Chapter 10: Christmas in Prison
And I dream of her always
Even when I don't dream
Her name's on my tongue
And her blood's in my stream.
Wait awhile, eternity,
Old mother nature's got nothing on me
Come to me, run to me
Come to me, now
We're rolling, my sweetheart
We're flowing
By God!
Joshua James (John Prine cover)
I-I-I-I
The popping lessons continued, as awkward as they were, and between my real and contrived limitations, it seemed Bill (and hopefully the Queen) got the idea that it was more of an emergency exit than a reliable mode of transportation. Passing out after every teleport wasn't going to make me Sophie Anne's star assassin anymore than only being able to pop under emotional distress or that so far, I had only popped to places I had been before. With so many drawbacks, I'd be more of a liability than an aid.
Whatever whammy I put on Bill held, but it wasn't a sure thing. There were times when he'd stop what he was saying and his eyes would rest on me. I could feel him pushing against the blocks in his mind. It nearly gave me a panic attack every time, thinking that he'd bust through and realize what I had done. I might as well have been in a boat at the base of a cracking dam. The vamp glamour definitely wasn't something I'd be breaking out again anytime soon.
The later parts of my night passed in a much more pleasant fashion. Rasul continued to do his best to charm me out of my pants, in a very literal sense. It was a tempting offer, or at least it would have been under different circumstances. For one, I was still trying to get a handle on my new vamp form. Physically, going from human to vampire was like going from driving a golf cart to a Ferrari. I wasn't going to rush into anything until I felt like I had control of myself. Not to mention that even with my new vampy impulses, I was never going to be a one night stand kind of girl. Casual sex wasn't something I was interested in, even if that was all I was likely to be offered now.
I didn't know if I could trust him, either. The contrast between agitating Bill and disarming Rasul couldn't have been stronger, and I'd seen enough cop dramas to recognize the bad cop/good cop dynamic. Bill to upset me and Rasul to lean on. The more I thought about why Rasul showed me to the Queen's prison, the more I questioned his motives or if it was even his idea. For all I knew he could have done it under the Queen's suggestion, setting me up for a trap. Maybe they wanted to see if I could use my popping to break in to a place. Maybe they wanted to catch me aiding an 'escape attempt' so they could charge Eric with treason. Maybe Eric wasn't even there.
One thing was for certain: I needed to be careful now more than ever. I wasn't going to put my all my faith in Rasul till I was sure he wasn't a Bill in new clothing.
Over the next few days, Rasul showed me around the city, and with Christmas so close, New Orleans was in a festive mood. The balconies and curling iron work were twined with lights, and carolers and jazz bands set a cheery background for revelers enjoying their holiday in the Big Easy. The holiday season hadn't hampered vamp tourism any. The French Quarter was full of humans, drunk and rosy and looking to get bitten, and more than a few vampires willing to oblige.
It was amazing and a little scary how different all the familiar Christmas trappings were with my vamp senses. I could see the hundreds of little shadows cast by the blazing twinkle lights and smell the cinnamon and cloves being used in the restaurants we passed and the peppermint schnapps on people stumbling out of the bars. It was overwhelming, trying to reconcile all the sights and sounds with my memories.
I'd always loved Christmas. Even if it was just me, Gran, and Jason. Gran always did her best to make it about appreciating the love and family we had, rather than what we were missing. It hurt, knowing that I'd never have another Christmas with Gran and that I'd spend this one alone, virtually a prisoner with my troika of babysitters, while Eric sat in a very real prison.
My nightly rotation of Hadley, Bill, and Rasul kept up until right after sunset on Christmas Eve when Hadley barged into my room. I had just finished dressing, which was lucky. Vamps weren't big on privacy or modesty. She looked over my ensemble and scowled.
For the last few days, my cousin's mood had really been in the toilet, swinging back and forth between surliness and a vacant despondency. She didn't talk about it and I didn't ask. It was clearer than ever that we might be cousins, but we weren't friends.
Hadley thrust a garment bag at me. "Put this on. I'll be back for your hair and makeup." She stomped out, not looking back at me.
"Good evening to you too," I muttered and scowled at the bag, feeling like a four year old. Just how old a vamp did you have to be before you got to pick out your own clothes? Or maybe it was on some points-rewards system.
I unzipped the bag and hung the dress up Hadley had brought me. After a few minutes of gaping at it, I finally talked myself into at least trying the gown on. It was definitely a showstopper. The top half was mostly made of a sheer gold fabric with a pattern of shiny red silk to cover the essential bits. It dropped into a full red silk skirt with a small train. I'm sure from a distance it looked quite elegant. No one would realize until they got up close just how daring it was.
I looked like somebody's Christmas present. Or a giant Christmas tart.
