Heku : Book 1 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  Ulrich’s voice softened, “He killed her, and when he still wasn’t satiated, he also killed her son, desperately seeking more of the ‘dulcris cruor’. Emily was only 2 years old, and when he approached her, smelling the scent of the sweet blood on her, she turned him to ash in less than a second. It was then that I knew that it had all started over, she was even more powerful than my own daughters.”

  Chevalier’s muscles tightened as he realized how quickly the Factions would have Emily killed if they knew what he knew. He suddenly felt like taking her far away from them, hiding her, protecting her.

  “She can’t know what she can do.” Ulrich’s voice strengthened.

  “Why?” Chevalier asked, it didn’t make sense.

  “If she makes the same decision her ancestors did, not to carry on the family line, then my Elizabeth will die out, nothing left of her or us… I watch over her and make sure she’s safe, with the help of Sam.”

  “Safe? You call living with Keith safe?” Chevalier growled at him.

  “Keith was a fortunate accident. I don’t meddle in the mortal affairs of my granddaughters… I only step in when the immortal interfere.”

  “Fortunate accident?” Chevalier asked, confused.

  “Yes fortunate. He’s weak minded and takes credit for the missing that Emily has turned to ash. She finds protection being with him, and with that protection, comes some comfort. As long as Keith takes credit for getting rid of… shall we say… admirers, then she won’t know that she has killed.”

  “How many?” Chevalier asked.

  Ulrich looked into his eyes, “I don’t trust you enough to divulge any more. I just tell you I will not stand by while my bloodline is polluted by yet another heku.”

  “I… what??” He fumed when he realized what Ulrich was implying.

  “Stay away from her.”

  “I have no intention of being a father any time soon.” The word ‘polluted’ touched a nerve.

  Ulrich studied his face, “You have no desires for her at all?”

  Chevalier’s face was steady as he lied, “None at all.” His thoughts echoed in his head “Like no other.”

  “She’s of the ‘dulcris cruor’, the more of her blood you feed on, the more you’ll want her and trust me, you will end up killing her. Let her be, let her live her mortal life and start again breeding out the heku. She’s a caring girl, if she finds out how many she’s killed…” His eyes watched Chevalier, his piercing gaze so much like Emily’s.

  Chevalier stood, “Enough, I do what I want and I’ll not sit here and be told what I can and cannot do.”

  Ulrich mirrored his movement and stood, “If you go to the Elders, then believe me, I will know and Emily will disappear. I’ve done it before, and I will do it again.” With one swift movement, he swept out of the room and disappeared into the daylight, leaving Chevalier alone with his thoughts.

  Chevalier’s mind was miles away when he arrived at the ranch. The sight of the ambulance sitting quietly in front of the house brought him back from his thoughts. He quickly appeared in the loft of the barn, at the small window that overlooked the front of the ranch house.

  It was obvious what was wrong when the paramedics wheeled out the gurney, the sheet entirely covering its occupant. Emily ran out of the house toward it but Keith stopped her, gently grabbing her arm. Sam was standing at the bunkhouse door, watching.

  The ambulance left, no lights, no sirens, just a quiet exit. Emily turned to Keith and he wrapped his arms around her. The sobs stopped as her body went limp. Keith reached down and picked her up, cradling her in his arms lovingly. He went back into the house and shut the door.

  Chevalier was hit with a sudden yearning to go into the house and take her from him. To cradle her in his arms and gaze into her eyes, if he could just lock her gaze, he could lessen the pain. He noted briefly how silent the ranch was, the horses, the cattle, everything seemed quiet and still in the brisk morning air.

  The following days passed quickly. Chevalier watched the house from the loft, watching as people came and went bringing flowers and food. Each guest came with open arms and left with red eyes.

  “He must have been loved,” Chevalier thought to himself.

  During the days that followed Allen’s death, there was no sign of Emily.

