“I know what you’re thinking, and he’s not the reason I don’t like doctors.”
Chevalier smiled and pulled away from her, “Yes, he is.”
“No he’s not. I just don’t like them.”
He kissed her softly, “When you come back, let’s talk, ok?”
“Chev, there’s nothing to talk about. I’m not hiding big things in my past. Think about it. I only had 23 years without you. Not a lot happened in those few years.”
“Enough happened that I don’t know about.”
“I disagree.”
“Why didn’t you tell Keith when a co-worker attacked you?”
Emily gasped, “How do you know about that?!”
“Alec told me.”
“Well how does he know?”
“If I had to guess… Exavior.”
She sighed, “I didn’t need to tell Keith because he was taken care of.”
“By who?”
“A strange heku.”
Chevalier gasped, “What?”
“I was attacked when I was working late. The guy locked us in a closet and started to try to tear my clothes off. There was a huge crash and a vampire came in, enraged. He pulled the guy away from me, and when he started to tear the guy apart, I ran.”
“You… you never told me that.”
“Because it’s not important.”
“It is though! I want to know who that heku was.”
“Why?”
“He saved you.”
“He came to feed off of me and got side-tracked, nothing more.”
Chevalier nodded and calmed his rage, “Go to Montana, and then we’ll talk.”
Chapter 5
“Emily?” Pat said, looking at her strangely. She was shocked to see his age. In her mind, he was still a pimply-faced young teenager, but he stood before her as a middle-aged man, a husband, and father of four.
Emily smiled, “Alexis, actually. You must be Pat.”
“Wow, you look exactly like your Mom.”
“I’ve been told that.”
Pat looked up at Kralen, “Well, I’m glad to meet you, Alexis.”
“This is my husband, Kralen.”
“He’s about as big as your Dad, geesh.”
“Almost,” Emily said, laughing slightly.
Kralen shook Pat’s hand when he offered it, “It’s good to meet you, Pat.”
“Oh, and these are some friends we’re staying with,” Emily said, turning to Silas and Lori. “They are letting us crash at their house while we’re here.”
Pat nodded and shook their hands also, “Do you all pro-wrestle or something?”
Silas chuckled, “Not really, no.”
Emily tensed, and Kralen took her hand to show support, “Pat, have you seen him?”
Pat shook his head and looked toward the closed viewing room door, “No. I’ve been trying to get up the nerve to walk in there, but I haven’t yet.”
“Calm down,” Lori whispered, and put her hand on Emily’s shoulder.
“Is Cade here?” Emily asked, looking at the doors.
Pat nodded, “That sonofabitch came in a few minutes before you did.”
“So he’s in there now?”
“Yes”
She sighed, “Shall we go in then?”
“You sure?” Pat asked, looking at her. “I don’t know how much Emily has told you about Nathaniel’s kids.”
“Enough,” Emily said, watching the door.
Pat glanced at Kralen and then smiled slightly, “They won’t come near you with your husband though. Cade’s not nearly that big.”
Kralen smiled and watched Emily.
“Let’s go then,” she said, and walked up to the door.
“Alexis,” Pat whispered, and stopped her. “I don’t know about this. Does Emily know you’re here?”
“Yes, she does. You and I need to go in there and do what Allen and Alec never could… face Nathaniel,” Emily said. Lori pulled her hand back, suddenly aware that Emily was stronger at that moment than she’d seen her in years.
“You’re right,” Pat said. “We need to stop being afraid of him and show his kids that we’re tougher than that.”
Emily smiled and took Pat’s hand, “Let’s go in.”
Pat nodded and then turned when Silas opened the door. Silas was on guard and tense, waiting for something to happen.
Emily walked in after Pat, and the entire room fell silent. Kralen surveyed the room quickly, seeing only two men in the room with the open-casket coffin.
“Well, well… what do we have here?” one of the older men said, walking forward. “Seems our long-lost cousins decided to grow some balls and face us.”
“We don’t want trouble, Cade,” Pat said. “We just came to pay our respects, and then we’ll be gone.”
Cade ran his eyes down Emily and her skin crawled, “You must be Emi’s daughter… damn you’re gorgeous, just like your Mom used to be.”
Kralen growled softly and tightened his grip on her hand.
“You’re just as rude and annoying as she said, Cade. Now stand back and let us by,” Emily said.
Cade smiled, “You realize that in some states we can still get married legally, right?”
“Except she’s mine,” Kralen said, squaring his shoulders.
“Big fella, aren’t you?” Cade said, seemingly unafraid of Kralen. “The bigger you are, the harder you fall.”
“Stop it, Cade,” Emily yelled. “Now back off.”
Cade smiled and stepped back after winking at Emily. Pat stepped up to the coffin and looked down at his uncle. Emily did the same and had to fight the urge to run at the very sight of him. Lori and Silas moved closer when they heard Emily’s heart rate pick up and her body tense.
“He hasn’t changed,” Pat whispered, looking down at the body.
Emily couldn’t speak. The sight of her uncle made her want to vomit, and she wasn’t sure speaking would help her control that at all.
“You ok?” Kralen whispered to her.
