True Blood Fanfic: "Encounters with the Dead" (Chapter Eighteen)
Title: Encounters with the Dead (Chapter Eighteen)
Fandom: True Blood
Characters: Eric/Sookie, ensemble
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3841 in this chapter
Notes: FINALLY DONE. That was fun.
Chapter Eighteen
Sookie's terror awakened me long before sunset.
Hours, spent pacing in my light-tight bedroom. Feeling her fear spike until my fangs dropped and my hands fisted in my hair. When I felt her lose consciousness I took out my wrath on silk sheets, ancient artifacts, the Picasso that shredded like tissue paper beneath my fingernails. The rousing of our bond when she regained her senses brought at first confusion, then relief, then pain in concentric measure, the tightening spiral driving my blood lust until I could barely remember my own name. I knew only that whoever had harmed her would pay in slashed sinew and powdered bones.
I took to the sky the moment the sun released its hold on the world. The closer I came to her home the more strongly I could feel her. Still in pain. Still frightened.
The strong scent of the blood came to me as I made my descent. Three separate strains. The clearest scents were in the yard, where two of the pungent aromas mixed with that of freshly turned earth. The first was a smell I recognized but could not place. And I had no interest in dwelling on the matter when the second, much fainter aroma hit me.
That blood - sweet, like honey and crisp mead - belonged to Sookie.
My feet scarcely touched the ground as I slammed into her front parlour. I took in everything in a millisecond - Sookie, prone on the sofa, her cheek ashen beneath a purpling bruise, dried blood on the scrape on her forehead, one leg propped up on a pillow. The shifter bent over her, his body dwarfing her tiny form. One hand reaching for her throat.
In less than a human heartbeat I had the shifter in my grasp; slammed against the wall so hard that his head bounced and the plaster cracked behind him.
"Who has hurt you?" I didn't recognize the growl that my voice had become. My forearm pressed deeper into his windpipe, and I snarled as his eyes glimmered to gold. If he shifted I would end him where he stood, twist his head from his body and gorge myself on his blood. "Was it him?"
"Sam was helping me," Sookie insisted stridently from behind me. "Eric, let him go!"
I could hear her struggling to rise, and it was only that which made me release him. I ignored him as he gasped and stumbled to his knees, speeding instead to Sookie's side and pressing a hand gently against her shoulder to ease her back onto the arm of the sofa before dropping to kneel beside her. My gaze flicked again across the myriad cuts and bruises that marred her pale skin. "Who?" I ground out.
Sookie's hand trembled slightly as she lifted it to brush her fingertips against my lips. Her index finger grazed an elongated fang and it was only then that I realized how close to my basest nature I had become. I forced the teeth to recede; uncurled my clenched hands and relaxed my posture. Sookie was in no danger, now; there was no need to frighten her further with the knowledge of how close I was to ripping apart anyone who sought to hurt her.
"It was Hoyt Fortenberry," she told me. Her eyes brimmed, and she blinked rapidly. Her tiny frame shuddered. "He tried to kill me."
Fortenberry. It wasn't a name I recognized, was no one I had scented in my trips to Merlotte's or at Sookie's home. But now that I knew the danger had passed the puzzle pieces came together. The aroma that permeated the blood on the ground outside was the same as the scent that had lingered on the corpses of the two women at the morgue. The killer. The human who hated vampires so much that he was drawn to destroy any woman who cared for them.
I settled back on my heels. The police would have arrested him, taken him to their pathetic little jailhouse. It would be a simple matter to glamour whatever yokel was on duty, to slip inside and free him. To spirit him away to somewhere private, where I could take my time and make him pay for how he'd hurt my woman.
"He's dead, Eric," she said. The tears that had threatened spilled over as her face crumpled. "I killed him."
Her shoulders shook as she collapsed against me. My arms wrapped around her instinctively, my hand catching in the tangle of her hair to pet and soothe even as my brow furrowed. The story fell from her in fits and starts - the attack in the kitchen, her friend Rene's thwarted defense, the chase through the back yard, her impromptu use of the wooden cross I had commissioned for her dead cat as a weapon. Her sorrow for the killer's death was genuine, its pull on our bond great, yet for myself I felt only confusion.
"Sookie," I said haltingly, "this is a good thing."
"How can you say that?" she blubbered against my shirt. "He was a person! With a mother and and … and a girlfriend. And I killed him, Eric!"
