I know this update has taken forever but I hope there are still some readers out there!
As soon as Eric was assured that his progeny was safe, he turned his black eyes on the witch who had cursed her. Eric could barely control his rage as he looked at her prone form. He stalked toward her, slightly disappointed that she was unconscious and he would not be able to play with her before he killed her. He crouched before her and looked her over with a sneer on his face.
"You messed with the wrong fucking progeny," he spat at her. Her eyelids fluttered and he heard her heart falter in her chest. He grinned. She would wake before he tore her head off and ended her life. She would look into his furious eyes and she would know her fate before he handed it down. She would feel his wrath and she would know true fear. Eric Northman would make sure of it. "Open your eyes, witch!"
Her body twitched and Eric bent over her face so she would feel his breath as he spoke. "Ooopeeen," he sang, taunting her. As soon as her eyes fluttered open, Eric clamped a hand down over her mouth so she could utter so more spells. "Yes, good," he purred. "Look upon death itself. You think I am a vicious killer? You think I am capable of great violence?" He gripped the witch around her throat, cutting off her air supply and lifting her limp body from the ground as he stood. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA!" he roared, millimeters from her face. His voice echoed over the land, rattling the windows in Lafayette's house, and striking a paralyzing fear into the heart of the witch who dared to try to use him against his bonded mate.
The onlookers cowered, clutching each other and backing away slowly so as not to catch the eye of the irate Viking vampire in their midst. Amelia tried in vain to soothe a trembling Pam, who was getting so much rage and anguish over the bond that she could only stand in awe, watching her maker exact revenge for those he loved.
Sookie watched Eric shoot into the sky holding onto the witch, who he then promptly dropped from 50 feet up. He was on the ground before she hit it, his hand around her neck, crushing her larynx so that she had no hope of speaking again. He just wanted to hear her scream that one last time, as she had done while careening back down to Earth.
Sookie looked at Eric—at the gleeful smile twisting his face, at his wide excited eyes and fully extended fangs—and she shuttered violently, thinking how grateful she was not to ever be on the receiving end of that enraged vampire. She understood, though. She knew how scared he had been as he held her tightly under the witch's influence. She had felt his fear and his anger, and she had felt his determination not to harm her. She sent him love now, sent him trust and strength, even though he had plenty of his own. She wanted him to know that she accepted him—all of him—even the part of him that could be a scary motherfucker.
Eric, even in his state of all consuming bloodlust, felt the trickle of fear ripple over the bond from Sookie. He dropped the witch, whose legs splayed upon the ground at unnatural angles, and started toward his fairy's side. But halfway there he felt her love, he felt her acceptance and it wound around him warming him from the inside out. He lifted his face to the sky and bellowed. Bloodlust, love and joy coursed through his veins. His bonded sang to him through the blood and he needed to be near her more than anything. He had almost killed her while under the witch's spell and she was sending him her love! He did not deserve such a valkyrie!
He zipped back to the witch, still lying motionless on the ground. He gripped her neck and her head and with one twist, he removed her head from her body and threw it aside in disgust. The spirit invading her body was released as she died and they watched as she floated away on the wind, leaving them for good.
Eric went back to Sookie's side. He dropped to his knees again, this time clutching Sookie and bringing her with him. He kissed her face, desperate to reassure himself that she was alright. "Sookie," he whispered, cupping her face in his giant hands. His eyes searched hers for evidence of lasting anger or any hurt. "I'm so sorry, my love. I am so sorry for scaring you."
The rest of the crowd, seeing this ancient vampire on his knees in front of Sookie, whispering so fervently to her, decided to leave the couple in peace and privacy. They all went inside Lafayette's house, for some much needed alcoholic refreshment.
Pam reluctantly left Eric's side, and was led by Amelia into Lafayette's house with the others. She was torn in her duty to Eric but she knew he needed some time alone with his Sookie.
Sookie looked at Eric, at the desperation in his eyes and in his voice. "Eric, sweetheart, it's okay. It wasn't your fault. You fought the best you could. Please, Eric, it's okay." Sookie did not like to see her vampire so vulnerable as when he was in the witch's grasp but this, the way he was acting now, was even worse. He was desperately kissing, and fiercely clutching her to his body. The turmoil coming from him over their bond threatened to overwhelm Sookie with its intensity.
She pulled his face off of her neck and held it so that he would be forced to look into her eyes. "Sookie," he murmured. His eyes were dilated black, just the slightest touch of blue ringed his irises.
"Eric! Look at me. I'm alright. Okay? I'm fine. I'm not hurt, nothing is wrong with me. Okay? Let's stand up." Sookie got to her feet but when she tried to pull Eric up with her, she noticed the trembling of his body. He was shaking and as he looked up at her, she saw that his face had taken on that twisted mask of violence once more. "Eric?" she said, reaching for him.
