Chapter 10 - Paris

A noise in the living room woke Emily. She sat up and looked at the time, it was almost 5am. The noises were familiar, and she immediately felt the fury rising. Pulling on a robe, she stepped out into the hallway and followed the noises into the living room where she saw Damon, again on the couch with a prostitute.

“Damon!” she screamed.

“Just ignore her,” Damon said to the black haired woman, and began to kiss her again.

“Damon, I’m warning you,” Emily scowled, and quickly went to the kitchen, then came out carrying a large knife.

“Oh my God!” the woman screamed, and stood up quickly, pulling her skirt down.

“Get out,” Emily told her, and then watched as she ran out the front door.

Emily tossed the knife back into the kitchen, and turned to face Damon when he stood up.

“I said no prostitutes in this house as long as my son is around,” Emily said angrily.

“It’s my house, and I can do what I want,” Damon said, crossing his arms.

“Not as long as there’s a 4-year-old in it. You will watch yourself.”

“That’s the second time you’ve ruined my fun, and I won’t stand for it,” Damon growled.

“Fun? You call that fun? I just lost so much respect for the Council,” Emily yelled.

Damon was at her in an instant, and she didn’t have time to duck when he backhanded her and sent her to the floor, “You will not speak badly about the Council!”

Emily got quickly to her feet and looked at Damon as he doubled over screaming, his hands frantically clutching at his chest. The veins and muscles in his neck stood out as the pain increased, and he could feel himself slowly burning from the inside. The pain stopped suddenly and he stood up slowly, trying to catch his breath.

“Touch me again, and I’ll ash you so fast you won’t know what hit you,” Emily said, scowling at him.

“You can’t ash me, Sweetheart. I’m the only one that can revive your precious Elder if he’s incinerated when we get back,” Damon said, grinning. He realized that with the bruise forming on Emily’s cheek, he would have more to deal with when they got back than having to revive a few heku.

“Maybe if you decide to screw anything with a skirt, the Council won’t need you when we go back,” Emily growled, her hands balled into tight fists.

“They don’t care what I do in my personal life, they all do it too. So don’t get your pretty head worked up over me,” Damon said, amused. He stepped closer to Emily, and grinned when she took a step back and found only wall.

“I seriously doubt the Council would stoop to hiring prostitutes,” Emily said, glaring.

Damon grinned and pinned her to the wall with his body and kissed her before responding, “Not everyone can find a delicious little mortal to marry so we can fuck any time we want.”

Emily leaned her head back and smashed her forehead into his nose, a crunching sound echoed through the empty hallway. Damon yelled and took a step backwards, unable to see while his nose healed, “Damnit.”

“If you ever kiss me again, I’ll remove those lips,” she said, and took a step around him.

Emily felt hands on her shoulders and was soon falling forward as Damon pushed her to the ground. He flipped her over and pinned her to the floor with his hand around her neck.

“I won’t stand here and be threatened by a nothing mortal like you,” he said to her.

“Get your hands off of me,” Emily said scathingly. His hand tightened and suddenly, she couldn’t breathe.

“Until you learn a little respect, your life here in France just got a lot harder,” Damon said, and released his grip a bit to let her breathe.

Emily clawed at his hand, “I could never respect you, and if the Council doesn’t let you go for this, then I’ve lost all respect for them, too.”

Damon hissed and tightened his hand around her throat. He got a rush at the way she struggled to breathe beneath his fingers, and how her small body fought against him uselessly. Again, he relaxed his grip enough to let her breathe some.

“Respect, Emily… and obedience, it’ll make your life much easier. We could be here a while you know. No Elder to protect you, and I outrank Kyle and Mark,” Damon said, grinning.

“Is that obedience to you or your dick? Seems to me like it’s running your thoughts anyway,” Emily whispered angrily.

Damon couldn’t pull back the anger rising within him. He no longer saw her as anything more than noncompliant prey. With his hand around her neck, he picked her head up slightly and slammed it back onto the carpeted floor. Alexis began to cry from the bedroom, and he ignored her as he tightened his grip around Emily’s neck.

“I’d hate for Alexis to be without a mother… all because her mother was too stupid to shut up,” Damon hissed.

Emily pulled frantically at his fingers, unable to move them as she tried to breathe. Her lungs ached for air and the sound of the baby’s crying started to sound far away and muffled. She couldn’t focus enough to burn Damon. Her mind was filled with panic and the need to breathe.

Damon watched through predatory eyes as she fought to free herself from his strong grasp. Deciding to end it, he raised his fist above her head. One quick movement and he would crush her skull in an instant, stopping the insolence.

Emily felt air flow into her lungs as a flash above her eyes hit Damon from the side and knocked him into the dining room. She turned over onto her hands and knees and gasped for air. She could hear the scuffle from the dining room, and angry voices yelling at Damon. She looked up as Kyle and Damon’s fight moved into the living room, smashing walls and furniture as they blurred around each other.

Emily focused on Damon and the fight ended as he screamed and fell to the floor, writhing in agony. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and she heard a panicked voice yell her name. She didn’t care who it was, she focused on Damon to control herself. She wanted a slow, torturous burn.

Mark took her face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

“Stop it,” he said sternly.

Mark took a moment to study her. She had a bruise on her cheek with a small cut that sent a drop of blood down her face, and her eye was black and quickly swelling shut. Fierce purple bruises stood out on her neck and jaw.

“Stop it,” Mark said again, and the screams from behind him stopped. He turned quickly, unsure if he would find a pile of ash, or Damon, released from his pain.

“You Bitch!” Damon yelled, and the weight of him slammed against her as she crashed into the coffee table, sending splinters of wood around the room.

She screamed as her soft mortal flesh was ripped apart by the shattered table. She could see Kyle and Silas restraining Damon as he struggled to get to her. The smell of her blood sent his violent personality past the edge of reason.

Emily narrowed her eyes at him, ignoring the pain in her back, and Damon again screamed as the burn smell returned. Mark was suddenly blocking her view, her face again in his hands.

“Let him go,” Mark said firmly.

Emily laid her head down on the floor and released Damon from the burning pain.

“That is enough!” Kyle yelled. Emily couldn’t see past Mark, so she wasn’t sure if he was mad at Damon or both of them.

Emily pushed Mark’s hands away, “Get your hands off of me.”

Mark moved away from Emily just in time for her to see Silas push Damon out the back door and slam the door behind him. She stayed where she was on the floor, and looked up at the ceiling as she tried to calm her temper and ascertain how badly she was hurt.

Kyle blurred from the room and returned with Alexis, still crying in his arms. She was furiously kicking and her tiny face was red with anger. Allen was standing behind Kyle’s legs, shaking with fear as tears streamed down his face.

Mark knelt down beside her again once he was able to control his thirst, the smell of her blood was enticing and hard to ignore. He put his hands on her shoulders, “Roll over, let me see your back.”

Emily pushed his hands again forcefully, “I said, don’t touch me.”

Allen’s entire posture changed when he caught her scent. His small body crouched low, and a hiss escaped his lips as he drew them back to expose his teeth. He lunged at Emily, but Mark was able to catch him and pull him out into the backyard.

Emily sat up slowly. She could feel the wetness on the back of her shirt from the blood as she used the couch to stand up. The world shifted beneath her feet, but she caught the wall to steady herself. Her head was pounding, and her throat burned as she walked up to Kyle and took the baby from him.

Kyle watched to make sure she made it into the bedroom, and then turned to the backyard when he heard the bedroom door lock. He blurred out to Damon and glared at him.

“What the hell was that? We leave you alone for 12 hours and you try to kill each other?” Kyle growled.

“That woman is impossible! What does he see in her?” Damon asked angrily.

