Chapter 16 - Training

Chevalier came out of his office and looked around the castle. Things were going smoothly. Nothing had happened to cause concern in over two months. He headed up to Emily’s room to see if she was there. He had trained his senses enough not to feel the common emotions she experienced, which lately, was constantly. He was also able to hear voices from her dreams, and found it fascinating.

She wasn’t in her room, but the heavy curtains were tied to the side and bright sunlight filtered in from the balcony door. He stepped onto the balcony and looked out over the grass, then froze as his eyes fell onto the three figures on the lawn.

Emily was lying down on her back on the thick green grass. Travis was on top of her, his teeth at her neck as Kyle stood aside and watched. Fury raged through him as he jumped from the second story balcony and landed on the ground, denting the soft grass as he landed. He blurred to them and ripped Travis off of her, throwing him far enough he landed against the side of the castle and the rocks crumbled beneath him.

Kyle was at Chevalier before he could get to Emily, “Chevalier! It’s not what you think,” he said, but was pushed aside.

Emily was on her feet quickly and had her hands on Chevalier’s face, “Stop, Chev, stop... it’s ok.”

She locked gaze with him and her green eyes calmed him. He was able to repress the rage long enough to see that she wasn’t injured. He quickly scanned her body. Her neck was fine, so he ran his eyes past her sports bra and down to the muscles in her tight abdomen along the curve of her delicate waist, no injuries. Her cut off shorts were sitting low on her hips as his eyes traveled down and noticed no injuries along her legs.

He stepped back and frowned at her, confused.

She touched his face softly, “It’s ok, Chev, honest.”

Travis returned as he tweaked his back into place and kept well away from Chevalier.

“Chevalier, it’s not what you think. We’re teaching Emily some self-defense is all,” Kyle said, stepping over next to Travis.

Chevalier shook his head, “You’re doing what?”

“Self-defense, that’s all,” Emily said, stepping back from him, smiling.

“But… he was biting you…” His mind swam.

“I was not!” Travis said, offended. “We were trying out a different position… it’s no good teaching her to fight a heku if it’s not as close to real as possible.”

“Watch, Chev!” Emily said proudly. “Come on Travis. Let’s show him what we just went over.”

Travis hesitated and gave Chevalier a wide berth as he approached Emily. His eyes were weary as he grabbed her from behind, one arm around her stomach and the other high on her chest. He kept a close watch on Chevalier as he brought his teeth to rest against Emily’s neck. He noticed Chevalier tensed and crouched slightly, but didn’t attack.

Rapidly, Emily kicked back and her foot connected with Travis’ knee, knocking it out of place as she dropped her body weight and rolled away from him while he fell to the grass. Travis groaned and grasped his dislocated kneecap as he pushed it back into position with a grinding pop. He winced and slowly got to his feet. Emily stood up and smiled at Chevalier.

“See!” she said proudly.

Chevalier was shocked, “Why didn’t I think of this?”

“We aren’t guaranteeing it’ll work against a real attacker, but Travis said it’s quite painful and would make him think twice,” Kyle said.

“Yeah… it hurts pretty badly for a few seconds. We figure if she can just buy a little time until help arrives.” He was now standing straight, his knee entirely healed.

Kyle said, “Ok, back how you were.”

Travis hesitated and then climbed on top of Emily as she laid on the ground. He watched Chevalier cautiously before again bringing his teeth to her neck.

Kyle studied them and sighed, “I’m thinking… there has to be a way. Emily, can you even get your foot up to his knee?”

She brought her knee up but wasn’t able to position her foot by his kneecap, “Don’t think so.”

Chevalier growled, “Let me do it, Travis.”

Travis scrambled quickly to his feet and Chevalier took his place, his jealousy finally subsiding. As he placed his teeth at her neck, he grinned and kissed her neck instead.

Emily slapped his arm, “Behave.”

Travis knelt down by them, studying the location of arms and knees.

“I can knee him,” Emily said, bringing her knee up slightly.

“That won’t stop a hungry heku,” Kyle said, bending down.

Travis moved closer, “Can you get your hands on his head?”

Emily reached up and put a hand on each side of his head.

“That’s it, Travis, good idea!” Kyle said. “It’s the element of surprise that’ll make this work. If he knew it was coming, he’d be able to stop it, but I doubt anyone will think of this.”