  The fourth night was cold, the wind was howling, and the moon was almost full. Chevalier was again sitting in the loft watching the house. He was moments from knocking on the door to make sure things were alright, when the door suddenly opened with a loud bang. Emily ran from the house toward the barn, all she wore was jeans and a t-shirt. She hadn’t even bothered putting on shoes.

  “Emily, don’t do this!” Keith yelled, following her out of the house.

  The doors to the barn swung open and Emily appeared. She was bareback on a sleek black thoroughbred stallion. She kicked the horse, and he immediately launched into a fast gallop.

  Keith stopped and watched her leave, then sighed and then went back into the house.

  Chevalier only had a moment to think. With his keen senses, he was able to pick up everything that was happening in less than a second. Emily was riding too fast, and the moon wasn’t bright enough for the stallion to be sure of his surroundings. She could barely hang on, not having bothered putting on even a bridle. She was out in the freezing cold and there was a hint of the smell of alcohol on the wind.

  His movements were a blur as he left the barn and ran after her, keeping close to the trees. Even with his speed, he had a hard time keeping pace with the horse. Emily ignored the gates and pulled the stallion into a jump, Chevalier made himself move faster, he had to catch up with her and stop the horse before…

  It happened too quickly for even Chevalier to help. Emily pulled the horse into a hurdle over a gate and when he landed, the stallion’s feet hit the ground improperly. Emily hit the ground first, and the massive thoroughbred rolled over her, and then scrambled to his feet. Chevalier stopped suddenly and watched. Emily was unmoving on the cold, hard ground.

  He approached slowly. The stallion stomped at him and moved back a few steps. As he got closer, he noticed that Emily was not only breathing, she was crying.

  He knelt down beside her, “Are you hurt?” he asked as the rain started.

  She looked up at him with tear filled eyes, “I found you.” Her breathing was labored.

  The rain began to turn to sleet. He reached down and picked her up, cradling her as he’d been longing to do for days. He carried her swiftly into the trees where it was dry, “You were looking for me?”

  “Yes,” she said softly. “I need you to help me.”

  How could he be holding a killer? She looked fragile and pale in the dark night. He found it hard to imagine how quickly she could kill him.

  “Anything…” was all he could say. He was acutely aware that he would do almost anything for her, still not understanding why.

  Emily turned her face into his neck and pulled her collar away from hers with a shaking hand. Her warm breath was on his neck as she spoke, “Kill me, please.”

  He looked down at her exposed neck and the vein throbbed invitingly. What he saw also shocked and angered him. Beside the delicate vein were scars, marks left by greedy and uncaring heku, heku that were long since turned to ash.

  ***

  The doctor Storm sent was also a donor, so she was able to serve two purposes. Emily was still unconscious. The concussion wasn’t as serious as it could have been, four broken ribs and a broken collar bone along with scrapes and bruises over most of her body was the final tally from the horse falling on her. Chevalier was feeling better with the fresh blood in his system and his mind was clear to think. The doctor had given Emily a hefty dose of Morphine to kill the pain, and assured Chevalier that she would be asleep for hours.

  He watched her as she slept. Her delicate features were more pronounced with her pale complexion, a sign of the concussion. Her breathing was still labored, which worried Chevalier, but the d
octor had assured him it was just due to the broken ribs which were now tightly bound to try to prevent further damage. He wanted to reach out and touch her face, to feel the warmth of her skin beneath his fingers, but he was afraid it would wake her.

  He glanced briefly at the morning paper, which was still sitting on the floor under the hotel room door. Chevalier grabbed it, staring at the front page. Just below the bold writing “Local Cascade Woman Missing” was a picture of Emily, smiling brightly beside her painted mare. The article misrepresented the information. It stated she was out riding in the afternoon but hadn’t returned, her horse found dead late that night by searchers. Chevalier frowned. If Emily found out he killed the stallion, she wouldn’t be happy. His anger had gotten the best of him when her injuries became apparent, and out in the storm, it was easy to catch and kill the skittish horse.