"Are you sure that I have to wear this?" I asked Hadley when she came back in. I made another adjustment to my goods. Definitely no jumping jacks or trampolines for me tonight.
"Sophie-Anne sent it over for you to wear to her Christmas party. So yes, I'm sure," she said acerbically. "Now shut up and sit down so I can do your makeup before the car gets here."
I crossed my arms and stared at her. Whatever was bugging her, didn't have anything to do with me. There was no call to be rude.
"Please." She waved the hair brush in her hand at the chair, looking a little defeated. "I'm supposed to have you ready."
I thanked Hadley and took a seat. It wasn't until Rasul showed up, looking dapper in a dark suit while Hadley was still in a baggy t-shirt, that I figured out why my cousin was so bitter.
"You're not going?" My eyebrows shot up. You'd think being the Queen's honey would put your name at the top of the guest list.
She glared at me. "No. I'm not."
Small wonder she was so upset then, with Sophie-Anne sending me an extra-revealing dress while Hadley got left at home. As far as I knew though, the Queen wasn't interested in me in that way. I had no idea why she'd take a personal interest in getting me all gussied up, but I had a bad feeling about it. A bad, bad feeling.
After managing to arrange myself in Rasul's car without giving him a show, we were on our way. Rasul let me know that the first part of the party was vamps only. The Queen was announcing her marriage to the King of Arkansas.
"But what about Hadley?" Now I had the reason for my cousin's black moods. Hearing the person you love is marrying someone else would put anyone in a funk.
He shrugged. "It's a political alliance more than anything. As long as the Queen's relationship doesn't interfere with the terms of the marriage agreement and your cousin remembers her place, there shouldn't be a problem."
"So Hadley gets to clap and smile at the wedding while the Queen decides how and when they continue their…" I waved my hand, "whatever."
"Vamps aren't big on the clapping and smiling bit, but yes. That's the general idea," Rasul teased. "It's not an equal match, your cousin and the Queen. It never will be."
Rasul looked over at me through his dark lashes as he pulled to a stop in front of an old monastery decked in wreathes and lights. "We'd make a fantastic match, though." His eyes shone. "You'd never regret it."
"Promises, promises." I sighed dramatically. "I'm sure you'd forget me in a minute."
A smile spread across his face and he came around the car to get my door. Usually I don't care for that sort of thing, but between my dress and the sky-high gold heels that came with it, I needed all the help I could get.
"Ah, but I could never forget you, dear Sookie," he said once he had me on the curb, my arm tucked into his. He leaned in close, taking a deep whiff of my neck. "Especially with that enchanting scent you have."
I rolled my eyes and returned his grin. "You really know how to compliment a lady." I had to admit, he smelled pretty darn good too.
He patted my hand. "Just one of your many alluring traits."
The inside of the monastery was decorated much like the outside with the addition of a giant tree, a canopy of crystalline snowflakes, and the sharp smell of evergreen. There was already a crowd of a hundred or so vampires gathered and it was clear by each person's outfit whether they were planning to stay for the party. No one else was in the building though the bandstand and buffet tables were already set up for when the humans arrived.
The Queen entered with Andre, Sigbert, and Wybert in tow not to long after our arrival. Sophie-Anne mounted the front stage in a beautiful deep green velvet gown and the assembled vamps quieted down. Let me tell you, no one does motionless and silent like a room full of vampires.
Like Rasul said, the Queen announced her upcoming nuptials to the King of Arkansas and briefly went over the terms of the contract and what would be expected of the Louisiana vampires. From the lack of reaction, I guess it must have been a pretty standard arrangement or at least one the Louisiana vamps didn't have an objection to. When she was finished she dismissed the non-party guest and dismounted the small stage with her entourage.
It didn't take her long at all to find me.
"Sookie." She slipped her arm through mine, barely slowing down. "Come with me."
Sophie-Anne led me to a bedroom off the main room. Sigbert and Wybert stayed outside and Andre waved Rasul away before closing the doors.
The Queen gracefully took a seat on a padded bench at the end of the giant bed and Andre took up his station next to her. I stood in front of them as they both looked me over like butchers accessing a new knife.
"There will be a human at the party tonight named Jonas Crandle. I would very much like you to make his acquaintance." The Queen watched me carefully as I did my best to remain impassive. I didn't like where this was going. Not at all.
"He's part of the Arkansas contingent that drafted our marriage covenant. I need you to find out what information he is taking back to the King, as discretely as possible."
Spying on your husband seemed like a bad way to start a marriage, though I suspect it was somewhat expected in vampire monarchs. The real question was why they wanted me to do it, so I asked just that.
"We need someone unassuming and Crandle favors blondes," Andre answered. "Act dim."
