Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited the story. I had a silly grin on my face all weekend. Nearly 200 visitors! Wowza.
For the time being I'm going to try and post a new chapter every two or three days. It will eventually slow down because I'm about to start my masters degree and I have jury duty from next week.
Chapter 2
"Each of us has his own rhythm of suffering." - Roland Barthes
I took my dishes to the sink, taking my time to wash and rinse them so I could turn my focus to the bond. I had no sense of what he was feeling, but there was a pulling, shifting sensation to his presence. He was moving, coming closer and fast.
I stopped by my bedroom before heading outside and grabbed my oversized plum cardigan to wrap myself in. I buried my face in the soft knit, it still smelt like home in Iceland. A little like Gisli too. I sighed and slipped it on. I felt like maybe I could somehow protect myself by getting wrapped up in its warmth. Protect myself from what? I decided not to continue that line of thinking any further, especially with my estranged bonded vampire on his way.
The thought of protection did give me pause though, and on a whim I unzipped the internal flap of my suitcase and withdrew my Swiss dagger. Gisli had gifted it to me a year after I'd first arrived to learn under his tutelage. He had seen me admire his set of daggers a number of times, and was pleased with my affinity for training with them. This one was hand made, a stunning example of Demon craftsmanship, the curved blade a mix of silver and iron. The wooden handle was decorated with a delicate silver pattern set into the wood itself.
I was touched that my gruff part-demon tutor had gone to the effort to have a custom piece made just for me. I'd made only a few friends, none of them close, in the year I'd been there, but he'd been a great support and source of friendship. I'd kissed him on impulse. He had carried me to his bed that night and that's where I slept for the length of my stay in Kópavogur.
He was a handsome man in an unusual sort of way. Strangely deep hazel eyes, dark skin, striking features that were, to me, instantly otherworldly. Although others couldn't see it - couldn't see that he was not born of Earth, or by humans. Something about his magic meant that he could blend in with the regular folk, in much the same way as the Britlingen girls, Batanya and Clovache. Gisli said it was a mild form of skinwalking, he used just enough to simply fit in.
He wasn't quick to laugh or smile, but he was interesting company, thoughtful and expressive. He made me continually question myself, my abilities, and my every step. He shaped me for the better. He made me a fighter, well, at least a more skilled one. He also gave me the other half of my heart, little Finnur. Their loss still hurt now, but less so.
I placed the large dagger back into its leather sheath and strapped it on the leather belt around the waistband of my denim shorts. I flicked on the outside light as I slipped out quietly to the front porch. Sitting on the top step, I drew the chunky cardigan tightly around crickets and frogs were conducting a battle of the symphonies throughout the neighborhood and I rested my chin on my bare knees, enjoying the sensation of being saturated in the sounds of home.
When I felt him close in through bond, I cast out my mental net. Within a few minutes I detected the familiar void of a vampire brain, but it was somewhere very high up above. Eric was circling in the sky, trying to hone in on my presence through the bond.
He landed on the grass lawn without a sound. He straightened from his crouched position, whipping his hair back behind him. It caused the few drops of condensation that had gathered in his hair to send an arc of watery spray behind him. It was an impressive display.
My heart picked up in speed as he slowly approached, but I schooled my features so that I would give away none of my inner turmoil. If my poker face was good before, then it was world class now, but I had no doubt he would hear my heart racing fast like a hummingbird's wings.
He looked exactly as he always had, but even better than I remembered. Flaxen hair that was the same precise shade as mine, a defined jaw line that added to his air of authority, yet perfectly complimented his features, and a broad muscular body. He was even wearing his regular Fangtasia 'uniform' - black fitted jeans, black tank, and leather jacket. It was like a blast from the past, but given he'd lived for over 1000 years, I didn't suppose there could be any truer description than that. I worked hard to suppress the nervous giggle at that thought, although I felt the corner of my lips twitch.
He came to a standstill a half dozen away from me, his eyes piercing mine. I held his gaze as boldly as I could.
"You returned without informing me. Giving me time. That was foolish."
"Well, hello to you too."
"You have endangered yourself. I needed to make preparations to herald your return."
