Chapter 4

Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work. - Horace

Mell had her head in the fridge when I entered the house. She held an open bottle of beer in one hand and a block of cheese in the other. She looked up and grinned at me, looking ridiculous in her strange ancient garb beside the modern amenities of the kitchen.

"Don't forget to lock the door," she said, taking a large bite from the cheese block.

I narrowed my eyes at her before turning back and snapping the deadbolt shut.

"That's disgusting. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"That's the thing with being ageless," she shrugged. "I've no mother. I've always just been."

I had no idea how to even begin to make sense of that. Even my brain was tired from the long day.

"Well, don't get too comfortable." I said, pushing past her to return the cheese to the fridge and to shut its door. "You can stay on the couch tonight. I don't have a spare blanket for you and I don't know how far away you're staying, but this will have to do until morning."

"No, that's OK. I've already set up my bedroom here."

"Excuse me?"

"You can go take a look."

I practically ran up the hall and when I pushed open the door to the spare room it swung hard and hit the inside wall with a bang. I stared, mouth agape at the room. I could swear up and down that it had been empty only hours earlier, but now it was completely furnished.

A large four poster bed sat in the centre, covered in charcoal gray striped cotton sheets. A leather La-Z-Boy recliner sat in the corner beside a large wooden wardrobe. There was even a taupe shaggy rug on the floor.

"How on earth did you do this?" I pressed my hand on my chest, to try and stave my feelings of shock.

"Oh, ya know... We mythical folk have our ways." She looked chuffed at my reaction.

"Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea... So what? You're living here now?"

"Of course I'm fecking living here! How else can I guard your body unless I'm close to you at all times?"

I groaned and pinched my nose. Where the hell was this woman when I was hauling boxes with Sam all afternoon?

"You're taking this better than Gisli said you would," she said, taking a swig.

"Don't push me, Mell," I said, snatching the bottle of beer from her. "And don't touch my food. Or mess up the common areas."

I stomped back down to the kitchen and tipped the rest of her beer down the sink. I also cleaned up the half finished blood and beer that Eric and I were enjoying before being so rudely interrupted.

Mell sat up on the kitchen counter watching me with amusement, cleaning her sword with a soft cloth, her feet swinging under her.

"Sweet dreams!" She called in a sing-song voice as I stomped back up the hall to the bedroom. It was petty, but I still got a sense of satisfaction from slamming the bedroom door.

Eric hadn't moved from his position, although his hair had flopped down over his face. I crouched by my drawers and opened one of the cardboard boxes from the farmhouse, searching for something to sleep in. Everything I'd brought back from Iceland was far too warm for a Louisiana summer's night.

I found a thin baby yellow cotton nightgown half way down the box. It was soft with delicate lace edging and smelled slightly musty after years in storage. I'd need to go through everything over the next few days and decide what I was tossing and what would need to be washed, although the nightgown would have to do for now.

I showered in the small bathroom across the hall, and while it helped slough away the fatigue and stress of the day, it also made me sorely miss the bathroom at the farmhouse. That old clawfoot bath was gloriously deep. What I would have given to be relaxing in the tub at that moment.

I sunk under the covers in bed with a grateful sigh. I turned so I was face to face with Eric, and I brushed the hair carefully off his forehead, examining his relaxed features. I could see no hint of the ruthless predator that he was. All the hardness from around his eyes was gone and it left him looking far too innocent for his own good.

He reminded me of the memoryless Eric who had spent that week shacked up with me long ago. I guess tonight was a repeat of that time, in some small way. I smoothed the shallow frown line on his forehead with my finger. It was the only evidence of toil he carried over from life as a human, other than his broad hands.

I rolled away from him, tugging the blankets up from under his dead weight and closed my eyes. My legs jittered restlessly, I was still tense from Mell's unexpected arrival and the news she brought with her.

Who the heck would put a bounty on my head? Why was I even important enough to warrant one? Surely it couldn't be Felipe. Maybe Victor? How would he even have known I was home? I was far too comfortable living my sheltered existence in Kópavogur. It was easy there… and boring, but at least I didn't have to go to sleep wondering if I was going to die the next day.

I lowered my shields to give my mind a chance to fully relax, but found the incessant buzzing coming from Mell was too distracting, even when I turned the mental volume down low. It was like television static, cutting through the noise of everything else. I reached back behind me and grabbed Eric's arm, pulling it over my waist. I felt for Eric in my mind and slipped into the sinking silence that his void offered. I fell asleep moments later.

