"My reflexes are too fast to get into a wreck."

"I don't care. Please slow down."

He simply smiled at her.

"How many heku are there in your coven?" she asked, unsure if she was being too nosey.

He seemed proud. "There are just over a 1,200 in my coven."

"That many... you mentioned family units..."

"Yes, much like a family."

"Who is in yours?" Her tone revealed underlying questions, but he couldn't figure out where this was going.

"I'm not sure what you mean. The entire coven is my family."

She nodded. "How many share your home then?"

Chevalier couldn't help but grin. "Are you trying to find out if I have a harem?"

She didn't answer.

"None, I live alone. In my line of work, I need privacy." He didn't want to delve deeper into his personal life than was necessary.

Emily turned onto her side and watched out the window. She wasn't sure if he had noticed the way he spoke in uneven circles. In one breath he was saying that she could live with him, but in another he was saying he had to live alone, for privacy. None of this was an option though. She had a ranch to run, and a life outside of the mythical world of heku. She was now able to handle the attacks herself, so there was no reason to move, no reason to torment herself or risk falling in love with a heku. Any more in love with a heku, her mind corrected.

"Once you leave the ranch, will I see you again?" Her voice broke the tense silence.

Chevalier thought for a moment. "Perhaps."

She turned to look at him. His face was hard and expressionless when she spoke. "What if I don't want you to disappear?"

"You have to choose, Emily. You can't live in both worlds. You have to make a choice."

"Why is it one or the other, and not both?"

"It's complicated. Our worlds don't intertwine smoothly. If you choose to join my world, then everything else would vanish. Any hold the mortal world had on you would be null and void. The same holds true if you choose to stay in Montana. My world would simply cease to exist for you, except for the heku attacks. That's inevitable."

The rest of the ride was silent while she mulled over the two possibilities. She came out of a daze when Chevalier pulled his car in front of the ranch house. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked around the ranch. Everything seemed just as she had left it. The cattle were all eating, and Patra was out in the corral. Sam poked his head out of the bunkhouse, and he was obviously shocked to see her. Another man, a younger blond man with short curly hair and a blond goatee, came out after Sam and looked at the sleek car. He didn't seem as surprised as Sam was.

Emily turned to look at Chevalier. "I don't have a choice. The ranch is my responsibility, and I can't leave it. As much as I want to be..." She paused to choose her words carefully, "As much as I want to be near you, I have obligations here."

His face was unreadable as he stared straight ahead and nodded slightly. She opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind her. Sam ran to her and hugged her tightly. She stayed in his embrace and watched the car speed away.

Chevalier knew that Ulrich would arrive soon, and he wouldn't see her again. He wasn't good for her. He'd proven that. Maybe her life would be better with Ulrich.

Sam took Emily around the ranch and showed her how things were going. He introduced her to the new field hand, Kyle. They both talked about feed prices and pasture plans, the number of cattle, and calves coming. Emily wasn't paying attention. She didn't notice that Coal was missing. She didn't hear how well Keith had done taking care of things, and how hard they had looked for her. She watched the road, trying to see if he would come back.

Emily finally made it into the house. The inside looked severely neglected. There was a sink full of dirty dishes, and trash and dirty clothing were piled in the corners. She went to work cleaning up. It kept her mind off watching for Chevalier and wondering when Keith would get back. The house was hot, not warm and comfortable like the Colorado mansion had been. The smell in the house was awful, so she opened a window, which only let in more hot air.

"Emily?" Keith yelled from the front door.

She smiled at the sound of excitement in his voice, and she pulled off the thick rubber gloves. "I'm in the kitchen, Keith."

She ran to meet him, and he met her with a tight embrace. "Emily."

His smell was off. He was dirty and musky, very much unlike her companion for the last few months. She looked up into his eyes and stepped back. His excitement had quickly turned to rage. He took one step toward her. "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story, Keith, but I'm okay. I'm back," she tried to assure him He was too fast and suddenly backhanded her to the ground. She strained to get up, but she was knocked back down by a swift kick to her side as his cowboy boot connected with the recently healed ribs. She could taste blood in her mouth.