"It's not like I'm a visiting dignitary or member of the royal family, Eric."
Christ on a cracker, whatever welcome I was expecting from him, it certainly wasn't this. He folded his arms across his chest, his lips thinning in displeasure.
"No, you are a telepath in my retinue, who left suddenly at a politically volatile time. I worked hard to ensure your departure was possible. That you would be safe. Felipe has not made this easy. Neither Victor."
"Jesus, Eric," I sighed. "Can't you at least sit with me for a moment so we can catch up first? I haven't seen you for nearly ten years. I've had two long days getting here and getting settled... I don't want to launch myself back into this political vamp B.S. right at this very second." I ignored the pang of guilt at the trouble my departure must of caused him.
Niall, Claudine, and Mr Cataliades had me ambushed one cool morning nearly nine years earlier. The had arrived unannounced to my home and while I was still asleep in bed, no less. I sat quietly in the living area, covered in my floral dressing gown, and I listened as my great-grandfather, fairy godmother, and the man I soon discovered was the demon equivalent of my godfather, explained the dangers I would be facing if I remained in Bon Temps. If I remained in Louisiana. If I remained in the United States.
If their ploy was to catch me off guard in my sleep addled state, then it worked well. Niall impressed upon me the danger of myself, a part fairy, living so close to a fairy door when there were groups of fairies systematically torturing and killing anyone part fairy. I listened, horrified, as he explained the brutal nature of my grandfather Fintan's death. Breandan, Fintan's own cousin, had ripped Niall's son literally limb from limb simply for being half human. Things would get worse, not better, as the war continued.
Claudine held my hand comfortingly as she told me, in her sweet melodic voice, that she just had a bad feeling she couldn't shake, that something irrevocably bad would happen if I were to stay. Her eyes wavered with unshed tears, and she whispered that it would kill her if anything bad was to happen to me.
It was Mr C who cinched the deal on the intervention, though. He informed me of Felipe's intention of bringing me to Nevada, by force if need be, and that by staying I would not only be risking the lives of my friends and family around me, but of the vampires too who would fight to bring me home. The demon telepath then opened his mind to me and chilled my soul with his words.
If you stay, it would be at great risk to your young nephew Hunter, Sookie. It won't take long for Victor to discover your connection with the late vampire queen and Hadley. To work out the depth of your interest in the young child. Hunter carries the spark also. Victor is a ruthless sycophant and won't hesitate to use any means to gain the upper hand against Eric. You must remove yourself from the equation. I have a duty to the young child too.
Outwardly, he explained that he had promised Gran to look after me and help me with my gift, and that he had been reticent in his duties, but he had arranged for a tutor in a safe location to school me in the arts of telepathy, and in fighting too if I wished. I'd be able return when the threat of the fairies had passed; when I could hold my own. I was given a day to decide, but it was no decision for me, not really. I would do what I needed to in order to keep those around me safe.
After the trio had left, I'd locked myself in my bedroom, much to the confusion of Amelia and Octavia, and spent the day lying in bed. I was rollercoastering from feelings of pity, self loathing and anger, through to capsizing bouts of grief and upset. I hated the thought of leaving home. Bon Temps and the farmhouse were as much a part of me as my blue eyes, blonde hair, and telepathy, but I could see no other option.
Niall, Claudine, and Mr Cataliades had backed me into a corner. I was furious they would emotionally blackmail me to leave on their own terms, but also terrified at the thought of what staying might mean. Either way I looked it, I couldn't say no.
Back in the present, my reverie was broken by Eric taking two large steps towards me. His face remained a cold mask, but his nostrils flared as he drew a deep breath. He blurred with sudden speed until he was crouched in front of me on the porch steps.
"You've aged extremely little, and you smell like… like, something more," he spoke quietly, pupils dilating.
He gently picked up my hand and drew it close to his face, pressing the tip of his cool nose to my palm and smelling deeply.
"Demon, and more fae," he confirmed softly to himself. His eyes were asking questions I wasn't comfortable answering, so I pulled my hand away from his grasp and sat it primly back in my lap.
"Those will fade with time. The demon scent will fade completely."