She nodded, but her eyes were focused in on the pale fingers clasped together at the corpse’s waist.
“Dad looks good, don’t he?” Cade said from the back wall. “Too bad he’s not here to see Shortness looking over him. He’d like that.”
“Ignore him,” Pat whispered.
“Want to touch him, Alexis? We could all leave the room and give you some privacy,” Cade said, laughing.
Emily gasped just as Kralen spun and let go of her hand. She quickly took his hand again and began to drag him toward the door, “Let’s just go.”
“You can’t be decent even for a few minutes, can you?” Pat said to Cade.
“Why should I? What’s decency got you?” Cade said.
Pat escorted Emily out of the room, while Silas and Lori followed. Out in the lobby, Emily sat down on a chair and sunk her head into her hands. Pat sat beside her and lightly touched her back.
“He’s an asshole,” Pat said. “You can’t listen to him.”
She nodded and looked over at the door.
Pat smiled, “We saw him, there’s no reason to go to the funeral. Let’s go get something to eat. I haven’t talked to Emi in forever, so you and I can catch up.”
Emily nodded and then followed them all out of the funeral home. Kralen and Silas were both being quiet, and she knew they were seething about what Cade said to her. Within just a few minutes, they were all at a restaurant and being seated at a large table.
“Where’s your family?” Emily asked while they waited for their food.
Pat took a drink and then turned to her, “They’re back on the ranch in New Mexico. It’s pretty hard right now. The cattle market is down, and we couldn’t afford to hire help.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Emily said, frowning.
“It’s part of being a rancher. Dad left us the entire ranch and then took off,” Pat said, his voice still cracked with pain. “I don’t know how he could do it, but he’s completely d
isappeared, like he doesn’t even care.”
“I’m sure he cares.”
“How can he? He left us an ailing ranch along with all of his problems. He abandoned his grand kids, and we’ve lost all contact.”
Emily took his hand, “Tell me what you need. I can talk to Mom.”
“Rain is what we need. We aren’t pulling in enough grain to feed this winter, and after getting an offer on the place, I may have to sell it off.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Yes… no… I don’t know. It’s my home, you know? There’s still a lot of Mom in that place, but it’s hard to keep my head above water.”
Emily nodded and took a drink, not sure what else to say to him.
Pat smiled, “Enough about that. How’s your Mom doing?”
“She’s doing fine.”
“She still quiet about everything?”
“What do you mean?” Emily asked.
“You know… elusive about her husband and what he does. Quiet about her address and what she does.”
“Oh that… yeah, well, that’s Mom.”
Over the next two hours, Pat and Emily caught up on what was going on with Allen and Dain. Pat didn’t know about Megara and as Emily should have been too old to have another baby, she wasn’t brought into the conversation. Kralen, Lori, and Silas sat patiently and pushed their food around on their plates to make it look like they’d been eating.
Just before dark, Pat looked at his watch, “I hate to break this up, but I have a red-eye back to New Mexico.”
Emily nodded, “It was so nice to catch up.”
Pat hugged her, “Hug your Mom for me, ok?”
“I will.” With tears, Emily watched Pat drive away in a rental car, and she turned to the heku, “Let’s go.”
“It’s too late to head back,” Silas said. “Let’s just get a hotel room and leave in the morning.”
Emily nodded and followed them silently out to the car. Kralen arranged for a hotel room, and soon, she was tucked into bed and staring at the ceiling, replaying the day in her mind.
***
“Welcome back,” Chevalier said as he opened the door to the Jeep. Emily pulled close to him in a hug, and he watched the heku get out of the car, “How did it go?”
“We can give a full report,” Silas told him.
“Em?”
She sighed and stepped away from him, “I need to talk to Alec.”
“Take Horace then.”
“Can I please talk to him alone?”
Chevalier studied her and then nodded, “Yes.”
Without another word, Emily crawled into the Jeep and headed out for her house in the city where Alec was staying. Chevalier ordered Cavalry to surround the house but to stay out of sight and out of earshot, so Emily could have her privacy.
“Let’s meet in the council chambers,” Chevalier said. Lori, Silas, and Kralen all headed inside and went into the trial area when Derrick opened the door.
Chevalier was just sitting down when they stopped before the Elders.
“How did it go?” Kyle asked them.
Kralen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess we should just come out and admit it.”
Silas nodded, “Yes, as agreed, we tell them.”
“Tell us what?” Chevalier asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Kralen hesitated, “Well… her cousin, Cade… he sort of… had an accident.”
“Sort of?” Zohn asked.
“Car wreck,” Silas said. “Mostly.”
“Keep talking,” Quinn told them.
Kralen went through their arrival at the funeral home, and when he got to how Cade spoke to Emily at the end of the visit, Chevalier began to get angry.
“So once Emily was asleep, I went to patrol the perimeter of the hotel,” Kralen said. “I ran into Cade.”
Silas nodded, “He called for me, and we decided that we didn’t want to risk Emily ever running into him again.”
Chevalier smiled evilly, “Did you make it hurt?”
“Yes, Elder.”
Lori shifted uncomfortably and looked back at the doors.
