Free Eternity of Vengeance : Book 7 of the Heku Series by T.M. Nielsen Page A

that she’d hired a live in handyman,
nor that that handy man thought himself a vampire
hunter.
    “If it’s a problem, I can go back to
my bridge,” Robert told her.
    “Fine, you can keep that
room you’re in now, and start on Monday.”
    He looked at her suspiciously, “This
is the strangest deal I’ve ever made.”
    “Get used to it, nothing
normal happens around me,” she said, and stood up. “I have to head
in to work though. Will you be ok here alone?”
    “Sure, I need to go get my motorcycle
and then I’ll be back.”
    “I won’t be long. I’m not
working a full shift,” she said, and started for the door. Kralen
and Silas fell in behind her when she opened the door. Robert
watched them, shook his head, and then shut the front
door.
    They all climbed into the Jeep and
Emily took off for the palace.
    Kralen started to laugh,
“I cannot believe you just hired a bodyguard to protect you from
vampires.”
    Emily grinned, “I couldn’t let him go
sleep under a bridge.”
    “Still…”
    “He’ll help out around the house,
it’ll be nice.”
    “We can do that faster.”
    “Kralen…”
    “And better.”
    “I just don’t want to be
there when you tell the Council,” Silas told her.
    “I don’t see why I have to
tell the Council, as long as Chev knows,” she said, and took the
road off of the Interstate than led to Council City.
    “Silas and I’ve been
talking… about Frederick,” Kralen said, and looked over at
her.
    “Ok, what about him?”
    “We’re going to give you an easy
out.”
    “Keep talking…”
    “If you tell us where he
is, we’ll tell the Council we accidentally found him. That returns
Frederick without you having to admit you gave him
over.”
    She smiled, “I appreciate the thought,
but he’s going to suffer first.”
    “I figured,” Kralen said,
and stepped out of the Jeep when she stopped in front of the
palace.
    “Shall we pull it into the garage?”
one of the door guards asked.
    “I got it,” Silas said,
and climbed into the front seat.
    Emily headed inside with
Kralen as three more of the Cavalry fell in behind them.
    “Mommy!” Dain yelled, and
then blurred into her, almost knocking her down. Kralen caught her
before she fell, and stood her up straight.
    “Careful, Baby,” she said,
and picked him up.
    He kissed her cheek as
they went up the stairs to her office. She propped open the door
and sat down with a pile of papers she needed to go through. Her
time away from her job as Staff Supervisor left her badly behind
and she dove into the numerous requests and complaints left on her
desk.
    “Busy?” Chevalier asked from her
door.
    She smiled, “Come on in.”
    The Elder walked in and
sat down, “Behind?”
    “You have no idea,” she
said, and signed off on something before starting a new
pile.
    “How’s the mortal?”
    “Robert is fine.”
    “Did he go home?”
    She shrugged, “You could kind of say
that.”
    “Kind of?”
    “Yes, kind of.”
    “Define kind of.”
    “I hired him, so he’s
staying,” she said, and tossed a stack of papers into the
trash.
    Chevalier raised an eyebrow, “He’s
living with you?”
    “As an employee, yes.”
    “I’m not sure I like that.”
    “It’s just temporary,” she
told him. “He’s going to fix up some things around the
house.”
    “I have heku that can do
that faster.”
    “I know, but he’s
homeless, Chev,” she said, and looked up at him.
    “Where does that put me?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean… does he know about
me?”
    “He knows I’m married, if that’s what
you mean.”
    “And the heku?”
    “Obviously, he doesn’t know about
that.”
    “Your guards?”
    She sighed, “He figured that one out
after I saw a mouse.”
    Chevalier grinned, “He knows you have
guards?”
    “Yes, he used to be a
bodyguard and immediately spotted them as more than just my
friends.”
    “It’s still not safe,”
Chevalier said. “It’s too risky to have a mortal living near