The Heku Series

Chevalier has never been told no. For thousands of years he’s sat on the Equites Council, ruling body of his heku faction, and for thousands of years his every order has been followed immediately and without question. One of the most important rules of the heku, is that no one is to feed from unwilling donors. Following a tip that a young mortal woman is being brutally attacked by his own kind, he seeks her out and immediately begins to experience unnatural feelings for the woman. Emily, a beautiful rancher from Montana, has spent her entire life being violently attacked by beings she assumed were vampires. It isn’t until she meets Chevalier that she learns of her startling family history, a history that immediately throws her into the volatile world of the heku. In a bid to protect her, Chevalier moves Emily into his isolated coven, which marks her as a prime target for the Valle and the Encala, enemy factions of the heku. Emily fights to fit into the militaristic world of the heku as her head-strong personality and independent ways turn their perfectly balanced world on end. She immediately befriends Kyle, a heku from Chevalier’s coven, and together they find Emily a niche among the immortal. Emily’s violent past interferes with Chevalier’s plans, and he must first undo what her abusive ex-husband did before he can convince her how much he cares about her, and how much she’s worth to his faction. Chevalier’s growing feelings for Emily are unnatural to his kind, and must be hidden from the rest of the Equites Faction if he’s to remain a formidable part of their Council. His jealous tendencies rage as Emily gets closer to Kyle, and both heku struggle to make her realize how important she is to the faction and how endangered she now is.

Encala, Book 3 in the Heku Series, finds Emily and Chevalier settled into the palace and life as one of the ruling heads of the Equites begins. The Equites elect Damon onto the Equites Council and he immediately finds himself at odds with Emily. Her independence and head-strong personality harshly conflict with his strict nature as one of the ‘old ones’. As the Council City Cavalry struggles to keep tabs on Emily, the Encala begin their mission to gain her confidence and then jump to drastic measures to pull her into the Encala Faction. The V.E.S. emerges, and come to believe that Emily and Allen are being controlled by the vampires. They quickly intertwine themselves closely with the city outside of Council City, the home of the Equites. Emily and Allen head to New Mexico to attend the wedding of Emily’s cousin, and find themselves in the company of a strange heku. This heku befriends Emily, and comes to her defense when Chevalier finds out, and the Equites Council threatens to turn against her. Emily’s abilities strengthen, and her immense value as a weapon becomes evident to all three factions and the relationships become more tense and volatile.

Equites, Book 4 in the Heku Series, starts off with the beginnings of a war. Damon and Emily are still fighting while the Equites defends itself against attacks from both the Valle and the Encala. An accident sends Emily to the hospital, and the tension with the Valle becomes more explosive. Emily suspects the heku have a secret, and will go to any measure to find out what it is. She comes face-to-face with the darker side of the heku and quickly comes to terms with it. An agricultural coven takes her in and her views of the sinister heku begin to change. Emily’s past with Keith comes back to haunt her, and a vile attack shows the Equites how far the Valle and Encala are willing to go to gain possession of the Winchester Heirs. Sam’s loyalty comes into question as Emily finds a small niche out in the world with the mortals. Attacks on her become more dangerous, and she finds that the heku may not be as indestructible as she once thought. An ultimatum is placed that could upend the entire species.

The ominous Valle Faction vows to gain possession of what the Equites has hidden in the well protected Island Coven. Just as Emily thinks she’s found peace in the volatile world of the heku, she’s brutally ripped from the protective walls of Chevalier’s coven and thrown into the harsh reality of a Valle prison. Chevalier confronts the Valle and Equites Elders about Emily, and in doing so, endangers his own life. Emily’s devout loyalties to the heku faction gain respect for her among the Equites Council and ensure her place among the immortal. The Valle overstep, and the violent war that ensues endangers Chevalier’s peaceful coven and exposes traitors among the Equites. While Chevalier fights to protect Emily and his coven, the Equites Faction faces an even bigger crisis when they decide a change of leadership is long past due. The task falls to the Chief Enforcer, and Chevalier is sent on a mission that could end the Council’s turmoil. The operation could not only threaten his life, but also his relationship with Emily. Emily begins learning even more about the heku and its evil past when she comes face-to-face with one of the original heku, an Ancient. She feels the strain as she’s taken from the comfortable coven, and even with Kyle at her side, can’t find her way in the new life. Emily starts to wonder if she’s not only a danger to the heku, but if she would be safer returning to the world of the mortal and leaving her beloved heku behind. When Emily gives birth, the Valle renew their drive to capture the last Winchester heir, and even the Equites Elders begin to feel the need to defend her.

Ferus, Book 6 in the Heku Series, continues to follow the Ferus Organization, a heku alignment that is struggling to become the 4th heku faction. With the newly renewed tension between the factions growing even more violent, Emily struggles with the loss of past friendships. Chevalier and the Equites find themselves, once again, fighting to keep Emily with them, and their power brings the Valle and Encala to their knees, again wishing to renew the once strong alliance. Emily finds friendship and purpose out on the island and only another attack brings her back to the palace, but not for long. Again the V.E.S. interferes, and when the island is no longer safe, she is forced to return to the palace. Exavior crosses the line and breaks ancient rules set to keep the mortals safe from the ancients. Emily and Dustin begin a war of their own and the Equites become irritated with their constant fighting. When Dustin takes the arguing to new levels, the Equites Elders begin to lose their faith in the former Powan. Another war in Council City pits the Equites against the other factions, and Emily’s method of revenge even shocks the Equites.

