A/N- Sorry for the delay- 3 little kids + the stomach bug + Scarlet Fever = no time to write. : (

It has been crazy here! Let me tell you- any adult who has never had to clean up the projectile mess that comes out of tiny bodies has never truly experienced life!! My new favorite perfume is Eau de Lysol. Anyway, enough of my whining.....

SouthernLady23 is my girl! She got to handle this chapter from the safety of her computer- no flu bug involved. Huge, germ free kisses to her. If you see any errors in this chapter, they belong to me...I'll blame it on doing too many things at one time!!!

CH still owns the characters- I almost had her ready to take me up on my trade offer. But, then she found out the kiddies aren't always cute and cuddly and are essentially little germ breeders!

EPOV

"Pam, go to the shifter's bar until I get there. I need to run an errand and I want someone keeping and eye on Sookie until I can get back." I left no room for my child to argue the point of spending time in the shifter's dump.

I snapped my phone shut and drove fast and furiously back towards Bobby's office. My mind was spinning with the shit Sookie was dealing with. Every time I thought we made progress, we actually ended up taking two steps back! I swear, if it was possible, my entire head would be full of grey hair.

Bobby's car drove effortlessly, allowing me to sink into the soft, supple leather seats and let my mind drift towards thoughts of my woman. Each time I thought of taking her, I realized my foot was subconsciously pressing the accelerator, causing the RPM's to race. The sound of the engine made my cock that much harder.

I tried to think of a way I could explain the bond to Sookie in ways she would understand, and believe me. Trying to make her see things any other way, besides her way, is like getting Pam to shop at Wal-Mart- impossible. I tried to think of any vamps I knew who had been bonded to a human in the past. There wasn't anyone I could think of, let alone contact.

I thought about contacting Bill, seeing if he had anything helpful in his database, but he was still not completely healed from the silver poisoning. Also, I'm sure Sookie would be furious if she found out I bothered Bill in order to prove her wrong.

When I pulled into the parking lot of Bobby's office building, I could still see him passed out on the steps. I didn't really feel bad about the events that took place earlier. He screwed up- period. I parked his car and decided my good deed would be to check if the son of a bitch was still breathing.

As I approached him, I could hear his heartbeat and the sound of his breathing. To tie up loose ends, I made the decision to wake him from his well deserved nap. I shook him, rousing him from his unconscious state.

"Burnham…wake up!" I waited a moment, and shook him again. Finally, he groggily opened his eyes and his mouth. I gazed into his eyes, locking his stare with mine, pushing my will upon him.

"Bobby, you needed to work late tonight. I asked you to meet me at the bar, and you had too much to drink. You passed out and hit your head. After I felt you sobered up enough, I allowed you to drive home. Are we clear?" My voice was soft and soothing.

Bobby shook his head, picked himself up off the ground, and silently walked to his car. I watched him drive off, feeling completely satisfied with the outcome. I glanced down at my watch and was pleased the drive had only taken me twenty minutes.

I took a few moments to take in the night. It was cool, clear, and perfect flying weather. I decided to make a pit stop, flying home first to get the house in order for when Sookie came back later that night. I left the house in such a state after pacing around nervously and tearing anything that reminded me of her- the last thing I wanted was to scare her when she came back home.

I spent less than ten minutes at the house, using my vampire speed to make everything perfect. I was ready to bring her home- for good. I felt so hopeful about the way the evening would turn out, I almost wanted to fly to her house in Bon Temps to pack more of her things. I wanted her to stay with me- forever.

I exited the protective wards of my house quickly, wanting to get back to my love as soon as possible. As soon as I had flown a few feet from my house, and the night air hit me, I smelled him- Madden! My stomach clenched and I immediately struck an attack pose. My fangs protruded from my mouth, ready to attack at any moment. The air around me was silent, eerie, too quiet. I closed my eyes and tried to sense his whereabouts. The house would have been the safest place, given the wards and other magic encompassing it, but the hunter in me refused to run away from a fight. There was no fucking way he was getting to me again!

I floated into the sky, hoping to get a better view of my property. Having a bird's eye view of the battlefield is priceless. I levitated silently, as my eyes scanned every piece of ground they could cover. My increased senses alerted me to a sound coming from behind me. I spun my body around in the air, feeling the wind whirl through my hair. I was certain the noise came from my roof.

But how could this be? How could I catch Madden's scent inside my property? There are magical wards all around it- there is no possible way someone could make their way in. My thoughts assailed my mind as I landed silently on the shingles, crouching as though I was stalking my prey. I crawled up the slope of the roof, all my senses on high alert. The smell of the bastard no longer floated through the air, but my intuition told me the danger had not passed.

