Heku : Book 1 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “It was smart of them to teach you some self-defense, though,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Yeah it was. I just think maybe they need to figure out how to do it without me.”

  Chevalier chuckled, “It doesn’t work that way.”

  She glanced over at him, “I’m ok, Chev, really. I know you have work to do. I’m going to get out of here eventually and maybe take Patra for a ride.”

  He thought about it for a moment, “Take Kyle with you though, ok?”

  She nodded and he stepped out of the room.

  Once her muscles relaxed, Emily got out of the jetted tub and dressed quickly, knowing full well that she wasn’t headed to the barn. She was glad that her ante-chamber was empty as she slipped out into the hallway and down the stairs, unnoticed. She held her breath and ran quickly to get to the dark hallway that led down to the prison. She’d followed a young heku down there when he was first assigned to guard duty, so she knew the way by heart.

  She pushed open the heavy wooden doors and smiled as two strange heku turned to her, their eyes wide.

  “Lady Emily?” one of them said nervously.

  “Good afternoon, gentlemen.” She smiled sweetly at them. As much as she hated to admit it, she found she could get her way a lot with that smile.

  “You shouldn’t be down here, Child,” the other guard stammered out, unsure if he was allowed to say that to her.

  “It’s ok, I have permission,” she said, flashing her green eyes up at him.

  He nodded, still unsure, and watched as she walked over to the holding cells.

  “Hrm.” She looked through the cells, “Which one of you is Paul?”

  “He’s not all the way with it, Lady Emily,” one of the guards said to her.

  She turned to face him, “What’s wrong with him?”

  The guard looked at the other guard and back to Emily, “He umm… well… he went insane I guess, sort of. He mumbles a lot to himself.”

  Emily frowned and turned to the heku that was sitting in his cell on the floor, talking to a board.

  “Let me in,” she said to the closest guard.

  He gasped, eyes open wide, “Lady Emily, I can’t let you in there!”

  “Why not?” she asked sweetly.

  “He’s dangerous… what if he…” the guard shuddered.

  She sighed and slid down to the floor, sitting cross-legged in front of the cell.

  “Paul?” she asked softly.

  He looked up at her and grinned evilly, “Emily.”

  She fought the urge to run. His eyes were pure evil and his grin sent shivers down her spine.

  “Will you talk to me?” she asked after she’d regained her nerve.

  He crawled over to her and inhaled at the bars, “Emily,” he said again, his eyes shut as he savored her scent. He ran his tongue over his teeth and he sighed.

  “Will you talk to me?” she asked, again.

  “Yes,” he hissed, looking into her eyes. Paul sat against the bars, pushing against them to be as close to her as possible.

  She leaned a little closer to him and whispered, “Do you know who I am?”

  He nodded and watched her neck.

  “Who am I?” she asked.

  “Lady Emily, a Winchester and granddaughter to...” He inhaled deeply and when he opened his eyes again, they were full of hunger, “My Master.”

  “Ulrich is your Master?”

  He nodded, his eyes falling to the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

  “Did he send you to watch me or to bring me back?” She tried to ignore the feel of his eyes on her.

  “Mmmm, Emily.” His tongue reached out and touched the air, he could almost taste her.

  “Answer me or I leave.” She decided to try that approach.

  “To bring you back,” he said, now watching the throb of the small vein in her wrist.

  “Did he say why?”

  “Mmmm, let me taste you, Child.” He reached out for her but she pulled away.

  “Answer me.”

  “You are his, you belong to my Master and he wants what is his,” he hissed.

  “Now that you failed, will he try again?” She shivered at the way he looked at her and her mouth went dry.

  “Mmmm… yes, he’ll try.” He inhaled again and his body shook, “I bring you to him, he will let me taste, I think.”

  There was a loud crack as one of the guards hit the bars of Paul’s cell with a metal pipe, “You won’t talk to her like that or I’ll kill you myself, fiend.”

