Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series (50 page)

A murmur ran through the guard
staff.

***

“Do you want to play a
game?” Emily asked, and sat down beside Dain on the bed. When he
didn’t answer, she just shook her head, “You’re right, get some
rest.”

“Mom?” Allen called through the
door.

Emily smiled, “Your brother’s
here.”

“Mom, can I come in?”

“I bet he thinks you’re
dead, too,” she said, and looked towards the door.

“Mom?”

“No, you may not come in,” she said,
just barely loud enough for the heku in the hallway to
hear.

“I just want to talk.”

“No”

Emily stood up and went to
look out the window, “I don’t know how they can think you’re dead.
You’ve done this how many times and haven’t died?”

She saw the gathered
troops on the lawn and briefly wondered what they were doing,
before turning back around to Dain, “I can see you’ve grown. When
they first told me that you were dead, your feet weren’t that near
to the end of the bed.”

“Mom, let me at least see
him before Dad gets here,” Allen told her. “I want to see for
myself.”

“No,” Emily said, and sat
down beside Dain again. She pulled another blanket over him when
she felt how cold he was.

“I don’t believe he’s dead
either,” Allen said through the door. “I just want to see if I can
help you prove it.”

She smiled, “Encala’s
Chief Interrogator, Allen…”

Allen sighed and looked over at
Dustin, “I tried.”

Dustin leaned back against the wall,
“Have we at all considered that he’s not dead? She said he’s
grown.”

“I was in there,” the
guard General said. “The smell of death was
unmistakable.”

“I’m going in,” Allen told
them. “I don’t think she’ll burn me.”

“Your ash,” Dustin said,
and watched Allen open the door. He gasped and jerked back, falling
against the floor as the door shut behind him. He stayed on the
floor as he caught his breath.

“I could be wrong though,”
Allen whispered, and then stood up slowly.

The sound of Equites 1
landing shook the building and the General called for troops to
meet it on the roof.

“Is that Dad?” Allen asked as the
troops filed out onto the roof.

“No, that’s Elder Zohn,”
Dustin explained. “Your Dad didn’t take a helicopter.”

“What’s so important that I was called
back here?” Zohn asked as he approached Dustin.

Allen looked down at the ground, “Dain
had another attack and didn’t make it.”

Zohn gasped, “He’s dead?”

“Yes,” Dustin said
respectfully. “Emily won’t let anyone in there. She says he’s alive
still.”

“Where is Chevalier?” Zohn
asked, and looked toward the door.

“He should be here any
minute. He doesn’t know either.”

Zohn knocked on the door,
“Emily?”

“I wouldn’t go in there if I were
you,” the General told him.

“Why not?” Zohn asked,
just as a burning began deep within his chest. He gasped and
stepped away from the door.

“That’s why.”

“How long has it been?”

“Twelve hours,” Dustin told
him.

“Stay here,” Zohn ordered,
and went down to help Quinn with city preparations.

Emily smiled, “Like they
thought I’d let Zohn in. Wonder whose bright idea that
was.”

She watched Dain and again
took his hand. She couldn’t understand why they insisted that he
was dead. She saw that he’d grown. His skin was still pale but held
a hint of color. Though she’d rarely seen a newly dead person, she
thought it looked like he was merely sleeping.

“I wonder how tall you are
now…” she said, and stood up to look down at him. “If I had to
guess, you’re close to your Dad’s height now. Ever noticed how he’s
bigger than most heku? I bet you will be, too.”

She turned to the window
and sat down to watch the happenings on the lawn, “Something’s
going on down there. Seems Quinn and Zohn have all of the guards
out.”

“Emily, can I please come
talk for a moment?” Dr. Edwards asked from the hallway.

“Oh, your Dad’s home,”
Emily told Dain when she saw the long line of black Suburbans
returning.

***

“What’s going on?”
Chevalier asked as he approached Quinn and Zohn. They were still
out on the lawn with the guard staff.

“Mark?” Quinn shouted.

“Yes, Elder?” Mark asked
when he walked up to them.

“Get them ready to
reinforce the city streets.”

“Right away.”

“Come, Chevalier,” Zohn
said, and headed for the palace.

Chevalier glanced again at
the gathered forces and then followed Quinn and Zohn inside. When
he stepped into the Elder’s private conference room, he frowned and
sat down. Quinn and Zohn were obviously upset and hesitated to tell
him something.

“What?” he asked, somewhat
irritated.

Quinn sighed, “Dain had an attack
while you were gone.”

“Ok”

Zohn lowered his voice, “He didn’t
make it.”

“I’m so sorry, Elder,” Quinn
said.

“What do you mean he didn’t make it?”
Chevalier asked, confused.

“The doctor was there, but
he couldn’t save the boy.”

Chevalier stood up
suddenly, “He’s dead?”

“We did what we could,”
Zohn told him. Chevalier blurred from the room with the Elders
right behind him.

“Elder… don’t…” the guard said when
Chevalier reached for the bedroom door.

“Why not?” he growled.

“She’ll burn you. She
won’t let anyone in.”

Chevalier turned to Zohn.

“She kicked us out and
won’t let anyone in. She swears he’s not dead.”

Chevalier turned and
knocked lightly on the door. He took a step back when a burn
started in his chest and he clutched at the front of his
shirt.

“She won’t let me in
either,” Allen said when Chevalier joined them.

“Emily?” Chevalier said, stepping back
up to the door.

