Eric paced the hospital hall back and forth. They had taken Sawyer into the treatment room right away but had made him wait in the hall for someone to look at Ardith's arm. Eric turned about to march to the nurse's station demanding someone come and look at his daughter when he felt a little hand take his. He looked down and saw Ardith looking at him questions and fear filling her eyes. He kneeled in front of her and gave her a soft smile.
"What is it, lilla älskling?" he asked holding her hand tightly in his.
Ardith looked at him then looked down, "Fader, jag är rädd," she said.
Father, I am scared. Those words echoed in Eric's ears. Ardith had not only called him father but she had done so in almost perfect Swedish. He reached out and took her chin in his hand and tilted it up so that he could look in her eyes. He saw her tears and gently wiped them away.
"I am too. But at least we are scared together," he told her softly. He watched as she nodded and smiled. And then she slid off the chair and wrapped her good arm around him. He held her close to him and closed his eyes. Holding his little girl felt so right.
"Does this belong to you?" he heard an annoyed voice say. He pulled away from Ardith and saw a security guard standing beside him his huge hand on Aleryck's tiny shoulder holding the boy in place. Eric tried not to smile at the little scowl that had formed on his son's face.
"Yes, he does," Eric stood and looked the security guard in the eyes, "can you tell me what my son did?"
"He was harassing the doctors."
"Ardy needs help!" Aleryck yelled. He looked at Eric and saw him shake his head. Aleryck huffed and sat on one of the chairs.
"I am sorry. My son is very protective of his sister," Eric said giving the guard a smile.
The guard just nodded, "Keep an eye on him."
Eric watched as the guard walked down the hall. Eric then kneeled in front of Aleryck. The boy looked at him and crossed his arms on his chest and pouted. Eric suddenly knew what Godric had meant when he had said Eric looked like a spoiled pouting child.
"Min lilla prins, you need to stay here where I can see you," he said softly.
"Ardith needs help."
Eric sighed and knew that his son was right. He looked up and down the hall. He looked at Ardith's arm and finally he couldn't help it. He knew that he needed to do something or else his daughter was going to feel more pain when the doctor tried to fix her arm. He looked back at Aleryck.
"Stand watch," he said in Swedish.
Aleryck nodded and sat up. Eric took Ardith's hand and led his daughter into the treatment room. He lifted her up and sat her on the bed. He then rolled up his sleeve. He looked at Ardith and saw her watching him fear in her eyes again.
"Trust me," he told her.
Ardith watched as Eric lowered his fangs. She leaned back as he bit his arm and held it out to her. He was impressed that she didn't scream, "Drink the blood, lilla älskling. It will heal your arm," he said using his fingers to keep wound open for her.
Ardith looked at the blood and then leaned forward. She pressed her mouth to the bite mark and started drinking. Eric stroked her hair with his other hand impressed that his daughter wasn't scared of him or the fact that he was a vampire. He tried not to think about how Sawyer would react to all this when she was better. He wished he could be certain that she would accept it but he wasn't so sure. He hadn't been with Sawyer for five years and he was not sure he knew who she was anymore.
Sawyer stood in the doorway and couldn't make her feet go any further. She was standing at the entrance of the great hall at Valhalla. She looked around and grabbed the huge golden door for support. In front of her was a long silver table and on both sides of the table were Vikings drinking, eating and laughing with the serving girls. Sawyer saw large Vikings, small Vikings, some with blond hair some with no hair and still she could not entirely believe her eyes. When her grandfather had first given her the pendant she had researched Valhalla and Norse myth. She had never pictured it to look like this. She looked at the front of the great hall and saw Odin sitting upon his massive golden throne. Sigrid was walking towards him and Sawyer knew that she needed to pull herself together and get over there. Sigrid and Gota had said that Odin wanted to see her.
Sawyer raked a hand through her hair and slowly walked down one side of the large table. She looked at all the Vikings and wondered if Eric had known any of them. She then looked ahead and saw that Odin had stood and was waiting for her. As she walked closer to him she could see his eyes were a clear sea blue and his blond hair hung done past his shoulders. He wore leather pants and a blue tunic with a silver arm plate at his shoulder. He was very much younger then she had pictured him and what all the other pictures on the internet had shown him to be. He looked forty at the oldest is what she could guess. She finally reached the bottom step of the throne plat form. She did the only thing she could think of; she kneeled.
"This is Sawyer, Eric's partner," Sigrid said smiling at Sawyer.
Sawyer looked up and looked at Sigrid, "You know Eric?" she asked.
"Yes, she does. He is her brother," Odin answered stepping down the steps and reaching out his hand to her.
"What?" Sawyer asked taking Odin's hand and letting him pull her to her feet.
"Sigrid died the night her parents did. She had been killed by a werewolf. Her and Eric's father had always been a great follower of mine along with Eric. I decided to take Sigrid and raise her here at Valhalla. I had hoped that one day she would be the Valkyrie that would bring Eric here as well."
Sawyer was on overload. She took Odin's arm when he offered it and followed him out of the great hall and down a longer hall of windows. She looked out and saw the large clear lake that surrounded Valhalla. She then turned and looked ahead of her at the marble walls and floor. She didn't know what to say. Odin had saved Eric's sister and given her life again. It all seemed so unreal yet Sawyer knew that it was happening. She knew it down in her soul.
