My Angel
A.N: The last chapter was so short that I couldn't help but to want to give you another quickly!
Okay, a head's up: I took a few liberties in this chapter. Godric's age got changed, (just go with it). I wanted him to be closer to Edgington's age, not for any particular reason, I just did.
-Andi
Chapter Ten:
"Welcome back, Dear!" Adele smiled at her granddaughter as she came in through the kitchen door, "Oh, what a lovely dress," she said, although she knew the color scheme was not something Sookie would normally wear.
"Thanks, it's one of my new work outfits," Sookie laughed, turning around to show off the sleek number that was done in black and bright pink. The skirt was shorter than she would normally wear, and obnoxiously fuller, but it was not something she felt out of place in. It would stand out in her wardrobe for certain, but it would pass at Fangtasia without making her feel self-conscious or unseemly.
"Well, you look darling in it," Gran assured. "It is a bit short, though..."
"Yeah, but the short shorts at Merlotte's are much worse!" Sookie laughed and Gran had to agree.
"My goodness! Those shoes!" Gran finally got a look at the four inch, thin heels, "How are you ever going to work in those?"
Sookie giggled at her grandmother's concerns. "Oh, I won't be serving drinks or anything. I'm actually suppose to blend in with the regulars. I don't even think Eric is telling the human staff that I work there."
"I see," Gran nodded. "Just don't go breaking your neck in those."
"I'll be fine."
"Well, your shift at Merlottes starts in a couple hours. Do you need to shower?"
"No, I got a really late shower last night. That bed was like sleeping on a cloud!" She moaned, "I don't know how I'm going to sleep on my old bed tonight."
"A little less than two weeks, and you won't have to," Gran told her. "Did you think about what you want to do with Eric for your date on Sunday?"
Sookie bit her lip as she considered sharing her plans with Gran. "Just tell me if what I thought of sounds totally stupid."
"I'm listening." Gran chuckled.
"Well, a few days ago, Eric said he really enjoyed listening to me talk because he likes my accent so much. He also says that when he's not doing vampire stuff, he mostly likes to read... I kinda thought, maybe I'd pick out a real nice book and we'd sit together somewhere cozy and I'd read to him." Sookie was blushing by the end of her idea, and looked at Gran hesitantly.
"That sounds lovely, Dear, but maybe a bit intimate for a second date?" she hinted. "That sounds more like something you would do after a third date." She wiggled her eyebrows, and Sookie gasped as she caught Gran's meaning. Reading to Eric in bed.
"Gran!" Sookie looked playfully scandalized, "Well, I very well can't take him bowling!"
"What about dancing?" Gran suggested.
"I don't know that he likes to dance," Sookie frowned.
Gran cackled, "I'm sure he knows how, and if he gets to keep his arms around you all night, that'll be plenty fun enough for him."
Sookie was staring, open mouthed, at her Gran, "Wow! You are being pretty plain about what you expect between us," she could not help but laugh at Adele's blatant remarks.
"Sookie, I have known you all your life," Gran looked at her, a twinkle in her old eyes, "and I've been around a long time before that. You are so smitten with him, that you won't turn back, and I can see he cares greatly for you. I might not have liked his methods in the beginning, but he's done everything he knows to take care of you. I couldn't want much more from the man you fall in love with. So long as he respects you, and loves you; I am going to push you whatever way I have to so you don't screw it up. Because, Sweet Child, you spend too much time in that head of yours." Adele tapped the younger woman's forehead teasingly, and Sookie scrunched her nose playfully in return.
{†}
Sookie spent her shift contemplating over Gran's statement. It was positively true. She was smitten. She was head-over-heels. She was over the moon. She was some other hyperbole that her love struck brain could not come up with!
But she was also terrified. Never in her 25 years had a man made her feel this way. She had no experience, other than those she had accidentally stolen from the heads of others over the years. Most of those memories she had seen were anything but helpful. Some pumped even greater anxiety into her than soothed, and most contradicted others.
