Chapter Two
I got in my car and started for home. What else could I do? Quinn watched me drive away. Five minutes down the road, my cell phone rang. I pulled over so quickly, I could smell the heat from the tires. My heart beat faster when I saw Quinn's number just as it sank with disappointment that it wasn't Eric phoning, or Pam, to tell me this story was all a bunch of horse shit.
"Yes?" I said, listening hard, my temple pressed against the cool glass of the window.
"Felipe asked me to call you." Quinn sounded oddly hesitant.
"Don't you think I've already heard enough?" I asked, making my voice as cold as it could get.
"He is willing to allow you to come see Eric. He's chartered us a helicopter to get you from your house to the airport and from there, to Las Vegas on a private jet." Quinn paused. I could hear him adjust his hand on the phone. "You don't have to go, Sookie. But you said you were coming anyway. And if you don't…"
"If I don't, Felipe will send his cronies to come and get me." My protection from the king was only as good as Eric's strength. Meaning, not good at all, anymore. While I'd planned, over the last twenty minutes, to fly out to Nevada myself, I hadn't figured on putting myself in the care of Felipe and his gang.
Quinn knew what I was thinking. "I'll go with you," he said. "No strings attached. You don't have to be scared of him."
I could hear what it cost Quinn to say that. To offer his protection to me knowing it would allow me to be with Eric, even if only one last time. "And you'll help me up till the point when the vamps threaten your mom and Frannie. If they do, then I'll be chopped liver again. What other assurances do I have that I'm not gonna show up there just to be forced into a blood bond with someone or worse?"
"Pam," Quinn said quickly. "Felipe is going to allow her to guard you. He knows her loyalty is to Eric but he can't touch her, legally, because she's only following his orders as she must."
Pam was my friend. Somewhere not too long ago, she'd fallen into that category without qualifiers. Pam was sworn to Eric but she was also sworn to the king. If push came to shove, I didn't know which vow she'd honor. It'd sure be putting her into a tough spot and I was suddenly sure that Felipe knew that.
But it was the best possible deal I would get unless Bill showed up healthy enough- and willing- to join me. "Pam will be there when I get off the plane? Or as close to it as possible?"
"She'll be there as soon as it's dark. I'll make sure of it." Quinn sounded relieved. That made me wonder what sort of bribe or threat it took to make him come all the way to Shreveport to lay this news on me.
I turned the key in the ignition and maneuvered the car back onto the road. "I'll be ready in three hours," I said and snapped the phone shut.
***
Packing was quick and simple. A single, small suitcase did the trick and I filled it in about thirty seconds. I brought it out to the living room, then thought again and went back to my bedroom. I wanted to bring Eric something. It was an impulse I didn't put much thought into. The ceremonial knife came to mind straightaway but that was impossible. I was sure Eric had it hidden someplace and equally as sure the Nevada vamps would never allow him to have it. Plus it didn't really make the statement I was aiming at. I scanned my room for a minute and then grabbed the ugly quilt my grandmother had made. Eric and I had once relaxed under this quilt together in front of the fire. I never thought I'd consider the days we'd spent together when Eric was under his curse to be simple but maybe it would remind him of better times.
The quilt was large. I needed a duffle bag to carry it in. Since Octavia had left, I'd reverted to using the closet in her room for storage. Though dawn was breaking into day, the closet was too dark for me to find the bag without knocking everything else down from the top shelf. I tugged on the light and stepped inside. Under my foot, the carpet felt unusually lumpy. I peeled it back from where it was cut out for the hidey-hole and found a lumpy manila envelope.
I knew he wouldn't just vanish on me, I thought, perching on the edge of the bed. The envelope contained several things; I dumped them all out on the bedspread. Two envelopes and a small box had been inside. When I saw the writing on the front of the first envelope, my heart sank just a little. It was not from Eric but rather, from Bill. Sookie was all it said. The second envelope had been through the mail, sent to Bill from Fangtasia. I opened that one first. It was from Pam.
If you've found this, then you know, so I won't run on. Trust no one, Sookie, but perhaps Bill. I do not know what will happen but I do know, Eric has done all he can for you. Note those last two words: for you. I'll do what I can as well but sorry to say, you are on your own. Go far away and go now.
I felt tears prickle at the corner of my eyes. Pam is so… Pam. I couldn't follow her advice even though a big part of me wanted to. It was the "for you" part that pushed me forward. I tore open the other envelope.
Sookie, sweetheart,
Despite what Pam writes, you are not alone. I must heal but then I will come to you. Eric made me swear not to tell you the truth and to be honest, I thought that for the best. You cannot stop this. I will be with you, protecting you, as soon as I am able.
