Godric stood rooted to the floor, frozen. His first instinct was to follow Mercedes, but he heard the lock turn. He could easily break the door, but she clearly didn't want him. How could he have hurt her, hurt Eric, so badly? He was at a loss as to what to do now.
"Isabel said your human was quite a mess after you died. She worried Mercy might just follow after you."
Godric looked helplessly at his progeny.
"How could I simply abandon the two of you?"
"You were not the same vampire. You were different."
"That does not excuse."
For Eric, it excused a great deal. He didn't know why Godric had fallen into such a depression that led him to the sun, but the vampire before him was not the same. Whether it was the fact that he was not burdened with a thousand years of memories, or that he had (finally) fully claimed his human, Godric was much more the vampire he'd been when Eric first knew him. It was enough for him to know that his Maker was back. It would have to be enough for the human as well.
Godric shook his head when Eric voiced that opinion. He was gratified that his child was satisfied with only his return, but he could not simply accept that. How could he be so cruel to those who were so important to him? Why would he ever wish to end his existence? Had he changed so much? He knew that Eric blamed Mercedes, but he could not. He was responsible for his own decisions.
"You should talk to her."
He knew Eric was right, but he thought it might be better to let her cool off first. If he went through that door now, she might stake him.
"How long will we stay?"
"Unless I get a call from Pam or Heather, we'll stay as long as necessary."
Good. He could not leave things with Mercedes as they were, but he had no idea how long it might take to repair the damage. He could feel her anger, and how much she was hurting. To know that he had caused such pain to someone so precious-
"She'll forgive you, Godric."
"I've hurt her. Badly. Just as I've hurt you."
"You're back. That's all that matters."
"I doubt she'll see it that way."
He took a seat on the couch, determined to wait until he felt her calm down to talk to her, in the hope that she would be more receptive to what he had to say. He was surprised when one of the dogs joined him, curling up beside him, and even gave him a tentative lick on his hand. Most animals tended to shy away from vampires. Eric left him alone, taking the standoff as an opportunity to feed on real blood.
Some time passed before Godric's internal musings were interrupted with the arrival of a car. His superior hearing picked up the voice of a male, who he thought might be familiar, and a child. The brother must have returned. In a flash, Godric was off the couch and knocking softly on the bedroom door, while the dogs were barking at the front.
"Mercedes, your brother has returned."
After only a moment the door opened and Mercedes stepped out, wiping her eyes. He noticed her hand was swelling. Had she injured herself in hitting him? He would have to see that it healed. He quickly sank his fangs into his own wrist and offered it to her.
"Before your brother comes.'
She took it reluctantly, but to his relief she did take it, drinking his blood. He watched carefully as her hand healed, trying (not entirely successfully) not to lose himself in the pleasure of her taking from him. The moment was shattered as the front door opened and Mercedes' brother walked in, carrying a sleeping Ava. Godric silently thanked whoever listened to vampires that the dogs kept him penned in, unable to pass them, keeping him from seeing Mercedes drinking his blood. He could feel his human's panic at just the thought of being caught like this. She dropped his wrist immediately, and he slipped into her bedroom before she could ask him to make himself scarce. She wished to avoid a confrontation; he would trust her to handle this as she saw fit. He could hear their conversation; if it looked as though things might get violent he could easily intervene.
"When did you get dogs?"
"Yesterday," Mercedes answered her brother as she made her way to the living room, wiping at her mouth and hoping there was no blood on it.
"Brutus, Nero, down."
They backed down, but looked at the stranger mistrustfully.
"Seriously? You named them after the alligators from The Rescuers? Did you let Ava pick out the names?"
"They actually had those names when we adopted them. Did you enjoy the movie?"
"She actually stayed awake and paid attention through the whole thing. She didn't pass out until we were on the way home."
"Put her to bed then, before she wakes up."
At least Ava would be easy to take care of tonight. Now if she could get rid of Ethan so easily…
"I'll get her to bed, and then I'm heading out to meet Mark and a few of the guys for drinks."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's gonna be pretty late, so I'll just crash with Mark and I come back over in the morning. I'll bring donuts or something."
