Travis jerked when she passed him, and he turned his face away from her. Chevalier glared at him, and he faced forward again. He made a mental note to demand an explanation from Travis when they were alone.

Emily crawled into the Bugatti and watched the houses fly past. "I think maybe Travis isn't feeling well."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Chevalier knew why but wondered if she had noticed.

"He was just acting weird is all."

They pulled up to the castle, and the two guards moved to greet them. As one of them opened Emily's door for her, he winced and stood up quickly. His eyes glanced toward the Chief Enforcer. Chevalier was glad that Emily didn't notice the reaction, and she headed inside when it began to rain.

"I'll deal with you later," Chevalier growled at the guard, and then he followed her inside.

As Emily walked into the foyer, Kyle appeared from the opposite end of the room. He ran at her and picked her up in a hug. "Welcome back!"

Chevalier felt his anger rising when he saw Kyle inhale deeply and set her back down a little roughly. He then took a step back, his eyes wide.

"I... will... be... well... I'll get your things," Kyle stammered, and then stepped into the fresh night air.

Emily shrugged, smiled at Chevalier, and then headed up the stairs. "I know you have a meeting. I'm just going to take a shower and go to the barn."

He nodded at her and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him. Less than a second later, he had the guard pinned against the stone walls of the castle, his hand around his neck. "Explain yourself."

The guard choked and fought to breathe. His words came out in a whisper, "I apologize, sir. It won't happen again."

Chevalier let go of his neck and glared down at him. "It better not."

The guard nodded and returned to his post.

He then spun on Kyle. "You of all people know better," he hissed.

"It just caught me off guard. I think I may need to go feed tonight." Kyle took a step away from Chevalier's icy glare.

"I'll expect you to keep well fed in the future if you are going to keep your position." His words were fierce.

"Yes, sir," Kyle said, looking down at the rocky ground.

"Now, come inside. I need a full report," he said to both Kyle and Travis, as Travis walked up.

When they sat down in the conference room, the three guards sat as far away from Chevalier as they could. He had a command-presence about him that left no doubt who was in charge.

"Travis," he said.

Travis began, "There's nothing new on the pier, sir. It's been a very quiet week. I had one group of tourists stop to use the bathroom, but when I mentioned the quarantine, they left quickly."

"Mason"

The door guard looked up nervously. "Nothing to report, sir."

"Kyle?" His voice sounded angrier.

Kyle sighed. "There's been some speculation that there may be a Valle among us."

Chevalier's jaw tightened. "Speculation?"

"Yes, one of our informants from the Valle said that a small group of their reconnaissance team has gone missing, and as he's on the Encala Enforcement team, he suspects they've come to our side."

"And they think they are actually here in this coven?" Chevalier leaned forward toward Kyle.

"Yes, sir. One of the Valle's speedboats is missing, and because we're the only coven on an island..."

Chevalier growled. "Any idea who it is?"

"Not yet, sir, but we're keeping our eyes and ears open. We have three open positions here in the castle that we haven't filled because we don't know who we can trust."

Chevalier nodded in agreement. "Keep them empty. I'm not going to risk a Valle informant in this castle."

Kyle knew only too well that the Valle would love to get their hands on Emily, and just the thought made him hiss slightly.

"Put a task force together, and get me those Valle," he demanded.

"Already started, sir." Kyle nodded at him.

Chevalier stood up and left for his office. He needed some time to think. If the Valle were in his coven, they might already know too much about Emily. He wondered if he should take her back out on the ocean again, but he wasn't sure how to do it without making her suspicious. Finally, he decided to leave things as they were but to keep a strict eye on her.

There was a stack of papers from Storm on his desk, and he let his mind pull into work mode as he went through them.

Chevalier lost track of time, when he suddenly felt excited and realized that it must have been from Emily. It was 5am. He smiled, knowing that she was up early to go check on her livestock. He shut his eyes and focused on her. He loved to feel her emotions when she was out in the barn. He could hear her talking, but it wasn't clear enough to understand what she was saying.

He fought to see through her eyes, but the picture was gray and blurry. Soon, he thought, he would be able to clear up that image.

A scream abruptly echoed through his head, sending every fiber of his being into action. He was immediately out the door, running toward the barn, and he could feel Kyle close behind him. Even his heku speed wasn't fast enough, and he growled when the screaming stopped. As he ran into the barn, his mind whirled with the image.

Emily was lying on the straw, and a heku was at her neck. A stream of blood was pouring out of the puncture wounds while the heku drank deeply. Patra was kicking at the stall angrily. With one swift movement, Chevalier grabbed the strange heku off of Emily and used every ounce of restraint to stop from tearing his head off. He threw the heku back to Kyle, who restrained him and growled angrily.

Chevalier knelt down beside Emily as she fought to get to her feet. Her hand covered her neck, and blood seeped through her fingers.

"Lay down, Em."

He forced her back down and could see from her eyes that she was dazed. Chevalier glanced over her quickly. Her skin was clammy, and her face was colorless. The heku had overfed. She shouldn't have been that pale after a feeding.

Two more guards arrived and took the strange heku from the barn. One of the guards was hissing at him as he struggled.

Kyle knelt down and slipped off his shirt. He held it over the gaping wound on Emily's neck to try to stop the bleeding. She struggled to get up, her eyes still glazed over.