Love…
Protection, well, I could use some of that. But maybe a bit of hope would be good. I wondered if it was too much to ask for and thought it very well could be under the circumstances. I thought of Sophie-Anne and her lost reign. I thought of Eric, helpless. The image just would not stick.
Reaching for the small box, I slid off its cardboard lid. And nearly dropped the whole thing when I saw what was inside. It was a tiny dagger, an exact replica of the ceremonial dagger, made miniature and placed on a white gold chain. I took it out of the box and put it on. The chain was long enough to allow the dagger to drop out of sight underneath my blouse. It was from Eric. It had to be. He didn't write me a note but he didn't leave me with nothing either.
***
I watched Bon Temps vanish into the forest from the helicopter window, wondering if anyone had woken up at the sound it had made when it landed in my yard. It was my first time in a helicopter but I barely noticed any of the details. I was that intent on reaching Nevada. That scared, really, but I stiffened my spine and steeled myself for whatever laid ahead.
It occurred to me to call Jason and let him know what was happening but I dismissed that thought as quickly as it had occurred. Jason had his own troubles and a tendency to add on to mine. I would've given an awful lot to talk to Sam but with how thrilled he'd been about me and Eric, and also, that he'd want to come along to keep an eye on me, I couldn't do it. It would've been nice to have him with me but I wasn't willing to endanger him that way. I had sent him a text to tell him that I wouldn't be able to work for the next week or so. I made sure not to send it until I was climbing into the helicopter.
The private jet waited on the runway. Quinn was already inside. I climbed the stairs and sat beside him, not out of choice so much as necessity as the rest of the jet was open. I guessed that was to allow space for passenger coffins. I wondered if Eric had ridden in one when he'd been taken from Shreveport to Las Vegas. I wish I were psychic, so I could tell if he'd been in this very plane. It wouldn't have made any difference other than reminding me that he still existed in my world. No, don't go there, I told myself and looked up at Quinn.
Quinn looked back at me and opened his mouth but no words came out. We sat in silence at the jet took off and rose up through the clouds. At this point, I began to realize how tired I was. It had been well over a week since I'd had a full night of sleep and I was still not fully recovered from my time with the fairy duo. I figured it was safe enough to sleep on the plane, especially since Quinn seemed very intent on not speaking to me. The weight of the tiny dagger was warm on my chest. It comforted me.
When I awoke, the plane was landing. The sunshine streamed in through the windows. Looking at my watch, I saw it had only been a few hours since I'd left my house. It was late morning in Nevada. I wondered what we'd do until the vampires woke up for the night.
A limo waited on the runway, its trunk open and waiting. Quinn stowed away my bags and opened the door for me. I got in, careful not to brush against him. He followed and then shut the door firmly, maybe even a bit too firmly. The sound made me jump. I couldn't see the driver, which also made me nervous. From the feel of his brain, I knew he was a human, of the regular type, with no accessories like mine.
"Don't worry, it's a normal limo service," Quinn said quietly, clipping on his seatbelt as the car began to move. "Luxury Airport Express."
"I wasn't worried," I lied, sitting up so straight my back hurt.
"It'll take us to the hotel. Victor took care of the details. You have a room to yourself but Pam could stay there too, I guess."
"Where is Pam?" I'd feel a lot better when I saw her. I thought. Probably.
"She'll meet us at the hotel after sunset." He gave me a glimpse of a smile. "Mr. Cataliades will meet us in the lobby. I called him a few days ago. He requested to stay with you until Pam Is up. So, no surprises."
"Okay," I said, softening towards him just a little. "Thanks for that."
Quinn sighed and put his hand on my arm. "Sookie, I've got to tell you, I'm sorry for this whole thing."
"Let's not do that, Quinn. This just isn't the time. Maybe down the road. Maybe. But definitely not now." I moved my arm softly from beneath his hand.
He let his hand fall to his lap. "Just so that you know."
"I do know." The limo pulled into the driveway of an enormous hotel. It was squarish, at least ten stories tall and very, very orange. Mr. Cataliades stood by the doors with Diantha beside him. I was so glad to see them that I opened the door the minute the engine stopped. At least I knew (or thought I knew) that they were on my side.
"Miss Stackhouse," Mr. Cataliades said, taking a step towards me. "How lovely to see you again."
I smiled at him and looked toward Diantha to include her as well. "How're you both doing?"
