12.
~Sookie~
I knew right away my attacker was human. I could so take this guy. I stomped on his instep, elbowed him in the stomach and then turned around and slammed my knee up into his groin. There was a lamp on the table down the hall. While he was writhing in stunned pain on the floor, I grabbed the lamp and bashed it over his head. He was out like a light, no pun intended.
Wow. He was easy. It was probably the thousand year old vampire blood I had an hour or so ago. Or maybe I'm just used to fighting beings with supernatural strength that humans don't take much effort for me.
I unlocked the door to our room and dragged him inside, then went to retrieve the lamp, went back into our room and locked the door. I found a pair of scissors in the desk and snipped off the cord of the lamp, then picked up another lamp and did the same.
Eric stumbled into the living room while I was struggling to prop up the unconscious man in a chair.
"What the hell is going on?"
"This creep attacked me in the hall."
"Are you hurt?"
"No. Go back to bed. I'm going to tie him to the chair and you can scare the shit out of him when you get up."
I knew the Herculean effort it took for him to make it that far so I let him off the hook. Instead of returning to the bedroom though, he opted to collapse onto the couch. I went into the bedroom and rummaged him up a pair of pajama pants and slid them on him with a bit of effort. Then I covered him with a blanket again.
After I was sure the binding holding our guest captive was tight enough, I flipped on the t.v. while I waited for my food to arrive. The thug in the chair hadn't come to yet before I finished my meal, so after I slid the empty dishes back out into the hall, I sat down on the couch with Eric and eased his head into my lap, then waited.
I was exhausted, but there was no way I was going to sleep with this guy in here. What if he got loose while we were sleeping? There was no way I could get Eric into the bedroom where he would be safer while he slept. I thought about calling Quinn for help, but what if he was sent by Felipe? No, I couldn't take the chance. My unknown assailant was human, I was positive of that. And so I could always club him with the lamp again if he looked like he might actually get free of his binds.
I must have hit him harder than I thought because he didn't regain consciousness until the late afternoon. By then, I was very strung out. I had gone through a pot and a half of coffee and had room service deliver again.
"What the hell happened?" the man groaned opening his eyes and squinting against the light. I didn't envy him the headache he must have.
"I kicked your ass." I replied.
"You did?" he was insultingly incredulous.
"Who sent you?"
"I'm not telling you shit, lady."
I shrugged as if it made no difference to me. It didn't actually. I was just going to cruise around his head while I waited for Eric to wake up and deal with him.
"Who's that?" the guy asked jerking his chin toward Eric.
"A very old vampire who is going to be extremely irate when he wakes up. He knows what you did."
"Vampire?" the man asked nervously.
"Thousand year old vampire." I confirmed. "Your employer didn't tell you who you were attacking?"
He shook his head and I looked back to the television. I didn't offer him anything to eat or drink. Usually my manners were impeccable like that, but I was not inclined to be polite. I was beyond exhausted. I had no idea how I was going to function for the flight home tonight and rooting through this guy's head right now was pretty taxing.
"What's he going to do to me?" the guy asked staring at Eric again.
"Well, Ryan," I said with a sigh and didn't acknowledge when his eyes opened wide in response to the fact that I knew his name when he hadn't told it to me. "I really can't say for sure, but I can guarantee it's going to be pretty terrifying for you."
"I've never met a vampire before."
"Oh I can promise you, you won't enjoy meeting this one." I said brightly as Eric began to stir.
He still had his eyes closed as he ran his hands over my thigh. Being in the presence of a vampire when they woke was dangerous. They could attack you and kill you before they come to their senses enough to stop. Eric was too old for that. He had a lot of restraint. At least in that department. But as his fingers found the waistband of my pants, I realized he had other plans.
"Baby, we have a guest." I said, grabbing his hand. Vampires were very sexual creatures and didn't give a damn who saw them engage in any elicit act. I, however, was a lady.
Eric looked over his shoulder with a growl. "This is the scum from this morning?"
"His name is Ryan."
"I don't give a fuck what his name is." He took his time rising up off the couch. I was sure he wanted to give Ryan plenty of time to take in the sheer size of the vampire he'd pissed off.
"Who sent you?" Eric asked.
"Fuck you."
"Why would I want you when I have a Goddess such as my wife?" Eric replied with a grand gesture to where I was yawning on the couch and pulling the blanket over me.
Eric looked back over at me and put his hands on his hips. "Why are you so tired?"
