Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series (21 page)

Emily jerked when she heard scratching from
the door behind her. The heku didn’t have locks on the doors, as
they were normally guarded and had a separate lock down system, so
she had to brace herself when the door handle began to turn slowly.
The hisses from the begging horror reached her when the scratching
sounded again.

It was almost worse when the scratching sound
ended, and the door handle stopped moving. All she could hear was
her rapid breathing as she looked around in the dark.

“Is anyone here?” she whispered. She hoped
they could hear her over the pounding of her heart.

Deciding she had no choice but to try to find
help, she attempted to scream but was only able to manage a slight
squeak. Her entire body shook as she took a tentative step away
from the door. She spun hurriedly and watched the doorway as she
backed down the hallway toward the stairs. When the door didn’t
open, she turned and began to walk forward as quickly as she
could.

The slightest sound off to her left sent her
running through the dark. When she got closer to the stairs,
lightning lit up the hallway, and she moved faster. She kept
hearing scratches from behind her, and she was positive the bodies
were now in the palace and seeking her out.

She’d lived in the palace long enough to know
the layout, but it was harder in the dark, and she was silently
waiting to be attacked or to run into a dead body.

Emily fell forward when her toe hit the
bottom stair. She caught herself and reached out for the railing
along the stairs, but her hand landed against the soft warmth of
flesh, and she screamed.

Immediately jerking her hand away, she heard
the rush of movement around her as she scrambled to get away from
what she assumed was a corpse.

“Em! What’s wrong?” Kyle asked, kneeling down
beside her. He reached out and took her arm. She jerked away from
him with another scream.

Emily pushed against his hand. She had to get
further away from the body.

“What’s wrong?” Zohn asked from beside
her.

“Not sure,” Kyle replied. “Em… calm down.
Tell us what’s wrong.”

Her mouth was completely dry as she looked
around her frantically. Her eyes were still not able to pick up
even the slightest hint of heku in the dark.

“What happened?” Zohn asked the Stair
Guard.

“Not sure, Elder,” he said, watching Emily
carefully. “She came running out of the hallway, and when she got
to the stairs, she reached out and touched my leg, and then she
just started to scream.”

Emily heard the guard, and her heart
constricted when she realized what she’d done in front of heku,
“You… I touched you?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

She cringed when she heard Kyle chuckle, “You
ok then?”

“Bodies…,” she managed to whisper.

“It wasn’t a body. You just touched one of
the guards.”

“Outside”

Kyle stood slowly, “You saw bodies
outside?”

She nodded, and then jumped when a sudden
light shone, and Derrick appeared on the stairs with an old lantern
that lit up the area around them.

“Half… bodies…” Emily whispered shakily,
looking back the way she’d come.

Derrick handed the lantern to Kyle and then
blurred away, followed by two of the guards. Emily sat down against
the stairs and fought to calm her breathing.

Once calm enough to speak normally, she
walked up to the Stair Guard and glared at him, “Why didn’t you
answer when I called out for someone?”

The Stair Guard kept looking forward.

Kyle smiled, “He’s not authorized to talk to
you.”

Emily started to get mad, “So… so when I
called out to see if anyone was around, there were heku
there?!”

“Probably, but those heku aren’t permitted to
speak to you.”

“That’s stupid! I thought…” She stopped
talking when Kyle, Quinn, and Zohn turned to her. She finally
started up the stairs, “Never mind.”

Kyle, still laughing, followed her up, “So
what happened?”

“Nothing”

“Why the scream then?”

She turned to him and crossed her arms, “It’s
stupid that heku can’t talk to me! I couldn’t see…, and no one was
talking…”

“So you were afraid of being alone in the
palace in the dark?”

“No!”

“You were just afraid because you saw
bodies?”

Even the memory of the two bodies made her
shiver.

When it was obvious that Kyle was about to
start laughing, Emily took the lantern from him and started up the
stairs again, followed by Kyle.

She put the lantern down when she got into
her room. Both fires were roaring, and she could see fairly well
with their light. Kyle shut the door behind them and watched her,
still highly amused.

