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

She nodded and looked out the window when
thunder cracked.

“He’s dead, Emi.”

“He spoke, and he looked at me like he was
really mad.”

“He can’t.”

“It’s his ghost. He’s haunting this
house.”

Alec tried not to smile, “I’m sure it was a
dream.”

She shook her head and looked around the room
again, “I was awake. He called me and then he walked around the
room.”

Alec thought for a moment and then turned to
her, “Want me to sit in here with you while you sleep?”

Realizing how immature all of this sounded,
she finally shook her head, “No, I guess not. I’m sure you’re
right, and I was just dreaming.”

He smiled and then turned off the lights,
“Call if you need me.”

Emily laid down, wide awake, and stared at
the ceiling until just before dawn when she fell asleep again. Only
once did anything scare her after the initial encounter, and that
was because the lightning made odd patterns on her wall from the
nearby trees.

She was just making coffee when Alec came
into the kitchen, “Did you get back to sleep?”

She nodded and sat down with a cup, “Yes,
finally. I’m still tired though.”

Alec turned to the door, “Chevalier is
here.”

“You don’t like him, do you?”

“Not really. Course, I didn’t like Keith
either.”

“He’s nothing like Keith.”

“He’s hit you too though.”

“A long time ago. We had some growing pains,
but we’ve settled down now.”

“I hope so.”

Emily looked up when Chevalier walked into
the kitchen, “Morning, Chev.”

“Good morning,” he said, and kissed her
forehead lightly before sitting down. “Did you talk to Megs?”

“Not yet. She helped me make dinner and then
forced it down.”

He cringed, “So she actually ate?”

“Yes”

Alec chuckled, “If that’s what you want to
call it. She almost vomited after each bite.”

Emily had a sudden thought, “Silas said you
all were considering scaring Megara to see if she could ash
you?”

Chevalier nodded, “It was brought up.”

“Did you do it last night?”

“No, why?”

“Nothing at all? Maybe someone misunderstood
and tried it?”

He studied her for a second, “No. No one
would do that without telling you. What happened?”

She smiled sheepishly, “I don’t want to tell
you.”

“Why?”

“It’s stupid.”

“What happened?”

Emily tapped her fingers lightly on the hot
coffee cup, “You can’t laugh.”

“Try me,” Chevalier said, tensing
involuntarily.

She glanced up at Alec and when he smiled,
she looked down at her cup, “I saw a ghost.”

Chevalier relaxed and sat back in the chair,
“Last night?”

“Yes”

“Just a ghost?”

“It was… well I know whose ghost it was.”

“Do I get to know?”

Emily bit her bottom lip and then sighed, “It
was Exavior.”

It was obvious that Chevalier thought that
was funny, “So Exavior’s ghost is haunting the house.”

“You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing,” he said, though a small
smile finally broke out on his lips. “Alec, did you see it?”

“No,” Alec said, and then sat down. “I’ve
been living in this house long enough I’d know if it was
haunted.”

“I’m not making it up,” Emily told them.

“You’re sure it was Exavior?” Chevalier
asked.

She nodded, “Yes, I saw him and heard
him.”

“I’ll check out our room and see what I can
find.”

“You don’t see ghosts during the day.”

Chevalier smiled, “I never see ghosts… they
don’t exist.”

“I wasn’t hallucinating.”

“Maybe you were dreaming.”

Emily stood up angrily, “I wasn’t dreaming,
and if you aren’t going to take this seriously then you can both
get out.”

“Em, don’t get mad. We just don’t think it’s
a ghost and most certainly not Exavior’s.”

She pointed to the door, “Get out.”

Chevalier refrained from chuckling as he
stood up, “I’ll at least talk to Megs first.”

“Fine, but stay out of the bedroom.”

He looked at Alec and grinned as he walked
through the kitchen door and out into the hallway.

Alec shook his head, “Emi, you may want to
keep that haunting to yourself.”

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to do that
anymore.”

“You aren’t with important, dangerous things.
The heku aren’t going to take a haunting seriously.”

“Do you?”

He sighed, “I think you might have seen
something, but I don’t think it was a ghost.”

