Author's Notes: I do not own the characters, they are the sole property of the totally amazing Goddess named Charlaine Harris! This is just for fun.*****I really need to go back and read all the books again. I can't remember if Bill knows about Niall or not. Ya'll will have to forgive any little continuity faux pas, please.

Chapter 14

Sookie's POV

In spite of all the emotional upheaval of the night before, whatever had been in that drink of Claudine's had given me a deep, dreamless sleep. Although when I woke I felt completely rested, I knew immediately that something was wrong. It was the Blood Bond. Even though I had not been feeling much else through it for the last few weeks, I had always been able to feel Eric's life force humming along. Now I felt nothing. I had always resented that unasked-for connection, but now that it seemed to be cut off, it felt like part of my body was missing. I was completely miserable. I recalled Claudine's words about how Eric could control the bond somewhat, and it was clear that now he had shut it down completely.

The first thing I did was check my phone, and thankfully there was a message from Pam."Bill is going to recover. His house may not. That Fabrizzio is quite gorgeous, is he not? I will phone you this evening about my Master." Oddly, I had already known that Bill had not met his final death. Through that mysterious original Blood Tie, although not as strong as the Bond, I could still feel him enough to know he was still "alive." I was just not sure what condition he was in. I found it bot ironic and unsettling, that I could now feel Bill more strongly than I could Eric.

I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed, and went to work the lunch shift. I'm afraid I was a little grumpy, and as the day drug on I thought my shift would never be over. Sam was beginning to look worried and I could feel a lecture coming on, but I managed to escape before he could corner me. I got home about 5:00 and began to wait for Pam's call. It was the time of year that dark came early, and so I didn't have long to wait. I spent the time trying to come to grips with what Claudine had told me. It was a lot to get my mind around. I even tried to "pop" myself to back Merlotte's, but with no success. I guess I really did have to be in a jam for it to work.

I was still really mad at Eric. He had said some pretty horrible things... and topped it off by beating up (or worse) poor Bill, who had done nothing except support him, even if he didn't know it! All of this jealousy stuff was just...nuts. The Viking might not want me (except in bed) but no one else could take what he thought belonged to him! Vampires! Arrrggg.

Although it was now already dark, I went ahead and got in the shower, washed my hair, and shaved the fuzz off my legs. I got out a soft old pair of jeans and a blue sweater and slipped them on. I didn't know if Pam would have to work tonight or how late she might call. I found a book and settled into Gran's favorite chair by the window to wait. I had barely opened the cover of the book when my cellphone rang. It was Bill. "Boy, am I glad to hear from you! Pam called and left a message that you were going to be OK. How are you? I am so, so sorry about last night."

The dark vampire's calm, cool voice came through the phone, saying, "Sweetheart, it was not your fault. I am already healed. How are you? What happened? How did you do it?"

I knew exactly to what he was referring."Bill, I swear I don't know how it happened. Claudine says it is something I was born with..." I stopped. Although he did know about my fairy blood, he did not know about Niall. I was unsure whether to tell him. "I guess I'll figure it out sooner or later."

Very seriously, he replied, "Sookie, I know there is much more to you than anyone guesses. I could tell you were more than human from the start. If there is anything I can do to help you, you know I am here."

I remembered how he had been the first one to let me see my telepathy more as a gift and less than the curse I had always believed it to be. Someday maybe I could tell him the whole thing. As soon as I knew the entire story myself, that is. Another question was on my mind, so I asked, "Bill, what about Fabrizzio?"

He hesitated a minute before replying, "He has... gone. He was quite contrite and sends you his sincere apologies. He is still considered a young vampire by our standards, and the heat of the moment combined with the smell of your irresistible blood made him lose control. He was lucky that he did not manage to actually taste you or I would have staked him myself. He was also very, very lucky that Eric was so intent on killing me. Only the fact that Fabrizzio was attempting to keep you out of harm's way saved him from final death."

At that moment, I heard my phone beeping with an incoming call. Knowing that it might be Pam, I said hurriedly, "Sorry Bill, I need to catch this. I'll call you soon."

