Perry, his eyes staring down, started when Emily entered the cell area, and with picture-perfect memory, went over exactly what was said and what the heku had done in Emily's presence. Emily winced. It sounded worse when he said it out loud.

"Get out," Chevalier yelled, his eyes on Emily.

Travis and Perry left the room quickly.

"What were you thinking?" Chevalier asked, leaning back on his desk.

"I had some questions."

"You think we haven't asked them already?"

"I have no doubt, but I wanted to hear them for myself." She looked at the ground.

"You sat close and let him savor you, Em." His voice was shaky.

"Do what?"

"It's uncivilized, so you won't see it often. When a predator stalks their prey, they use all of their senses to enjoy the kill longer. What he did was rude and insulting."

"I got what I needed. I don't care if he wanted a sniff." She set her jaw and met his eyes.

"It's your lack of self-preservation that scares me," he growled, frustrated.

"I wasn't in danger! I asked questions and got answers. That's it."

"You can't let heku treat you like that. Ever!" he yelled.

"It wasn't a random heku on the street. He is in a cell, and he couldn't get to me."

"That's not the point! What he did to you was disgusting, and you let him." He took a step toward her, his eyes fierce.

"Let him? You act like I let him grab my ass, Chev. All I did was talk to him." Her Irish blood began to boil.

"Get out." He could feel himself losing control, and he refused to hurt her again.

She stormed out of his office and slammed the door. Emily immediately turned to the outside doors and ran off to the barn.

"Are we riding?" Kyle asked when he caught up to her.

She turned on him, and he took a step back when her angry green eyes glared at him.

"Whoa... what's up?" he asked wearily.

"You want to have a go at me too?" she growled, taking a step toward him.

Kyle stepped back. "No? What's wrong?"

"Apparently, I was savored by Paul." She took a menacing step toward him. "Are you going to make a big deal out of it?"

Kyle's eyes flared. "How did he get out of his cell?"

"I went to him, and I dare you to tell me I shouldn't have... come on... I dare you." She stepped toward him again with her hands balled into tight fists.

Kyle growled and disappeared.

Emily went into the barn and threw a saddle on Patra, then tied the colt to a tether that she wrapped around the horn. She swung up onto the saddle and headed out into the hot afternoon sun.

Kyle went down into the cell area and walked silently over to stand beside Chevalier at Paul's cell. Paul was rambling on about the 'tasty girl' and Chevalier's eyes were livid.

"She'll be mad if you do it. Let me," Kyle said, stepping up to the cell door.

Chevalier didn't respond. Emily was too far away from the castle to hear the screams.

Emily led Patra and the colt back into the barn, and after unsaddling them and giving them food, she sat down on the straw. The ride was invigorating and calmed her mind. Peanut appeared and started to curl up in her lap.

"Hi, boy," she said, rubbing his back.

"Can you believe them? All I did was talk to that heku, and they all freaked out over him smelling me," she sighed, then smiled when Peanut looked up at her.

"Rude of him, they said. I'll tell you what's rude, Nut. Treating me like an idiot." She nodded and rubbed Peanut's ears.

"He couldn't get to me through the bars. What do I care if he wants to smell and say disgusting things to me? I got what I wanted out of him." She sighed and stood up.

"Time to face the music?" she asked Peanut, but he was already wandering off. "Wimp."

She walked into the castle slowly.

"Hello," she said when she walked into her bedroom and saw Chevalier sitting in the chair by the fire.

He watched her but didn't talk.

"On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you?" She sat down in the chair beside him and pulled off her boots. The warm fire felt good against her cold feet.

When he didn't answer, she kept talking, "Fine then... on a scale from one to ten, I'd say I was about an eight, but after the ride, I'm maybe a three or so, so you will probably survive the night."

"Emily." His voice was soft, "I'm not so much mad as... well... disappointed."

She frowned at him. "Disappointed?"

