Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (60 page)

“Why not?”

“She doesn’t feel comfortable here in
the palace and I get the impression that most of that is because of
the Council.”

“Explain yourself,” Dustin
growled.

“No disrespect, Sir. I
just know what I’ve seen and she still feels like an unwanted
outsider. Any time the Council is mentioned, she clams up and
starts to panic.”

“I’ve seen that also,”
Chevalier told them. “See if she comes now.”

Derrick returned a few minutes later,
“She…”

“Is she coming?” Zohn
asked.

“No, Sir. She asked me to
tell you that it will be a cold day in hell before she steps before
the Council for anything,” Derrick said, then took a step back. He
wasn’t sure if delivering that message would be detrimental to
him.

Quinn sat back in his chair, “I
see.”

“That’s unacceptable,” the
Chief of Defense growled. “Get her.”

“She’s in her office,
Sir,” Derrick explained. “Orders from Elder Chevalier are that we
aren’t to enter.”

“Make that can’t enter,”
Kyle corrected. “We made that room heku proof.”

“She has to come out
eventually. Bring her here when she does,” Dustin said.

“Forcibly?” Kralen asked,
frowning.

“Yes”

“No,” Chevalier said, and
looked over at Dustin. “We’re trying to rebuild a relationship with
her as a faction. Forcibly dragging her here won’t help
that.”

“I agree,” Zohn said. “We
can punish Kralen without her here.”

“Fine,” Dustin hissed, and
then turned back to Kralen. “I suggest 5 years in jail and removal
of his rank.”

“Seems a bit harsh for a coffee
infraction,” Zohn said, frowning at Dustin.

“He broke an order, no
matter how minor it may have been,” Dustin growled, watching Kralen
closely. Kralen stood confidently in front of the
Council.

Chevalier thought for a moment, “Broke
an order or not, if we punish him, Emily’s going to take that
personally.”

“That is true,” Quinn
said. “Reforming this trust with her has turned out to be harder
than we first expected and this would delay it even
further.”

Zohn nodded to Kralen,
“That’s three. Please try to refrain from undermining our decisions
for Emily’s health though.”

Kralen nodded, “Yes, Sir.”

“We can’t just let him walk!” Dustin
yelled.

“You may go,” Chevalier told Kralen,
who nodded and disappeared to stand by Emily’s door.

A lone heku walked into
the council chambers and stood before the Equites Council. She had
no green cape, but wore civilian clothing like the regular
residents of Council City.

“What brings you in today,
Andrea?” Quinn asked her. She didn’t shift nervously or cower
before the menacing eyes of the Council, but stood her ground and
addressed them calmly.

“I wanted to come before
the Council because of something I encountered while in the mortal
city last night,” Andrea said. Her shoulder-length brown hair was
flipped up in a 50’s style, indicative of the era in which she was
turned into a heku.

“What might that be?”

“I assume you are aware that another
body was found, another victim of the serial killer known as
Heartbreaker?”

“Yes, we are.”

“I happened upon the crime
scene… the park where the body was found, and the mortal police
were just leaving the area. I got curious and went to the chalk
outline on the sidewalk and found the fading scent of a heku,” she
explained.

Quinn frowned, “Are you
certain?”

“Yes, Elder. I wish I
could place a faction, but I have never encountered an Encala or a
Valle. It was not the scent of an Equites.”

“That’s disturbing.”

“The News isn’t saying
much about the serial killer, but I also smelled no blood in the
area.”

“None at all? Or just faded?” Zohn
asked.

“None, Elder.”

“Were you alone?”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Take the Chief Investigator to the
scene,” Chevalier told her.

She nodded and left the room with the
Equites Investigator.

“This takes on a new
meaning if the serial killer is a heku,” Kyle said, turning toward
the Elders.

Zohn nodded, “Yes it does,
more so if it’s not an Equites.”

“We need to keep Emily and
Alexis out of the mortal city,” Dustin said. “It’s not safe,
especially if it is a heku.”

“That’s true,” Chevalier
said. “I spoke to her though, and she hasn’t run off since she
snuck out for coffee with Kralen 4 months ago.”

“Alert the Cavalry that
the Heartbreaker may be heku. Have them up her security. I’ve seen,
at times, she has only one or two guards,” the Chief of Defense
said.

Zohn frowned, “What happened to
4?”

Kyle sighed, “We’ve been
using the Cavalry more and more to handle Encala skirmishes, and
she’s often left with the palace guards. While they may be more
than efficient at protecting the palace, they are sometimes lax
when assigned directly to Emily.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Remedy
that.”

“Yes, Elder,” Kyle said, and
disappeared from the room.

Zohn turned to Chevalier, “Whose turn
is it?”

“I think it’s Richard’s,”
Chevalier told him, and turned to the Chief
Interrogator.

The Chief Interrogator stood up, “I’ll
see what I can do… this plan doesn’t seem to be
working.”

“I had no luck at all,”
the Chief of Staff told him. “She is getting
suspicious.”

Chevalier grinned, “I told you she
would do that if you all make a point to interact with her out of
the everyday norm.”

“There is no everyday
norm. We only spoke to her when she came before the Council,”
Richard said. “However, she’s not been in 7 months.”

“Not since the Encala Council
confronted her,” the Chief of Staff said.

Quinn thought for a
moment, “Why don’t you tell us who is on the ‘Damon Follower’ list,
and we’ll work with those.”

“Oh no, I’m not giving out
that list,” Chevalier said, and then laughed. “It’s best if we just
back off… She’ll come around when she feels more
comfortable.”

