Heku : Book 1 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  When she turned around, they had been joined by a few other people, but Storm was gone. Chevalier was talking to an older man and motioned Emily over to him, “Em, this is Gordon. He’ll be your chef, just tell him what you want and he’ll make it for you. I’ve told your maid, Helen, to stay out of here unless given permission to enter. No one is to be in here with you without your prior permission.”

  He smiled, knowing this was all foreign to her, “That should give you some privacy. They are anxious to have you here and to serve you, I’m sure they would be able to make a pain out of themselves if you let them... ah, Margaret.”

  Chevalier turned to a tall, bulky woman who waddled when she entered the room, “Emily, this is Margaret. She is your tailor, again anything you want, and she will make it for you. You still have most of the clothes that you left Colorado with, but I’m sure you’ll need more.”

  Margaret was staring oddly at Emily’s dress, and when Emily glanced down, she gasped. She had forgotten it was covered in dry, caked blood.

  “I’ll get to work right away, I’m thinking black is your color, Dear?” Margaret seemed warm and sincere.

  “She’s not a heku, Margaret. Keep the colors light and the clothing comfortable.” He smiled at Emily.

  “Yes, Sir,” Margaret said, wobbling off as fast as she could go.

  “Chevalier,” Emily said, looking at the crowded room.

  With one glance from Chevalier, the entire room emptied out in an instant, the door shut behind them.

  “Yes?” he asked, moving closer to her.

  “I don’t need all of this, it’s too much,” she protested.

  “Let them treat you like you deserve, it’s good for them, and they are looking forward to it.” He moved another step closer, close enough to embrace her.

  She felt his protective arms and relaxed a bit, still unsure about what she’d gotten herself into, “I don’t want this, Chev. You said you lived alone, peace and quiet you know?”

  “Oh I do live alone, these heku don’t live here, they are my servants. You won’t hear a thing, I prefer the quiet myself.” He expected the protests.

  “Do they know... know anything about me?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

  “They know what I’ve told Storm to tell them, enough to keep them from harming you, but that’s it. They don’t know anything about your past or your abilities.”

  She nodded and pulled away from him, again glancing around the room.

  “I have a meeting, I hope you understand. Why don’t you get cleaned up and changed and then have a look around the castle. You may go anywhere except my office.” He grinned, remembering how that had made her mad before.

  “You’re leaving?” Panic filled her voice, but the use of his term ‘castle’ didn’t escape her notice.

  “Just for a little while. You are safe here, and Anna is here in case you need anything.” He kissed her forehead lightly.

  “What if I need you?” she asked, and grabbed his arm, hoping to go with him.

  He pulled away gently, “Anna can find me anywhere.”

  Chevalier smiled softly and left the room, shutting the heavy doors behind him. The quiet was almost painful and her body shook with terror. Here she was, alone, in the middle of a city full of heku that could kill her before she even knew anything was wrong. The one person she trusted left her in the care of more of the heku. A night alone with Keith wasn’t looking too bad now, it seemed safer than her current location.

  She noticed her bag sitting on an ancient chest at the foot of the bed, so she quickly opened it and pulled out a clean change of clothing. The French doors leading in to the bathroom didn’t seem secure, there was no way to lock them. Walking across the sizable bedroom, she locked the double doors and went back to the bathroom.

  The shower felt good, it calmed her aching muscles and she was able to wash the blood from her face and hair. She kept glancing out into the bathroom though. She felt like eyes were on her and the glass door to the shower wasn’t helping. She wondered if she could get a lockable door.

  Jeans and a t-shirt, her favorite clothing, made her feel much better and a lot less conspicuous. She’d always hated shoes, so opted to go barefoot, and went out into the ante-chamber. Anna was standing in the corner waiting for her with a welcoming smile.

  “What would you like to do, Lady Emily?”

  Emily winced at the title, “Just Emily, please.”

  Anna’s face dropped nervously and then returned to a smile, “Anything you wish. Where would you like to go?”

  “The kitchen? I’d like to find something to eat please.” She reached to open the door, but it opened before she could touch it. A heku stood at the door and bowed when he saw her.

  “I can call Gordon, what would you like to eat?” Anna was at her side.

  “I’d rather just make it myself, if that’s ok.”

  Anna bowed, “As you wish, Child.”

  Emily followed her though the castle. She felt silly calling it a castle, though, like there were kings and queens and fairy princesses running around in today’s society. She watched everything around her as they made their way to the kitchen, and noticed that any time they encountered a heku, they bowed and disappeared. Everything was immaculately clean and beautifully decorated. She supposed Chevalier would have it no other way.

  Anna opened the door to the kitchen and quickly whispered something to whomever was inside. When Emily entered the kitchen, it was empty, so she looked around, there were 14 stoves and the ceiling was lined with pots and pans of all sorts and sizes. There were three doors, one lead to the pantry, one to the walk-in refrigerator and one to the walk-in freezer.

  Emily stopped and turned to Anna, “I thought heku didn’t eat.”

  “We don’t, Dear,” Anna responded politely.

  “Then why the kitchen and the food?”

