My Angel

A/N: Hello, readers! For everyone who has followed me through Keep Me and Trouble Maker, you've heard this before: a fair warning before you begin reading- I do write mature material, although this chapter is clean, I prefer to let everyone know ahead of time before they get too curious. If this offends you, or you are underage to view such material, please hit "back" on your browser now. And when I say mature, I mean sexually explicit, coarse language, as well as occasionally running head long into aspects of torture, and sometimes emotionally distressing circumstances. But relax. I am all about the happy endings! Also, I have a habit of drawing from both the True Blood and SVMN universes when it comes to characters, personalities, plot points, and even architecture! Therefore, it is always good to be relatively familiar with both mediums, although after a certain point, I use original content rather than spewing out something that was already created. And yes, I literally copied that bit word for word from my previous stories in case my followers noticed!

Anyway, all that said: this story is written, proof-read, edited, and re-read again by me. All errors: spelling, grammatical and continuity are mine and mine alone.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING. IT ALL BELONGS TO CHARLAINE HARRIS AND ALAN BALL. I RECEIVE NOTHING FROM DOING THIS EXCEPT THE PLEASURE OF YOUR SUPPORT AND COMMENTS: SO PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

Prologue:

Fucking Fairies.

Eric descended gracefully to the ground as he came closer to his unknowing dependent, wondering what mishap she had gotten herself into this time. Never, in his thousand years, had he come in contact with a human, mostly human that is, who had so many little catastrophes. Then again, women in general usually became high strung about the most basic of difficulties. Although, despite how much chaos ensued internally, the vampire had to admit, she did a wonderful job keeping her expression poised. Mostly.

Glancing into the bar window, he spotted the woman. She was waiting tables, as was her normal Friday night these past couple months, and two of the establishment's patrons were hassling her. A couple that seemed to delight in sneering and mocking her every opportunity they had.

The Rattrays certainly needed a good reorganizing of their priorities, and Eric decided tonight would be the night he glamoured them for the better. It would not do for a Sheriff to dispatch a pair of humans so unnecessarily, and though he detested using his mental persuasions for such trite reasons, he had no real alternatives. Their presence in front of the girl had caused her greater distress with every encounter, and he was becoming exasperated with the constant "false alarms" they forced him to check out.

As the vampire loitered outside the bar, waiting for the duo to finally leave and give him his opening, Eric began to think about what had put the blonde barmaid in his charge.

A debt, one almost as old as himself and finally called in for collection just a year ago, was what put the little woman under his supervision. Niall Brigant, former King of what was once Elfyria, was the one to whom he was indebted.

~"I knew, one day..." Niall had arrived in Eric's presence, weak and wounded, "You would become a great asset to me..." He coughed up a palm full of his intoxicating blood, his magic unable to mask its delicacy once it was out of his body, "I never dream... dreamed that... that it would be under these... cir-circumstances."

"What do you want, King?" Eric spat out through clenched teeth as he admirably resisted the call of the other man's delicious blood.

"My last... Last act as... As a living creature." Niall hacked a bit more, "I am here... To collect your dues."

The Sheriff sneered, crossing his arms over his chest, "My blood cannot do a thing to heal your wounds now."

"No..." Niall shook his head jerkily as his body trembled, beginning to shut down, "It is not for me, but for... For the last... The last of my blood."

"You do not have much time left." Eric was shaking with the exertion of remaining still. Of not attacking, "Not that I would mind getting off Scott free, but I am honor bound. Now, speak your wish, and be done."

"My great granddaughter... She is the last of us... The last of the Sky clan. A hybrid that lives amongst the humans." The Fairy King coughed out, "Her name is Sookie Stackhouse, and she lives in Bon Temps. You know of it?"

"Yes, just twenty miles South of here." Eric nodded.

"You must... Must protect her until the end of her days. If she dies... Dies by any means other than natural... You will share her... Share her fate." He flicked his bloodied hands with a weak gesture, but it was enough to speckle Eric's skin in tiny red dots, "If you... If you turn her against... Against her will... You will burn in the ground beside... Beside her."

"Did you just curse me, you Fairy cunt!?" Eric snarled, losing his demeanor at the realization.