The Chief Interrogator sat back down
in his chair, “Very well.”

“Elder?” Derrick said, stepping into
the room.

Chevalier sighed, “What did she do
now?”

Derrick smiled slightly, “Her guards
advised me that she is currently in a fight with Dain in her
office.”

“Alone?” Chevalier gasped.

“Yes, Elder. They are
unable to get in.”

“Let’s go see what’s up,” Zohn said,
standing up.

Chevalier grinned, “You
go. Let me know if it’s an emergency.”

“Not my family,” Zohn
chuckled, and waited for Chevalier. He finally stood up and they
both headed down the stairs to Emily’s office on the third
floor.

Silas saw them coming and turned, “She
dragged him into her office by his ear.”

“Over what?” Chevalier asked, stepping
closer to listen carefully through the door.

“We aren’t sure,” Kralen
told him, and turned toward the door. The heku could hear Emily
screaming through the door.

“Never! Do you hear me?” Emily
yelled.

“Yes, Mom… but…” Dain
mumbled.

“No! No buts… now stand up
straight.”

“Mom…”

“No! You do not crouch at
me!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Now get those hands out of fists…
this instant.”

“But…”

“Do it,” she growled. “If
you ever expose your teeth and crouch at me again, I’ll not
hesitate to throw you over my knee. Is that understood?”

Chevalier cringed slightly and glared
at Kralen when he laughed.

“Yes, Mom,” Dain whispered.

“You’re 8 years old!”

“I know.”

Chevalier sighed and knocked on her
door, ready to defend his son, “Em? Can I come in?”

“Is your Dad in on this?” she yelled
at Dain, and Chevalier winced.

“No”

“Is he?”

“No, he didn’t know… I was
just…”

“Stop! I’m not listening
to this. You aren’t to leave the palace without my permission, is
that understood?”

“Mom…”

“Is… that… understood?” she said
through gritted teeth.

“Yes, Mom,” Dain whispered.

“Who gave it to you?”

“It’s… it doesn’t matter, I’ll give it
back.”

“Who!?”

Chevalier knocked again, “Em… let me
in.”

“Answer me!” Emily
screamed.

“It’s not what you think though,” Dain
explained.

“Is that what I asked?”

“Well… no.”

“Then who gave it to you?”

“Gave him what?” Chevalier whispered
to her guards.

Kralen shrugged, “I’m not
sure.”

“Dain! I’m waiting,” Emily
said, obviously furious.

Dain sighed, “Stuart gave it to
me.”

“The Cavalry
Stuart?”

“Yes… but Mom, I asked him for
it.”

“Stuart!” Emily screamed.
“Get to my office, now!”

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide
and he turned when the Cavalry member walked calmly up the stairs
and bowed toward the heku at Emily’s door.

“What did you give Dain?” Zohn
whispered to him.

“Just a copy of the
Council City Guard Manual, Elder. He asked for it,” Stuart
explained.

Chevalier turned to him
and whispered, “You’re on vacation. Go to your coven for a
week.”

“Sir?” Stuart asked,
confused.

Zohn grinned, “Trust us… get out of
Council City immediately.”

The Cavalry member nodded,
still confused, and disappeared from the palace.

Kralen and Silas jumped
back when Emily’s door slammed open. She stormed out and turned to
Silas, “Where’s Stuart?”

“He’s on leave this week,”
Silas said, taking a step back. The heku looked into her office and
saw Dain in the corner, watching her with wide eyes.

“Mark!” Emily screamed,
and went back into the office again, slamming the door after
her.

Mark appeared suddenly and frowned
slightly as he saw the heku gathered outside of her
door.

Silas grinned, “Did you
want buried at Hall Coven or here in the City?”

“Why am I dying?” Mark
whispered. It was obvious from the looks on the heku’s faces that
something was wrong.

“If you think for one second I’m going
to let this happen, you have another thing coming!” Emily screamed
from inside her office.

Mark grimaced and looked
over at her door, “Who’s in there with her?”

“Dain is,” Kralen
whispered.

“She’s actually mad at
Stuart, but we decided to spare his life and sent him away for a
week,” Zohn whispered to him.

“Do you!?” Emily yelled.

“Mom, just list…” Dain
started.

“No you listen to me! Where the hell
is Mark?”

Mark grinned slight, “I
quit.”

“You can’t quit, get in there,” Zohn
told him and chuckled.

“Last I heard, the Ferus was looking
for more leadership… maybe they’ll take me.”

“Not a chance… I’m sure I’m next in
line to get yelled at and I’m not in the mood,” Chevalier told him,
and then reached over and knocked on Emily’s door.

“It’s Mark,” he called through the
door.

“Get your ass in here,”
Emily yelled, and Dain opened the door. The massive 8-year-old
started to step out of her office, but she reached over and pulled
him back inside by his collar. Mark glanced once more at the Elders
and then walked into her office. She slammed the door after
him.

“Is Chevalier out there?”
Emily snapped at Mark. Zohn looked over just as Chevalier
disappeared from the hallway. He grinned and whispered through the
door.

“He… he’s not here right now,” Mark
told her.

Emily stepped closer to Mark, “Are you
trying to piss me off?”

“Well… no,” Mark said, and
took a step back. His back hit the wall and his eyes grew wide. It
wasn’t often he saw Emily this mad and he was silently waiting for
the burn to begin.

“What makes you think I would allow my
8-year-old to join the guard staff?” she screamed.

“I wasn’t aware he…”

“Don’t lie to me! Your
Cavalry gave my son a manual… Why would they do that if they
weren’t trying to recruit him?”