Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (20 page)

“Where’d the baby come from?” Chevalier asked
when he walked into the kitchen. He figured Emily would be in there
eating lunch.

Kyle followed him in and looked down at the
baby, “Cute, where’d he come from?”

Alexis couldn’t help but smile, “From what I
can gather… he’s Dain’s.”

“Dain’s baby?” Chevalier gasped.

“Yes, and Mom has him locked in her office.
They’ve been in there screaming at each other for almost an
hour.”

“Damnit,” Chevalier hissed, and then glanced
again at the baby before disappearing up the stairs.

Kyle studied the baby, “He does look like
Dain.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Alexis said, and kissed his
forehead lightly. “Why are you back? I thought you were headed to
the Encala or something.”

“Engine trouble with the helicopter. We were
going to drive it, but I’m thinking that may be on hold now.”

Zohn turned when he heard Chevalier
approaching, “Oh good… Dain’s losing his temper, and Emily won’t
let us in.”

“Emily, let me in,” Chevalier said, knocking
on the door.

“Do not crouch at me!” Emily screamed.

“Em…”

Emily opened the door furiously and moved
back to let Chevalier enter. He walked in and shut the door, then
turned to Dain, who was crouched and ready to attack from the
corner.

Chevalier hissed softly and Dain straightened
up, still glaring at Emily.

“Is that baby yours?” Chevalier asked
him.

“Maybe,” Dain growled, and his hands balled
into fists.

“How did it end up here then?”

“Trina wanted my address, so I gave her the
farmhouse.”

“You did what?!” Chevalier yelled. “How dare
you give that away as your address! It’s for Council City
business…”

“I didn’t know about the baby!”

“It doesn’t matter. This is just one more
prime example of how you aren’t mature enough to join our
staff.”

Dain growled and lunged at Chevalier, who
instantly moved aside and pinned the young heku to the wall.

“Do not attack me,” Chevalier said to him
evenly. Emily was surprised how calm Chevalier was in light of what
Dain had done.

“I want him locked up!” Emily said, getting
angrier.

“Sit down!” Chevalier said, shoving Dain into
a chair.

“I won’t stay confined in this palace just
because Mom said so,” Dain told him. “I didn’t mean to get her
pregnant. It was an accident.”

“I didn’t raise you to be so careless,” Emily
told him. “What gives you the right to go around screwing some
mortal??”

“It was just a one-night stand, nothing…”

Chevalier backed away when Emily moved to
Dain and slapped him, “No son of mine is going to get away with
one-nighters… if you want a girlfriend, then fine, but she damned
well better be a serious one.”

“I can do what I want. I’m an adult.”

“No… you’re a 13-year-old in an adult body…
apparently you have the common sense of an infant!”

“Ok, calm down,” Chevalier said, taking her
arm. “We need to decide what to do with it.”

“It?” Emily asked, looking at him.

“Yes, the infant.”

“I know which ‘it’ you’re talking about.
We’re not doing anything with him. Alexis wants a baby… so we let
her have him.”

“We can’t have a mortal infant in Council
City,” Chevalier reminded her.

“It’s my grand baby, and I’m not sending it
out to some orphanage. He needs to be around family.”

“We don’t even know if he’s Dain’s…”

Emily glared at Chevalier, “Of course he is!
Have you seen him? He’s huge, has black hair, and black eyes…”

“Dain’s children will be fully mortal.”

“So you think! We also thought Allen was
fully mortal until he was almost 5-years-old.”

Dain sighed, “Well, I don’t want a kid. I
vote to put him up for adoption.”

Emily tried to get to Dain, but Chevalier
held her back, “Calm down… you have a valid point. If this baby
turns out to be part heku, then we might not know for a few
years.”

Dain watched Emily closely, ready to dodge if
she attacked, “I’m not going to spend my time rocking some mortal
kid!”

Emily growled slightly, “He is your
responsibility!”

“Not my fault!”

“Yes it is! You’re just lucky that we’d
probably have to fight him away from Alexis. You will be this kid’s
father if it kills me.”

“No”

“Yes,” Chevalier said, backing Emily. “We’ll
see if Alexis wants to raise him, but you will be in his life. No
son of mine is going to shirk his responsibilities.”