Diantha grinned at me, showing off her pointy teeth. Though it had never bothered me before, today the sight made me shudder inwardly. Neave's face flashed through my mind. I pushed the bad memories away as quickly and as far as I could. This was not the time for a breakdown.
Quinn handed me my duffle bag; Mr. Cataliades took up the suitcase. As we walked into the hotel doors, I stopped so suddenly, poor Diantha ran right into my back. Terrible emotions overwhelmed me. I dropped down on my hands and knees, hanging my head and gasping. Eric. Through the pain, I was aware of a high keening sound; it was me, and I sounded awful. "What are they doing to him?" I gasped through clenched teeth as Quinn scooped me up into his arms. Because it was the bond. It had to be.
"Sookie, let that wait for later." Quinn carried me through the lobby and turned left, down a long hallway overdone in the southern motif. I was vaguely aware of Diantha following us. Then I gave in to the feelings and everything went black.
***
When I woke up again, I was laying in an enormous bed, fully clothed. It was dark in the room but enough light came in from a streetlamp outside the window that I could see Pam, sitting on the bed beside me. She was having downtime. I was so relieved to see her, I didn't move for a moment, just watched her face as she came out of her… whatever it was… and saw that I was awake.
"Sookie," she said. "You're alright. We gave you something to numb the bond."
Her voice was so solemn, so lacking in dryness, I winced. Then I focused inwardly for a moment, enough to feel that yes, the bond was numb. So numb, in fact, that it might as well have not existed at all. "Is it gone?" I asked, surprised at myself for feeling unsettled about it.
"That is for the best right now," Pam said, her eyes wide. "And for the best when they…" She swallowed then, hard.
I'd never seen Pam show even a tenth this much emotion. And I felt it all along with her. "How is he?"
"That's not a good question to ask right now."
I should have known that. "How did they make him feel so much pain during his daytime sleep?"
Pam shook her head. "I promised him that I wouldn't tell you."
"So he knows I'm coming? That I'm here?"
"He knows they will try to bring you here. I can't imagine he could feel much through the bond before we numbed it and now, of course, he'd feel nothing at all." Pam stood up without even shaking the bed and took a bottle of True Blood from the mini-fridge across the room. Taking a long drink, she seemed to be considering me over the rim of the bottle. "Sookie, I don't know what to tell you. It's bad, as bad as anything we've been through. I've seen Eric overcome the odds hundreds of times but the things they are doing… well. When they finish the execution, finally, I hope it will bring you some peace to know that Eric will welcome the sun."
I shot up in bed only to keel over the minute my feet hit the floor. So I sat instead, but as straight as I could manage. "Pam," I said very deliberately, "Screw that!"
She shook her head. "Sookie…"
"No, screw that! Screw all of this! Y'all can't bring me all this way, go through all the shit we've gone through, only to have it end up with a big ole Eric barbeque." I glared at her. "I can't believe you're just gonna sit back and let this happen."
She bared her fangs and hissed at me in a way that had me scooting back against the pillows. "I am not just sitting back. But think, Sookie. Think how many of them we are facing. And where could we take him, even if we could rescue him? He's a mess. He can't even sit up, much less walk out of here."
"I don't know," I said, deflated. The knot that had been growing in my stomach since I called Fangtasia and got no answer seemed to double in size. I felt like I was choking on it. Tears welled up in my eyes and I growled at them as I rubbed them away. "What am I supposed to do?"
Pam relaxed a little and took another sip of her True Blood. "Victor will come for you any minute. He wants to earn credit by being the one who presents you to the king. I will stay by your side. Victor will take us to Felipe's throne room for a formal meeting."
"He has a throne room?" I thought for a minute. "Are you sure you should be leaving Eric? Not that I don't appreciate you watching out for me but doesn't he need you more?"
Pam stared at me without saying a word for a minute. I grew uncomfortable under her gaze. Finally, she said, "Sookie, I would rather stay with anyone than go watch what's being done to him."
I sucked in a breath. "Can I see him?" I asked, half-hoping she'd say no.
She threw the bottle into a small garbage can, gently for a vampire. "I'm very much afraid that before the night is over, you will be made to see him. And then you will wish you'd taken my advice and stayed as far away as you could get. Eric would not be pleased to have you see him as he is right now."
Pam cocked her head sharply, listening. Before I could ask her anything else, Victor strode in through the door without bothering to knock. "I trust I'm not interrupting anything?" he asked as he entered the room. He scrutinized me carefully. "I heard you had a bit of a problem but you look like you're feeling better now." He smiled at me.
I did not smile back. "What is the plan?" I asked him, standing up. Somehow, I didn't feel quite comfortable- or safe- resting on the bed with Victor within arm's reach. He had the coldest smile I'd ever seen.