Chevalier picked her up and cradled her in his arms while Kyle held pressure over her neck. "Look at me, Em."

She looked toward him, but her eyes were unfocused.

"It's okay. We're here now."

Chevalier kissed her forehead and grimaced at the clamminess of it.

"Let's get her inside," Kyle said. He knew that Emily was dazed, but he wasn't sure Chevalier was thinking straight either. When Chevalier didn't move, Kyle guided him forward with his free hand.

As they stepped into the castle, Kyle pulled his blood-soaked shirt away from Emily's neck and ordered a towel from the shadows. He pressed the new cloth hard against her neck, and she groaned weakly.

"Get her upstairs, Chevalier," Kyle demanded, and within a few seconds, he was lying Emily down on her bed. Anna, Gordon, and Travis had joined them at her bed.

Kyle took a fast look beneath the towel. "It's clotting."

Emily tried to open her eyes, but they were heavy. "Stop," she whispered weakly. She tried to get up, but a gentle hand stopped her.

"It's over. You're safe," Chevalier told her. Some of the control had come back into his voice. He turned to Kyle. "Where is he?"

"He's down in the holding area. I have him well guarded with strict instructions that he's not to be harmed."

Chevalier nodded. "Get some B12 and folic acid up here with some orange juice."

He sat down on the bed beside Emily and took the bloody rag from Kyle. He held it in place with one hand and gently pushed her hair away from her face with the other.

Emily tried to get up and was again pushed down by soft and gentle hands.

"Get him," she whispered.

Chevalier locked eyes with her, but they weren't focused. She was still too dazed. Gordon appeared with orange juice, and when Chevalier pulled the rag away, the flow of blood had stopped. He slid an arm under her shoulders and lifted her up, so she could get a drink. She turned her head away.

"No," she whispered, and her hands pushed weakly against his arm.

"Em, drink this," he said, trying again, but she wouldn't drink.

He laid her gently back onto the bed and pushed her head to the side to see her neck. There were multiple sets of puncture wounds, plus one gash left from when the careless heku had gotten greedy and took a bite out of her. It was clotted now, and the skin around the area was red and swollen. Anna handed him a roll of gauze, and he bandaged around her neck.

Kyle came back with two bottles of pills and handed two of each to Chevalier.

"Em... Emily... take these." She squeezed her lips shut tightly.

Kyle leaned down, glanced once at Chevalier, and then spoke angrily, "Emily, you take these right now!"

She hesitated, but then took the pills and swallowed them dry. Chevalier held her up again, and she didn't fight when he brought the orange juice to her lips. She took a sip and then grabbed the cup in her hands and began to drink deeply.

As he laid her back on the bed, she pulled at the bandage on her neck. "Get it off," she whispered.

Her eyes were on Chevalier, and they were starting to focus.

He grabbed her hands and held them in his. "No."

"Kyle, Travis, go find out what you can from that heku, but don't kill him," he said through gritted teeth.

They both nodded and left while Anna sat on the bed beside Emily and adjusted the bandage. She took the empty glass and disappeared.

Chevalier sat in silence and watched Emily. She was restless as she started to come out of the daze. Her pale complexion was unsettling and in contrast to her vibrant green eyes. He held her hands when she tried to free them to pull at the bandages. He knew the wound on her neck had to be painful.

Emily tried to clear her head. She had to warn them that there was a heku with her in the barn. She had to tell Chevalier, but the pain in her neck wouldn't allow her to talk. Her mind was telling her to get out, to get way, but something was holding her back.

Her hands were tied. She could feel them restrained, and she didn't seem to be able to break the bonds. She had to get loose. Her mind fought to pull away from its fog and to call for help.

"Help," she mumbled, trying to pull her hands free from Chevalier's grasp.

"You're safe. I'm here." He worried about how restless she was.

"My neck." She flung her head to the side, trying to relieve the burning sting.

"I know," he whispered back to her, and he noticed that there was some blood on the gauze, but not a lot.

She groaned.

He held her hands all night and watched her. Her color didn't improve, but she finally settled down into a peaceful sleep. Once in a while, she would try to pull the bandages off of her neck, but his voice would settle her back down. It wasn't until dawn that he heard a knock on the door.

"Enter," he whispered, and watched as Kyle came into the room. He looked exhausted and worried about Emily.

"How is she?" Kyle asked, looking down at her.

"A little better. What did you find?" He was anxious to know.

"He's a Valle, sir."

Chevalier's eyes narrowed.

"There are more here. I haven't gotten the names out of him yet, but I will." His voice was icy, "He was told to find Emily only but said her scent was too strong, and it called to him."

"As soon as I can leave her... I'll go talk to him," he said ominously.

Kyle nodded and left the room. Chevalier could only imagine what tortures Kyle and Travis were putting the Valle through, and he hoped it was horrific. His eyes turned back to Emily when she gasped.

"Get it off!" she yelled, trying to pull her hands free.

Chevalier held them gently and met her eyes. "Leave it on, Emily."

"It burns, Chev, help me." Her eyes were pleading.

"It's not the bandages." He winced as her back arched, and she screamed. "Look at me."

Her eyes met his, and her accusing gaze was angry.

"You've been badly bitten. We have who did it, but your neck is pretty torn up, and you've lost a lot of blood." He hoped it was getting through to her.

"It burns." Her voice was strained.

He nodded, unable to speak for a moment.