“I would expect more out of a member of the Council,” Kyle said harshly, he knew he was overstepping, but didn’t care. The image of Damon poised to kill Emily was fresh in his mind.

“I won’t let her speak to me like that. She’s just a mortal,” Damon said, standing up as his anger began to turn into panic.

“She’s just a Winchester… just an Elder’s wife…” Kyle said, and watched Damon closely as Silas let go of him.

“I don’t have to take that from her. I’m an ‘old one’ and a member of the Council,” Damon said, glaring.

“Who threw the first punch?” Kyle asked.

Damon sighed, “I did… but she deserved it.”

“What started this thing anyway?” Mark asked, still holding onto Allen.

“Damnit, I thought she was asleep so… I had a friend over…” Damon said, and sighed. It all seemed like a stupid fight now that his head was clearing.

“I take it you didn’t find a nice remote bedroom,” Kyle said, irritated.

“No… she was asleep!” Damon said, trying to defend himself. “I don’t see any of you inside interrogating her, blaming her for trying to kill me.”

“Why should we? It’s easy to see that this all started because of a serious lack of judgment on your part,” Kyle hissed.

Damon stood up and crossed his arms, “I’m still a member of the Equites Council, and as such, I demand you show me the respect I deserve.”

Kyle sighed and walked back inside, followed by Silas, Mark, and Allen.

Kyle knocked on the bedroom door, “Em? Can I come in?”

When no one responded, Kyle tapped the door under the handle and broke the lock, then walked into the room and shut the door behind him. The smell of fresh blood hit him, and he winced slightly and waited until the desire to feed passed. The room was dark, but he saw Emily sitting on the bed nursing Alexis and looking at up at him.

Kyle sat down on the bed, avoiding looking at Emily. He looked around the room for a moment and then sighed, “How badly are you hurt?”

When Emily didn’t answer him, he risked a glance at her. She was still watching him through her one good eye.

“Fine, I’ll talk,” Kyle said, turning back to the wall. “Damon told me what happened, and while I admit it was stupid on his part, you have got to learn to control your temper. It’s bad enough to have Chevalier lose his temper with you, but Damon doesn’t have as much control as the Elder does.”

Kyle waited a few minutes before he spoke again, “When you’re ready to talk, we’ll be in the living room.”

Kyle glanced again at Emily, and then left the room when she didn’t respond.

“How bad is she?” Mark asked when Kyle sat down on the couch.

“I don’t know. She’s not talking,” Kyle said, and looked at Silas. “Fill Damon in on what you told us in the limo.”

“You saw the start of it, how the Coven Heads filled the council chamber, accusing the Council of keeping the child heku and the Winchester baby a secret from them,” Silas started. “After you left, things got heated and the Council was forcibly removed from their chairs and thrown into prison.”

“One at a time, they were taken up to the council chambers, where a make-shift council interrogated them for hours on end. They were demanding to know where Emily had gone, but, as you know, none of them knew. This went on for two weeks,” Silas said quietly.

“The Cavalry mounted when it was clear and staged outside of the city with a lot of the heku from town. Most were afraid to even leave their houses, but a few risked it and stood with us as we waited for a break to free the Council.”

“We were getting updates from a guard that was stationed down in the prison. He was able to send us small notes of what was going on, at great personal risk to himself. He let us know as soon as the Coven Heads killed the first member of the Council, Saul,” Silas said quietly.

“We arranged an attack. A time when the Cavalry would invade the palace simultaneous to the release of the entire Council by the guard. When the time came, we rallied with the remaining council members and stormed the council chambers. The Coven Leaders had started to fight among themselves and weren’t prepared for our attack.”

“The fight lasted only about an hour, that’s when we saw that Nelson had been killed. He was the only loss on our side from that fight. Four Coven Leaders died, but the rest were restrained by council members and the Cavalry. As soon as word got out that the true Council had regained control, those hiding in the city flooded into the palace to show their support.”

“A warning was sent out to every coven in the Equites that no further action would be tolerated. The Coven Leaders that spearheaded the mutiny were taken to the cells to be tried as soon as Damon returns. The Cavalry was put in charge of finding you, and we’ve spent the last three weeks searching for any sign of your whereabouts,” Silas said, and smiled slightly.

“We have pulled bank reports, phone records, and have every supporting coven out trying to catch any sign of Emily’s scent. We figured that was the one thing you would have a hard time masking. I have to give you all credit, until the phone call from Kyle, we were beginning to wonder if we would ever find you.”

“Now is the hard part, do we believe you?” Kyle asked, glancing from Mark to Damon.

Damon shrugged, “There’s no reason for him to lie here. He’s not under duress.”

“He could be though, told to bring us back or the Council will die. He would be obligated to do whatever he could to make sure and keep the Council safe,” Mark said.

“I believe him,” Damon said, nodding.

“There’s one thing I am to read to you. I kept it for when you were all together,” Silas said, and pulled a piece of paper from his back pocket.

Defenders,

“That’s what we’ve been calling you three…” Silas explained.

Defenders,

We know how hard it must be to not have any word of the happenings of the Council, unsure if it’s safe to return or not and unsure who to believe. This note is to do nothing more than to tell you that in no way will you be in danger from the Council if you chose not to return with Silas. We understand completely the burden we’ve placed on you by putting the sole Winchester heirs in your care, and cannot imagine the pressure you have gone through the last six weeks.

You may keep Silas with you if it will help, if not, please send him back with word on how you are all doing. As we understand your reluctance to return to Council City, we hope you can find a way to validate what he has told you and return posthaste.

If there is any way in which we can help with your decision, please let us know.

The Equites Elders

“That’s it,” Silas said, and handed the letter to Damon. “They just wanted you to know that they aren’t mad that you haven’t made your location known.”

“First of all, you can’t go back, Silas, not until we are ready. You know too much,” Damon said, and turned to Kyle and Mark. “What do we do now?”

“If I may speak openly for a moment…” Silas said, and looked at Damon.

“By all means,” Damon said.

“You can’t go back right now anyway. We call you the Defenders because you were appointed to defend and protect Emily… right now, it doesn’t look too good for you,” Silas said softly.

Kyle glanced at Damon, “He’s right, the Elders aren’t going to like the look of her.”

“It won’t matter what she looks like. The second Chevalier gets word of what happened, I’m dead anyway,” Damon said bluntly.

Mark nodded.

The heku all turned when Emily’s door opened. They watched as she walked into the kitchen and they could hear her preparing an ice pack. Kyle stood up to go to her, but Damon held out a hand and went instead.

Emily pressed the bag of ice against her swollen eye and turned to leave. She froze when she saw Damon standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Come back for round 2?” she asked icily.

“No, I came to make sure you’re ok,” Damon said.

“Yeah, sure.”

“I’m sorry, ok? I never should have let it get that out of hand, and I apologize,” Damon said truthfully. He felt guilty at the damage he had done to her, and wished he could somehow make it up to her.

“Sure you do,” Emily said, and pushed past him into the hallway.

“Will you let someone look at your back, please?” Damon asked. She had a new shirt on, but the blood was also soaking through it.

Emily turned to him, the ice bag still held over her eye, “Do I have a choice?”

Damon nodded, “Yes, you do.”

Emily answered him by returning to the bedroom and slamming the door shut. She tried to lock it, but found that the lock was broken.

Through the entire night, the heku discussed ways to safely find the condition of the palace and its true Council. Silas tried in vain to convince them that it was safe to return, and by dawn, nothing more had been decided.

Emily came out early in the morning and handed the baby to Kyle. She walked into the kitchen using the wall as support, and started making herself some breakfast. They heard the chef come in, but she immediately sent him away. The heku just sat in the living room and listened to her moving about in the kitchen.

Kyle joined her when she sat at the kitchen table and pushed the scrambled eggs around the plate, taking only a few bites.