"Oh, straight to business then." He nodded at Pam. She did not nod back but she did lower her eyes for a moment. I could tell Victor didn't like that but he was more focused on me. "Sookie, you and your guard here have an appointment with Felipe in twenty minutes, upstairs. This hotel is one of his businesses; he keeps his court rotating between all of them. We'll go up and you will get to talk with him." His eyes narrowed just a touch. "I gather that's why you came here?"
"I gather so," I said, though I wasn't sure why I'd come myself, other than having very little choice in the matter. Because it felt like the right thing to do, I told myself, and slid into my shoes, which someone had very helpfully placed beside the bed.
Pam moved closer to me and took my arm, to steady me, I thought, marveling a little at how far we'd come. There'd been a time not too long ago when Pam would have thought that to help me walk was to debase herself for a human. I'm sure she still felt that way, at least a little. Tonight, though, being closer to me was not only necessary if I were going to walk anywhere, it also put her in a better guarding position. And, I realized, put me between herself and the other vampires, who were definitely more powerful at this time than Pam. And while those vamps didn't have my best interests in mind to say the least, they were sworn to keep me safe. Smart girl, that Pam.
Victor led us to an elevator and pushed the number ten. Penthouse, of course. Where else would the king hold his court? The doors slid open to reveal a room so normal, it was sort of anti-climactic. It looked like my living room, only with more expensive furniture. And a throne, of course, which is really just a big, fancy chair but when you stick a guy in it who reeks of kingliness, you have yourself a throne and your living room becomes a throne room.
And if anyone I'd ever seen embodied royalty, that person was Felipe. He sat on the exact center of his throne, neither relaxing back nor leaning forward like I might have done if faced with the spouse of someone I was in the painful process of executing. The room was empty but it had that sense of a place that had been full of activity not long before we'd entered. Indeed, I could hear movement in adjoining rooms and I had that sense of empty spaces and many of them. Felipe must have had dozens of minions ready to attend his needs. I wondered if one of those empty spaces belonged to Eric and shivered.
"Miss Stackhouse," Felipe said warmly. He held out his hand and Pam nudged me forward. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to shake it or kiss it or what. Pam solved the issue by kneeling at Victor's feet and kissing the back of his hand herself. She pulled me down along with her. I didn't kiss his hand though. Maybe I should have. Felipe certainly seemed to think so. His face gave away no emotion but the lines of it seemed cut from bronze. He jerked his head to indicate that we could rise. Pam shot up like a puppet and so I did as well though my head spun enough to make me grasp onto her arm with both hands. Felipe missed none of this. "Miss Stackhouse, are you unwell?"
Pam nudged me and said, "It's the medication, your highness. To cut off her bond. She couldn't function without it."
I didn't want him to know I'd been weakened before I ever knew Eric was in trouble so that excuse was good enough for me. I thought I should say something but I didn't know what. Where's Eric seemed to be the natural thing, or please stop hurting him. Something like that. But I didn't know what would happen if I did, only that the words I chose right now would have an impact on the rest of my life and quite possibly on the lives of Eric and Pam as well. Assuming Eric was to have a life.
"Your highness, I came to tell you that I never had any problems with Eric protecting me. He and Pam and Bill and some of the others, they've always had my back. There's no reason to punish him for anything to do with me. He's loyal to you. He thinks you are forward-thinking and clever. Please let him go." I cleared my throat and stared just shy of Felipe's eyes. "He didn't break any oaths."
Felipe considered me for a long time. It was everything I could do to stay still under the weight of his gaze. "Regretfully, I cannot release your husband. Vampire law and custom are complex things. I would not expect you to comprehend."
Disappointment sent me to my knees. I should've expected this but somewhere inside, I'd remained hopeful that if I could just see the king, this could all be made right. Pam hauled me up to my feet again. I licked my lips. "But your majesty, I…"
Felipe stood and quicker than a heartbeat, Victor was there to hand him his black cape. "I must attend a prior meeting. We shall meet again tomorrow night. Victor will bring you to me. I will grant you the favor of visiting your husband. I am sure you have much to say to him."
My mouth dropped open as I watched him move out the door. Pam tugged at me but I felt frozen in place. This was nothing to him, I realized. Just another appointment. Eric was nothing to him and neither was I. Pam's face was utterly blank, better than any poker player I'd ever seen. I started to say something to her but she shook her head. "Sookie, let's go and see Eric. They want you to know who you are dealing with." She sucked in one long, deliberate breath. "Prepare yourself."
