Valle : Book 2 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  She didn’t have time to react before he picked her up by her shoulders, and sunk his sharp teeth into her neck. Emily tried to push him away, but his grip on her shoulders was too tight and she couldn’t move her arms. She felt the warm numbing sensation in her neck as he finished and gently kissed her, then sat her back down, grinning.

  “I’ve told you, never tease a heku. We don’t have the restraint,” he chuckled.

  Emily swung as hard as she could and felt her fist connect with his jaw as the crack of bones echoed off of the trees. Her eyes were fierce as she watched him feel his jaw and look over at her.

  “You’re lucky I don’t ash you where you stand,” she screamed at him.

  “You needed a good bite, now let me see your hand.” He reached his hand out to her.

  Emily turned on her heels and walked back to Patra angrily. She mounted the mare and kicked her hard into a gallop. She was acutely aware that Chevalier was right behind her. As she got closer to the barn, her adrenaline wore off and she felt the harsh pounding pain in her hand. She pulled it up to her chest and rode into the barn one-handed, then glared when she saw both Kyle and Sam waiting for her.

  “What?!?” she yelled at them as she slid off her horse. Sam took the reins quickly, not meeting her eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Kyle asked curiously, noting she was only using one hand.

  “You thirsty too, Kyle? You want some of this?” She pulled her collar away from her neck as he stepped away from her with wide eyes.

  “Erm… no,” he said, watching the vein throb in her neck. He could smell fresh blood on her, and had to use full control to keep from taking her up on her offer.

  “Oh, but why not? It’s open buffet night, didn’t you hear?” She took another step toward him.

  Kyle felt thousands of years of instincts rise to the surface, and he couldn’t help but inhale deeply. The burn in the back of his throat was painful. Regaining some control, he turned his face to the side, away from her scent, “Stop it.”

  Emily stormed past him into the castle. Kyle bent over and put his hands on his knees and breathed slowly to clear his head.

  “I hear you,” Chevalier said, slapped him on the back, and then following Emily into the castle.

  He caught up easily to Emily on the stairs and took her good hand, then chuckled when she ripped her hand out of his.

  “Come on,” he said, walking behind her.

  Emily didn’t answer him as she stepped into her ante-chamber, took Allen from Anna, and walked into her room before slamming the door shut.

  “Damnit,” Allen said when the door shut, and Chevalier grinned.

  Anna looked at Chevalier and shook her head.

  “What?” he asked.

  She held her tongue, he was still her superior. Deciding against yelling at the Chief Enforcer, she walked out of the ante-chamber.

  Chevalier knocked on the door, “Emily?”

  She didn’t answer, but he could hear Allen laughing inside.

  “Emily, I really want to look at your hand,” he said, trying the door handle, it was locked.

  “I’m sorry, ok? I won’t do it again… can I come in now?” he called through the door. When she didn’t answer, he put just enough pressure on the door to tear it from its hinges.

  Emily was sitting on the floor playing with Allen and she didn’t look up when he entered. He saw her swollen and bruised hand sitting in her lap as she tickled Allen with the other.

  “Em…” he started, but she cut him off.

  “You know what, Chev? I can’t even deal with you right now,” she told him, still playing with Allen.

  “You know as well as I do that I’m going to see your hand, whether you like it or not,” he said, trying to sound angry, but she picked up the hint of amusement.

  “Anna,” Emily said. Within a few seconds, Anna appeared with a cookie and took Allen away.

  “Is that what you’re thinking?” she asked, standing up. He saw the mistake in what he just said. He made this into a challenge for her.

  “That’s not what I meant, Emily.” He took a step back, his grin fading.

  “Then get out,” she snapped at him.

  “No, I want to see your hand.” He watched her carefully.

  “How old am I?” she asked, her green eyes glared at him.

  “Are we comparing age?” he asked. He fought to control the look on his face. He still found it amusing when she stood up to him.

  “Do I need to remind you that I can take care of myself?” She took another step toward him, and her words made Chevalier take a step back.

