This chapter was done with KYSun in mind. For all the excitement and interest and the time you take to leave me loads of encouragement. THANK YOU!

This chapter is for you but I hope you won't mind if we all enjoy!

Eric

Chapter Ten

Testing The Ties

I watched Sookie's retreating figure until it disappeared into the plane. The fact that I just had her not even two hours ago did not keep me from aching already. I had an insurmountable amount of lust for her. Lately it seemed she was the worse of the two. We had been exchanging blood so much during sex she smells strongly of me. So much so she may be able to pass for a vampire herself. Her scent in relation to my own was that of a child's child. Only in close proximity could that assumption be corrected. It was a compliment of sorts to me. My scent on her would be of significance to the vampires she would come into contact with. It was a good thing our bond has been so strongly reinforced. The distance should not have any more effect on either of us. The last time the distance between us stretched over states the effects were disrupting. It required a medium in the form of Pam for us to be able to function while apart. She would be fine.

"We should have sent more people with her" Gideon observed. I nodded. Sookie going alone was making a statement. It spoke for our alliance as well as the balance of power between us. We would be viewed as one in the she been going into any other territory other than a sister state of ours her arrangements would have differed greatly. The first point being that she would not have gone without me. Our associates would have been in larger numbers. Her trip also gave her a much needed recess from her duties and Gideon. He tested her patience and as of late she did not have much of it. Her moods had been fleeting. I was confident nothing would arise that Thalia and Edgar could not handle. In the unlikely event that it did Pam would be of assistance in any way she could.

He made a face that indicated that was all the more reason to send in the cavalry. "You know she all but tortured me while I was there" I smiled and rolled my eyes. He was exaggerating.

For our honeymoon Sookie and I went to the mountains of Alaska. It was a place where I did not have to run the risk of being identified by other vampires. I spent many hours with her. The nights were longer. While we were there Gideon was in Arkansas under the charge of Pam. She imposed a curfew, a meal of strictly synthetic blood and forbade him to have sex. This wasn't so much a safety measure as it was retaliation for her coronation gown that he destroyed. Pam was going to hold a grudge about that for a few decades. In return he tormented her with his incessant complaints about her "Gayass decor". Needless to say he was not welcome back in her state nor was he eager to return. A time would come when the Americas would not be enough for these two.

We were exiting the terminal. As we walked we drew attention form the humans. My face has been publicized as the new king of Louisiana. I was even now familiar to the lowliest human because I was pushing my image as ushering in a new era of vampire and human living in harmony. We were almost at the exit when a group of young women began to prattle and point. They would benefit from a lesson in subtlety especially if they were going to gawk like idiots.

"Oh my gosh. It's him!" One of them gushed. I pretended not to notice. They felt safe enough in a crowded place to approach us. "Can I have your autograph?" Her expression was a mixture of delight and apprehension. She held out her plane ticket and a pen. You just couldn't escape enthralling the vermin for too long. This was something I occasionally dealt with in Fangtasia. Being king meant I was hassled more frequently and in more places. She regarded Gideon and cowered.

"Shouldn't you be doing something about this?" I whispered to Gideon. He shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"Remember you need to play nice to win the popularity contest" I waved them forward and held out my hand. This was a good a time as any to help my human relations.

"Who am I making this out to?" I gave her an alluring smile. She blushed profusely.

"Um…Janie" her tone was bemused. Her friends came closer now that it was certain they would not die.

"Can I take a picture" One of them asked in a small voice. "Please" I smiled through the boredom and waved all of them forward. I draped my arms over them and Gideon took the picture. How I missed the good old days when we would let them take it and smash the camera right after.

I was able to see the plane Sookie was on takeoff. In the same instant I felt her become sick. It was strange because she was not fainted hearted. She has seen things that would make strong men squeal. There was no pain or any other sign of distress to indicate something was wrong. I did not understand it. I called her phone but it was off so was that of all the people she had taken with her. I was strangely anxious. My blood should keep her feeling more than healthy. She should be vigorous. Nothing could explain why she was feeling unwell. I left her messages. I also left a message for Pam to watch her. Knowing Sookie she would downplay whatever was wrong with her.

Gideon and I had a meeting with Sid Mat Lancaster. He was the same individual that represented Sophie-Anne when she was accused of murdering her husband. I went through a lot of trouble in tracking him down. It required the aid of a witch as well as the niece of Mr. Cataliades. He was found in Seychelles a small country off the eastern coast of Africa. It was no surprise that he was found exploiting and abusing the natives. There was little to no humanity left in him no vampire would turn him. He was that far gone there was no telling what kind of monster he would be. He was much too depraved even for our standards. All that withstanding he was an excellent lawyer. He would be helping me prepare my testimony and repeal petitions. There were still some accusations I had to answer for. Nothing was crucial if anything it was a waste of my time and money but it was necessary.

