Chapter 10

I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself. - Maya Angelou

I woke that morning with a start to my blaring alarm. I was laid out on top of the bed still in the wedding gown, shoes off and my dagger carefully placed on my night stand, and it took me a few good minutes to realise I'd fallen asleep on the drive home and slept through until morning. I rolled out of bed, showered and got Mell out of bed and we hit the road in record time.

LSU Teaching hospital was a bust. The visit to the teaching hospital wasn't as disappointing as it had been when I'd left Willis-Knighton on Saturday, mostly because I'd expected nothing to come from my mental searching of the comatose.

Andy handed me an envelope after first meeting us at the hospital entrance.

"Here is a list of names of the patients, alive and deceased. Maybe you can have a look over and see if you 'get' anything from it?"

"My mind doesn't really work like that." He looked so utterly dismayed that I accepted the envelope anyway and tucked it into my purse. "But I'll take a look for you, all the same."

The fatigue and stress of the previous three days were catching up with me fast, and my brain moved slower than molasses, but I still took my time to check each patient thoroughly, with Mell in quiet attendance.

As we walked through the foyer towards the exit, Andy pointed out a sign that lead towards the Eastern wing of the hospital.

"Did you hear Vampire Bill donated money for a new department here?"

The sign depicted a large black arrow pointing towards the East wing of the facility. 'Caroline Compton center for Drug Rehabilitation'. I wanted to be surprised, I really did, but at that point everything was such a confusing unknown that I was simply waiting for the next weird thing to happen and this only added to the long list of peculiar happenings in Shreveport.

"That's extremely generous of him. Did he name it after his late wife?"

"Yes, ma'am. It was generous, all from his own pocket," he held the door open for Mell and I as we walked out to the lot. "Did you know Bill and I are related?"

"Really? Well, isn't that something. Bill was always sure he had no living relatives. Although, I suppose it's not all that unusual seeing as the Comptons and Bellefluers go way back in the history of Bon Temps."

"That's it. He's my great-great-great-grandfather."

"I see why you picked Caroline for the name of your daughter. I bet he was touched you named her after his late wife," I smiled at the thought. Bill had always been very sentimental about his human life, more so than most vampires. I knew it would have meant a lot to him.

"He's a good man. Well, good vampire. He's worked hard to improve things around here," Andy said.

"And so what's the deal with all the drug use in Shreveport? How big of a problem is it? It must be big if it's enough to warrant opening a whole new rehab centre..."

"It's a huge problem all around Northern Louisiana at the moment. Cocaine in the cities and crack cocaine in the rural areas."

"What makes it so special? I heard it was mixed with something."

Andy shrugged. "Street name for the cocaine is Glucose, and you're right, apparently it's mixed with something, but damned if I know what. It's not my department's problem, anyway.

Andy, Mell, and I walked out through the lot to his plain black police cruiser and I waited as he the fished the keys from his pockets

"I wonder where it's all coming in from?" I asked.

He shrugged unlocking the car door, but I plucked the extra information from his brain. They had no idea. Drugs dealers weren't revealing their sources, regardless of the extremely favorable jail time deals that were offered, and as far as they could tell it wasn't being imported by the usual means from central and south America. Andy felt he had bigger fish to fry, so was leaving the drug problem to the other officers in charge, until told otherwise.

After visiting St Francis Hospital for the last two patients, Andy dropped Mell and I back at my car and he told me he'd call once he'd arranged for the parents of Jenny Cornish, the young patient at Willis-Knighton, to come in and bring her dog.

I stopped by Beltane Gem, and Amelia, obviously high, was cheerfully zipping around preparing for the wards that she wanted to cast around my home.

I'd called her as soon as I left Fangtasia the night before, and told her to rescind the invitation for any vampires she'd ever welcomed into her home, and to not open the door for anyone. Her voice was thick with sleep, but she grumpily agreed before hanging up. I wanted desperately to ask her about Victor, but I had a strong feeling that even if she was connected to him in some way, that she wouldn't be able to tell me.

"I'll be able to get the first ward up tonight," Amelia chirped. "That will prevent people with ill will for you from entering or harming your home. They won't even be able to walk up the porch steps," she assured, grabbing some books from a low shelf behind the counter.

"Or try and burn it down," I added, thinking back to Charles Twining, the pirate vampire. Amelia placed the stack of books on the countertop and began quickly leafing through the top book, Earthly Bindings and Wards.