'Maybe it is a good thing. I have no preconceived notions about relationships and how they work. It doesn't seem like Eric's dated in forever, so we'll both be at square one with each other,' she thought to herself as she just barely missed knocking a new waitress in the face with a tray as she passed by. 'Tomorrow, I'll ask him to go to a club in Shreveport or something. Dancing does sound nice, and-'
"Hey, Miss 'Dazed and Confused', where you think you're goin' with that tray?" Lafayette yelled from the kitchen window, and Sookie stopped a mere foot from the front door of the bar, tray still balanced on her hand. She had been so wrapped up in deciding on what to do on her second date that she had nearly walked right out of work to continue her planning!
"Oh! I'm sorry! I was off in my own little world." She tried to laugh it off awkwardly as the table she was supposed to bring the food to waved their napkins at her as if to flag her down. That action actually made her laugh a bit sincerely as she made a beeline for them.
Thankfully, that was her only escape attempt of the evening, and Sookie put her focus back on waiting tables. There were no more incidents from her wandering mind, and the rest of her shift passed by quickly.
"So," Tara linked arms with her best friend as she tried to escape the bar and head home, "how's your new place?"
"Really beautiful view." Sookie began, "Modestly furnished, but not decorated. More than big enough for just me. The bed is so comfy, it's like sleepin' on nothin' at all!"
"You slept there last night?" Tara gawked.
"Yeah, it was so late by the time we got there, and I got a look around. Eric and I talked for a bit, and then he left. I took a shower, and went to bed."
"What? Naked?" Tara laughed at the thought. Sookie rarely took her shorts off at the pond when they went swimming, and the idea of her sleeping nude just seemed hysterical to the bartender.
"No... Well, Eric had someone buy me some clothes."
"Wait... One date and that man's buying you clothes?" Tara looked suspicious.
Sookie sighed, "Okay, the job I got is at Fangtasia. I'm supposed to be watching for illegal activity, drainers, and Fellowship activists. Eric bought me clothes that would keep me under the radar at the club." Sookie explained.
"That's soundin' kinda dangerous, Sook." Tara's voice was making Sookie nervous that her friend would snap any second.
"No one will know what I'm doing, and Eric will be with me the whole time. I'll be perfectly safe." She assured.
"Does he know about your good hearin'?" Tara asked.
"He does, but I can't tell you more about why and how. There's stuff about him I can't explain, not because I don't trust you, but because the things I'd need to tell you... Well, they're not my secrets to be telling. Okay?" Sookie could not keep the pleading tone out of her voice.
"Okay."
"Okay?" Sookie was astounded. Normally her friend hounded every detail of her life out of her.
Tara shrugged, "Okay. Havin' you as a friend, I've had to learn when things wasn't my business to be knowing, even if I had all the answers to pick outta your head. If you went around tellin' me everyone's secrets, I wouldn't be able to trust you as my friend, 'cause you could be tellin' anyone about my deal." The bartender gave her friend a hug, "If you got the real deal outta him, and you know he's gonna protect you, then I trust you. I'm sure you got the info you need to make the right decision on this."
"I do."
"Then okay." Tara nodded, "And remember: anything happens to you 'cause of him, and I got a stake with his name on it." Sookie tried to laugh, but could see the seriousness in Tara's eyes.
{†}
Eric sat on his throne in Fangtasia when he felt a vibration in his pocket. An e-mail icon was displayed on his phone, and the Sheriff opened it with minimal curiosity. It was from the Queen of Louisiana. Eric smirked, he had wondered how long it would take Compton to go crawling back to her. It had actually taken surprisingly longer than he anticipated. After all, Liam's attempt to abduct Sookie had been several days ago, and Eric's insertion to the matter had been so prompt!
~Northman,
I received quite a remarkable story from my Court Procurer, William Compton. It seems you and I are competing for an extremely rare toy. Seeing as I cannot bribe you with money, as you have more of it than I, and I cannot threaten your position, since you do it oh, so well: I would like to suggest a compromise.
Would you be willing to share your toy with me? Since you have not claimed it properly, you must not want to use it all the time, right?
We could put a time share on it. I take it for a few weeks. You take it for a few weeks. Does that seem fair?
Please respond promptly, so that we may negotiate.
H.R.H
-Sophie Anne LeQlerc
"Of course." Eric rumbled under his breath as he rose from the dais. Many a fangbanger squealed as he left the platform to head towards his office, signaling Pam. This usually meant he was ready to feed, and every pale body trembled at the thought of becoming his next meal. It was well known that the Master did not fuck his food, but every potential sack of arteries on the floor hoped to become the exception to the rule.
