Bill clears his throat from behind me. "Bill Compton, and this is-"

"Sookie Stackhouse" Eric finishes for him, without ever taking his eyes off me.

"Do you two... know each other?" Bill asks warily.

"Only in his wildest dreams" I say with a wink at Eric.

"Var favorit lilla alvlik har återvänt (Our favorite little fairy has returned)" Pam says looking from Eric to me, to Bill with a mischievous smile.

"Precis nar jag borjade bli uttrakad. (Just when I was getting bored). Eric says with a smirk. "Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?"

"Sookie was just taking a walk on the wild side, forgive us for the interruption-"

"Actually" I say, interrupting Bill. "I'm hoping to find a lead on a person that has been strangle, one who my brother hasn't slept with"

"Specific" Pam sasses.

"It's a long story" I tell her.

"Then, please, have a seat" Eric says gesturing new seating additions to the stage. They defiantly weren't there when we walked up…

I take the seat closest to Eric, earning myself a sly smile from him.

"Bill. Funny story, the queen called. I am ordered to make myself available to her lapdog, incase he needs assistance on completing his task," Eric says without looking away from me.

"Well, she is very benevolent queen. She is also very scrupulous with who she entrusts important assignments. Tell me, Northman, has she confided anything remotely interesting in you?"

An undercurrent of tension rocked through the room. The oblivious humans continued to dance to the overbearingly annoying beat. Yet, all the vampires in the room seems to collectively hold their breaths waiting for Eric's reply. It's even more nerve racking when you remember that vampires don't need to breathe.

But Eric just chuckles.

"Life is going to be pathetically short for you, isn't it?" Pam says instead.

"Or one day I'll be sheriff of a sizable portion of Luisiana. How's your retirement plan-"

"Not to interrupt this lovely pissing contest, boys, but the cops are coming…"

"Sookie!" Bill admonishes.

"Explain!" Eric barks.

"That guy in the hat," I say pointing to the man wearing an 'FBI' hat, "I read his mind. He is an undercover cop."

"We aren't doing anything illegal," Pam informs me.

"No, but the chick fangs deep in the injured bald guy from earlier is," I say as the sirens reach the parking lot.

"Follow me," Eric leaves the stage towards an 'employee only' hallway, which leads to an exit out to the back alley.

"I'll make sure Sookie gets home safely," Bill tells Eric.

"Non-sense, the Queen's lapdog shouldn't be reduced to doing a lackey's job," Eric tells him as he grabs my waste.

"No, sir!" I bat his hand away.

"See! She doesn't want your interference!" Bill tells him as he starts to walk towards me.

Instead, I grab Eric's hand I just swatted and tug him behind me, "Wrong again, Bill. I just wanted to take my own car this time!"

"This time?" was the last I heard from Bill for the night.

Bill POV.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit all to hell. That was too friendly. 'This time', she says. 'This time' like it's some inside joke between the two. Shit. This was suppose to be easy. Sookie was suppose to be a recluse dumb redneck. It was suppose to be easy—a worldly gentlemen steps into her life, she falls head over heals, and follows me back to New Orleans. I was suppose to bring her to the Queen with Sookie wanting to go.

Now? Now she's smiling as she's getting in to the car with Northman.

Shit.

Maybe I can still save this?

Queen's POV.

"My Queen, there is a Bill Compton waiting on the line for you," one of my minions interrupts my play time to inform me. Hadley pouts as I crawl out of bed, but what can I do? A Queen's job is never done.

"What do you want?" I ask picking up the phone.

"Northman is interfering. He's getting too close to the girl. She doesn't seem to trust me…"

"Well then make her trust you!"

"I don't know how! Other than being her neighbor, I have no reason to be around her. I can tell she is getting suspicious that I'm always there… How do you force someone to trust you?"

"Oh, don't get philosophical on me! I told you how when I first gave you this assignment!" With a huff, I get back into my comfy bed. The bed is now clean, since Hadley had called the maids in to clean up the left over mess from our fun. "I need more than location to get close to her." Hadley must have picked up on my annoyance, because she starts to message my feet and place gentle kisses at my ankles.

"Fine. Consider yourself Liaison of the Crown. You'll need to come see me as soon as possible to get the proper paperwork. But that should give you enough reason to get yourself involved in whatever Eric would need a telepath for".

"You think he knows she's a telepath?" He asks. The conversation is slowly loosing my interest, due to Hadley's hands now working on my calves.

"Yes."

"Do you think he going to try to get sole control over her?"

"Not if he knows what's good for him. Listen, I'm only going to repeat myself this once. You need to get her to feel indebted to you. Make it emotional. You create a situation where she needs saving, then you show up as her white knight. Next thing you know, she's in love with you! It's simple. How you've managed to screw it up I'll never know! Also, while I'm at it—watch your tone with me. This assignment is your only second chance. If you continue to screw it up, if you don't get the girl to me soon, or worse—loose her to Northman, I won't be giving you a third. I'll end you and destroy your maker. Do I make myself clear?"

I can hear his nervous gulp, "Yes, my Queen. I won't disappoint you, again."

I toss the phone to the floor, uncaring if I actually hung up, and give Hadley my full attention. I grab her by the hair and bring her face close to mind.

"Why is it so hard for people to please me? Is what I ask unreasonable?" I run my hand gently down her cheek. She doesn't answer. "I just want the best, am I undeserving?"

"No, Mistress. Not at all," she whimpers. I can tell my hold on her hair is hurting, but I don't ease up.

"And all I want is a tasty telepathic fairy as a pet. I deserve nothing less. Compton will bring her here. Where she will solve all of our problems," I roll us over so that I'm now straddling the girl. "She'll make me millions with her mind. She'll raise your," I bop Hadley on the nose, "little rugrat to take her place. Meanwhile, she'll be a delectable little treat when I get bored of my favorite".

I relish in the spike of fear and displeasure that races through Hadley at the thought that would ever loose my favor.
"Yes, Mistress. If that's what you want," She says obediently.

But I know otherwise. Wrapping my hand around her throat tightly, "Don't worry, my treasure. That's not today," I twist her head to the side and bite into her neck, not so delicately.

Bill POV

I need to create an emotional situation in which she'll need saving from… An emotion she'd need saving from? As a human I alway turned to alcohol when I was confronted with overwhelming emotions, especially when I lost someone I loved.
A situation, where I could help her escape her overwhelming emotions… I wonder if death of a loved one would work…