"He would have killed you," I said reasonably. I pulled back so that I could look at her. Even with her cheek swollen and discolored, her eyes red and puffy from crying, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. The fact that she felt so deeply for this loss of life should have sickened me, repulsed me with her weakness; instead I felt an even stronger need to protect and nourish her. To cherish her. I brushed a thumb over her unharmed cheek lightly, and was heartened when she leaned into my touch. "You were brave and strong. You fought when others would have given up. You persevered and succeeded where others had failed. You are a true warrior, my Sookie. Do not grieve what you had to do."
"But-"
I pressed my finger to her open lips. "You saved lives today, Sookie. This man would not have stopped. Be proud that you did what had to be done before he could attack another woman, one who was perhaps not as courageous and resourceful as you."
She sniffled, but nodded when I released my finger. I knew this was not the last time that we would visit this discussion. My Sookie was entirely too tender-hearted, too caught up in the moralities pounded into her from the pulpit and at her grandmother's knee. It was a good thing that I was almost completely without ethics, the human concepts of right and wrong merely abstract concerns to me. It could make dealing with Sookie a challenge, but it also meant that we balanced each other nicely. At least, that is what I told myself.
I quirked a smile at her in an attempt to lighten her mood. "I told you that I would keep you safe and protect you," I said. "Yet it appears that you do not need me at all."
Her hand tightened on my arm. "I need you, Eric," she said.
I could drown in those big brown eyes. I dipped my head to brace my forehead against her brow, taking an unnecessary breath. She still smelled of honey and wildflowers, although her natural scent was tainted by the stench of cleansing ointments and painkillers. It came to me then how closely I had come to losing her, and the thought made my dead heart lurch painfully in my chest.
I have never understood mourning. Humans are born, live their pitifully short lives, and then die. Vampires remain. It was the expected order of things, and to mourn that which was unavoidable was impractical. Sookie's tears over the dead killer made no more sense to me than those she had shed for her dead feline. But the image of my long life stretching before me without this little human in it was enough to give me a small taste of what those mourners felt when they gathered around the newly turned earth of a grave.
I would not lose her. My mind worked rapidly, sorting through and rejecting various scenarios. She must come to live with me in Shreveport, of course. Her home was too isolated, her brother clearly incapable of watching out for her and her friendships almost non-existent. She would quit her job with the shifter. Sookie was clever and quick-witted; surely I could find her something in my organization that would better suit her skills. She would-
"Eric!"
It was only when Sookie squirmed in my embrace that I realized I had dragged her closer, that my hold on her had pulled her from her prone position and that her face had twisted in discomfort. I released her carefully, my eyes searching her face. The drugs that had no doubt inundated her system had masked her true pain. "You are hurting," I said. My fangs dropped as I lifted my wrist to my mouth. "Let me-"
A noise behind me, and her gaze flicked beyond my shoulder. "Sam, are you all right?"
The shifter. If not for the odor of mangy mongrel I would almost have forgotten he was there. I glanced at him over my shoulder, and noted that he eyed me warily before stepping forward. I stiffened, wanting to rise to my full height. To impress on the cur that this woman was mine; to posture and preen. Only Sookie's hand on my arm kept me at her side.
And wouldn't Pam laugh at that. The great Eric Northman, neutered by a human girl.
My Queen would find it less amusing. As would the Authority.
"Eric," Sookie said softly.
Again our eyes met, hers soft and imploring. I tucked my fangs away and gritted my teeth, but nodded slightly before rising to stand at the end of the sofa. Close enough that I would be able to intervene at the slightest indication that something was amiss, yet far enough away to give the shifter some semblance of safety. I relaxed my stance slightly as he approached. Merlotte would always be a threat, but I had to reluctantly admit that he was unlikely to cause Sookie any physical harm.
"I'm okay, Sook," he finally answered her. "Takes more than a knock on the head to take me out of the game." His hand rose to rub at the spot where his head had collided with the wall as his gaze flicked to me. "And I can understand why you reacted so… strongly."
I inclined my head in response. If he only knew how close I had come to ripping his throat out first and asking questions later, he would perhaps not be so magnanimous in his acceptance.
"Thank you, Sam, for comin' over so quick, and for speakin' up for me when the paramedics wanted to take me in." Sookie shivered, though the night was warm. "I just hate hospitals."
I stiffened behind her. The first and only time she had ever been in a hospital had been only a few short weeks ago, when the hateful words of Merlotte and her so-called friends had driven her to tears and resulted in her being drenched in boiling oil. Were it not for my blood she would still be in unspeakable pain, still be scarred for life. It was yet another reminder of why she needed to move away from this backwoods town and its hick inhabitants. They cared nothing for my Sookie.
"No problem," Merlotte said. He smiled, shifted in place. "So now that Northman's here to take care of ya I guess I should-"
Sookie nodded at his vague gesture toward the door. "Thanks again," she said.