"Yes, Master?" Pam asked as she closed Eric's office door behind herself.
"I received a letter from the queen." He turned his phone towards her, and Pam read it swiftly, "Now it is only a matter of time until she is observed as a weakness of mine."
Pam pondered for a moment, "You could call her an interest of Godric's..? Between yourself and him, Sophie Anne cannot compete, and it will keep her connection to you under the radar." The vampiress had become accustomed to this as of late. It was agitating for Pam to see her calculating Maker flounder over such trite hiccups, but when it came to Sookie Stackhouse, that seemed all he did anymore. His affection for the little fairy hybrid had blinded Eric, and it made Pam feel disgusted. Were it not for the fact that ending the girl would in turn destroy her Maker, Pam would have killed Sookie years ago.
"An excellent plan." Eric agreed and Pam had to resist rolling her eyes. "I will call him now. You may leave." He dismissed her, and Pam turned sharply towards the door.
Dialing his Maker, Eric only waited a moment before it was answered.
"What can I do for you, my Child?" Godric's good natured voice came over the line.
"My Queen is interested in Sookie, and has suggested a joint custody arrangement," Eric chuckled.
"Ah, so you wish for me to contact Sophie-Anne and tell her that you are grooming the Stackhouse girl for me? That is the plan we discussed several years ago in the event other vampires took interest in her, is it not?" Godric laughed. His calculating Child was always years of planning ahead of any other vampire.
"That would be greatly appreciated." Eric smiled to himself.
"Are you still teasing your Child? It is not nice, Eric." Godric could not hold back his smile from his voice, "She will start thinking you have lost your wits."
"In a way I have, but this is the best opportunity for me to know that Pam thinks as I would. If I were to act this stupid about any other, Pam would just kill the distraction. She cannot kill Sookie, so it is a perfect opportunity to know that she is finally thinking like a tactician, and not a prima donna."
"Child, you were quite the prima donna once. Still are, if my opinion still matters to anyone," Godric snickered over the phone, and Eric's smile grew. "I will have the queen off your back before the close of the hour. Now," Godric sounded as if he were about to discuss something he was looking forward to, "How are you and the Stackhouse girl getting along?"
"Quite a bit of bickering, but she is thawing quickly from the reality check I gave her last week. There was more than a bit of back and forth concerning her trust in my feelings for her, but she has definitely accepted my feelings now."
"So that lunacy you came up with for a "first date" went well?" Godric sounded skeptical.
"She loved it," Eric assured with a chuckle.
Godric sighed, "I guess you will always be a greater romancer than I."
Eric snorted, "If it were Adairia, you would have done something just as silly." There was a long silence after his statement, and Eric sighed, "I apologize, Master, but it has been nearly 2500 years. How long can one mourn?"
"I hope that you may never find out." Godric whispered. "No matter what. If you love this woman the way I love Adairia, you do not let anything come between you. I have known the agony of falling in love with a Fae- an ascended fae at that! Gods damned me the day she ascended!"
"She spoke words of hope, though." Eric encouraged, no longer wishing to condemn his Master's hopes further.
Eric could practically hear Godric shake his head, "Do not placate me, Child. As you said. 2500 years is quite long to mourn, and a little over a thousand of those years I spent wearing the mantel of Death to fill the void in my heart with the blood and lives of men. But, I found you in that time, and you took the hatred and despair from my wounded heart." There was another pause before Godric sighed, "I should contact your Queen. It would be best not to keep her waiting."
"Thank you, Master." Eric answered before he heard the phone click.
Sighing, the vampire leaned back into his desk chair and stared up at the ceiling. He contemplated for a long time over his Maker's involvement with Adairia, and how he should learn from the older vampire's broken heart.
Adairia, originally, had been a well loved member of the Earth Clan fairies. She had been just a little creature during one of many wars between the vampires and the fae, so young when she met Godric. In all of his years, Godric could never come to harm a child, having been abused so maliciously in his own human childhood. So, when the vampire had come across the little fairy girl, he protected her, and stowed her away safely.