After all my worries about hiding my powers and the Queen was putting me to work as a blond bimbo. I guess she was determined to make me useful.
"This room will be available for your use," the Queen said, glancing back at the bed. "Make sure no one can confirm the use of glamour. You'll have to provide another, more convincing reason for his absence."
It took me a second to catch the implication. There were really only four things a vampire would ever want from a human: information, specialty services, blood, or sex. If I didn't want the Arkansas vamps thinking I was after the first two, Bimbo Sookie would have to go after the other two.
Sophie-Anne really needed to learn some new tricks.
Unfortunately, as unpalatable as the mission was, this could be exactly the opportunity I had been waiting for.
"I'm afraid I have to refuse your request, your Majesty." I stiffened my back and stood up straight. If I was going to deny a Queen, I might as well look confident while doing it.
Sophie-Anne's finely plucked eye-brows arched. "And why do you think you have option of refusing?"
"With all due respect, your Majesty, my master didn't order it." I clasped my hands behind my back. "I just don't really see how this would help him."
The tension in the room was a solid thing as both Andre and the Queen stared me down. I was playing a big hand here, and Sophie-Anne seemed to be counting on my youth and ignorance to bully me into doing what she wanted. The fact was, though, that the only person I owed loyalty to was Eric.
I had made Rasul go over this point of vampire law several times and the jist of it was that until a new vampire struck out on her own, she belonged entirely to her maker. So while Eric was sworn to Sophie-Anne, I only owed fealty through him. He was responsible to the Queen for my behavior and discipline, and in turn, any request for my services had to go through him. Technically, as long as Eric stayed undead and I wasn't making trouble, the Queen couldn't make me do a damn thing.
Of course, that was technically. Realistically, I was pretty sure that Sophie-Anne could make me do whatever she wanted. I was depending on her reputation as a fair monarch that I had heard from more than a few of her subjects. Also, I had picked up that vampires were very sensitive about people messing with their children. A Queen that was known for usurping gifted children wouldn't have loyal subjects for very long.
"You're very well informed for one so young. And brave." Sophie-Anne finally said, making it sound not so much like a compliment. She relaxed back on her seat. "What would make this assignment important to your maker?"
"I'm sure he'd be interested in his freedom."
"No." The Queen's brown eyes were hard. "His mistakes were serious ones. I can't let him go so early."
Darn. And that was all I really wanted for Christmas.
I thought for a moment, trying to come up with something else I could ask for. "If you won't release Eric, I'd like to return to Shreveport and help Pam look after my maker's interests." That sounded like a dutiful child, and I'd get to go home and away from the Queen's scrutiny. "I'd also like to know the end date for my maker's punishment, if that's possible."
"Tell Andre what you discover by the end of the night and you can return to Shreveport at first dark tomorrow." Sophie-Anne rose and straightened her dress. "You'll be informed of an approximate date for your maker's release before you leave the city."
I bowed as the Queen swept out of the room, and then followed her and Andre out.
I-I-I-I
The party was just getting into that boisterous, warmly buzzed stage as the humans started in on their second or third drinks and got up the courage to dance, when the Arkansas delegation arrived. Rasul, who was playing my wingman, pointed Crandle out.
"He's not bad looking, but he's no Rasul," he joked, as we paused at the edge of the dance floor. Jonas Crandle wasn't hard to spot. He wasn't the only human in their group, but he was the only one wearing his suit like it was a license to smooze.
And he was handsome—in an All-American, Boy Scout sort of way. He had the kind of face companies love to put on their promotional materials with his naturally white teeth and neatly parted hair. I bet he never had any trouble figuring out which way was north either.
Rasul and I kept an eye on him as we danced and mingled with the other vampires from court. It didn't take long to pick up that Mr. Crandle was sticking close to the Arkansas vamps. He was never alone, so unless I wanted to walk up and try to whammy him under their noses, I was going to need some help.
"Do you think you can distract the vamp with Crandle?"
"The watchman? Of course," Rasul scoffed. "But someone will come looking for him eventually. Make sure he has a good excuse for being gone." He gave me a meaningful look.
Yeah, I got the hint.
Rasul led us over and introduced himself to Jeremiah, the Arkansas vamp, completely ignoring Crandle. A broad, practiced smile stayed on Crandle's face, and I could read all the annoyance swirling around in his brain. He was too smart and successful to be treated like a servant. I nearly snorted. Jonas obviously hadn't been around vamps for too long.
"Sorry about him. Most vampires have terrible manners." I gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm Sookie."
I stuck my hand out for Crandle to shake. Rasul quickly reached over and pushed it back down.
"No touching." He shook his head and turned to Jeremiah. "I don't know how many times I've told her that. Young ones these days." He rolled his eyes.