“Oh, so now I’m responsible enough to raise a
kid… but can’t join the guard staff?!” Dain yelled, standing
up.

“No, you’re not responsible enough to raise a
kid,” Emily told him. “So we’ll have Alexis do it. However, you
will be there when he scrapes his knee, and you will be there when
bullies pick on him, and when he needs a father.”

“What about Garrett?”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Garrett will
obviously be there too. I just don’t want you getting off scot-free
on this.”

Dain sighed, “I don’t want a kid.”

“Then you should have kept it in your pants!”
Emily yelled.

Chevalier smiled slightly, “She’s right.”

Emily turned and called out for Alexis. It
was a few minutes before she knocked on the door to Emily’s office,
and then stepped in when Chevalier opened the door for her. Alexis
was still cradling the infant in her arms, but he was fast asleep,
happily sucking on a pacifier.

Alexis smiled down at him, “Isn’t he
wonderful?”

“Do you want him?” Emily asked as she walked
over to take a better look at her first grand baby.

“Really?” Alexis asked, shocked.

Chevalier nodded, “Dain can’t take care of a
baby, and for now, we don’t know if he’s fully mortal.”

Alexis kissed the baby’s forehead, “I’d love
it!”

Dain avoided looking at the infant but stared
silently out the window.

Emily smiled, “He looks just like Dain.”

“How old do you suppose he is?” Alexis
asked.

“I don’t really know. My babies were all so
big. I bet Dr. Edwards would know.”

“We should probably have him looked over by
the doctor anyway,” Chevalier suggested. “We don’t know if he’s
well.”

Alexis looked at Dain, “What’s his name?”

Dain shrugged but didn’t say anything.”

Emily held up the note, “His Mom said his
name is Asher.”

Chevalier couldn’t help but chuckle at his
name.

“Ok then, I’ll get him a birth certificate
that lists Alexis and Garrett as the parents,” Chevalier said.

Emily smiled at him, “You’re not going to
consult the Council?”

“They will agree with what I’ve decided.”

“Just funny that you didn’t ask them.”

“What about me then?” Dain asked, crossing
his arms.

“I agree with Emily. We’ll imprison you until
we can decide how to rein you in,” Chevalier said.

Dain’s eyes narrowed and he crouched, “Try
it.”

“Damnit, Dain,” Emily sighed. Chevalier had
Dain by the neck and out of her office before her mind could fully
register what had happened. She walked back over to look at the
Alexis with the baby, “You’re going to be a great mother.”

“I still have to break the news to Garrett,”
Alexis said nervously.

“Oh, right. Do you want me to go with
you?”

“No. I’ll take the baby… he can’t kill me
with the baby in my arms.”

Emily smiled and watched Alexis walk down the
stairs.

“I’m guessing Garrett is going to need
someone to talk to,” Mark said and looked over at Kralen.

Kralen frowned, “Why me?”

“You’re his Captain.”

“You’re his General.”

“Kralen…”

“Fine!” Kralen grumbled, and then walked down
the stairs, obviously not happy with his new task.

Emily smiled at Mark, “I’m a grandma.”

Mark chuckled, “Yeah, of a baby named
Asher.”

“I hate to change it.”

“Don’t then. It’s interesting.”

Chapter 7

“Nothing,” Alexis said as she stood before
the Council. “I’ve been dancing every night for the past seven
weeks and the only heku I saw was cleared.”

Chevalier sighed, “We can’t keep this up.
Maybe the attacks are over.”

“Maybe,” Kyle said, looking at Alexis. “Are
you sure no heku could have gotten by you?”

“I still have to dance, but I think I see
everyone in the bar.”

“Do you wish to quit?”

“No, I want this heku caught and off the
streets. These women are amazing, strong women, and they’re all
terrified of being attacked.”

Zohn nodded, “Very well. We’ll talk to you
tomorrow.”

Quinn smiled, “How is Asher?”

Alexis lit up, “Oh, he’s great! He’s growing
fast, and Dr. Edwards says he’s well above-average size.”

“No word from his mother?”

“Not a one. Dain doesn’t think she’ll
return.”