"If you need anything-"
"You'll be the first person I call," Sookie said.
"Okay. So-"
"Good night, Sam," I said.
I fully expected Sookie to scold me as soon as the shifter was out of earshot, but she only let her head flop back down exhaustedly on the arm of the sofa. I rounded the furniture to perch on the coffee table in front of her; lifted a hand to smooth a strand of golden hair from her cheek. "Do you wish me to get you anything?" I asked. "Some sweet tea? Are you hungry?"
Sookie bit her lip. "What I'd really like," she said hesitantly, "is that blood you were offerin' earlier? I really am in a lot of pain, Eric."
"Of course."
But before I could even drop my fangs, the door behind us creaked open. I spun, my hands twisting in claws, but the redhead who led the charge didn't even hesitate. I'm not certain she even saw me.
"Oh Sookie," she said, "we came as soon as we heard! Are you okay, honey?"
"I'm sore, Arlene, but-"
"We brought you some carrot cake from the store-"
"We didn't have time to make anything," the blonde behind her continued, "but you can bet that as soon as I get home I'll throw together one of my famous breakfast quiches. I'll drop it by for you in the mornin' before work, sweetie."
"Holly," Sookie said, "you don't have to do that. I'll be-"
"Now don't be silly, we don't want you puttin' any weight on that ankle 'til it's all healed up."
" 'Sides, you's got to take any excuse you can to get pampered round these parts," Lafayette said as he brushed past the women. He inclined his head toward me briefly, then met Sookie's eyes. "Ain't every day we get a goddamn hero in our midst."
The redhead - Arlene - bustled forward and perched next to Sookie on the sofa, reaching past me to take her hand. Her face crumpled behind the pounds of caked-on makeup. "Oh, Sookie. I'm so sorry."
"Arlene, you didn't do anything."
"I've treated you so badly, just 'cause you'd taken up with them bloodsuckers." She stole a quick glance in my direction. So she did see me. "No offense."
"None taken," I said dryly.
"But what Hoyt did-" She shuddered. "I've had a come-to-Jesus moment, Sookie. Ain't nobody better than anybody else, and everybody is just as deservin' of living a full and happy life. Even fangers. You're not gonna hear no more criticism from me, I swear to God."
I clenched my jaw to keep from verbally debating the woman. I could name six vampires off the top of my head who were more deserving of a 'full and happy life' than the ditzy redhead. But Sookie was smiling, her hand clenching at Arlene's, so I let the moment pass.
"How's Rene?" Sookie asked.
"He's still in the hospital; the doctors want to keep him overnight. 'Cause of the head wound, you know. I'm just so proud of him. He was so brave." She leaned closer, the stench of her floral perfume making my nose wrinkle in distaste, and lowered her voice. "I think he's a keeper."
"Rene's pretty awesome, Arlene," Sookie agreed. "You tell him I'll be by to see him later, all right?"
"Knock knock," a voice said from behind us before Arlene could answer. If I hadn't been so focused on Sookie's conversation with the redhead I'd have sensed the presence as soon as he stepped foot on her property. As it was, I could only swivel my head and raise a brow. "Got room for a couple more?"
Sookie's smile lit the room. "Eddie!"
And when her brother stepped from behind the vampire, her lip trembled. I rose from the coffee table and took a step away to allow Jason to draw her into his arms. When they finally parted, Jason's face was tormented, his eyes wet. "My best friend. My goddamn best fuckin' friend. My bubba!" he said. "I swear to fuck, Sookie, if you hadn't have killed him I'd have done it myself. Slowly."
On this we could agree. Perhaps Jason wasn't as inept and foolish as I thought.
"I know," Sookie said soberly. "But I sure wish it hadn't come to that."
"I wanted to stop by and pay my respects as well," Eddie said softly. He stepped forward to take her hand in his. "You are a fine young woman, Miss Stackhouse. I'm honoured to know you."
While Sookie blushed, Arlene twitched at her side. Her face paled beneath her garish makeup. "Is he a…"
"Vampire," Sookie said firmly. "Yes, Arlene. He is."
"Well." The redhead swallowed before she firmed her chin. She straightened her shoulders and stood, holding out her hand. "Any friend of Sookie's is a friend of mine. Eddie, was it?"
She shivered when he took her hand in his, and then - to my great amusement - her cheeks reddened when he raised her hand to his lips. "A pleasure to meet you, Arlene," he said.
"Well," Arlene said again. She wobbled a little on her feet before getting herself under control and turning back to Sookie. "Well. We shouldn't stay long, honey. We don't want to tire you out. Is your vampir here gonna stay the night and watch over you?"