  “Master will get you for keeping her to yourself,” Paul said to him and then turned back to Emily. His tongue flicked out toward her again, savoring the air around her. “They feed off her, they should share,” he said as he scanned her face with a cruel grin.

  “They most certainly do not, and if you ever see Ulrich again, you can tell him from me that it’ll be a cold day in hell before I come to him,” she said sternly.

  “Bonded, though.” His eyes glanced at her ring, “Bonded to an immortal. Master knows this.”

  “Good, then he knows I’m not leaving.” She forced herself to meet his eyes, though the sight of them turned her stomach into knots.

  “Break it he will… Mmmm, break it with Paul maybe.” His dark eyes were pleased and his tongue ran along his parched lips.

  “What in the hell!?” Travis yelled, pulling Emily to her feet by her arm, “What are you doing down here?”

  “I just wanted to talk to him.” She pulled her arm, but Travis didn’t let go.

  “Perry, come with me,” Travis ordered one of the guards as he angrily drug Emily back up the stairs.

  She stopped fighting as he stopped at the door to Chevalier’s office and knocked. Emily looked over at Perry and his eyes were terrified.

  “Come,” she heard Chevalier order.

  Travis opened the door and pushed Emily in hard enough she slammed into the desk. Chevalier was on his feet in an instant, glaring at Travis as he stepped in, followed by Perry. The hostile look on Travis’ face was directed in Emily’s direction.

  “What is going on here?” Chevalier growled.

  “You want to tell him where I found you?” Travis hissed at her.

  Chevalier turned to look at Emily and sighed, “Where, Em?”

  “I just wanted to talk to him,” she whispered.

  “Who?”

  Emily shrugged.

  “She was sitting cross-legged in front of Paul’s cell while he…” Travis paused and took a deep breath.

  Chevalier growled, “What?”

  Travis turned to Perry, “Word for word,” he ordered.

  Perry, his eyes staring down, started when Emily entered the cell area and with picture-perfect memory went over exactly what was said, and what the heku had done in Emily’s presence. Emily winced, it sounded worse when he said it out loud.

  “Get out,” Chevalier yelled, his eyes on Emily.

  Travis and Perry left the room quickly.

  “What were you thinking?” Chevalier asked, leaning back on his desk.

  “I had some questions.”

  “You think we haven’t asked them already?”

  “I have no doubt, but I wanted to hear them for myself.” She looked at the ground.

  “You sat close and let him savor you, Em.” His voice was shaky.

  “Do what?”

  “It’s uncivilized, so you won’t see it often. When a predator stalks their prey, they use all of their senses to enjoy the kill longer. What he did was rude and insulting.”

  “I got what I needed. I don’t care if he wanted a sniff.” She set her jaw and met his eyes.

  “It’s your lack of self-preservation that scares me,” he growled, frustrated.

  “I wasn’t in danger! I asked questions and got answers, that’s it.”

  “You can’t let heku treat you like that. Ever!” he yelled.

  “It wasn’t a random heku on the street, he is in a cell, and he couldn’t get
to me.”

  “That’s not the point, what he did to you was disgusting and you let him.” He took a step toward her, his eyes fierce.

  “Let him? You act like I let him grab my ass, Chev. All I did was talk to him.” Her Irish blood began to boil.

  “Get out.” He could feel himself losing control, and he refused to hurt her again.

  She stormed out of his office and slammed the door. Emily immediately turned to the outside doors and ran off to the barn.

  “We riding?” Kyle asked as he caught up to her.

  She turned on him, and he took a step back when her angry green eyes glared at him.

  “Whoa... what’s up?” he asked wearily.

  “You want to have a go at me too?” she growled, taking a step toward him.

  Kyle stepped back, “No? What’s wrong?”

  “Apparently I was savored by Paul.” She took a menacing step toward him, “Are you going to make a big deal out of it?”

  Kyle’s eyes flared, “How did he get out of his cell?”