Adairia never forgot his noble actions, and crossed over frequently to the human realm to bring him treasures and tokens of her gratitude. Eventually, as she grew up, the gifts became ones of affection, and soon ones of love. Over the course of three hundred years, Godric managed the impossible. He managed to Bond with a full blooded fairy of Guardian Angel status. Utilizing the favors of several Weres in his debt, Godric had them at his side for the three necessary exchanges to silver him, and keep Godric from killing his love.
After their final blood exchange, Godric no longer needed the Weres to stop himself from killing his Bonded. He could partake in her body and blood without fear of being overwhelmed by the ambrosia beneath her flesh. His love for her and the connection of their Bond kept such tragedies from becoming possible.
They were the most sublime years of his existence. He made love to Adairia endlessly throughout the night, and held her tightly in his dead arms throughout the day.
But their bliss was destroyed when Godric's malevolent master appeared from his past, subdued Godric and murdered his mate. Even to this day, two and a half millenniums later, Eric could still catch a glimpse of terror shining behind Godric's eyes when the memory resurfaced.
On the brink of her death, the Gods took pity on the murdered fairy, whose heart loved so deeply that she challenged the taboo of vampire and fae relations. They allowed her to ascend to the status of full angel before her body could completely shut down, and she was regenerated during her evolution.
Godric screamed to the heavens for centuries when the Gods took her away, and afterwards, spent over a millennium sending as many souls to hell as he could manage.
Eric's recollections were halted as his phone vibrated on the desk, and he saw that another e-mail was awaiting him. Knowing whom it was from, Eric opened it immediately.
~Northman,
I have just been contacted by your Maker, and he has informed me of your responsibilities to the toy you are preparing for him. Please, accept my apologies for attempting to court that which belongs to Godric of Ghal. Had you made me aware sooner, I am certain I could have saved you some of your efforts! Compton is calling back all of his contacts, and has been instructed to uproot from Area 5. Please, extend my continued apologies to Godric of Ghal, and I hope that I have not offended such a renowned ancient.
H.R.H.
-Sophie Anne LeQlerc
Eric could almost laugh at what the general response of vampires was when Godric got involved. As far as North America went, Godric was tied with Russel Edgington for 'Oldest Vampire on the Continent', but neither wished to fight and see who was actually the stronger of the two. Considering the close relationship between the Ghal and Edgington lines, it was never a good idea to offend either.
Even without Eric's impressive Maker, the Viking had made a brutal name for himself that kept more than just those younger than he on edge. The Viking had been known to destroy vampires almost twice his own age, and it was considered not just dangerous, but suicidal to cross him. Many believed Godric had some sort of foresight, having waited until he was exceptionally aged before creating such a progeny. After all, considering the Viking's capable assassination abilities, any vampire much younger than Godric or Edgington would have never been able to subdue such a Child.
Of course, Sophie-Anne was a responsible and well loved ruler. Though she had a rather extensive collection of humans, she was not particularly greedy. Sophie-Anne was sophisticated and smart, and would never allow something as inconsequential as a single human to destroy the relationships she had forged with vampires like Edgington, Godric and Eric. Not to mention, maintaining such a partnership could prove more effective in harnessing a little telepath girl's powers. If Eric or Godric went through the monotony of training, what was assured to be, a promising pet, Sophie-Anne was certain that allowances would be made, and she would have some access to it.
Looking at the clock on his computer, Eric smiled as he realized that in less than twenty-four hours, he would be going on his second date with Sookie. It was a strange thing to consider; the whole dating thing. It was almost amusing, actually, to think that a thousand year old vampire would indulge such a request. Even more amusing was that the one doing the indulging was the Viking, Eric Northman.
Chuckling a bit under his breath, Eric went about going over his Fangtasia emails. What he discovered made his eye twitch with annoyance. A large sum of money was missing from the club's books, and it was not very discretely taken. Five hundred dollars went missing in a single week, and it had not even been inventory, but actual cash! Snorting at the aggravation he felt, Eric called his accountant to obtain better information as to how the money walked out of his club. When the call was ended, there were only three possible culprits. Himself, Pam, and Longshadow. Seeing as Eric had no need to embezzle funds, and Pam delighted in running up his credit cards, that only left one suspect.
Dialing his phone once more, Eric waited as it rang several times, "Good evening, Hot Rain, this is Eric Northman, Sheriff of Area 5 of Louisiana. I am both the Sheriff and employer of your progeny Long Shadow. Might you have any idea why he has been stealing my money?"