"No! Leave me!" he barked, shooting to his feet with a feral growl. Sookie stumbled backward at his furious voice.
"What's wrong, Eric?" she asked in a frightfully small voice.
"Go!" he roared. "Please! I can't stop it this time!" He had blocked the bloodlust before but as he felt it grip him once more, he knew that no amount of effort on his part to end it before it played out fully, would be successful.
Sookie was just about to go to him and offer him her light but before she could reach him, he straightened his body and rocketed up into the air.
"Eric!" she yelled after him, watching as he disappeared from view.
He kept flying and soon Sookie heard the sound of splitting wood and huge trees falling to the ground.
Eric was even angrier than he had been when Bill tried to abduct his precious bonded. He had almost hurt Sookie! Taking his revenge on the witch had sated his blood lust for the few moments it took for him to reassure himself that Sookie was unharmed. But as soon as he knew she was well enough, his voracious appetite for destruction and blood had come back tenfold. He could not trust himself around Sookie at that moment, especially since he had almost hurt her before. He flew fast into the forest and began uprooting tree after tree and hauling them as far as he could. Raging in a forest was particularly dangerous for a vampire but Eric was not in his right mind.
Sookie stood frantically listening for Eric. She heard crash after crash and Eric's voice, bellowing roar after roar into the moonlit night.
"Eric!" she yelled desperately, "Come back! Let me use my light to make you better!" She knew he'd be able to hear her but she wasn't sure if his mind would register her pleading words.
The forest noises stopped for a second and Sookie took a breath. She hoped Eric was on his way back to her for a dose of her light. She listened intently, wishing to hear his movement.
"Eric?" she called.
He landed in front of her—her dirty, disheveled warrior, her beautiful Viking. He had his head down, his arms at his sides, hands clenched. When he looked up, the murderous glint in his eye made her gasp.
"Now, Sookie. Do it now or I fear what I might do!"
The golden light she threw dropped him instantly to his knees. His chest heaved as he took a huge shuddering breath in and blew it out slowly. He looked up at her, and relief swept through her body. He was coming back to her. The hard look in his eye had softened and he looked at her with devotion instead.
"Eric?" she whispered, walking slowly to him.
"Lover," he breathed. He stood and threw his arms around her when she got close enough. She buried her face in his chest and breathed him in. Mingling with his crisp ocean scent was the smell of dirt, pine sap, and freshly split wood. He smelled earthy and Sookie was reminded of the smell of Godric before he met his untimely end. Her heart hurt for Eric but she didn't want to cause him any more grief tonight so she put those feelings behind her.
As soon as she had Eric in her arms, he took off into the air again, flying high above the land. Sookie shrieked and clasped him tighter.
"What are you doing?" she screamed.
He bent his head and spoke softly in her ear. "I'm flying you home so I don't fuck you on the grass outside your friend's house." He said this as if it were a normal occurrence and she should have known better.
Sookie squeaked as he began his descent. The distance was nothing to a fast flying vampire and their flight took only three minutes. Still, as he let Sookie go once he landed, she felt dizzy and disoriented. He held her arm until he could tell that the feeling had passed.
"Don't do that!" Sookie yelled, hitting his chest with her small fists. He chuckled and caught her hands.
"I should have ripped your clothes off and had you on the lawn?"
She squinted up at him. "No! Of course not! You should have told me that you wanted to go to my house!"
"Please forgive me, my dearest Sookie. I was impulsive and quite rude. Allow me to escort you into your house so that I may fuck you into oblivion."
"Eric Northman!" she admonished. She couldn't help the smile that snuck onto her face and when Eric saw it, he smirked and winked. He scooped her up and started up the stairs to her farmhouse but some movement on her porch caught her eye. "Claudine? What are—"
"Sookie! You must get him inside! His King has betrayed him—"
Claudine was cut off as a silver net was launched at Eric's back. He stumbled forward, landing heavily on Sookie, who could not budge him. Her back was bent painfully over her top step, her arms pinned down by an immovable vampire.
The smell of burning flesh filled her nose and Sookie screamed upon realizing it was Eric's flesh that was smoking. "Eric!" she screamed.
"Sookie," he grunted out. The net was burning into his skin and weakening his body. "Sookie, you must get out before they capture you. I will be okay. Please save yourself, my love."
With the last bit of strength that Eric possessed, he lifted himself the slightest amount so that Sookie could try to crawl out from under his huge body. She only managed to wiggle a little, freeing one arm and one leg.
"Claudine!" he gritted out. His strength was gone and Sookie was still trapped beneath him. Sookie's Fairy cousin was her only hope. "Save her!" he pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. He was aware of the King's guards along with Nan Flanagan's helmeted men slowly closing in on them. Soon it would be too late. If they got to his Sookie, if they hurt her—he was snarling at the thought. He couldn't allow that to happen.
