A/N – Kind of a short chapter just to get something out for the weekend, next one will be longer and up probably Tuesday or Wednesday. Have a great weekend!

Chapter 10

I went to bed and slept soundly until about eleven when I awoke to sense a presence other than my own. I looked across the room and made out the slight glow of a female vampire form.

"Well, hello Pam," I said groggily. "I'd like to get some sleep since I'm going to war tomorrow, do you mind?"

Pam rose and crossed over to the bed, where she sat down on the foot.

"Yes, about that," she said, smoothing out the covers in an uncharacteristically maternal motion. "What are you playing at now, Sookie?"

Oh God, I so don't have time for this.

"Just say what you want Pam, I need to sleep."

"Well, my master apparently didn't have the time or inclination to explain some things to you this evening, so he asked me to come by and inform you of Felipe's position before tomorrow.

"Felipe is not happy with the whole Reveal situation, Sookie. He thinks it was poorly planned out, not nearly as well as the vampires did it a couple of years ago, and that the two-natured have basically asked for this trouble.

"Also, as Eric suggested might happen, Felipe is angry at Alcide for stealing you away. In addition, this battle will involve a great deal of human involvement, which could be highly detrimental to our cause, and as a result Felipe sees no reason to get involved at this point in time."

I sat up in bed and brushed the hair out of my face. "Pam, I don't know much about war mongering, but I do think 'divide and conquer' applies here. I would think sticking together would be a wise thing for Supes to do."

"This is Felipe's stand, not ours, Sookie." I nodded my head.

"Another thing I'd like to mention," Pam stroked my foot through the quilt, then abruptly pinched my big toe hard. I yelped.

"Eric was very happy when he came home last night after spending time with you, only to have that mood ruined when he learned you were with another man only hours before, a man with whom you are currently involved."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Alcide called Eric right before you arrived tonight and during the course of the conversation mentioned that you are dating Lance Herveaux; that in fact, you had dinner with him night before last, the night Eric stayed in your cabin. Is this correct?"

Oh. That might explain the shitty humor Eric was in when I got to Fangtasia. Freaking Alcide, I thought darkly, still up to his old tricks, and now he's my boss. He and I were going to have to sit down and have a little chat.

"Lance and I grabbed a sandwich after work, it wasn't a date. I work with him."

"So you aren't dating him."

"Well, he has asked me out now, but at that point in time, we were not dating. However, since Eric has informed me he wants nothing to do with me romantically, I see nothing standing in my way of going out with anyone."

Pam huffed and crossed her arms, shooting me a dirty look.

"Look Pam, I don't know how much Eric has told you, but let's just say I offered him an arrangement, and he turned it down, so I have nothing to feel guilty about."

"An arrangement," Pam's teeth glinted in the moonlight, but she wasn't smiling. "Is that what you think Eric wants with you, Sookie? An arrangement?"

"Well, if there is something else he wants with me Pam, I certainly gave him the opportunity to make it clear, and he did not," I snapped back. "You can be mad at me if you want, but Eric is as much a part of this equation, or lack thereof, as I am.

"I asked him, Pam, and he turned me down. Flat. What else do you think I should do?"

"I think you should get over yourself, Sookie," Pam said. For the first time since I've known her, I noticed she looked tired. "He's a man, and therefore, he needs help. You're going to have to meet him more than halfway if you want to get anywhere. Between the two of you, I am about to lose my equilibrium, and that is something I don't lose."

With that she swept out of the room. I tried, pretty much unsuccessfully, to get some sleep.

When Alcide called me the next morning I really wanted to light into him about the Eric and Lance thing but I knew it was a bad time. Our conversation was quick, he had a lot on his plate, but he told me that Lance would be my contact and would be calling me later in the morning. He did mention that I should dress in camouflage hunting gear if I had any.

Well, I had some pink and blue camo mini skirts from Target but I didn't think he meant that. I went over to Jason's and got some gear, a vest and camo shirt, and a hat. While I was that close to the cabin I decided to go up and check on everything.

The weather was cool, about 50 degrees would be the high today, not too bad to be out in the woods. I saddened as I approached my little hideaway. So many things had happened in the last few days.