“Are you ready to talk?” he asked, watching her.

“About what?”

“About what happened with you and Damon yesterday.”

“Nothing happened,” she said, and took a small bite.

“What are you playing at?”

Emily shrugged and winced, “Nothing happened, period.”

“Ok… so the smell of blood is just a mistake. Your eye isn’t really swollen shut, you don’t have a cut on your cheek, and the purple bruises on your neck are just a new fangled necklace?” he asked, frustrated.

“Nothing happened,” she said again, and got up to wash the plate.

Emily reached up and shut the curtains in the kitchen. The light was too bright and making her head hurt worse. She quickly washed the dishes, ignoring the way Kyle watched her, and then went back into the bedroom. She went to shut the door, but Kyle slipped in first.

“Where’s Alex?” Emily asked, sitting down on the bed.

“Mark has her.”

Emily laid back on the bed and threw a cold rag over her forehead, then curled up with the pillow. The muscles in her neck, back, and shoulders were hurting, and it was getting harder to hide the pain from anyone watching.

Kyle watched Emily sleep for a few hours and then quietly left the room. Just as he rounded the corner into the living room, he was grabbed from behind and restrained while someone else held a hand over his mouth. Kyle saw that Damon and Mark were also being restrained and were fighting angrily. The men holding them were in all black, with black masks covering their faces.

Silas was standing and watching, unrestrained, with Alexis in his arms.

“Stop fighting, it’s the Cavalry,” Silas whispered, as each of the heku took off their masks. The three Defenders stopped fighting as they recognized their captors. The Cavalry kept a restraining grip on each of the heku Defenders and watched out the door.

They heard a car drive up, and two people step out of it. Soon, Chevalier and Zohn stepped into the villa and the Defenders were released.

Kyle, Mark, and Damon gathered together, crouching defensively against their faction members as they blocked the hallway entrance.

“It’s over,” Chevalier said, looking around.

“How do we know that?” Damon hissed.

“You can be damned sure I wouldn’t have worked this hard to find you if it weren’t safe,” Chevalier said, and glanced at Zohn.

“He’s right, it’s over,” Zohn said softly. He watched the three with respect and gratitude.

“I owe you more than you could ever imagine,” Chevalier said, and headed for the hallway. Allen broke out from behind the three Defenders and jumped into Chevalier’s arms.

“Daddy!” he yelled. “You’re here!”

“I am, finally,” Chevalier said, and hugged his son tightly.

“Mommy’s sleeping,” Allen whispered.

Chevalier nodded, “Ok, let’s let her sleep.”

Chevalier put Allen down and took Alexis from Silas. She looked at him strangely, and then her tiny bottom lip began to quiver and she started to cry. He tried rocking her, but she only screamed louder. Damon sighed and took her from Chevalier. She immediately quieted down and slipped her fingers in her mouth.

“Sorry, Elder,” Damon said, and watched as Chevalier sat down on the couch. The rest of the heku also sat down, except Damon, who stood to rock the baby.

Allen sat on Chevalier’s lap and grinned, “Guess what I got to do?”

Kyle looked at him with wide eyes.

“What’s that?” Chevalier asked, only half interested. He was watching how Kyle, Mark, and Damon kept glancing at each other, and was trying to figure out what they were hiding from him.

“I got to feed directly from a woman,” Allen said excitedly.

Chevalier looked at him, surprised, “You did?”

“Well… we were feeding anyway and…” Kyle said, but stopped. He wasn’t sure how to explain that.

“Emily allowed that?” Chevalier asked, frowning.

“It’s sometimes better to ask forgiveness than permission,” Allen said, quoting Kyle perfectly.

Kyle buried his face in his hands while the rest of the heku laughed.

“I see, and did Mommy ever find out?” Chevalier asked, now grinning.

“Yup, she said they were hoopers,” Allen said, trying not to leave out any details.

“What’s a hooper?” Zohn asked him.

Allen shrugged, “I don’t know what a hooper is.”

Chevalier’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Mark, “Did you let my son feed from a hooker?”

Mark stopped laughing and glanced at Damon.

“It was no big deal. He only got her wrist,” Damon said quickly.

Chevalier rubbed his eyes, “Emily knows you let Allen feed from a hooker?”

Kyle grimaced, “Yeah… we’ve been getting punished for that for about a week.”

“She said if we all got too thirsty, we had to drink from her,” Allen said, and Kyle prayed silently to any god that would listen, that Allen would shut up.

Chevalier growled.

“No! We didn’t do it though! We wouldn’t have done that,” Mark said suddenly.

“Is that the secret then?” Chevalier asked them.

“What secret?” Mark asked.

“It’s obvious that you three are keeping something from me, and I’d like to know what it is,” Chevalier said. He glanced at Zohn and the Chief Interrogator nodded. He spotted the same thing almost immediately when they walked in.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Damon said. He knew the truth would come out soon enough.

“Try it,” Zohn said, his eyes narrowing in on Damon. The Council had learned quickly that Zohn already possessed an innate ability to tell if someone was lying to him. It came with the position of Interrogator, but normally took more time to acquire.

Damon glanced at Kyle, who then turned and looked at Mark as Silas stood silently in the corner.

“You better start talking,” Chevalier said angrily.

“Emily and I… well…” Damon said as his mind raced, looking for a way to soften the blow. “We had a... kind of… run in.”

“Define, run in,” Chevalier said, turning to face him.

“I tried to run away,” Emily said from the hallway entrance.

Chevalier stood and turned to her. It took him less than a second to take in the bruises and the smell of blood.

“My God, Emily.” He was at her in a blur and turned to Damon, “This better be damned good.”

Damon cringed and Mark took the baby from him.

“I can explain,” Damon said.

“Let me,” Emily told him. “I waited until Kyle and Mark were gone. I thought if I could make it to Paris, that I could get a flight back. Damon tried to stop me… and I kind of... burned him a bit.”

Chevalier was watching Damon, as Damon fought to keep his face neutral. The last thing Damon expected was to be saved by the one person he recently tried to kill.

“Go on,” Chevalier growled.

“He kept trying to stop me… I broke his nose… burned him a few times… and I ended up falling into a table to try to get away from him,” Emily explained, as she leaned her throbbing head against Chevalier. She avoided looking at Zohn at all costs. He was studying her face and she felt uncomfortable.

“And the bruises on your neck?” he hissed, still watching Damon.

“I think my neck was the only part of my body not trying to hurt him, he held on. I don’t blame him. I should’ve stayed put, but it’d been so long since we’d heard anything,” Emily said, watching the ground.

“Zohn?” Chevalier asked.

“I’m not buying it,” he said to the Elder.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Emily asked, finally turning to him.

“Not intentionally. I just get the strong impression that you are trying to protect Damon,” Zohn said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why in the hell would I protect that... thing?” Emily asked, glaring at Damon.

“When I get back, I better get the truth,” Chevalier snapped at them, and led Emily into the bedroom.

He shut the door behind them, and Emily turned and pressed against him, burying her face in his chest. When he touched her soft skin, a flash appeared before his eyes. His eyes squinted slightly as he tried to focus on what he was seeing. He could hear Emily and Damon yelling, but couldn’t tell what was being said.

Emily pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes, “What?”

“It’s… it’s like I could see what you were thinking.”

Emily frowned, “How so?”

“I’m not sure, exactly. It was fuzzy and the voices were distorted, but you and Damon were yelling.”

She moved to him and leaned her forehead against his chest.

Chevalier wrapped his arms around her and pulled them away quickly when she gasped as he touched her back. He touched her hair softly and held her.

“They wouldn’t let me call you,” Emily said finally.

“I know, it would have been too risky,” he said, and led her to the bed.

