must you strip in front of the Cavalry?” Zohn asked, irritated.

  Emily sighed, “I had another leech.”

  Quinn grinned, “Go get cleaned up… but leave the dog. He needs a bath before he goes back in.”

  Not wanting to argue, Emily nodded and headed inside.

  “Calm now?” Quinn asked, turning to Chevalier.

  He nodded, “I know I should trust them more than that…”

  One of the servants assigned to keep the dogs clean came up and picked up the lab, “Come on, Encala, time for another bath.”

  “Wait… what did you call it?” Zohn asked him.

  The heku servant turned to the Elder, “His name, Sir, Encala.”

  “Who named him?”

  “Lady Emily, I presume. I didn’t ask… I just know the names.”

  “I’m afraid to ask… but the Malamute’s name is…”

  “Valle, Sir.”

  “Of course, go ahead,” Zohn said, and watched the heku carry the soaking lab away.

  “I forgot how there’s never a dull moment when Emily is in the palace,” Quinn said, and smiled. “I missed that.”

  “Don’t underestimate the joy of peace and quiet,” Zohn told him.

  Chevalier, his temper finally under control, turned to the stables, “Let’s not for now. See how this goes. I hate to build more stalls when we already have 8 free horses.”

  “Agreed,” Quinn said. “We’ll tell Mark to fill those 8 spots and then we’ll be done with it.”

  “I’m sorry I stripped in front of the Cavalry again,” Emily said from behind them. The Elders turned around, happy she was dressed.

  “It’s just shocking,” Quinn said.

  “I understand the leech problem, but maybe you could have stayed in the stall and called for me,” Chevalier explained.

  “I fell from the stall, I didn’t mean to step out,” she said, and disappeared into the storage shed.

  “Are you ok then? Has the bleeding stopped?” Zohn asked.

  “Not entirely, odd isn’t it?”

  “Not really. Leeches emit an anti-coagulant when they bite, keeps the blood flowing.”

  They heard a slight laugh, “How convenient, ya’ll should look into that.”

  “I don’t believe I’ve ever had a problem keeping the blood flowing.”

  “Ew,” she said, and stepped out. She slipped on knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, and then pulled her hair up into a helmet as they watched.

  As she sat down to pull on some roller blades, Quinn finally asked, “What exactly are you doing?”

  “Dog training,” she said, and called for Allen to bring the Malamute.

  “Is it that dangerous… to need pads?”

  “Guess it could be,” she answered. Allen handed the puppy off and grinned before disappearing toward the barracks. The Elders watched in silence as she slipped a harness onto the puppy and stood up.

  “Is that safe?” Zohn asked when he realized what she was doing.

  Emily shrugged, “He wants to pull… this is all I could come up with.”

  Once the puppy was given the order, he took off slowly, pulling Emily along behind him as he ran toward the city.

  “If she dies… just call an ambulance,” Chevalier sighed. He watched until she disappeared around the bend and then headed back inside.

  “That’s going to be one huge dog,” Quinn said, and followed him in.

  “Should we send someone to watch her? That seems dangerous,” Zohn asked. He turned around and saw he was alone, so he ordered two members of the Cavalry to follow her in secret and went inside.

  Chevalier stopped at the doors to the council chambers when he heard Alexis scream for him. She appeared on the stairs angrily carrying Dain down, and then shoved him into Chevalier’s arms.

  “You take the little vamp. I’m done with him,” she yelled, and turned for the stairs.

  “Wait, Alex… come back here,” Chevalier said, and looked down at Dain.

  “What?” she asked, coming back.

  “What did he do?”

  “That little blood sucker bit me,” she said, and showed Chevalier one tiny puncture wound on her arm.

  “No bi,” Dain said, and pointed at the wound.

  “He bit you?”

  “Yes, freakin’ vampire. I’m going back to my studies and you can get chewed on,” she said, and stormed up the stairs.

  Quinn looked over at Dain, who was leaning his head against Chevalier’s shoulder, “Did you bite Alex?”

  “No bi,” he said
, and pointed at nothing.

  “So you didn’t bite Alex?”

  Dain nodded, “No bi.”

  “Now I’m confused,” Quinn said.

  Zohn looked over at the baby, “I don’t see how that was him. It was only one puncture and he has both of his canines.”

  Chevalier held his wrist out to Dain, “Bite me.”

  “No bi,” Dain told him, frowning.

