Right, I know I'm an Epic Fail and I've been away for far too long so I apologise profusely but I'm back with a brand new chapter. I shouldn't make excuses but my computer completely DIED on me so I had to get a new one. Since I got the new one I have been focusing more on my original fiction. I'm currently trying to write two novels and novella simultaneously which is silly but characters don't leave me alone. You might be pleased to know however that I have started posting the novel which I borrow Phoenix and Lorcan from up on my fictionpress. It's called Frostbitten and there is a link to it on my profile. I've only got the prologue up so far but I'm hoping to post as I write.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back and I hope you enjoy this chapter.


There is a house in New Orleans
they call the Rising Sun
& they've been the ruin of many a poor boy
& God, I know I'm one
- House of the Rising Sun, The Animals

.

"I believe you two know each other?"

Victor was enjoying this I could see rom the plain delight plastered across his face and I couldn't bear to be so close to him. I looked back at the vampire Lorcan who had lifted his dark gazed to look at Eric. I saw the way his mouth tightened at the corner as he glanced over him. My own eyes then went to him. He was looking back at Lorcan with anger in his eyes and I could feel that anger through our bond, like a pulse, throbbing. The two vampires just seemed to stare at each other for ages and I wondered what they were reading in each other's eyes so intense was their gaze.

"And Pam is here as well," Victor interrupted the moment with a flutter of fingers indicating the female vampire by Eric's side. He sounded like a host at a dinner party reintroducing old friends.

I watched Lorcan's eyes switch to Pam's face but nothing changed within them. He seemed unsurprised to find both of them here, a fact that concerned me slightly. I could not swallow the bitter taste of apprehension that would have had shifting from foot to foot if I had thought that the action would go unnoticed. My heart was thundering like a train through a tunnel which I was sure everyone in the room was well aware of and I wanted to curse it for giving away my fear and anticipation of the current events.

"Do you know Eric's wife, the talented Sookie Stackhouse?" Victor made my introduction causing those dark eyes of Lorcan's to look around at me. That gaze almost took my breath away as he held my eyes with his for a few moments before he gave me a once over and I thought I saw a fleeting glimpse of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"And her were friend here is Lara something or other."

Lorcan was every inch the vampire when he looked at Phoenix. Absolutely nothing betrayed their knowledge of each other when their eyes met. He treated her in the same manner he had dealt with me and there was nothing in his eyes that anyone could read. I wished, not for the first time, that I could get inside Phoenix's head. I was dying to know what she was thinking seeing her husband bound in silver and flanked by vampire guards.

"Victor, you are a fool!" Eric stated in a restrained voice that sounded like it wanted to be a hell of a lot angrier. "Do you know who this is?"

Victor gave Eric a look of false shock as though he might not have considered all the variables in his plan.

"Mr Northman, you do insult me," he said silkily, his most dangerous tone. "Of course I know who this is, and even if I had not he did introduce himself upon arrival in New Orleans. Do you think I am unaware of your connections? Why, your maker himself, mentioned Mr Celtman to me and how close you were."

"Did he also happen tae mention tae ye the name o' my ain maker?"

Surprise reverberated around the room when Lorcan spoke although I believed the surprise was mainly my own. I understood now why Phoenix occasionally slipped into the Scottish accent or even used the word "aye" in place of yes. Lorcan spoke is a very heavy Scottish accent that reminded me briefly of a character from one of my Gran's "stories". His question also seemed to knock Victor off his stride and he did not answer but Eric did.

"When he called us brothers you naturally assumed he was Lorcan's maker," Eric called Victor out before he laughed loudly. I couldn't be more confused because the situation was hardly a laughing matter and Eric was not the sort to laugh like that, almost jovially, as though he had pulled off the joke of the century.

"No unlike Ocella tae want tae take credit for me," Lorcan told Eric with a smile. I noticed he was keeping his eyes firmly off Phoenix.

"I doubt it matters either way," Victor said with a smile obviously managing to get a hold of himself. "You see, I have your merry little band and once I have your wife Mr Celtman there will be no one to inform your maker of your capture."

What puzzled me most were the relaxed expressions that both Lorcan and Eric shared and the waves of calm coming through the blood bond to me. I could maybe partially understand their behaviour because with Phoenix with us and Victor totally unaware of who and what she was we were pretty certain of escape. I was terrified. What if something went wrong? What if Victor staked Eric before Phoenix could take action? What if our vampires fell foul to the flames? We might lose someone in the commotion.

