Pain burst like a supernova in her ribs as her knees buckled and she crumpled to the floor. Landing on the side of her body where the silver stake meant for Eric Northman impaled her. The fall forced it further inside her. Sookie gagged at the metallic tang of blood that coated the inside of her mouth and leaked from the corners of her lips.

Violence erupted all around her. She watched with horror as Eric plunged his hand deep inside the man's chest and yanked his heart out. A scream fought its way from her chest, but with the stake in her side all she managed was a stuttering, bloody cough.

Sweat beaded along her brow as she struggled to move, shifting the stake, she bit back a groan. She couldn't just sit silently as vampires brutally slaughtered a room full of humans; witches or not.

Temporarily forgotten by the vamps she arrived with, she heard the carnage all around her, the tune of throats and hearts being ripped out accompanied by the hum of magic as the witches' cast spells in a language unknown to her.

But as soon as the violence began, it'd ended.

The absence of thoughts told Sookie that most of the witches were dead. Two had gotten away but she heard Eric bark at Pam to find them, and she knew that they would be dead before dawn.

Sookie felt cold hands lift her upright and prop her against someone's chest. Dazed; it took her a moment to comprehend it was Eric she was pressed up against and that he was speaking low in her ear.

"Eric?"

He ripped out the stake in a quick movement, the unanticipated action forced a scream from her lips; blood gushed from the wound.

"You could have warned me." She choked out.

His touch was gentle as he threaded his fingers through her hair, and tilted her head back. "I did. You just weren't paying attention."

She peeled her eyes open, and looked at him. Fangs fully extended, and blood smeared across his mouth and neck. He looked like the ancient predator she knew him to be. She saw his pupils dilate as the staccato pulse of her heartbeat pumped the blood faster through her veins.

She wondered how many people over the last millennium witnessed this same sight before they died.

Fear spiked in her heart, and she squirmed in his grasp, pleading, she said. "Don't kill me."

Eric chuckled with no real inflection, "Blood loss makes you say the most ridiculous things, Sookie."

Her fingers were growing cold. "Eric-," she gasped.

He cut her off. "Be quiet." She heard the crunch as he bit into his wrist, and pressed it against her mouth, "Drink."

She hesitated. After Bill's forced confession on her porch that left her heartbroken she made a promise to herself that she would stay away from vampires and all their bullshit. Abstaining from blood had been her number one rule; not that it was difficult, she would hardly call herself a V-addict, but she hated the pull it had over her. What happened with Bill was humiliating. She never wanted to be in that sort of position again.

Eric hadn't thought much of that, and found a way to still be part of her life, despite her numerous efforts to live a vampire free one. But it was one thing to visit her at home or send her lewd text messages while she was at work, drinking his blood was inviting Eric into a space she wasn't sure she wanted him to fill.

The sharp ache in her side reminded her that she couldn't fret about her weird-ass relationship with Eric if she was dead.

Good point.

Eric groaned as she probed the twin puncture marks with her tongue before latching her mouth to his wrist and took a long pull of blood. It was thick and slid down her throat like honey with a bite like liquor. The pain quickly began to lessen, and the disgusting sensation of her skin stitching itself back together made her toes curl. After a few pulls his skin began to heal, without thinking she pressed a kiss to his wrist before he pulled away.

"Thank you." She whispered, black spots dancing around the edge of her vision.

He brushed away a few strands of hair stuck to her damp forehead, and when he spoke she felt his lips graze the shell of her ear. "Any time, Sookie."

Enjoying the way he stroked her hair, she told herself it was the relief of not dying that sent the thrill up her spine.

The last thing she remembered before the dark claimed her was the sight of Pam storming back into the shop, bitching about getting blood stains out of suede.