Once I was fully satisfied with the findings on the roof, I took off through the air, heading towards Bon Temps. The sooner I got back to Sookie, the better. My anticipation of having her back in my home was making me feel like an adolescent boy. I was all nerved up, ready to crawl out of my skin.

When I was about half way back to the bar, my cell phone rang. I normally don't answer while I am flying, but with Sookie's behavior lately, it could be anything. The number was unknown, but I answered anyway.

"Yes," my usual greeting if I am unsure of who the caller was.

"Eric, Sookie left the bar. She is on foot and I don't know how long she has been gone." Pam sounded off, but at the moment, I didn't question her.

"What do you mean, you don't know how long she has been gone? It was your duty to watch over her- what the hell were you doing?" My voice strained with anger.

"She told me she was going out back to help Sam with something in his office. The shifter nodded in agreement, so I didn't question him. When it seemed they were taking too long, I went back to find her. The shifter told me he only needed her for a couple of minutes, and she should have returned back to work- which she did not." Again, something in Pam's voice set alarm bells off, but I was too concerned about Sookie.

"Start to look for her, I will be there shortly. Pam, what number are you calling from?" There was no response, the line went dead.

My mind was spinning with the entire situation. It is completely like Sookie to take off, finding the advantage of a situation to get away. Helping the shifter could have been the perfect rouse to get out of the bar without Pam noticing.

But, something about Pam was off, and I couldn't put my finger on it. It certainly sounded like Pam, but there was something different. Maybe it was the tone she used, maybe it was the pitch, but it was different. I redialed her cell phone, but there was no answer.

I flew through the air, cursing everything coming to mind. What if this was an elaborate plan? What if Madden, who I know was just at the outskirts of my property, was behind all of this? Was it really worth it, not looking for Sookie? What if it was Pam, and she was just worried about my reaction to her losing my bonded? In the end, Sookie was more important. I scoured the ground for any sign of her blonde head.

I was about five minutes flying time away from Merlotte's when I spotted her. She was running down the side of the road, looking like a scared rabbit. I swooped down and landed in front of her, causing her to shriek and jump backwards.

"Lover, why are you running away- again? Did we not discuss this earlier? We are going to talk as soon as we get back to our home." I spoke to her softly, not wanting to upset her more.

She looked at me with eyes I have never seen before. I looked deeply into those eyes for anything, any sign of recognition. I quickly noticed the eyes staring back at me were not the beautiful blue eyes of my lover, they were a deep, almost emerald green.

This Sookie didn't say a word, she just stood there, looking at me with a lopsided grin on her face. In that moment I knew something was terribly wrong. I knew I needed to get out of there, but I was fascinated with the likeness of this woman.

The air around her began to swirl, and she lifted her arms above her head. In the next second I was no longer looking at , "Sookie", I was looking at a man, a fairy. My fangs snapped down at his scent and I was instantly hungry. His scent was familiar, the same which lingered in the air around her home.

"Eric Northman, the famed Viking," the emerald-eyed fairy hissed. "I have been waiting for you," he said, suddenly throwing some type of powder at me, causing me to feel light headed and weak.

"Who are you?" I struggled with the feelings taking over my body.

"My name is Connor, and I do believe we have a lot of catching up to do." His words expressed an anger and evil I hadn't heard in centuries. He wrapped his arms around my body, cocooning me in his strength. I tried to fight, but the magical powder dusting my skin was too powerful.

I tried to bite at him as he stood so near, but I couldn't get my mouth to cooperate with what my brain was thinking. Everything was happening in slow motion, and was extremely painful to experience. I screamed, or at least I thought I screamed. The sound echoed in my head, careening off my brain.

Next, I was hit with a wave of pain I never knew existed. It felt like I was being torn in two, while my insides felt as if they were being ripped from my body. If he did not have his body wrapped around mine, I am sure I would have fallen from the pain. I squeezed my eyes shut, begging the pain to stop. It was unbearable, and I had never in my thousand years felt anything like this before.

When I reopened my eyes, I was no longer on the side of the road in Bon Temps, I was in a heavily wooded, brightly lit forest. The smell of fairy permeated the air around me. I was tied in silver, bound at the ankles and the wrists, yet, I could not will my fangs in or stop wanting to fuck anything that came in my path. There was only one place I could be where the light was not my enemy and the scent was driving me insane- I was in the fairy realm.

"We're on my turf now, Viking!" The fairy stood over me, eyes burning with hate. I had no idea who this fairy was, but I knew he was not my ally. I took in my surroundings, completely aware I was out of my element, and very, very fucked.

A/N- OK, tell me what you think....Eric in the fairy realm- can you say 24/7 blue balls???