  “No, I’m perfectly aware that you can take care of yourself.” He braced himself, waiting for the burning pain to start.

  “Then get out,” she said through gritted teeth.

  Chevalier sighed, “Let’s just calm down, ok? I’m sorry I bit you. I’m sorry I treated you like a child… again.”

  She watched him suspiciously.

  “Now, I’m not treating you like a child, I just want to see your hand, to see if it’s broken.” He took a step toward her.

  “It is,” she said icily.

  “Then let’s go get it taken care of.” He held his hand out for her.

  She set her jaw and her eyes narrowed, “No.”

  “Now you’re just being difficult, we have to have it looked at.” He wondered how such a tiny thing could put out so much rage.

  “Get out.” She pointed to the door.

  “You want to be stubborn? Then fine,” he said, and appeared behind her. He put one restraining arm around her waist and one around her chest.

  Emily screamed, frustrated. She reached down and sunk her teeth deep into the flesh on his arm. He pulled his arm away quickly when she pulled off a chunk and spit it onto the ground.

  “Damnit, Em, that hurts,” he growled before pushing her onto the bed and out of his way for her own safety.

  He watched as his arm healed, and then went toward the bed, “This isn’t a game. This isn’t some ruse to get your Irish blood boiling.”

  When he got close enough to her, she kicked out at him, and he dodged easily and landed on top of her, pinning her to the bed, “Stop it.”

  Emily leaned up and kissed him, crushing her lips to his and wrapping her arms around him. Chevalier tried to pull away, but she grabbed a handful of his hair with her good hand and the argument ended.

  ***

  Chevalier brushed the hair off of her face and smiled as they curled up in next to each other.

  “No fair, you distracted me,” he said, and then grinned.

  “You want to talk about fair? You bit me,” she reminded him.

  He laughed, “Oh yeah… well… you bit me back.”

  “That’s not the same, and you know it.” She rolled over to look at him.

  “I’m sorry, really, Em,” he said, and then kissed her softly.

  “Next time you try that… I will fight back.” Her eyes were serious.

  “Fair enough.” He ran his hand gently from her neck down to her shoulder.

  “What did Larsen do?” She propped herself up on one elbow.

  Chevalier watched her for a moment, “It was a long time ago, don’t worry about it, ok?”

  “Tell me.”

  He sighed, “Larsen became weak and was released from the Council.”

  Emily frowned, “That’s it?”

  “That’s enough. We can’t have weakness on the Council. The second you show a sign of losing your edge, your position will be taken over by someone else, and then you are banished.” He bent over and kissed her shoulder.

  “Wait… so if you show the slightest sign of weakness, you are buried for 600 years? Then you turn into this old haggard thing and are kicked out of the faction?”

  “Not always 600 years, but yes, that’s the general idea.” He looked into her eyes, wondering what was going through her mind.

  Emily sat up, holding the covers over her, “They were going to do that t
o you, weren’t they? That day after the Valle attack, when Selest said they were going to replace you.”

  He nodded and sat up.

  “They were going to bury you and let you starve?” she asked, frowning.

  “Emily it didn’t happen.” He touched her arm softly.

  “When were you going to tell me that? Were you just going to go into the ground and avoid having to tell me?”

  “No, I would have had time to tell you.” He wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her to him.

  “I’m so not ok with that!” she said, pulling away from him. “Is that what’s going to happen someday? Someday someone will think you’re showing a weakness, and then the next day you’ll just be gone?”

  “It’s not going to happen. I’m good at my job, and I don’t have a weakness.” He grinned slightly, but stopped when he saw the look of terror in her eyes.

  “Quit”

  “I can’t quit.”

  “Why not?”

  “Same thing would happen. It’s for the good of the faction. They can’t have ex-council members running around trying to cause problems.” This was all common and well known. He couldn’t figure out why she was making such a big deal out of it.

