Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (8 page)

“No, probably not,” William chuckled. “We
also were curious if you have heard from the Valle.”

“Not since I petitioned for Sotomar’s release
four months ago.”

“You did?”

“Yes, and I plan on doing it again soon.”

William’s smile grew, “I would imagine you
will.”

“I better go.”

“Thank you for calling, dear.”

Emily nodded and shut the laptop. She looked
over at the cane at her side and sighed. With her right arm in a
sling and a cane in her left hand to help with the limp, she felt
incredibly inept and frustrated.

Sighing, she stood up and then used the cane
to limp over to the door. Silas heard her coming and opened it for
her, “Coming out?”

“Yes, hoping to wobble out to the stables,”
she said, slowly passing him.

He smiled and followed her over to the stairs
where she was frowning and looking over a burgundy chair hooked to
the top of the stairs, “What’s that?”

“A chair lift.”

She looked over at him, “You put in a chair
lift?”

“The Elders did. When you’ve healed, I’m sure
we’ll take it down.”

“I’d rather hobble down the stairs.”

Silas walked over to the controls, “You risk
falling. This way, you can get down without hurting yourself.”

Emily looked down the long flight of stairs,
and then over to the chair. As humiliating as it looked, she saw no
other option than to be carried around. With this chair, she could
at least be somewhat independent.

“Mom?” Megara said from behind her.

Emily turned around and smiled, “Done with
school for the day?”

Megara nodded and smiled at the chair, “It’s
fun. You should try it.”

“You did?”

“Oh yeah. Dain and I were racing
earlier.”

“On the stair lift?!”

“Yup. He cheated though,” Megara said. She
bit her lip slightly and looked up at her Mom, “What are the
chances that I’ll grow up to be as fast as Dain?”

Emily smiled slightly, “No chance really,
Megs. He is full heku.”

“Maybe I will be.”

“He was from birth though. I would imagine
you’ll be like Allen.”

“Not Alexis?”

“I think you take more after Allen. He’s not
as fast as Dain, but he’s way faster than Alexis and I.”

Megara smiled, “You are pretty slow.”

Emily swung her cane at the girl, but Megara
easily dodged, “Don’t call me slow.”

Megara fidgeted slightly with the controls on
the chair.

“What’s wrong, Megs?”

“Alexis told me you once took her into the
prison to practice ashing.”

“Right”

The young girl hesitated, “Can we do
that?”

Emily nodded, “I don’t see why not.”

“Do you think I can do it?”

“I really don’t know.” Emily saw the heku
guards back off as it seemed private, “Alexis didn’t turn a heku to
ash until she felt threatened. You have never been in a situation
to be threatened, so it’s hard to know if you have the
ability.”

“But I could?”

“Yes, you could. You’re more heku than mortal
though, so I don’t know.”

“Can we go now?”

Emily smiled, “Sure. Let me figure out this
lift, and we’ll go into the prison.”

Megara clapped and headed down the stairs at
a run.

Emily sat down in the chair and looked over
at Silas, “Will you go ask the Council if they have a prisoner of
choice for this?”

Silas nodded and blurred down the stairs. He
heard the motor on the stair lift, just as he stepped into the
council chambers, and smiled.

“Yes, Silas?” Zohn asked, looking up from a
thick binder.

Silas bowed slightly, “Lady Emily is taking
Megara into the prison for… ash practice.”

Chevalier’s eyebrows rose, “She is?”

“Yes, and she would like to know if you have
a prisoner preference.”

“She actually asked?” Richard asked him,
shocked.

Silas nodded, “Yes. She’s been very compliant
as far as heku relations go.”

Kyle nodded and turned to him, “It’s part of
the unspoken agreement she has with the Elder. She stays out of
heku business but involves us in important things, and we let her
do what she wants.”

“I wasn’t aware there were specifics,”
Richard said.

Chevalier chuckled, “There are no specifics.
I don’t even know when it happened. All of a sudden, Emily started
listening to me.”

“Growth spurt,” the Chief of Staff said,
smiling.

Chevalier glared at him, “It’s not a growth
spurt.”

Silas cleared his throat.