Jeremiah joined in the head shaking, his bushy beard bobbing. Rasul's little reprimand was all it took to get the other vamp to join in a conversation about how undisciplined and soft post-Revelation vamps were, once again ignoring me and the human.
Crandle sniffed at their dismissal of him and turned back to me. "Well, I think it's lovely to meet you, Sookie, and I'm sure you'll get a hang of the nodding thing in no time," he said formally. "I'm Jonas Crandle. I work for the vampires of Arkansas." He nodded.
I returned it and beamed at him like he was my own personal knight in shining armor. "So what is it you do for the Arkansas vampires? Or can I ask that?"
I listened as Jonas's thoughts told me a very different story than his mouth. It was a good thing I was playing dumb, because even with my improved telepathy, it was a chore to keep the two sources of information straight. Jonas was only too happy to keep talking about himself, while I smiled and nodded along, occasionally throwing in a compliment.
Andre wasn't kidding about Crandle having a thing for blonds. Jonas loved my hair. He was also under the impression that he'd be living in New Orleans once the King took Louisiana and wondered if I'd still be around to date. By the end of our conversation he'd developed a fantasy with me as the adoring housewife, greeting him at the door in high heels and a belted dress when he got home from work. It was just like a 50's sitcom but with fewer cheesy laugh tracks and more torrid sex on the living room furniture.
Needless to say, with all that going on in his head it didn't take much to convince him to move somewhere more private. The Arkansas vamps had told Crandle not to go off with anyone, but he thought that I was a non-threat, I was so young and clueless. In his mind, there wasn't any doubt that he could handle me.
Oh, Jonas Crandle. You have so much to learn about vampires.
Jeremiah had stopped glancing over at Crandle and was deep in conversation with Rasul about growing night gardens. After checking to make sure the other Arkansas vamps weren't watching, I took Crandle's hand and led him through the clumps of party guests.
Pruney Waldo was hanging around next to the big double doors of the Queen's suite, playing guard. He gave me a nod, his face as sour as ever. Waldo looked terrible in formal wear, his bleached face and hair blending with the crisp white of his shirt. If he was guaranteeing my privacy, I had nothing to worry about. No one would want to come near him.
I opened the door and Crandle pressed in close behind me. "Are you sure it's okay to we go in there?" he whispered in my ear.
I wanted to roll my eyes. He was afraid of being caught in the wrong room but not of being alone with a hungry, untamed baby vamp.
Was I ever this clueless? Maybe I should write a book for the humans. Sookie Stackhouse's Guide to Surviving Vampire Employment. "Step 1: Quit and move to Montana. Vampires hate Montana. It's the fly fishing. Step 2: Take up fly fishing."
Maybe it'd be better coming from someone who'd actually survived vampire employment.
I bet Bill loved fly fishing.
"Don't worry." I gave Crandle my best saucy smirk. "They're not using it tonight. It's all us." I snatched up his skinny black tie and pulled him in behind me.
As soon as we were inside, his arms encircled me, his fingers brushing down my bare back.
I've never had sex with a corpse before.
His dark amusement drifted into my mind and I shoved him away from me. His eyes were wide with surprise, looking at me. That's all it took to pull him under my glamour.
"Sit on the bed and stay quiet."
He took a seat on the edge of the massive bed as I tried to gather myself. His thought had thrown me. Not because of its kinky sexual nature—Lord knows I was used to that—but because of how un-alive I was in his mind.
I mean, intellectually, I knew I was dead. My heart didn't beat. I didn't sweat, fart, or fog up car windows, and I could sit under the water in my bathtub like Scuba Steve. But still, every night I got out of bed, showered, dressed, laughed, and worried. You're not alive, but you keep going like you are. You can't fully understand that dissidence, that change in something so fundamental to your understanding of yourself, until it happens to you.
I guess I just wasn't used to it yet, having spent most of my time as a vamp around donors and other vampires. There were probably some FotS zealots who'd be happy to remind me just how inhuman I was.
No more pity party for me, though. I had a job to do if I wanted to get out of here.
"Jonas." He looked up at me as I stood in front of him. "I'm going to ask you some questions and you're going to whisper the answers to me. Understand?" Between the noisy party outside and Waldo's discreet distance from the door, I didn't think he'd be able to hear our conversation in here, but there was no point in chancing it.
Jonas nodded.
"Good boy."
It didn't take me long to run through my list of questions. Mostly, I was just filling in gaps since I already had a good idea about what Crandle had been up to from reading his mind during our previous conversation. Seven minutes was all I really needed.
However, seven minutes wasn't nearly enough time for a normal vampire to glamour that much info out of Crandle. I'd need to stay in here at least half an hour if I didn't want the Queen and crew getting suspicious.
