Author's note: This is the sequel to my previous story, "Goodbye, my lover" and it makes more sense if you read that one first ;)

(Click on my name above and you'll find it on my author page.)


When I dragged my weary carcass out of bed just before 6am, I was a wreck. Eric left the night before and I'd spent most of the night crying, sleeping so little that it made me more tired, not less. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and I looked terrible. My face was puffy and red, my eyes had huge black bags under them and my posture screamed 'depressed'.

I shouldn't have been surprised that I looked so wretched. In the course of a single sleepless night, I had convinced myself that Eric left because I said I loved him, that he definitely didn't love me back, and he wasn't ever coming back. Thankfully the morning light made that all seem rather crazy and reminded me that I really didn't know what was going on. I figured the best thing to do was clean myself up some, so I didn't look crazy, at least.

I took a long shower, washed my hair and scrubbed myself all over with a yummy scented shower gel. As I came back into my room afterward, I was pleased with the heady perfume that wafted in with me. I smelled like an exotic bouquet now, not last night's sex. Good thing, with a shifter coming to visit today; their noses never missed a thing.

I stopped short. I smelled of Eric before, and I had just washed his scent from my skin without thinking twice. That realization made me miss him all over again. I sat down on my bed and cried some more, still wrapped in my wet towel. He was so far away I could barely feel him through the bond. I was used to his feelings buzzing away in the back of my mind now, and their sudden absence felt like a lost limb to me. It took me half an hour to pull myself together enough to dress, and even then all I managed was worn-out jeans and an old t-shirt. I left my hair to air dry; I couldn't concentrate enough to magic it into shape.

I went looking for some housework to take my mind off things, but there was nothing to do. Amelia and I both liked to clean when we were stressed or upset, and we'd been plenty stressed and upset recently. The whole house was sparkling clean. But I had to find something to do other than feel sorry for myself, so I decided to cook breakfast instead. Quinn would be arriving some time around 9am and that was well over an hour away, so I figured I'd better come up with something special.

I flipped through Gran's cookbooks for a while and settled on one of her favorite recipes: crepes filled with warm fruit. I found all the ingredients I needed in the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful I didn't have to go out to buy anything. In a small town people gossip about everything and this morning, I looked like a disaster on legs. I made the thin pancake batter and put it in the fridge to sit while I prepared the fruit. Once it was ready, I put the fruit on the stove over low heat, then set the table nicely while I waited for it to cook. I even went into the garden to pick some flowers, which I put in the center of the table in a small vase.

Amelia came downstairs at 8:30 and complimented me on the smell of my cooking and the pretty table setting, then insisted on making fresh orange juice to go with breakfast. She found her citrus juicer and started squeezing the oranges by hand.

While she juiced and I cooked, Amelia told me she sat up late the night before, reading the magic books Niall left me. She started filling me in on all the interesting things she had learned and I tried to keep up, but her knowledge of magic was far beyond my own and most of what she said made no sense to me. When I finally admitted I didn't understand something, she said not to worry; she didn't think I needed to know the theory to be able to do things. I was relieved.

At five to nine, Quinn arrived. He was going to stay with us for the next month to teach me to defend myself, and I was really looking forward to learning. I was sick of feeling scared all the time. Amelia let him in the front door and showed him to the spare room while I kept cooking. He retrieved a bag from his truck and put it in his room, then came to join us in the kitchen.

"Hey babe," he greeted me. He came up and hugged me from behind while I kept cooking, planting a soft kiss on the top of my head as he did. I relaxed in his arms and forgot to be sad for a few seconds.

"Hey Quinn, how was your trip here?" I asked as he squeezed me tight, then released me.

"Uneventful. My plane got into Shreveport really late last night so I stayed there in a hotel and drove here this morning. That smells amazing," he grinned.

"Thanks. It's almost ready, just a couple minutes more." I already had most of the crepes cooked and sitting in the oven to keep warm; I just had to cook the last few and serve them up.

"I'm starving. The room service breakfast was horrible so I didn't really eat much."

"I'll make you a couple extra then. Go sit down and I'll bring them over in a second."

"Thanks babe. You're an angel."