Emily sat down and looked up at him. One of her eyes was still swollen shut. He sat behind her and pulled her shirt up in back. Emily heard him growl slightly and then dropped her shirt back down.

“Table?”

She nodded, “Table.”

“How bad is the headache?” Chevalier asked.

“How did you know?”

“It’s dark in here and you haven’t turned a light on.”

“Oh,” Emily said, and turned to face him. “It’s ok right now.”

Chevalier touched the purple bruises on her neck softly, “Did you pass out when you couldn’t breathe?”

“No,” Emily whispered. “I’m sure it looks worse than it was.”

“Tell me the truth,” Chevalier said as he put his hand under her chin and forced her to look up at him.

“Why are you assuming I’m lying?” she asked, frowning.

“If you wanted to leave, you would have. You can knock a heku unconscious without a second thought, and then you would have been able to stroll out of here,” Chevalier said.

“I’m standing by what I said,” Emily told him.

Chevalier nodded and led her back out into the living room. The Cavalry looked at her uncomfortably, with the dark bruises and cuts visible.

“Damon, find a doctor. I want Emily checked over before we leave,” Chevalier ordered.

“No,” she said, frowning.

“Do it,” Chevalier said.

“I’ll try… we… did that once… and…” Damon said, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

“We had to kill him,” Kyle said, sighing.

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”

“It was when we first got here. We were worried about Emily’s color and the lack of her ability to ash someone, so we called in a favor and got a doctor,” Damon explained. “He said she had a dangerously low blood volume, and accused us of feeding off of her to the point of almost killing her. He was a member of the V.E.S. and was going to report us.”

“Find another one then. I’m not putting her on an airplane until I know she’s ok,” Chevalier said, and then turned to Zohn. “So?”

“I still don’t believe a word of what she said,” Zohn said, and looked at Emily apologetically.

“What about what the heku are saying?” Chevalier asked.

“They won’t say anything about it,” Zohn said, and looked over at Damon as he called around to find a doctor.

Emily walked over and took Alexis from Silas, “This is insane. You have just been through a civil war, and now you’re trying to pick fights within the Council. Just drop it. You aren’t going to find anything incriminating.”

“I’m sure I can,” Zohn told her.

She looked at him, “I don’t like you.”

“I apologize for that.”

“Leave Damon alone.”

“For now, if you wish.”

They sat in awkward silence as the Defenders tried to hide what they had seen and done, and the rest tried to read the truth from them.

Emily spun toward the door when she heard a knock. Just as Damon went to answer it, she climbed over the back of a chair and ran for the back door. Kyle held his arm out and kept her inside.

“It’s just a doctor,” Kyle said, glancing at Chevalier to make sure what he was doing was ok.

“Just let him look, Em,” Chevalier said, amused.

Emily punched Kyle’s nose, and he let go of her and cursed as his nose healed. She made it to the glass door and opened it as Mark’s hands wrapped around her waist and he lifted her back inside.

Chevalier nodded to Mark and he carried her into the room with the doctor.

“How did you get her to see a doctor the first time?” Chevalier asked, chuckling.

Damon shook his head, “We… had to control her.”

“She was too tired to resist,” Kyle said, not sure if Chevalier would be mad or not.

Chevalier started to laugh, “You all deserve overtime pay for this, don’t you?”

They all turned when they heard a noise in the kitchen. Someone was singing in French and rustling the pots and pans. Chevalier walked around the corner and disappeared into the kitchen and the singing stopped.

“Avez-vou faim?” a strange voice said.

“Non, merci,” Chevalier said, and returned to the living room.

“Je devrais appeler la police!” the doctor yelled from Emily’s room as he stepped out, glaring at Mark.

“I got it,” Damon said, and took the doctor’s face in his hands. Within a second, he had full control and talked quickly to the doctor in French.

Damon turned after the doctor had been controlled for a while, and walked back into the room.

“Ayez un beau jour!” the doctor said happily, and waved to them as he left.

Chevalier turned to Mark, “So?”

“Simple enough, concussion, neck bruises and abrasions, cuts and bruises on her back, and he pulled out a few splinters and then the black eye,” Mark said as he avoided Zohn’s eyes.

“Must have been some fight,” Chevalier said to Damon.

Damon nodded.

“So where is she?” Chevalier asked, leaning back to look down the hallway.

“He knocked her out when she wouldn’t cooperate,” Mark said, and sat down on the couch.

“And why was he about to call the police?”

“Because he thought we beat her up,” Mark said with a nervous glance to Damon.

“Great. I vote we leave first thing in the morning,” Chevalier said.

Kyle looked at Damon and he nodded, “Ok.”

“Le dîner est prêt,” the chef called out to the living room.

“Laissez-le et allez,” Chevalier called back and turned to the heku. “Is she awake enough to eat?

Mark shrugged, “I didn’t try to wake her up.”

Chevalier thought for a moment, “Has she said anything about the runes bothering her?”

“Nothing at all,” Kyle said.

Chevalier went to the kitchen and fixed a plate, then took it into Emily’s room. When he stepped into the room, he heard the slow rhythmic breathing as she slept. He set the plate down, slipped off his shoes, and curled up next to her. An hour later, he heard the doorbell ring, but ignored it as she pulled closer to him and tucked her head close to his chest.

He heard the front door open and Damon spoke, “Est-ce que je peux vous aider?”

“You are American, no?” a man’s voice said.

“Yes, I am,” Damon said.

“We are missing a doctor. He came last week to this address and did not return,” the man said.

“Haven’t seen him,” Damon told him.

“If you see him, here is my card. He needs to contact the V.E.S. immediately.”

“Ok,” Damon said, now sounding irritated.

There was a silence, “Might we come in?”

“No”

“Why not? We just want to look for ourselves.” The man’s voice changed, it now had an air of alarm.

“Just the three of you?” Damon asked, and Chevalier sighed. He could already see what was in the works.

“Yes, no harm if we look,” the Frenchman said.

“Sure, come on in,” Damon told them.

There were a few minutes of idle chatter, nothing important, but Chevalier listened closely. From the sounds of it, the three V.E.S. were looking around the outer rooms while the eight heku watched them from the living room. All of them could hear the whispering of the V.E.S. as they suspected them as possible vampires. As the V.E.S. whispered among themselves, Damon translated for those that didn’t speak French. His whispers weren’t heard by the mortals.

“They suspect that only seven of us are vampires, because there’s a dinner made,” Damon whispered, too low for them to hear.

“Now they are wondering how long it will take to get enough reinforcements to kill off the seven of us.”

“They’ve decided it will only take thirty minutes. Get Chevalier,” Damon said, and there was a series of sounds from the living area as the heku readied to leave.

“Time to go, Em,” Chevalier said as he slipped on his shoes and picked her up, still wrapped in blankets. Mark appeared and grabbed the bags from the room, then blurred out.

Chevalier met one of the V.E.S. in the hallway. The Frenchman looked at Emily’s face and pulled out a wooden stake, “You cannot take the woman, the child, or the infant.”

Chevalier raised an eyebrow, “Yes, I can… Kyle.”

Kyle appeared and crouched low in front of the Elder, facing the member of the V.E.S. Before the Frenchman could respond, Kyle ripped the wooden stake from his hand and tossed it against the wall, impaling it halfway through the drywall.

“Obtenez le bebe!” one of the men yelled, and as they turned, they came face-to-face with Damon, who was holding Alexis in one hand and had the neck of their leader with the other.

“Go ahead and try to take this baby from me,” he challenged.

Chevalier passed them in the hallway and crawled into the limousine after Allen. He cradled Emily in his arms and watched as Damon threw the leader against the wall, knocking him out cold, and then blurred into the limousine. The last of the heku got into the car, and Damon ordered the chauffer to drive to the airport. Damon picked up his cell phone to make arrangements with the pilot.