A sudden thought made Emily start to panic,
“Wait! If we have no electricity…, then the prison…”

“Is on emergency backup.”

“For how long?”

He smiled, “No one’s getting out of that
prison.”

She sat down by the fire, still embarrassed
about the brief panic attack in front of everyone, “Where’s
Chev?”

“He and the Chief Investigator went into town
for a few hours.”

“Why?”

He debated lying but finally decided that she
deserved the truth, “There was another attack.”

“In a strip club?”

“Not this time. This time it was just in a
regular bar.”

She frowned, “Is the mortal ok?”

“She’s fine, just shaken up.”

“Tell me.”

Kyle sat down beside her, “The mortal was at
a bar with some friends. The next thing she knew, she woke up in a
hotel with bites across her neck.”

Emily sighed, “I think it’s about time I get
involved.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“Bait…”

“Too many heku know you. They aren’t going to
attack you.”

“I can use a disguise.”

He shook his head, “It’s too dangerous.”

Emily final began to calm down, “I’m ok,
really. You don’t have to stay here.”

Kyle grinned, “If you’re afraid of the dark,
I can stay.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark.”

“Ok”

She turned to him, “I think it’s about time
that the palace staff gets the ok to talk to me though.”

“No”

“Why not? I’m obviously going to be here for
a while. It’s stupid to make me irreproachable.”

“It’s done for your safety.”

“No, it’s done to keep me from befriending
the staff,” she mumbled.

Kyle chuckled, “That too.”

“You have them all so afraid of me that I
can’t even get an answer when I call out for someone.”

“Why didn’t you just call for someone on the
Council?”

She sighed and decided to fess up, “I tried
to.”

“You tried to call for us?”

“I tried to scream.”

“You couldn’t because you were afraid of the
dark?”

“I wasn’t afraid of the dark!”

“Yes you were… do you think the palace is
haunted?”

“Go away.”

Kyle turned toward the door with his head
cocked slightly to the side. Emily rolled her eyes and put her
hands closer to the fire. She was hoping warmth would stop her body
from shaking.

When Kyle looked back at her, his eyes were
fierce, “Did they touch you?”

She looked up, shocked, “You found the
bodies?”

“Answer me.”

“No, they didn’t. What are they?”

“Banished that revived tonight,” Kyle said
angrily. “They were coming to the palace to seek help when they ran
into you. Your blood caught their attention.”

“But one was only half,” Emily whispered. Her
throat was closing off again at the thought of them. She remembered
now that the stories of zombies came from recently un-banished
heku.

“That sometimes happens if a heku is banished
hastily.”

“Only half comes back?”

“Somehow, he only partially reformed. He’ll
be ok. Dr. Edwards is helping them.”

“You’re helping them?!” Emily felt the panic
returning.

“They are Equites, Em. The Encala banished
them 340 years ago, and it’s only natural that they return to us
for help,” Kyle explained.

“They wanted to kill me.”

“They are starving and couldn’t help it.”

Emily buried her face in her arms.

She jumped when Kyle touched her shoulder, “I
know they looked like…”

“Undead zombies?”

“Yes, those. They are good heku though, good
Equites. Once fed and recovered, they’ll feel really bad about what
they did to you.”

She shivered again at the thought. The sight
of the bodies dragging toward her through the mud made her want to
run.

He rubbed her back lightly, “Are you going to
be ok? Your heart is still racing.”

She nodded and then looked up at the
fire.

Deciding his best bet was to get her mind off
of the un-banished heku, Kyle smiled, “What was the Ancient’s room
for?”

“Oh my God! Are you all still harping on
that?” she asked, watching the fire.

“Sort of. We were talking about a secondary
location for banished, and it came up again.”

“Well drop it.”

“I don’t want to drop it. We all still want
to know.”

“I don’t really care. I’m not saying.”

“Was it truly that bad?”

“Yes”

He thought for a moment, “You realize after
all this time, it’s probably worse in our imagination than the
truth.”

