Chapter Twenty One

It was the night of the final test. I was wearing a white dress and my hair was braided. I was sat in my Vikings lap on his throne at Fangtasia. The club was closed tonight for our 'private party'. It was sort of like a party as Quinn, Sam, Alcide, Amelia, Bill and Pam was with us. They were all seated in booths listening to the music. They made conversation but the odd sorrowful looks they were all flashing me told me that they were just as scared as I was. They were silently saying goodbye.

Eric was refusing to think that we would be parted. He knew that I could die tonight or I may be taken to another realm. The chances that we would remain together were very slim but he wasn't thinking about that. It was too painful a thought. I wasn't thinking about it either. I was thinking about team HDHS (Her Divine Highness Sookie) and how grateful I was for them. They had put away their differences and come together to help me even though they knew it was almost certainly futile they hadn't given up on me.

I felt them come. The music cut off and the lights flickered. The room filled with a thick mist and as the mist cleared they stood before me. A handful of my newest family. Odin was in the front. Flanking him were Thor and Ares, behind them Athena and Frigg.

"Hello little sister," Odin said with a slight smile. I moved to stand before them and I noticed that my friends stood as I did. The atmosphere was tense and yet spiritual. Without words Odin offered me a golden goblet. I turned to look once more in Eric's eyes and then I took the goblet and drank the liquid without another word.

The goblet fell to the floor with a clatter and I screamed louder than I thought was possible. I sank down to my knees as my body shook. I pushed my hands into the floor as I tried to hold on but I wasn't strong enough.

"Close your eyes," I yelled to my friends just as I exploded in a blast of white light. I was being pulled in every direction all at once. I was being burned alive. I was being stabbed and electrocuted. I was being beaten. I was being crushed. I writhed in agony and then... I was still. For the briefest of seconds I could see to the end of time, everything that had ever been and everything that would be. For one infinite second I could fee l how I was connected to everything. I was everything and everything was me. In that second I understood exactly who I was, what I was and I felt at peace.

I opened my eyes and breathed in deeply. My back arched as life pulsed through me and I heard them all sigh in relief. I got to my feet and looked down at my hands. I was glowing with a golden light. I looked like something out of a Disney film.

"Have you chosen?" Odin asked. I smiled brightly at him.

"Yes brother. I have chosen." I turned to my side so that I could look at Eric. "I have chosen him and I stand by my choice." Odin frowned at me and I heard Thor and Ares gasp in alarm. Athena and Frigg didn't seem so upset, or so surprised.

"Very well sister." The gods bowed slightly to me and the glowing stopped.

"NO!" I span around and on the other side of the room stood Seth. I knew him instantly. He had long black hair and wore a golden headdress. His black eyes were enraged. "NO! She is not one of us and must be destroyed." He turned to me and glowered. "You are no goddess. What are you?" His voice was cruel and vicious. "I challenge you to prove your worth!"

"How dare you?" Athena yelled at the angry god of chaos. She moved towards me but Ares and Odin held her back.

"No Athena. We cannot help her. It is his right to challenge her." They all turned to look at Seth who was smiling wickedly. Evidently he had thought they would stop him. He believed he would easily be able to destroy me now they were not standing in his way. Odin waved a hand enclosing Seth and myself in a shield of blue energy. I understood he was trying to protect my friends.

Seth laughed and began shooting balls of energy at me. I deflected them and they were absorbed by the shield. He shot a bolt of lightning at me. I caught it in my own hand and it disappeared into smoke. He had stopped laughing.

"You wanted to know what I am. You wanted to know what I am worth." I looked into his black eyes as I walked towards him. I placed one finger on his forehead and he fell to his knees.

"See what I am. See what I am worth." I told him. I let myself go. I let go of all my love and joy. I let go of my pain. I made him feel everything that was inside me. He saw into my soul and began to sob.

"Please! Please stop!" He begged. I pulled my hand away as he wept. The shield vanished and Odin looked at the fallen god.

"Do you accept her worth?" He asked in an unforgiving tone.

"Yes! Yes! She is something new. She is above us all." He pushed his face to the floor to bow before me. At his words Odin, Thor, Ares, Athena and Frigg looked at each other and smiled at me.

"We are your servants," Odin said. They too dropped to their knees before me. My friends got to their knees and I was stood surrounded by cowering followers. I looked at Eric who had his face lowered to the floor. I walked over to him and took his hand in mine.

"Eric get up." Once he was stood before me I looked deep into his eyes. "Don't you ever bow to me like that again, do you hear me? Not you." He smiled at me and his fangs ran down. I looked round at my grovelling worshipers. "And the rest of y'all can get up too!" I said unceremoniously. They all stood and smiled at me.