Sookie's eyes rose questioningly to mine. As if there was anything that could tear me from her side this night.
"I will stay," I said aloud.
I stepped back to let her friends crowd around her; watched as chaste kisses were exchanged, well wishes spoken, promises to return the next day bearing enough food to feed a small Viking village for a month offered and accepted. And I was forced, albeit reluctantly, to amend my earlier assessment. In the end, when it counted, Sookie's friends surrounded her like a shield. Her brother, while still an unabashed idiot, cared for her deeply. The shifter had rushed to her side when I could not. She still deserved a job that allowed her to use her brilliant and unconventional mind; a place by my side for her own safety. But she wasn't nearly as isolated or alone as I had thought. And as I watched her face and felt the mix of emotions swirling through her, I realized that she wasn't nearly as isolated and alone as she had thought, either.
Sookie slumped back onto the sofa when the last of her friends - Lafayette, wiggling his fingers and putting an extra sashay into his swaying hips - walked out the door. I slipped up and eased behind her, letting her rest with her back against my chest. She sighed as I stroked my fingers through her long hair; brushed my knuckles across her cheekbone. Every gentle caress left her more pliant and boneless against me, her contentment settling around my shoulders like a heavy cloak. A few more minutes of this and she would slip into sleep.
"Sookie," I murmured against her ear.
"Mmmm."
"Let me heal you."
While I wanted her strength and vigor to return, it wasn't a completely altruistic offer. I wanted - needed - to get more of my blood into her. The more times that she drank from me the stronger our tie would grow. And I had an instinctual feeling that I was going to need a robust, stable bond to keep up with Sookie Stackhouse.
When she nodded languidly against my chest, I moved to shift her into a sitting position. It was reminiscent of the first time I had given her blood. Then she had been in agony from her encounter with the hot oil; she had been left alone in her big house with no one to care for her. Then, I had begun the evening thinking that I was simply gaining an important asset for my area; I had ended it knowing that Sookie Stackhouse meant more to me than anyone, human or vampire, in my long existence.
She shivered again when my fangs crunched through my skin, but there was no hesitation when I held my dripping wrist to her mouth. Her lips fastened on the wound, and with each pull of her mouth she took more of me into her body. The bond between us sang triumphantly as my blood joined with hers. The mental cord thickened, grew brighter and stronger just as my blood strengthened her body, soothing strained muscles and healing damaged capillaries. I wanted to surge against her, my cock swelling uncomfortably in the jeans I'd thrown on before leaving the house, but I forced myself to remain still while she drank from me. Later, I would take her: let myself sink into her heat, hear her gasp and moan as I gave her pleasure threefold before I sought my own. Now she must recover from her ordeal.
I brushed my knuckles gently across her restored cheekbone when the wound in my wrist had healed itself. "Better?"
"I've said it before," she answered, "but that stuff is amazing." I watched as she lifted her leg from the pillow to twirl her ankle. The swelling had disappeared; she was good as new. " 'Course, it's gonna be hard to explain how I can suddenly run around the block like I'm Usain Bolt when I'm supposed to be hobblin' around on crutches."
Presumably this Bolt was a local track star. I grunted, gathering her closer against my chest. I cared little what her friends thought of her instantaneous recovery, but it was necessary to keep the healing properties of vampire blood a secret for as long as possible.
"Fake a limp," I said.
"I'm not exactly Meryl Streep," Sookie grumbled.
"You told me you did theatre in school," I said.
Sookie twisted her head to look askance at me. "I played the third shepherd from the left in the nativity play," she said. "I had one line!"
I shrugged. "You have a natural talent. You can pull it off."
Sookie shook her head, but turned to lie back down against me. "You seem to think I've got magic powers or somethin'," she mused as she tucked her head under against my chin. "Crazy vampire."
Listen to the world around you, Eric, Godric's voice spoke in my head. The universe will give you clues on how to proceed. Heed them.
I had done my best to bury all memories of my master once I forged the bond with Sookie. I knew that he could sense the bond, just as he could sense the link I had made with Pamela years ago when I brought her across and made her mine. I felt nothing from him - neither approval nor censure - but his sentiments on the purity of vampire blood assured me that I knew where his opinion on my blood bond with Sookie would lie.
That this memory would surface now despite my efforts to block all thoughts of Godric surely meant that I should follow the lead of my master in this.
I took an unneeded breath. "Sookie," I said, "I have something to tell you."
Epilogue
"Fairy?!?" Sookie screeched. "What in the hell do you mean I'm a goddanged fairy?!"