"How dae ye ken my wife hasn't already informed my maker?" Lorcan replied evenly. "She's a slippery, fast wee thing my wife."

I watched as Lorcan briefly met Phoenix's eyes and the ghost of a smile wandered over her face but Victor did not catch this exchange, in fact, I barely did. He had a deep crease between his eyebrow replacing his earlier gleeful joy and it gave me a king of vicious pleasure to see it.

"I am protected by Felipe De Castro," Victor announced almost dramatically, "Vampire King of Nevada, Louisiana and Arkansas."

Out of the corner of my eye I caught Eric's lightning fast glance at Pam. I surprised myself. I was really getting observant hanging around with all these supes.

"And Felipe wants us bound in silver to be held by you until his arrival, is that what you're telling us?" Eric asked the flamboyant vampire.

Victor's expression did not falter but even I managed to catch the glance he directed at one of the other vampires in the room, the one next to Lorcan. I thought I knew what that glance meant although I could only guess and it could be completely wrong. Felipe De Castro had no knowledge of what was taking place here and for all his confidence Victor could not rely on him to back him up. I felt immense joy in this thought. Anything that made Victor Madden uncertain or uncomfortable gave me extreme pleasure.

"How is it that ye aye manage tae land me in trouble?" Lorcan asked Eric just then his dark gaze holding something of amusement in them.

"It's hardly my fault this time," Eric replied casually and I just wanted to hit them both for being so relaxed about this situation. I mean, couldn't they take silent pleasure in Victor's discomfort and obvious lack of knowledge like I was doing. After all, they were still flanked by several of Victor's vampire groupies and if they kept acting so ridiculously cheerful they were going to give the game away. They reminded of Jason and Hoyt as young boys, mocking each other and winding other people up except this was a dangerous game.

"Since ye dinnae seem all that inclined tae ask," Lorcan turned his attention back to Victor, "my maker is Vercingetorix Arverni. You'll have heard of him no doubt."

If it had been possible I thought Victor would have just gotten paler. He went very still, the way only a vampire could. His expression was almost careful as though he was seriously considering the implications of what this could mean for him.

I had no idea what the relations were like between Lorcan's maker, Rex and Felipe De Castro or whether they even knew each other. I kind of wished, for one vicious moment that Felipe De Castro would show up because I would take enormous enjoyment in seeing how he would deal with Victor but the wish quickly disappeared. The Vampire King of Nevada might well be pleased at the opportunity to get rid of Eric for access to me. The thought made me shudder which didn't go unnoticed.

"Are you cold, Miss Stackhouse?" Victor asked obviously delighted with the distraction I had unwittingly provided. I wanted to retort with something along the lines of "no, it just repulses me to be this close to you" but when I opened my mouth all that came out was,

"No."

I could feel everyone's eyes on me which was rather embarrassing but Victor had now had the chance to recover his flamboyant façade.

"Congratulations," Victor told Lorcan in a dangerously sweet voice, "on having such a prestigious maker but I am afraid that will not help you. No one knows you are here apart from your wife and I will find her. I'm monitoring the nearby airports and have all the nearby sheriffs on alert. She will surface before she makes it to Britain. Even if she could fly like our dear friend Mr Northman here I doubt your maker and his friends would make it here in time. After all, she doesn't know exactly what has happened. You could have disappeared anywhere."

Victor's self-satisfied smirk really needed to be wiped off his face and if I had been strong enough I would have been delighted to do it.

"Actually she only needs to get as far as Canada," Pam put in startling me slightly. She had been quiet for so long that I had almost forgotten that she was even there. She was leaning forward slightly and her lips were curling back over her fangs. I knew she was feeling the same way I was.

"I doubt she'll make it that far," Victor practically snapped. Apparently, he was starting to feel the pressure.

Sook, you are going to have a heart attack if you don't calm down, Phoenix's voice said in my head. There is no reason to worry. Everything is going to go perfectly. Are you able to tell how many vamps are in the building?

It was oddly comforting to hear Phoenix in my head, like my conscience telling me right from wrong. I did a quick head sweep. I was glad that my brain was able to register the blankness of a vampire but I was unsure how big Victor's "palace" was. As far as I could tell there were only an extra two outside of this room but I didn't think they were actually inside the building. Probably guards, I thought. Victor would have guards on the gate. I wasn't foolish enough to believe that Victor wouldn't have the place guarded.

