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

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