So, no, I did not die or fall off the face of the earth. Or get bitten (damn). I guess my ADD is to blame, distracted by work and other diversions.
A thousand apologies! Forgiveness is divine and all!
So you may need to go back and read chapter 20, see where we left our dear Sookie (I know I did). Poor thing. She's going to need more than coffee after the revelations of this day!
Ch 21
Niall expected many reactions from Sookie after his pronouncement of their kinship. Every reaction except this one.
Sookie sat on the couch and stared at him in silence, the end of a necklace clasped tightly in her hand.
"I can't read you." she whispered.
Niall leaned in, further confused by her odd words. "I'm sorry, my dear. Read me, you say?"
Sookie blinked twice and nodded, but gave no further explanation.
Niall shifted uncomfortably. He stared at Sookie, waiting for her to say more.
Finally, she looked up into his face. "Are you human?" she asked, her voice still quiet.
Niall smiled. His great granddaughter was perceptive and knew a bit more about the world and the creatures who inhabit it, it would seem. This would be much easier than he imagined.
"I am Fairy." Niall said with a smile.
Sookie scrunched up her nose. "Like....Tinkerbell? You're not small....or winged."
Niall sighed. Perhaps not so easy. "Please tell me that was human sarcasm."
Sookie rubbed her head and sank deeper into the couch. "Yes. No. I don't know."
Dropping her hands into her lap, she looked up into Niall's eyes. They seemed so old and yet so powerful. "I ... I've just been overwhelmed with … a lot of … weird lately."
Niall nodded. "I understand, Sookie. I'm sorry. I don't mean to … overwhelm you, but things are happening fast now. I believe I know who is responsible for those dead men outside your house. If I am correct, then you and your family are in a lot of danger."
Tara had been so quiet during this whole exchange that Sookie had almost forgotten she was still standing behind the couch. Up until the moment she heard her thoughts. "Crazy."
Startled, she turned around and gave Tara's hand a gentle squeeze. "Would you mind checking on the kids?"
Tara nodded and headed up the stairs.
Niall's smile disappeared. "I truly am very sorry, my dear." He spoke quietly and Sookie had to lean forward to hear him. His eyes now looked sad, guilty even. "She will not find them."
"What? What do you mean? She will not find who?"
"The children will be safer with me. They will stay with me until this war is over."
Sookie was up and off the couch in a blink, heading towards the stairs.
Niall followed behind her.
When she reached the top, she knew. She couldn't hear them, any of them. They were gone. She spun around, reaching up to smack Niall across the face, but he was faster. He caught her arm midswing and pulled her close.
"I don't expect you to understand. This … attempted strike will be forgiven." He seemed to be talking to an audience Sookie couldn't see. She started shaking, the panic threatening to put her in a frenzy.
"Where are my children?!" she screamed. "Give them back to me! I want them back here now!"
Niall's eyes turned sad again. "I am sorry, Sookie. I have to leave you now. I will give you a chance to calm yourself but I will return to further explain the situation to you. For now, I will be leaving Claudine to watch over you. You may want to warn her about the vampire."
"Vampire?" Sookie turned around, expecting to see Eric behind her. Seeing no one, she turned back to Niall. "Why aren't you taking me to this...safe place of yours. I want to be with my children. They'll be frightened. They need me." Tears were now streaming down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry, Sookie. I can't take you. There are certain laws...expectations. I simply can't. Besides, time moves differently in my realm. You would not..." he stopped mid sentence, looking unsure of his next words. He shook his head and released her arm. "I must go."
And he did. He disappeared right there in front of her. Sookie reached out to grab him and he was gone.
And there was yelling outside her door. Someone pounding on the wood frame with a voice that sounded very much like Eric.
She opened the door with clouded eyes, not even registering the sight before her. If she had, she probably would have slammed the door shut again.
Eric was shaking with anger, his eyes darting around her house, searching for an answer.
"The men I posted outside are dead. I am sure of it. What happened, Sookie? It reeks of death outside but there are no bodies. Where..." Eric stopped mid-rant and eyed Sookie's foggy stare.
She seemed in a trance. He snapped his fingers in front of her face but she gave no response. "Are you hurt? Sookie?"
Finally, her eyes met his and she looked terrified.
"Sookie?"
She promptly fainted at his feet.
"Sookie!" He caught her head just before it hit the door frame. Pulling her limp body outside, he sat on the front porch with Sookie in his lap.
"Sookie? Sookie, you must wake. Sookie." Her pulse was weak. He could find no wound and yet she seemed to be fading. He was confounded.
"Sookie. I know you can hear me. Sookie, please. Answer me." He shook her again but she remained still as the dead. Eric started to panic.
Furrowing his brow, he ripped open his wrist. Placing it to her mouth, he ordered her to drink.
Nothing.
He forced the blood through her lips and massaged her throat, willing her to swallow the thick liquid.
Slowly, she came to. The pink returned to her cheeks and her body twitched. Her mouth started to pull at his wrist, sucking the wound hard as she breathed deeply through her nose.
Her eyes popped open and met his once again. She still looked shaken but alive.
Eric breathed a sigh of relief.
A moment later she seemed to realize what she was doing and released his arm quickly, scooting out of his lap towards the door.
