Banishment : Book 9 of the Heku Series by T.M. Nielsen Page A

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.
    “You doubt my skills,” he said, sitting
down.
    Emily looked around the kitchen, “Where’s the
other heku?”
    “I sent him back out to his post.”
    “I guess the entire faction is now laughing
that I have a ghost.”
    Kralen shrugged, “Not many know, really. The
Elder is keeping it pretty quiet.”
    “Is he embarrassed that I saw a ghost?”
    “No, but he doesn’t want others to think
you’re crazy.”
    “Nice,” she huffed, and finished her
breakfast.
    He tapped his fingers lightly on the table
for a few minutes and then smiled, “The rest of us already know
you’re crazy.”
    She frowned and looked up at him, “Is there
some reason you are in here irritating me?”
    “Chercher des puces.”
    “Meaning?”
    “Meaning, I just want to bug you.”
    “Yeah well, how do you say bugger off in
French?”
    Kralen smiled broadly, “Casse toi.”
    She sighed,