"Exactly," she pipped brightly, leafing rapidly through the pages. "It should take me a week or so to get your house completely sorted. I have other warding work that takes up my time in the evenings, so I'll have to do yours as I can fit it in, but I can manage. I don't need much sleep."

No, she probably didn't when she was high, but that would be changing soon.

"Well, the sooner the better, but any help is appreciated," I smiled, trying to mask my irritation. I was getting nervous with every night that passed. It wouldn't be long before there'd be another attempt at taking me away and I wanted to cover my ass as quickly as possible.

"Hurry up and ask Amelia about the coma patients," Mell said. She was picking through a bowl of cheap silver rings sitting on the counter, and trying them on. "I'm getting sick of being dragged from one hospital to another. It's depressing. Too much death, but it's not the fun kind, the slow miserable kind."

Amelia's face turned a pale shade, making her drawn features look green. She continued to turn the pages of the book trying to appear unaffected.

"Amelia?"

"It's okay," she waved her hand dismissively. "Tell me what's been going on."

I explained as succinctly as I could about the comatose patients and their missing minds. Amelia's mind was still that tangled, tied up mess, so I couldn't get a firm reading of what she thought about it. Her hand froze as she was mid page turn, when I told her about bringing in Jenny Cornish's dog to try and rouse a response from the girl.

"Do you know anything about this all?"

"Look, I'll do what I can, Sookie. I'll be happy to help."

She was clearly deflecting, and while the murky pool of strange going-ons in town was still no clearer to me, I was beginning to have the inclination that it was all somehow connected.

Mell had chosen a handful of silver rings and placed them onto the counter to be rung up for sale.

"Just so you know, witch, I've already picked the biggest room upstairs. Sookie and her vampire are having the first floor bedroom."

"Sookie and her what?!" Amelia shut the book with a snap, her brown eyes boring into me.

"Oh yeah, she's a married woman now. Should-a seen her last night, ever the blushing bride." Mell handed some bills across to Amelia, who accepted them in shocked silence. The Irish imp began slipping the rings on across her fingers, one for every digit, except her thumbs. She flexed her fists looking down at them approvingly.

"Shut the front door. Sookie, please don't me she telling the truth?

If the good Lord had decided to let the floor swallow me up in that moment I swear I wouldn't have done anything to resist. I cleared my throat nervously, adjust the hem of my T-shirt.

"Well... Yes. Eric and I were pledged last night. He'll be staying at the farmhouse for a little while, not every night, but he'll be there tonight."

"Get out. So what, you two are an item now?"

"Well, no, not exactly - but, according to the vampire way, then yes. It's more a means to protect me and make sure someone else doesn't try to take me away."

"Do you think it means the bounty will be called off?"

"I doubt it." I thought back to my conversation with Victor. The look of hatred and determination on his face. I still was no longer sure if he was the one who called the bounty on my head, but I couldn't discount the possibility.

"Then I'm not sure I see the point in pledging."

"The point is," I spoke slowly, over enunciating in annoyance, "the King of Louisiana can't come and legally snatch me up, and lock me in a room in Vegas, to use me as his one trick pony whenever it suits him. The point is, that it means I get to keep my life here."

Amelia shrugged and opened the book again, looking contemplative. "We'll see."

I pulled my purse over my shoulder with a glare. "Well, I have to go. I'll see you tonight, Amelia. I haven't asked Pam yet, but her bar is shut on Mondays, so I'm sure she can swing by to help you out with the glamouring. C'mon Mell, let's go."

Mell stayed leaning on the counter, grinning like an idiot. "Don't want to get on her bad side, Amelia. She's awfully hot-handed these days,"

"I think you mean hot-headed, not hot-handed."

"Oh no, I said what I meant."

We left the small occult store with Amelia gazing after us in puzzlement. At least she knew a little of how I'd been feeling the past few days. Completely out of the loop.

It was the type of weather that was quintessentially southern. Fat drops splattered and splashed to the ground in a rumbling downpour, and it hampered our efforts at moving furniture for the first hour after returning from Shreveport. The rain sent plumes of steam off the grassy lawns and hot pavements throughout the neighborhood, carrying with it the intoxicating fragrance of confederate jasmine and flowering gardenias, mixed in with the sweet scent of moisture and damp earth. It was the heady perfume of nostalgia and sweet homecoming, and it was adding to my growing excitement of returning to my cherished childhood home for good.