It was Pam. She said shortly, "Sookie, I am on my way to your house. Be ready to go for a drive. We must talk." She hung up before I could even say, "Hi, Pam."

About 15 minutes later she pulled into my driveway. I ran out to greet her. She was still dressed in her Fangtasia garb, so it was clear that she had come from work. Rolling down her window, she called, "Get in, Sookie. I have something I need to show you."

Running back to the house, I shut and locked the front door. My purse was on the front porch swing so I grabbed it and in a minute we were roaring back down the driveway. Have I ever mentioned that vampires like to drive fast? Pam was no exception. I tried my best to look at her and not the road, so my foot would not wear a hole in her carpet trying to step on an imaginary break. Rather sarcastically, I asked, "Gosh, Pam, are we going to a fire or something?"

Glancing over at me, she replied, "No, Sookie, why? Is there one you wish to attend? We do not have time for that right now." I think she was serious, but sometimes it is hard to tell.

"No, I was just kidding. Can I ask where we are going?"

"No," she stated calmly, "We will be there soon enough. In the meantime, I want to speak with you."

Well, duh. I figured that much. "OK, shoot."

"Shoot you, why would I shoot you? You are my friend and my Master's Bonded."

This time she really must be joking. I looked at her face but it was impassive as ever. Nope. Not joking. This time, I just had to roll my eyes. "It's just an expression, Pam. It means, 'go ahead and say whatever you want."

Pam said seriously, "Sookie, I went in to Fangtasia this evening. My Master was in the foulest mood in which I have ever seen him. I expected it to be bad after last night, but this was worse than when you were dating the Were-Tiger. During that time I had to replace Eric's office door on three separate occasions. What exactly happened last night?

Taking a deep breath, I pretty much told her everything. I finished by saying, "So you see, he thought I had been with Bill, but I hadn't! Eric has no claim on me, even if I had been!"

It was now her turn to roll her eyes. "You silly girl, of course he has a claim on you. You are his Bonded! It is a great honor to be Eric Northman's Bonded!"

"I didn't want that! I didn't ask for that!" I knew I was whining but didn't care.

With irritating calm, she said, "Sookie. It does not matter. It is what it is." Oh, fine, another philosopher. "I will tell you something. I believe that Eric loves you. Since my Making, I have never seen him pursue a woman, human or not, the way he has pursued you. You in fact have been a great distraction when he could ill afford it. Do you really want to be the cause of all of us meeting our final deaths?"

That was a lot for me to take in on many levels. Of course, I really didn't want to get all my friends killed! But then, one thing she said finally sunk in... and suddenly, every thing else took a back seat. He loves me? Did she just say, he loves me? I said heatedly, "If he loves me so much, then where has he been lately? How could he... be with me, and then not even call the next day?"

Pam sighed in exasperation. "Sookie, you are a child. You must know that the Viking would do just about anything to keep you away from those Nevada bloodsuckers. They just left last night, and he came straight to you. And for the record, the night after he was "with" you is the happiest I've seen him in a hundred years."

She had pretty much just echoed what Bill had said the night before. I burst out, "But Pam! How can he love me? I'm just a... barmaid."

"From the first time you came into the bar with Bill, he was fascinated by you," Pam said softly, "I admit I couldn't understand it at first, but then we got to know you. You are so different from normal humans. You are honorable and truthful, and in our world that is rare. You accept us for who we are and at least try to understand our ways. You have a sweetness in your nature, yet you are also fierce and brave. In Rhodes, you saved our lives at great risk to your own. You saved my Master from Sigebert. For that alone I honor you. I am glad that you are my Master's bonded."

It was no secret that Pam didn't have much use for humans, and so that little speech was no less than astonishing. I could see that she meant what she said, too. I was so wrapped up in this intense conversation that I had not really been paying much attention to where we were going, except to note that we seemed to be headed in the general direction of Shreveport. We had been winding down a sparsely populated road for awhile. We now pulled up in front of a big iron security gate, and Pam leaned out and punched a code into an electronic keypad.

