Dislcaimer: True Blood characters and universe are properties of Alan Ball. Charlaine Harris owns the Southern Vampire Mysteries. Neither condone or are responsible for the following. No money is being made from this.

Notes: Spoilers for Season 1 and 2 of True Blood. Definite spoilers for Books 1 - 3 of the Southern Vampire Mysteries. Possible ones for Books 4 - 9.

Thanks to harmony_bites for the beta!

Chapter 2

It had been a few hours since Eric had returned to Fangtasia, and he had yet to leave his office. He'd tried his best to ignore the constant flow of underlings requesting audience, but now Pam insisted on invading his privacy.

"You're hovering, Pam, what is it?" he said.

"It's Sookie," Pam said, handing him the phone.

A warm thread of satisfaction spread through him. He grabbed the phone and waved Pam out of the office, then he leaned back and put his feet up on the desk. "Well, well, Miss Stackhouse. I wasn't expecting you to call so soon. Are you ready for that little chat?"

"You son of a bitch, if you've done anything to harm him, I swear I'll string you up by your balls and shove a stake through that shriveled up thing you call a heart."

Eric raised his eyebrows. "Oh? You want to play a little rough, do you?" His tone was light but he could hear the tremor in her voice and the fluttering beat of her heart.

"I'm not playing games Eric. Tell me what you've done with Bill."

His mind sped in the silence that followed. Her rapid breaths beat against the phone, and he could imagine the little puffs of air against his ear. "Let us back track a little. For me to tell you what I've done with Bill would have to mean that I've done something with him in the first place, which I can't recall that I have. So, Sookie, you need to take a deep breath or do whatever you need to do to calm down and then tell me what has happened."

"Bill's been kidnapped. I need you to find him."

Eric sighed. Why should he care about Compton? But this was an opportunity to get into her good graces. "Start from the beginning."

It took her a few beats to settle down and then she relayed her story. Not long after Eric had left, Bill had shown up for their date and had taken her to a french restaurant. A really fancy place that he had hired out just for the two of them, apparently, but Eric didn't care for the elaborations. They had wined and dined, or rather she had wined and dined and Bill had watched her, and after he had "Popped The Question". A million things ran through his mind at the thought that Compton had asked Sookie to marry him, not all of which he wanted to examine that closely, and he let them go with a non-committal grunt so that she could finish the tale. What came out of the jumble of tearful words that followed was that Sookie had not exactly declined the proposal but hadn't exactly given Bill an absolute yes, either. She had been a little overwhelmed by it all and had taken herself to the ladies room to restore the after-effects and to try and think rationally about the situation.

"It's not that I don't love Bill, you see," she said, "but I'm confused about a lot of stuff. I'm still trying to find out who I am."

"Aren't we all," Eric said in an undertone.

"I beg your pardon?" Damn. She had heard him.

"I mean, we're all trying to discover who we are, Sookie - isn't that what life - or death as it may be - is all about?" Complete bullshit, but humans always ate that kind of stuff up.

"Sure, I guess, well that's what I told myself - or something like that. Anyway I decided I did want to marry Bill because..." She went on to tell him all her reasons, none of which made sense, but females of any persuasion hardly did to begin with. The reasons made sense to her even if she was just kidding herself and that was what mattered. What also made little sense was Compton's motive. He had an inkling on that score but would need time to reflect on it later. Now she was coming down to the crux of the issue: she said, "And so I went back to tell him the news and he was gone. Just gone."

"And your first thought was that I had done something with him?" Did she really think him that devious and underhanded as to spirit away her potential fiance so that he could have his nefarious way with her? Well, he was, but that was beside the point.

"Well, not my first thought," she said, "but maybe my second or third."