  He tucked the newspaper into his bag and pulled out the small silver cell phone. He wasn’t sure yet who he was going to call or what he would tell them when he did. He harbored a woman that the entire state was looking for, an innocent killer. Chevalier hoped that Storm was right in trusting the doctor, by now she had surely figured out that the woman in his hotel was the missing one from the papers.

  The decision was easy for him, the decision on how to handle Emily and her abilities. It went against everything Ulrich told him, but Chevalier didn’t feel any desire to follow those instructions. He had, in his possession, a weapon greater than any he’d seen and with an impending war, her talents would be immeasurable. First though, he had to tell her about them and then had to teach her how to control them. He couldn’t take her back to his coven and have them in danger.

  His house in the cold mountains of Colorado would work perfectly. It was only accessible by snowcat year-round, so it was isolated and safe. There, he would be able to try to teach Emily how to control what she didn’t yet know she could do. He also noted, solemnly, that it would keep her out of the protection of Ulrich’s eye. It wasn’t past his notice that it also put him in grave danger. He could vividly remember the intense burning pain she once inflicted upon him, but he didn’t have a choice. He needed her in the coming war, but he also didn’t think he could live without being near her.

  Emily stirred in her sleep, her fists clenching slightly, “Please,” she asked softly.

  Chevalier froze. He wasn’t sure if she was waking, or merely talking in a dream. He watched her as her eyes fluttered beneath her eyelids, her breathing coming faster and her soft brow furrowed briefly. Whatever she was dreaming wasn’t pleasant. He smiled to himself, again amazed at the simple human frailties that plagued such a natural killer.

  He stood up quietly and walked over to the bed and reached down, gently touching her soft cheek. Almost immediately, her hands relaxed and her features returned to the quietness of sleep.

  Chevalier turned to walk back to the chair when he heard her speak again, one single word, so soft he couldn’t be positive that she even said it.

  “Chevalier”

  He turned to look at her, but nothing had changed. Shaking his head slightly, he sat down and picked up the cell phone, still contemplating who to call and what to say. He knew the Council would want an update soon, better to do it by phone than have them send representatives to talk to him. He stepped into the adjacent room and shut the door to make his call, still trying not to wake up Emily.

  It was a few minutes before he could be connected to an Elder, even in his world red tape surrounded everything and the need for secrecy made it worse.

  “Chevalier, do you have news for us?” The voice sounded eager.

  “Not a lot yet,” he said, lying smoothly. “The girl is interesting and may be of use to us, but I’m not sure she has the powers of the Winchester family. It’ll take more time to be sure.”

  “We aren’t sure you have much more time, but do what you think is right. We trust you.”

  “I will, I’ll call when I know something.” The click of the phone ended the conversation before he let something slip or let the extreme urgency enter into his voice.

  He opened the phone again and dialed, this time it rang only once before someone answered.

  “Yes, Sir?” Storm sounded pleased to hear from him.

  “I’m leaving here, don’t call me. If I need anything… I’ll call you.”

  There was a brief silence and he could tell she was debating asking more questions, “Are you bringing her here?”

  “No… and if I’m lucky, no one will know where I’ve gone.”

  “You can tell me, Sir. What if there’s trouble?”

  “I can’t risk the Elders finding my location, I trust you, but I don’t trust them.”

  She began to ask another question but he ended the call when static on the line alerted him that she may not be the only person listening.

  Chevalier went back into the room and began packing his things. He looked at the medication left by the doctor, noting he had 5 more doses of Morphine and syringes to administer it. She also left hand-written instructions on how to care for each of Emily’s injuries.

  ***

  As soon as it was dark, Chevalier loaded his things into the back of a black Bugatti Veyron and lowered the passenger seat all the way back. He went inside and checked to make sure he’d left nothing, then watched Emily for a moment before he gently pulled her arm out from under the covers. He couldn’t have her waking up during the trip down to Colorado. After cleaning a small area of her upper arm with alcohol, he pulled the cap off of the needle and carefully injected one full dose of Morphine.