Once the rain abated Mell and I worked hard through the afternoon loading on the furniture, hastily packed boxes and garbage bags full of items into the back of my pick up truck. Mell insisted we leave her room untouched as well as the new items she provided in the dining and kitchen areas, saying she'd already imprinted the items so she'd be able to summon them at the farmhouse when she wished.

I had no clue what she was talking about, other than understanding the general gist of it, but I was already carrying a plateful of questions without answers, so I didn't fancy adding another to the pile by asking.

I took a moment between hauling furniture to leave a voicemail for Pam, asking her as politely as I could muster if she wouldn't mind assisting me that evening with Amelia, and hoping that she wouldn't feel too put out.

We loaded the truck tighter than a tin of sardines and drove to the farmhouse as the cloud cover was clearing and the sky was changing into sunset shades of pink and orange. I'd have to call around to Sam later in the week and give the keys back. I'd paid a month in advance, so I hoped he wouldn't be too upset with me for pulling out of our lease agreement. I left behind a few boxes of things that didn't fit, so I still needed to the rental house for a little while in order to collect the rest of my belongings and clean up.

I pulled in around the back of the farmhouse to the usual spot where I used to park my old yellow hatchback, and I carried in two garbage bags filled with clothes and linen. I dropped them just inside the bedroom door and let out a shriek when I stepped back into the kitchen. Mell was sitting in the kitchen at the round wooden table that we'd used as a dining table at the rental. The coffee machine had found a new home in the far corner of the kitchen bench and there were boxes of kitchen items, boxes we'd left on kitchen floor of the rental house, lined up neatly on the floor of my kitchen.

"If it was this easy for you to bring this stuff over I don't understand why couldn't have done your imprinting, or whatever the heck it is, with everything else! It could have saved us an afternoon of work."

I stuck my head into the sitting room and saw that she'd moved items off the back of the pickup, specifically the settee and coffee table, and a box of books. I stomped over and began hauling the small couch across to its usual place. There was another larger couch and armchair that would need to be brought in from the barn later. The sitting area looked decidedly spare without them.

Mell followed me in and helped move the coffee table in front of where I'd positioned the floral settee.

"You looked like you needed the exercise," Mell offered by way of explanation. I let out a huff of irritation, pushing my hair off my sweaty brow.

"You know, you can be a real bi-"

"I meant, because you needed the distraction."

"Oh." I flopped down onto the settee, deflated.

"Yes, 'oh'. Jesus woman, always jumping to the wrong bloody conclusion."

I ignored her and let my mind sweep out to around the property and surrounding area. As my mind moved across the familiar topography it bumped into a void and two human brains over at Bill's and so I increased my range further until I was maybe a mile or two away, tracking a family moving at speed, in a car, along the highway.

I brought the range back in and with a shock, my brain bumped into two voids out on the edge of the woods surrounding the house. It was so soon after dark that it couldn't be Eric or Pam, plus Eric's end of the bond come to life a while before sunset and he still felt a little ways away. Whoever the vampires were, they were either staying with Bill, or had gone to ground for the day somewhere close by.

"Vampires, on the perimeter of the trees, down on the south-eastern section of the tree line, past the big oak."

Mell drew her sword and flittered to the window.

"Don't scare them off," I said, hopping up to look over her shoulder out the window. I pulled the lacy curtain back, squinting to see through the dark. "We need to figure out what they know."

"Do I look that fecking stupid? I'll be right back."

I stood at the door, nervously chewing the quick on my thumb, waiting for her to return, and turning my focus of to the two voids and now buzzing sensation of Mel through my mind.

There was a lot of scuffling movement; I could hear grunts, curses, and a shriek, all with the front door shut. The fight continued for another tense minute, before I heard the distinctive sound of Mell hollering in rage and the vampires finally disappeared at speed. I opened the door and skipped down the porch steps two at a time to meet Mell down on the lawn. She trudged back up to the house past me, her neck wounded and bloody, her sword covered in gore.

"Okay, so I may have scared them off."

"Oh my god, you're bleeding. Are you OK?"

"I'll heal," she grunted, stopping at the garden faucet to rinse off the blade. Red blood and viscera slid off the polished sword, running in tiny red rivulets across the grass.

"Do you think they were the vampires I saw in Tara's mind?"

"Probably, and evidently they've decided to focus on taking me out together before getting to you."

I rubbed my hands nervously against my denim shorts, my eyes fixated on the steadily bleeding wound on her neck. I'd say they came close to achieving their goal.

I jogged into my bedroom, tearing open a black garbage bag, and pulling out a towel. I met Mell at the top of the porch and pressed the towel into the gaping and torn bite.

