"Just like the others," she grumbled as she ran to the house.

Chevalier barely made it to the door of the bunkhouse when it opened and Sam looked at him.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sam said plainly, and then the pain hit Chevalier.

Chevalier's body was wracked with fire. Every fiber of his being felt as if it had suddenly exploded in flames. He was knocked to his knees, and his mind screamed with more pain than he'd ever felt. He was only partially aware when Sam pulled him inside the bunkhouse and shut the door. What seemed like an eternity later, the pain started to subside, and Chevalier could see Sam standing beside him with a broom.

"What... happened...?" he was able to ask with much effort.

"Hrm," Sam grunted, his eyebrows rising. "She must have gotten distracted. There's no ashes to clean up this time." He put the broom away.

Chevalier's head swam, and he drifted into unconsciousness. He found his body unable to move. The weight of it was improbable. Through the darkness, he could clearly hear everything going on at the small ranch.

The cock of a shotgun.

The barn door opening.

Heavy footsteps returning to the house. "I don't see anyone in there, Emi. Was it another one of them?" Keith asked with disgust.

"Yes, I've seen him a few times, but this is the first he's attacked. He seemed different though, at least at first. He wasn't begging me to join some stupid coven or jumping from the shadows to bite me."

"How do you attract these weirdoes?" he asked her.

Emily's voice sounded worried. "Maybe Sam got him?"

"That old man? What's he going to do, hit the guy with a bridle?" Keith was obviously having fun.

"It's not funny, Keith. Go check on Sam."

Keith sighed and walked out the door of the house just as Sam opened the bunkhouse door and stepped out.

"Evening, Sam," Keith said cordially.

"Hello, Mr. Keith."

"Have you seen anyone around tonight? Any ashes?"

"No, sir, no ashes. Mayhap he run?"

"Hasn't stopped her from killing them before. If you do find ashes, just keep up the story that I killed them."

"Yes, sir. I un'rstand."

Sam returned to the bunkhouse while Keith went back into the house.

Sam looked down at Chevalier as he opened his eyes slowly. "You broke the code."

Chevalier stood and shook his head clear of the pain. "Who the hell do you think I am?"

Sam blinked. "What do you mean?"

He was able to pull himself up to his tallest height. "I am Chief Enforcer of the Equites, and as such, we take this as an assault on the Council. I am no longer bound by the laws of my kind. I suggest you tell your mistress that so much as a burning in my little finger... and I'll kill her."

Sam glared. "Touch her over my dead body."

Chevalier looked at him. "I have business with her. If she wants to continue to breathe, I suggest she find time to meet with me."

Sam blinked and Chevalier was gone.

Chapter 3.

Chevalier's phone rang softly as he lie in bed thinking about what had transpired. He hesitated, then answered, "Yes, Storm?"

She seemed nervous, very uncharacteristic for her. "Sir, are you in trouble?"

"No, why?" He sounded tired and still strained from the pain earlier.

"I had a phone call from one of the Old Ones." She paused to see if he responded, but then continued, "It's Lord Ulrich von Weiskgaard, from the Valle. He wants to meet with you immediately."

Chevalier frowned slightly. He was one of the Old Ones, so why did she seem so nervous? "About what?"

"He won't say, sir, but he did mention that the meeting need not include any of the Equites Council."

He thought that sounded odd, but agreed. "Very well, where shall we meet?"

"Lord Ulrich is in Great Falls."

He shook his head, wondering what could be up now. "Okay, tell him to meet me in the conference room at my hotel in one hour."

"Yes, sir..." She hesitated, and then hung up.

Chevalier tried to clear his head, but his thoughts kept turning back to Emily. She had unknowingly tried to kill him that night, yet he still felt the urge to protect her. He noticed, frustratingly, that even as his thoughts were trying to focus on the upcoming meeting, they still held her image closely, as if trying to bring her to him. The very thought of her brought his instincts forward, and he longed for another taste of her succulent blood.