  “For you, Child,” Anna explained, smiling again.

  Emily grimaced. She hated that everyone was calling her Child. She went to work making her dinner, she was starving and all of the travel was wearing on her and she was ready for a good meal and bed. Anna was quiet as Emily went to work cutting up vegetables for a salad while the steak and large potato broiled. Filling her plate, she looked around for a place to eat and saw Anna standing at a door, waiting for her.

  She stepped out into a vast dining room with a large table that ran along the middle. The candles on the table were lit and the lights were turned low. She sat at the end of the table and began to eat as Anna disappeared behind her. She counted 82 plates at the table and felt odd the entire time she was eating, alone at a table large enough for most of the residents of Cascade.

  Anna reappeared just as Emily was done eating. She stood up from the table and went to grab her plate, but it had vanished. Her eyes were wide when she turned questioningly to Anna.

  Anna smiled proudly, “You won’t lift a finger here to clean, it’s all done for you.”

  Emily sighed. This would be harder than she thought, “What time is it?”

  Without looking at a watch or clock, Anna responded, “It’s almost 10pm, Child.”

  Emily winced at the name and politely asked Anna to return to her bedroom. She was feeling exceptionally tired by the time they reached the long hallway with the two doors. She watched Chevalier’s door closely as they walked toward her own door, but it didn’t open. Anna opened the door to the ante-chamber and stepped inside. The fire was dying down and the room was warm and pleasant.

  Emily turned to Anna, “That’s all, thanks Anna. I’m just going to bed.”

  “Yes, Child. I will wait here for you in case you need anything.”

  Emily frowned, “You don’t have to wait here, you’ll get bored.”

  “No, never bored, call me if you need me,” Anna said, and walked over to wait in the corner.

  Emily walked through the double doors and locked them behind her. It was childish, she knew, to lock the doors against heku, but it felt
better than not doing it.

  As she got closer to her bed, she noticed it had been turned down, and a soft silken pink nightgown was lying on top of it. She scanned the room, making sure no one was in there before undressing and pulling on the nightgown. She hadn’t noticed before, but there were floor-to-ceiling curtains lining one side of the bedroom. Emily went up to them and pushed the heavy velvet curtains back, revealing a large balcony that overlooked the fields beside the castle.

  She tried the door and found it unlocked, so she stepped out into the cold night air. The storm had passed, and the island was eerily quiet. Her eyes were just scanning the horizon, looking for any sign of life when she jerked as arms wound around her waist.

  His voice was amused, “Sorry, Em, it’s just me.”

  “Don’t do that!” she reminded him, calming her breathing.

  She turned around and pulled away from his grip, blushing deeply as she noticed him admiring her in the silk. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around her torso, covering herself.

  “I hear you don’t like your chef, would you like another?” He was concerned.

  “No, I can cook for myself.”

  “Oh I have no doubt about that, but why not let poor Gordon do it for you?”

  She suddenly felt like a child that was about to get scolded.

  He started to wonder if pampering Emily was going to be harder than he first thought, “I’ll tell you what, let them do it for you. Let them do their jobs for a week… and then we’ll compromise, deal?”

  She nodded.

  “Now come inside before you catch pneumonia.” He took her hand and pulled her back into the dark room, shutting the door behind them.

  He suddenly swept her off her feet, cradling her in his arms. His skilled lips met hers and pressed passionately against them. The kiss, the way he held her, it all seemed too intimate and she tensed, her hands pushing against him. He didn’t stop as his tongue traced the outline of her lips and forced them apart. He growled slightly as his tongue explored her mouth. She gave up and stopped resisting, her hand wound through his black hair, balling into a fist.

  She couldn’t remember the walk to the bed, but she was suddenly being laid down on it. His body pressed into hers as he lay on top of her, his kiss becoming stronger. Her body curved up into his, and she could feel his hands gently brush against the outside of her breast. She could feel his chest pressing against hers as her breathing came faster. Her inner being was yelling at her to stop, to let him keep the desire he had for her. She knew that if he were to get his way, things would change, and he would know the kind of person she was.

  He hissed her name into her ear as she pushed him off of her. He rolled to her side and took her hand in his, running his tongue gently along the inside of her wrist as she shivered.

  “Chevalier, no…” she said, but his lips pressed against hers again, stopping what she was going to say. He ran his hand from her waist down along her hip and squeezed her outer thigh. She felt incredible to his touch, and he craved more. His lips again explored her soft mouth, tasting her sweet breath.

  His mouth left hers and traveled down her neck, pausing at the vein, exploring its throb with his tongue. He kissed down her neck to the top of the nightgown and brought a hand up to lower it. She gasped and took his hand away, moving away from him. The bed was large enough to move to the edge and be far enough away from him he couldn’t reach.

  He looked up at her, desire burning in his eyes, “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve told you, I can’t.” She shied away from his eyes.

  “Keith’s gone, you’re no longer tied to him, you’re free.” He scooted closer to her and reached out. His hand landed on her waist and he pulled her closer to him.

  “Please…” she looked up at him pleading.