Half an hour also meant I'd have to do more than biting if I wanted my cover story believable. Half an hour meant sex.
Pretend sex, that is. No way was I actually getting intimate with Crandle.
Skin to skin contact would be fine for a passing sniff, but if one of the Arkansas vamps really wanted proof, there'd need to be (ugh) fluids.
Waldo's raised voice right outside our door interrupted my pondering giving Crandle some happy time with himself. "Jennifer. How is Little Rock this time of year?"
Shoot. My fingers flew at vamp speed as I shoved off his jacket, loosened his tie, and unbuttoned his shirt. "Listen, Jonas. We've been making out, hot and heavy, since we came in here. You're very aroused and you can't wait for me to bite you." I shoved the images and feelings into his mind: us kissing against the door, me leading him to the bed, my breasts pressing against his chest and fangs scraping his throat.
I hiked up my skirt and straddled his lap before letting the glamour go.
"Sookie." One of his hands wandered up my tight to squeeze my ass while the other went straight to my boob. I sank my fangs in his neck right as I heard the door opening.
I barely got in two gulps before I was yanked off Jonas.
"What do you think you're doing?" the vampiress hissed at me, holding me off the ground by the scruff of my neck and shaking me like a naughty puppy.
"Put her down!"
"Shut up!" she snapped at Crandle. "Waldo, get her Majesty. I have an issue that needs her immediate attention."
Waldo skittered out of the room and if I thought Jennifer was going to put me back down, I was seriously wrong. She held me suspended above the ground, while Crandle pressed his tie to the bleeding punctures on his vein and answered her volley of questions about what had happened between us.
I knew she was checking for signs of glamour, but my glamour was good. Really, really good.
"Your Majesty," Jennifer addressed Sophie-Anne as soon as the Queen entered the room, Waldo closing the doors behind her and Andre. "I caught this fledgling," she gave me a shake, "feeding off one of our humans without permission. I'd like her maker to be named and request that you to authorize punishment, since this is an interstate offence."
The Queen looked over at Crandle and then back to the angry Arkansan. "Has the human been damaged?"
"No."
"Was he coerced in public?"
"No. He was willing," Jennifer admitted grudgingly, casting dark looks over at her human. "Get out," she told Crandle. "And if you leave Jeremiah's side again, I'll drain you dry and dump the carcass in an alleyway."
Jonas didn't need any more persuasion than that. He scrabbled up his clothes, tripping over himself in his hurry to get out of the room.
Once he was gone Jennifer dropped me to the floor.
"Miss Stackhouse is currently in my care. What punishment would you recommend, Ms. Cater?" the Queen asked as I squatted on the ground, rubbing my neck. I didn't think I could even speak yet.
"Is this her first punishment?"
"She's not much more than a week old, so it seems likely." Sophie-Anne looked down at me. "I would say she acted more out of ignorance than insult."
Ignorance, my flammable, pale butt cheeks. I kept my eyes down and tried to appear contrite. Sophie-Anne wasn't going to step in for me here. I'd have to take the punishment so Arkansas wouldn't suspect what the Queen was really up to. This was why she was so willing to bargain with me. She needed a carrot to keep me compliant when I was caught.
This was exactly why you couldn't hang out with 1,000 year old vampires and think you'd come out ahead.
"My maker always used to say that first offenses should be the most memorable." Her face took on a nostalgic cast as she considered her choices. "She needs be whipped, of course, and forbidden from drinking from humans for however long you see fit. There should be something longer lasting too. Losing a hand, perhaps, for touching something that wasn't hers. That would stick with her."
The Queen gave it a moment of quiet deliberation. "That seems acceptable. Waldo?"
The wrinkly vampire nodded to the Queen and pulled a small end table to the center of the room before grabbing me by the arm and dragging me across the floor.
He dumped me by it like a sack of trash. "Strip," he commanded and walked off.
"You'll need to take that dress off if you don't want blood on it," The Queen recommended when I didn't move. She and Andre took up their old positions on the seat at the end of the bed and Jennifer Cater maneuvered to a respectful distance from Sophie-Anne while ensuring a good view of the impending show. "Cloth feels very bad against open wounds."
I took in the two women in front of me in their gowns and holiday finery, their neatly groomed hair and makeup perfect, along with rustic opulence of this converted monastery room. It was so surreal, the contrast between the polite sophistication of my surroundings and what was about to happen.
I peeled off the gown and kicked it to the side, followed shortly by my shoes.
I was left in nothing but a pair of red, lacy panties in front of the Queen. She and Andre didn't give me much of a reaction, but Jennifer Cater had no qualms about eyeing me up and down.