“What do you think it was?”

“The storm was pretty bad, whipping the trees
around. I’m thinking it was a shadow.”

“I guess.”

Alec smiled, “You had the worst ghost fears
when you were little.”

“I don’t remember that.”

“Allen would sleep on the floor in your room
when they got bad. You swore up and down your room was
haunted.”

“It was probably the bloody heku.”

“It was your imagination.”

Emily frowned slightly and whispered, “I miss
him.”

“I know. I do too.”

“I wish that he knew how things turned
out.”

“He always knew you would be ok. You were
strong-willed and independent. He never worried that you wouldn’t
be ok.”

“Did he know I wasn’t his?”

Alec shook his head, “No.”

“Did he ever meet Exavior?”

“Yes, once. I misjudged the time, and he came
in while Exavior was on the floor coloring with you.”

“Was he mad?”

“Not at all. I told him Exavior was a
business associate. He had no reason to think otherwise.” Alec
smiled and touched her hand lightly, “He’d be proud of you, Emi. He
would be beaming with how well you’ve turned out and the life you
have.”

They both turned when Chevalier came back
into the kitchen. He spun a chair and sat in it backwards, “That
didn’t work.”

“What happened?” Emily asked.

“She’s convinced she’s going to be mortal. I
say, give her a few weeks before her thirst kicks in, and she’ll
return to the palace.”

“Weeks? I don’t want to stay in a haunted
house for weeks.”

He couldn’t help but smile, “It’s not
haunted.”

Emily stood up and walked out of the room
without another word.

Alec looked over at him, “It might be best if
you just pretend to believe that the house is haunted.”

“It’s not. I don’t want to give in to
misconceptions that there are ghosts. I most certainly don’t want
to let her believe that Exavior has returned to haunt her.”

“Just known her all her life is all,” Alec
said, and then walked out of the kitchen also. Chevalier listened
while Alec explained to Emily that he would be gone for a few days
to go look in on Pat and his family.

Chevalier waited until Alec was gone before
heading out to talk to Emily. He lightly knocked on her office
door, “Em?”

She came out and shut the door behind her,
“What?”

He smiled, “Don’t be mad at me over this
ghost, ok?”

She just watched him.

“I’ll have Silas in the house at night while
Alec is gone.”

“No, send in Kralen.”

“Why Kralen?”

Emily shrugged, “If anyone’s going to help me
figure out how to get rid of a ghost, it’s Kralen.”

Chevalier stifled a grin, “I’ll talk to
Kralen then.”

She nodded and went back into her office.

Chevalier walked down the stairs and then
went outside to meet up with the heku that were scattered
throughout the property.

“Elder,” Silas said, bowing slightly. Kralen
and 12 other members of the Cavalry appeared beside him.

“
Alec is gone for a couple
of days, so I want Kralen in the house at night,” Chevalier told
them.

“Yes, Elder,” Kralen said.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “It’s actually
Emily that requested you…”

“Ok”

“She’s having… ghost issues… and thinks
you’re the only one that will help her with that.”

“Oh geez,” Kralen sighed. “How did I get that
distinction?”

“I don’t know, but don’t play into it.
There’s no reason for her to be afraid of her own house.”

“Ghosts though? How can she think I’m going
to help her?”

“Because she knows you,” Silas said, smiling.
“The rest of us will just tell her to ignore it. You’re going to
try to find the cause.”

“I won’t!”

“You will.”

Kralen’s eyes narrowed, “Whatever. Yes,
Elder, I’ll wait in the house tonight.”

Chevalier chuckled and got into his Humvee
and drove off.

***

“
Emily, wake up.” Emily sat
up suddenly and looked into the corner where a dark figure stood,
“Why did you have to do it? I cared about you.”

She swallowed hard and was finally able to
scream, “Kralen!”

In the split second it took Kralen to blur
into the room, the ghost Exavior lunged at her, and she was
scrambling to get out of bed when Kralen arrived.

Kralen appeared in front of her and took her
arms, “What’s wrong?”

Emily pointed to the corner of the room, “It
was Exavior’s ghost again! He was here and he… he jumped at
me.”