  “It’s ok… you can bite me.”

  Dain reached over and bit Chevalier’s wrist with the side of his mouth, leaving only one puncture wound.

  “Ouch, damn, enough,” Chevalier said, and pulled Dain off of him.

  “Well, well… maybe the dogs aren’t chewing on Emily,” Zohn said, fairly impressed.

  “Do you bite Mommy?” Chevalier asked him.

  Dain shook his head, “No, no, ouch.”

  “Bien, come take Dain,” Chevalier called out. A heku appeared and took the baby down to the game room. “I’ll have to figure that out later, let’s see what the Investigator found out.”

  The Elders walked into the council chambers and sat down.

  “Any news?” Chevalier asked the Chief Investigator.

  “All leads come back to Wade, actually,” the Investigator said. “It appears to have started about 5 years ago, and every 2 weeks or so, a new body is dumped. He’s emptied some of them out when they turn to bones.”

  Chevalier sighed, “So he’s managed to drain close to 130 mortals?”

  “Yes, Sir, if the pattern of every other week was for the entire 5 years. There were only 18 bodies in that pile, though.”

  “Bring him up here,” Chevalier growled.

  Wade was brought in. He had already been stripped of any rank insignia and was thrown to his knees before the Council.

  “Something distressing has come up,” Chevalier said angrily. “We found your pile of bodies behind the waterfall.”

  “I… I don’t know what you mean,” he stammered, nervously watching Chevalier.

  “He’s lying,” the Chief Interrogator said.

  “No… I’m not! I don’t know anything about those bodies.”

  “So you didn’t find an old abandoned ceremonial room about 5 years ago, and dumped hundreds of drained bodies into a mass pile?”

  “No, I wouldn’t do that… I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  The Chief Investigator stood up, “So you weren’t caught by the V.E.S. and spared in exchange for Lady Emily?”

  Chevalier growled.

  Wade began to breathe quickly, “It’s… it’s not what it sounds like…”

  “Then offered free meals as long as the V.E.S. was present, so you didn’t drain anyone else?”

  His eyes darted through the council members.

  “A member of my own coven!” Chevalier roared.

  “I… it… it was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill them.”

  Chevalier was at his throat in an instant and hauled him from the room. The Council all heard Equites 2 take off for Island Coven.

  “Well… that’s going to be an interesting visit,” Quinn said, and turned to Zohn. “Makes me want to go launch a surprise visit on my own coven.”

  “I agree,” Zohn said, frowning. “Highly disturbing.”

  “Well… his coven is 4 times the size of mine though.”

  “Yeah, mine too.”

  “Oh, Emily’s back,” Quinn said, and glanced at the door. “Derrick, ask her in please.”

  Emily came in leading the Malamute puppy, still in a harness. She stopped when she got to the Council, “I haven’t been here long enough to do anything wrong.”

  Quinn chuckled, “Did you enjoy your… pull?”

  “Pull?” Kyle asked, and looked down at Emily.

  She smiled, “Yes, I did. He’s going to be a strong dog.”

  “We just wanted to inform you that Chevalier has gone back to the island for a bit. He’s taking care of some business,” Zohn told her.

  “Oh… ok,” she said, and turned back for the door.

  “One more thing.”

  She sighed and faced Zohn, “Yes?”

  “Is Dain biting you?”

  Emily frowned, “No, why would you think that?”

  “She…” the Chief Interrogator started, but quieted down with a glare from Zohn.

  “He took a bite out of Alexis,” Quinn explained.

  “It was probably an accident. He’s a sweet boy.”

  “Yes, he is, thank you.”

  Emily nodded and headed out.

  “She’s lying,” the Interrogator whispered.

  “That was obvious, but I don’t think we need to confront her about it. It sounds like something Chevalier would want to deal with,” Zohn said. “While he’s gone, let’s not start any wars.”

  “Yes, Elder.”

  Chapter 9 - Dain

  Emily gasped and sat up quickly when she felt the pain in her shoulder, “Damnit, Dain… again?”

  “No bi,” Dain said, and frowned.

  Emily felt her shoulder. The small puncture wound was bleeding slightly. She picked Dain up onto her lap and looked at him, “That was bad, no biting.”

  “Es Daddy?”

  “Daddy’s gone, you better hope he doesn’t find out… now stop it.”

  “He already knows,” Chevalier said, stepping out of the shadows of the room.