I didn't know how to tell this information to Phoenix though. I knew that any movement I made was likely to be monitored by at least one of the vampires in the room if not by Victor Madden himself. I glanced at Phoenix who was watching Victor with the utmost care, tracking every movement as he turned towards the massive fireplace before he settled himself back in his chair, looking as relaxed as he had when we had first arrived.

"So, what to do with you all," Victor's voice bought my attention back to him. "Mr Northman, I will give you credit that your child," his eyes lingered on Pam reluctantly before they switched to me, "and your wife have caused me a great deal of upset. The loss of Bruno and Corinna caused me a lot of trouble."

"Well, you shouldn't have sent them to assassinate them," Eric hissed back ferociously not thinking that this response confirmed that Pam and I had disposed of them. I noticed that Lorcan's eyes had shifted back to me and were regarding me with genuine curiosity.

Victor laughed.

"No, you're right," he agreed to my surprise. "I should definitely have taken care of it myself. Still, I am about to rectify that mistake."

Eric and Lorcan growled simultaneously in a terrifying way that made me shiver again. The looks on their faces were easy to read, the both of them leaning towards Victor ever so slightly as though just waiting for him to try something before they'd shred him into pieces.

"An appropriate response, considering," Victor smirked over their reactions. "So, since you have caused me no end of trouble Mr Northman, I shall kill your child first, your brother second and your wife last."

The vampires that flanked Eric, Lorcan and Pam suddenly came into effect. Two of them held Pam back whilst Eric and Lorcan took up to four each to keep them from leaping onto Victor who was now laughing, in his chair.

"I will kill you last, Mr Northman," Victor said slowly meeting Eric's eye, "but I might draw out the process."

His eyes turned to me and what was in them made me feel like I was standing before him naked. It made me want to turn, to cover myself up with my hands. I felt a faint flush spreading on my face but I held my stance unwilling to cower under that gaze.

"I will admit," Victor said lazily not taking his eyes off me, "that I will enjoy killing your wife. She smells so delicious and I am sure that her blood with be tremendously satisfying."

A furious hiss escaped Eric's lips and Pam echoed him. It was all I could do to stand my ground, to not turn and try to run away. Surely Phoenix could act now. Victor looked like he was about to pounce on me but then his eyes switched to where Phoenix was standing, completely ignoring the fury of the three vampires near him. Eric's anger was extreme.

"The were first, I think," he said flippantly. "She's unimportant but it might cause our dear Miss Stackhouse some distress. Would you like to do the honours, Alena?"

His voice was soft when he said it but I was startled by the appearance of a female vampire that suddenly appeared, eagerly behind Phoenix, practically licking her lips as she looked down at the back of Phoenix's neck. I could fell a scream building but suddenly, a commonplace sound that sounded extremely out of place took up its call. The phone on the side table next to Victor's chair had started ringing.

Victor held his hand up to stop the vampire Alena before he picked up the handset. No doubt he wanted to enjoy the show, I thought feeling sick right through to my bones.

I watched Victor through the phone call. His expression seemed to become more and more delighted with every word the other person said. His eyes were swivelling around all five of us like he had just won the lottery or something equally amazing. This expression did nothing to comfort me, in fact, it did quite the opposite. It must have been something pretty amazing to cause such a delighted reaction in our captor.

I waited, in agonising suspense, as he finished the call and slowly hung up the phone. I watched as his eyes flickered over my face, then Eric's, Pam's before resting on Lorcan's for a moment. I watched the slow, gleeful smile spread up his face before he took his eyes from Lorcan to look at Phoenix. I knew exactly what had made him so happy.

"You almost had me fooled," he said, getting to his feet once more to cross the room to where Phoenix was standing. "It was a brave act that you put on and you," he looked back at Lorcan, "trying to trick me into thinking that your wife was heading to Canada when, in fact, she's right here, in this very room. Very clever."

I was pretty sure I might vomit. The game was up. My mind brought to the forefront Phoenix sitting in Fangtasia with us last night and Heidi watching us curiously from behind the bar. I swore rather crudely in my head thinking about it. We'd been idiots not to think of Heidi telling Victor that a red haired woman with some connection to Eric and Pam had been in Fangtasia last night.