"Come and sit at the kitchen, I'll get you cleaned up."

Inside, I filled a bowl with water and dabbed gently at the wound, and Mell sighed and shut her eyes in response. The wound had slowed its bleeding, and the edges of the gash were beginning to stitch closed.

"I overdid it today. I shouldn't have been showing off, imprinting everything," she opened her eyes to smile sheepishly up at me.

"Why? Does it make you tired?"

"No, just makes me clumsier, less surefooted. I can't react as quickly."

"I don't really understand..." I squeezed the corner of the damp, bloody towel over the bowl and walked across the kitchen to bring my handbag over. From inside it, I pulled out my butterfly knife and sliced into a dry corner of the towel so I could pull a strip off. I folded the strip and held it to her neck, before placing Mell's hand firmly over it to keep it in place. "Sorry, that'll have to do for now. I don't have a first aid kit, it's probably packed away in the barn."

"Think of my power like a magnifying glass in the sun. A small ray of sunshine is enough to start a fire if you direct the glass properly. That's how I use the sword. It's essentially the magnifying glass to my natural ability. It focuses and enhances what is already there. Not that I'm any paltry ray of sunshine, mind you. The sword can only handle so much within a given period of time, if I overdo it I can't harness my magic as artfully as I'd like.

"So, when I'm summoning objects I have to imprint on them first channeling my ability the sword. I focus my magic to merge the object's natural source with my own, and once I've done that I can move them from one place to another."

"How do you know you're moving it exactly where you need to?"

"I just need to have been there and seen the place." It sounded kind of like how Claudine and Niall could 'pop' from place to place. I turned on the kitchen faucet, letting the cool water run over my hands, and used a stray dishcloth to scrub at the red stains caught around the edges of my nails. I mulled over her words.

"What about those clothes you donated? You didn't just dump them did you?" She had only arrived in Bon Temps the days before, I couldn't imagine her knowing where exactly to donate them.

"Oh no, there's a nice thrift shop in Belfast that I'm sure was very thankful to receive your donation."

"You donated my clothes in Ireland?" I blinked, bewildered. "And what about the beignet you gave me that first morning?"

Mell let out a chortle, and winced when she moved her neck back too fast, "I bought it in Shreveport the day before and packed it in the bag I brought with me. Food doesn't normally travel too well when you summon it."

"Well, aren't you just a mixed bag of tricks."

I made us a simple dinner of mashed potatoes, collard greens, and sausages, with Mell excitedly bumping me away from the stove with her hips to make her own brown onion gravy. I couldn't stomach much, my gaze kept settling on the gored vampire bite. It was healing at a supernatural rate, though not quite as fast as vampire speed, but it was just the mere presence of the wound that left me feeling feeling deeply unsettled.

I excused myself and ran a bath, finding the vanilla and jasmine scented bubble mixture in my bag of toiletries. I sank gratefully into the deep tub, focusing on the gentle lapping of water against the porcelain and the din of the crickets from outside, who were singing happily after the good downpour.

I heard Eric's corvette pull in the drive sometime later and I dunked my head under the cooling water to wet my hair. When I came back up for air, Eric was leaning against the doorframe, watching me. I hastily scooped the bubbles so they covered my privates.

"Some privacy would be nice," I said.

Eric stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. "Better?" he asked. I rolled my eyes and didn't bother answering, I knew him well enough to know any response would egg him further on.

He sat on the edge of the tub and picked up the shampoo, squirting some into his hand, and began massaging it into my scalp. I closed my eyes, enjoying the sensations, the comfort of his touch and proximity.

"Why does everyone close to me have to be put at risk simply for knowing me?" I asked quietly.

"You're worried for the banshee?" He sounded incredulous, like her safety hardly warranted a second thought.

"Her name is Mell," I answered, feeling peevish. "And yes."

"Pam is tending to her wound now. She'll be fine. Pam tells me imp blood is very palatable. Mell may have lost the two bounty hunters, but she hurt them both enough to make them bleed. I'll be able to recognize their scent better now." His fingers were pressing circles in my scalp with exquisite firmness.

"It's not just that... I guess I didn't expect it to be this difficult coming home. Well, maybe a little difficult for me, but not for the people around me. I was just so ready to be in control of my life."

"It will be easier when things settle." Eric scooped a handfuls of water onto my hair, rising out the shampoo.

"I sure hope so."