It's going to be a long night.
.
Fandom: True Blood
Characters: Eric/Sookie, ensemble
Rating: PG
Word Count: 3841 in this chapter
Notes: FINALLY DONE. That was fun.
Chapter Eighteen
Sookie's terror awakened me long before sunset.
Hours, spent pacing in my light-tight bedroom. Feeling her fear spike until my fangs dropped and my hands fisted in my hair. When I felt her lose consciousness I took out my wrath on silk sheets, ancient artifacts, the Picasso that shredded like tissue paper beneath my fingernails. The rousing of our bond when she regained her senses brought at first confusion, then relief, then pain in concentric measure, the tightening spiral driving my blood lust until I could barely remember my own name. I knew only that whoever had harmed her would pay in slashed sinew and powdered bones.
I took to the sky the moment the sun released its hold on the world. The closer I came to her home the more strongly I could feel her. Still in pain. Still frightened.
The strong scent of the blood came to me as I made my descent. Three separate strains. The clearest scents were in the yard, where two of the pungent aromas mixed with that of freshly turned earth. The first was a smell I recognized but could not place. And I had no interest in dwelling on the matter when the second, much fainter aroma hit me.
That blood - sweet, like honey and crisp mead - belonged to Sookie.
My feet scarcely touched the ground as I slammed into her front parlour. I took in everything in a millisecond - Sookie, prone on the sofa, her cheek ashen beneath a purpling bruise, dried blood on the scrape on her forehead, one leg propped up on a pillow. The shifter bent over her, his body dwarfing her tiny form. One hand reaching for her throat.
In less than a human heartbeat I had the shifter in my grasp; slammed against the wall so hard that his head bounced and the plaster cracked behind him.
"Who has hurt you?" I didn't recognize the growl that my voice had become. My forearm pressed deeper into his windpipe, and I snarled as his eyes glimmered to gold. If he shifted I would end him where he stood, twist his head from his body and gorge myself on his blood. "Was it him?"
"Sam was helping me," Sookie insisted stridently from behind me. "Eric, let him go!"
I could hear her struggling to rise, and it was only that which made me release him. I ignored him as he gasped and stumbled to his knees, speeding instead to Sookie's side and pressing a hand gently against her shoulder to ease her back onto the arm of the sofa before dropping to kneel beside her. My gaze flicked again across the myriad cuts and bruises that marred her pale skin. "Who?" I ground out.
Sookie's hand trembled slightly as she lifted it to brush her fingertips against my lips. Her index finger grazed an elongated fang and it was only then that I realized how close to my basest nature I had become. I forced the teeth to recede; uncurled my clenched hands and relaxed my posture. Sookie was in no danger, now; there was no need to frighten her further with the knowledge of how close I was to ripping apart anyone who sought to hurt her.
"It was Hoyt Fortenberry," she told me. Her eyes brimmed, and she blinked rapidly. Her tiny frame shuddered. "He tried to kill me."
Fortenberry. It wasn't a name I recognized, was no one I had scented in my trips to Merlotte's or at Sookie's home. But now that I knew the danger had passed the puzzle pieces came together. The aroma that permeated the blood on the ground outside was the same as the scent that had lingered on the corpses of the two women at the morgue. The killer. The human who hated vampires so much that he was drawn to destroy any woman who cared for them.
I settled back on my heels. The police would have arrested him, taken him to their pathetic little jailhouse. It would be a simple matter to glamour whatever yokel was on duty, to slip inside and free him. To spirit him away to somewhere private, where I could take my time and make him pay for how he'd hurt my woman.
"He's dead, Eric," she said. The tears that had threatened spilled over as her face crumpled. "I killed him."
Her shoulders shook as she collapsed against me. My arms wrapped around her instinctively, my hand catching in the tangle of her hair to pet and soothe even as my brow furrowed. The story fell from her in fits and starts - the attack in the kitchen, her friend Rene's thwarted defense, the chase through the back yard, her impromptu use of the wooden cross I had commissioned for her dead cat as a weapon. Her sorrow for the killer's death was genuine, its pull on our bond great, yet for myself I felt only confusion.
"Sookie," I said haltingly, "this is a good thing."
"How can you say that?" she blubbered against my shirt. "He was a person! With a mother and and … and a girlfriend. And I killed him, Eric!"
"He would have killed you," I said reasonably. I pulled back so that I could look at her. Even with her cheek swollen and discolored, her eyes red and puffy from crying, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. The fact that she felt so deeply for this loss of life should have sickened me, repulsed me with her weakness; instead I felt an even stronger need to protect and nourish her. To cherish her. I brushed a thumb over her unharmed cheek lightly, and was heartened when she leaned into my touch. "You were brave and strong. You fought when others would have given up. You persevered and succeeded where others had failed. You are a true warrior, my Sookie. Do not grieve what you had to do."