I laughed and deliberately misinterpreted him. "No, just a human with a hint of fairy blood. I'm pretty sure you have to be 100% fairy to become an angel, but even then you have to earn it. Claudine was getting close," I added sadly, missing my cousin.

He went to sit down, taking the same seat at the head of the kitchen table where Jason had sat the night before. I liked seeing him there; he seemed far more worthy of the spot than Jason did. Strange, considering he's not family and had never been around much. Amelia took the jug of orange juice over and sat in her usual seat, which was to his left.

"One of those books said the right word is 'halfling'," she corrected. "Fairy blood is so much stronger than human blood that even someone like you who's got one-eighth fairy blood is still considered half-fairy, half-human."

I thought about it a second. "Would anyone even know what I meant? I think I'll just keep calling myself a waitress for now, even though I'm not working for Sam any more. I'll keep calling myself a telepath around Supes, of course, but around humans..."

I was rolling up the crepes with the fruit inside them, then drizzling them with honey. They looked almost as good as Gran's did and I was pleased they turned out so well.

"So you quit Merlottes?" Quinn asked.

"Well, I haven't told Sam yet, but he tried to convince me to do something else with my life the last couple of times I saw him, so he won't be surprised when I do. I'm going to try making a living from my telepathy instead."

"That's great. You could tell humans you're a consultant. It's true enough, you're a consultant telepath."

"You know you don't actually have to work now, don't you?" Amelia asked me. "She just inherited some money," she added for Quinn's benefit.

"I want to work," I insisted. "I have to be around people to stay in practice, shielding myself from their thoughts. If I'm alone for even a few days it gets tough again."

I brought out three plates of crepes and we all ate in silence, enjoying them too much to talk.

"Those were great," Quinn complimented me. "You're an amazing cook, babe."

He had demolished four of the fruit-filled crepes and looked like he could manage more. Amelia and I were each still struggling through our second. Shifters seemed to need a lot more food than humans; I figured changing shape must take a lot of energy.

"Oh yeah," Amelia agreed.

She looked back and forth between Quinn and I with a goofy grin on her face.

"What?" I asked her.

"I was just thinking how adorable you two are together. You're so comfortable with each other, you just get one another. It's so sweet."

As soon as she said it, I didn't feel comfortable any more. I suddenly felt like I was cheating on Eric by enjoying Quinn's company so much.

"Amelia," I said in a warning tone. "Please don't. Eric only left last night and I don't know where he is or what's happening... I can't do this now."

"Don't worry, babe, it's OK." Quinn reassured me. "I know you're with him and I'll respect that. I love you and I'd like to win you back, but I can smell him all over you and..." he trailed off when he saw that I was crying. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

I kept crying. When he said that I smelled like Eric, I remembered that I had washed his scent from my skin without thinking twice that morning. I knew I wouldn't see Eric for a long time and my heart ached for him. I was embarrassed that I was falling apart in front of Quinn and Amelia, so I got up to leave the table. I didn't make it far; as I stood I felt really dizzy and my knees buckled.

Quinn caught me as I fell and set me down gently in my chair, holding my shoulders so I didn't fall. "Are you OK?"

I didn't answer.

"Eric said this might happen," Amelia told him.

She retrieved a bunch of vitamin tablets from the kitchen and poured another glass of juice for me, then coaxed me to swallow the pills and drink the juice.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked her.

"She lost more blood than she should've last night, so she'll be weak for a couple of days," she told him.

He was angry when he spoke again. "You mean he took too much of her blood."

"Quinn, please," I interrupted weakly. "Don't get mad, he didn't do anything to hurt me."

"If he took so much blood that you're fainting today, he has hurt you, the bastard!" he fumed.

I burst into tears again. "I didn't faint, I was just dizzy, and he really didn't do anything wrong. I don't have to explain myself to you, what I do with Eric is none of your business. Please stop."

He sat down beside me and took my hand. "OK, I'm sorry. I don't understand, but if you say it's alright, I'll take your word for it."

Quinn seemed like he was ready to let it drop, but Amelia wasn't.

"He said you wanted to do this, Sook. I don't get that. Why would you want to give him so much blood that you faint the next day?" Something in her tone told me that she wouldn't let it go until she got an answer. Her tenacity could be annoying sometimes.