“I’m glad the V.E.S. isn’t as strong in the U.S. as it is in Europe,” Mark said, watching as the terrain flew by.

“You do realize, the V.E.S. was started by one of the Winchester’s original sons?” Chevalier chuckled.

Mark grinned, “No, guess I didn’t.”

“There’s one… minor… change we should probably mention,” Zohn said, looking at Chevalier.

“Damn, I was going to tell her before we left,” Chevalier said, and looked down at Allen.

“What changes?” Kyle asked, frowning.

“Now that the entire faction knows about Emily, Allen, and Alexis, they have sort of turned into… well… almost a royalty,” Chevalier said, trying not to laugh.

“Like how?”

“Well… like… there are gifts sent to them and prayers said in their honor. I’m pretty sure they will be treated differently, and I’m just not sure how Emily is going to take it. She’s convinced the kids will grow up responsible and well-grounded,” Chevalier explained.

“Oh that’s going to be fun.” Kyle laughed.

“I don’t understand, how am I considered royalty?” Allen asked.

“You know you’re the first ever heku child right?” Chevalier asked.

“Yes”

“Well, that’s special, and the people all want to see you and watch you grow.”

“But I am only part heku. I don’t have all of the traits.”

“It doesn’t matter, you have enough,” Chevalier explained.

“And I have a sister that can kill me, how special is that?” Allen asked, looking at the baby in Mark’s arms.

“Let’s hope we don’t have to worry about that for a while,” Chevalier said, and he turned his head so Allen wouldn’t see him laugh.

“We thought she was hard to get along with before, let’s throw a tiara on her,” Damon said, chuckling.

As the heku transferred from the limousine to the jet, they kept a close eye out for any sign of the V.E.S. The plane was loaded and took off peacefully and soon, Emily was asleep in the back room with Alexis. Allen kicked back with a book while the heku displayed the patience that thousands of years granted them, and sat perfectly still and quiet during the long trip.

The plane landed in view of the Blackhawk helicopter known as Equites 1. Chevalier went into the back to wake Emily, but found her sitting on the bed nursing the baby. He sat down on the bed and watched.

“She’s grown so much,” Chevalier said, noticing the way her eyes turned to meet his when he spoke.

Emily nodded, “Yeah, she has.”

“She doesn’t like me much.”

“She doesn’t really know you.”

Chevalier nodded, “When you’re done, the helicopter is waiting.”

“I can go now,” Emily said, and tossed a light blanket over her shoulder. Chevalier lifted her into the tall helicopter and she buckled in, far away from Damon.

Chevalier watched out the window as the palace came into view. The pilot decided to land the Blackhawk on the front lawn. Chevalier looked over at Emily and she was watching out the window, frowning.

“Why aren’t we landing on the roof?” Emily asked Chevalier.

“He’s taking off again immediately. This will be faster,” he told her as the pilot cut the engines.

The large doors opened and the Cavalry jumped out easily, and looked across the gathered crowd. Kyle, Mark, and Damon followed them, and Damon helped Allen down. The crowd grew silent at the sight of the heku child, and they watched him in awe.

Chevalier hopped out of the helicopter and turned to help Emily. She was clinging tightly to Alexis and watching the crowd of people. She had always hated crowds, especially ones that were there to see her. She saw them all turn and look at her, and felt the urge to run. Turning around, Emily ducked under the helicopter to get away from them, but a strong hand wrapped around her waist.

“They won’t hurt you,” Chevalier told her.

“Give me your cape,” she whispered, still facing away from the crowd. Without asking why, he handed her his green cape, and she slipped it on and pulled the hood up to cover her face.

Tucking the baby under the edge of the cloak, Emily moved quickly past the gathered heku and into the palace, not once slowing or looking up.

As they headed up the stairs, Emily dropped the hood and looked over at Chevalier, “What was that all about?”

Chevalier sighed, “It’s all out, Allen and Alexis and their abilities. It’s pretty much made you… well… famous.”

Emily turned and glared at him, “Do what?”

“It’ll pass, I promise. It’s just that now, everyone fully understands why you are in the palace. You’re the only one in the history of our species that has reproduced an immortal. It’s fascinating to them, and they want to see you.”

“Perfect,” Emily said, irritated, and walked up the stairs.

***

The morning after arriving back in the palace, Alexis had Emily up early and she sat in bed and fed the baby while she looked through the newspaper. She was going to call the owner of the Montana ranch to see if it was still available, but if not, she planned on finding another. More now than ever, she felt the need for a secret place of her own. Somewhere she could go to get some shred of normalcy back in her life, and somewhere she could take the kids when it was time to get away.

Chevalier walked in as she was on the phone.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that,” she said, and smiled at him.

Emily gasped, “No, that’s awful.”

Suddenly her face lit up, “Yes! I can be there tomorrow night.”

Chevalier’s eyes narrowed.

“I’ll be ready to take the keys from you at the signing.”

Chevalier sighed and sat down on the bed.

“Yes, yes, Ok, I will see you tomorrow then.” Emily smiled and hung up the phone.

“Leaving?” Chevalier asked.

“The owner of the ranch passed away. He already had the papers filled out for me, so the son is throwing in the estate. He just wants to get rid of it.” She grinned and leaned over to kiss him.

“I guess I figured you would change your mind,” Chevalier told her.

Emily pulled the baby to her shoulder and patted her back softly, “Why would I change my mind?”

“It’s more dangerous now that the factions know about Allen and Alexis. They will want a…” he sighed, “Set of their own.”

Emily frowned, “Then it’s more important than ever that I have a place to go.”

“Will you reconsider one heku? He can help Sam with the ranch and keep an eye out,” Chevalier asked pleadingly. “I could even order him never to contact Council City. He could just be a free field hand.”

“No,” she said bluntly.

Emily handed the baby to Chevalier and started to pack a small bag. He looked at Alexis and she smiled up at him, and then grabbed the collar of his shirt, sticking it into her mouth.

“Are you leaving right now?” he asked her.

“Pretty soon. I’ll take Alexis and Sam, so I can leave Sam there. I’ll need to leave Allen,” she said sadly. “I don’t have any way to feed him.”

Chevalier nodded.

Emily looked over at him, “Can he survive off of the blood of an animal?”

“Yes, if you can get him to drink it. It’s pretty nasty,” Chevalier told her.

“Well what did you all drink while you waited for the mortals to evolve?” She’d wondered that often, but hadn’t bothered to ask.

Chevalier laughed, “They thought animals were good back then. It wasn’t until we tried the blood of a mortal, that we changed our ways.”

Chevalier turned away from her to hide the anger in his face as she checked the clip of her 9mm and put it into the bag. He hated the thought of her out in the world without protection, and the gun reminded him that only part of the danger could be stopped with it.

“Kyle then… you trust Kyle, take him,” Chevalier suggested.

Emily ignored him and grabbed her purse and the bag, “I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone this trip. I need to find a field hand or two and make sure everything’s ready to go before I leave.”

Emily turned toward the bed and jumped when Chevalier appeared suddenly right in front of her.

“Please, don’t do this,” he said, and gently touched her cheek.

Emily pulled him down to her and kissed him softly. After a few moments, she smiled and pulled away from him and took the baby. Emily laughed at Chevalier’s wet collar, and pulled close to him for a hug. She knew this was killing him, but it was something she had to do. She had enough confidence in her abilities to protect herself and Alexis from heku, and she trusted her aim and Sam’s protective nature to keep her safe from the mortals.

“Kyle?” Emily asked, and turned to him when he walked in. “Get Sam please.”

Kyle frowned and glanced at Chevalier. He hesitated and nodded, then watched as Kyle blurred away.

Emily walked into Allen’s room. He was sitting on the bed reading. She sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’m going to buy that ranch. I’ll be gone for a few days,” she told him and kissed his forehead.