"But-"
I pressed my finger to her open lips. "You saved lives today, Sookie. This man would not have stopped. Be proud that you did what had to be done before he could attack another woman, one who was perhaps not as courageous and resourceful as you."
She sniffled, but nodded when I released my finger. I knew this was not the last time that we would visit this discussion. My Sookie was entirely too tender-hearted, too caught up in the moralities pounded into her from the pulpit and at her grandmother's knee. It was a good thing that I was almost completely without ethics, the human concepts of right and wrong merely abstract concerns to me. It could make dealing with Sookie a challenge, but it also meant that we balanced each other nicely. At least, that is what I told myself.
I quirked a smile at her in an attempt to lighten her mood. "I told you that I would keep you safe and protect you," I said. "Yet it appears that you do not need me at all."
Her hand tightened on my arm. "I need you, Eric," she said.
I could drown in those big brown eyes. I dipped my head to brace my forehead against her brow, taking an unnecessary breath. She still smelled of honey and wildflowers, although her natural scent was tainted by the stench of cleansing ointments and painkillers. It came to me then how closely I had come to losing her, and the thought made my dead heart lurch painfully in my chest.
I have never understood mourning. Humans are born, live their pitifully short lives, and then die. Vampires remain. It was the expected order of things, and to mourn that which was unavoidable was impractical. Sookie's tears over the dead killer made no more sense to me than those she had shed for her dead feline. But the image of my long life stretching before me without this little human in it was enough to give me a small taste of what those mourners felt when they gathered around the newly turned earth of a grave.
I would not lose her. My mind worked rapidly, sorting through and rejecting various scenarios. She must come to live with me in Shreveport, of course. Her home was too isolated, her brother clearly incapable of watching out for her and her friendships almost non-existent. She would quit her job with the shifter. Sookie was clever and quick-witted; surely I could find her something in my organization that would better suit her skills. She would-
"Eric!"
It was only when Sookie squirmed in my embrace that I realized I had dragged her closer, that my hold on her had pulled her from her prone position and that her face had twisted in discomfort. I released her carefully, my eyes searching her face. The drugs that had no doubt inundated her system had masked her true pain. "You are hurting," I said. My fangs dropped as I lifted my wrist to my mouth. "Let me-"
A noise behind me, and her gaze flicked beyond my shoulder. "Sam, are you all right?"
The shifter. If not for the odor of mangy mongrel I would almost have forgotten he was there. I glanced at him over my shoulder, and noted that he eyed me warily before stepping forward. I stiffened, wanting to rise to my full height. To impress on the cur that this woman was mine; to posture and preen. Only Sookie's hand on my arm kept me at her side.
And wouldn't Pam laugh at that. The great Eric Northman, neutered by a human girl.
My Queen would find it less amusing. As would the Authority.
"Eric," Sookie said softly.
Again our eyes met, hers soft and imploring. I tucked my fangs away and gritted my teeth, but nodded slightly before rising to stand at the end of the sofa. Close enough that I would be able to intervene at the slightest indication that something was amiss, yet far enough away to give the shifter some semblance of safety. I relaxed my stance slightly as he approached. Merlotte would always be a threat, but I had to reluctantly admit that he was unlikely to cause Sookie any physical harm.
"I'm okay, Sook," he finally answered her. "Takes more than a knock on the head to take me out of the game." His hand rose to rub at the spot where his head had collided with the wall as his gaze flicked to me. "And I can understand why you reacted so… strongly."
I inclined my head in response. If he only knew how close I had come to ripping his throat out first and asking questions later, he would perhaps not be so magnanimous in his acceptance.
"Thank you, Sam, for comin' over so quick, and for speakin' up for me when the paramedics wanted to take me in." Sookie shivered, though the night was warm. "I just hate hospitals."
I stiffened behind her. The first and only time she had ever been in a hospital had been only a few short weeks ago, when the hateful words of Merlotte and her so-called friends had driven her to tears and resulted in her being drenched in boiling oil. Were it not for my blood she would still be in unspeakable pain, still be scarred for life. It was yet another reminder of why she needed to move away from this backwoods town and its hick inhabitants. They cared nothing for my Sookie.
"No problem," Merlotte said. He smiled, shifted in place. "So now that Northman's here to take care of ya I guess I should-"
Sookie nodded at his vague gesture toward the door. "Thanks again," she said.
