She moaned loudly and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Emily, you need to take these." He held her hands together with one of his and helped her sit up with the other. He gave her two pills from each bottle and held the cup while she drank them down.

When she was comfortably lying down again, he let her hands go but kept his close. She raised one hand to her neck but didn't try to pull down the bandage. She inhaled sharply when her hand touched the wound.

Her eyes were filling with tears. "Why?"

Chevalier shook his head. "I'll know soon enough."

"I'm so tired."

"Sleep then, you'll feel better when your body replenishes the blood supply." He wasn't sure she heard, because she was fast asleep.

Emily heard the voices as if in a dream.

"You know her scent has been stronger... more appealing," Kyle said.

"Yes, I noticed."

"It's hard to resist, not as an excuse for that lowlife, but just as an observation."

"I suspect it was the sun, Vitamin D as she put it." Chevalier was whispering.

"The Valle has given us two names, Emanuel and Paul. We've managed to track down Paul, but as of yet, we can't seem to find anyone in the coven named Emanuel." Kyle sounded tired.

"Where are they now?"

"Both Paul and Ian are in the prison, though Ian won't be talking any time soon." He sounded proud. "I will call for some antibiotics. Her wound doesn't smell right."

"Good idea, it wouldn't hurt to get some peroxide either, to clean it."

The voices faded and were forgotten by her.

"Take more of these," Chevalier said, handing her four pills.

She took them with a glass of orange juice and crossed her legs, sitting up in the bed.

"Okay, now let me see." He started to un-wrap her neck. She winced when the fibers from the gauze clung to the large scabs.

"Hmmmm," he said, looking at the wound.

"Any better?" she asked, looking out the window.

"Well, it's hard to tell, but I'd say the infection is down." He pulled out fresh gauze and began to re-wrap it.

"Maybe it's you that needs a raise and not Kyle," she said with a half-smile.

"Why's that?" He was concentrating to put the bandage so it was covering all of the wounds.

"Compensation for added stress." She tried to laugh, but her neck burned with the movement, and she winced.

He grinned. "Stop laughing. You'll break it open again, and I do consider myself fully compensated."

"Gah." She winced again. "How long is it going to burn?"

"I'm afraid for a while. He got you pretty good." He sat back and looked at her. She had some color to her lips finally but was overall still pale.

"Did you send Kyle away to get some rest?" She insisted Kyle go rest when she'd seen him. His clothes were torn, and he looked exhausted. Chevalier knew he'd been putting in extra time with the Valle, and he didn't envy the enemy at all.

"Yes, he left this morning for the mainland," Chevalier said, and saw that Emily looked relieved.

She sighed. "Just go, Chev. I'm okay here."

He blinked at her. "What?"

"I know you're itching to go talk to the Valle. Just go." She smiled at him and grabbed her book from the table.

"Are you sure?" he asked, already standing up.

She nodded and motioned him away with her hand, her eyes already on the book.

Chevalier grinned to himself as he left the room. He'd been waiting six long days to talk to the Valle heku personally, and his excitement carried him faster. He found himself down in the cell dungeon within a few seconds. Travis looked up at him and motioned for the guard beside him to move back.

"Out," Chevalier told the guards, and they bowed and left the cell area.

The shrieks echoed through the castle. Emily flinched but tried to focus on her book and ignore the sound of blood-curdling screaming. It continued ceaselessly for hours. The heku servants looked wide-eyed at one another, and a visitor to the castle turned and ran away from the front doors. Just when the screams ebbed, they began again but were even louder.

Emily laid down and pulled pillows over her head to try to mute out the noise. Heku in the castle stopped working and stepped out into the hallway to look at one another. The two guards by the cell entry door fidgeted nervously. They wanted to go in and help, and to see exactly what happened when the Chief Enforcer hit his limit.

Travis stood silently in the kitchen. He had been talking to Gordon when the screaming began, but Gordon left early on, mumbling about heading home. Travis was grinning, though he, like the guards below, wanted to go and join his commanding officer.

When Chevalier walked out of the door, the two guards bowed to him. His shirt was caked in blood, but his face was exuberant. He had a malicious presence as he walked up the stairs.

The two guards went back into the cell and gasped. Blood covered every inch of the cell space. One heku sat trembling in the corner, but the other was nowhere to be seen. They escorted Paul back to his cell as he rambled about bunnies. He'd gone insane.

Chevalier went to his room to shower and change. He knew he looked grotesque and figured Emily didn't need to see him like that. He felt so alive. His senses were more acute, and he could hear the sound as a heku sighed across the castle from him. He let the hot water of the shower pour over him, and he concentrated on Emily and the rhythmic sound of her heartbeat in the next room. He smiled and threw on a robe, then crawled into bed with her and pulled her close to him, tossing his robe to the side.

She stirred slightly when he pulled the pillows off of her head and set them by the side of the bed. Chevalier inhaled deeply while he held her. Her scent was back to normal and was growing stronger every day as her body produced more blood. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and grinned when she frowned slightly in her sleep.

Just after dawn, Emily jerked awake suddenly and sat up. Strong hands wrapped around her and pulled her back down into bed.