If it was going to be this simple to get Ethan out of the house, Mercy wasn't going to object. And if he brought donuts, so much the better. She just nodded her agreement as Ethan carried Ava to her bedroom. It wouldn't take long to get the child in bed. Less than ten minutes later, he came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. He froze when he saw the empty True Blood bottle sitting on the coffee table.
"What is that?"
"What does it look like? It's an empty bottle."
"And why would you have an empty True Blood bottle on your coffee table?"
He picked it up and looked at her accusingly.
"Because the vampire I gave it to finished it."
"You had a vampire in here?! What were you thinking! Are you suicidal again?!"
"I was never suicidal, you jackass!"
Mercy only barely restrained herself from smacking her idiot brother. She may have been a mess for a while after Godric died, and she freely admitted it, but she was never suicidal. It was just impossible for an outsider to understand what the loss of a strong bond with a vampire did to a person.
"Good God, Mercy, I thought you were finally done with this mess when that little one offed himself. How could you be so stupid as to get mixed up with another one?"
"I am not 'mixed up with another one'. I had a guest over, end of story. And I really don't see where I owe you an explanation."
"I won't have those bloodsuckers in this house!"
"What makes you think you have any say in who I invite into MY house?!"
"You're risking MY daughter's life!"
Lashing out, Ethan threw the bottle, and Mercy only barely heard it shatter before she almost knocked aside by an enraged vampire. Before she could blink, Godric had Ethan pinned to the floor, hands poised to break his neck.
"Godric don't!"
"You-you were dead," Ethan managed to choke out under the pressure of Godric's hand on his throat. "How the hell is that possible?"
Godric's answer was to growl at him, fangs bared, and squeeze harder. This-this pup had dared act aggressively to HIS human? He would end its life.
"Godric, no. You have to let Ethan go now."
Mercedes was kneeling beside him, a hand hovering uncertainly beside his face. This whelp was her brother; ending him would only hurt her more. In an instant, he retracted his fangs and pulled the boy to his feet, but kept himself between the two humans after he pulled Mercedes up to his side.
"Do not threaten her again," he warned, just before a muffled "daddy?" froze them all into place. Mercy turned to see a sleepy Ava rubbing her eyes, staring at them worriedly.
"It's alright, Ava. Go back to bed."
"Why does that man have pointed teeth?"
"Ava, I said go back to bed!"
Mercy turned back to glare at her brother. Yelling at the child when she was already scared wouldn't solve anything.
"It's alright, Ava. This is my friend, Godric. He and your daddy were just having an argument, that's all."
"Why're you so white? You look like Casper the Friendly Ghost."
Godric looked to Mercedes, confused. The child saw ghosts?
"It's a children's story," she offered by way of explanation.
"Are you a vampire? Sandy Franklin said vampires are really white and have really pointed teeth and live to be like a hundred and fifty!"
"I am much older than that, Little One."
He was stunned when the child walked up to him, completely unafraid, and stuck out her hand. Bemused, he took it in his own, and she shook his hand enthusiastically.
"I've never met a vampire before. Cool!"
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Little One. But your father is right; you should return to bed."
The child allowed Mercedes to pick her up and carry her back into her room without protest. Godric watched them go, aware that the boy's eyes remained glued to him. He could feel the hatred rolling off the human, and wondered what he'd done to make this boy hate him. Had the boy hated him so much before he died? From his words to Mercedes, Godric had to conclude that he did. They did not say a word to each other as they waited for Mercedes to return.
"She's out again," Mercy opened the door and stepped out a few minutes later; relieve to see that Godric hadn't murdered Ethan while she was getting Ava to bed.
"I will wait for you."
Godric inclined his head as he stepped past Mercedes to the bedroom. He would wait for her to dismiss her brother, but he would be listening. Should the boy become violent again, he would eject the human from the house himself. Mercedes nodded her agreement, the last he saw of her before the bedroom door closed. Mercy waited until. Godric had at least given them the illusion of privacy before rounding on her brother.
"Okay, what the hell is going on here? He was dead!"
