I stood motionless, weeping quietly, watching the otherworldly shimmer of Godric's remains floating on the breeze. It was done. Godric was gone. I distractedly swiped at the tears running down my face. This had been one of the most emotionally taxing days of my life, and it had been capped off by Eric's maker's suicide-by-sun. I felt drained, mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Suddenly, my knees buckled, and I barely managed to right myself. I turned and carefully walked down the flight of stairs that led back into the hotel. It was time to go inside; time to let my busy mind shut itself off from the world. As I entered the light-tight corridor of Hotel Carmilla, however, I realized that sleep might have to wait a while yet.
Eric was sprawled on a large leather seat in an enclave offset from the hall. His eyes were open, I could see, but he was in what I call 'down time'. I slowly approached him, trying to make as much noise as I could so as not to startle him. A startled, weary vampire does not a good friend make. Eric sensed me when I was perhaps ten feet away, and his head snapped up, eyes meeting mine. He had made a minimal effort to wipe away his bloody tears; there were two deep pink smudges on his cheeks. As I closed the remaining distance, I noticed there was also blood leaking from his ears. That worried me.
"Eric, you're bleeding out your ears!" I breathed. He slowly raised a hand to his left ear and pulled it away bloody. "This is what happens when we neglect to sleep," he said as he rubbed his fingers together. He wiped his hands on his black pants and held out his other hand to me, beckoning me to sit beside him. I did so, and he turned my way.
"Thank you, Sookie, for staying with him. I wish I could have… I wish he would have let me go with him," he said gruffly, and I watched as two more bloody tears made their way down his face. I took his hand as I had earlier, and I marveled at the contrast between his huge, white digits and my own small, brown ones.
"I'm glad he made you stay," I said. "What would Louisiana do without you?" I tried to smile, to reassure him that many, many people and vampires needed his presence in their lives and un-lives. He met my eyes again, and I saw all the pain, the sorrow, the loss he had been through. I was reminded of the dream I'd had the night before. He had been so emotive, so sensual… just as he was being now. My cheeks flushed at the intimate memory. My heart raced, and I knew he'd not only heard it, but felt my arousal as well. Damned blood bonds.
"I am sorry about tricking you. It wasn't right. I wanted this bond with you, but I never meant to be so… underhanded. I am an opportunist, Sookie. When the bomb went off, all I could think about was saving you from harm. But then, when I realized the bullets had hit me… I could not pass up this opportunity to bond you. " Eric actually looked guilty about that admission. I had been so very angry with him at the time. I'd wanted to yell, to scream at him, to hurt him. He had been so unremorseful… until now. One of his large, cool hands came up to softly stroke my cheek.
I wasn't sure how I should be feeling about this turn of events. I'd been mulling over the implications of the blood bond for the past day, and had come to some uncomfortable conclusions. Bill had explained to me what he knew about the bond, and that got me to thinking a little more in-depth. If the bond caused me to feel things, sexual or otherwise, for the vampire who'd bonded me, then is that why I felt so strongly for Bill? He had given me his blood to save my life a few months before. Granted, I'd already been attracted to him, but which part of those feelings since that time had been entirely my own, and which had been the bond's influence? Bill had also not exactly been forthcoming with the details of the bond until Eric's deception. Why had he kept these things from me? My trust in Bill was beginning to waver.
The hand on my cheek stilled, and Eric tilted my chin up. "Can you forgive me?" I was stunned. Eric the Remorseless was asking me for forgiveness. I nodded almost imperceptibly, but that's enough for a vampire. Before I could even blink, Eric's lips descended on mine. It was the lightest of kisses, merely a ghosting of his cool lips over my own feverish ones, but it shook me to the core. And then it was over, and Eric was standing, pulling me to my feet.
"It is time for us both to sleep," he said, by way of explanation. I felt like a truck had hit me; I'd been blindsided by Eric's honesty and emotion, and was entirely unsure about how to deal with it at the moment. He led me down the hall to my room with a gentle hand on my elbow. Nice Eric was mystifying, but not in an unpleasant way. When we stopped at my door, I turned and looked up at him.
"Thank you for apologizing, Eric. It means a lot," I said, stifling a yawn. Eric smiled at me and bent to place another kiss on my cheek. "I'll see you this evening, sweet Sookie," he said in a low voice. I gave him a tired smile and nodded as I opened the door.
When he was gone I leaned my head against the door, staring into the darkness of Bill's room and mine. Eric, Eric, Eric. I didn't think he had the capability to be so kind, so gentle. Godric's death had changed something in the Viking. Eric's profound display of vulnerability had changed something in me.
The dream from last night flashed before my eyes, and I gasped as I recalled the last thing dream-Eric had told me: "This is the beginning." And so it was.