"I stayed awake with this guy."
"You haven't slept?" He was angry.
"Uh-uh." I yawned again.
"Because of this guy?" Eric pointed to our guest then turned to him with another menacing growl. I'm pretty sure the guy lost control of his bodily fluids then.
Eric pulled a chair in front of Ryan, turned it around and straddled it.
"Speak."
"No."
"You prefer torture?" He sounded interested in the possibility. I'm sure he was. I really wasn't sure when the last time was that Eric actually got to play with his prey first.
"No, but you're going to drain me anyway, so the least I can do is not give you the fucking satisfaction." Ryan shot back.
"Do you consider yourself tough? I have the epitome of American pie – don't you dare look at my wife!" He was so fierce when he said it, I probably would have been scared too. "I will not sully myself by taking in a drop of your scummy blood. But you are right in that I'm going to kill you."
"I'll take my secrets to the grave."
"Sookie?"
"His name is Ryan Olson. He's 27 years old. He lives in Baton Rouge. He dropped out of Louisiana Tech when he got his girlfriend pregnant, but she split. He lied to me before when he told me he'd never met a vampire. The guy that hired him was a vampire in New Orleans, but he doesn't know his name. He was paid $20,000 to kidnap me. Our friend here is addicted to V, so he was pretty happy to take the job on."
Eric looked back at Ryan, who was absolutely dumbfounded. "What's the matter, Ryan?" Eric asked innocently. "Did your employer not tell you you were kidnapping a telepath? They didn't warn you that she would know you were coming? Or that you were supposed to snatch the wife of the most powerful vampire sheriff in Louisiana? You really should have been paid more money. I would have offered you at least $50,000 for such a suicide mission."
"Fuck." Ryan hissed under his breath.
"Oh, that about covers it, yes." Eric replied. "You know, when my wife and I first met, she agreed to read the minds of humans for me so I could find out who was lying to me. It worked out well. Since I was enchanted with her the moment I met her, I found myself agreeing to something very out of character for me. I promised her if she did what I asked and retrieved the information I needed, I would to turn the erring humans and any conspirators of theirs over to the authorities. I was not permitted to torture or kill them. In return, she would help me whenever I asked. Agreeing to this shocked quite a few of my colleagues. I really should have realized then that I was a goner, but I held out. Why am I telling you this? I don't really know. I guess it's to let you know that when the erring human has been stupid enough to attack my wife, I find that original agreement null and void. Normally, I would take the time to torture you first, but as I have a plane to catch…"
Eric stood up, took a step forward, placed one hand on either side of Ryan's head and snapped his neck so fast, he probably never even registered what was happening. I was too tired to be shocked or care about our original agreement. I was still naïve and unschooled in the way of the supernatural world then. That wasn't the case now.
"And now what are you going to do with that body?" I asked. I was getting the beginnings of a headache now, my lack of sleep taking its toll.
"I will call Quinn and make them deal with it." Eric said shortly returning to my side. "Lover, you look just this side of conscious. There's not enough time before the flight for you to sleep. You can sleep on the plane."
"All right." I yawned, pressing my fingertips to my temples and closing my eyes. He kissed my forehead.
"Why did you not sleep?"
"With that guy here?" I asked as if the reason should have been obvious. "What if he got loose? You were sleeping; we were defenseless." He worked his fingers in to my hair and massaged my scalp a bit and then stroked my temples. It felt almost blissful with this budding headache and I closed my eyes and sighed.
"Come." He whispered picking me up from the couch. "Let's get ready to go."
~Eric~
"And you're sure the scum was hired by Victor?" Pam asked as we sat at the bar in Fangtasia. The bar was closed now. Sookie was asleep on the couch in my office. She had slept the whole flight back to Louisiana. When she woke up to deboard, her head still hurt and she went right into the office, turned off the lights and fell back asleep. It was a testament to how tired she was because the music and noise from the bar could be heard clearly in the office. I was tempted to close the place down when we walked in so she could have peace, but she seemed beyond the point of it affecting her sleep.
"He was hired by a vampire in New Orleans, so yes, I think it was one of Victor's people." I nodded, taking a sip of my True Blood.
"And Felipe wants you to take out Victor."
"Yes."
"Eric, what makes you think it's not a trap so Felipe could get you to New Orleans and Victor can kill you?"
"Nothing." I shrugged.