I went inside and started a pot of coffee, and sat down on the bed to reflect. Had it been only 48 hours since I was here with Eric? Since we laughed and played? How could it be the way it was now, he and I at this emotional impasse, with no plans for a future anything between us, and a major fight to the death battle scheduled to start in just a couple of hours. I put my head in my hands. I just wanted to turn back time.

After a few minutes I got up and poured my coffee. I looked around the room and smiled in spite of myself. Provided I lived through this night, I would have my Viking in this cabin again, I could just feel it. This was not a place for sadness. This place made me happy, and I could not deny it.

I heard a popping noise and looked up to see no one other than my great-grandfather Niall standing in the door of the cabin, dressed as nattily as ever, in an expensive looking dark brown suit and matching ascot, his silver hair braided down his back.

"So I see you've found it," he said softly as he walked into the room, surveying each and every corner. "I wondered what was keeping you from here."

"You know this place?" I asked, surprised.

"I have been to this cabin before, even though it has been many years. This is the only place Adele would allow Fintan to visit her or his children. He was never allowed to come down to the house. Adele thought it disrespectful to her husband."

And then some, I thought silently.

Eww. "So this is where they..…"

"This is where they rendezvoused, yes, until after Linda was born, and Adele ended the affair. After that, she would meet Fintan here every year or so, and let him see the children when they were young, although when they got old enough to remember him she quit bringing them along. After that she only brought photos of the children to the cabin. She would tell Fintan of their progress, and of course, of yours and Jason's, and Hadley's, after you all were born.

"But when your father died, Adele stopped the visits. It just hurt too much, and then when Linda died - well, she wouldn't even talk to Fintan after that. I think she felt cheated. She had born two children by a supernatural being, and both lived less than full human life spans. It broke Fintan's heart. He loved Adele very much, much more than she loved him, in his own way. He continued to visit this cabin every year until his death, just to relive the memories. Every year hoped she would come, but she never did.

"She was always worried about how she had aged, she never understood that fairies, in our truest form, only see the light of a being's soul, not their physical manifestations. Fintan always saw Adele as breathtakingly beautiful as she had been the first day he laid eyes on her."

I was silent. I couldn't help but think of how my grandmother loved to read romance novels, always asking me to pick her up a new one at the library or the book store, when this great romance was playing out in her own life, and she chose to ignore it.

"So what's the magic with this place?" I asked. "Several people have mentioned wards. Eric couldn't get past the moss circle the other night until I asked him in."

"Fintan put a lot of magic in this place for Adele's sake. She was so nervous about the affair, about the safety of the children, knowing how attractive the children would be to other supernaturals, how someone might try to hurt me through all of you. He wanted her to have a safe house, a place where she could feel at peace, with him or with the children. He warded this cabin in a very specific way, and worked on the magic every time he came here. He did it out of pure love for Adele and his family. The wards still hold; you'll rarely find a place as safe as this one, magic wise. Remember that."

I nodded my head. "And did he put any other kind of magic here, anything to affect feelings?"

"No, I know for a fact specifically he did not want to influence Adele's feelings for him by magic. He had used magic when he met first met her; most likely she would not have begun the affair without it. When she realized that he used magic she became very angry and threatened to end the relationship. He swore he would never use it on her again, and to my knowledge he never did. Adele would not have it. Anything you feel here will be genuine, it just may seem intensified because of the safety aspect, that is all."

That made me feel better. I could use all the safe places I could get.

"Sookie, I came looking for you to tell you that I have heard of the trouble with the Weres tonight. Because of the large amount of human involvement, fairies cannot be pulled in."

Where had I heard that before? I nodded again.

"We can't risk the exposure, Sookie. We are not cowards. Fairies will fight but humans are very dangerous to us. They can wipe us out, and have wiped a great many of us out, just by their sheer numbers and consequent damage to the forests. There is nothing on earth more dangerous than mankind, Sookie."

Those words rang true.

"But if you need me, really need me, call me. I will find a way to help if I can. I just can't send in fairy troupes, you understand."

He turned around to leave, his hand brushing the door as he glanced around the room once more. "It's good to see you here, Sookie. It seems right." And he was gone.

I sat down on the bed again and shook my head. Okay. No vamps, no fairies to help me out of this mess. Tonight would be just me and the two-natured. Suddenly I felt very alone.