"I want to go out after the meeting" Gideon said. All this was still rather new to him. Being made vampire in this age altered the experience greatly. He was eager to redo all the things he had done through these eyes. He could do so out in the open without fear of recognition. It was all monotonous to me now. I have seen and done everything a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes. But he was my guard where I went he went. I was perfectly able to fight or flee danger if the need arose but he would not go anywhere without me.

"Where?" He thought about it. He did not get a chance to answer. We were on the highway when I received a call from Compton. In that part of the state he was my eyes and ears not only in the supernatural community but the human society as well. Being king of the state as well as sheriff of this area meant sometimes I attended to the mundane.

"The bar of the shifter has been burned" That was not only uninteresting it was something that was not my concern. "So was his house. He claims it was a vampire" My eyes narrowed. No vampire would dare. Having a personal vendetta against a were was one thing. It was something you handled discreetly otherwise you ran the risk of sending the entire two natured community in an uproar. While most vampires were stronger than they were they had numbers and the sun on their side. There was a code of behavior between our kind and theirs. This was a violation of it. In these times both species had to toe the line and refrain from calling negative attention to themselves. As sheriff it was my duty to find and punish this vampire to their satisfaction.

"I'm on my way" I hung up and made a call to Heidi. She was not an original member of the Louisiana regime. She was an excellent tracker that was in my employ. Thankfully her son had died of his addiction to human opiates. She was now a much more reliable and one minded vampire. The only unpleasant change to her character was that now she favored Thalia on disposition. She was ill-tempered and ill-mannered and most of the time she wondered aimlessly through the state brooding and pining over her loss. I did not understand it. That child was lost to her the night she was made vampire. Not leaving him to his life endangered them both. Like Thalia she was more tolerable when she was left alone. I obliged her unless I required her services.

"Meet me in Bon temps at the shifter's bar" I hung up. Gideon had already set a course for our new destination. He was frowning. This was not the sort of outing he had in mind. If he got his hands on this vampire there would be hell to pay for ruining his plans for the night. Although finding a good fight in this may assuage some of his disappointment.

"What do you think?" Gideon had a military mind set. He was able to calculate and discern objectives and threats in any situation. I also needed to train him to see things from a vampire aspect. The two were similar in tactics but the motivations and end goals differed but not greatly; wealth; territory; power.

"It depends. This shifter is he the type to get in bed with the wrong people?" I shook my head. While I knew nothing of him personally Sookie had worked for him for several years and she cares for him. If he were ever into anything questionable she would have known and she would not have abide by it. He was quiet thinking it over. "I think it might be personal anything other than that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. If you would do something like that the first thing you would do is leave no eyewitnesses; otherwise you would have three sets of people gunning for your head. If the bar was empty I would say it was a warning, if not I would say a rouge is kicking up dirt and wanted it known that he was a vampire" I favored his last theory. The vampires of this state did not want trouble and that was all this was.

A half hour later I was at the scene of the incident. The sight was clearing. The fire had been long extinguished and the building lay in blackened ruin. It wasn't a fire. Someone had used something shy of a grenade. The damages were extensive there was nothing that could be salvaged. Any scent that could have been identified by any of us was lost in all the smoke. In the woods that surrounded the establishment I saw several members of the long tooth pack. They were invincible to the humans. Their presence here was curious. Sam did not belong to their pack. Last I checked he was unaffiliated.

All this I observed from the comfort of my car. Sookie was responding to my text finally.

"Motion sickness on the flight"

"I will come for you" I wanted her close to me. Whatever ailed her was stronger than my blood.

"No need. I feel much better"I was confused.

"Gideon what is motion sickness?" He laughed before he answered.

"Moving crafts; air planes, boats and cars offsets peoples balance and they become nauseous" I laughed. Such a little thing had someone as strong as she sick. I knew that Pam was most certainly tormenting her about it.

"You are weary, rest"

"Okay"

I waited for Heidi to arrive. For someone who has been a part of human military in recent years my child had a fondness for was a holster that crossed behind his back and went around his shoulders it held a wide assortment of knives. The kill was more intimate and respectful he explained. I understood his meaning and shared the same sentiment.

I would say he was more eager for a fight than one was to find him. "Perhaps tonight will be your night" He grinned as he pulled on his jacket.

