Sookie is on her way back from Las Vegas, but the mental scars from her ordeal in the cellar are still with her.

I sat alone in the first class cabin. It was still light outside, although as we flew back east the sun would soon set over the horizon. I was getting used to the fact that Anubis flight attendants, whether male or female, were always gorgeous. The two women who fussed over me were no exception. They were both tall and appeared to be physically perfect in every way. I wondered idly if their colleagues in economy class were equally lovely. Only the most recently turned Vampires flew economy class, the ones who hadn't had the same opportunity to make money as those turned before the Great Revelation.

I was just too damn tired to block out their thoughts. I wasn't completely surprised to find out that they were both wondering when Eric would wake, and hoping he wouldn't spend the whole journey in his travel coffin. I should have been pleased at the thought that Eric would join me soon, but I just felt numb.

The adrenalin rush I'd had after escaping that dank cellar had long since worn off. It had lasted long enough to get back to the hotel room and have some spectacular, 'I'm so glad to be alive', sex. Now I just felt empty inside, incapable of any emotion.

The attendants served what I was sure was fine champagne accompanied by fancy canapés. Right now they tasted like cardboard. Even the champagne was sour in my mouth.

Darkness fell, allowing Eric to rise and join me. The flight attendants were overjoyed. I noticed that they had freshened up their hair and make-up. Their uniforms seemed a little tighter too, maybe an extra button undone or a skirt hitched up a little. They made a great play of fussing over him. One bent down low so he could admire her impressive cleavage. The other had a sudden need to retrieve items from the overhead lockers, stretching so her skirt rode up her thighs and gave a flash of lacy panties.

I should have been pleased that Eric ignored them, and gave me his full attention. He kissed me gently, and held my hand, tracing soft patterns on my palm and the inside of my wrist. It was the kind of gentle foreplay that would normally turn me on, but right now it was doing nothing for me.

"Lets just snuggle, my darling," he said as the one of the women made up the full-length bed, which was a feature of the Anubis first class cabin. That sounded good, but every time I closed my eyes, the terror would return. Eventually he summoned the other, who brought a glass of water and two small white pills.

"I know you hate to do this, but you need to sleep. Just take these sedatives, they'll help."

They must have had the desired effect as the next thing I knew I was staggering off the plane, struggling to get back to full consciousness.

"Will you take me home," I asked Eric as we drove out of the airport.

"We are going home," he replied, sounding puzzled.

"I mean to Bon Temps."

He didn't reply. There was silence for several minutes before I could bring myself to look at his face. It was stony, with his lips set in a thin, hard line. A wave of strong emotion filled the car. I wasn't sure if it was anger or perhaps despair. I just knew it was bad.

"I didn't mean…." I reached out to touch his arm as I spoke, but he shrugged me off.

The silence grew more oppressive as we approached my old house. He opened the passenger door for me to get out, and carried my bag up to the front door, then turned to walk away.

"Eric,"

He stopped but didn't turn to look at me.

"Are you going to be okay? I just need a few days on my own to chill out."

"Oh don't worry about me," his voice was cold. I'll get my needs attended to. The fangbangers will be delighted I'm sure."

It was my turn to be furious. Couldn't he understand how I felt? I'd had it up to here with the Vampire world; I just wanted to be human for a few days. Two could play at his game, I thought.

"Fine. Well don't you worry about me either. I've got other choices if I need company." With that I went into the house and slammed the door.

I started to regret my words as soon as I heard his engine roar into life and disappear down the drive. Why couldn't he have been more understanding? Why did I have to be so stubborn?

I turned all the lights on and made my way to my bedroom. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. I had the light tight shutter down, so there was no reference point in the outside world. When I finally gave up the idea of sleep and raised the shutters, I was shocked to find the sun high in the sky. Perhaps a few hours in the sun would help. I'd always been a summer person after all, and this was what I needed, the reminder that I'd once had a normal life.

The warmth of the afternoon sun finally did its job and I fell asleep. I don't even remember dreaming. It was after dark when I woke, brought back to consciousness by the chill of the evening.

I'd got as far as the porch when the disembodied metallic voice of the intruder alert announced that I had a visitor: 'Pamela Ravenscroft.'

The high-tech security system that Eric had installed could identify the registered owner of any approaching vehicle from its license plate. Of course that didn't mean it could recognize who was actually driving, which was just a tiny flaw. My stomach clenched. Could it be Eric? I kind of hoped so and dreaded it at the same time. I wrapped the rug more tightly around my shoulders, feeling more comfortable staying on the porch until I knew who my visitor was.

As the BMW convertible approached, I could see that the driver was dressed in pink – definitely Pam then.

As she walked towards me I took in her pink velour tracksuit with high-heeled white pumps. I'd read in a magazine that this was a fashion trend for the summer. I hadn't been convinced, but if anyone could carry off the look it had to be Pam.

I sat up and forced a smile as she approached, but she didn't return it.

"You are being childish and selfish my sister."

Gee thanks Pam, I thought. Tell it like it is why don't you?