“Go away,” she shouted from
inside.

“He’s my son, too. I want
to see him.”

“No”

“Emily…”

“He’s not dead!”

“Just let me look. I won’t
take him, I swear.”

“Fine,” Emily said, and
then stood up to block Chevalier from the bed. He walked in and
shut the door softly behind him. He immediately smelled the scent
of death and looked over at his son. She was right, he had grown,
but the unmistakable scent of death was strong.

“You can look, but don’t
touch him. He’s sleeping and needs the rest,” Emily told him, and
crouched the slightest bit. The small heku gesture shocked
Chevalier and he fought the instincts to meet her posture. It was
deeply ingrained in the heku nature to immediately attack when
anyone stood defensively. When Emily began picking up some of the
heku postures, they had to quickly teach themselves not to react to
it.

Chevalier watched Dain and
tried to decide how to handle this and lessen the stress on
Emily.

Emily smiled, “He’s grown a
lot.”

“Yes, he has,” Chevalier
said, and pulled a chair up to the bed. He sat down and watched his
son.

“I hope he’s done with
this. I’m guessing he’s as tall as you are now.”

Chevalier simply nodded.

“When he wakes up, we are
going to the island for a bit. He wants to go visit
Allen.”

“He’s not going to the
island.”

She frowned, “He’s not
dead.”

“I’m imagining he just couldn’t take
it anymore.”

“If you want to keep
talking about him like he’s dead, you can get out,” she whispered,
and walked over to look out the window.

“He is. I know it’s hard
for you, but you have to understand that nothing could be done to
stop it.”

“No, you understand. He
sleeps deeply, he’s not dead. This isn’t the first time we’ve done
this.”

“I can smell death.”

“Then get some menthol and get over
it.”

“Please…”

“What’s going on down there?” she
asked, continuing to watch the city and palace guards out on the
lawn.

“They are preparing for a mass
pilgrimage to the city.”

“Why?”

“For the funeral.”

She turned suddenly, “Get
out.”

Chevalier stood up, “I hate to do this
to you, but for your health, you have 10 more minutes before we
take him away.”

She glared at him, “Over my dead
body.”

“Ten minutes,” he said,
and left the room. As soon as the door shut, Emily crawled into the
bed beside Dain.

“Dain, come on, Baby. You
need to wake up,” she said, and shook his shoulders
slightly.

He sighed softly and she glanced at
the door before turning back to him.

“Dain, listen to me,” she
whispered. “You need to open your eyes.”

Suddenly, his eyes opened
and looked at her. A low growl erupted from his chest and she
slowly crawled away from him. His hands tightened into fists and
his eyes darkened as his body tensed.

“Chevalier…” Emily
whispered, unsure what was going on.

Chevalier suddenly
appeared in the room just as Dain sprung at Emily. Mid-air,
Chevalier slammed into the 7-year-old and they both went through
the bathroom door and into the bathroom. The door shattered and
Emily was whisked out of the room by the palace General.

When the General gently put her down
in the council chambers, she spun and turned towards the door, her
eyes wide.

“What’s going on?” Dustin asked,
standing slowly.

“I’m not sure, Sir,” the
General said, and bowed slightly.

“He was going to attack
me,” Emily whispered, still watching the door.

“Who was?” Dustin asked.

“Dain”

“He’s alive?”

She nodded, “I told you he was… but,
why did he want to attack me?”

Dustin gasped and blurred
from the room. Emily turned toward the Chief Interrogator, “Where
did he go?”

“He went to help.”

“Chevalier needed help
with Dain?”

“No, Child. Dustin went to
intervene.”

Emily started for the
door, but the General reached out and took her arm, “Our orders are
to keep you here.”

“Tell me what’s going on.”

He glanced at the Council,
and then back to Emily, “Seems Dain is having troubles controlling
his thirst around you.”

She frowned, “He never has
before.”

“We’ll know more, the
Elder is coming,” the General said, and let go of her
arm.

Emily turned to the
council chairs when Chevalier came in and sat down. She found it
odd that he sat with the Council instead of coming down to the
trial area to talk to her. As she looked up at the council stand,
she felt irritation starting. Irritation at how she was being
treated like a heku coming before the Council with a problem, and
not like the wife of an Elder who considered herself an equal with
her husband.

“What’s going on?” Emily
asked.

Chevalier glanced at
Dustin as he came in, and then turned back to Emily, “I think
Dain’s transformation into a full adult heku is
complete.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He died… which, actually,
we do when turned. His thirst is stronger, and his senses are more
in tune.”

“Why did he attack me?”

“It’s going to take time
for him to re-acclimate to you,” Dustin said when Chevalier looked
down at his hands.

“He’s never had problems
before.”

“He wasn’t full-grown
before.”

Emily frowned, “I don’t
understand.”

“When someone’s turned,”
the Chief Investigator explained, “The process isn’t complete until
the heart stops and then begins to beat again. It wasn’t until
Dain’s heart stopped fully, before he completed his transformation
into a full heku.”

“You all said he was a full heku from
birth though.”

“He was… though not, apparently,
complete,” Chevalier told her.

Emily fell silent as she
thought about what they were saying. It didn’t make sense to her
why he would be born full heku, yet not completely heku until his
heart stopped.

“We apologize for telling
you that he died,” Quinn said. Emily looked up suddenly. She hadn’t
seen him come in.

She shrugged and started for the door,
but found the way blocked by Chevalier, “Leave him for
now.”