"But then Eric became a vampire," she said softly.
"Yes, he did. I must say, I should have been angry but," Odin looked at Sawyer and stopped walking, "I decided that I could use that to my own advantage. And now my plan has come full circle."
Sawyer frowned, "What do you mean?"
Odin turned and they started walking again, "I had big plans for Eric. He was going to be King of all of the Norse lands. His maker changed those plans. I then decided after watching him as a vampire for years that he could help me find my völva."
"You needed his help finding your Volvo?"
"No, völva. They are seers, sorcerers and shamans. I had misplaced mine in a little war between Loki and I," Odin paused, "Actually she ran away and she took the future völva with her. It was her grandson, rare but not uncommon. I looked for them and then their descendants for centuries with no luck. Then I decided that maybe Eric could help. I thought he could find her for me."
"I am still confused."
Odin led Sawyer into his great library and walked her over to a large leather book. He opened it and all the pages flew by. They stopped when they landed on her family tree. Odin turned towards her and tapped a finger on her grandfather.
"He always thought that his family came from England. His father however had lied to him. Your grandfather's last name was not Hampton, it was Hallson, which in English would be Son of Hall, the warrior," Odin then ran his finger up the family tree to the top. He turned and looked at Sawyer as she looked at the name at the top, "Freya Erickson Hall was my völva. You, Sawyer are the one who inherited her gifts. You carry the power of a völva inside of you."
Sawyer stood there and looked at the list of names. Tears came to her eyes when she saw that Aleryck Hallson Thorson was Freya's grandson, Eric's childhood friend. She shook her head not wanting to believe that she was descendant of the little boy that Eric had played with. "No, this can't be right. You are wrong."
"I am not wrong. When your grandfather gave you Eric's Valhalla rune, I felt your power. I knew I had found you but I couldn't reach you. So, I did the next best thing, I lead you to Eric. He needed you to teach him to love and you needed him to teach you who you were."
"Eric knows that I am one of... whatever?"
Odin shook his head, "Eric has considered it on the many nights he has been without you these past years but he has never voiced it out loud. He has long since giving up on his Old Norse gods but I have not given up on him."
Sawyer shook her head, "Why am I here?" she asked fearful that Odin would want to keep her and she would never see Eric and her children again.
Odin closed the book, "I no longer need a völva. However, it has come to my attention that Eric may need one."
Sawyer was so confused. She walked over to the chair in the corner and sat on it. She rested her arms on her knees and then hung her head down. This whole thing was making her head hurt. She really just wanted to get back to Eric and her kids. She didn't want to think about what she could do or what she was supposed to be. She just wanted to go home.
Eric looked up when someone stepped in front of him. He smiled when he saw that it was Hoyt. He knew that Bill must have told Jessica what was going on and Jessica had apparently decided to send Hoyt. Eric didn't need to look out the windows to know that dawn was close; real close. He stood and looked at the two children sleeping in the chairs and then looked back Hoyt.
"Bill told you to follow me, didn't he?" he asked.
"Jess actually. Bill wanted to send Sookie but he sent Jess to ask her. I think they had a falling out or something. Anyway, Jess couldn't find her so she asked me to come while she looked for Sook and told Bill about it. I got on the first flight here. Lucky for me it was a nonstop one," Hoyt said.
"Thank you for coming. It has been hours but the doctors still haven't given me any word on Sawyer. The twins are alright, no thanks to the doctors."
Hoyt heard the anger in Eric's voice, "What about the guy who did all this?"
"I believe he turned himself in. I, however highly doubt he will live to past tomorrow."
Hoyt just nodded and didn't dare say anything else. He knew what Eric had meant and he had no desire to be on the wrong side of the angry vampire. "I came straight here so you could find someplace to sleep for the day. I can watch the twins for you and call you if anything changes with Sawyer," Hoyt suggested.
"I don't want to leave them."
"I know but I think you might scare them a little when you start bleeding all over the place."
Eric sighed and hated to admit that Hoyt was right. He stood up and watched as Aleryck opened his eyes and looked at him. Eric kneeled in front of the boy, "I need to go and sleep for the day. This is Hoyt, he is a friend of your mother's. He will stay with you until I come back tonight," Eric explained.
"You promise to come back?" Aleryck asked.
"Yes, I promise."
Eric kissed him on the head and did the same with Ardith. He watched as Aleryck nodded and tried to fight back tears. Eric got up and looked at Hoyt. Hoyt smiled and then looked down at Aleryck. He sat beside the little boy and Eric started walking away. He heard Hoyt talking to his son about video games and how the boy answered softly which ones he liked and which ones he had mastered. Eric turned the corner and then used his vampire speed to get out of the hospital. He needed to find a safe place to sleep before the sun rose. He had cut it close but he knew that leaving his children would be hard. He wished that he had brought them with him but he knew that they would probably be scared by the deep dark hole that he would spend the day in. He made a mental note that first thing when he woke up that night he was going to make better arrangements for him and the twins. Hopefully by then those arrangements would also include Sawyer.