"And now he's not. I don't know exactly what happened. But he won't hurt Ava and I resent the accusation that I would invite anyone into my home that would!"
"Oh God, Mercy, open your eyes! You've always had blinders on when it comes to him! How do you know this isn't some kind of trick?"
"I'm not having this conversation with you now."
"Oh yes we are having this conversation! You let that bloodsucker into the house with my kid!"
He wasn't expecting the slap to the face, and stepped back from the sting of the impact. He couldn't believe Mercy had actually hit him. He looked at her, stunned, as she stared at him coldly.
"That 'bloodsucker', as you call him, is the reason I'm able to take care of your kid without making you send any kind of child support. He's the reason Ava can go to the school she does, and the reason she can do all those activities and things you want her to do. And don't forget that he's the reason you had all the same things when I took you in after your mom died!"
"Mercy—"
"I am done putting up with your bullshit, Ethan. The world doesn't owe you something because you got a raw deal! You're not entitled to a fortune because a vampire that you hate thought well enough of me to leave me one! And you will NOT hand the responsibility of taking care of your daughter over to me and the question the manner in which I do it! Just because you hate vampires is not reason enough for me to do the same, or deny my home to one who's been part of my life longer than you have. If you can't accept that, then you can get the hell out and not come back, because I will not sit by and let you teach Ava to hate blindly like you apparently do."
"I don't hate anyone blindly! Vampires killed Ashley!"
"Ashley died because she was drug addict and she overdosed on a drug. If it wasn't V, then it would have been the cocaine she was doing before that. And that's on her, not vampires."
This was her night for telling people off. First Eric, then Godric, and now Ethan. She was tired of it. In a way it was a relief to finally say some of the things that needed to be said, but it left her exhausted. She didn't like being so mean. It was a relief when Ethan left the house without another word.
Feeling drained, she let the dogs out for the last time, and started turning out the lights. It wasn't like Eric would need them to see when he returned, and if he wanted to turn them on he knew how to do so (assuming he didn't find more entertaining company to pass the hours until dawn). Once the dogs were in she stuck the spare key under the welcome mat.
"Godric."
She didn't need to call loudly; he was beside her instantly when she spoke barely above a whisper.
"I need you to write Eric a note. In Swedish."
Once she went to be she wasn't planning on leaving it for anything short of an emergency. And letting Eric in definitely did NOT count as an emergency. She taped the note to the door before locking it and setting the alarm.
"I've only caused you more grief," Godric said quietly as she turned to face him. She shook her head.
"Ethan's problems are his own. You're not the cause."
"I abandoned you. And Eric. I—"
"I certainly can't hate you for that when you can't even remember why you did it."
It wouldn't do any good to stay mad at him for it, when he wouldn't know the reasons. She'd decide that about ten minutes after she'd hit him. Though hitting him had certainly been cathartic for her.
"Mercedes—"
Without another word he was on her, arms around her body to lock her into place as he assaulted her mouth with his own. He needed this, after all that had occurred this night. He needed Mercedes; their connection, their intimacy. He needed to bury himself in the warmth of her body, and make amends in the oldest language possible for all the pain he'd caused her. As soon as he determined that she was responding to his unspoken request with equal ardor, he held her tight and moved to the bedroom in a blur of movement.
TB-TB-TB-TB-TB
Her alarm went off at 7:30, a precaution against Ava getting up before her and walking in on something she shouldn't see. Mercy blinked in surprise as she sat up; Eric's hand was tangled in a lock of her hair. She wasn't a terribly deep sleeper, so how had she slept through the Viking climbing into her bed? Oh dear Lord, if he saw her naked….
Not wanting to follow that train of thought, she pulled free from Godric, who'd left plenty of room to free herself, and climbed out of the bed. After a mad dash to her lingerie drawer, she shut herself into the bathroom for a quick shower. By 8:00 she was shutting the two vampires in for the day and letting the dogs out, before padding out to the living room to check whether Ava had gotten up yet. She made it down the hallway to see the little girl stumbling out of her room. Good. She wasn't in danger of running into Godric or Eric. Mercy was surprised Ava was already dressed.