"Did you have fun on your little vacation?" He ended his question with yet another kick to her back.

"Keith, please," was all she could manage to say. It was hard to take a breath.

"You're just a little dirty slut, aren't you? Is that what you've been doing? Whoring around in the city?" He grabbed her arm and violently hauled her to her feet.

Keith noticed the bruising around her neck. "Oh, I see someone else tried to teach you some manners, too. You love that, don't you?"

Emily tried to pull away from him. Her mind was spinning, and her dress was becoming soaked with the stream of blood coming from her mouth. Keith used her arm and slammed her into the wall, and she could hear the violent thudding of her heartbeat in her head when it connected with the plaster, denting it. The world began to turn dark as she fought to stay conscious.

"I guess we'll have to start over and teach you who is boss around here, bitch," Keith said, dragging her into the bedroom. He threw her down on the bed, and as she scrambled to get away, he swiftly pulled down his pants and dropped onto the bed. He pulled her back toward him, hiking her skirt up and tearing her panties painfully away from her body.

"You'll like this, you dirty slut. See if you can remember who gets the respect around this place."

Keith craned her legs apart and moved toward her quickly. She braced for the violence that was coming, but it didn't. Moments passed before she dared to open her eyes, and she noticed that Keith was gone. Emily didn't wait to find out what happened to change his mind, but instead, she pulled her dress down and opened the window above the bed, then jumped out of it head-first into the garden.

Emily fell hard against the ground. Her head was still pounding, and the taste of blood in her mouth was making her stomach turn. There was a loud crash inside of the house as something heavy landed against the China cabinet. Still confused, she got to her feet, steadied herself, and ran to the front of the house, where she stopped and stared. Parked in front of the old ranch house was the black Bugatti.

Before she could move, she was swept off of her feet and carried at an inhuman speed into the barn. She barely had time to realize that it was Kyle, the new field hand, who was carrying her.

He sat her down softly on a pile of straw and began to press a rag against her forehead to stop the bleeding. The pressure on her head caused the blackness to come again, and this time, she couldn't fight it off, so she surrendered to it.

When Emily began to become aware, she could hear voices coming from the darkness.

"Over my dead body, Sam," Chevalier yelled.

"What was Chevalier doing to Sam?" she wondered.

"You have no right to her! She belongs to Lord Ulrich." Sam's words seemed different. He didn't have the long drawl she was used to from him.

"She does not belong to anyone."

"Then you take that up with him. For now, I'm taking her away." Sam sounded angry.

Things started to swim into view as strong arms lifted her up to sitting, and a cool glass was at her lips. "Drink."

The voice was unfamiliar, but she did as she was told. The cold water felt good against her battered mouth, and it washed away the taste of blood. As soon as she finished, she was carefully lowered down onto the bed.

"No, Sam, it was her choice. She chose to stay here." There was a slightly pained tone in Chevalier's voice.

"It's no longer her choice. I was given orders, and as soon as dark comes, I'm taking her away." Emily wanted to talk. She wanted to ask Sam where he was taking her.

A familiar growl erupted, and she knew Chevalier was mad. "Again, over my dead body, familiar. You touch her, and you're liable to lose an arm."

"Familiar?" Her mind was trying to answer them, to ask questions, but the sounds never escaped her lips.

"Any harm to me or to her will be dealt with by my master." Was Sam threatening Chevalier?

A cold compress was placed against her cheek. She winced slightly, and then relaxed as the ice did its job and helped the pain. Emily felt someone sit beside her on the bed, but she couldn't force her eyes to focus enough to figure out who it was.

"There are two of us, Sam. You can't stop me from taking her, and once you get back, you can tell Ulrich that he's going to have to come and get her," Chevalier said angrily.

"Ulrich?" she managed to say in a whisper.