Quinn looked up at him, “I don’t think it
matters who she tries to turn to ash. I don’t believe Megara can do
it.”

“You don’t?” Chevalier asked.

“I think she would have shown it before
now.”

“She’s never been threatened.”

“Maybe we should set up a mock threat,” Kyle
said. “That’d let us know, one way or the other.”

“Is it worth scaring her?” Chevalier asked,
frowning.

“To know if she has the ability… maybe.”

“I’ll talk to Emily about it. I’m not sure I
like the idea of scaring Megs.”

Silas smiled, “So I can tell her to pick a
prisoner?”

“Yes,” Kyle said. “Then let us know how it
goes.”

Silas nodded and disappeared. He met up with
Emily, just as she was getting off of the stair lift that took her
from the second-floor to the first-floor. The first-floor guards
were talking to her about it.

Silas cleared his throat, and both
first-floor guards spun suddenly and faced forward, standing
straight at attention. Emily started to explain that they weren’t
hurting anything but thought twice about it and hobbled toward the
prison.

“The Council said you can ash any heku you
want in the prison,” Silas told her.

She nodded, “Do you have a preference?”

Silas smiled, “Yes.”

“Who?”

“His name is Wallace, and he was a serial
killer a few years back.”

“I didn’t hear about him,” Emily said,
looking over at Silas.

“He wasn’t in this area. When it was
discovered he was Equites though, Damon caught him.”

“Why isn’t he dead or banished?”

“The Elders wanted him to stay above ground
in case more bodies were located by the mortal police.”

She nodded, “Take me to him.”

Emily looked down the long flight of stairs
leading to the prison, and then winced when Silas picked her up and
walked her to the bottom.

“Captain,” the two Prison Guards said when
Silas entered. They bowed slightly toward him and then looked at
Emily, shocked, “Lady Emily! You can’t be…”

“Enough,” Silas snapped. “She’s with me.”

“But… Miss Megara too?” one of them
asked.

Megara smiled, “I’m with them.”

Silas led them over to a cell on the far end
of the prison. He and Megara waited for Emily to arrive, and when
she did, Silas had a chair for her.

Two hours later, Emily was thinking of how
else to explain the ash process, and Megara was obviously
frustrated with the entire process. The prisoner hadn’t felt so
much as a burn and was calmly sitting in his cell watching
them.

“I hate this!” Megara yelled when she tried
again.

Emily took her hand, “Just give it time.”

“No! It’s not fair… what am I? A blood
drinking mortal? I can’t turn a heku to ash. I'm not as fast as a
heku. I'm not as smart as a heku.”

“It takes time to see what abilities you
have…,” Emily started, but Megara ran out of the prison.

Emily looked up at Silas, and he shrugged,
“The Council wonders if they need to make her feel threatened to
bring out the ability.”

“Threatened? Like someone attack her?” Emily
asked, getting slowly to her feet.

“Yes, but no real threat.”

“I hate for her to feel that. It’s
horrible.”

“I know, but it could bring out her
ability.”

“I’m not sure she has one. She’s always taken
more after the heku.”

Silas nodded and then carried Emily up the
stairs to the lobby. He looked over when Horace walked up, “Miss
Megara is in your Jeep.”

Emily frowned, “Why?”

“She said she’s waiting for you to take her
to the house, so she can live a mortal life.”

She sighed, “Damnit. I can’t leave her alone
with Alec in that house.”

“The Elder’s not going to want you moving out
there either,” Silas told her.

“Chev,” Emily called out, and then watched
him come down the stairs.

Chevalier smiled, “How did it go?”

“She’s sitting in the Jeep waiting for me to
take her to my house, so she can start her life as a mortal,” Emily
told him. “She listens to you… see what you can do.”

Chevalier sighed and walked into the garage.
Megara was sitting in the Jeep with her arms crossed, glaring at
the dash board. He walked up and knocked on the window, “Can we
talk?”

Megara lowered the window, “What about?”

“About you turning fully mortal.”

“No more blood for me. I’ll just eat what Mom
does, and then I’ll be mortal.”

“It may not be that easy,” Chevalier told
her.

“You really screwed us kids over, you know
that?” Megara said.