He accepted my answer with a nod, and came to sit beside me on the steps. We remained quiet for a minute looking out to the street. Now that he was close I felt my mouth run dry. There were a lot of loose ends that remained after my departure from Louisiana.
"You've been well?" I asked.
"As well as a vampire can be."
"How's business?"
"Busy. Pam has made many improvements. She now only helps out at Fangtasia on occasion, but she runs a sister bar in downtown Shreveport, on the restuarant and bar strip. It's very popular."
"Good for her. What's the bar called?"
"Glamour."
"I look forward to visiting it." I'd exhausted my talking points at this stage. My mind was drawing blanks. I let the silence fill the space between us.
"Getur þú tala íslensku núna?" He asked, startling me.
I let out a loud chuckle, it echoed across the street and his demeanor changed, a small smile gracing his lips. He released his end of the bond, perhaps not completely, but enough for me to experience the relief that his close proximity provided me and feel the mixture of amusement and worry coming from him.
"Ég hef lært smá. Nóg," I replied. "Það tölur sem þú getur talað það… It didn't occur to me that I'd be able to speak it again once I left." I was pleased at least one of my new skills wouldn't go to waste.
"You lived close to the veil." He didn't bother to phrase it as a question, he very well knew where I was living.
The veil he referred to was a particular area of Iceland, centered mostly around Kópavogur, where the spaces between many realms merged. The population of fairies, elves, demons and a large manner of other creatures was greater there than anywhere else in the world. It was something of a neutral zone for supes, and a common place to move from one realm to another. In order for that to be possible many treaties had been written between different species to enable safe passage through space and time. I'd lived a quiet life there guarded with Gisli, my hired tutor and protector, and it was a safe location for me. Especially while the fairy war was being waged.
"Yes. I don't think I've ever been somewhere with so many different supes, and barely any of them vampires," I said.
"We try to avoid there as a rule. It's incredibly dangerous given the population of elves and fairies. They do not take kindly to our presence. Any act of violence could be perceived as a call to war. Although many vampires have tried to settle there as the pull of fairy blood proves too alluring for many. It never lasts long, they are swiftly dealt with by our own kind who wish to keep the peace."
I nodded. I came across a couple of vampires while there, but both of them were ancient, and part of the self promoted 'peace keepers'. They were much more in control of their nature compared to younger vamps, who were often far too bloodlust-y for their own good around fairies.
"Well, Niall ensured that I'd remain alive by hiding me there. As far as I knew, he and Claudine were the only people in fairy who knew of my location… Even if others did, no one would dare attack for fear of a war against the demons." It was a real possibility too. Gisli, a member of Demon King's guard, was held responsible under the contract of my protection. A slight against me would have been considered a slight against the demon king. That threat became even more weighty when Gisli and I became a couple.
"And your demon kept you safe?" Eric could have been burning a hole in the front lawn for how intently he was staring at it. He was unnaturally still, waiting for my reply.
I nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat. I didn't know how much he knew of my life there. Frankly, I was surprised he'd put the pieces together regarding Gisli and I. As far as I knew, only a handful of people had known. I shifted uncomfortably. I wasn't sure how much I'd ever be prepared to share with him about my time there.
"I felt your pain when he returned to his realm."
"How did you know?" I crooked my head at him curiously. The last time I recalled my end of the bond opening was during labor. I hadn't explained the cause of my pain, but afterwards sent him a message with reassurances that I was alright - and I was alright at the time, physically at least.
"I believe it happened when you were asleep. It felt... different from anything I've felt from you before." He was still studiously avoiding my gaze.
My eyes prickled with tears, and I focused intently on picking the fingernail I'd chipped while moving earlier that day. Eric was a jumble of emotions - disappointment, resignation, anger, confusion, against a backdrop of deeper and hard to read blends of feelings. Whoever said that vampires felt no emotion was spuriously wrong. They felt to great excess.
Even so, It had never occurred to me that my tight hold on the bond would lessen when I was sleeping. I was so exhausted after returning from Gisli's world, I was grieving deeply too. I had gone to see him off and lay little Finnur to rest. It made sense he would attribute the snapshots of my grief to the ending of my relationship with the demon.