"Yes, I had hoped your time here was teaching you how dangerous heku are and how you can't take anything they do for granted."

"Oh, I don't. He was behind bars. There was no way he could get to me."

"That isn't exactly the point. What he did was intimate and intrusive." Chevalier took her hand and kissed it lightly, then frowned and turned her hand over to smell her wrist.

She shrugged and jerked her hand away from him. "You mean like what you just did?"

"I'm allowed," he said seriously, and then he leaned forward and inhaled against her neck.

"Stop it. I'm serious," she said, and pulled away from him.

"So am I, Emily." He leaned back and his eyes narrowed. "You smell different again."

"So stop smelling me and let's get to the point. You don't believe I'm smart enough to stay safe around a heku in a prison cell," she grumbled.

"Yes, I do. What I don't understand is how you could let him treat you like that, or how you let him talk to you as if you were his for the taking." He leaned back in his chair again.

"I didn't care. I got what I wanted to know," she said, her voice flaring up again.

"Like what? What did he tell you that you just had to know?"

"That Ulrich sent him here."

"We knew that."

"I didn't. Then he said that he was here to take me, not just to check up on me."

"We knew that."

"Nice to know. It's also good for me to know that Ulrich plans on breaking our bond when he takes me."

Chevalier tensed. That, he didn't know. "He won't get that chance."

"No, he won't. Not if I can help it." She watched as Gordon brought a tray up for her and then left quickly.

Emily picked up the lid and grabbed some cheese toast off the tray, then returned the lid. She sat back and took an uninterested bite.

"Were you out in the sun a lot today?" he asked finally, allowing her to eat some.

"Of course. I was out on Patra."

He nodded.

"So are you mad or not?" she asked finally.

"I'm not mad. I just wonder where this stuff comes from. What would possess you to all of a sudden decide to talk to a prisoner?"

"Curiosity"

"That's it?"

"Yes," she said, shrugging.

Suddenly, he was down on his knees in front of her, kissing her neck. "That scent is toxic."

"Good to know." She flinched away from him.

"You're still mad," he said, rocking back on his knees.

"Hurt, not mad," she told him, and then got up and went into the bathroom.

Chevalier thought for a moment and whispered Kyle's name so Emily wouldn't hear. Within a few moments, Kyle appeared at his side.

"Well?" he whispered to Kyle.

Kyle's eyes filled with panic as he fought the desire to inhale deeply. "It's... again."

Chevalier nodded. "I wanted to know if you caught it, too. It's almost irresistible."

Kyle was afraid to answer but finally nodded once.

"You may go. I just wanted to know for certain." He sat back on the chair.

"What causes it?" Kyle asked.

Chevalier shrugged. "I haven't figured that out yet."

Emily came out of the bathroom in her nightgown shortly after Kyle left, and she headed to bed. She crawled under the covers and rolled onto her side, obviously wanting to be alone.

Chevalier walked to her side and kissed her forehead, and then left, heading into his study.

She was still irritated in the morning and ate her breakfast in a hurry so she could go out to the barn quickly. Chevalier stopped her in the hallway and wrapped his arms around her.

"I need to go away for a few days," he said, softly kissing the top of her head.

She immediately lost the irritation. "Why?"

"I need to go see the Elders about the Valle, and I need Kyle to go with me." He tightened his grip on her when she tensed.

"You are both going?"

"Yes, we both have to go."

"For how long?" she asked, laying her head on his chest.

"A week, no longer," he promised.

She nodded.

"We have someone here to watch over you. He's new, but right now, he's all that's available." She could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't like doing this.

"A week... I think I can stay good for a week."

Chevalier reached down and kissed her on the tip of her nose.

Emily was disappointed to learn that they had to leave immediately, and she drove with them to the ferry and waved while they set off. As she walked back to the castle, she stopped to visit with a few members of the coven along the way. They were always pleasant to her, and she appreciated the welcome.