“You…”

“No! I hate it…, and I hate you two for doing
this to me.”

“Megs, you’re almost 8-years-old and still
very young. The thing that tells you if you are a Winchester or a
heku hasn’t happened yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t.”

“I hate you,” Megara whispered.

“Moving into the house and eating food isn’t
going to make you mortal.”

She simply glared forward and didn’t
answer.

Emily finally walked out and stood beside
Chevalier, “Let me talk to her. We’ll stay in the mansion for a few
days and have some girl time.”

“I don’t like that.”

“I know, but it’s the only way I can calm her
down.”

Chevalier thought for a moment and then
nodded. She kissed him lightly, crawled into the Jeep, and took off
for her mansion.

Security was already in place when she
arrived, and Alec was waiting in the door with a smile.

“Good to see you!” he said, coming out to
greet them.

“Hi, Alec. We’re just here for a few days,”
Emily said as she adjusted her cane and walked into the house.

“How’s your hip?”

“Better every day.”

“It’ll be nice to have company. It’s been
quiet.”

Emily laid her purse down on the table and
looked around, “What exactly do you do here all day?”

He smiled, “Want to see?”

“Sure”

Alec showed her into his office, and Emily
gasped and looked around at the intricately decorated saddles and
belts. The room smelled like fresh leather and was filled with
tools and mallets of all sorts.

“Alec, these are gorgeous!” she said,
carefully running her fingers along a winter scene on the side of a
saddle.

“I always wanted to work with leather.”

“You’re really good. You could sell
these.”

“I already do. Allen helped me start a web
business.”

She smiled, “That’s great, Alec. Maybe I want
you to make me one.”

Alec’s smile broadened, and he dug behind a
stack of leather and pulled out a smaller saddle, “I already made
you one.”

He put the saddle on one of the bare saddle
horses, and Emily bent down to look. Her eyes filled with tears as
she saw her father’s brand surrounded by swirls that formed the
name of her kids, along with the Equites crest, and the date that
she and Chevalier were first bonded.

“Oh my God, Alec,” she whispered, and then
studied each delicate swirl.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“This is amazing.”

“It’s been fun learning, and I’m making some
good spending cash.”

She turned and hugged him, “Thank you.”

“Mom?” Megara said, looking in at them.

“Come look, Megs,” Emily said, turning to her
saddle.

“No thanks. When’s dinner?”

Alec’s eyebrows rose, “You’re going to
eat.”

“Yes, I’m going to be fully mortal.”

“You get to choose, do you?”

“Yes”

Emily rolled her eyes at Alec and then
followed Megara out. They both made a spaghetti dinner and sat down
to eat and visit with Alec. He was making good money in the leather
business and had already supplied custom saddles to four of
Thukil’s Cavalry. Megara gagged down the food but pretended it was
good and that she was enjoying it.

Once Emily laid down in bed in the dark, she
looked around and felt alone. She liked how Chevalier stayed with
her while she slept and held her when her dreams got bad.

After some time, she finally fell asleep.

“Emily?” a voice rang out through the dark
bedroom.

Emily sat up and looked around, “Who’s
there?”

Her heart almost stopped when a dark shadow
passed in front of the window and then disappeared into the wall.
She jerked to the side when her book slid off of her bedside table
and landed with a dull thud on the floor.

“Chev?” she whispered, hoping it was him.

“Emily,” she heard again, but this time she
realized whose voice it was. Exavior stepped out from inside of her
closet and looked at her angrily.

“Alec!” she screamed.

Alec blurred into the room and turned on the
lights. Emily was sitting in bed, deathly pale, with the covers
pulled up to her chest.

“What’s wrong?” Alec asked, carefully
scanning the room.

Emily looked quickly around the room and then
bent down and looked under her bed while Alec watched her.

“Is there a problem?” Alec asked.

“It’s… I saw him, Alec,” Emily answered,
barely able to talk.

“Saw who?”

“In the closet!”

Alec went over and looked in the walk-in
closet, and then disappeared inside. He returned a few minutes
later, “No one’s in there.”

“It was Exavior,” she whispered as she began
to shake.

Alec frowned, “You saw him?”