How he knew enough of our relationship to refer to him as mine was beyond me, but at least his admission revealed that he'd not of known about the pregnancy. So, he certainly could not of known about the birth of little Finnur, or his quiet passing, a few short hours later.
"Does it still happen?" I asked, studying his face. The shadows were casting angular shapes across his profile, he could have been painted by an artist from the modern era. Something cubist.
"On occasion."
I nodded, unsure how to respond.
"You loved him?" He asked. I thought back to that time in the hospital bed, Finn's tiny fingers curled around mine and a swell of sorrow erupted without warning from deep inside my chest. Without thinking, my hand shot out and clasped Eric's. Damned bond. He let me leave it there.
"I loved Gisli the best I could." I said, after carefully choosing my words. "He was… dear to me. I knew it would end. His contract was bulletproof, nothing could be done to extend his stay any longer. I accepted that from the beginning. Iceland was full of hard lessons, though." I sighed. "No matter where I am, there is change and pain... and surprises. I can't ever escape that."
I relaxed the hold on my emotions and let them be tempered against the calm from our physical connection. Eric shifted a fraction closer and I leant my head against his arm. I enjoyed the scent of leather from his jacket mixed with his own familiar cool scent.
"Change is the only constant," he murmured.
"Heraclitus," I said. I felt, rather than saw, his smile.
"There is a lot of time to read in Iceland," I said. "Especially in winter. Gisli threw out all my romance novels as soon as I arrived. Can you believe he banned them? I was so mad." I laughed softly. "He owned a ton of of books on philosophy; insisted I read them. I can't wait to read something trashy now I'm home." I swiped away the stray tear that had escaped as Eric laughed. It was a warm rumbling sound.
"I'm glad you haven't changed," I told him, meaning absolutely every word.
He turned to look at me, eyebrow raised. "I might surprise you."
"We'll see."
I invited Eric in and he sprawled out on the settee while I heated a True Blood for him. I was happy to have thought ahead and purchase it on my small shopping trip.
"Sorry if I interrupted your meal tonight," I said. I placed the True Blood on a napkin on the coffee table for him.
"It's no matter." He retrieved it and leaned back, bottle in hand, looking completely at home and oversized on the small piece of furniture.
I opened a cold beer from the fridge and sat on the opposite end of the settee. He glanced at my beverage, and raised a questioning brow at me. I think the only time he ever saw me drinking was at his bar.
"A girl has her vices," I explained as demurely as possible before taking a sip. He grinned fangily back at me in reply, taking a long draw of his blood. I felt my cheeks stain with blush and I mentally pushed aside any unspoken connotations. I definitely - most definitely - did my best to not react to the blast of lust I felt from his end. "You better tell me what's been happening here since I've been gone. Politically speaking. What am I getting myself back into?"
"You're back permanently?" I detected a sense of strain and anticipation coming from him as he waited for my answer.
"I believe so. I've avoided being pulled into the fray while the fairy war was going. I've learnt to fight a little. Worked on my telepathy. I'm ready to be home… I have nowhere else to be." I felt him relax, although his expression retained its usual cool look of indifference.
"Felipe still has his interests split between Nevada, Louisiana, and Arkansas," he explained. "There have been rumblings that he is ready to seize Alabama as there is only a small contingent of vampires there and they are considered one of the weaker states, but Felipe is spread too thin as it is. He can't handle another state.
"For the most part we have held an uneasy truce since the reparations of your departure were agreed upon. Victor, however, has been working hard to undermine my business interests in an attempt to -"
"Reparations?" I interrupted, tripping up on the word in his explanation.
"When you left, Felipe was unhappy that he lost an asset, one he had yet to utilize, one he was keen to keep close with him in Nevada. He wasn't pleased, but tolerated your disappearance provided I made up for it monetarily."
"You should have told me." I said, unable to hide the annoyance from my voice. He shook his head emphatically.
