Sunlight and Ambrosia

Chapter 10 – Season 2 – Welcome to Dallas

Bill called Anne just before sunrise to tell her that their flight was at five pm that day and that a van from the travel agency would pick all of them up. When they got to the airport they had to wait an hour before the private jet arrived and then had to wait another hour for the jet to get fueled up. Once the flight attendant offered Sookie a bunch of small liquor bottles, a big mistake as far as Anne was concerned considering she had to deal with the tipsy blonde. Anne and Sookie arrived in Dallas just after sundown, the two of them walking off the private jet together as Sookie giggling and waved to the limo driver, Anne ducking her head in embarrassment.

"I've always loved these," Sookie told the man, happily, holding up the bottle. "They're like booze for dolls. They gave me ten,"

"I wish they had given me ten,"

"You're two hours late," the man told them nervously. "You were supposed to be here before sundown,"

"We were delayed," Anne told him, a shadow of the annoyance she felt at having to wait in the airport for over an hour burning in the base of her brain.

"Well, why don't you two go in the limo?" he asked them, glancing at the coffins being wheeled over on a lift nervously. "I got the AC cranked. There's Cokes in there too,"

"No, thanks, I'm fine," Sookie smiled.

"Oh, go on. It'll just be a minute," he told her, placing a hand on Anne's waist to guide her to the open door of the limo.

Anne knew something was up the same way Sookie did. Both women instantly using their powers on the man; Sookie hearing that he wanted them both in the limo before Bill and Jessica woke up while Anne caught a glimpse of this man getting a call to kidnap the two humans that would be arriving with the vampire Bill Compton. Almost before the girls had processed this the man grabbed both girls, shoving Anne into the limo and about to do the same with Sookie when a hand appeared around his neck.

"Make a noise and it'll be your last," Bill warned, letting his fangs pop out.

"Hey, how the hell does this thing open?!" Jessica yelled from inside her travel coffin as it fell off the lift, making all four of them look over at it. "Get me out of this! Help!"

Anne just started laughing before she walked over and opened it for her, getting a thank you from Jessica before they all piled into the limo, kidnapper included. Bill asked Anne to see if she could sense anything before he glamoured the man and she nodded her head, doing as she was asked.

"He was hired to kidnap Sookie and I by the Fellowship of the Sun. He did not know who we were but he knew that there were two humans. He was to take us to the church where he was to pick up the rest of his money, the first half being left for him at the Greyhound station. The Fellowship wants us because you vampires wanted to use us to find Godric, which means there is a mole in the nest," Anne told them all, taking her hands off of him as she opened her eyes and sat back in her seat. "And his name is Leon Monroe,"

Once they sent Leon on his way, glamouring him into thinking that their plane had never arrived, they headed to the hotel where Bill called Eric to tell him what had happened. Uninterested, Anne left for her room which sat across the hall from Sookie and Bill's, conjoined with Jessica's. It was an elegant room, with sparse furnishings that looked expensive, making the room feel larger and clean. It seemed that the hotel decorator had really wanted to push that this was a vampire hotel, all colors either being black, white, charcoal grey or a blood red. Anne didn't mind… except the blood red stain that was still in the carpet just to the left of her bed.

After a shower, Anne was about to head to bed when she felt a familiar presence outside her door, listening as she heard Eric knock on Bill and Sookie's room, telling Bill to meet him at the bar near the lobby. Anne quickly got dressed and followed Bill down to the bar, going to sit in a dark corner table where she could hear what they were saying with her heightened Elfish hearing.

"I admire you, Bill," Eric murmured with a smirk. "It takes a real vampire to admit he cannot protect his human,"

"And it takes a true monster to not care about anyone or anything other than himself,"

"I care about others," Eric argued.

"You care about Godric," Bill corrected. "You have no obligations to Dallas or Texas. This is personal for you, why? Why this allegiance to Godric?"

Bill found this most interesting to say the least, especially when it took Eric a long moment to answer the question, giving a flimsy answer. "He's much beloved by his subjects,"

"Only kings and queens have subjects, Eric, not sheriffs,"

"Godric could have been king of Texas has he wanted," Eric growled at Bill. "He could have been king of any vampire territory anywhere. He is twice as old as I am and very powerful. There are none above him in the New World,"

"Well, if he's so powerful, how could they abduct him?"

"Now, that is what worries me," Eric told him, sitting up. "If one such as he can be taken by humans then none of us is safe,"

Bill sat there for a moment before asking; "What can I give you to release Sookie from her agreement?"

"Nothing…" Eric said instantly he changed his mind as a smirk appeared on his face. "Except maybe Anne,"

"She isn't mine to give,"

"And yet she is always near you and your human like you are all attached at the hip,"

"That doesn't mean that I have the ability to give Anne to you, Eric, she's-" Bill stopped himself before he could say anymore, making Eric raise an eyebrow at him.

"Yes?"

"Curious," Anne finished for Bill, appearing next to Eric with a smirk on her face.

"And when did you arrive?" Eric asked, leaning back in his seat as she sat down across from him in the booth.