I let the silence reign while Eric conditioned my hair and I 'listened' in to how he was feeling through the bond. It was a blend of many feelings: worry, pleasure, contentment, lust, hunger. I rinsed the conditioner out by dunking my head back under and when I came up Eric was offering me a towel, with a sultry smile.

"You know, when I said privacy I meant you on the other side of the bathroom door."

"I find persistence pays off."

"Just turn around please." I huffed, grabbing the towel from his hand. He winked at me before turning, and I stood, wrapping myself in the towel, tucking it in tightly at the chest.

I carefully stepped over the rim and when Eric turned back around I stood on my tippy-toes to kiss him chastely on the lips.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure," he rumbled, pulling me close. I let him kiss me again, and I felt the insistent throb of lust through the bond. Mine or his, I couldn't be sure, probably both and I moaned in thrill at the feel of his evident pleasure pressing hard against me. I tangled my fingers in his hair, letting myself get lost in the moment. He gripped my bottom tightly to him and deepening his kiss, our tongues now exploring each others. I hooked my free thumb at the top of my towel to pull it away. I was ready to lose myself in the moment for the whole night.

His cool hand caught mine, stilling the movement. I opened my eyes in confusion and Eric broke away from the kiss, resting his forehead against mine. I tried to slow my breathing and bring down the pace of my beating heart down, bring down the level of lust I was feeling. Eric was an odd mix of regret, uncertainty, disappointment, and still healthy doses of lust.

"Sookie, I want nothing more than to reacquaint myself completely with you tonight... but, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I won't until I have you completely."

"What? Well, here I am standing before you in my complete form." A breathy, uncertain kind of laugh escaped my lips, and I tried to kiss him again. His frown line deepened and he took a step back.

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't. Please enlighten me." I crossed my arms over my chest, equal parts miffed and hurt at his rejection.

"Not until you're mine. Until you accept you're mine."

"Geez louise, so we're back to this broken record?"

Eric's blue eyes flashed with anger and he jerked the bathroom door open, heading back towards the front of the house and leaving me alone in the bathroom.

I took a deep breath to collect myself. I understood what he was asking of me. Maybe not the why of it, but I knew what he was after. That vampire, with whom I'd had a brief dalliance and a decent friendship with nearly a decade earlier, wanted me to commit my everything to him before moving forward in our relationship, or whatever you'd call it.

I wanted him, that I knew for sure - how could anyone not want that gorgeous 6'5 package of a vampire? I just couldn't say I was ready to be his and everything that went with that so quickly, especially when moments earlier I was purely focused on seeing to my own carnal needs rather than thinking what it meant for our future. The fact was, I'd barely spent anytime with him since returning home. It was kind of preposterous that he would ask so much of me and so soon.

I'd never in a million years have imagined that I'd ever be on this side of the commitment argument. A 1000 year old vampire looking for commitment and there I was wanting wanting to use him for his god-like body. I couldn't rule out the possibility of something more, just not this fast and not by jumping in headfirst without checking the water.

I joined Pam, Eric, and Mell out in the sitting room after dressing into a pair of black jeans and a 3/4 length maroon and gray tee. Someone had gone to the trouble of retrieving the large couch and armchair from the barn, and I sat down into the empty chair, watching as Mell fiddled around trying to hook up the old TV. Her neck had healed over quite well, the fleshed raised and pink in the area she'd been bitten.

"So when is Amelia deciding to grace us with her presence?" asked Pam, absently filing at a fingernail with a slim glass file. Eric was slouched down in the couch, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, his expression surly. He was tapping at full speed into his phone, ignoring everyone.

"Well, she's been doing extra warding work in the evenings, so she's probably running late. Thank you so much for coming out, can't tell you how much I would appreciate it. Would y'all care for a blood? Mell, can I fix you something to drink?"

I brought out a round of Tru Blood, and a pitcher of ice water when the car pulled out up front. I peeped through the front windows. It was a cab. Amelia stumbled out grabbing two duffel bags from the back. She ran up the steps and burst the door open with a flourish.

"I'm here!" she cried, before erupting in a round of loud giggles. Her hair was mussed in a million different directions and her sunken eyes were as dilated as a cat's in the dark. She deposited her bags on the floor and swept me up in a hug and kiss. "Did ya miss me?"

"Amelia…"

"Oh, what? If I've done my dash with this stuff, then may as well go out with a bang."

I pulled her off me angrily and took a step back. Unless she wanted to quit then I couldn't say if all this effort would be worth it. Pam came to my side, giving my hand a quick squeeze of reassurance.