"I bet she was turned by a man," she scoffed. "Even undead they find a way to keep the trash with the biggest tits around."
The Queen made a non-committal noise.
Waldo came out of one of the side rooms with a small bundle under his arm, a whip wound loosely around his neck. He laid a piece of wood over the table top and pushed me down to my knees.
"Any preferences on the hand, your Majesty?" He unwrapped a blade that was somewhere between a cleaver and an ax and gave it an experimental swish near my head. I gritted my teeth and tried not to flinch.
"Sookie?"
I looked down at my hands studying the tiny creases and folds. Even knowing it would grow back, it felt so wrong to pick. But the practical side, which seemed to be getting more and more face time since turning vampire, knew I didn't have a lot of options here. I might as well come out of this being able to write legibly.
"The left."
Waldo snatched up my left hand and held it down on his makeshift block. The tingly beginning of a teleport built within me and I pushed it back. The last thing I needed was all of Arkansas hearing about the magic, disappearing vamp.
Waldo rested the sharp edge of the blade on my wrist and slowly pulled it back.
I closed my eyes and turned away.
I think I screamed when he took off my hand, though with that pain—that incredible shock—I don't think I could say for sure.
If I thought I was going to get any recovery time between punishments, I was sorely mistaken. I was still trying to make sense of the hand I could no longer feel sitting detached on the block in front of me when a white-hot lash cut across my back.
I clung to the little table, biting deep into my left arm at that muscle right below the elbow. I don't know if Waldo was working toward a magic number or if he was just supposed to keep going until there was more blood than skin. Either way, I spent enough time hoping that each strike would be the last that when he did stop, it felt like a trick. I kept my ridged position, waiting for Waldo to come back and start again.
"Ms. Stackhouse."
I opened one eye and then the other before getting my rusty neck to turn up toward Andre. From my head I could tell that everyone was gone except for Andre in his pristine tux.
I wondered if manboy had a hard time finding formal wear. Maybe he had to shop in the Prom section.
"I believe you have something to tell me."
And I did. Wasn't that what all of this was about? Getting the Queen her precious information so I could go home? So I told Andre all about it, hitting the highlights of what I'd gotten from Crandle since my supposed time with him had been limited.
The basics were that Jonas Crandle was more of a forensic accountant than a day man. He'd managed to find a few things that the Queen had been less than up front about with her future husband. In addition to that, Crandle had also been setting up business contacts in New Orleans for King Threadgill. Jonas was under contract to move down to New Orleans by April.
"Are you sure it was April?"
"I'm sure." I replied flatly. I really didn't care enough either way to make it up.
"Excellent." Andre's eyes were blazing. I guess nothing got undead blood moving like a hostile takeover. I almost expected him to start rubbing his hands together in self-satisfied anticipation. His gaze settled on me. "It is a shame you are going back Shreveport. You have been most useful."
Andre focused on me like a charmed snake. "Once you leave your maker, the Queen would be glad to have you in her service."
I grimaced. Sophie-Anne's appreciation for good service was all over my back. I'd be glad to move without wincing. "I'll take that under consideration." When hell freezes over. "But I still get to return to Shreveport, right? And what about Eric?"
"A car will take you back at first dark tomorrow." He peered over at my ravaged back and down to my scabbing, stumpy wrist, evaluating the work with a clinical eye.
"And Eric?"
"The Sheriff will back in his Area in time to look presentable for Her Majesty's wedding." He smiled. "We'll expect to see you there."
Andre walked out then, and I clung to that little table, mostly naked and in pain.
I-I-I-I
Needless to say, as soon as my wounds stopped bleeding, I was only too happy to ditch the rest of the Christmas party. After cleaning up in the suite's bathroom, I managed to find some loose clothing in one of the closets to pull over my tender, healing skin. One handed, which I suspected would be a common theme in the next few months. I left the stupid dress the Queen had given me right on the floor where I had kicked it.
The Queen's chamber had its own exit, and I snuck out of the monastery without having to talk to anybody.
Trudging through the chill streets of the Garden District, it didn't take me long to decide what I really wanted to do tonight.
I found an open gas station and glamoured a man to give me enough cash to buy some True Blood and his address so I could pay him back. I downed a bottle right there in the parking lot, trying to make up for some of what I'd lost.
So far, the vamps had been keeping me from getting to my own money while I was down here, instead making me go to Rasul or Hadley if I needed anything. The cards they were using to pay for everything though were courtesy of Eric via Pam. Apparently, even if the Queen demanded to babysit me, Eric still had to pay the bill.
It was ridiculous. I was a grown-ass woman having to beg for Daddy's credit card when I just wanted to go home and back to work.
I gathered up the rest of my True Bloods and ran back to the drab warehouse Rasul had showed me a week ago.