  “I went to him and I dare you to tell me I shouldn’t have… come on… I dare you.” She stepped toward him again, her hands balled into tight fists.

  Kyle growled and disappeared.

  Emily went into the barn and threw a saddle on Patra, then tied the colt to a tether that she wrapped around the horn. She swung up into the saddle and headed out into the hot afternoon sun.

  ***

  Kyle went down into the cell area and walked silently over to stand by Chevalier at Paul’s cell. Paul was rambling on about the ‘tasty girl’ and Chevalier’s eyes were livid.

  “She’ll be mad if you do it… let me,” Kyle said, stepping up to the cell door.

  Chevalier didn’t respond. Emily was too far away from the castle to hear the screams.

  Emily led Patra and the colt back into the barn and after unsaddling them and giving them food, then she sat down on the straw. The ride was invigorating and calmed her mind. Peanut appeared and started to curl up in her lap.

  “Hi, Boy,” she said, rubbing his back.

  “Can you believe them? All I did was talk to that heku and they all freaked out over him smelling me,” she sighed, then smiled as Peanut looked up at her.

  “Rude of him, they said. I’ll tell you what’s rude, Nut. Treating me like an idiot.” She nodded and rubbed Peanut’s ears.

  “He couldn’t get to me through the bars. What do I care if he wants to smell and say disgusting things to me? I got what I wanted out of him.” She sighed and stood up.

  “Time to face the music?” she asked Peanut, but he was already wandering off. “Wimp.”

  She walked into the castle slowly.

  “Hello,” she said as she walked into her bedroom and saw Chevalier sitting in the chair by the fire.

  He watched her, but didn’t talk.

  “On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you?” She sat down in the chair by him and pulled off her boots, the warm fire felt good against her cold feet.

  When he didn’t answer, she kept talking, “Fine then… one a scale from one to ten, I’d say I was about an 8, but after the ride, I’m maybe a 3 or so, so you will probably survive the night.”

  “Emily.” His voice was soft, “I’m not so much mad as... well… disappointed.”

  She frowned at him, “Disappointed?”

  “Yes, I hoped your time here was teaching you how dangerous heku are and how you can’t take anything they do for granted.”

  “Oh… I don’t. He was behind bars. There was no way he could get to me.”

  “That isn’t exactly the point, what he did was intimate and intrusive.” He took her hand and kissed it lightly and then frowned slightly and turned her hand over, smelling her wrist.

  She shrugged, “You mean like what you just did?”

  “I’m allowed,” he said seriously, and then leaned forward and inhaled against her neck.

  “Stop it, I’m serious,” she said, and leaned away from him.

  “So am I, Emily.” He leaned back and his eyes narrowed, “You smell different again.”

  “So stop smelling me and let’s get to the point. You don’t believe I’m smart enough to stay safe around a heku in a prison cell,” she grumbled.

  “Yes I do, what I don’t understand is how you could let him treat you like that, how you let him talk to you as if you were his for the taking.” He leaned back in his chair again.

  “I didn’t care, I got what I wanted to know,” she said, her voice flaring up again.

  “Like what? What did he tell you that you just had to know?”

  “That Ulrich sent him here.”

  “We knew that.”

  “I didn’t. Then he said that he was here to take me, not just to check up on me.”

  “We knew that.”

  “Nice to know. It’s also good for me to know that Ulrich plans on breaking our bond when he takes me.”

  Chevalier tensed, that, he didn’t know, “He won’t get that chance.”

  “No he won’t, not if I can help it.” She watched as Gordon brought a tray up for her and then left quickly.

  Emily picked up the lid and grabbed some cheese toast off the tray, then returned the lid. She sat back and took an uninterested bite.

  “Were you out in the sun a lot today?” he asked finally, allowing her to eat some.

  “Of course, I was out on Patra.”

  He nodded.

  “So are you mad or not?” she asked finally.

  “I’m not mad. I just wonder where this stuff comes from. What would possess you to all of a sudden decide to talk to a prisoner?”