  He sighed, “Fine, for now, but I wish you would tell me why.” He pulled her close to him and embraced her, burying his face in her soft red hair.

  “Not with you, Chev, ever,” she said plainly. “If that’s why I’m here, why I’m getting my every wish granted, then you might as well send me back to the mainland.”

  He grinned, “It’s not why you are here.”

  “Then why am I here?” she asked, and propped herself up on her elbow.

  “We’ll talk later, for now, it’s late and you should get some sleep.” He was off the bed in an instant, but walked slowly, mortally, out of the room.

  ***

  The voices drew closer. The woods surrounding her were dark and closing in around her. She was running as fast as she could through the tangled roots and branches, running to save him. She knew he was here, lost in the black trees but she couldn’t find him, her frantic searching becoming more hectic as the voices called to him. She had to find him… she had to find him before they did.

  “Emily?” Chevalier woke her, gently touching her arm.

  She sat up and looked at him, her breathing was rapid and she’d broken out in a light sweat. The room was dark, it was still late at night, but his face shown in the dark like an angel. She buried her face into his chest, finding comfort in his arms wrapping tightly around her.

  “It was just a dream.” He shushed her like you would a toddler, but she didn’t shrink from it.

  She felt herself falling back to sleep. The images from the dream seemed far away when he was by her. She fell asleep in his arms and didn’t dream.

  Small beams of light streamed into the room and fell on the dark bed. Emily was still cuddled in Chevalier’s arms, her fists clenched tightly to his shirt. She relaxed her grip as she began to wake up, for a moment forgetting where she was. The memories from the past 24 hours came creeping back into her mind, and she pulled closer to him.

  “Good morning,” he whispered to her.

  She nodded, not wanting to move. The bed was extremely comfortable, and she was warm under the down blanket.

  Chevalier grinned, “If you plan on staying in bed all day, then we should have some food brought in.”

  She sighed softly, “What time is it?”

  “It’s almost one.”

  “In the afternoon?” She sat upright and looked around the room. He reached around her and pulled her back down.

  “Yes”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked, and watched his face.

  “Did you have somewhere to be?” He was grinning again.

  She shrugged and snuggled deeper into his arms.

  “Did you have plans today?” she asked, not sure she really wanted to know.

  He kissed the top of her head softly, “Yes.”

  She squeezed her arms tighter around him, “You’re leaving again?”

  “No, you and I have some more training to do.”

  “Ugh, why?” She didn’t even want to think about the weeks they had spent with Steven.

  He smiled, “You can’t become more adept at what you can do, without practice.”

  She frowned and looked up at him, “You brought Steven?”

  “No, I left him back on your ranch with the rest of the ashes. It’ll be good for him.” His tone was light and amused again.

  Emily scooted away from him and propped herself up on one elbow, “Then who am I going to be practicing on?”

  His face showed indecision as he considered what exactly to tell her, “There were some problems while I was away, and I need to deal with them. I thought you could practice while I did it.”

  Her breath caught, “You want me to ash them? Are you kidding me?”

  He took her hand into his, “Em, you have to practice. You can’t do so on anyone but a heku. Why not on ones that are about to go into stasis anyway, for crimes against the coven?”

  “No, I won’t do it, Chev! I won’t be a monster around here, people afraid to so much as look at me.” She got out of bed and headed for the wardrobe, “Oh there goes our punisher, don’t tick her off or she’ll turn you into ash.”

  Chevalier grimaced and then appeared in front of her, �
��No one will know, Em. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

  “No,” she yelled and stopped in front of him, meeting his gaze.

  “You need to practice, to learn more control.”

  “Not like that.”

  “Then how?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t make me do this,” she pleaded.

  A low growl erupted from him, “I won’t force you to do anything.” He was able to calm himself some, “How do you propose to hone your skills?”

  She shrugged and walked around him, opening up the wardrobe. It was full of pastel colors and flowing fabrics. She rifled through them and noticed they were all delicate, feminine dresses, “Great.”

  Chevalier watched with some amusement as she went through the other wardrobes, finding slight variations from the first. She stormed back to her suitcase and removed the jeans and t-shirt, then disappeared through the French doors into the bathroom.

  Chevalier sat to wait for her on one of the velvet covered chairs. He sighed when his phone rang, “Yes?”

  “There’s a problem, Sir. Ulrich is going to the Elders,” Storm said, sounding concerned.

  Chevalier frowned, “To do what? The Elders will…” He paused and lowered his voice, “The Elders would kill her if they knew how many of us she’s turned to ash, so he can’t tell them about her. What exactly is he going to complain to them about?”

  “He’s going for a type of custody battle, Sir. Claiming you have taken his granddaughter from him. He’s also planning on saying it was more of a kidnapping. I know what he wants to do. He wants the Elders to bring Emily in to them so they can ask her themselves.”

  Chevalier hissed.

  “Sir,” Storm continued. “I know you already know this, but if she leaves this island and comes anywhere near the Elders, it would give Ulrich the chance to take her back.”

  “I know, Storm,” he growled at her. “Tell the Elders I’m contesting his claim and I’ll be there in the morning.”