"You weren't the one locked in the cellar, wondering just how many Vamps were going to come back and rape you. Maybe you wouldn't be so …" I struggled for the right word, "blasé, if you had been."

"Grow up, Sookie. You knew what you were signing up for when you agreed to marry Eric. If you want to swap hard luck stories, go ahead. I can assure you mine will beat yours any day."

A part of me that felt very uncomfortable had to acknowledge that Pam was right. If I didn't want all this I should have walked away a long time ago. It didn't stop me being pissed off with Eric though.

Sending Pam, instead of coming to see me himself, was cowardly in my book. I was going to say as much, but bit back the words. If Eric found out I'd accused him of being a coward there was a very strong chance he would never speak to me again. Perhaps honesty would be the best policy, as my Gran had always advised. Maybe Pam could channel 'Dear Abby' for me. I could feel my voice start to catch.

"I guess I am being stubborn, Pam." Tears were already pricking at my eyes.

She rolled her eyes in acknowledgement. "Please don't leak. I do so hate it when you do that." She could be brutal when she chose, but the harshness of her tone brought me back from the brink of tears.

"It's just that I need him to understand how difficult this all is for me. I mean, less than two years ago you people were something I'd seen on TV or in the movies, I would never have believed you were real. Now I'm in the centre of some kind of storm, and I don't even understand what's really going on. Then all Eric can do is threaten to leave me for a fangbanger." Okay, I was exaggerating, he hadn't exactly threatened to leave me, but I still thought I had a point.

"He's been drinking True Blood."

That shut me up. I knew how much Eric hated True Blood.

"What shall I do Pam? I never expected things to get out of hand like this. I just need to know that he understands how I feel."

Pam was doing that eye-rolling thing again. "Sookie, you need to remember a few things about Eric. Like, he's over a thousand years old, he's a Viking, he's Sheriff of Area 5. He will never be some wet-ass, liberal, new man."

I was doing an awful lot of sighing. "Okay, I'll call him, I'll apologize."

"Good," she said, and turned on her heel to sashay back to her convertible.

I retrieved my cell phone from the house and sat on the porch swing. I pulled up Eric's number on speed dial and sat there staring at it for all of five minutes. I'd never been good at apologizing. My Gran had said I could be stubborn as a mule sometimes, and I guess she was right. It had to be done though. I pushed the call button.

He answered on the first ring. I took in a breath but he spoke before I could utter a word: "Sookie, darling, I'm on my way."

That gave me about thirty minutes to compose myself. I hurried inside to change into something more suitable.

I was wrong, barely twenty minutes had passed when I heard that now familiar metallic voice "Eric Northman" followed by the roar of his Corvette as it raced up the drive, scattering the newly laid gravel. One day I was going to change his ringtone to 'Bat out of Hell'. That would suit him extremely well I thought.

He ran up the steps to the porch where I was waiting and lifted me effortlessly to swing me around. If it had been a scene in a movie I would probably have laughed, it was so corny. He planted a big smacker of a kiss on my lips before setting me down. I took his hand and led him into the living room.

"Pam has been explaining to me that I need to be more understanding and considerate of your feelings." He looked a little contrite, to my surprise.

I laughed. "Yeah, well she's been explaining to me that I shouldn't be so selfish and demanding."

"I think she should have her own advice column, perhaps I shall call the editor of the Shreveport Times and suggest it."

"You're thinking too small, it should definitely be 'American Vampire'."

We both laughed long and hard. Okay, the joke wasn't that funny, but it broke the tension between us. We were both stubborn and proud, and apologizing didn't come easy. Eric took away the need for further conversation by kissing me again, long and hard this time. I was just slipping my hands down to the belt of his jeans when he unexpectedly pulled away.

He looked around expectantly, and I could have sworn that he actually sniffed the air.

"Sookie, you need to prepare yourself. Prince Niall Brigant, your Great Grandfather is coming. I was able to get a message to him, and he promised to visit you as soon as he could."

"The intruder alarm hasn't gone off."

"Do you really think humans could make an alarm which could detect the Fae?"

I shrugged. "Well I guess I better go outside and wait for him. Are you coming?"

"I can't, I'm going to the resting place. Once I'm there you must cover the door with something heavy so that I can't get out."

I must have looked completely bewildered as he continued: "You know that the scent of fairy is intoxicating to Vampire. An old, pure blood such as the Prince would be in great danger. I would not be able to stop myself from attacking him. This is necessary to protect us both."

I did as he asked, and went outside to sit on the porch swing and wait. Of all the surreal things that had happened to me in the last couple of years, this had to be the strangest. I still remembered the shock I felt when my Gran had confessed on her deathbed that the man I had thought was my grandfather was nothing of the sort, at least not biologically. Unable to have children, she had turned to Fintan, son of a Prince of the race of Fairies who still lived in the human world. Now I was going to meet my real great grandfather.

A/N. In the UK we have something called Automatic Number Plate Recognition, which links CCTV Cameras to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency database. It means the Police and other agencies can instantly pull up the record of any car to check the registered owner and any criminal record or license violations.