"I knew you were here the second I felt you enter this hotel, Mr. Northman. I was curious as to why you were here and what was so important to mess with Sookie's… happiness… if you know what I mean," Anne smiled, glancing at Bill who looked away in embarrassment.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Eric told her.

"Satisfaction brought it back… Several times," Anne smirked before her eyes moved to Bill. "Bill, why do you not go up to your rooms?" Anne asked, leaning back in her seat. "Jessica just ordered the breathing type of snack and Sookie is wandering about the hotel,"

"Damn," Bill bit out before he raced out at vampire speed, leaving Eric and Anne alone.

"So, Anne?"

"So, Eric?" Anne smirked back. "Godric? The oldest vampire in the New World?"

"You do not know who you speak of,"

"Oh, I think I do," Anne argued calmly. "I have met him before,"

"I highly doubt that,"

Anne frowned at him and decided to move on. "You asked before; what could overpower a vampire such as Godric and hold him for weeks? I think I know,"

"What?" Eric asked, turning back to her.

"Himself,"

"I would have you by your neck up against a wall is it weren't for the room full of people," Eric told her angrily. "You do not-"

"You know that I am not human, Eric," Anne interrupted him, leaning towards him so that she didn't need to raise her voice. "I am very old. I knew Godric before he made you-"

"Silence," Eric growled through clenched teeth.

"- and he was Death incarnate and he wanted to drink and cause as much chaos as he could… until he met me," Anne continued, ignoring how angry he was becoming. "When he was around me, he was much different, much more kind but still a yearning for death and destruction. But I have also seen him more recently… back about the time you turned Pam. He is not the same person, Eric. He is one of the oldest vampires alive no days. Do you not think it can get old? Do you not think he would be so tired that he would offer himself up instead of another vampire being taken in?"

"Shut up or I might find it much more interesting to simply drink your sweet blood instead of having your help find him,"

"You would not do that to Godric and you know Sookie will have a problem with that. Not to mention it would be far too easy for you just to kill me. You like the challenge, the mystery, the unique. That is why you want Sookie and I and one of the reasons why Pam is your friend and your progeny-"

Anne suddenly found herself being held against a wall by the neck, the noise from the bar far away now that Eric had taken her to a private hallway. Anne barely blinked and didn't fight him, the only sign of her fear being in her rapid heartbeat as she watched him calmly.

"I would be a bit more afraid, breather,"

"Then why am I not?" Anne whispered to him. "I have had many vampires threaten me for my blood, Mr. Northman. It is a part of my kind's history. Why else do you think you have never smelled anyone like me in a thousand years?"

Eric glared at her, his steely blue eyes staring into her pale grey-blue ones until he saw the sadness in them, the loneliness, the pain and the fear. Eric felt something stir in him that he hadn't felt in his long vampiric life and it made him let go of her slowly until her feet were on the floor. Her eyes didn't leave his as his hand brushed against her neck in a gentle caress, both knowing she might have a bruise the following night.

"Now are you done hiding things, Eric? I understand why you hide things from Bill Compton and Sookie but I might actually be able to help… or I already know it anyway,"

"I hope you enjoy disappointment, Anne,"

Anne smiled up at him. "You too, Viking,"

Just then her cellphone went off. Eric raised an eyebrow at her in amusement as she sighed in annoyance, reaching down her shirt to check it. Eric watched as she read the screen, her back stiffening as she looked between him and the little device. He looked down at his as well, reading that she had a call from Aranamin.

"Who, may I ask, is Aranamin?"

"None of your business, Eric," Anne bit out, hitting the END button before slipping it into her pants pocket, looking up at him.

This only served to make Eric more curious, a deadly smile creeping over his face. "Now, now. Answer the question, Anne," Anne was about to say something when her cellphone started going off again, making Eric's grin grow in size. "Or answer the phone,"

Anne let out a long breath through her nose before she reached into her pocket and ripped the phone out violently. All without breaking eye contact with a smirking Eric, she hit END and shoved it back into her pocket, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That was rude,"

"Aranamin literally means my king in my language but we use it as a title for the highest of my superiors. He has not been happy with my work as of late. Thanks to you I might add,"

"And what exactly is your job? Protecting Sookie?"

Anne remained silent.

"Oh, come now," Eric cooed, giving her a smile that few would believe. "You can trust me,"

"Only as far as I could throw you,"

Eric laughed.

Again, her phone began to ring, making Eric laugh harder as Anne growled out something in another language. She reached in to her pocket and pulled out the chirping device, putting the phone to her ear, answering it in a stiff voice. "Aranamin," (My Lord.)

"Lye harya lasto tanya Sookie Stackhouse harya labo Bon Temps. Mankio naa le u ped, Arwenamin Andromeda?" (We have heard that Sookie Stackhouse has left Bon Temps. Why were we not informed, Lady Andromeda?)

"Ar' manen harya le lasto sina?" (And how have you heard this?) Anne challenged.

The voice on the other end wasn't happy at being asked this, nor of the thought that Anne was talking back to him. "Le ume u sinta lle ta harya le ele, Arwenamin Andromeda? Le aa' naa lle quell maethor san' le harya naa dan," (You did not expect us to have you watched, Lady Andromeda? You may be our best protector but you have been slipping.)