  He put the cap back on the needle, deciding to dispose of it outside where no one would find it. A small trickle of blood escaped the small puncture wound. Chevalier breathed deeply and the pleasing aroma made his mind whirl. He touched one finger to the drop of blood and brought it hungrily to his mouth.

  Once he regained complete control, he reached down tenderly and picked Emily up, gathering the blankets around her. He normally refused to use his full speed when in a public place, but he couldn’t risk her being spotted. It was only a fraction of a second before he was setting her down gently in the car. The Morphine was working. She didn’t even move as he buckled her in and deftly slipped into the driver’s seat.

  He let the car idle for a few minutes as his mind did the math. It was around 830 miles to the small town closest to his home in Colorado, and his car topped out at 250 mph. That seemed dangerously fast to anyone else, but with the fast reflexes accustomed to heku, it was perfectly safe. Accounting for weather and other obstacles, he figured he could be in the snowcat in just over 4 hours. Once he loaded up the snowcat with supplies, it was another 2 hours to get to his house. That last dose of Morphine should keep Emily comfortable and unaware for the entire ride.

  Only once did she stir during the trip, when the soft drizzle that started around midnight turned into a violent hailstorm. It was in Buford, Colorado, that he stopped to grab supplies. The tiny town consisted of one small store and a cabin. He paid a local teenager to go into the store with a list of supplies while he waited with Emily. The boy glanced at the sleeping girl once, but Chevalier brought his finger to his lips, indicating she was sleeping.

  After leaving Buford, it was only a few miles to the turnoff. The tiny dirt road was partially hidden by thick evergreens and large aspen trees. From here, it was slow going, the road was neglected and its winding path was riddled with local wildlife. Slowly, the terrain turned from dark green to white as the year-round snow began. Up ahead, he caught sight of the curved outline of the private garage. He went through two locked gates before drawing up to it and opening the large door, then he pulled the Bugatti inside and shut the door behind him.

  The snowcat was already partially stocked with supplies and extra fuel. Speed wasn’t a problem here, no one was around this area for miles. He quickly passed the supplies from the car into the snowcat and made a make-shift bed out of the backseat. Emily gasped slightly as Chevalier picked her u
p, but she settled down comfortably onto the bed. It was still dark, which is how he preferred to travel.

  The lights from the snowcat lit up the stark white snow as he moved slowly out into it. He drove the snowcat a lot slower than he preferred, trying not to jostle Emily around and cause her to wake up. The 2-hour trek up the mountain went smoothly, and the time allowed him to consider all of the options for teaching Emily about her ability. The trick was how to teach her without her turning it on him. He suddenly worried what would happen to her if he were to die, leaving her alone in the treacherous high-country.

  It wasn’t until he was almost to the house when he saw it, it was securely hidden by dense trees and overgrowth. The windows were black and lifeless as he pulled the snowcat into the garage and shut the door behind him, surrounding them in complete darkness. He stepped out into the garage, its stinging cold didn’t bother him, but he shut the door quickly to keep Emily out of it.

  The wall panel lit up when he touched it, bringing the generators to life, fully charged by the solar panels. He adjusted the temperature in the house up to 75 degrees and with a short code, the fireplaces all came alive, blazing with warmth. He went back to the snowcat and picked Emily up, holding his breath, she was starting to stir a bit. Chevalier entered the spacious house and headed for the nearest bedroom, where the bed was very near the fireplace. Laying her down gently, he covered her with a heavy down quilt, then went to work getting the supplies out of the snowcat and putting them away in the house.

  ***

  A snowstorm raged outside of the sizable house, and the wind howled through the White River National Forest as Chevalier sat in an ancient rocking chair and watched Emily sleep. He suspected it wouldn’t be long until she woke fully. She’d opened her eyes several times, but they were unfocused and soon closed again. His plans were made, well laid out for his protection, but he hoped they would produce fast results. The unending faction war wouldn’t wait for him.