"If not here then definitely with the lawyer" I did not fully understand what he meant.

"All lawyers are reputed vermin" I asked. I thought it was just a trait unique to Lancaster. He laughed.

"Exactly"

Bill was speaking with the local lawmen and Heidi was pulling up in her car. Her glower was ever present. She made rounds between the burnt home and bar. From the shadows the wolves came forward. She barely had time to dodge before the wolf closets to her lunged. Bill was at her side and so were Gideon and I. Stupid mutts, if Heidi was the one that did this would she come back to the scene of the crime? This was exactly the kind of thing we wanted to avoid. Werewolves and the like were not very analytic in their thinking. They had a pack mentality. A brawl here and now would solve nothing. Not to mention humans were present.

Collective growls ripped through the night from the wolves in front of us. They were answered with the clicking of fangs and snarls from all vampires except myself. There were two vampires present that were looking for a fight. Total there were six of them and they were no match for us. Our confrontation was not going unnoticed by the humans that were lingering. Some were remaining law enforcement others were humans that came to pry about things that was not their concern.

"Enough" Their pack master was absent. They would not attack me without a direct order. An auburn colored wolf shifted into his human form.

"You deaders did this" He looked at all of us. What do I care about burning down this hovel? It was no longer of consequence to me. Sookie no longer worked here. I did however consider the act many times while she toiled her time away in the employ of the shifter.

The dimwitted detective that I have come across too many times wadded his way to us. The vampires were statues with blank faces. The wolves were visibly agitated but maintaining.

"I'm detective Belfleur" He made a point to stand tall and show the badge on his chest. Imbecile, unless it was silver it would do him no good if we decided to fight. "Is there a problem here?" Simply walking away would do more harm than good. I hated to dignify his question with a response it would further acknowledge his existence.

"No, we merely came to see how we could be of assistance" I waved my hand to the side where the bar had once stood in all its shabby glory. He looked to the weres for confirmation and the one in his human form nodded.

"While you are here I have some questions for you" This was the limit of my patience.

"Gideon" He produced a card and extended it to the human. It held the name and contact information of my attorney usual. "You will go through him" I looked to the wolves.

"Have Alcide contact me" I walked away and the vampires with me followed.

"What do you know so far?" I asked Bill."One of their pack members was with Sam. She didn't survive. Sam was positive he saw a vampire but I couldn't catch a trail coming or going in any direction" That explained the presence and hostility of the pack. It completely complicated matters. I nodded at Heidi she disappeared into the woods that surrounded the bar. We waited for her to return. It took her longer than I thought it would especially because she came back with nothing.

"There is only a single trail and it is very faint. It goes east then it just vanishes" That was curious. Perhaps the quarry flew. "I think it is vampire" I was confused. We may not recognize the owner but vampire blood was unmistakable if it was present especially to another of our kind. No matter how faint the scent.

"Explain yourself"

"It smells like a vampire but not entirely" Her glower had shifted minutely and she appeared perplexed.

"A human or another creature with a lot of vampire blood" Bill suggested.

"No" She shook her head to emphasize. "The prints are very light in the ground like vampire"

"An accomplice?" Gideon said. Again Heidi shook her head.

"There is only one trail. No bends or breaks in the tree tops to indicate flight. It begins from the same point and leads this way" She gestured behind her back toward the woods, then to the bar and back again. "It retreats and disappears at almost the same point it began" My guess was the involvement of witches. Though none had been reported in the area. Also the smell of magic is palpable to creatures that had their root in it. It was absent here. There was no sense to make of this.

"Continue searching there has to be something" She nodded and left.

"Find out what you can from the humans in the vicinity" Bill nodded and he too disappeared into the night.

Once again we set out for Shreveport to meet with the lawyer. This detour had made us late but I knew he would wait. Not only was I paying him I was also blackmailing him. If all that he did for me was not flawless I would hand deliver him to the highest bidder. For someone who had lived less than half a century he had many enemies and was guilty of many crimes. We never made it. I was gripped with a feeling that could only be described as a complex mixture of hostility, fear and anger. I have never felt anything like this coming from her before. I tried to focus on a dominant emotion. There was no one emotion it remained the jumbled mass of emotions. This was much more than her losing her temper again. It seemed Sookie was taking previsions for an impending fight. But she was confused and apprehensive about it. Something has shaken her severely. There was not enough time to make preparation to leave and still make it to Arkansas tonight.