“Can I go?” he asked.

Emily shook her head, “Not this time. I need to learn how to feed you first, ok?”

Allen nodded, “I guess.”

Emily hugged him tightly. She knew how badly he wanted to see the new ranch, and how he hated to be too far from her. His protective nature was coming out strongly, and he was most protective of Emily.

“You called for me?” Sam asked from the bedroom. His eyes narrowed when he saw her bruised neck and black eye.

Emily cringed at his voice. She didn’t trust him, or even like him, and wasn’t looking forward to the long trip with her familiar.

“We’re going away for a few days. I am buying a ranch, and you’ll stay there as overseer,” she said, and handed the baby’s bag to him.

Sam nodded, “As you wish.”

Chevalier kissed her though the open window of the Durango, and watched as she drove off. His heart was ready to explode as he saw her leave the protection of the palace with a familiar that neither of them trusted. He knew he could have her followed and she would never know it. He also knew that he could force her to come back, but he had broken enough promises to her and this one he intended to keep.

“Can’t you make her stay?” Allen asked from behind his Dad.

Chevalier nodded, “I can, but I won’t.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I, Son, neither do I.”

“You need to teach me how to feed. That way I can go with her,” Allen said.

Chevalier nodded, “Yes, let’s do that now.”

Emily drove through the day and stopped at a hotel for the night. Sam stayed in the car while Emily and Alexis got some rest. Early the next morning, she emerged, and they continued their drive to Montana. She pulled up to the ranch and looked around excitedly.

“It’s bigger than I thought it would be,” Sam said as he looked around.

“Yeah it is, and now we’re getting the livestock.” Emily turned off the engine and reached around to get Alexis.

“We’re going to need two field hands,” Sam said, stepping out of the Durango.

“Emily?” she heard from behind her and turned around. A young man was walking toward her with his hand outstretched. He glanced nervously at the bruises, and then turned back to the house.

“Yes.” Emily smiled, and shook his hand.

“They are inside, ready for the paperwork,” he told her, and looked over at Sam.

“That’s my overseer. Can he take a look around while we fill out forms?” Emily asked.

“Sure, it’s yours,” the man said, and they stepped inside.

Emily glanced around the ranch house between papers, and began to feel elated. She loved the quaint wooden fixtures and the warm feel of the downstairs. Alexis was playing on the floor in the living room, and she glanced over at her and smiled when Alexis grinned at her.

“I think that’s about it,” the man said after two hours of signing papers. “Do you have any questions?”

“I’m interested in some field hands. Any ideas where I can find some?” she asked, and took the keys from him.

“There’s an office in town that hires out help. I can have them send some over tomorrow for interviews if you would like.”

“That would be great, thank you,” Emily said. She saw the man look once more around the house as she stepped into the living room.

“It’ll be weird not seeing him here anymore,” he said sadly.

Emily nodded and gave him a quick hug, “Come back and see us.”

He smiled and walked out of the house quickly. Emily looked around at her new ranch house. She picked Alexis up off of the floor and went through the house again. It was going to take a lot of work. The closets were still full of clothing and there were boxes everywhere. She realized the old man had been packing to move when he died. Emily went to the front door when she heard a knock.

She opened the door, “Come on in, Sam.”

“Impressive ranch,” Sam said, walking inside. “I threw my stuff into one of the bunkhouses. It’s nearest to the barn.”

“If I get you a list, will you go into town and get some groceries?”

Sam nodded. Emily sat at the table and wrote out a quick list, then handed it to him with some money.

“I’ll be back,” Sam said, and drove off in an old Chevy pick-up they had just inherited with the house.

“What do you think?” Emily asked Alexis. The baby smiled and then stuck her fingers in her mouth.

After dinner, Sam headed out to the bunkhouse and Emily locked up the ranch house. She picked up Alexis, who was asleep in a swing, and took her up to the master bedroom. It was a warm night and Emily stripped the heavy blankets off of the bed, and crawled into the sheets. She listened to the sounds of the cattle and the quietness of the house, and smiled, soon falling asleep.

Emily’s phone rang while she was making pancakes the next morning. She quickly grabbed a cup of coffee and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Emily Russo, please,” a voice said on the other end of the phone. The woman sounded annoyed and tired.

“This is she.”

“This is Velma from the employment agency. I heard you are looking for a field hand.”

“Two actually, ones that can start immediately.”

“I have quite a few. When shall I send them over for interviews?”

“Can we start in an hour?” Emily asked, flipping the pancake.

“Yes, ask them for their applications and you may keep those,” Velma said. “Once you’ve hired one, tell them to contact us for their finalization.”

“Ok, thanks,” Emily said, and hung up the phone. She ate quickly and sat on the couch to feed Alexis.

She heard a knock on the door and saw the familiar standing at the window, “Come in, Sam”

Sam walked in and glanced at her, then sat in a chair by the empty fireplace.

“I have field hands coming in twenty minutes, can you stay for those?” Emily asked as she lifted the baby up to her shoulder.

“Yes, I’d like to be here for those. I’ve already fed the cattle. We’re going to need a load of hay soon.”

Emily nodded, “Ok, I’ll ask around and see if I can find a good price.”

“We interviewing here or the kitchen?” Sam asked, looking around.

“Let’s do it in here, more casual than the kitchen. Plus, I haven’t done the dishes this morning,” Emily said, and shrugged.

There was a knock at the door, “Let the first one in.”

She grabbed a notebook and sat Alexis in the swing. She stood up and shook the hand of the first applicant. She was surprised at how much he looked like Keith, down to the puffed lower lip full of chew.

“Mornin’, Ma’am” he said, and handed her the application.

“Good morning. Please, call me Emily and this is Sam, he’s the overseer,” Emily said, and scanned his application.

“Why did you leave your last field hand job?” Emily asked, seeing that he’d been with the family for almost 8 years.

Emily was exhausted by noon. She interviewed eight men, all wanting the position. She had seen everything from the classic cowboy, to a young kid whose pants hung down past his butt, and his earlobes were stretched out with huge rings. So far she hadn’t been impressed with any of them, and she was getting tired of the way they looked at the bruises on her neck and cheek, yet no one had the nerve to ask anything about it.

“We don’t have another interview for an hour. Let’s do lunch,” Emily said, and picked up Alexis.

Alexis was enjoying herself in her swing as she watched the strange men come and go. Emily judged two of them solely on how they responded to the baby. One seemed extremely uncomfortable with the young, single mother of two, while the other winked at Emily and nodded with a big smile.

Emily was too tired to do more than make a sandwich, and she ate it quickly and then sat down in the recliner to feed Alexis. She shut her eyes for a moment, but the phone interrupted her short nap.

“Hello?”

“How are you?” Chevalier asked, sounding worried.

Emily smiled, “Just tired. We’ve been interviewing all morning.”

“So it’s yours? Everything is good?”

“Yes, and it’s perfect. I love the house.”

There was an awkward silence, “I’m glad to hear that. How much longer will you be?”

“I don’t really know. The house needs a lot of cleaning. As an estate sale, their clothes and everything are still here.”

“I wish I could help you.”

“I know you do. But we’ll be home soon, I promise.”

“You sound tired,” Chevalier noticed.

“I’m sure I’ll sound more tired tonight… oh, there’s the door, I have to go.”

“Ok, I love you,” Chevalier said softly.

Emily smiled. He was being a good sport about all of this, “I love you, too.”

She threw Alexis up against her shoulder and pulled her shirt down, then answered the door. A tall, handsome man stood at the door with his application. He had a black Stetson that was slightly crooked on his head, and his jeans were worn and faded.

“Come in, please,” Emily said, and motioned for the couch.

“Sam!” she yelled, and heard him coming in from the bunkhouse.