  “So you’re perfectly ok with that? Oooooh sure, kill me off because someone thinks I’m a wimp? What if it’s tomorrow? What if they use me as an excuse like they already tried to?”

  She pulled the sheets off the bed, wrapped them around herself, and disappeared into the bathroom, still cradling her injured hand.

  “It’s not going to happen. You have to trust me on that.” He watched her go, and then dressed quickly.

  A short while later, Emily came out dressed, “Why do you suppose we fight so much?” she asked, sitting down to slip on some shoes.

  “I’m guessing for the making-up.”

  “I’m serious, one of these days one of us is going to end up dead.”

  Chevalier sighed, “I know.”

  Emily got up and sat down in one of the chairs by the fireplace, “What do we do about it?”

  “I wish I knew.” He sat down next to her.

  “Do you still love me?” she asked, watching for a reaction.

  Chevalier frowned, “Of course I do.”

  “Are you happy?”

  “Yes, what’s all this? Are you still in love with me?” he asked, unsure what caused all of this.

  Emily smiled softly, “Very much so.”

  “Then why the questions?”

  She shrugged, “I guess just making sure. We don’t do anything but fight anymore it seems.”

  “We’ll work on it, ok? Maybe we should take the yacht out for a while.” He ran through his schedule in his mind, looking for a free week.

  Emily stood up, excited, and sat in his lap, “Really? Just us?”

  He looked into her green eyes and smiled, “Yes, really. As soon as we get your hand fixed.”

  She kissed him and threw her arms around his neck, “Thank you.”

  “I’ll make the arrangements.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

  Chapter 13 - Complacency

  “Enter,” Chevalier said, and wondered who was knocking on his office door at 3am.

  Anna entered with Allen in her arms, and he was crying, “Sorry to bother you, Sir. I can’t calm him down.”

  Chevalier took Allen in his arms and he immediately settled down.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked the toddler.

  “Bu bye,” he said, waving to the hallway.

  Chevalier pulled Allen close to him, and Allen rested his head on his Dad’s shoulder.

  “Where’s Em?” he asked Anna.

  “I don’t know. I found Allen scooting down the stairs by himself, and she isn’t in her room,” Anna said, worry sounding in her voice.

  “She left Allen alone?” Chevalier frowned, that wasn’t like her.

  Anna shrugged, “She must have.”

  “Take Allen back upstairs. Kyle and I will see if we can find her,” he said, and handed the half asleep toddler back to Anna.

  Anna left quickly before Allen could realize he wasn’t with his Dad anymore.

  “Kyle?” Chevalier called, stepping out of his office.

  “Yes, Sir?” Kyle asked, blurring by his side.

  “Em’s gone, we need to find her,” he said to Kyle.

  Kyle grinned, “Fight again and she took off?”

  Chevalier frowned, “Anna found Allen coming down the stairs alone, and she’s not in her room.”

  “Wait… she left Allen alone?” Kyle was beginning to become concerned.

  Both of the heku headed out to the barn.

  “Sam?” Chevalier called out, and the familiar quickly appeared.

  “A bit late for a ride isn’t it?” he asked, yawning.

  Chevalier looked around the barn and saw Patra in her stall, “Have you seen Emily tonight?”

  “No, I haven’t. I take it you two fought again and she took off?” Sam asked, stifling another yawn.

  “Would you both stop saying that? We don’t fight all the time,” he growled at Sam and turned, but Kyle was gone.

  “Hey, Chevalier?” he heard Kyle call from outside and the heku appeared at his side.

  Chevalier didn’t need to ask what Kyle called him for. He could smell the sweet blood strongly outside of the barn, “What in the hell is she doing out here?”

  Kyle shrugged, “Odd that she didn’t get Patra,” he said, following the scent.

  They walked through the dark pastures, following her trail for almost thirty minutes before Chevalier stopped suddenly, “Is that her?”

  Kyle looked where Chevalier pointed and saw a still figure standing along the trees, unmoving.