"I saw the sense in your departure. Things were too unstable here... And you already know I was unhappy you left, particularly as we never got a chance to have our talk." He shot me a significant look. The label of my beer bottle had suddenly become extremely interesting. The month or so before I left Bon Temps, Eric had finally regained his memories from his cursed time with me. It was a conversation I had been determinedly avoiding. In fact, I'd avoided it for nearly a decade now.
I was a little older and wiser now, so I didn't mind discussing with him the few days I was shacked up with his amnesiac vampire self, but I felt guilty I had been petty enough to not do it before leaving. I'm sure he'd had many questions he wanted to ask me. Those days felt like another life ago. I hoped he considered it water under the bridge.
"So, I didn't want to burden you further," he said, drawing me from my thoughts. I turned my attention back to him, trying to subdue my feelings of exasperation. I wasn't an idiot, that fact he didn't tell me was nothing to do about not wanting to 'burden' me and everything to do with knowing how I would react to it. I was more than a little chafed that I was only finding out now.
"How much has it cost you?" I asked.
"It's no matter."
"Eric! You have to tell me. How. Much." I glared across at him, but he blinked in an unaffected and entirely unnecessary manner.
"Pam informs me that it is poor etiquette for humans to inquire in matters regarding money."
I slammed my bottle down on the coffee table, amber liquid sloshing messily over the rim.
"This is a matter regarding me! I can't let you pay for my decision to leave. Tell me how much."
He shrugged and took another sip from his bottle, infuriatingly nonchalant. I felt angry. Guilty. Pissed off. I got ready to jump up my feet ready to let him have it.
A large, deep thump on the roof above us interrupted my next words and we both jumped up in alarm. The anger that was bearing down on me only moments before was now replaced by a coiling panic in my chest. There was someone on the roof.
"What the hell was that?" I raced to the back screen door and pulled it open. Eric caught me by the arm at the last second and jerked me back in.
"Wait," he hissed. We stood motionless, and I strained to listen for more movement over head. The whispered hush of the breeze and the call of the nightlife filled the air, but delivered no clue as to the source of the loud thud. I could feel a mind on the roof above us, but it was a mess of movement and buzzing. No one I knew, and no species I recognized.
"I'm going out," I whispered, pulling away from his grasp. I stepped through onto the porch and the sudden sound of footsteps pounding across the tin roof sent me racing forward on instinct to get out of the way before the intruder jumped down.
I launched myself off the back patio steps and cried out in surprise as Eric tackled me down to the ground. I landed with a thud into the dewy grass and felt the jolt as another set of feet landed next to us.
Eric was up on his feet quicker than I could register, crouched in an attack stance, putting himself between me and the intruder. I scuttled back towards the shadows of the garden, my fingers sinking uselessly into the damp earth as I struggled to create a bit more distance between the intruder and I.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Eric growled.
I couldn't see the intruder clearly, although the light shining from the open door provided some illumination. The short and stout silhouette of my would-be attacker was visible, and holding what appeared to be a short sword. Eric and the intruder began circling each other. I slowly got to my feet, and crouched down in a readied position. I withdrew my dagger and squeezed it nervously, awash with adrenalin and trepidation.
"You'd be wise to put your fangs away before I slice yer head off, vampire." The voice was feminine, with the distinctive brogue of a Irish accent, and there was no mistaking the venom in her words.
Eric snarled and dived for her with inhuman speed, but she darted easily to the side, similar to how I'd seen dragonflies flitting across the reeds around the pond growing up. It was unnatural. Eric landed on the grass and rolled to his feet, and she darted forward to him. She jumped high and flitted close so she was above his head. With a deft swipe, the attacker brought the hilt of her sword crashing down against the back of his head. Eric collapsed face first to the ground.
The sound of the hilt connecting with his skull was a sickening crack and it spurred me to action. I leaped forward, launching myself hard off my feet and I landed on her back just as she landed her feet on the ground. The attacker collapsed down to her knees at my sudden weight, and I used my advantage to pull her head roughly to the side and press the tip of my blade into her neck.
"What did you do to him?" I cried, my voice raised and hysterical.
The woman let out a loud barking laugh and with a slight shake, threw my off her shoulders. I landed hard into the grass next to Eric, my dagger slipping from my grip and tumbling just out of reach. She was inhumanly strong, she had shaken me off the way a dog shakes off water after a swim.