"That's a bold accusation, Northman," Hot Rain snarled over the phone.
"Unfortunately, he is the only suspect. You see, there are only three individuals who have access to the bar's money. Myself, my progeny, and your Long Shadow. Tell me, which of the three of us is more likely to need the money?" Eric asked silkily, though his underlying venom made Hot Rain's voice tremble.
"What do you want?" Hot Rain was no fool as to challenge Northman's detective skills. Whether this was an accurate and sharp edged bluff, or a true statement, it did not matter. Merely being a suspect of the Viking was as good as being caught red handed.
"Full reimbursement, plus twenty percent interest as apology. He is to be out of my area immediately, and never in my presence again. Call him as soon as I hang up the phone, and have him out of my bar in ten minutes, or I will end him." Eric placed the receiver on the cradle, and not ninety seconds later, Pam entered the office, appearing confused.
"Master, Long Shadow just jumped the bar and ran out of the club."
"Yes. He was stealing from me, and I called his Maker, warning him that if Long Shadow was not out of the bar in the next ten minutes, and I was not reimbursed with interest, I would destroy him." Eric shuffled some papers on his desk, "Unless you stole about ten grand from me over the past month?"
"What do I need to steal other than your black card?" Pam asked innocently.
"Which is precisely why I did not bother confronting you." Eric smirked at her, and Pam rolled her eyes. "Everything involving Sophie-Anne has been taken care of."
"That was simple enough." Pam tried to keep the acid out of her voice.
"Yes. Sophie-Anne is a beneficial ally. I would have been gravely disappointed to have terminated such a relationship." Eric replied.
Pam's eyes widened, "You would have gone so far as to perform a coup to protect that girl?"
Eric's eyes drifted lazily to his progeny, an amused smirk on his lips, "To keep my own existence? Of course. I would have despised every minute of it, but I will do whatever is necessary to continue existing."
"Then turn the damned brat!" Pam snarled, "Niall said you couldn't force her to turn, but you've been a master of seduction your entire time on this earth! You mean to tell me you couldn't convince the little hybrid to give up mortality!? It doesn't matter after that! Just convince her for now!"
Eric's hands were clasped in front of him as he stared at the woman across the room. The steady gaze unnerved Pam, and she could feel her posture trying to show humility on automatic. Whenever her Maker fixed that stare upon her, it was only natural for the Child to instinctively submit to him. However, for the first time since she had risen above the rank of "fledgling", Pam refused to back down to that look.
"You're in love with her," Pam accused in a soft voice that held a surprising amount of anger for a tone so soft.
"Yes."
Pam's head snapped away from his gaze and she stared at the floor to her side, "She makes you weak."
"Not as weak as you think," Eric replied.
"You don't see what I see!" Pam shouted, her eyes shutting against bloody tears of fear and anger.
"And you do not know what I know," Eric answered her accusation. "One night, Pam, you will meet your Adairia. You will meet you Sookie. Then... Then you will understand. Then you will know what I know. What Godric knows. On that night, you will finally know what magic is. It is not the thing that keeps us animated, nor the thing fairies manipulate so freely. Magic is never having to say goodbye, even in death." He rose from his desk, and as he passed his distraught progeny, he cupped her chin in his palm, "I would die for her, even if her death did not mean my own."
With that, Eric left the office, and Pam fell to the leather couch, sobbing bloody, hostile tears. For a fleeting moment, the thought of murdering Sookie Stackhouse and her Maker in one swift movement of a snapping neck felt horrifically justified. If she was not enough to make her Master want to exist, then she did not want him to exist anymore!
At that thought, Pam sat up straight upon the couch and her mouth slung in terror at the very thing her mind had conjured. Had she really just thought of murdering her Maker? Of destroying the deepest connection she had ever experienced with another creature?
She had to leave. She had to get away from Louisiana. As far from Sookie Stackhouse as she possibly could, and put the temptation far out of reach. If she ever encountered the woman again, she was certain that she would do something she would regret for the remainder of eternity. Even her Maker's command could not entirely prevent this. Already Pam's mind was racing with "accidents" for the fairy hybrid, and the vampiress had to leave before she could act upon any of them. For the safety of her Maker!
TBC
A/N: Please remember to review!