I could feel she was not wounded or as panicked as she had been a moment ago. The fact that she hadn't disappeared from our bond told me she was not feeling physically threatened. It confused me further. I was dialing her phone. I got no response. Pam, Thalia, Tristan none of them answered. "Shit" I tried to remain calm for her sake.

"Indira lock down the compound. Call around and see who's free" He was securing the fort and planning our departure. I was sitting still with my phone gripped in my hand.

"Eric, she's smart and tough she'll be fine. If she wasn't we would know" He was being reasonable because I was beyond it. He was young and was very still unable to tune out my emotions completely. The exact cause of my worry was unbeknownst to him at times. But he was astute enough to know it occurred whenever Sookie was not within arms reach.

Anthony's warning was never far from my mind. All that he would say was that there would come a time when leaving her would be the only choice I have. He did not say when or how or in what context. The only explanation I could come up with was that she would die and I would have to let her. I may be clinging onto senselessness but I still hoped Sookie would change her mind on immortality.

Anthony's visions were clearer now. They have gained much range in taking the blood of his father. Even then he hadn't given me a way to circumvent what he saw. He said he couldn't it would be harmful to us both. It left me wondering why he said anything to begin with. It was easy to say I was angry with him for his obscurity but in truth I was afraid. Parting with her was something I did not want to face. I couldn't but yet it was so inevitable. It took a lot of discipline to allow Sookie to go anywhere or to do anything without me. I knew doing that would make her feel like a prisoner. Given the choice I also knew she would prefer her freedom no matter the risks. So I let her be. In this moment I was regretting it. Something felt wrong.

My phone lit in my hand. It was Pam. "Where is she? What happened?" Tension leaked into my voice as I struggled to remain calm.

Pam hated being barraged with questions in this manner. She answered me anyway. "We were almost out the door at the restaurant when she hissed"

I furrowed my brow. "How do you mean?"

"Like an angry kitten" Pam was amused. "She heard something that alarmed her but she could not identify it for us. She refused to leave until whatever she heard passed. There is a search party about the area. I will let her know what they find. She is more put out than anything else" I could feel as much. I wanted to speak to her but I did not want to hear the reassurances that she would offer. I was going to Arkansas.

o0o0o0o

The preparations had been made the night before. I was traveling light and fast. Alana and Maxwell would be accompanying Gideon and I. Our trip began last night. We rested at a safe house. We had just entered Pam's territory when I felt Panic flare through my body. All that shared my blood with the exception of Gideon was in danger. I felt it all at once. It was too much to contain. I mashed on the brake the car fish tailed and almost spiraled out of my control. I clenched the wheel. Alana and Maxwell were blocking the other two lanes of the highway.

I couldn't think. Someone was wounded. It felt like Tristan. The feeling disappeared from my body along with Sookie, Pam and Tristan. I knew they were in the middle of a fight.

"Stay the course" I exited the car and took to the air. It was faster and it provided me with the added advantage of seeing without being seen. I pushed my body as fast as it would go.

Pam was supposed to be in her house in the mountains. It was the setting of her union. I smelled death. There was another scent in the air. It was heavy and I could not identify it. The garage had emptied of most of the vehicles. There were no inhabitants in the home. I orbited form above. In a garden that centered the house I could see piles of ashes that were redolent of a vampire being sent to his final death. There was nothing I could at the moment. I could not track any of the people I desired. I waited for Gideon and the others to arrive. Anxiety was consuming me. In my head I knew if Sookie was well then so were Pam and Tristan she would not let harm to befall them and they would protect her.

Slowly I began to feel them again. I could follow Pam easiest. They had taken refuge in a hotel in a busy section of town. I knocked on Pam's window. She had just washed the smell of the fight off her body.

"Next room over" She pointed to the left.

A guard in front of Sookie's room opened the door for me. I found her seated on the floor of shower stall. She was just letting the water beat her tiny frame. I could not feel her as clearly as I normally could. But I knew this look. For me it was just the way of the world. For her great acts of violence that were unprovoked resonated with her more than they should. It saddened her deeply. I turned off the water and wrapped her in a towel. We did not speak as I toweled her hair and body dry. I knew none of them had had time to receive the necessary items they needed. I gave her my shirt and lay with her in bed. I held her to me tightly, gently stroking her hair; her back; her face. It felt like nothing was right anywhere else if I wasn't with her.

o0o0o

A round of applause for KYSun...

Okay...I want you guys to know that some of you I wont say who have bright futures as detectives. I got ton's of brilliant ideas and speculation as to what the heck is going on. Some will be answered in the nest update and others will take their time in to unfold.