  As he blurred closer to the form, he could tell it was Emily. She was standing perfectly still and looking into the trees. Although it was a cold, rainy night, she was wearing only her nightgown and her hair fell down her back.

  “Emily, what are you doing out here?” Chevalier asked.

  “Em?” Kyle said, appearing by her side.

  They both waited for her to respond and followed her gaze into the trees, but didn’t see anything.

  “Emily?” Chevalier said, stepping in front of her and looking at her face. She didn’t move, and her eyes didn’t pull away from wherever it was she was staring.

  “Em?” Kyle said again, and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

  “Emily,” Chevalier said louder as he put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. Her eyes were dull and unfocused.

  He slipped off his shirt and put it around her shoulders. His hand brushed her shoulder and her skin was freezing.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Kyle asked, watching her.

  “I don’t know, but she’s freezing, let’s get her inside.” Chevalier picked her up easily and headed quickly back inside.

  Kyle followed beside them. He looked over at her and she was staring blankly into the night.

  “Is she sick?” he finally asked when they stepped into the warmth of the castle.

  “I don’t know, I mean… she wasn’t sick earlier,” Chevalier explained and headed up the stairs.

  Anna watched as Chevalier carried Emily into the bedroom and she took Allen into Chevalier’s room to sleep.

  Chevalier laid Emily down on the bed and was shocked when she rolled onto her side and fell asleep. He frowned at Kyle and shrugged before pulling the covers up over her. Kyle was already stoking the fire.

  Kyle motioned for Chevalier to follow him out of the room.

  “Ok... what was that?” Chevalier asked, shutting the door behind him.

  “That’s the weirdest thing,” Kyle said, watching the door.

  “I guess I’ll just watch her carefully tomorrow. Oh damn, I can’t… I have to be in council meetings all day,” Chevalier said, thinking.

  “I’ll do it. It’s been so calm around here lately it’d be a nice break,”

&n
bsp; “Her scent is off too, close, but something’s changed,” Chevalier said, and glanced back at the door.

  “I’ll watch her.”

  Chevalier nodded and headed back into Emily’s room. He shut the doors and crawled into bed with her, then wrapped his arms around her and watched her sleep.

  ***

  Kyle heard Emily get out of bed and walk around the room a bit. He and Chevalier decided not to bring up the following night unless she brought it up first. Chevalier had left a few hours before, and wouldn’t be home until well after midnight.

  “Good morni…” Kyle began, but froze. Emily came out and he looked at her oddly.

  She smiled sweetly at him, “Good morning.”

  “You ok?” he asked her.

  “Of course,” Emily said, and walked past him and out into the hallway. Her hair was hanging loosely down to her waist, and she wore a light pink sun dress. Kyle took a second look, and was sure she had on make-up, too.

  He followed Emily down the stairs silently, and each heku they passed turned to take a second look at her.

  “What are your plans for today?” Kyle asked, knowing she would fight him over the question, but he decided he’d take a fight over the uncharacteristic way she walked in the sun dress and ran her fingers along her necklace.

  “Once I get breakfast, I thought I might take Allen to do something fun,” she said pleasantly.

  Kyle couldn’t even answer. He simply followed her into the kitchen where Gordon was waiting for her.

  “Good morning, Emily,” he said, and looked at her dress oddly. “I have your favorite this morning, bacon and eggs.”

  “Oh no, that’s way too fattening. I’ll take half a grapefruit and some cottage cheese, please.” She sat at the table and pulled the napkin into her lap.

  Gordon stopped with the plate in his hand, looked questioningly at Kyle, and then disappeared into the kitchen to make her another breakfast.

  Kyle watched as Emily ate slowly, and then thanked Gordon before leaving the dining room. She ran up the stairs, and Kyle couldn’t help but watch suspiciously. Everything from the way she flipped her hair, to the way she held her hand out to her side was unlike Emily.

  “Hello, my sweet boy,” Emily crooned when she saw Allen playing on the floor with Anna.

  Allen walked quickly to Emily and she picked him up and kissed all over his face, “What do you want to do today?