Chevalier watched her, “Lori?”
“Yes, Elder?” she asked, looking over at him.
“Do you not feel what he did warranted death?”
She smiled slightly at Silas and then turned to the Council, “I am just amazed at the kind of fierce passion Lady Emily brings out in her guards.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning… we as heku are violent, that’s no secret. When you involve Lady Emily and her guards, it seems to increase that exponentially.”
Silas smiled, “She thought we could have just advised the Council and not killed him.”
“I’m not sure his death will benefit the Lady in the long run.”
“Neither will his life,” Silas told her.
Lori nodded, “It’s just shocking is all.”
Kralen cleared his throat, “I was afraid by killing him the Council might find that I overstepped again.”
Kyle shook his head, “It doesn’t sound like you did.”
“Does Em know?” Chevalier asked.
“No, it was in the morning paper, but we took it before she saw it,” Silas explained.
“Do you know why Emily needed to speak to Alec so badly?”
“No, Elder,” Kralen and Silas said together.
Lori sighed, “I do.”
“What then?” Chevalier asked her.
“Pat is having financial difficulties and is facing abandonment issues by his father. He’s about to lose his ranch and is deeply upset that Alec has disappeared,” Lori said. “I suspect Emily is mad at him for putting Pat through that.”
Silas chuckled, “That’s why we brought Lori.”
Lori glared at him and then faced the Elders, “I think that Emily is going to force Alec to do something to help Pat.”
“Force him?” Chevalier asked.
“Maybe… though he doesn’t have the financial ability to help, and he can’t return to Pat looking younger than when he left,” Lori said. “I’m not sure what all he can do.”
Chevalier nodded, “I’ll take care of Pat’s ranch. Let Alec handle the abandonment issue. That's something a lot of us have to deal with when we turn.”
“Is that all then?” Quinn asked them.
“Yes, Elder,” the heku said, and then started for the door.
Just as Silas and Lori stepped out of the room, the Council heard Lori whisper, “You didn’t have to torture him first.”
Silas sounded amused, “Drop it, ok? He had no right treating Emily like that.”
“Death is enough though…” Her voice trailed off as they left the palace.
The Chief Interrogator chuckled, “Can you imagine being married to a Psychiatrist?”
“Can you imagine being a heku with a conscience?” Zohn countered.
“True”
“The Encala have been waiting for an audience,” the Court Reporter reminded them.
Zohn sighed, “Fine, let them in.”
The Council turned to the doors when Derrick opened them and let in Andrew and some of the Encala Palace Guards.
Andrew stopped in front of Chevalier, “I came to talk to her.”
“About what? She’s pretty mad at you.”
“I want to apologize. The Council has granted me the ability to see her.”
Chevalier smiled, “I wouldn’t tell her that.”
“I know. I realize that sounds pretty bad.”
“She doesn’t understand why you are forced to abide by what your Council said,” Kyle told him. “I don’t know if we should allow you to upset her again by coming back into her life on a temporary basis.”
“It was done to protect her,” Andrew said.
“We know why it was done,” Zohn said. “What we don’t know is how you returning will affect Emily.”
“I didn’t mean to upset her.”
“Upset? You de
vastated her by doing what you promised you wouldn’t, by abandoning her when you joined the Council,” Chevalier said.
“I’m working with the Council now though. I think they are on the verge of letting me resume our friendship.”
“Not good enough,” Zohn said. “She’s having a rough time right now and the last thing she needs is you showing up to remind her of yet another loss.”
Andrew’s jaw tightened, “What happened?”
“I don’t think it’s our place to tell you.”
“I know you have a group turning next week, and that Powan, Thukil, and the Island are staging in Europe. What will you do with Emily?” Andrew asked.
The Chief of Defense growled, “How do you know all of that?”
Andrew ignored him and looked at Chevalier, “She can come stay with us.”
Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “I doubt she wants to.”
“Can I at least offer?”
“No”
“You’re still afraid she’s going to join us.”
“No, I’m not. She has enough on her plate right now without you stirring up that pot.”
Andrew smiled, “When my Council gives me permission to see her again, I’ll be around.”
“Not in this palace you won’t,” Zohn said. “We’re not going to have the Encala’s Interrogator running around the palace.”
“Do I scare you?”
“No”
Andrew chuckled and turned to leave, “I’ll send her a note.”
Chevalier turned to the others when Andrew left, “How in the hell does the Encala have that kind of information?”
“I’m not sure, but I plan on finding out,” the Chief Interrogator said.
“Do it,” Quinn hissed. Once the Interrogator and the Investigator left, Quinn looked at Chevalier, “What are we going to do with Emily?”
“I haven’t even talked to her yet,” Chevalier said. “I was going to ask her what she wanted to do.”
“My guess is either Hall or Okanogan Covens,” Kyle said. “She’s friends with them.”
“I’ll find out tonight.”
“We still need to handle Dain. We haven’t spoken to him since we let him out of prison.”
Chevalier sighed, “Bring him in.”
A few minutes later, Dain came in, obviously furious. He stood before the Council but glared angrily at his Dad.
Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series Page 13