“What?” Emily asked, thwapping Chevalier’s head as he kissed her neck again.

Emily focused on Kyle, who was demonstrating the move behind Chevalier’s back and she winced, “Seriously?”

“This whole training will only work if we know it’s possible for you to do,” Travis said, standing up.

Chevalier felt Emily’s body tense moments before his head was wrenched to the side, and the crack of his vertebrae echoed through the lawn. He growled and rolled off of her, readjusting his head and cracking his neck back into place.

“Are you ok?” She was crouched by his side.

“I’m ok, just give me a minute.” The pain was lessening quickly and he could feel the bones reforming correctly in his neck, “Damn, Em.”

“I’m so sorry.” She stood up and glared at Kyle and Travis who were laughing.

“No, no, it’s ok.” Chevalier stood up and chuckled, “Just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Let’s consider that exercise a pass then… the trick is that the heku won’t know it’s coming,” Kyle said finally. “Maybe we should try a wrist attack?”

“No one’s going to go for her wrist… male at least,” Travis said, and then his body tensed as he turned to watch Chevalier.

Emily blushed when she remembered Chevalier saying he’d always go for the neck if he found his donor attractive.

“I guess you’re right,” Kyle said, thinking. “Plus you can’t control her body if you only have focus on her wrist. By taking her neck, you have your entire body against hers.”

Chevalier growled low in his chest, but Kyle ignored it.

“Femoral?” Travis asked.

“Usually only works consensually. I can’t imagine going for the thigh while trying to control a hostile victim.” Kyle was deep in thought.

Chevalier tried to remember they weren’t talking directly about his wife, but he found it hard and he was getting antsy. He was also overtly aware of the visible skin Emily was currently showing.

“Let’s try a non-feeding attack,” Kyle finally said.

“True... good idea,” Travis said.

“What? Why?” Emily asked.

“Just a precaution, Em,” Kyle said, and turned to nod at Chevalier.

“She’d be running more than likely right?” Travis said, focused on Emily.

“Yeah probably… run, Em, and Chevalier, you restrain her and let us have a look,” Kyle said, moving into position.

Emily gasped at the look in Chevalier’s eyes and turned to run. She wasn’t more than 2 feet away when he grabbed her from behind and pulled her off her feet with his hands around her waist.

“Perfect now freeze,” Kyle said, and walked up to them and studied their position.

Emily took the opportunity to kick at his knee, but she couldn’t reach it and her hands were pinned at her side by his arms. She struggled and could feel him chuckle.

Travis came up from behind and considered options.

“Easy enough, I held you similar to this once…” Kyle said, nodding at Emily.

On cue, she brought her head forward and slammed it back into Chevalier’s nose. Travis winced when he heard the loud crack. Chevalier let go of Emily suddenly, and she fell to the ground, landing hard on her butt as she looked up at him.

“Argh!” Chevalier yelled, and readjusted his nose. Emily wasn’t sure, but it sounded like he might have been cursing in another language.

“Sorry, Hun,” she said, getting to her feet.

“It’s ok… that one stung a bit,” he said, smiling at her, and his nose was completely healed.

“Would it make you drop her, though, if you really wanted to hold on?” Kyle asked. “When she did that to me, the only reason I kept a hold of her is that I think she was more shocked than I was and she froze.”

Travis tried to suppress a grin.

“No doubt if it’s mortal, she’ll win… immortal, though, if I had to keep a hold on her, I think I would have.” Chevalier looked over at her.

“Why even worry about fighting off a mortal?” Emily asked.

She noticed that the three heku glanced at each other quickly.

“What aren’t you telling me?” She put her hands on her hips.

“Paul mentioned that there are donors out working for the Valle. We have to be prepared for anything,” Chevalier explained, moving closer to her.

“Paul?”

“One of the Valle we have down in our cell,” Kyle answered her.

“Still? He’s still down there?” Emily frowned.

“What are we supposed to do with him? We can’t let him go,” Travis piped in.

“Next,” Kyle said, changing the subject.

Chevalier grabbed Emily without warning and threw her over his shoulder, nipping at her side playfully.

“I hate this one!” she said, feeling like a child.

She looked up at Kyle and glared when he laughed.