"Oh, so long as we're not trusting Felipe now…"
"Not remotely." I replied. "He did medical testing on my wife. Of course I do not trust him. However, I don't believe he's behind this."
"Hello?" asked a feminine voice I did not recognized. I looked away from Pam and saw an attractive brunette hovering in the doorway. She was dressed in a dark business suit that fit her very well.
"Oh yes, Marcy. Please come in." Pam said popping off her barstool.
"And who is this, Pam?" I asked curiously.
"Marcy is my pick for your dayperson replacement." Pam gushed. Of course she was. Marcy was gorgeous and wearing an expensive suit. I had dragged my feet replacing Bobby. He was an asshole, but very efficient.
"Pam has explained to you what is needed?"
"Yes, Mr. Northman." She smiled only as much as professionalism allowed. I wondered how long it would be before Pam fucked her…if she hadn't already.
"Please sit down." I waved my hand to the table nearest us and took the chair across from her after she sat. "All human employees are subject to the final approval of my wife." I announced.
"What!" shrieked Pam. "Since when?"
"Since this morning." I said sternly.
Pam understood immediately, but the look on her face told me that new rule was the first to go once the danger from Victor was past.
"I will consent to that, Eric, but I am not relinquishing control of your wardrobe. I won't have you looking like something…off the rack." Pam said with mild disgust.
"I'm sure Sookie will be just fine with that." I rolled my eyes as the object of my affection chose that moment to storm into the bar.
Pam arched an eyebrow at Sookie's obvious disgruntlement as she rooted around behind the bar for something. "Something amiss, my lover?" I asked. She marched out from behind the bar and as she approached me, I saw the tears in her eyes.
"She is leaking again." Pam sighed. Then she looked at Marcy. "Sookie leaks upon occasion." Marcy was smart enough not to comment.
"What's wrong? Are you still unwell? I'll take you home as soon as I am finished here."
Sookie thrust as small white bottle at my chest. "I can't get the fucking child proof cap off. Please open that."
I looked at the bottle in my hand. It read, 'Excedrin' and it was supposed to be some sort of human pain relief medicine, particularly for headaches. Opening a jar for his wife, another normal husband function. But when the first twist of the cap didn't work, I immediately felt my wife's distress.
"I -" Marcy began with her hand out, but before she could finish her thought, I smacked my hand down onto the table and crushed the bottle. The little pills spread across the table and Sookie snatched some up and swallowed them with water. "I was going to say that I would show you how to remove a child proof top, but I suppose that was efficient as well."
"If you work for us, you will find that Eric does not waste time where Sookie is concerned." Pam said dryly and unimpressed with my lack of patience. I didn't care. She was not currently feeling her bonded spouse's pain right now. "Sookie, this Marcy. She is the most qualified candidate to replace Bobby. What do you think?"
Sookie took one look at Marcy and then glared at me. What did I do? I'm just sitting here. "Eric, do you always have to hire women that want to fuck you?" Marcy's eyes widened and she blushed an attractive shade of red.
I arched an eyebrow at my wife. "No, my darling, sometimes I hire men that want to fuck me." I smirked in return, but quickly lost my grin when the tears escaped down her cheek.
"I can't read her right now, Eric, I just can't."
"It's all right, my lover." I said quickly taking her hands, squeezing them and then let them go again. "We'll bring her back when you are feeling better." Sookie nodded and then left the room again.
"Well, she is….out of sorts." Pam said, watching the door Sookie disappeared through.
I looked at Marcy. "My wife is usually a very perky, pleasant person, Marcy. You would enjoy working with her. However, she has gotten precious little sleep and she has what you humans call a 'headache.'"
"She has a thousand year old vampire blood in her, Eric." Pam tossed back. "She shouldn't have so much as a hangnail."
I glanced sharply at my child. That was an excellent point.
"That's all right." Marcy smiled. "It happens to all of us."
"No, not to Sookie." Pam insisted. "It is very unusual."
"You will meet Sookie again when she is feeling better." I said standing up. "In the meantime, I trust Pam's judgment. However, you still need to get past Sookie and I will warn you now, she is telepathic. So if you are hiding something, you'll want to disclose it to Pam now. I killed a human this morning because of what Sookie read in his mind. You are warned."
To Marcy's credit, she didn't look too phased by that statement, so that was encouraging. I left Pam to her new little potential playmate and left the bar to tend to my ailing wife, though what exactly I was supposed to do was anybody's guess.