"Not... Not cursed... Bound. I bound you to her life..." Niall's breath was coming in harsh pants. His expiration eminent, "Keep her safe... And as a reward..." His fists clenched tightly as death knocked upon his door, "As reward..." The breath would not come. No more words could tumble from his lips. Niall Brigant, King of what had been Elfyria, was dead.~

Shortly after the demand had been made, that very night, in fact, Eric had gone to Bon Temps and tracked down the woman he had been charged with protecting. He had watched her from a great distance, not even considering approaching her just yet.

The first time he did try and come near her, the girl had frozen in place and spun around, looking about her as if she could feel his eyes on her. She knew she was being watched, and it unnerved him. Eric had prided himself at stalking his prey without its knowledge for centuries, and he could not get within fifty feet of the woman without causing her to whirl around searching the darkness for him.

This had boggled the Viking, and he had even summoned Pam down to Louisiana to try her hand at approaching his secret dependent. The vampiress had just as little luck, and she returned to her Maker with a confused and annoyed expression.

~"Somehow. I don't know how. She knew I was near. I could see her looking for me." Pam told him.

"I had a few similar encounters. I thought perhaps since she is part Fairy, she might have felt the fae magic that old Fairy put on me." Eric was equally displeased. "I will have to use other means of keeping tabs on her." He looked contemplatively at his hands, wondering about the best way of slipping her his blood. He did not need a mutual blood exchange to feel her, merely his blood in her system.

"All of this over a stupid accident." Pam snarled.

"Brogey was Niall's son." Eric shrugged, "Even though I was a fledgling and did not have the control to resist, Niall could have taken my head in retribution. I took the life of one of his kin, and now, nearly a thousand years later, he is forcing me to protect the life of his last remaining blood... The repayment is... Reasonable."

Eric had finally found a way to get his blood into Miss Stackhouse's system without her being the wiser. Using the woman's grandmother, he had glamoured the old bitty into slipping a drop of his blood into Sookie's morning coffee. That night, he had awoken to a new presence in his mind. He had been surprised at how strong the initial connection was. She felt everything so strongly. A lot of the time, he felt a bit overwhelmed by how powerful her emotions were. It had been so long since he had felt such lack of restraint. Pam had been such an appeasable Child, and her stagnant emotions had been present even before he had changed her. Miss Stackhouse, however...

On more than one evening, Eric had felt himself drawn to her home, lingering on the outskirts of the treeline, tasting the air from her open window as she pleasured herself. Oh, but how insatiable she was on the nights she could not resist! Though her noises had been muffled, in respect to her sleeping grandmother, they were still audible to his vampiric ears.

She did such a persistent job of subduing her sexuality, that it both baffled and intrigued Eric at first. A few months of feeling her through the blood connection had him trying to find out more about Sookie Stackhouse than was absolutely necessary to perform his job. Maybe it was even a bad idea to become so close, but she drew him in like a moth to a candle. Her smell, aroused or not, made his fangs throb. Her emotions called to him, making him want to make everything so much better for her, to always feel her happy. When he risked a chance to see her, the Viking had to wonder if he was gazing upon some ethereal creature, too beautiful and precious to actually exist.

Then, there were the unprovoked responses she seemed to experience. Eric even felt her become strangely nervous around her boss, the Shifter Merlotte, on several occasions without any rhyme or reason to the origin. Though the Shifter had not kept his interest in his employee much of a secret, there was no cause for Sookie to become suddenly shy and uneasy at the times that she did. In fact, she seemed to respond that way more when there was no physical evidence rather than when there was!

Then, five months into keeping his tabs on her, after she first began working at the newly opened Merlotte's, he finally began to piece the puzzle together. On more than a few cases, Sookie had replied to a question that was not asked, or handed someone something they needed before they could submit the request. Drinks were refilled without question, food orders were placed without being ordered. Of course those last two pieces of evidence could be chalked up to her being good at her job, but considering the number of times she seemed to pause in the middle of a room and become lost in her head, Eric doubted that it was the case.

Sookie Stackhouse had a gift, and Eric was pretty sure what that gift was!

Damn Niall for not telling him! The old, dead fairy was probably laughing his ass off in hell at Eric while he floundered around those first few months of surveillance!

Eric was pulled abruptly from his reverie as he saw the couple he was stalking get up from their booth. He could easily see that the amount Mack left was just barely enough to cover their orders, and he continued to watch just long enough to see Sookie pick up the money and feel her despair and annoyance as she went to put it all into the cash drawer. They had run Sookie ragged with their demands and unveiled insults, and Eric decided it was for the last time.