Eric lay prone and unmoving. I watched in shock, as she regarded him for a moment, and I slowly climbed to my feet. I was relieved that she wasn't paying much attention to my movements, and I used the opportunity to snatch my dagger back, retreating a half dozen paces away.
She grabbed Eric by the collar and pulled him up easily so that she was looking at him face to face. His head lolled around like a rag doll's, eyes closed. She hadn't delivered a heavy blow to Eric. He shouldn't even be unconscious. Could vampires even get unconscious? Either way, the way she hit him should not have incapacitated a vampire.
She approached me, pulling his limp body behind her. His knees dragged uselessly against the ground. I squat down into position, ready to fight. The thudding of my heart was drowning out my noisy panting, and my eyes fought desperately to seek more definition in the dark surrounds - to find anything that could give me an advantage.
I wasn't a fool though. This was it. She bested a 1000 year old vamp in a matter of seconds. It was too late for me. I was an idiot for coming back and thinking I could handle whatever life threw at me. I choked at the injustice of it.
The woman stopped a few feet in front of me and dropped Eric in a heap before me.
"Was the vampire bothering you?" She asked airily. I could see more of her features now that she was closer. Dark hair pulled tight into a high bun. Round face, with ruddy, but not unpretty features. She wore tan leather armor across her chest that continued down to hip height, with another matching panel covered most of her thighs, like a skirt. She still held her sword, but now it was dangling loosely by her side.
"Well?" She prompted, sounding impatient.
"No," I said, my voice a hoarse croak.
"I could hear you both quarreling. I wanted to wait and introduce myself to you once the sun was up, but I felt I probably ought to step in." She shrugged and kicked Eric in the leg, it seemed half for the annoyance he caused her and half to check if he was still unconscious.
I looked either way and saw no viable escape route. I really didn't want to have any up close and personal introductions with this sword wielding woman. I could run down to the bottom of the property and hope to jump the fence, or run around the cottage and up the drive. While I felt I had pretty decent running skills, especially given the demon blood that was flowing in my veins, something about the way this woman darted around inhumanly made me suspect that it wouldn't matter how fast I ran. The fact she dispatched Eric with only a hit of her sword, and not even the blade, terrified me more than anything.
She took a step towards me, moving over Eric's body and I jumped back, stumbling on my feet.
"Get back!" I cried. I felt for her mind, it was buzzing much like a demon's would, but strangely throbbing in and out with energy. I'd never come across anything like it before. I exerted my will against her, trying to squeeze the energy source of her brain in an attempt to incapacitate her, or at least cause her pain.
She flittered my mental efforts away with a wave of her free hand. I gasped and stumbled, my mind released from hers like a rubber band snapping back.
She laughed suddenly and heartily. "I can tell Gisli has been teaching you. You're tenacious."
"Gisli?" I tried to catch my breath. "You know him?"
"He sent me!" She bounced up and down on her heels in a cheery manner. My heart rate began to slow down.
"You're not here to kill me?"
"No, little telepath."
I wasn't sure why I believed her, but at that moment I could see no reason why she would deceive me. She held the power, she didn't have to lie. I saw how easily she downed Eric, she didn't need to waste time by talking if she wanted to kill me.
With a scrape, she slipped her sword into the scabbard strapped over her shoulder.
"I'm your bodyguard." She held out her hand to shake mine.
"Bodyguard?" I stared at her proffered hand blankly. She sighed melodramatically.
"D'ye not know you have a bounty on yer head, girl?"
"...A bounty?" I echoed. Instead of shaking my hand, she reached across and gently shut my gaping mouth shut with her finger.
"Aye. Now c'mon. Help me move this big undead oaf. That is, unless you want me to leave him here to burn to a crisp at dawn?"
I didn't need to be asked twice.
Hope you enjoyed this new installment. Please tell me what you think.
Translations made via Google Translate. I can't guarantee they are perfect.
Eric: Can you speak Icelandic now?
Sookie: I learned a little. Enough. It figures that you can speak it…