  Emily pulled Dain close to her, and turned toward his voice while her eyes adjusted, “Stay away from him.”

  “I’m not going to hurt him, Em. Let me hold him, though.”

  “No”

  Chevalier sat on the side of the bed, “How long has he been biting?”

  “I can handle him.”

  “No you can’t… how long?”

  Emily sighed, “A few months.”

  “Every night?”

  “No bi,” Dain said, and put his hands out for Chevalier.

  Chevalier reached over and took Dain out of her arms, “Just let me hold him.”

  Emily watched them carefully, “He’s just a baby.”

  “He’s still a predator, baby or not.”

  “No, he’s not.”

  “I need to talk to the Council for a second,” Chevalier said, and stood up.

  “Then I’ll go, too.”

  “No, stay here.”

  “You aren’t taking Dain.”

  “Don’t turn this into a fight. We aren’t going to hurt him.”

  “Then why can’t I go?”

  “Because I don’t want your scent around.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I’m coming.”

  Chevalier stood up and headed for the door, “I’ll be back in a little while, just stay here.”

  “No,” she said, and tried to follow him. Silas and Jaron blocked her way, and she glared at them and slammed the door in their faces.

  When he arrived, only a few of the Council was gathered. Chevalier sat down and put Dain down on the desk in front of him, “He bit her all right, savored her first, and bit her on the shoulder.”

  “Es Mommy?” Dain asked, shrugging.

  Zohn pulled his chair closer, “Savored her, you say?”

  “Yes”

  Quinn did the same and moved closer, “Interesting.”

  “Not interesting. I can’t have him chewing on his Mom,” Chevalier said, and watched Dain.

  “She let you take him?” Kyle asked, surprised.

  “Nope, Silas and Jaron won’t let her out of her room.”

  Kyle grinned, “For now.”

  Chevalier sighed, “What to do with a 1-year-old predator.”

  “Feed him more?” Dustin asked.

  “We feed him all he’ll take.”

  “Take his canines out,” Kyle said, and shrugged. “They’ll fall out anyway, right?”

  “We don’t know that. Mortals lose their teeth, but what if heku don’t?” Zohn asked.

  “My main fear is that we’ll do something to scare Emily off,” Chevalier told them. “She can’t r
un to the island right now, so where would she go?”

  Emily slammed open the trial room door and came in followed by Silas and Jaron, “Times up… give him back.”

  Chevalier chuckled, “They’re going to be mad when they remember.”

  “Us?” Silas asked, confused.

  Emily walked to the Council area and picked Dain up. Everyone noticed how he immediately leaned his head on her shoulder and ran his nose up her neck.

  “Yes, you,” Kyle said, grinning. “You were supposed to keep her in her room.”

  “Damn,” Silas sighed. “I don’t remember that.”

  “One of these bites, Emily, he’s going to find a vein,” Quinn said to her.

  “Has he come close?” Zohn asked.

  “No, mainly it’s on the shoulders and arm,” she told them, and ran her hands through Dain’s black hair. “There’s nothing to worry about, he’s learning.”

  “I suggest we at least move him to the nursery,” Chevalier said.

  Emily frowned, “No, he cries when he doesn’t sleep with me.”

  “Then he’ll learn to sleep alone.”

  “I thought he didn’t sleep,” Dustin said, but leaned back in his chair when Emily glared at him.

  “He doesn’t, and I watched him tonight. He spent a good part of the night savoring you before taking a bite,” Chevalier told her, and she frowned.

  “You know no more about him than I do, and I’m not going to let you all make a big deal out of this.”

  “We’re just concerned about where this might be going,” Zohn explained. “If he were to accidentally hit a vein… it could make the bites worse.”

  “He’s not some starving wolf. He can learn.”

  “All I’m asking is that he sleeps in the nursery.”

  “He doesn’t… he just screams.”

  “Then we leave him and let him scream.”

  “Damn, we were supposed to keep her in the room,” Jaron said to Silas. They both quieted down when Emily glanced at them.

  “If he sleeps in the nursery, will you leave him alone and stop talking about him like an out of control vampire?” Emily asked.

  “He sort of is…” Dustin started, but Zohn glared at him.

  “For now,” Chevalier told her. “But if his bites become more regular, we’ll need to intervene.”

  Emily’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean intervene?”

  “He’s breaking one of the prime heku rul...” Dustin’s words were cut off when he fell to ash on his chair.