“Beautiful baby, Ma’am,” he said, and took off his hat when he sat down.

Emily sat down across from him and looked through his application, waiting for Sam. Sam came in and looked at the man, and his eyes narrowed. Emily glared at him. He’d been overly picky about the candidates so far.

“Let’s get on with this then…” Emily started, but Sam interrupted.

“I’m Sam, the overseer, and this is Teresa,” Sam said. Emily looked at him strangely, and then back to the applicant.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, and looked toward Sam and smiled. That’s when Emily saw the elongated canines and felt her body tense.

“Excuse us for one moment,” Emily said, smiling, and then turned to Sam. “Did you empty the ashes out of the bin?”

“No,” he answered, watching the applicant.

“Ok,” Emily said, looking at the application again. She was trying hard not to let her hands shake, “I see you have 12 years experience.”

“Yes, in Colorado.”

“Why did you leave?” Emily asked, laying the application down.

“It was just time to move on. I decided to head up here to see if I could find more work,” he explained.

Emily saw him to the door after the interview and shut it behind him. She leaned against the door and looked at Sam with fearful eyes.

“Does he know?”

“No, I don’t think he does. I’m guessing he’s a wanderer… an un-factioned heku that sticks mainly with mortals,” Sam said, watching out the window as the man drove away.

“Damn, I knew I should have brought Ford,” Emily said, and jumped when she heard a knock on the door.

She spun, too quickly, and opened the door. Two young, Native American men stood on the doorstep. They were tall and muscular with hair that fell well below their shoulders.

“We’re here for the job interview,” one of them said, smiling brightly.

“Please, come in,” she said, still nervous from the heku.

Emily shut the door behind them and followed the two into the living room. She felt tiny beside them. They were both almost as tall as Chevalier, and their faces were warm and caring.

“Sit, please,” she said, and sat down.

One of the brothers pulled a small trinket from his pocket and handed it to Alexis, who immediately giggled it and swung it around.

Emily was still shaking from the heku encounter, so Sam took over, “I’m Sam, the overseer. This is the owner of the ranch, Emily.”

Emily finally got control of her voice, “Are you brothers?”

“Yes, I’m Todd and this is my twin brother, Peter,” the one closest to her said. Emily was fascinated by his dark eyes, they held wisdom beyond his young face, but the kindness was forefront.

Emily took their applications and looked through them, “No experience?”

“None work related. Our Dad owns a ranch and we’ve always worked for him,” Peter said.

Emily nodded, “Cows, Horses?”

“Yes, sometimes pigs and chickens, too,” Todd told her.

“I’m sorry, this is against the rules, but how old are you?” Emily asked curiously.

“We’ll be 32 this year,” he said, laughing.

“Oh, sorry, you look much younger,” Emily said, and blushed slightly, though she didn’t know why.

“We promise you we are hard workers and we work cheap,” Peter said. “We know the legends of the area, and are anxious to break out of the ranch work on the reservation.”

Emily nodded and smiled. She was ready to hire them on the spot. Sam was watching them wearily, though.

Emily decided to take charge, “How soon would you be able to start?”

Todd nodded to his pinto out front, “It has everything we own in it.”

Emily laughed, “Would you please go check out the ranch while I talk to Sam?”

The twins nodded and walked out of the house toward the barn. They were talking among themselves and laughing. Emily couldn’t hear what was said, but one of them ran with the other one in pursuit, and they disappeared into the barn.

“I like them,” Emily said.

“I don’t trust them,” Sam said skeptically.

“You haven’t liked any of them,” Emily reminded him.

“They will do,” Sam finally said.

“Good, because I’m tired of interviews. Call Velma back and tell her the position is filled,” Emily said. She took Alexis and went out to tell the twins.

They were ecstatic when Emily offered them the job, and as they ran to the car, they playfully fought about which bunkhouse they each got, “I’ll have Sam come show you around. Why don’t you come in for dinner around six o’clock.”

“Wohoo! Food!” Todd yelled, and ran into the first bunkhouse.

Emily shook her head, smiling, and went back inside. She started up the stove and put some potatoes in to bake. She watched as Sam and the twins set off across the pasture on horseback. They returned just before dark, and Emily was pulling the steaks from the oven when they came in for dinner.

“May I?” Todd asked, and motioned to Alexis. Todd’s face was broader than Peter’s, but Peter’s eyes were darker and set deeper. Although twins, there were subtle difference that made it easy for her to tell them apart.

“Sure,” Emily said, and watched as he picked Alexis up and bounced her until she laughed.

“Do you just have the baby?” Peter asked, sitting at the table.

Emily at first thought it a rude question, but remembered that they would be spending a lot of time together. It was only natural that they get acquainted.

“No, I have a son who is 5. He stays with his Dad a lot though,” Emily said as she moved the food to the table.

Sam came in last and sat down at the table.

Todd put Alexis down in the swing, and she watched them as they began to eat.

“Wow, this is great, Ma’am,” Peter said, taking a large bite of steak.

“Please, it’s Emily,” she told them. “I’m not that familiar with the area, which tribe are you from?”

“I’m Crow,” Todd explained. “He’s Dakota.”

Peter hit Todd in the arm and Todd yelled, and then laughed. Emily briefly wondered if the brothers ever fought, or if they were always this playful.

After dinner, Sam and the twins went back to their bunkhouses as Emily cleaned up. Once she was done, she pulled off her jeans and fell into bed wearing just a t-shirt. Alexis was already asleep in a small bassinet by the bed.

Emily woke up to the sound of footsteps above her. She glanced at the clock, it was just after 3am. Thinking she was hearing things, she laid her head back down, but heard it again. There were footsteps directly above her. She sat up and tiptoed into the hallway, shutting the door behind her, then turned on the lights in the hallway and went over to the attic entrance. She used the stick to pull down the panel and the ladder slid down easily.

Emily could hear movement from above her as she crawled up the ladder and looked into the crowded attic. The noises stopped as soon as she stuck her head up past the floor. She couldn’t see past any of the boxes though, and the attic was menacingly dark and stuffy.

She screamed when she heard a fierce voice, and then dropped down to the floor and ran into the bedroom. Grabbing Alexis, she ran out of the house with bare feet to Sam’s bunkhouse and knocked frantically. Sam answered at the same time as the twins came to their doors.

“There’s someone in the attic,” Emily said, and glanced back at the dark house.

Sam frowned, turned around, and grabbed his rifle, then went into the house. Emily waited out on the bunkhouse porch with the twins. They stayed with her as she rocked nervously. She hadn’t realized how cool the night was until Todd handed her a jacket. She slipped it on and wrapped it around her and the baby. The jacket came down to her knees and smelled like horses.

Sam finally came back out of the house, “I don’t see anything up there but junk.”

“I heard footsteps, and when I went up there, there was a voice,” she said, still shaking.

“What did it say?” Peter asked her.

“I don’t know. It was more like a growl than a voice, I guess,” she said. Emily sighed. She realized how insane she sounded, and was surprised that none of them called her on it.

“I looked all around and I didn’t see anything,” Sam said.

“I’m not hearing things, Sam, and I was awake,” Emily told him, holding the baby closer.

“It’s probably raccoons up in the attic. They hiss when they’re scared,” Todd said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m sorry to have woken you,” she said, and smiled slightly.

Once the twins went back to bed, Emily turned to Sam and whispered, “Could it be the heku?”

“I’m not finding anything, no scents, no footprints, nothing,” Sam said softly.

Emily nodded and reluctantly went back into the house. Sam followed her in, and both stopped at the doorway. The kitchen table had been moved across the floor, but the chairs were all where she left them. Every cupboard stood open, and the fridge door was ajar.

“That… that wasn’t like that when I came through,” Sam said, confused.