At least she hadn't lost her sass. "As much as I would love to have been the one to abduct your boyfriend, I can, in all honesty say that I had not thought of it." Not quite the truth. He had thought of it, but not for reasons to do with her. His queen had wanted Bill silenced because of his knowledge of her foray into the vampire blood black-market. Abduction and a stern talking to, a.k.a. torture, would have been one of his previous methods of dealing with loose-lipped underlings. But he was an enlightened vampire and was willing to bet that blackmail would have been an easier, less messy, option. It seemed he would not find out any time soon if this was indeed the case. "Sookie, did you ever think that perhaps Bill, overcome with what could be construed as a rejection by you, simply walked off into the night?"

"Yes, Eric, that was thought seven or eight. However, do you really think Bill, feeling all rejected and such, would have arranged to make the place look like it had been hit by a small tornado? He was taken by surprise. Besides, when I walked in there, I could smell the burnt flesh - you don't forget that smell."

"Silver," he said. His levity had vanished. "So, it would appear that Bill has been taken."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. And if it wasn't you, then who?"

Eric sifted through the facts and came to his conclusion at the same time as Sookie. "Lorena," they said in unison.

"That would make the most sense. She was his maker, she had been humiliated by him," Eric said.

"And she's a bitch," Sookie said.

"Hell hath no fury," Eric said.

"This is all your fault, and you know it. You'd better find him, Eric. Bill told me how you brought her to Dallas to mess with him. She's evil - who knows what she could be doing to him?"

"Oh, I may have some idea." He didn't really care. He may have instigated the whole matter, but Compton should never have defied his Maker. What happened to him was on his head. On the other hand, Compton was his responsibility. Queen Sophie-Anne had made that blatantly clear. If Compton spilled... Shit, shit, shit! Lorena was a loose agent - she had no affiliation to any king or queen. However, if she learned that Sophie-Anne was dealing in V, then she could either blackmail the Queen or sell what she knew to the highest bidder. And Bill was just so fucking dumb he would tell Lorena whatever he needed to in order to escape her claws. Sophie-Anne would have him by the balls if she ever found out that Compton was missing. He wasn't ready for that confrontation just yet. "We will need to act quickly, Sookie, if you ever want to see your boyfriend again."

He heard her stifled sob at the other end of the line. "What can I do?"

"For now? Nothing. Just go about your life as you normally would. I will send out my feelers and try to figure out where she has taken him. She may be an old vampire, but she's not the smartest one. She will have left a trail."

"I can't just sit and do nothing! I have my own talents - I could use them to help figure it out."

"Unless you've figured out how to read vampire minds, Sookie, I have no use for you as yet." She was silent. "And if you have found out how to read vampire minds, I think that's something I should know about."

"Don't be retarded, Eric."

"Very well. Do as I say. I will contact you when I have more information and a plan of action."

"But what if people ask me about Bill?"

He was starting to get annoyed. Bill this, Bill that. The only reason he was helping her was to save his own hide. "I don't know, Sookie - make something up. Tell them he went on vacation. Whatever you do, don't say that he's been kidnapped - we don't want word to get back to Lorena that we're on to her - it would only put him in more danger." Rather, he didn't want word getting back to Sophie-Anne. Who knew what spies she had planted about the place. "You haven't spoken to anyone else about this yet, have you?"

"No." she sniffed. "I didn't think the police would care."

And she thought he would?

"Fine, now be a good girl and run along," he said.

"Fuck you, Eric."

He smiled. "I wish you would."

He sat at his desk for a few moments after the conversation was over and let all the whole situation seep into his brain. Out of all the vampires in his area, Bill Compton had been the thorn in his side ever since he'd brought Sookie Stackhouse into Fangtasia. And now it appeared he would have to mount some sort of rescue attempt. Compton being gone would make things much easier for him. Who knew what comforting a grieving Sookie would lead to? But his game with Queen Sophie-Anne had him in a bind. He needed to find Bill and silence him - one way or another. The thought made him smile. He may yet find himself with a grieving Sookie to deal with.

"Pam," he called into the intercom. "We have an urgent matter to discuss."