Not much had changed. It still had the same empty lot, the same dim lighting, and the same foul smell.
I checked the brains in the building, concentrating on the voids. There were three vampires tonight—two moving around and one not at all. Since I figured Eric would probably be restrained, the motionless one got my attention.
As much as I didn't like it, I knew what I had to do. If I wanted to know if it was really Eric, I needed to go into his mind.
So that's what I did. After a deep breath, I sunk down into that void, down into a cold, snaky pit.
But it was a familiar snaky pit. It was Eric's snaky pit, writhing and restless from a current of discomfort and pain that overshadow most everything else. I focused on his mind and let the tingles of a pop rise up through my chest and down to my fingers and toes. I'd never been able to teleport to a place I hadn't been before, but I hoped with Eric's mind to act as an anchor that I could do it.
I held my pack of True Bloods tight, and I popped.
I landed right next to Eric's head and for the first time in my unlife, got to see a vampire jerk in surprise. His dilated eyes darted over me and he inhaled, taking in my scent. It was like startling an injured animal, he was so raw.
"It's me," I murmured. "It's really me." I brushed my thumb against his cheek and after some calm stroking, he relaxed as much as he could.
They hadn't been kind that was for sure.
Eric was naked and on his back, chained to a giant metal breaking wheel raised off the ground on an axel like a Lazy Susan.
They'd turned him into a giant pin cushion. Hundreds of long, thin needles had been pushed into him—silver needles from the angry, irritated welts at the base of each one. He was so bristled he looked like a giant hair brush.
Other things must have been done to him too from the trails where his blood had drained across the concrete floor. The smell of it permeated the room and my fangs were out from the high I was getting. His skin was covered in dried blood, and puckered, damaged flesh. The needles were just a resting state.
Eric's head was mercifully clear of those silver pins, but I was still careful as I pulled a strip of duct tape off his lips.
"What is that?" I pulled back his cracked lips. A silver ball the size of a jumbo jaw breaker had been shoved in his mouth, and it gleamed between his teeth in the harsh light.
They'd pulled his fangs out too.
There wasn't a lot to the room we were in. It was basically a big concrete box with a drain in the floor, a few hooks on the walls, and obnoxiously bright florescent lights. Other than the wheel Eric was on, the only other thing in the room was a work bench with half a hardware store arranged on its surface. That's where I found a pair of leather gloves.
If you've never tried to put on a glove one-handed, I'll tell you now it ain't easy. I was lucky the glove was made for a larger hand, and between a lot of wriggling and my teeth I managed to get it on.
I held a towel in front of my stubby wrist as I walked back to Eric. I had been doing my best to keep it out of his view, as if he'd even notice in his current state. Still, I didn't want to chance it.
"Open wide," I said and pulled the ball out of Eric's mouth, along with what must have been a bit of his tongue and the roof of his mouth, fused to the silver.
I put that evil ball back on the table while Eric made hacking noises, trying to get used to his burnt and blistered mouth.
His eyes lingered on my neck when I came back to him.
"I brought True Blood."
His eyes stayed on my neck.
"You want my blood."
He kept staring and I frowned.
The uses for vampire blood had been covered my Vamp 101, and I can't say I was thrilled to find out a few of its long term uses that Bill and Eric had conveniently neglected to tell me. Namely, how much influence a vampire could have over a human after they take vampire blood. With my odd heritage and telepathy, maybe I couldn't be manipulated as easily as other humans, but it did make me wonder about their motives. Neither Bill nor Eric had any qualms about giving me blood when vamps are usually so sparing with it.
I might have reaped some outstanding benefits, but at the price of free will, I wasn't sure it was much of a gain. Just like everything in human/vampire relations, it wasn't the human coming out on top.
Things were different now that I was a vampire. As my maker, Eric already had as much power as one vampire could get over another, but I couldn't help being a little balky. Especially since there was a portion of me (a portion that felt very unlike me) that immediately wanted to rip open a vein and coo over Eric as he fed. He might not be able to command me like a regular child, but it didn't change the fact that he essentially owned a part of me.
I sighed. "Fine. It's basically your blood anyway." I crunched into my wrist and stuck it in front of him.
His lips closed around the wound and his tongue and teeth went to work as he greedily sucked. I remembered all too well how worked up Eric had gotten when I had last taken his blood, and now that he was returning the favor, I really understood what all the fuss was about.
With each of his swallows I could feel my blood spreading through his body, repairing his carved up tissues like hundreds of scurrying ants. Even more than that, it was like the blood was being pulled straight up through my hoo-ha, electrifying every nerve on its way to my wrist.