"All along I've been looking for a red haired British vampire," he said softly, his eyes alight in curiosity, drifting over Phoenix's face, "when I should have been looking for a red haired were who has no trouble disguising her accent." I almost breathed a sigh of relief when he called her a were. "Stupid human, their ill sight is an unfortunate problem. I do assume that you have a British accent, of course?"

"Of course I do," Phoenix told him not looking away from his gaze, her normal accent back in place. I glanced over at Lorcan, Eric and Pam who hadn't yet relaxed their offensive positions and I realised that they wanted to be ready for whenever Phoenix decided to begin the offensive.

"Ah," Victor crowed in delight. "How wonderfully convincing you are at the New Orleans accent. I should have realised that you are far too pale to live here."

He turned abruptly from her, focusing his attention back on Eric and Lorcan.

"So I do have the entirety of your merry little band, Mr Northman," he gloated. "You must be disappointed in your wife, Mr Celtman. You expected her to bring help, possibly from your maker, a most impressive and powerful Vampire, but instead she waltzes into my trap with the two vampires and one telepath that I was so desperate to dispose of."

Dispose of? What was I some kind of garbage bag? This thought startled me, surely I was beyond the point of being insulted by whatever terms Victor chose to use but apparently not. Eric's anger was swilling around inside of me, pushing my own temper up. I'd just had about enough of Victor smug self-assured face and I wished that Phoenix could hear my thoughts because right now they were screaming "kill him".

"I am curious though," he turned back to Phoenix. "What was your plan, Lara? Did you think the mighty vampire Eric Northman would somehow be able to free your vampire husband? Or do you turn into something that you thought would terrify me? You look like all you could turn into is a fluffy bunny."

His sneer had me flexing my fists and I expected that Phoenix would look him straight in the eye and say "no, but I turn into this" before setting her body aflame. Victor's reaction to that would be priceless. To my surprise, Phoenix instead hung her head, as though shamed by Victor's words. I glanced, uncertain to Lorcan. All the other vampires were focused on the exchange between Phoenix and Victor and so they didn't catch the wink that Lorcan gave me.

"Well, I think I'll stick with the original plan," Victor said swivelling round to look at the rest of us. "Alena."

He didn't even bother to turn round to watch but I couldn't pull my gaze away from where Alena's fangs descended towards the pale skin of Phoenix's neck. The room seemed to blur before me. I closed my eyes and screamed.

It took me a moment to realise I had stopped screaming because somebody was still screaming, an agonising blood curling scream. My eyes snapped open to the scene before me. The vampire, Alena, was screaming but Phoenix wasn't actually on fire. I could see the blood trickling over her collarbone from where Alena must have pierced her skin with her teeth. Phoenix was staring at Victor who was watching in horror at the vampire behind Phoenix.

My eyes went there too to see the female vamp clutching her throat, screaming in a sort of screech that was hard on the ears. I could see the pale skin of her throat becoming redder and redder. I felt myself leaning away, waiting for some kind of explosion. I wanted to see Victor's face but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the vampire screaming in pain behind Phoenix who was looking completely unperturbed by all the noise the vamp was making.

As I watched flames erupted from the vampire Alena's throat and within seconds the flames had consumed her, turning her to ash. The silence was even more deafening than the screaming that had erupted from the late vampire.

I managed to tear my eyes from the pile of ash on the floor to look at Victor. He was staring, utterly rigid, at the spot where the ash was piled with particles still floating around the air, twirling to the ground. There was moment where all he did was stare and then his eyes flickered up to Phoenix. I watched his eyes take in the trickles of blood on her collarbone like I had before him. He looked over her as though there might be some clue to what had just happened in the way she stood or what she was wearing. It was then that I noticed she was barefoot on the stone floor. Victor seemed to realise it to.

I watched with a sick kind of pleasure as Victor looked startled back towards Eric, Lorcan and Pam as though willing them to explain it. The smiles on my vampires' faces were not pleasant and the word vengeful was an understatement. Their vampire guards hadn't loosened their holds but they too were staring in shock and disbelief at where Phoenix stood.

"What are you?" Victor's lips barely moved when he spoke.

Phoenix's answering smile was twisted viciously, like she was enjoying every nanosecond of his discomfort.

"Well, I'm not a were," she said and then she clicked her fingers.


Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed it.

As always remember the magic button. If you press it, it make me smile.

Kerr x.