"Hello Amelia, I'd like to say that it's nice to see you again, but that would be a blatant lie since you look like crap."

"And you're still a grade-A bitch, Pamela."

Pam laughed delightedly for a second, before her face returned to it's usual cool disposition. She stepped closely to Amelia and spoke, "Amelia Broadway, remain quiet and still."

Amelia stopped her nervous fidgeting, her body and expression falling slack.

"From here on, you shall ignore any temptations or cravings for drugs. You will not partake in any drug use. Any time you experience a craving you shall instead feel inclined to…"

"To clean," I piped up. Cleaning had always been Amelia's go-to for dealing with emotional problems. This made the most sense.

"You shall be inclined to clean until the craving passes." Pam shot me a questioning look and I nodded. The petite vampire brought Amelia out from the fog of her influence, and the young witch's shoulders slumped. She dipped her head into her hands, weeping softly. I moved forward to hug her, but Pam got there too fast, wrapping her small across the Amelia's shoulders instead.

"Where's her room?" Pam asked, her eyes holding a look of concern I'd never seen before on her face.

"Upstairs," said Mell. "But there's no furniture in there yet. She can take my room for the evening."

Pam guided Amelia out of the room with a nod to us all. I mouthed 'thank you' at her and she spared me a tight smile. Eric was still intently focused on his phone, blood in one hand, and seemed completely unaffected by the whole scene. He had the bond kept so tight, it was almost completely blocked, but Mell caught my gaze by rolling her eyes in his general direction.

"Well, I'm going to head on over to Bill's house," I said. "I've got some questions for him. Would you like to accompany me please, Mell?"

"No," Eric said, standing to his feet. "She is still weakened. I will walk with you." He sent Mell a thinly disguised threat with his gaze.

Mell scoffed, standing up to her feet also. "Oh, give it a rest, vampire. You two can go ahead without me and enjoy a walk in the peace and calm of the night while you needlessly argue. I'll move in the the rest of the furniture, seeing as neither of us have a bed to sleep on tonight and I don't fancy top n' tailing with either of you on the couch."

We had reached the cemetery before the prickly silence from the tall vampire became too much.

"Are you going to give me the silent treatment all night?" I asked.

"Only until you start taking me seriously."

I came to a stand still and pulled at his arm so he was facing me.

"Eric, you have to understand this from my perspective. I've been home for only two weeks. We haven't seen or heard from each other in nine years and you expect me to jump head first into something with you? Is it so hard for you to understand that I can't just commit myself so easily? I like you, I like being around you... And I don't know if it's the bond that makes me feel like that, or if it's my legitimate feelings, but all I know is that you've been one of the only good things about coming home so far. I can't guarantee anything until I spend a little more time with you and know I'm truly ready. I feel like I've barely had a moment to get to know you again, and on top of that I'm still trying to get over the life I had in Kópavogur. "

Eric stared down at me, the shadows forming dark shapes across his handsome features. His expression was dark and unreadable.

"And exactly how long do you need to get over your demon?"

I sighed, feeling the fatigue of the day settle across me.

"Eric, I think you're missing the point. It's nothing to do with Gisli. That's over now, anyway." I briefly considered telling him that Gisli and I never married, but I quickly had to disregard the idea. I knew telling him would lead to other questions, ones I still felt too vulnerable to answer.

"I understand. You wish to take things slow." He took a step closer to me, eyes holding my gaze, his flaxen hair falling across either side of his face. I waited for him the close the gap with a kiss, but instead he took my hand, his large hand completely covering mine, and we resumed walking.

"The bond doesn't make you feel anything that isn't already there," he commented, as we navigated our way between the crumbling headstones through the oldest section of the cemetery.

"Really?" I asked dubiously, but I felt the honesty of his words pulsing through the bond. It was a happy relief for me, and he flashed a broad smile my way in response, setting loose a kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach. This might have actually been the first thing to go right since returning home.

Hope you enjoyed this, not a whole lot of action this chapter, but it starts ramping up again in the next.

I'm currently in the middle of writing Chapter 13, but am totally stuck. I had heaps of time over the weekend to write, but could only get stuff onto the page at a snail's pace. Thinking I need to rewrite it to get my creative mojo going again... Pretty sure it's a sign there isn't enough Eric in it, so gotta approach it differently.

Just want to say thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review the last chapter. Lots of wonderful, thoughtful responses. When I get a moment I intend to reply :)