"Sookie, take my hand!" called Claudine.
Sookie looked at Eric and tried unsuccessfully to remove the silver net from his skin. There was just too much of it and it was too heavy for her to throw it off of him with just one hand. She saw Claudine, saw her outstretched hand and knew that if she touched it, Claudine would pop them to safety. But she couldn't leave her vampire. "Eric!" she whispered hoarsely. "I can't leave you! What will they do to you?"
"Sookie, please. Whatever they do to me, I can take. As long as I know you are safe, I can hold out. Please go." He looked at her, blood tears welling in his eyes. Still she did not move. Tears streamed hotly down her cheeks as she stared into his eyes. Eric mustered up his last bit of strength, took as deep a breath as the netting allowed, and yelled, "Go!"
Sookie jumped, her eyes widening. She sobbed and nodded, holding out her hand to Claudine. "Please, not to Fairie!" she pleaded. She didn't want to be in another realm while her bonded was suffering for who knows how long. She wanted to stay and try to fight for her vampire. "I love you," she whispered to Eric.
Claudine grabbed Sookie's hand. "Hold on!" she yelled. Sookie felt a strange pressure all around her body, as if she were being squeezed and stretched. She saw a blinding light behind her closed eyes and then suddenly all was quiet and she was in the still night air. She opened her eyes and blinked slowly as her head stopped its spinning.
As soon as she saw where she was, she fell to her knees sobbing.
~~—~~—~~
"I love you, too, my fairy," he whispered as she disappeared.
The second Sookie left his side, Eric felt all his strength flow from his body as the silver net did its job. He heard Nan yelling at Bill about letting the fairy slip through their fingers and Eric was glad that Claudine was there to take her away. He couldn't let himself think of what might have happened to her had she been caught with him. He only hoped Claudine could keep her safe and that Sookie would know to contact Pam, who could send help. He had the sudden arresting fear that Sookie might foolishly attempt a rescue herself but he hoped that Claudine would prevent her from acting rashly. He knew how big her heart was and how much she needed to help her loved ones but he needed her to be rational and think about her own safety as well as his.
"Get him in the house!" Nan yelled to her guards. They wore gloves so they could haul both Eric and the silver net into Bill's house and down to his jail in the basement. Eric snarled as they dragged him across the cemetery.
Bill laughed derisively. "Not so tough now, are you, Viking?" he sneered, walking alongside Eric's limp body.
"Let me out of this net and I will show you how I will end you!" gritted Eric. The silver nets were eating at his skin, coming dangerously close to cutting off tendons that would render him unable to move.
Bill continued to taunt Eric all the way into his basement where they dumped Eric before removing the silver. Eric lay unmoving on the hard ground.
"And now we will find your little fairy girlfriend and figure out how to put her to good use!" said Nan.
Eric growled and pulled himself up to a sitting position against the concrete wall. "I never thought you would betray her like this, Bill. Didn't you just claim to love her?"
Bill frowned and stepped closer to the cell. "I will not let harm come to her. You know she is better off with me than she is with you! I am King! I will protect her!"
"By leaving her vulnerable without her mate?" Eric could feel Sookie's terror and sadness. As much as he did not like to know how upset she was, he was happy that the bond did not just blink out as it had done so long ago when she went away for an entire year.
Bill was outraged to hear Eric refer to Sookie as his mate. He clenched his fists and screamed, "Sookeh is mine!"
Nan laughed at Bill as if he were a stupid child. "That bitch is mine!" she yelled before making her way upstairs muttering about hungry puppy dogs.
"You have put her in danger, Bill. How stupid are you? Wait, don't answer that. I am going to kill you either way, but if Nan or one of her gay stormtroopers lays one revolting finger on my bonded, I will make your death as slow and as torturous as possible. You will wish you were Nan's butt boy, you will wish you were the plaything of the entire state in your ridiculous rule, when I am done with you." Eric was slumped on the floor, blood and burnt skin smeared all over him and hanging off, but the quiet rage in his voice made Bill swallow hard as he backed away from the cell.
"You—you will never see Sookeh again!" shrieked Bill before vamping up the stairs to the safety of his daychamber.
When the sun rose that day, the thousand-year-old vampire could not fight it—not even for a minute. He had lost too much blood and his body was not healing. His chest ached with the distance from his Fae mate and her grief was like constant pangs of agony throughout his insides. When he died for the day, it was a blessing for him to be finally free of all the pain. At least for a little while.
I'm hopeful the next update won't take as long! I know where this story is going now and there should be 4-5 more chapters of this left. Thanks for reading!