“We’ll let you get back to him then.”

Alexis bowed slightly and then left the
chambers. She met up with Emily in the stables. Emily watched the
baby while Alexis was out on a mission. She wasn’t told what the
mission was, and was frustrated by this but watched the baby
anyway.

Emily looked up from a game of peek-a-boo
when Alexis came in, “All done?”

“Yup,” Alexis said, and picked up Asher. She
kissed him on the cheek and then put him against her shoulder, “Any
issues?”

“Yes… what’s your mission?”

“I can’t tell you, you know that.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“No, Dad wouldn’t let me do anything
dangerous.”

Emily sighed, “I just don’t like it.”

“I'd better get Asher to bed. We’re trying to
keep him on a normal mortal schedule.”

She nodded and watched Alexis leave. Emily
looked around the stables and wondered how she could find out what
Alexis was doing at night. Deciding that no one was going to tell
her, she stood up and stretched, then gasped when the lights went
out.

The stables suddenly fell silent, and she
waited to see if her eyes would adjust. A thunderstorm raged
outside, and with only darkened windows in the stables, she wasn’t
able to see anything.

Putting her hands out in front of her, so she
didn’t walk into a wall, Emily slowly began to make her way to the
door. She wasn’t guarded tonight because the Cavalry was on a
mission, but she’d promised to stay away from the city, and the
Council had agreed to let her spend the night without a guard.

When she found the wall, she felt over to the
light switch and tried it, though she already figured it wasn’t
going to turn on. She opened the door, but the area was quiet and
all she could hear was her own breathing. Dark clouds obscured the
moon, and it was darker than usual, even outside. Glancing toward
the city, Emily saw that the city was without power also.

Emily debated calling out for Chevalier but
was worried that he’d realize she was starting to panic, and she
didn’t want him to know that she was sometimes afraid of the
dark.

She jumped when thunder cracked from above,
and the bright flash of lightning lit the outside of the palace, so
she was able to see enough to walk toward the front door. She’d
noticed on the way out that the front Door Guards were missing. It
was unusual for them to be missing, but she was sure that the
palace was still well guarded.

A shuffling noise off to her left almost
stopped her heart. She turned toward the noise quickly but couldn’t
see anything moving. She wasn’t even halfway to the palace yet, and
suddenly, it seemed very far away.

“Is anyone out here?” she whispered softly,
hoping someone would answer her. She frowned when no one responded,
and she strained to hear any sign of life, but her ears didn’t pick
up a noise.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she started
toward the palace again. The next bolt of lightning lit up the
area, and she froze as something appeared between her and the
palace. It was a body, dragging itself along the lawn by grasping
handfuls of grass. Its decayed skin looked gray in the darkness,
and she could hear it hiss softly.

Emily took a step back when the hollow eyes
looked toward her. Another sound came from behind her, and she
stepped back away from the grotesque scene. Another body was
inching along the ground, but this one only had half of his
body.

As he pulled himself toward the stables, the
bottom half of his torso dragged in shatters behind him.

Emily couldn’t even make herself scream. The
terror filled every inch of her body as she turned again to see the
full body coming toward her. His tight skin was pulled back against
his face, causing a sickening grin that became even more visible
with another flash of lightning.

She took an uneven step backwards when he
hissed again and seemed to renew his effort to get to her. Emily
spun quickly and saw the half-body was now heading toward her
also.

During flashes of lighting was the only time
she could see them clearly, and when darkness fell again, she was
cut off from her view, but the sound of shuffling let her know they
were still moving. They seemed to be moving faster toward her as a
heavy rain started, almost instantly drenching her.

As the half-body got closer, she could hear
his hiss turn slightly into a plea to feed. The whispered begging
was high-pitched and made her skin crawl.

Suddenly, her fear peaked and she took off
running for the back doors of the palace. As she ran, her
imagination made up the sound of footfalls behind her, but she was
too afraid to look. She envisioned the full-bodied being now
running after her.

The back door had no guards either, so she
threw open the door and then forced it shut. She leaned against it,
breathing hard. She swallowed and strained to see in the dark
palace. There wasn’t any noise, and the lightning that flashed
outside didn’t light up the windowless hallway she was in.