Stumbling out of the bar, Mack and Denise Rattray stopped abruptly, gaping at the tall, broad, blond Viking in front of them. Their gazes were caught instantly, and Eric took little time fixing their minds so that they would never sit in Sookie's section again, nor speak to her without being spoken to first. As an afterthought, Eric focused back on Mack, forcing him to go back inside and leave a considerable tip.

With a drunken stagger, Mack whirled around back into the bar, and Eric listened to him slur, "Sorry, Sooks, forgot your tip..." There was a distinct sound of money rustling, as well as Sookie's surprised gasp, followed by an emotion of elated confusion.

Mack returned to where Denise and Eric remained standing on the gravel parking area, and the pair teetered their way back to his truck. As Eric turned to finally leave, he heard the bar door open and slam back shut.

"Who are you?" Sookie's voice was behind him, and Eric swore under his breath, too low for her to hear.

"It does not matter." Eric answered, continuing his stride, grateful that she had not seen his face. Unfortunately a six foot five inch blond man would not go unnoticed in such a small town.

"It matters to me!" Sookie called after him, and he heard her footsteps as she ran down the three steps to the gravel.

"Go back to work." Eric snarled.

"I won't!" Sookie shouted, and Eric had to repress a growl as she grabbed his hand to spin him around, "Oh!" She gasped at the chill of his hand, or so he thought at first.

"Let go." Eric jerked his hand.

"I... I can't hear you." Sookie whispered.

"I said-"

"No!" Sookie reached up and he felt her warm fingertips graze his face, "I mean, I can't hear you!" Her eyes were round and amazed, he could feel a burst of hope in her which confused him. Sookie just continued to stare in wonderment for a moment longer, and then, suddenly, her head tilted and her eyebrows drew together in contemplation, "Y'know, you kinda glow." She announced.

Tilting his face from her touch, Eric took a step away from her, "Yes. I know." And he began to walk away.

"My name's Sookie!" She called after him, but he did not respond, "Come into the bar next time you're around!" She yelled as he grew further and further away.

Once Eric was out of sight, he took off into the sky to clear his head. Being sighted had definitely not been part of his plan this evening. He had hoped to remain on the perimeters of her existence for as long as possible. Instead, he had been thrust into the spotlight of her life in just over a year. He could blame it on several things, poor timing, an abnormality in her usual schedule, but the truth was, Eric suspected that he wanted her to catch him. Part of him wanted to be able to see her up close for a change. She looked beautiful from a distance, and as Pam had pointed out, Eric had become more than a little obsessive over her moods. He calculated what every fluctuation could possibly mean, and he pondered over who was the cause of the response.

Flying over Louisiana, Eric turned his back to the ground to stare at the stars as he glided about the air. The new question was how to go about handling it. Two things had been confirmed at last. One- Sookie Stackhouse was a telepath, and two- she could apparently not hear him. The second was a Godsend. Still, she had been able to sense his presence all those months ago. He had to wonder what that meant.

Now, the hard part of the new equation. He did not want to stay away from her. He was certain that he would have to get near her at some point in the remaining years of her life. Of course, there was no way to find out how long he could remain in the shadows of her life, but he would attempt to prolong it. When, at last, he would be forced to speak with her, Eric would be unable to lie to her. He already knew this. If he was obligated to protect her, he could not risk being caught up in a lie. She would never trust him if he lied to her, that much he had come to realize through her interactions with others. And in the vampire world, there would be far too many willing to ensnare him in his own webs of deceit to obtain the girl. Weres, Shifters, Demons, and even Witches would try and obtain her for her gift if she were ever found out.

Perhaps this was why Niall had secured Eric as her guardian. After all, the only reason Niall could use such powerful magic on him was because he was indebted by committing a blood offense. Niall could not possibly have secured such protection for his great granddaughter by any other means, especially after his death.

It was at last decided. Eric would have to keep as far from Sookie for as long as possible. He had already become a blip on her radar, and the fact was, he would not be able to dodge her as easily from this point on. Another thing he had learned about Sookie Stackhouse in the last year was that she was persistent in all of her endeavors. If she wanted to find him. She would.

TBC

A/N: So what do you all think? This story will not be updated very frequently, more or less just something to do in-between the frustrating situations with Trouble Maker! I hope you liked it, and can not wait to hear what you have to say in your reviews! Have a great weekend!

-Andi