Chevalier took a deep breath and walked into Emily's room. She was sitting up in bed reading a book and didn't see him enter, so she jumped a little when he sat down, and then put her book down.
“You're out of the meeting early,” she said, pleased.
“Yeah, well… I have a mission.”
“What kind of mission?” Her eyes narrowed.
“An important one, and I'm leaving tonight.” He took her hand.
“For how long?”
“I don't know, until the job is done.” He kissed her hand lightly.
“Send someone else,” she told him, it sounded like a good idea to her.
“I'm the Chief Enforcer… this is faction business.”
“Then I'll just come with you.” She swung her legs out of the bed, but he put a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“No, Em, this isn't a joke. It's going to be dangerous… and I need to go alone.”
“Why?”
“It's my job.” He put his hand under her chin and moved her so she looked at him, “I'm good at my job, and I'll be home before you know it.”
Emily frowned.
“Kyle and David are here if you need anything. Try, for me, to behave.” He smiled softly.
Emily saw Chevalier off from the pier. He waved, and then got into his black Bugatti. Kyle and David stood by her, unhappy that she was able to talk the Chief Enforcer into letting her out of bed.
Chevalier waited until the pier was out of sight and pulled out the file he had with him. He scanned the documents, carefully committing them to memory. It was an easy job. There had been numerous heku attacks in a small town in Delaware. The Elders felt whoever was responsible, needed to be dealt with by the Chief Enforcer himself. As Chevalier read the file, he agreed. There were four unexplained exsanguinations, three men and one woman, all within a 24 hour period. The newspapers were claiming it was a cult attack, but the tell tale signs were there that it was a heku.
As Chevalier pulled the Bugatti off of the ferry, he turned into the fast lane of traffic and hit 100 mph within seconds. He reached down and turned up his music, his heart pumping with excitement. It was always fun to do his job.
He reached Smyrna, Delaware, after dark and pulled his car into a service station. He had already burned the file on the ferry, and his car was clean, in case anyone checked. Looking around, he carefully surveyed the area and headed north toward where three of the four bodies were found. He kept his senses alert, all working in sync with each other. He knew there was a heku close. He could smell it on the wind. There were still outlines of the bodies on the sidewalk where they had been found. He knelt down by the macabre outlines and ran his fingers through the accumulated dust.
His innate tracking abilities were focused to the west. He stood slowly and made his way carefully through the back alleyways. The scent of the heku became stronger as he neared the warehouse district. He was shocked when the distinct heku smell was overshadowed by fresh blood. The sounds of a struggle echoed through the steel walls of the warehouses as he made his way closer to his target. This job would be easier than he'd imagined if he could catch the offender in the act.
He rounded a large manufacturing plant and saw the heku, hovered over a newly dead mortal. Chevalier was able to get close as the heku was too engrossed in feeding to notice anything else around him.
Chevalier looked down at the wide eyes of the newly dead woman and growled deeply. The heku jumped up, placing himself between his prey and Chevalier, then crouched defensively and hissed.
“She is mine,” he said, baring his teeth at Chevalier.
“Do not speak to me like that. Do you know who I am?” Chevalier asked. He stood tall and looked down ominously at the offending heku.
The smaller heku's eyes scanned Chevalier and he dropped out of his crouch and cowered, “I am sorry, Sir. You may finish it if you wish.”
“Finish it?” Chevalier took a step toward him, “You mean finish off the girl?”
“Yes, your highest honor, please feel free.” The heku took one step away from the dead mortal.
“What is your name?” Chevalier asked as he reached down and shut the eyes of the dead girl.
“Jay, Sir,” he answered, watching the menacing Chief Enforcer.
“Well, Jay, there's a slight problem.”
Jay fidgeted, “What kind of problem?”
“It's come to the attention of the Equites Council that there have been some mortals killed by a heku in this area… know anything about that?” Chevalier circled Jay as the heku cowered in the corner.
“No, Sir, it's not me. This is the first time I've done it, I swear,” he stammered.
“I see… your first.” Chevalier looked down at her and sighed, “I'm assuming it was consensual too, well, other than the death part.”
“Oh! Of course, Sir, it was her idea even. I said no, but she insisted.” He smiled widely.
“Yes of course. You're saying the broken arm was her idea too?” Chevalier asked, and leaned against the wall to watch Jay.
“That was an accident, she fell, you see.”
“Uh hu.” Chevalier was enjoying this, “At what point did she agree to be completely drained?”
“That was, well…” His eyes darted around quickly looking for an easy out, “It was an accident.”
“It's odd how I can still smell the fear in the air. Funny how she was afraid even though she agreed to this.”
True fear filled Jay's eyes and his face fell, “Ok, ok, it wasn't consensual, ok? Haven't you ever made a mistake? It was the first time, I swear.”
“Of course, we all make mistakes.” Chevalier was grinning.
“Good, then, I'll just go. I won't do it again I promise.” Jay took a step to the left and Chevalier matched it.
“Just a few more problems though… the other four bodies.”
“Those weren't mine, I swear.” His voice had taken on a high pitched squeak as he began to panic.
“Don't lie to me, Jay,” Chevalier said coolly.
“I'm not! I