I squirmed and moaned as I watched Eric's eyes become more lucid, watching me as a warm tightness built low in my belly. With a sharp bite from his blunt teeth, I came in a blinding wave of euphoria.
I plunked down hard on the ground, dazed and giddy from my release, my whole body saturated with satisfaction. And I hadn't even actually had sex! I was grinning like a loon there on the floor and as soon as my muscles felt solid again, I stood up.
That's when I kissed the crap out of Eric Northman.
From previous experience I knew that Eric was a master of the art of kissing, and even with a belly full of silver and the weird upside-down, hunched over angle we were working with, he still made a valiant attempt to respond.
It wasn't until I bumped his arm as I practically tried to climb on top of him that he let out an unhappy groan and I came to my senses. I pulled away and stepped back from the big wheel he was on, savoring the last taste of his kisses and my own blood on my tongue.
"I really shouldn't have done that."
Eric closed his eyes and let his head drop back, his features drawn with pain. "There are worse things than kissing me."
I raised a hand to my puffy lips. There certainly were, but I wasn't going to have this discussion while hanging out in the Queen's dungeon. "Sophie-Anne's getting married. To Arkansas. You're supposed to be out in time to attend."
Eric didn't say anything for long enough that I wondered for a second if he had drifted into down time. "That's why she has been so lenient with me."
"Turning you into a reverse hedgehog is lenient?" Even with my blood his face was waxen and gaunt, his cheek bones standing out under his papery skin.
"Comparatively." He paused, gathering the effort to keep going. "They are avoiding methods that cause long term damage. It would only take a few days of extra blood and rest for me to be back at full strength."
I caught on to where he was going. There were only so many reasons to need a former Viking in good condition. "Sophie-Anne wants you to help defend her when Threadgill tries a takeover," I said as the thought dawned on me.
"Yes."
"And you'd be willing to do it?"
"Yes."
These vampires and their weird sense of loyalty. After weeks of torturing him, Sophie-Anne expected Eric to risk his life to keep her on the throne. Why? Because she could have been more awful to him. "That's crazy."
"It is rational. I would have done the same thing in her position."
I fingered my stump. The clean cut had already scabbed over and made its way to shiny scar tissue. I would be fine now if the skin was all that had been damaged, but the bone and muscle were already pushing to recreate my hand, one fiber and cell at a time. A dull throb had built at the blunt end of my arm that made my teeth ache.
Eric's logic might be rational, but that didn't mean it didn't still hurt.
I got him to drink some True Blood. It was a bit awkward, like feeding a hospital patient, since his hands were chained down and I was missing one of mine. I ended up supporting his head with my forearm while I tried to tip the bottle to his lips. Not all of the blood made it into his mouth, and Eric took the opportunity to ogle my braless chest while I swabbed him clean with my over-sized white shirt.
That made me feel a little better about him, as odd as it seemed. I supposed I only really had to worry about Eric if he didn't have energy or state of mind to find my boobs worth a good stare.
I asked about the guard schedule. I had been keeping tabs on the other voids in the building, but they had stayed occupied with the humans in the building for most of our visit. According to Eric, they generally came to him after sunset and right before dawn.
"I don't know if I'll be able to pop in again. The Queen's letting me go back to Shreveport tomorrow." I'd never tried to teleport that far, and I wasn't sure I even wanted to imagine the consequences of a pop like that going wrong. "I'll tell Pam you said hi."
He nodded, understanding. "This was more than I expected."
I picked up the silver ball from where I'd left it on the table along with the duct tape. Eric and the room needed to be left just like I had found them. I knew that, but I still didn't want to shove that hunk of silver back in his mouth.
His lips pressed into a thin line when he saw what I had, and then, he opened them.
As much as I understood that he couldn't opt out of this punishment anymore than a human could opt out of paying taxes or following the law, it was still unsettling to see him so ready to take up that burden again. Sophie-Anne had given him his Sheriff position, which in turn gave him the freedom and autonomy to build a business he loved and run his area how he saw fit. All that came with a price, though, and unless he took more power, he'd always be behold to the people who did.
Eric jerked when I put the ball back in and a quick burst of air rushed out through his nose. The tape went back over his mouth and I smoothed his dirty hair while his blue eyes watched.
It only took me a moment to gather up the True Blood bottles and chug another one myself. I moved to the center of the room, and gave a pathetic little wave.
"I'll see you in Shreveport." And I popped out.
A/N: Whoo! Long chapter. I have to say though that I think "Idaho" and "silver miner" is probably one of the better place/job combos if you want vampires to stay away from you. Or maybe you be the pointy stick maker for those pit traps you always see in movies.
Anyway, next up: Fangtasia! Pam! Weres! Witches! And possibly a pouty Chow! Let's get ready to rumble!