I sighed. "I don't know where he's gone or what he's doing but I know it's something awful. I gave him more blood than usual so, so..." Tears ran down my face as I trailed off, unable to keep going.

"So he'd be stronger," Quinn finished for me. "To help him face whatever it is."

I nodded. "And so he's got some of me with him, whatever happens," I added in a whisper.

Quinn wiped the tears from my face, then licked them from his fingertips, which I found oddly comforting. I could feel that he understood now; he would do something like that to help the people he loves, too.

I was just about to thank him for being so understanding when the phone rang. Amelia jumped up to get it.

"Hello, Amelia speaking", she greeted the caller.

I could only hear her side of the short conversation that followed.

"I'll just get her for you."

She paused, listening to the caller's response.

"She needs to come and see you."

A longer pause followed, and she rolled her eyes a couple of times.

She sighed loudly. "Look, Hunter inherited some money, she was going to come and tell you in person."

The caller's response to that was short and clearly offended Amelia.

"Fine, she'll be there at midday."

I heard the click as the call ended immediately after she said that.

"Asshole," she muttered as she slammed the phone down. She calmed herself before she turned to Quinn and I.

"That was Remy," she told me.

"My cousin's ex-husband," I explained for Quinn's benefit.

"He was really rude, Sook," she continued. "Said he didn't want to hear from you, that you encouraged Hunter to be weird and to keep away from him. He said to tell you not to contact him ever again. Then I mentioned the money and he said you can come visit him today at midday. I hope that's OK, he didn't sound like he was in the mood to negotiate."

"I guess I'll have to head straight over then," I sighed. "Sorry Quinn, they live an hour and a half's drive away. I probably won't have time to start training today after all, and I really need to leave in the next half hour if I'm going to get there by twelve."

"That's OK, you're not really well enough, anyway. Do you mind if I drive you though? I'll worry about you having another dizzy spell while you're on the road if you go by yourself."

Aw, Amelia broadcast at me loudly. See those puppy dog eyes? He's so into you, Sook! So sweet and protective. Not at all overbearing about it either. Such a keeper, that one. And so hot! Do you see the way the muscles in his forearms ripple every time he moves? Yum! I tell you, if you're not gonna tap that, I could be very tempted.

I was glaring at Amelia, and Quinn gave me a puzzled look. I heard him wonder why I was glaring at her, then figure out what was happening and wonder what she was thinking at me. I knew he must've meant for me to 'overhear', since shifters' brains weren't completely open to me the way humans' are. I decided I owed Amelia for all the times she blurted out things I didn't want people to know, and I would pay her back a little.

"Amelia was just making sure I noticed the way the muscles in your forearms ripple every time you move. She thinks I should pay very close attention," I told him.

Quinn chuckled.

Amelia didn't even blush. "Just making sure she noticed," she shrugged.

She cleared our plates from the table and went to the sink to wash them.

"This Hunter's someone really important to you, isn't he?" Quinn asked. I heard him thinking that if I had to go see some asshole who only wanted to see me for the money, he was going to scope out the situation carefully, just in case.

"He's my cousin Hadley's only son. She lived above Amelia in New Orleans, in the apartment you helped me clean out."

He nodded.

"You should tell him the rest," Amelia insisted. I had only recently told her that Hunter is a telepath, on the condition that she never tell anyone. I wasn't exactly pleased she mentioned it.

Quinn looked at me expectantly. "Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Look, I trust you, but this isn't about my safety. It's about someone else's. A child's. If I tell you this, you can't repeat it to anyone ever, no matter what. And that you can't even think about it if you're anywhere near Barry Bellboy."

"I promise," he said solemnly. "And Barry rarely leaves California now, so I'm not likely to see him any time soon."

"OK," I hesitated. "Hunter is... special."

"He's a telepath too?" he guessed, getting it right first time.

I nodded. "He needs my help, that's why I have to go over there. I need to teach him how to shield so he's not driven crazy by hearing other people's thoughts all the time, and I have to protect him from people who would want to exploit his talent if they found him. Nobody else understands except maybe Barry, but I sure wouldn't trust Barry with him. It has to be me."

"Then we'll head right over," Quinn agreed, just like that.

And we did.