It was after lunch when I rose for the day. I dressed into a dusky blue sundress and braided my hair back, since it was still kinky from falling asleep with it wet. Eric hadn't burned to a crisp, so that was encouraging, but I made sure to check the coverings on the windows again and threw my dressing gown completely over him for good measure. I hoped he wouldn't' mind. It's not like he could suffocate.

I walked into the kitchen and was surprised to find that it housed new additions, just like the second bedroom had. Dining table and chairs, bar stools, and a coffee maker. Mell flittered in half a second later, looking like the cat who swallowed the canary.

"I thought you'd like that. I heard you were a coffee fiend."

I kept my features impassive and examined the machine. It was the newer version of one I'd bought when I first moved to Iceland. Mell handed me a bag of coffee grounds and the fresh smell of life kicked my manners into order. She may have been rude last night, but I was being ungracious to my houseguest.

"Thank you, Mell." I turned and flashed her a smile. "I can't say I appreciate you showing up unannounced, and thanks for looking out for me. You really don't need to provide the coffee machine and furniture though, I have it all packed away in the barn at my farmhouse."

"Don't be daft. I have more money than I know what to do with. I like shopping anyway."

"This is too excessive. Seriously. Everything I need is in storage only a five minute drive away."

"Aye, right, and how long before you drag that dusty stuff out and get it set up? It's not like you can leave the house any time soon today. And like I said, I enjoy shopping. So just relax."

"When did you go shopping this morning?" I didn't remember hearing her leave. I pulled off the grouphead from the machine and spooned some grounds in, tamping it down tight. I set it back in the machine and Mell handed me a glass to place under it. It was one of those fancy double walled coffee glasses. She only smiled wider at the look of consternation I shot her way.

"Oh no, I had this waiting and ready to go."

"Where?"

"Elsewhere," she said evasively. I could tell that was the most I would get out of her.

I sat out on the porch and drank my coffee. Mell wandered out a minute later and handed me a warm beignet on a plate. I set my mug down and accepted the pastry with a smile.

"I don't suppose I want to know where you got this from?" I took a large bite, enjoying the flavor of the buttery pastry. It had been a long ten years between me and my last beignet.

"Probably not, no." I sent her a mock glare and we finally broke the tension with a mutual laugh.

"Here," she said. "You missed something in the letter last night." She handed me the envelope from Gisli.

"You can't just go through my things, Mell," I admonished, with more than a flare of annoyance. I had placed the letter in the top shelf of my chest of drawers.

"Jesus, woman. Just look inside."

I looked inside the envelope. There beside the letter was another smaller envelope made of a pearlescent cardstock. I withdrew it and opened it slowly, feeling exposed under Mell's watchful gaze. Inside, I discovered another note along with a delicate silver chain. I held up the chain and Mell ooh'd and aah'd appreciately.

One end of the chain joined onto a thumbnail sized silver ring, and that was linked with a smaller silver ring which attached to the other end of the chain. It was dainty and timeless in its simple style. I opened the accompanying note.

He will always be a part of you.

My eyes welled as the significance of the necklace dawned on me. Baby Finnur would forever be linked to me, even in his absence - like the smaller silver ring was linked to the larger one. I wiped my eyes before the hot tears dropped onto the paper. Mell gently took the necklace from my hand and moved to put it on me, her stout fingers moving with surprising dexterity.

"He must of loved you a lot."

"He cared for me deeply. I'm not sure if he was exactly in love with me, but he would have put his life on the line for me regardless of his contract, and I would have done the same for him."

"That means a lot coming for a demon." It really did. Outside of any protection work, for a demon (be it part blooded like Gisli, of full blooded) to offer to spill their blood for another was a rare gift.

"I know."

I spent the day working on my obscene amount of washing. I found the work cathartic and I filled the left over moving boxes with items to donate. Mell dispatched these while I wasn't looking. The boxes just simply disappeared from the dining table while I was out of the room. She assured me she donated them. I wasn't so sure and felt more than a little creeped out at her unknown powers.

At sunset, I leaned on the wall beside the bedroom door with a warmed True Blood ready in hand, waiting for Eric to wake up. The bond flared to life a millisecond before he woke and he jumped up snarling, head darting backward and forward.

"Relax, Eric." I said holding out the blood. "There's no danger. She was sent to protect me."

His fangs were down and his eyes were clouded with rage. He stalked over and snatched the blood from my hand, guzzling it in one go.

"Fucking banshee," he spat, dropping the bottle. He blurred past me and I grabbed the bottle off the floor before chasing him down the hall. He had Mell by the throat up against the front door. The wooden door had splintered around her from impact. I tried to jump in between them, but neither of them seemed to notice my attempts at pushing them apart. Both had their teeth bared and Eric looked ready to drain her dry.

