"Come in, Anna," he called, though she'd heard no knock.

Anna hurried in and set a glass of orange juice down on the table, then suddenly disappeared again.

Emily frowned toward the door.

"You don't like Anna, do you?" he guessed.

"She treats me like a 2-year-old," she said, and then continued to eat.

"Dear, to her, you are very young."

"It doesn't matter. I'm still an adult."

"That's fine. I'll replace her for you."

"Let Kyle do it." Emily didn't notice the way Chevalier's body tensed. She reached for the ice-cold orange juice.

"Kyle?" he asked, calming his voice.

"Yes, he doesn't treat me like a toddler, and we have a lot in common." Chevalier was glad her attention was elsewhere while he fought to regain control of his anger.

"Kyle isn't right for the job."

Finally, she looked over at him. "Yes, he is. He's my friend."

Chevalier relaxed after she used the term friend. "I still don't like it. You need a woman around."

"I do not!" She looked at him with an icy glare. "You act like I miss my mommy! You're about as bad as Anna is. Kyle does what you told me Anna should. He shows me around, helps me find things, and keeps me safe."

"Still..." Her coughing cut him off, and he continued once she'd calmed down, "Still, Kyle has things to do elsewhere."

"Fine, I don't need anyone then. Let Anna go, but don't replace her." She looked at him, proud she'd solved the problem.

"I can't leave you alone, Em." He wasn't getting through to her.

"That's odd. You already did," she said, and then saw him wince. She decided to try and reason with him. "Listen, Chev. Kyle is a good friend. I'm comfortable around him, and I don't have to pretend. He knows how to lighten up around me. Everyone on this island is wound up tight because they are afraid of you. It gets a little nerve wracking. You know he can protect me. He already has."

He knew he couldn't fight her. "Okay, if that's what you really want."

"It is." She coughed hard and then turned back to him.

"However, he stays out in the antechamber while you sleep."

"I don't like to be alone at night." She lowered her eyes again, a little embarrassed.

Chevalier moved closer and kissed her forehead. "Who says you will be alone?"

He laughed when the blush returned to her cheeks.

"Enough already, finish eating and lay down."

With not quite half of the food gone, she laid back onto the bed and cuddled down. Sitting up for so long had really made her tired, and it was only a few minutes before she fell asleep.

A nightmare jerked her awake, and she looked around the dark room, suddenly feeling cold and alone.

"Chev?" she called into the darkness, but it was Kyle's voice that responded.

"He stepped out, Em. Do you need something?" He stayed a few feet back from her bed.

"I'm okay. It was just a nightmare." She patted the bed beside her.

Kyle didn't move at all toward her. He used to sit beside her while she slept, but she understood how Chevalier had probably put an immediate stop to that.

Kyle smiled at her. "You got me demoted."

She gasped, "I did? How?"

"From the head of my own guard unit... to babysitter." His voice was light and amused.

"Ugh, babysitter." She laid back on the bed and rolled away from him. He chuckled and returned to the chair by the fire.

Chapter 10.

The feel of hands grabbing her out of bed forced a short scream, but a hand quickly covered her mouth.

"Quiet, Emily." It was Kyle, and he was already running with her in his arms, down an unlit stairway.

The frantic way he moved scared her. She thought back briefly to the past two weeks she'd spent mostly in bed, and she couldn't wrap her mind around what the problem was. Her coughing had stopped a few days ago, and she'd even managed to go out onto the balcony for a while the previous evening.

In the darkness, there were hurried voices, and she realized they weren't alone.

"We don't know yet. Just get her down there," a female voice said, inhumanly fast.

"Which direction?" Kyle hissed at the other woman.

"East, they have to come through the city to get here," she answered.

Emily was too frightened to speak, and too afraid to ask the questions that were on her mind. Her eyes furiously tried to adjust to the darkness but failed.

The descent ended, and they were all running through what felt like a damp tunnel. She realized that at the speed the heku ran, they had to be hundreds of feet below the ground now, and the panic swelled further.

Kyle finally put her down and gently led her to a chair, where she sat and curled up, wrapping her arms tightly around her legs. Someone put a blanket over her shoulders, and she shivered at how cold it was.

"Do we dare?" a strange man said.

"We should be okay down here," the woman replied.

"No," Kyle hissed, and nothing else was said about it.

"What's going on?" Emily finally managed to ask, and she could feel eyes on her, though she was unable to see anything in the blackness.

She felt someone sit beside her and take her hand. It was Kyle. "Don't worry, Emily, okay? Things are under control."

"Then tell me! I'm already worrying."

He sighed. "The Island is under attack."

"What? By who?" she gasped.

"Other...," he paused, "heku."

"Another coven is attacking?"

"Not exactly."

"Is it Ulrich?" Her mind was trying to wrap around it.

"No"

Emily just shook her head. "Then who is it? Who would want to attack?"

"Our world is as riddled with wars and hatred as yours. Chevalier has made a lot of enemies in his life, and grudges aren't easily forgotten. We are okay, though. This coven is ready to fight." She could feel him sit up taller.

Emily stood up. "Then I should fight with them."