Kralen turned and looked into the empty
corner, “In that corner?”

She peered around him, “Yes.”

“He jumped at you?”

“Yes”

“Hmmm,” Kralen said before walking over and
looking into the closet.

Emily was shaking and had her arms wrapped
around herself when he turned back to her. He smiled and then
returned to her and pulled her into a hug, “It’s ok. I don’t see
anyone there now.”

“Of course not! He’s not going to appear with
you around.”

He was able to keep from chuckling, “What do
you want? I can stay in here while you sleep if you’d like.”

She looked up at him, “You’re not going to
lecture me about how there’s no such thing as ghosts?”

“Nope”

“So you do believe in them?”

“No,” he said, stepping back. “However, I’m
not going to change your mind, so there’s no reason to bring it
up.”

“There are ghosts! My ranch house was
haunted, and now this one is. Exavior’s out to get me.”

“Even if he is a ghost, what’s the most he
can do?”

“Kill me.”

“I’ve never heard of a ghost that can kill
someone.”

“He can scare me to death.”

Kralen sighed and looked around her room, “I
can stay in here with you. That’s all I can think to do.”

She shook her head and sat down on the bed,
“Don’t bother.”

“Please don’t be mad at me for this!”

“I’m not. I just don’t understand how you all
don’t believe in ghosts.”

“We don’t believe in them because we’ve been
around long enough to have noticed them if they were real.”

Emily’s eyes narrowed and she hobbled out of
the bedroom, still in her nightgown. Kralen followed behind her,
not quite sure what she was up to.

“Hey!” Kralen gasped when she walked outside
into the dark night.

“Who’s out here?” Emily asked, not even
worried that she was still in her nightgown.

Silas appeared first, frowning, “What’s
wrong?”

“Nothing, I want to know which heku are out
here,” she explained.

“Well will you at least get dressed?”

“No,” she said, and then looked at the heku
in front of her. She saw one she didn’t know well and motioned to
him with the bend of a finger, “You’re with me.”

“Ma’am?” he asked, looking over at Silas.

“Are you replacing me?” Kralen asked,
crossing his arms.

“Yes, with that heku,” she said, and then
stood aside so the strange heku she picked could come inside.

“You’re more comfortable with him than with
me?” Kralen asked, frowning.

“He doesn’t rank high enough to be alone with
you,” Silas told her.

Emily rolled her eyes, “He’s not going to be
alone with me. He’s going to sit in the corner of my bedroom while
I sleep.”

“How is that not being alone with you?!”

“I’m on the bloody Council, and I say get
into my room now!” she yelled.

The heku looked nervously at Silas and took a
step forward, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“No, wait,” Kralen said. “He can be in there,
but so will I.”

“No”

“Yes! He can’t be alone with you. You don’t
even know his name.”

Emily sighed, “Fine… both of you inside. But
no talking about me or my ghost.”

“Ghost?” Silas asked, grinning.

She glared at him and then walked into the
house, followed by Kralen and the newer heku guard.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” Megara asked from the
top of the stairs.

“It’s ok. Go back to sleep,” Emily said,
ascending up to her room.

“I wasn’t asleep.”

“Mortals sleep.”

Megara just rolled her eyes and went back
into her room.

Emily curled up in bed after checking to make
sure that Kralen and the other heku weren’t whispering about her.
With the addition of the two, she was soon asleep.

Early the next morning, Emily woke up and
then looked at the two in the corner.

“Good morning,” Kralen said, standing up.

“Morning,” she said, stifling a yawn. Emily
slipped on a robe and then shuffled the heku out of her room, so
she could change. By the time she changed and limped down the
stairs, Kralen had coffee on and was whipping up a quiche.

“You’re making breakfast?” Emily asked,
sitting down at the table.

“Sure”

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I’m French. We can all cook,” he said,
smiling. Emily watched as he expertly prepared the quiche and then
handed it over to her while she sipped on her coffee.

Emily took a tentative bite while Kralen
shook his head, “I didn’t poison it.”

“Wow, it’s actually really good,” she said,
and then dug into her breakfast.