"I won't stand for your tricks, dirty imp. I'll drain you and tear you limb from limb."

"Eric, stop it!" I pushed uselessly at his chest, and he continued to stare her down, unflinching and unaware of my presence. I growled in frustration and on a whim, swung the empty True Blood hard against the door frame. Glass exploded in a cloud of shards and Mell dropped to the ground with a thud. She flittered away to the other side of the room, rubbing her neck and sword ready in her hand.

"Ya feckin' vampire. Don't test me or I'll slice your neanderthal head clean off your neck!" She sounded vicious, although I could see the pale wash of panic in her eyes. "You're only lucky I promised to look after your undead arse!"

Eric looked ready to attack her again and I stepped directly into his line of sight.

"Eric, she's fine. Just relax." I placed my hands on his chest, sending him every ounce of my reassurance. Eric's gaze dropped from Mell's to mine and his fangs snicked back in.

"Who sent her?"

"Her demon lover, that's who," called Mell cattily and entirely unhelpfully.

"That's enough, Mell!" I snapped.

Eric's eyes dropped to the silver necklace around my neck and I felt a tide of discontent, or something close to it, coming through his side of the bond. The frown line I had smoothed many hours earlier deepened. I dropped my hands away from him and the bond closed between us forcefully.

"Keep your phone on you. I will call when preparations have been made." The door was swinging open and where Eric had stood was now just empty space.

My phone began ringing a second later and I grabbed it off the kitchen counter, surprised at how quickly Eric was actually calling. It was Pam.

"Hi Pam." I sighed, hopping up onto the wooden stool. "How do you even have my number?"

"I took the liberty of programming all your favorite contacts onto your phone."

"You know, it's beginning to really annoy me that everyone seems to think it's perfectly okay to help themselves to my private belongings."

"No need to get upset, Sookie. It's not like you have any naked selfies on your phone. Believe me, I had a good look."

"I bet you did." I grumbled, resting my forehead against my fist. "How can I help you, Pam? Eric just left."

"I'm coming to collect you in an hour. You will read the minds of my staff at the new bar, Glamour."

"It's nicer if you ask, Pam."

"Why ask when I know you'll say yes anyway?"

She had a point.

The fair haired vampire arrived precisely one hour later, dressed in a long red strapless gown, featuring a tall slit that ran provocatively high up her leg. She looked like a pale, blonde haired version of Jessica Rabbit.

"Well, that's a little different to your usual dominatrix cum Morticia Addams outfits you usually wear."

"This is still just to look the part, but I do look great, don't I?" She twirled on the spot and shot me a fangy smile.

I opted for a more reserved outfit, black slacks, silk blouse in mauve, and black kitten heels. I left the dagger in my nightstand, although I had a had a small arsenal in my purse - tazer, butterfly knife, and of course, a small stake. I would never forget my near fatal run in with Longshadow the first time I worked for vampires.

Pam noticed my silver necklace, her eyes flicking briefly down at it as we walked to her car, and the corner of her red painted lips twitched upward. Mell met us outside, surprisingly without armor and dressed in a short forest green frock and matching wedge heels. Her dark hair was out tumbling around her shoulders. She looked like a muscled version of Poison Ivy.

Her sword was still strapped over her shoulder, but somehow seemed to suit the whole outfit.

"People won't think it's odd you're walking around with a sword strapped to your back?" I asked the woman.

"Only if they notice," she said, slipping into the backseat if the Micra.

"Are you always so cryptic?" I huffed hopping into the front seat alongside Pam. We'd been driving for some miles before I spoke up again.

"Any idea exactly what Eric needs to do in order to prepare for my return?"

"He's probably changing his sheets and hosing down ten years' worth fangerbanger bodily fluids from his office," Pam deadpanned. Her response caught me by surprise, and I laughed.

"I can't imagine Eric being the type to do his own cleaning."

"What do you even see in that undead chump?" Mell piped up from the back.

"Watch your tone, Caoilinn," Pam snapped. "Sookie is Eric's bonded, and I won't hesitate to make things painful for you."

Mell scoffed, "Way I hear it, that fact matters little. You do know she is mated to a demon from the royal guard?"

"And she is sitting right here," I cried. "And not that it is the business of either of you, but I am my own woman. I don't belong to anyone. I may be bonded to Eric, but he has no claim to me, and Mell, you have your facts dead wrong."