Kyle's smile seeped into his voice, "They fight with teeth, Em. You can't fight against that as a mortal."

"I can too! I'm stronger than you think." She tried to find her way to the door in the dark, but all she could feel were the wet, cold stone walls.

Cool hands took her arm and led her back to the chair. "Nevertheless, we have orders to stay down here with you."

"Oh great, just what I bet you all wanted to do while your city is under attack, protect the human," she yelled at them, and she was infuriated when the three heku with her chuckled.

"Please, Kyle, I can help. You have to trust me." She noticed things had gotten quiet when Kyle placed his hand over her mouth.

Emily heard whispers in the darkness, too low to make out, but the stress was intense. A light blazed suddenly, and in an instant, she was able to take in the full picture. They were in a cave room where a bed and chairs were set up in the corner. A stone door led out to a rock hallway that disappeared in the darkness.

The three heku were crouched low defensively and watched the door as they stood between her and whatever was coming. Within a few moments, Emily heard the fast footfalls of a group of people coming down the stairs. She hoped they were from this coven, but the stance of the other three cast doubts.

Five heku emerged and immediately met the crouch. They were all men, dressed in red, and were unlike the heku she knew. One had deep scars across his face, and his body was covered in skeleton tattoos. The others were snarling with their teeth exposed menacingly. Four of the five enemy heku had matching red teardrop tattoos on their faces. Emily sat, frozen in place, as the three heku took a step backwards toward her with their hands curved into claws.

The tallest of the heku hissed toward her, "She comes with us, alive."

The fight began in a blur, and Emily couldn't tell who was who in the mass of movement. There were snarls and curses, and the violent sounds of tearing and breaking. The bed splintered when someone was thrown into it, but he was immediately snatched away by unseen hands. She recoiled when the head of one of the enemy heku was thrown against the wall behind her and missed her by only a few inches.

She could feel it. She could feel the fear and anger swelling up inside of her, and she fought to control it. There were now seven heku in the room, and she wanted three of them alive, but she didn't have that much control. The growls and howls of pain continued as the female member of the coven fell unconscious to the ground. Emily's eyes watched her with horror when she didn't move. The blurs didn't slow down. She couldn't tell who was winning or who was losing, and she felt as if she was losing control. Something deep within her was fighting to get out, fighting to surface.

"Nooo!" she screamed as the terror peaked, and then the room grew quiet. Kyle looked at her, his eyes wide. The other male heku spun to face her, and she noticed the large gash down the side of his body. She couldn't see the other four enemy heku.

The look of shock on Kyle's face lessened when he realized who she was. He'd heard the stories, knew of the rumors, but now he knew it was true. He'd been protecting one of the Winchesters.

Emily's body began to shake as she realized how close she'd come to being taken by the enemy heku. Kyle and the other man looked tired and fatigued. She understood by the look in their eyes that they had been losing.

"Shut that door," Kyle barked at the other man, who immediately sprang into action. They began to throw the remains of the first heku to die into a pile, and she noticed how both of them carefully avoided going anywhere near the ash on the floor.

"I'm sorry, Kyle," Emily said with tears welling into her eyes.

He looked at her differently. She was no longer the weak, delicate human to which he had grown close. She was now a deadly weapon, a heku killer, with the power to turn a heku to ash in less than a second. There was no defense against her, and no way to avoid her. She noticed the change in his eyes, the way he stared at her from across the room as if afraid to come to her, and she buried her face in her hands.

Kyle frowned when she hid her face, and he realized that, though a powerful weapon, she wasn't an unfeeling monster. She was still his beautiful and fragile mortal. He walked slowly to her and sat at her side, wrapping his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest, thankful for the touch.

The door opened noiselessly, and Chevalier stepped through. His eyes grew enraged at the sight of Kyle with his arms wrapped around Emily. He was more infuriated when Kyle didn't let go as he stared at them, and then he saw it. The ash on the floor of the protective cave, the unconscious member of his own coven, and the dismembered body of an enemy, and he growled.

Emily's eyes were still hidden in Kyle's chest, so she wasn't aware of how quickly Chevalier killed the heku from his own coven and added the parts to the pile in the corner. He looked at Kyle and glared.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Chevalier," Kyle said, trying to save his own life.

"Let go of her," Chevalier demanded.

Kyle released his hold on Emily, and she was in Chevalier's arms in a second, cradled against his chiseled chest, and her body shook cruelly. "I'm so sorry, Chev. I couldn't help it."

"It's okay, Em. It's okay." He stroked her hair lightly while he continued to glare at Kyle.

"Chief Enforcer," Kyle whispered.

"One word...," he hissed at Kyle.

"Never." Kyle's eyes met Chevalier's straight on. He wasn't lying. "I've promised my life to protect her."

"Go help clean up. There are still a few Encala running around the city."

Kyle nodded and disappeared up the steps.

Chevalier sat Emily down on the chair and knelt to face her. "You did very well. I'm proud of you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" He glanced over her, looking for any sign of an injury.

She shook her head and stared at the ashes. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright." He kissed her forehead. "You know if they had gotten to you, they would have killed you. You defended yourself, nothing more."

"What is going on?"