"Oh no, you don't." he scolded, pulling her close once more.
"Why... was I just drinking...what's going on?" Sookie's words were as tangled as her thoughts, though the pressure in her head seemed to be alleviating.
"Vampire blood heals. You were hurt …" Eric looked Sookie over once again. "Where, I could not find, but you were not well. Sookie, can you tell me what happened here?"
Sookie sat in stunned silence. Yes, she knew that vampire blood healed. She'd been told this before. She felt the same feelings once again, alive and energetic, except for the hollow feeling in her chest. It did not heal. It ached and made her clutch her breast.
"The men were dead when we woke up...then my grandfather showed up and said he would take care of it...I don't know what he did. He took..." Sookie's voice caught and a sob escaped. "He took my children." she cried.
She grabbed Eric around the neck, holding onto him like she was drowning.
Eric lifted her up easily and walked back towards the front door.
"Sookie." he said softly in her ear, the doorknob in hand, "I need you to invite me in."
Sookie nodded against his chest. The words came out as a whisper, but they was all that it took.
He entered her living room and settled her on the couch, taking inventory of the scene with his eyes. The smell of fairy wasn't as strong as he'd suspected it would be. He knew Niall to be very old and very powerful, probably able to mask his scent. The living room was neat and clean. Sookie appeared to be a bit of a neat freak.
He could see into part of the kitchen from where he stood. It told quite a different story. Coffee was splattered on the wall, counter top, and floor. Clay pieces that once belonged to a coffee mug, he guessed, littered the floor.
"I have certain contacts that can put me in touch with Niall Brigant, Sookie." Eric told her, lifting his chin and locking her gaze, "I will find out everything I can."
His large thumb stroked her chin. He looked into the kitchen and back at Sookie's eyes. They held so much fear. So much pain. He found himself wanting to protect her. Keep her close to him.
"I think you'd be safer if you stayed at my place. I'm going to pack some of your things. Stay here and rest. I'll be just a moment." He kissed her forehead and went up the stairs at vampire speed.
Sookie blinked. He was upstairs going through her things. Rummaging through her clothes. The thought made her blush. She started to make her way slowly for the steps. Leave...did she want to leave? She stepped up her pace, hurrying towards her bedroom. No...she couldn't leave. What if he brought them back and she was gone? She had to stay. She had to be here when they returned...
She entered the room and found Eric pulling her suitcase from her closet. Her clothes were already laid on the bed in neat piles. She saw two smaller piles of bras and panties and blushed again.
"Is this all you have for luggage?" Eric asked, his voice agitated.
"Eric, I can't go."
Eric stopped mid pull. "Yes, Sookie, you can. You will be safest at my place. I can't stay here during the day and apparently even my best hired guards are unable to insure your safety."
Sookie took his hand from the suitcase and squeezed it tight. His reassurance of her safety at his place was making her angry, if only because the very same reason was given before her children were taken away.
"I know you want to protect me. Thank you. But I am staying here. My children might..." She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "They will return. I have to be here when they come back."
"Sookie, I can't leave you here alone, unprotected." Eric's voice was low and firm. He pulled out her suitcase and swung it onto the bed beside her clothing.
"She will not be alone. I will watch over her."
The voice came from nowhere, then a tall woman appeared in the corner of Sookie's room. She was gorgeous. Her face and body were flawless. She was wearing a long, silk gown and looked like she just stepped off a runway.
"I will be watching, Sookie. You won't always see me, but I won't be far. I must go now, before your vampire boyfriend has a meltdown, but I will be watching. She disappeared again. Vanishing like a puff of smoke in the night air.
"That was odd." Sookie turned to Eric and jumped back, startled. His fangs were fully extended and his muscles were tense. He looked murderous. Sookie started to shuffle backwards toward the bedroom doorway.
"Who was that?" Eric spat, his glowing eyes now turned towards her.
"I think that was Claudine." Sookie squeaked, trying to look anywhere but at him. Her feet continued their slow stumble towards the door.
The next moment, he was holding her, his strong arms pinning her tightly to his chest, his mouth breathing softly against her neck.
"Claudine, your fairy guard, hmmmm?" he asked, his lips brushing against the soft skin of her throat.
Sookie couldn't move. She was terrified and oddly, very aroused. "Yes." she whispered, as his hands made their way down her back.
"Mm-hmmm." Eric hummed as he cupped her ass and pulled her against him roughly. "Well, since you insist on staying here, I hope she is up to the job or she'll have to answer to me." His lips now brushed down her neck and along her shoulder, making her hum in response. "As for tonight, you will be under my … protection."
She knew it was probably an effect of Eric's blood, or his fine body rubbing against hers, or the upsetting day she had...or maybe even here complete lack of sex as of late.
Whatever the reason, she needed this. She wanted him. She needed to be held, comforted, lost in passion. She gripped his waistband, grinding her own hips into his, causing him to growl slightly.
"I want you to stay." she told him.
"I know." he said with a smile, pulling her back to the bed and knocking the clothes and suitcase to the floor in one sweep.
I know, I'm evil to end before the lemons are truly "squeezed" but I wanted to get this out there and the love scene will take me some time. So hopefully you are still there, dear readers. Hopefully still reading and if you're feeling especially merciful, leave a review so I know you still want to read more!