"Well, you were mated. He told me so, and the way I hear it, you even bore his- "

"Mell! Enough!" I panicked, sending out a sudden force of mental energy. It escaped like an invisible heat blast, causing the car windows to flex, the display on the CD player to crack, and Mell to be flattened back hard against her seat with a pained cry. The car swerved abruptly and Pam wrested with the steering wheel to draw the car back to the right side of the road. I clenched and unclenched my fists trying to calm myself, my palms burning with an exigent need.

"What the hell was that?" Pam jerked her head in my direction once the car was back on its smooth course. Mell was muttering angrily to herself in the back seat, but seemed to have recovered.

"That wrath of a telepath." I snapped and folded my arms. I turned in my seat and spent the rest of the ride in silence, staring out the window. Mell was vivacious to a fault - she had an even bigger mouth than my old friend, Amelia.

I refused to bring my past back with me from Iceland. I just couldn't. I spent a good handful of dark weeks recovering from childbirth, the loss of my baby, and the departure of Gisli. I didn't want the world to know, especially the vampire world.

I went to Iceland with the express purpose of coming home stronger and better prepared for life, and while yes, I did return with those skills, I couldn't bear it if the truth of what happened were revealed. I couldn't bear the thought of anyone knowing how deeply hurt and vulnerable I really was returning home.

It wasn't that I wanted to keep baby Finn a secret, but by doing so it somehow made his memory burn brighter and made him more special to me. He would never turn into a reason for why I was weak, a reason potentially used against me. He would instead continue to live on as the the beautiful child in my mind. I thumbed my necklace sadly, ignoring the urge to draw my knees up and hug them. Without thinking, I reached out for Eric in the bond. It was still blocked from his end. I wondered how long he would be mad that I had returned home.

Glamour was located along a strip of restaurants and bars on Texas Street. The neon lit sign was pink, with a pair of neon fanged lips dripping with blinking red blood. It was 10pm on a Thursday night and there was a surprising number of young people walking up and down the strip, with about ten people lined up out the front of the bar.

Pam maneuvered the car up an alleyway beside the bar and parked next to the back exit. She showed me into her office and after another round of stare-offs and mutual insults, Mell agreed to keep watch outside the office door.

The office was the complete opposite of Eric's bar office. This had thick wool carpeting in a dark teal colour, a black velour and gold chaise lounge, the walls were covered in gunmetal silver and black damask wallpaper, and mounted on the wall behind the desk was a large abstract nude. If I unfocused my eyes a little it looked like it could have been Pam.

I sat on the lounge, and smoothed my hands against the plush fabric. I could get used to working here.

"So what made you decide to open another bar in Shreveport?" I asked.

"The other Fangtasia became too much of a tourist trap. While it's profitable to cater to that clientele, it was becoming a turn off for our other patrons looking to enjoy the bar outside of the spectacle. Especially now that the party scene has taken off in Shreveport."

"Really? I wonder why that is?"

"I don't care as long as it's bringing in warm bodies," she smirked and sat down behind her desk. It was a white modular piece of furniture, very modern. "Glamour caters to those after a more authentic vampire experience." I suppressed my grimace, wondering what that truly meant.

I felt out for the live minds in the bar. It was not much different to how I remembered Fangtasia. Most thoughts involved debauchery, jealousy, envy, and drinking. As I jumped quickly from mind to mind picking up information, I noticed that the overall feel of the crowd was more euphoric and excitable than at Fangtasia. I guess when you took the busloads of dowdy snap-happy tourists out of the equation the fangbangers really let their hair down. What surprised me most, however, was that the ratio of humans to vampires was much higher than I'd ever experienced at Fangtasia.

When I mentioned it to Pam she smiled indulgently at me.

"Attendance is not required here, like at Eric's bar. Turns out if you don't force attendance, vampires will come. This is hottest place for vampires in Northern Louisiana, and very popular with baby vamps. Some travel all the way from Jackson and Dallas specifically to visit here. I also stock the largest range of blood on tap in Northern Louisiana."

"I'm impressed, Pam."

"As you should be, my friend."

Pam insisted on drawing up a contract for my services separate from Eric's bar and business as Sheriff. As we discussed terms it became apparent that this bar really was her baby; she had say over everything.

The contract was already waiting to be signed so I took my time to read over it slowly. My duties to Eric in his role as vampire Sheriff trumped any with Glamour, and any pre-existing arrangement with Pam would become null should Eric or Felipe require my help. I would be paid per consultation, with a bonus for work called in at the last minute or conducted after midnight.

It was sweet she went to this effort, although I doubted there would be much work for me here outside of tonight.