"Shhhh, child." The strange voice was soft and reassuring.

As soon as he spoke to her, the shouting stopped. Silence filled the house, and Emily wondered if the arguing had been in a dream. She heard footsteps come into the room, and her eyes adjusted. It was Chevalier and Sam, both glaring at each other. The man sitting beside her on the bed was Kyle. He smiled down at her when her eyes met his.

Chevalier turned away from Sam and sat by her on the bed, opposite Kyle. "Emily, are you okay? Are you still hurting?"

She shook her head, but the world began to spin again.

Sam started to approach the bed, but Kyle hissed at him, and he took a step back. Emily paid more attention to Kyle, and she suddenly noticed that he had the same slightly elongated canines that Chevalier had. Somehow, that didn't surprise her. What did surprise her, was that he hadn't attacked her, and hadn't tried to feed.

"Keith?" Her words were muffled by her swollen mouth.

"He's taken care of," was all Chevalier would say.

"He killed Keith, Emily. He's dangerous," Sam spat at them.

Chevalier stood up faster than her mind could register, and he pushed Sam out of the room. She heard the door slam when they left the house.

Left alone with Kyle, she covered her throat with her hand and looked up at him. "Please, don't bite me."

She was shocked when he laughed. "You are safe with me, child."

Kyle glanced out the window, and then back down to Emily. "Do you need anything? There is some ibuprofen in the cupboard, or another drink... or food, perhaps?"

He seemed so polite, so caring. She wanted to thank him, but it hurt to talk. She nodded and then panicked when he quickly left the room. She had just started to sit up when he returned with two pills and a glass of water in his hand. He helped her to sit up and take the medicine, and then he returned the ice pack to her cheek when she laid back down.

Without warning, Kyle picked her up, cradling her in his arms. He stepped out into the fresh air, and she noticed the sun was setting. It was almost dark.

He opened the door to the black sports car and laid her down carefully in the seat, reclining it.

"I'll get her some things to take with you," Kyle told someone.

"Make it fast. I don't know how long it will take Ulrich to get here." It was Chevalier he was talking to.

"Sam?" she managed to say.

Chevalier buckled her into the seat. "He left. We have to get out of here. I'll explain everything later."

E didn't have the strength to question him, to demand to know what happened to Sam. All she could focus on was that Keith was dead at the hand of her heku.

Kyle returned with a bag and tossed it behind the seat.

"Stay here, Kyle. I need you to handle damage control. Don't tell Ulrich anything more than my phone number. I'll have more instructions once I get her back to the coven and get her settled. Can you take care of the ranch on your own?"

"Yes, sir, if I can use my speed and strength unhindered, it won't be a problem," Kyle assured him.

"Use discretion, but do what you can to keep on top of things."

"And... Keith?" Kyle asked with disgust in his voice.

"Bury him deeply. If anyone asks, tell them he ran off after someone he met in a bar." Chevalier thought briefly. "Just say he got tired of waiting for Emily and left." More was said, but his voice was too low for Emily to make out the words.

"Will do, sir. Are you really taking her to the coven?" Kyle sounded surprised.

Chevalier nodded. "It's hard to explain, but yes, I have to."

"Okay," Kyle said slowly.

"And Kyle... thank you. I owe you a lot for this." Kyle and Chevalier shook hands, and then Chevalier was in his seat pulling the sleek car onto the highway.

Chapter 7.

Emily drifted in and out of sleep all through the night. When dawn came, she opened her eyes and looked at Chevalier. He seemed relaxed and content. She cleared her throat before speaking. "Dej vu, huh?"

He smiled over at her. "Why yes... it is oddly familiar."

"Did you really kill Keith?" She already knew the answer.

He sighed, "Yes."

"I'm sorry he made you do that."

"I'm not. I've wanted to kill him for months," he said matter-of-factly. He didn't seem upset at all by the thought of killing someone. "Kyle called me back when he heard the shouting and smelled blood."

Chevalier's jaw tightened. He was still angry.