The concierge booked the conference room for him easily. It was always amazing what a simple $100 bill would do to a mortal. Chevalier sat at the head of the table and watched the clock, anxious to get this meeting over with so he could get back on track at the ranch.

The doors opened, and in walked Lord Ulrich. He was obviously one of the Old Ones, and as he looked at Chevalier, his eyes were scrutinizing. He wore the black suit and conspicuous black cape that had long been abandoned in the new world. Behind him were six well-dressed heku, obviously the top ranks of his coven.

Ulrich stood at the table, and one of them removed his cape and pushed a chair up for him. As he sat down, they formed a semicircle of protection around him. Last to walk in was Sam. He was still dressed in denim overalls and looked quite out of place with the others in the room. He shut the door behind him and sat down at Ulrich's right.

Chevalier eyed Sam suspiciously.

"I am Lord Ulrich von Weiskgaard, head of the Debalih Coven. I know who you are, so now I ask a simple question... What are you doing with Emily Russo?"

Chevalier's eyes narrowed. "Seven of you, how remarkable. So tell me, how long have you known of the existence of this killer here in the middle of North America?"

Ulrich glared at him. "How dare you address me so?!"

Chevalier grinned mirthlessly and stood up, leaning on the table. "I dare much. I was burned at the stake with the Templar. I enjoyed a bloodbath in Jerusalem. I have been around much longer than any of your whelps in attendance here. I daresay that the insolence, if there is such, lies on the part of old world covens that've apparently hidden a violation of the pact into some place where they believed that they could hide it indefinitely."

Ulrich watched him and tensed.

Chevalier sat at the conference table and propped his feet up. "Nonetheless, we must take this opportunity to deal with the issue."

One of the young heku slapped Chevalier's boots off the table. "You will not address Lord Ulrich in that manner!"

Chevalier stood up, his hands in fists. "I will address him in any way I see fit."

Ulrich smiled with a gleam in his eyes. Chevalier tried to remember where he had seen those eyes.

Ulrich motioned to his coven, and they left without a word, except for Sam, who stayed in his chair. "Enough with the frivolities. I come seeking answers, so I'll ask you again. What do you want with Emily Russo?"

"What I'm doing is of no concern to you. It's Equites business," Chevalier said bluntly.

"It has everything to do with me. I assure you."

"What you did makes you no better than Keith!" Sam yelled, standing up.

"I am nothing like Keith!" Chevalier yelled, pounding his fist on the table and splintering it. "Drinking Emily's blood without permission was necessary to clear my head around her. Keith finds it fun to beat on someone who relies on him."

"Sam, let us be," Ulrich said calmly. Sam turned into a small cat, jumped off the chair, and ran out the door. "My familiar can be very protective of her."

"Apparently"

"I know that you are part of the Equites Council, and I also know the Elders have been after Elizabeth Winchester's family for years. I've been able to keep them safe, it seems, until now. What do you want? What can I give that will get you to turn around and leave Emily alone?"

Chevalier noted the sorrowed expression on Ulrich's face and thought carefully before speaking. "I don't want anything from you. I'm not here to destroy her."

"Then what do you want?" His eyes narrowed as he grew angry.

"I still don't think it's any of your concern."

"It is my concern when my family is involved," Ulrich said, clenching his jaw.

The eyes, they were familiar. They were Emily's eyes. The truth hit Chevalier. Ulrich was the heku with whom Elizabeth Winchester had fallen in love.

Ulrich sat back in the chair. He seemed exhausted. "I've watched over my family for hundreds of years, and during that time, the heku blood was almost bred out of the line. I was so close to having my descendants fully mortal, no longer sought by the Councils as threats."

Chevalier waited, trying to wrap his mind around what he was hearing.

"Emily's mother had almost no power at all, and then he found her. Elizabeth Ann married Allen Flynn, and they had a son. Elizabeth's father was Irish, and she had his temper, but had yet to display anything beyond that. None of the powers are held by the males in the family, so I couldn't tell if the hundreds of years of torment had come to an end. For one brief period of time, I sent Sam on an errand away from the Flynn family, and another heku found her." He paused and pain crept into his voice. "He had the power to clear the mind. Elizabeth Ann didn't even know what was happening."