The only part of the contract not stipulated was the amount for payment.

"I want $1000 for the first hour, and $350 for every 30 minutes or part thereof afterward," I said, once I'd finished reading it through. "The last-minute and after midnight bonuses will be an additional $500."

"My, my, Sookie. Very decisive. I like this new aspect to your personality." Pam filled in the blank spaces provided with the figures.

"It's not new, Pam. I just don't want to go back to waitressing and having spent the better part of a decade fine tuning my telepathy, I'm going to make use of it."

Pam showed me around the bar and we sat in a circular booth in the raised VIP section. The VIP section was even roped off with a large burly vamp guarding the entry, and I felt a little like a celebrity. Mell followed us out and stood by the bouncer, eyeing the dance floor enviously. I shooed her away and told her that since I was with Pam that she should go dance. She grinned and flittered off in the next heartbeat, causing the human patrons to jump in surprise around her.

The bar was decorated very similarly to Pam's office, in blacks, deep teals and gold embellishments. It was opulent and classy. I felt very out of place in my simple business attire. A waitress brought over a glass of champagne for me, and a blood for Pam, and we toasted to my return and her success.

I spent the rest of the night in her office reading each of the human staff members, even the regular fangbangers. Mell stood in the corner, watching on quietly.

Other than one guy, early twenties, who had estranged family members affiliated with the Fellowship of the Sun (now considered a terrorist organised in the U.S. and much of the first world), the only problem I came across was the amount of staff who were drug users. All, bar one, used recreationally. The drug was some form of cocaine, and after interviewing the third staff member who admitted to using it, it seemed like the prevalence of this drug was likely what was spurring the party scene in and around Shreveport.

Pam was unconcerned, but I felt uncomfortable with the idea of her waving off the flagrant drug use of her staff members. Pam said she would only find issue with it if it interfered with their work. Morally, to me it felt wrong to ignore it, but at the end of the day I conceded that I was there only to provide the information, not the answers.

Pam, sensing my apprehension, promised to offer rehab services and drug counselling to those who wished to partake. I hugged my vampire friend gratefully, which she accepted with a stiff pat on the back.

I vetted the final staff member shortly after 1:30am and the three of us piled back into her tiny car for the trip back to Bon Temps.

"I will let Peter go," she informed me, referring to young guy with connections to FotS.

"He didn't present a risk." I said. "He hadn't talked to his aunt or her side of the family for years. I'm sure he has nothing at all to do with the FotS."

"There is still risk with having him on board, to us and to him should his estranged family find out of his association with the bar," she put reasonably. She was right, they'd be just as likely to lash out at him for his work with vampires as they would to exploit him to harm the bar.

"You will need to return sometime later next week to interview the remaining staff who weren't on tonight."

Mell was quiet for the trip back, her eyes shut, but her sword drawn and laid flat against her legs, the hilt tightly gripped in her hand. I hated to admit it, but I was quickly warming to the woman, banshee, whatever she was. I had watched her dance before leaving and she'd been grinding up against any willing participant, laughing and bopping people away with her wide hips as she moved from one dance partner to the next. She was larger than life in more than one way.

Maybe it was from being so used to Gisli's subdued nature and the quiet life in Iceland, but having the exuberant and fiery bodyguard was proving to be good entertainment, even if she did rankle me half the time.

"Have you been to see Bill yet?" Pam asked.

"No, I haven't even thought about it, to be honest." My ex-boyfriend and old friend had not crossed my mind much in the last few years.

"You know, Bill is on the Renard Parish Council now."

"Really?" My eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh yes, he is the first vampire in local government in Louisiana. Caused quite the stir. He has aspirations for state government too. You should visit him, I think you'd get quite the kick out of it."

"Alright, I just might."

The rest of the drive Pam filled me in on her news of the last ten years, which seemed to amount to the clothes and furnishing she'd bought for herself and home. She'd taken to flying to New York for fashion week and spending big, especially since the financial success of Glamour. She said she was duty bound to keep up with the latest trends. She tried to extract a promise that I would accompany her on her next trip, and while I had no aspirations of being Pam's personal barbie doll, I caved and made her happy by giving her a soft yes.

I fell asleep that night happy to have reconnected with my vampire friend, and happy that my bank account would soon be slightly more padded thanks to my hard work.

Starting to see little glimpses of plot now.
When I get a moment, I'll upload a link to my profile of the necklace Sookie received from her demon ex.

I hope you ejoyed this installment, please review and tell me what you think! It's pure motivation for me. I've loved reading everyone's thoughts so far.

Until next time x