Chevalier kissed her softly. "Nightmare?"

Emily just snuggled closer to him.

He ran his fingers through her hair.

"So am I released today?" she asked, yawning.

He smiled. "We'll have to see how your neck is doing before I answer that."

Emily laughed slightly. "It doesn't matter. I can't stay here another day."

Chevalier kissed the top of her head. "Oh, you think you can leave if I say no?"

She nodded up at him. "Yes, I do."

"I just had those chairs replaced. Please try to refrain from attempting to maim someone with them this time, okay?" He didn't let her answer as he pressed his lips to hers.

Chevalier shut his eyes and reached his senses out to her. He reveled at her emotions and the passionate way she went about everything. For now, she felt relaxed and content, and he smiled.

When Emily sat up, it broke his concentration.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

"Let's get it over with. I want to get out to Patra," she said, unwinding the gauze from her neck.

The sight of the healing wounds on her neck never failed to bring his temper forward, and he fought back a growl and looked carefully. "Okay, I'll admit the swelling's down, and it's looking a little better. I guess you can go."

She kissed him lightly. "Good choice."

She scooted out of bed and went to the bathroom to get ready. Anna had already laid out fresh gauze, so she wrapped it quickly around her neck. She knew the scent of blood made the heku nervous. She made sure she had it as covered as possible before she pulled on her jeans and t-shirt, and went back out into the bedroom.

Gordon had left a tray full of pancakes and sausage, but the smell made her nauseous, so she ignored it and headed out to the barn.

Kyle was wandering out to check on Emily when he saw her standing in the backyard, staring at the barn. "Morning, Em."

She didn't respond.

He frowned and walked closer to her, noticing her eyes were locked on the barn.

Kyle followed her gaze and looked into the empty barn. "Emily?"

When she didn't answer, he looked closer at her. Her body was rigid, and she was breathing quickly. He walked into the barn and looked around, then used his senses to look for anything out of the ordinary but found nothing.

He walked back out to her and took one of her fists in his hand, smoothing her hand in his. "It's okay. There's nothing in there."

Kyle pulled lightly on her hand, leading her toward the barn, but her feet were planted firmly, and she didn't move.

"Come on. It's okay." He pulled harder, and she took a hesitant step forward.

He pulled her hand again, forcing her to take another step.

"Kyle, stop," she whispered.

"I'm here. Come on." He pulled her another step, ignoring the panic in her eyes.

She dug at his hand that was holding her other one, trying to pry it loose as she was forced to take another step. "Let me go."

"Nope," he said, forcing her to take another step. "We're going to the barn."

Chevalier appeared at her side in an instant. His fierce eyes flashed to Kyle pulling on her arm. "What's going on here?"

"We're going to the barn," Kyle said, pulling her another step forward as her nails dug into his hand.

Emily ignored Chevalier. Her panicked eyes were fixed on the barn. "No."

"Let her go," Chevalier said.

"With all due respect, sir... no." Kyle forced her another step.

"She's not ready," Chevalier said, placing his hand on Kyle's shoulder.

"Yes, she is," he said, pulling her another step. Blood appeared on his hand where Emily dug with her nails to make him let go.

Chevalier hesitated and then walked to the barn door. He knew, deep down, that Kyle was right. The longer it took Emily to return to her animals, the harder it would be.

"I'm in here, Em. Come to me," he said while Kyle pulled her even closer.

"No!" she screamed, and Travis appeared at her side. He looked oddly at Kyle and Chevalier, and then fell back to stand by the door.

"Come on, it's okay. We're both here," Kyle said, pulling her another step.

Chevalier appeared in the door with Patra, who stomped angrily at him, and he grinned. For some reason, the mare hated him.

"Stop," Emily begged when she got within a few feet of the barn.

Kyle let up the pressure on her arm and let her calm down for a few minutes. "Just a few more steps."

He let go of her hand and wrapped an arm around her waist before she could run, and then he flexed his injured hand. The blood flow had already stopped, and the skin was healing. "Come on. Chevalier is in there, and Patra wants to get away from him."

Emily took a timid step as her eyes fixed on her mare. Patra pulled at her reins, trying to get closer to her, but Chevalier took her a few steps farther into the barn.

Emily could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest as she neared the barn. A sweat broke out on her forehead, and she could feel that her breathing was out of control. Emily thought about fighting Kyle. She figured she could break away from him but was sure he'd catch her easily. She took another step forward, but the smell of the barn, once a smell she actually loved, filled her body with panic, and the wound on her neck began to throb.

Kyle was relentless, and she was soon in the barn. When she was a few steps in the door, her eyes fell on the straw where she had been attacked the previous week. The straw was clean and fresh, and she realized that Kyle had changed it out. She pulled forward, away from Kyle, and walked up to Patra, burying her face in the horse's neck.

Kyle and Chevalier stepped back to the walls of the barn and watched.

Emily wrapped her hands around the mare's neck. "Good morning, girl," she whispered. Patra bit at Emily's long red hair, and she laughed.

After a few minutes, Kyle and Chevalier left the barn and met Travis at the door.

"Stay by the door. Don't go into the barn, unless there's trouble," Chevalier told Travis.