"If you need anything-"
"You'll be the first person I call," Sookie said.
"Okay. So-"
"Good night, Sam," I said.
I fully expected Sookie to scold me as soon as the shifter was out of earshot, but she only let her head flop back down exhaustedly on the arm of the sofa. I rounded the furniture to perch on the coffee table in front of her; lifted a hand to smooth a strand of golden hair from her cheek. "Do you wish me to get you anything?" I asked. "Some sweet tea? Are you hungry?"
Sookie bit her lip. "What I'd really like," she said hesitantly, "is that blood you were offerin' earlier? I really am in a lot of pain, Eric."
"Of course."
But before I could even drop my fangs, the door behind us creaked open. I spun, my hands twisting in claws, but the redhead who led the charge didn't even hesitate. I'm not certain she even saw me.
"Oh Sookie," she said, "we came as soon as we heard! Are you okay, honey?"
"I'm sore, Arlene, but-"
"We brought you some carrot cake from the store-"
"We didn't have time to make anything," the blonde behind her continued, "but you can bet that as soon as I get home I'll throw together one of my famous breakfast quiches. I'll drop it by for you in the mornin' before work, sweetie."
"Holly," Sookie said, "you don't have to do that. I'll be-"
"Now don't be silly, we don't want you puttin' any weight on that ankle 'til it's all healed up."
" 'Sides, you's got to take any excuse you can to get pampered round these parts," Lafayette said as he brushed past the women. He inclined his head toward me briefly, then met Sookie's eyes. "Ain't every day we get a goddamn hero in our midst."
The redhead - Arlene - bustled forward and perched next to Sookie on the sofa, reaching past me to take her hand. Her face crumpled behind the pounds of caked-on makeup. "Oh, Sookie. I'm so sorry."
"Arlene, you didn't do anything."
"I've treated you so badly, just 'cause you'd taken up with them bloodsuckers." She stole a quick glance in my direction. So she did see me. "No offense."
"None taken," I said dryly.
"But what Hoyt did-" She shuddered. "I've had a come-to-Jesus moment, Sookie. Ain't nobody better than anybody else, and everybody is just as deservin' of living a full and happy life. Even fangers. You're not gonna hear no more criticism from me, I swear to God."
I clenched my jaw to keep from verbally debating the woman. I could name six vampires off the top of my head who were more deserving of a 'full and happy life' than the ditzy redhead. But Sookie was smiling, her hand clenching at Arlene's, so I let the moment pass.
"How's Rene?" Sookie asked.
"He's still in the hospital; the doctors want to keep him overnight. 'Cause of the head wound, you know. I'm just so proud of him. He was so brave." She leaned closer, the stench of her floral perfume making my nose wrinkle in distaste, and lowered her voice. "I think he's a keeper."
"Rene's pretty awesome, Arlene," Sookie agreed. "You tell him I'll be by to see him later, all right?"
"Knock knock," a voice said from behind us before Arlene could answer. If I hadn't been so focused on Sookie's conversation with the redhead I'd have sensed the presence as soon as he stepped foot on her property. As it was, I could only swivel my head and raise a brow. "Got room for a couple more?"
Sookie's smile lit the room. "Eddie!"
And when her brother stepped from behind the vampire, her lip trembled. I rose from the coffee table and took a step away to allow Jason to draw her into his arms. When they finally parted, Jason's face was tormented, his eyes wet. "My best friend. My goddamn best fuckin' friend. My bubba!" he said. "I swear to fuck, Sookie, if you hadn't have killed him I'd have done it myself. Slowly."
On this we could agree. Perhaps Jason wasn't as inept and foolish as I thought.
"I know," Sookie said soberly. "But I sure wish it hadn't come to that."
"I wanted to stop by and pay my respects as well," Eddie said softly. He stepped forward to take her hand in his. "You are a fine young woman, Miss Stackhouse. I'm honoured to know you."
While Sookie blushed, Arlene twitched at her side. Her face paled beneath her garish makeup. "Is he a…"
"Vampire," Sookie said firmly. "Yes, Arlene. He is."
"Well." The redhead swallowed before she firmed her chin. She straightened her shoulders and stood, holding out her hand. "Any friend of Sookie's is a friend of mine. Eddie, was it?"
She shivered when he took her hand in his, and then - to my great amusement - her cheeks reddened when he raised her hand to his lips. "A pleasure to meet you, Arlene," he said.
"Well," Arlene said again. She wobbled a little on her feet before getting herself under control and turning back to Sookie. "Well. We shouldn't stay long, honey. We don't want to tire you out. Is your vampir here gonna stay the night and watch over you?"