  “Curiosity”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes,” she said, shrugging.

  Suddenly he was down on his knees in front of her, kissing her neck, “That scent is toxic.”

  “Good to know.” She flinched away from him.

  “You’re still mad,” he said, rocking back on his knees.

  “Hurt, not mad,” she told him, and then got up and went into the bathroom.

  Chevalier thought for a moment and whispered Kyle’s name so Emily wouldn’t hear. Within a few moments, Kyle appeared at his side.

  “Well?” he whispered to Kyle.

  Kyle’s eyes filled with panic as he fought the desire to inhale deeply, “It’s… again.”

  Chevalier nodded, “I wanted to know if you caught it too. It’s almost irresistible.”

  Kyle was afraid to answer, but finally nodded once.

  “You may go. I just wanted to know for certain.” He sat back on the chair.

  “What causes it?” Kyle asked.

  Chevalier shrugged, “I haven’t figured that out yet.”

  Emily came out of the bathroom in her nightgown and headed to bed. She crawled under the covers and rolled onto her side, obviously wanting to be alone.

  Chevalier walked to her side and kissed her forehead, and then left, heading into his study.

  She was still irritated in the morning, and ate her breakfast in a hurry so she could go out to the barn quickly. Chevalier stopped her in the hallway and wrapped his arms around her.

  “I need to go away for a few days,” he said, softly kissing the top of her head.

  She immediately lost the irritation, “Why?”

  “I need to go see the Elders about the Valle and I need Kyle to go with me.” He tightened his grip on her when she tensed.

  “You are both going?”

  “Yes, we both have to go.”

  “For how long?” she asked, laying her head on his chest.

  “A week, no longer,” he promised.

  She nodded.

  “We have someone here to watch over you. He’s new, but right now, he’s all that’s available.” She could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn’t like doing this.

  “A week… I think I can stay good for a week.”

  Chevalier reached down and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

  Emily was
disappointed to learn that they had to leave immediately, and she drove with them to the ferry and waved as they set off. As she walked back to the castle, she stopped to visit with a few members of the coven along the way. They were always pleasant to her and she appreciated the welcome.

  The castle seemed quiet and cold without Kyle and Chevalier there. She shivered and went to the TV room, deciding a movie would help pass the time.

  Chapter 17 - Potential

  “This attack was bad,” Chevalier said angrily. “The Council has to intervene and put a stop to it.”

  “This Council is aware of its responsibilities, but doesn’t feel that it can take further action because of an attack on a mortal,” Selest said stiffly.

  “Not just a mortal, my wife!” Kyle growled.

  “Bond or no she is a lower life-form, a mortal. Starting a war with the Valle over an attack on her would be premature.”

  “Mortal or no, she is in my coven and that makes her an Equites, which also makes her your responsibility,” Chevalier was glaring at the Elders.

  “We take no serious stand on protecting the mortals that our covens decide to harbor.”

  “A Winchester,” Kyle hissed.

  “Yes a Winchester, but one with no significant powers. If it were up to us, we would send her to the Valle to live with her family. As it were, the affairs of this coven we leave up to the Chief Enforcer.”

  Chevalier growled.

  “She has shown potential for powers, though, given more time they may surface,” Kyle said, just as they had planned.

  “What kind of potential?” one of the Elders asked.

  “There are times when her scent is strong enough to bring down the most controlled of us. We suspect this is the start of her coming to her own, so to say. It’s long rumored that the Winchesters had blood strong enough to drive any heku insane.” Kyle’s lines were well rehearsed but sounded natural.

  “At what times does this scent happen?”

  “We haven’t narrowed it down yet, but we will. If we can find out the cause, we may be able to see if we can provoke powers from her during that time,” Chevalier said confidently.

  “The scent is simply stronger?”

  “Yes it is stronger, but it is also different,” Kyle added.

  “If it is in any way tied to the destruction of the immortal, we will need to know immediately,” Selest said, watching them intently.