Emily swallowed hard and looked at him, “It’s the heku, isn’t it?”

Sam shook his head, “No, I don’t smell one around.”

“Come, please, stay in the room while I sleep?” Emily asked. She knew it sounded like the request of a small child, but she wasn’t comfortable sleeping alone.

Emily laid back down with Alexis, who was wide awake after being carried out into the cool night air. It was a few hours before the baby went to sleep and Emily soon followed, with Sam asleep on the bedroom floor.

She made extra strong coffee the next morning, and the twins came in and sat down, also looking tired. She poured them each a cup and started scrambling some eggs.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” Todd asked her, and then yawned.

“I say… do the least amount we can and get to bed early. I’m really sorry about last night, weird things kept happening,” Emily said, and set some eggs down for the twins.

“Like what?” Peter asked, starting to eat.

“The table was moved, cupboards open, that kind of thing,” Emily said, and sat down at the table. Coffee was all she was up for this morning.

“Maybe you have a ghost,” Todd said, and shrugged.

“Great,” Emily sighed. “I need to go into town to get a load of hay, any ideas?”

“Sure!” Todd said. “We can get some from ol’ Sham off of the reservation. He’ll give the best price.”

“Oh that would be great! Hopefully we can harvest soon and we’ll have a supply through the winter.” Emily poured everyone a second round of coffee.

“Are you staying long? Sam mentioned you’ll be gone a lot,” Peter asked.

“No, I’ll probably head out today if I can wake up.” Emily sat her head in her hands and shut her eyes.

Todd nodded, “We pulling the trailer with that old truck?”

“No, take the Durango, it’ll be more comfortable.”

“Sweet!” Peter said, grinning.

Emily helped them hook up the trailer while Sam kept Alexis inside. She wanted to spend as little time as possible in the house. Once the twins were out of sight, she hesitated and then went back inside.

The twins returned several hours later with a large load of hay. They quickly stacked it in the barn, and then unhitched the trailer and came into the house. Emily was just setting out a simple lunch and sat down to eat.

“Oh great! Lunch.” Todd sat down and grabbed a grilled cheese.

“Sorry, it’s nothing special,” Emily told them. She was still too tired to do much else.

“We aren’t picky,” Peter assured her, taking a sandwich for himself.

Emily picked up Alexis when she started to cry and went into the living room to nurse her in private. She tossed a blanket over her shoulder and flipped through the three TV channels to watch the news.

“Ma’am?” Todd asked from the door.

“Emily, please,” she said, and motioned him inside. Emily grinned when he looked at everything in the room to avoid looking at her, even though the baby was covered.

“Peter and I… well we were wondering… if we can have some friends come over. It’s… sort of… tradition with our friends… to break in a new place to live,” he said nervously.

“Oh, a Crow ritual?”

“No, just something our friends started.”

“I see… what exactly is this going to entail?” Emily asked, now amused.

“A small bonfire… some dancing maybe,” Todd seemed nervous.

“Yeah, that’d be fine.”

“You’re free to join us, it might be fun,” Todd said, smiling.

“We’ll see.”

Just after Alexis fell asleep for her nap, Emily laid down on the bed to also take one. During the daylight hours, the odd noises from the attic seemed unimportant and dim. She fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon when her phone rang.

“Hmm?” she said, still half asleep.

“Em?” Chevalier asked.

“Yeah, I’m here,” she said, and yawned.

Chevalier chuckled, “Were you asleep?”

“Yeah, rough night,” Emily said, and looked over to check on Alexis.

“Any idea when you’re coming home?”

“Heading back tomorrow. I may try to drive straight through.”

“Just promise you’ll pull over if you get tired.”

“I will, see you when I get back.”

Chevalier sighed and hung up. She wondered what was wrong. He seemed short-tempered, and like he was keeping something from her.

Emily dialed the local pizza place and ordered dinner. There was no time to make anything, and she didn’t feel like cooking anyway. She fed Alexis while waiting for the delivery, and ran downstairs when she heard a knock on the door. The twins followed the pizza into the house and sat at the table.

“I’m assuming you two can cook and won’t starve to death after I go?” Emily asked, taking a piece of pizza.

“Todd cooks, I just eat,” Peter said, grabbing a slice.

“Doesn’t Sam ever eat?” Todd asked.

Emily shrugged, “He’s the quiet type. I think he mostly eats alone in his bunkhouse.”

Emily started to get up when she heard a knock at the door, but Todd beat her to it and was followed into the kitchen by eight other Crow, all dressed in fringed leather tribal outfits. They also had their hair in tight braids and blue paint on their faces.

Emily grinned, “Time to start the party?”

“Hey, you’re right. She is cute,” one of the men said, and Peter hit him on the arm and glared at him.

Emily blushed and picked Alexis up.

“You’re joining us, right?” one of the Crow asked.

“That would all depend on what exactly you’re doing,” she said, and watched as Alexis shied away from one of the men and smiled.

“Dancing, drinking, that sort of thing,” Todd said, and Emily noticed he genuinely wanted her to come.

“Ok, ok, I’ll come out in a bit after the baby’s asleep,” Emily said, smiling.

Emily watched from her window as the bonfire grew and the alcohol was passed among them. She laughed as their dancing became more erratic and they started to trip over one another.

“Are you sure about this?” Sam asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Emily nodded and whispered, “Yeah, why not? Alex is asleep. Come get me if you need me.”

Sam nodded, and Emily slipped out of the house. She walked timidly toward the bonfire.

“She’s here!” Todd yelled, and grabbed her hands to swing her around. One of the Crow brought a drum, and that was the sole sound used for their dance around the fire. Emily laughed and watched them, unsure exactly what to do.

“You are the ultimate of pale faces,” Peter said, and looked at her.

Emily shrugged, “I’m an Irish girl.”

“Here…” Peter said, and grabbed a little cup sitting by the fire. He dipped a finger in it, and Emily winced as she felt him paint her face.

“That’s great!” Todd yelled when he saw Emily.

“Yeah, great,” she said, looking at them skeptically.

“Iáxuhke!” Todd yelled, and the others looked at Emily and then began to dance again.

Emily frowned, “What was that?”

“We gave you a Crow name.”

“How did you say that?”

“It’s ia-ch-oo-hk-ay,” he said slowly, but his words were still slurred. Emily wasn’t sure if she could even pronounce it with the guttural sound in the middle, something similar to the Germans in her Dad’s old movies.

“I’ll just take your word for it,” she said, and turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder. One of the men handed her a large clay cup.

“Drink some,” he told her, and she smelled the contents of the cup before handing it back.

“No seriously,” he said, and handed it back to her.

Emily took a hesitant sip, but the Crow pushed the cup so she ended up with a mouthful of the bitter-tasting liquid. She swallowed it with a grimace, and handed it back.

She watched the others dance, but soon found that the flames from the fire would move away and start to dance with them. She frowned as the Crow and the flames danced in unison around the bonfire, then she sunk slowly to the ground and looked up at the stars. They swirled above her head and spoke to her softly about the heku and her life with them.

The stars showed her life before the heku, and the constant stress over running a farm, working full-time, and trying to keep from making Keith mad. She saw visions of him as he cheated on her, and then accused her of doing the same. The beatings flashed before her eyes. How pitiful she’d been, how self-conscious, and submissive she once was.

A flash from the sky changed to the present, with Allen, and Alexis, and how she couldn’t imagine living without Chevalier. She watched as he walked through the palace alone, looking around him for anything out of the ordinary. Kyle stopped to talk to him for a bit, but soon left. Chevalier wandered slowly up to the bedroom and looked around at the empty room, the dark TV, and the perfectly made bed.

Emily was barely aware that she was being carried, but fell fast asleep as soon as she was laid in bed and covered with soft blankets.