"Then Emily was born," Chevalier whispered. Everything was becoming clear to him.

Ulrich nodded. "I wasn't sure if the baby was Allen's or not. I also wasn't sure if another heku could bring back the powers that I bestowed, unknowingly, upon the family. The heku kept visiting Elizabeth Ann, and one night, he lost control. Her blood had become like a drug to him."

Ulrich's voice softened. "He killed her, and when he still wasn't satiated, he also killed her son, desperately seeking more of the dulcris cruor. Emily was only two years old, and when he approached her, smelling the scent of the sweet blood on her, she turned him to ash in less than a second. It was then that I knew that it had all started over. Young Emily was even more powerful than my own daughters."

Chevalier's muscles tightened as he realized how quickly the factions would have Emily killed if they knew what he knew. He suddenly felt like taking her far away from them, hiding her, protecting her.

"She can't know what she can do." Ulrich's voice strengthened.

"Why?" Chevalier asked. It didn't make sense.

"If she makes the same decision her ancestors did, not to carry on the family line, then my Elizabeth will die out, nothing left of her or us. I watch over Emily and make sure she's safe, with the help of Sam."

"Safe? You call living with Keith safe?" Chevalier growled at him.

"Keith was a fortunate accident. I don't meddle in the mortal affairs of my granddaughters. I only step in when the immortal interfere."

"Fortunate accident?" Chevalier asked, confused.

"Yes, fortunate. He's weak minded and takes credit for the missing that Emily has turned to ash. She finds protection being with him, and with that protection comes some comfort. As long as Keith takes credit for getting rid of, shall we say, admirers, then she won't know what she is capable of."

"How many has she turned to ash?" Chevalier asked.

Ulrich looked into his eyes. "I don't trust you enough to divulge any more. I just tell you I will not stand by while my bloodline is polluted by yet another heku."

"I... what??" Chevalier fumed when he realized what Ulrich was implying.

"Stay away from her."

"I have no intention of being a father any time soon." The word 'polluted' had touched a nerve.

Ulrich studied his face. "You have no desires for her at all?"

Chevalier's face was steady as he lied. "None at all." His thoughts echoed in his head, "Like no other."

"She's of the dulcris cruor. The more of her blood you feed on, the more you'll want her, and trust me, you will end up killing her. Let her be. Let her live her mortal life and start again breeding out the heku. She's a caring girl. If she finds out how many she's turned to ash..." Ulrich watched Chevalier. His piercing gaze was so much like Emily's.

Chevalier stood. "Enough, I do what I want, and I'll not sit here and be told what I can and cannot do."

Ulrich mirrored his movement and stood. "If you go to the Elders, then believe me, I will know, and Emily will disappear. I've done it before, and I will do it again." With one swift movement, he swept out of the room and disappeared into the daylight, leaving Chevalier alone with his thoughts.

Chevalier's mind was miles away when he arrived at the ranch. The sight of the ambulance sitting quietly in front of the house brought him back from his thoughts. He quickly appeared in the loft of the barn, at the small window that overlooked the front of the Russo's ranch house.

It was obvious what was wrong when the paramedics wheeled out the gurney with the sheet entirely covering its occupant. Emily ran out of the house toward it, but Keith stopped her, gently grabbing her arm. Sam was standing at the bunkhouse door watching.

The ambulance left with no lights, no sirens, just a quiet exit. Emily turned to Keith, and he wrapped his arms around her. The sobs stopped as her body went limp. Keith reached down and picked her up, cradling her lovingly in his arms. He went back into the house and shut the door.

Chevalier was hit with a sudden yearning to go into the house and take her from him, to cradle her in his arms and gaze into her eyes. If he could just lock her gaze, he could lessen the pain. He noted briefly how silent the ranch was. The horses, the cattle, everything seemed quiet and still in the brisk morning air.