Anne sighed, turning away from Eric to focus on the conversation, trying to settle the ever growing anxiety within her. "Sookie Stackhouse-"

"U er guin sina peredhel, Arwenamin Andromeda. Neled en eneth gwaith harya auta e' I cirith keneth pa ar' min harya gurth," (Not just with this half faery, Lady Andromeda. Three of your charges have gone missing in the past twenty years and one has died.)

"Er sina du yassen he naa ab na 'aheryn renech he auta o, Aranamin! Im a' sinome edna guina gurthalleth labo sana," (You know well that I cannot be in so many places at own, my Lord! I am one of few protectors on this plane.)

"Lle harya keneth-"(We have others-)

"Si rato he naa!" (But you pair them!) Anne shouted.

Eric raised an eyebrow, being able to hear both sides of the conversation. Whatever they were speaking, he wasn't able to understand any of it, leaving him to listen to it with vague interest. It was a beautiful language that- though both sides seemed angry- seemed to roll from their tongues in an angelic way he'd never heard before.

"Lye harya lasto tanya nae u. Ro peredhel sinta en he au' sana he taa' maruvan esse. Ta hebo he dol ana a ro káno sen naa u quell im sinta succubus, Aranamin," (I have had too many to keep watch of. The faeries know when to procure their seeds. And you know as well as I that there was nothing I could do for the succubus, my Lord.)

"Avo dogor lye au', Arwenamin Andromeda," (Perhaps. But you are failing, Lady Andromeda.)

"Aranamin, ta naa u metta. Im ba ta treneri ar' ped le," (My Lord, this trip was last minute. I forgot to call and inform you.)

"Mankio naa he u e' Bon Temps?" (Why is she not in Bon Temps?)

"He harya yallaa vesta yas a gurthalleth, Eric Northman-" (She has made a deal with the vampire, Eric Northman-) Anne glanced back at Eric over her shoulder, a bit surprised to see that he was still standing there, patiently listening. He noticed her looking at him and smiled, making her roll her eyes and turn away from him again as she continued. "-a Maruvan Leben káno, ta thaed ro sinta lin gurthalleth, ro Adaran, manka ro innas na he mellon edna. Im harya u merna ar' ta labo yas he. Im hiraetha, Aranamin," (-the Area Five sheriff, to help him find another vampire, his maker, if he would let one of her friends live. I had no choice but to go with her. I am sorry, my Lord.)

"En tie," (Certainly.) he said without any feeling in his voice, making Anne's shoulders drop as her light dimmed in sadness. "Naa sen gwanno gurthalleth Godric?" (Is this missing vampire Godric?)

Anne turned at the sound of Eric growling, meeting his hard angry eyes. She kept eye contact with him as she continued, unsure about what this reaction meant. "Tancave, Aranamin," (Yes, my Lord.)

"San' uma mani le han ta sinta ro. Godric harya u naa quell ta le ar' a lye… im er' goheno an veria lye sena' tâl ando ta dagor," (Then do what you can to find him. Godric has been kind to you and to us… I may not approve but I know that this you must do.)

"Hannon le, Aranamin," (Thank you, my Lord.)

"Er', Andromeda…" (But, Andromeda…)

"En tie?" (Yes?)

"Avo dogor lye au'," (Do not fail us again.)

"Tancave, Aranamin," (Yes, my Lord.)

"He ere' meleth ar' ta naa trasta," (Or it will be the last time.) he told her before hanging up.

Anne dropped her eyes from Eric's. "Tancave, Aranamin," (Yes, my Lord.)

"How does he know Godric?" Eric growled.

Anne took her time in answering, letting her pain and self-pity wash over her. She felt like a failure to her kind. She had been set to protect Sookie Stackhouse and had failed doing so, only keeping her alive by the skin of her teeth and by her vampire boyfriend. The High Council had set her to do much worse when meddling in the affairs of the world- human, vampire, shifter, and mostly fairy- but this was much harder. And Anne had thought fairies were the hardest to deal with! Now she was getting attached to this half fairy and failing at protecting her. Anne would lose her place on the High Council and be alone with nothing if she could not do her job.

"Don't cry. It makes me feel… disturbingly human,"

Anne let out a choked laugh, looking up into his face. "I am not crying,"

"Then stop shaking," he frowned. "How does he know Godric?"

"Because I told him about Godric. I know Godric a long time ago and interested my employers that a vampire was helping me,"

"Why?"

Anne scrunched her nose. "You are asking me why it would be surprising to someone that I was being helped by a vampire?"

Eric frowned. "What is it that he helped you with?"

This brought a smile to her face, bringing her onto the tips of her toes as her face grew closer to his. "None of your business, Northman,"

Anne slipped past him and walked down the hall until she reached her room, opening the door easily and shutting it soundly behind her. Anne was changed and in bed by the time she noticed Eric's presence hadn't moved from where he'd been standing when he let her go. She sat in bed and waited until she heard him leave for his room… which was located right beside hers. Anne figured it was because he wanted to be as close to Sookie as possible and annoy the hell out of Bill. However, she couldn't help but glare at the wall separating their rooms.