The gates swung open and the car rolled through them and then down a short concrete driveway. The house we came to was a one-story, medium-sized, fairly nondescript place. There were landscape lights glowing, but otherwise the place was dark and it appeared like no one was home. I had been to Pam's place during the Witch War, so I knew it was not hers. She got out and gestured for me to follow her. As we approached the front door, security lights came on and flooded the area in light.

She went up the front door which sported a complicated-looking electronic keypad, punched in a string of numbers and then opened the door. We stepped into the foyer. The first thing I noticed was that the inside of the house did not match the outside. While the exterior had seemed rather uninteresting, the interior was really beautiful. The furnishings were warm and comfortable and clearly expensive. Along one wall of the rather large living area was a massive fireplace with an elaborate wooden mantle. Over this hung an enormous sword. I wondered if it was merely decoration or if it had a more functional purpose. I looked closer. It looked very old and quite deadly. Ah. "Pam, is this Eric's place?"

She responded, "Yes. Actually, it is one of several that he has scattered around the area. He almost never stays in the same place two days in a row, for security reasons." She moved through the living room and into the kitchen, flipping on lights. "I have brought you here to demonstrate to you how much he thinks of you. I did not think you would believe me otherwise."

I followed her into the kitchen, which was fairly large for a vampire's house. It had beautiful dark cherry cabinets and granite counter tops. Hanging from a wrought iron pot rack were assorted pots and pans and around the counter were an assortment of small appliances which looked like they had never been used. "No other humans except for the maids ever cross that threshold," she stated. "This was all put in months ago... for you." Along one wall was a side-by-side commercial-grade SubZero refrigerator. Opening the freezer side, Pam said, "This is kept stocked with human food... just in case he ever needed to bring you here for safety."

I was so stunned that I couldn;t even think of a response. Ignoring the dumbstruck expression on my face, Pam took my hand, led me out of the kitchen and down a hallway. Next, she opened the door to a beautifully decorated bedroom. The wallpaper was similar to my bedroom at home, cream-colored with tiny yellow flowers. "My Master had this decorated for you. No one has ever slept in that bed. The maids are instructed to change the linens every week, so that they are always fresh."

She continued down the hall to the next door. On the wall next to this door was yet another electronic keypad, but this one appeared to be alphanumeric (a recent word of the day). Pam said, "Sookie, you know that a vampire's resting place is his most jealously guarded secret, yes?" I nodded. "This leads to Eric's daytime chamber. It is actually down a flight of stairs inside a reinforced underground bunker. He prefers to sleep underground. However, he had a ventilations system added so that you could also be safely kept there in case of attack or fire. He will have to tell you the code himslef, but it is something that he picked with you in mind. The code to the front door is your birthdate, as is the code to the gate. He wanted you to be able to remember these codes in case you needed them."

I felt as if I had been hit on the top of the head with a mallet. Eric had done all of this for me? Just in case. Oh, wow. Maybe he did love me...and I had thrown his beautiful Viking ass out into the cold.

"Oh, Pam, what am I going to do?" I wailed. "When I woke up this morning, I couldn't feel him at all. He must have shut down our Bond!" Tears began to pour down my face. She reached over, snagged a tear and popped it in her mouth. Instantly, her eyes dilated just a tad.

"Mmmmm. Delicious!... Sookie, dear, you your own good you really must stop leaking. Now, pay attention. Your bond is permanent, but the vampire can control how much you feel through it. To have shut the connection down, he must be hurt and very angry right now. Eric is a very, very proud vampire and quite stubborn. We must make a plan."

We went back into the living room and sat on the buttery-soft leather sofa. Pulling a thick cream-colored envelope out of her pocket, Pam handed it to me. "This is an invitation to a Ball in a week's time. I was supposed to deliver this to you early last night, but we had some difficulties at the bar that had to be handled. Afterward I was distracted by your call. You are required, by special request of King Felipe, to be present. He is going to announce his decree of formal protection for you.

The King will expect you to accompany Eric, as you are considered to be one of his retinue. It will be difficult for the Viking to explain to Felipe why you are not present. Even if Eric is angry with you, he can hardly ignore you at such an event. I think this may be your best chance to come to an understanding."

And so, we came up with a plan.