“Don’t care.”

“You’re the most stubborn immortal I’ve ever
met.”

She frowned slightly, “When did I become an
immortal?”

“When you stopped aging and can’t die.”

“I’m still not immortal.”

“Aren’t you?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t feel immortal,” she said, and
brought her knees up to her chest.

“Just because you aren’t full heku, doesn’t
mean you’re not immortal.”

“Humans are mortals.”

“Apparently, not all of them.”

She shrugged, “I still think I’m mortal.”

He smiled, “You’re not.”

“Are you just here to irritate me?”

“Nope, I’m here to keep you from being afraid
of the dark.”

She sighed. This is just what she didn’t
need, another reason for the heku to think of her as a child.

Kyle glanced toward the door, “I have to go
though. Chevalier is back.”

“I’ll go with you,” she said, standing up
with him. The lights had just come on, but she didn’t want to be
alone.

He chuckled and opened the door.

“What?” she asked, walking out.

“You’re afraid of the dark.”

“I am not. Now stop it.”

Kyle opened the council chamber door for her,
and they both walked in. Chevalier was laughing about something,
and Emily was pretty sure she knew what. He kissed her softly and
then she sat down beside him in the chair.

“We’re ready for the report,” Quinn said when
everyone was settled.

The Chief Investigator turned to the Elders,
“It’s the same thing. The bite patterns are the same, the bite
width and depth. It seems as though the heku has moved from the
strip clubs and has branched out to local bars.”

“Which is all the more dangerous,” Zohn said,
irritated.

“This girl had twelve bites across her body
but remembers nothing.”

“Twelve?”

“Yes, Elder. Which means the bites aren’t
feeding only.”

“Why else bite?” Emily asked, frowning.

Chevalier shrugged, “Other than as an
assault, we're not sure.”

“You’re positive that the same heku did all
twelve bites?” Zohn asked.

The Chief Investigator nodded, “Yes,
everything points to a single heku attack.”

“Any sexual assault?”

“No”

“Was there a faction distinction?”

“It’s an Equites,” Chevalier said. “No doubt
about that.”

“We risk exposing the heku if these don’t
stop,” Kyle said.

“We’ve come up with a suitable punishment,”
the Chief of Defense started, but Emily cut him off.

“Wait! I don’t want to hear this.” Emily got
up and quickly ran out of the council chambers.

***

Alexis nodded, “I understand.”

“We have to assume that you won’t see him
after this amount of time,” Zohn told her.

“I know. It's just scary for them, and I’m
irritated that after three months, I haven’t seen him.”

“We also feel it is safer for you and your
Mom to stay within the Council City walls until he’s caught.”

“I will do as you ask, but I need to go get
some things from the club and say goodbye,” Alexis said. It was
obvious that she was upset about being pulled off of the
mission.

“No…,” Zohn started.

“Yes, you may go,” Chevalier said. “Please,
be extra careful.”

“I will. I need to do some things though,”
she said, almost in tears. Before she broke out crying, she turned
and disappeared from the council chambers.

“Why is she upset?” the Chief of Finance
asked.

Chevalier looked over at him, “She has formed
friendships and felt as though her presence at the club was
protecting the dancers.”

“That and she has the emotions of a mortal,”
Quinn added.

“Mostly,” Chevalier agreed.

Alexis wanted to say goodbye quickly and get
back into the city as the Council asked, so she left immediately.
As she drove, she thought over how to tell the other girls why she
was leaving. What she couldn’t do was tell them how dangerous the
mortal city was, and she wanted badly to tell them to get out and
never come back, but that was overstepping.

She pulled her silver Camry up in front of
the closed club and then used her key to get inside.

“Alexis! You’re early,” the owner of the club
said with a smile.

She walked over, forcing a smile, and sat
down at the table beside him, “I have to quit, Carl.”

He frowned, “Why? You’re my best dancer.”

“The guy I told you about, Garrett… we’re
getting married and moving to California,” she said, feeling guilty
about lying.