"Sis, I think it's time to party!" Athena sang.

"I thought you would never say so!" I teased. All of the gods laughed. Thor clicked his fingers and the music we had been listening to earlier came back on. Everyone took turns giving me a hug before Eric led me to the dance floor. Once we were in each other's arms I projected into his head.

Go ahead. I know you want to. He looked at me confused. I tiled my head to the side but kept our eye contact. I am still yours Eric. Taste me. He smiled a fangy smile filled with anticipation and excitement before plunging his fangs into my neck. It didn't hurt. It felt natural to me. I clutched him close as he drank from me. He pulled away after only a few short seconds and licked the wound. He had a dazed look and a satisfied grin.

So I taste good then?

"Oh yes! Better than fairy," he said in a dreamy sort of way. We danced for a moment completely oblivious to the others dancing around us. I could hear the disgusted thoughts of some of my friends but I ignored them. I was engaged to a vampire for Pete's sake. What did they think we did? After a while Eric seemed to come back to himself and he projected into my head.

So are you going to tell me what happened? I smiled up at him.

I chose you. You know that. He rolled his eyes.

Yes, but what does that mean? He leaned over to press his head to mine.

It means I get to stay with you. Staying here means that I will keep some human vulnerability and I can die although if I do die my spirit will just go to the other realm where I will live forever. As long as no one kills me I will live forever as I am now, with you. His hands pulled me closer to him.

What sort of human vulnerability? How could you die? I felt that he was worried and I placed my hand on his face.

I am stronger and faster than humans so I shouldn't burn out as fast as I have been but I still can burn out if I use my powers too much in this body. I can also be killed in all the ways a human can be killed so I have to stay ahead of the shooters and stabbers that are always trying to do me in. I know it's scary Eric but even you are not invulnerable and at least I can still go out in the daylight. We have got what we wanted. We get to stay together. Can't you be happy sweetie? He smiled brilliantly at me and his eyes sparkled.

"I am happy Sookie. I have you." He kissed me in the middle of the dance floor and we floated around the floor together.

"We must take our leave sister," Odin said to me a few hours later. I hugged him goodbye and moved to hug the others too. Seth kissed my cheek before they all went home in a flash of light.

"I got to go too Sookie. I have to get back to Bon Temps."

"Thank you for everything Sam," I said as I pulled him into a hug too.

"You are an amazing creature, babe. You even got gods worshiping you now. Be safe Hun." Quinn hugged me (although not properly as Eric was watching him over my shoulder) and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I said my thank you's and goodbye's to all of my friends and one by one they went home.

"I thought we would never be alone!" Eric said as the last person left.

"And why would you want to be alone?" I asked in my most innocent voice. He wiggled his eyebrows at me as he scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the car. I kissed his neck all the way there. He sat me in the passenger seat and climbed in the driver's seat.

"How fast do you think you can drive home?" I asked him getting more desperate for him by the second.

"I will have us there in five minutes." He told me. I sighed.

"No, that's no good. I can't wait that long." I snapped my fingers and we were parked in our garage. Eric laughed.

"I think I am going to like this," he said. He carried me upstairs and laid me on the bed. He climbed on top of me and began kissing me deeply, probing my mouth with his tongue. His finger slid under my thong and began working me up into a frenzy. As I began moaning he untied my dress and worked it over my head. He ripped open my bra and flung it across the room, my thong followed. I ripped his shirt off and undid his trousers. He worked them down and stepped out of them. He was commando and his gracious plenty stood to attention. I took him in my mouth and began licking and nipping as I slid my hands up and down his shaft. He groaned and I could feel the tension in him building. I bit down, not hard but enough to draw blood, and sucked. He roared and his cum shot down my throat with his blood. He lifted me back up the bed and slid into me while he licked and sucked at my breasts. My hands clawed at his back as he drove me crazy. He rode me hard and deep as his hand worked my nub.

"Du är min ängel. Jag älskar dig och jag kommer älska dig för evigt." [You're my angel. I adore you and I will love you forever.] He whispered in my ear.

"I love you Eric. I belong to you, heart, body and soul. I always will." We screamed each other's name as we came together. He pulled out of me and I curled up into his side. He played with my hair and I stroked along his chest. He rumbled and I sighed in total elation.

"You know, watching you earlier tonight was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life." I looked up so that I could see his face. "Watching you in pain and not being able to do anything. Then for a minute there I thought I had lost you and I felt like I had been torn in two. I have never felt like that before and I never want to again. I need you Sookie." I held him tighter.

"I need you too Eric." I kissed him once and let my head rest on his shoulder. I felt like the world made sense. I was happy and loved. Thanks to Eric I had everything I wanted. I was in heaven.