“This one’s harder to get out of, there’re no vital parts left exposed,” Kyle said, studying the newest restraint.

“Ok… put me down,” Emily said, but Chevalier didn’t let go. She bent into him and bit his back.

“Ouch! Damnit, Em, stop it,” he said, grinning.

“Biting an immortal won’t work,” Travis said seriously, and then looked up when Chevalier chuckled.

“I don’t think that was for training purposes,” Chevalier explained, smiling.

“Oh!” Travis grinned and looked away quickly.

“Emily, how far back can you throw yourself?” Kyle asked, ignoring the other two.

Emily’s body tensed and Chevalier could feel the strength in her abdomen as she brought her upper body up off of his shoulder and flung herself backwards. Chevalier wasn’t prepared for the sudden shift in weight and almost dropped her when she fell back and slammed into his thighs.

“Ouch!” Emily cried, and Chevalier lowered her gently to the ground. She grabbed her knee, “That hurt.”

“Sorry, Em.” Chevalier knelt to massage her knee, “The sudden weight difference threw me forward but I wouldn’t have let go and it didn’t hurt me at all.”

“Hmm, was just a thought,” Kyle said, watching them, his mind deep in thought.

“Let me see, Travis grab Kyle,” Chevalier said. Both Travis and Kyle looked to see if he was serious and followed his order when they saw that he was.

Travis easily swung Kyle over his shoulder, though they were the same height.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Kyle said, irritated.

Emily lost control and giggled from the ground.

“Don’t worry, your butt isn’t nearly as attractive in the air as hers, I’ll hurry,” Chevalier said.

Emily blushed but laughed again at the odd expression on Travis’s face, he was humiliated.

“Kyle, do what Emily did but hook your arm around his head on your way,” Chevalier said, standing back.

“What if I take his head off?” Kyle asked.

“Oh true… Emily, trade places with Kyle,” Chevalier said.

“What if I take his head off?” Emily asked sarcastically.

Chevalier laughed, “Just do it.”

She sighed and stood up as Kyle fell nimbly to his feet. Travis gently lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder, his eyes looking straight forward as he felt the soft skin from her waist on his neck.

“Ok, Em, hook his head on the way,” Chevalier said, no longer jealous as he was focused on how her movement affected Travis.

Emily groaned as she came up straight, hooked her elbow around Travis’s head, and flung herself backwards. Travis lost his balance and fell forward, landing hard on top of her and knocking the wind out of her. He quickly scrambled to his knees by her side.

“Breathe, Emily,” he said, helping her sit up. Kyle and Chevalier knelt at her side also.

She waved them off as she gasped for breath, “I’m ok,” she was able to say at long last.

“Well… that won’t work,” Chevalier said, and sighed, then helped Emily to her feet.

“Let’s take a break before Em gets hurt,” Kyle suggested. “Let me see if I can find a way out of that hold.”

“Yeah... sounds good,” Emily said, stiffly walking inside. Every muscle in her body ached from that last fall.

Chevalier turned to Travis and Kyle, “Thank you.”

They both bowed and headed out as he ran to catch Emily. He picked her up gently and carried her up the stairs, “You ok?” he whispered.

She nodded.

As he walked into the bedroom, he heard the doors lock behind him and shifted her around so his hands were around her waist, her feet off the floor, “How good are you?”

She smiled and wrapped her legs around him and her arms around his neck. Emily pressed her lips against his.

Chevalier spun and pressed her back against the wall, returning her kiss.

***

Emily stepped into the jetted tub and winced as the hot water burned her skin, but continued to sink into the bubbly water. She sighed and leaned back against the tub, relaxed.

“Well that’s a first, you broke my house,” Chevalier said, sitting beside her as he started to massage her neck.

Emily grinned, “Who needed that lamp on the wall anyway?”

“Are you ok? Really? Travis hit you pretty hard.”

“Yeah I’m ok, but I think you owe me an explanation,” she said, her eyes still shut.

“Oh?”

“Are you expecting more trouble?”

“Nothing we know about, but we didn’t know about Ian’s attack until it was too late either,” he said softly.

Emily just nodded. When she got hot, the scars on her neck seemed to stand out more against her skin. They faded a lot over the last couple of months, and were almost invisible most of the time.

“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.