"Did Mr. Godric leave?" she asked sleepily.
"He has to sleep during the day, Ava," Mercy reminded the young girl.
"Oh! I'm hungry."
Mercy was hungry too. It had been a long time since supper, and Godric had been very active last night. She wondered at the odds that Ethan would really show up with donuts. Or if he would show up at all. She had kind of given him an ultimatum before he left; he might decide to stay away and cool off. If he didn't come, Ava would be crushed.
She had just pulled out the griddle and all of the ingredients for pancakes when she heard a knock on the front door. She opened it to see Ethan standing on the other side, holding a box of Krispy Kreme donuts.
"They're still hot," he said by way of greeting. Mercy looked from his face to the donuts. He looked a little worn out, not to mention unhappy at even being on the doorstep, but he'd come, and Mercy wasn't one to turn down hot Krispy Kreme. She took the box from him and headed for the kitchen, and plates. The dogs barked to be let back in, but Mercy was determined to eat her donuts in peace. Krispy Kreme was not to be wasted on a dog. She was surprised when Ethan followed her in.
"Look, you were right. It's your house, and I don't have any right to tell you who you can invite in. Just be careful, okay? Godric might not hurt Ava, but that doesn't mean someone else won't and I don't want to take the chance that unlike you, she can be glamoured. This is my little girl we're talking about."
"And I get that, Ethan, but you have to trust me."
"I do trust you. It's them I don't trust. But I'll try to keep my mouth shut."
It was the closest thing to an apology she was going to get. She'd take it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They were in the back yard when the barking of the dogs alerted Mercy that something was off. The sound of cars pulling into the driveway, and then doors opening and closing, confirmed it. Mercy climbed to her feet and walked around to the fence. She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw who arrived. Oh HELL no. No way was she letting these people into her house. She stalked around to the back door.
"What's going on?"
"Just keep Ava out here, Ethan. Don't let her in the house."
She didn't give any further explanation before going inside. Brutus and Nero followed her, and she was okay with that. If they didn't get the hint to leave, she would sic the dogs on them. She stopped by her bedroom, ignoring the unconscious vampires as he headed for the closed and the gun safe. Forget the pistol; she was pulling out the shotgun.
The doorbell started ringing as she walked through the hallway, loading shells. She could hear a feminine voice talking about how charming the house was, and how nice the grounds looked. And—yes, that was Preston Harper with them. Really, she might just shoot him to save herself some grief. The dogs were parked at the door barking, and she gave them a soft command to hush. Once the shotgun was loaded she opened the door and brought it up, taking aim at Steve Newlin and his cronies.
"Whoa now!"
"Get off my property."
"You are one hard to reach lady, Miss Wright."
No doubt the smile that accompanied that was meant to be charming, but Mercy found it just made her itch to pull the trigger.
"That would be because I have nothing to say to you. There's no offer you can make that I would ever consider. Now get off my property before I shoot you."
"Now let's all be reasonable, Miss Wright. This house is the perfect location for our conference center, and in accepting my very generous offer, you will not only have more than enough to set up comfortably in a new home, you will be paving the way for the Lord's work, may His Holy Light shine upon you."
Mercy heard more than enough. She took aim at the ground and pulled the trigger, the shell making impact just an inch from Steve Newlin's feet. She raised the shotgun and took aim again, this time shooting just above his head. The shrieks of Sarah Newlin the background were amusing, to say the least, as Mercy calmly reloaded.
"My next shot goes somewhere in between, Newlin. I will give you ten seconds to get in your car and get off my property before I pull the trigger. And if you ever come back again, you won't get a warning."
"I think we're getting off to a bad start."
"Ten," Mercy started counting as she lifted the shotgun again, "Nine. Eight. Seven."
Everyone started scrambling for the cars when they saw that she was serious. She kept the shotgun raised until both cars backed out of her driveway and took off down the street.
"Did you really just pull a shotgun on Steve Newlin?" Ethan asked as Mercy turned around. Of course they would ignore her order and come running when they heard the shots.
"Yes I did."
"Remind me never to piss you off."