Sookie's eyes rose questioningly to mine. As if there was anything that could tear me from her side this night.
"I will stay," I said aloud.
I stepped back to let her friends crowd around her; watched as chaste kisses were exchanged, well wishes spoken, promises to return the next day bearing enough food to feed a small Viking village for a month offered and accepted. And I was forced, albeit reluctantly, to amend my earlier assessment. In the end, when it counted, Sookie's friends surrounded her like a shield. Her brother, while still an unabashed idiot, cared for her deeply. The shifter had rushed to her side when I could not. She still deserved a job that allowed her to use her brilliant and unconventional mind; a place by my side for her own safety. But she wasn't nearly as isolated or alone as I had thought. And as I watched her face and felt the mix of emotions swirling through her, I realized that she wasn't nearly as isolated and alone as she had thought, either.
Sookie slumped back onto the sofa when the last of her friends - Lafayette, wiggling his fingers and putting an extra sashay into his swaying hips - walked out the door. I slipped up and eased behind her, letting her rest with her back against my chest. She sighed as I stroked my fingers through her long hair; brushed my knuckles across her cheekbone. Every gentle caress left her more pliant and boneless against me, her contentment settling around my shoulders like a heavy cloak. A few more minutes of this and she would slip into sleep.
"Sookie," I murmured against her ear.
"Mmmm."
"Let me heal you."
While I wanted her strength and vigor to return, it wasn't a completely altruistic offer. I wanted - needed - to get more of my blood into her. The more times that she drank from me the stronger our tie would grow. And I had an instinctual feeling that I was going to need a robust, stable bond to keep up with Sookie Stackhouse.
When she nodded languidly against my chest, I moved to shift her into a sitting position. It was reminiscent of the first time I had given her blood. Then she had been in agony from her encounter with the hot oil; she had been left alone in her big house with no one to care for her. Then, I had begun the evening thinking that I was simply gaining an important asset for my area; I had ended it knowing that Sookie Stackhouse meant more to me than anyone, human or vampire, in my long existence.
She shivered again when my fangs crunched through my skin, but there was no hesitation when I held my dripping wrist to her mouth. Her lips fastened on the wound, and with each pull of her mouth she took more of me into her body. The bond between us sang triumphantly as my blood joined with hers. The mental cord thickened, grew brighter and stronger just as my blood strengthened her body, soothing strained muscles and healing damaged capillaries. I wanted to surge against her, my cock swelling uncomfortably in the jeans I'd thrown on before leaving the house, but I forced myself to remain still while she drank from me. Later, I would take her: let myself sink into her heat, hear her gasp and moan as I gave her pleasure threefold before I sought my own. Now she must recover from her ordeal.
I brushed my knuckles gently across her restored cheekbone when the wound in my wrist had healed itself. "Better?"
"I've said it before," she answered, "but that stuff is amazing." I watched as she lifted her leg from the pillow to twirl her ankle. The swelling had disappeared; she was good as new. " 'Course, it's gonna be hard to explain how I can suddenly run around the block like I'm Usain Bolt when I'm supposed to be hobblin' around on crutches."
Presumably this Bolt was a local track star. I grunted, gathering her closer against my chest. I cared little what her friends thought of her instantaneous recovery, but it was necessary to keep the healing properties of vampire blood a secret for as long as possible.
"Fake a limp," I said.
"I'm not exactly Meryl Streep," Sookie grumbled.
"You told me you did theatre in school," I said.
Sookie twisted her head to look askance at me. "I played the third shepherd from the left in the nativity play," she said. "I had one line!"
I shrugged. "You have a natural talent. You can pull it off."
Sookie shook her head, but turned to lie back down against me. "You seem to think I've got magic powers or somethin'," she mused as she tucked her head under against my chin. "Crazy vampire."
Listen to the world around you, Eric, Godric's voice spoke in my head. The universe will give you clues on how to proceed. Heed them.
I had done my best to bury all memories of my master once I forged the bond with Sookie. I knew that he could sense the bond, just as he could sense the link I had made with Pamela years ago when I brought her across and made her mine. I felt nothing from him - neither approval nor censure - but his sentiments on the purity of vampire blood assured me that I knew where his opinion on my blood bond with Sookie would lie.
That this memory would surface now despite my efforts to block all thoughts of Godric surely meant that I should follow the lead of my master in this.
I took an unneeded breath. "Sookie," I said, "I have something to tell you."
Epilogue
"Fairy?!?" Sookie screeched. "What in the hell do you mean I'm a goddanged fairy?!"
It's going to be a long night.
.