After thousands of years of war, the peace agreement arranged by Emily forces the factions to work together to destroy a new threat. Tensions between Exavior and the Equites grow and Emily becomes a prime target. Chevalier struggles to come to terms with the friendships Emily has with the enemy factions, and when the Chief Enforcers go missing, he sets out to bring them back and tries to find a way to keep Emily out of the skirmish. An important Equites trial puts Emily on the Council stand and shows her more of the volatile tendencies of the heku species. Exavior oversteps, throwing the Valle into action to protect the last Winchester, while a coup threatens to destroy their faction and pushes Emily’s ultimatum. The Ferus emerge as a formidable enemy, and plans are made to extinguish the rogue band of heku. The V.E.S. begin experiments, threatning to expose the heku species, and only Emily can stop them. A misunderstanding sends Emily out on her own and it will take all three factions to get her back. Will her time away cause a permanent rift between her and the Equites?

Emily continues her quest to seek revenge for the death of her Cavalry, much to the dismay of the Equites and Encala Faction. The Equites are in a race against time to locate the fallen Encala Elder in hopes of preventing a war, but Emily is dead set on keeping him until he's suffered for the deaths. The Encala overstep in their mission to regain Frederick, forcing Chevalier's darker side forward. As Alexis grows, she struggles to fit into the world of the heku, and strives to find a place in a world she only partially belongs to. Emily befriends a strange mortal man, a self-proclaimed Vampire Hunter, and he causes tension in the house as heku and hunter have a power-struggle over protecting Emily. A trip to the Valle turns disastrous when Emily and Kralen are caught in a battle caused by the Encala, and Kralen finds himself unable to protect her, and returns to his coven. Emily goes to extreme measures to return her friend and guard, and gives him an offer he can't refuse. Another ancient being emerges and again separates Emily from her beloved heku. The Cavalry sets out to find her and Chevalier decides to handle the Encala himself. Mysterious things begin happening to Emily, and Chevalier swears to find the source.

Emily begins to recover from her long captivity with Salazar, but a drastic setback threatens not only her, but the lives of the Equites Council. Chevalier struggles with Emily’s renewed friendship with the Encala, when they offer her a companion in a time of need. Learn more about the relationships between the Old Ones and the original heku, the Ancients. Chevalier’s fierce hatred for the Ancients comes to play and pits the Old Ones against them once again. The Old Ones learn more about Emily and threats emerge as Emily discovers hidden Ancient abilities within herself. Salazar’s hold tightens once again and they begin to wonder if Emily will ever be completely out of his grasp. Alexis begins to crave motherhood and Dain steps up as a formidable presence in Emily’s protection. The Valle make a startling revelation, one that could bring Chevalier and Emily the peace they seek.

A spin-off of the Heku Series by T.M. Nielsen. This book coincides with books 7, 8, and 9 of the Heku Series and may contain spoilers. They live among us, blending with the human society, while behind closed doors and heavily guarded compounds, they continue age old practices of the immortal. The heku are indigenous to this planet and are far older than the earliest signs of man. They are militaristic, violent, and highly secretive. They are bound by strict rules that separate them from, and protect, the mortals. After the Encala were systematically wiped out by Equites Forces following the death of a Council member, they strive to rebuild so they can again become a superpower in the heku world. While gathering in southern Canada, they come across a woman that was long ago banished by an enemy for feeding without consent. What they find astonishes them, and one of the games of the Ancients is found to still exist. This unique view of the heku species focus on the every-day heku. While The Heku Series revolves around high-ranking and powerful members of the faction’s leaders, this story shows you the heku in the covens that work and struggle to make it in the world of the immortal.

Chevalier and Emily have reconciled and come to a silent agreement that will benefit not only their own family, but the Equites. Things are looking calmer until someone begins attacking women in the nearby mortal city. Fighting over land in Europe, the Equites and Encala find themselves again at odds. The Encala Council steps into the friendship between Emily and Andrew and cause another rift between her and their faction. Allen, Megara, and Alexis take it upon themselves to solve a problem in their family, hoping to keep Chevalier and Emily’s peaceful agreement intact. Will their initiative cause irreparable damage to an already precarious relationship with their mother?

**This book runs alongside books in the Heku Series and may contain spoilers** The war with the Ancients, initiated by a sole Valle, led to decades of war. The death and banishment caused by the fighting deepened the distrust between those with Ancient’s blood. Once the Ancients were banished for eternity, the Old Ones were forced to work together to rebuild the factions and continue their plight to strengthen the heku, without the wisdom and power of the Ancients. Once the factions were again stable, most Old Ones chose to permanently retire to avoid seeing their loathed enemies in power. The Valle quickly rose to be the strongest of the factions, until a lone mortal woman was found with powers that threatened to upend the entire heku species. Aided by her abilities, the Equites became the largest of the heku factions, leaving the Valle to struggle to keep from finding themselves obliterated. To save their faction, a beloved Elder was banished, and the Valle had to re-work their entire faction to compensate for losing an Old One.

This partially runs alongside "The Making of a Valle". Though reading "The Making of a Valle" is not required to understand Sins of the Son, some stories do parallel. With Dain banished and no longer wreaking havoc on the mortal and immortal, Emily and Chevalier return to life in Council City. While Emily sets out to find and free her young son from torment, Chevalier spends his time strengthening the Equites and attempting to protect Emily from the ever expanding threat from the unfactioned and the Valle. Old friends reappear, but trust is hard to accept. Emily tries to follow the wishes of the faction and her husband, but emotions fight against what she’s struggling to do. Thoughts of loved ones and friends buried beneath the cold ground fill her mind at all times, and Chevalier thinks she’s in the need of a good distraction. The faction and Emily learn more about Chevalier’s sordid past, when old enemies begin to seek vengeance against long-held grudges.