I took a spot on the couch, my knees bent beside me, the drink in my hand, and Heather having a hard time clawing her way up the cushion because she was still too tiny. Eric went to pick her up, but she crouched down in the attack position and hissed at Him. I reached down for her and she jumped up in my lap. I started to pet her absent-mindedly. Eric took a commanding and protective stance beside the couch closest to me.

"So, Daniel, what the hell happened in the woods?" I asked point blank.

"I should start with the reason why I kicked you out," Daniel began.

Yeah, that would be a better start.

"I told you that I've taken you as far as I could in our relationship, and that was the truth. You possess a strength that you never really grasped, or were aware of, I think. That's why I introduced you to Mr. Northman."

At the mention of His name, I saw Him tense slightly.

"I knew he would be firm with you, and hoped he'd awaken that in you."

"Why? Because He's a vampire?"

He nodded. "He has more power than I would ever have over you, and I had to allow him to push you to a place I never could."

"I don't understand. We were in a relationship—we were living together—we loved each other, or so I thought." I may as well have kicked him in the balls from the expression on his face.

"Yes. And you must know that it killed me to do that to you. For that, I apologize." Too little too late. "But since we've been apart, have you found yourself angry for no particular reason? Jealous, maybe, so much so that you lashed out?" He took a step closer to get my attention. Eric hissed. Daniel retreated. "I've never seen you blow your top or lose your control when you were with me.

"I'm a Scorpio. I live with it," I scoffed.

"You have no idea what you are, do you, Connee? What we are?"

I took a swig of the liquor. I didn't choke that time. That was a good sign I was on my way to Oblivion Land.

"You and I are Supes, Supernaturals."

"Oh, for godsake!" I huffed. "I'm as supernatural as cardboard!" Sleepy kitty was startled awake by my loud tone. I continued to pet her to calm her down, and myself.

"What is she, Daniel?" Eric asked angrily. He'd apparently lost His patience, and so had I.

"What we are, Connee, are Bintaurs. There aren't many of us, but we're out there."

"So are UFOs and aliens but no one's ... this is crap." I took another swallow. Eric promptly removed the glass from my hand, which was a good thing because my head was starting to swim. Did I mention I only had a sip of the Scotch once a year?

"You were angry, I assume, with Mr. Northman when you tossed him off in the woods," Daniel said.

I thought a moment. "Not really Him; me, maybe."

"But you struck out at him. The anger you felt at that moment gave you the power. God, don't you get it?"

"Watch your tone with her," Eric defended me harshly.

Daniel sighed. "We obtain our power at around twenty-five, but you never did. You were the perfect slave, Connee. You never misbehaved. I never brought that out in you to bring on your ability. You needed someone stronger. Eric did that for you."

"No, He didn't," I corrected. "He helped me realize power I already had."

He smiled triumphantly. "Exactly." My head was beginning to spin. "Your mother must have been the Bintaur, and because of her death, you never received the information you needed to prepare yourself."

"Then why didn't you just tell me, Daniel? Did you think I'd run off screaming?" I probably would have.

"You're right. I should have. Honestly, I admit, that was a poor decision on my part."

"Yah think?" I snapped, thinking I slurred my words a little. Eric put His hand firmly on my shoulder. Apparently I had. "Does it work on humans, too?"

"Yes. We didn't realize just how powerful we were until the vampires came out."

"And do we, Bintaurs—god that sounded so stupid—have an agenda against the vampires?"

He finally sat down heavily in the chair across from us. I was glad; I was getting a crick in my neck. "No, but we're in trouble."

"How so?" Eric asked.

"There seems to be a Bintaur working out of the Northern Virginia area who is gathering information on all of us." He looked directly at me when he said that.

"For what purpose?" Eric asked, then highly interested.

"Thomas Milton has been working intel for the past six months, and he's very near compiling the list. We found out about Milton's plans through a mole we planted, who was killed last week; he was supposed to return, but didn't."

"What are his intentions?" Eric asked.

My head was feeling worse looking between the two in rapid succession, and Daniel was beginning to get a twin.

"He wants to be the sole Bintaur. His plan is to kill us all, one by one."

"What advantage would that give him?" Eric asked.

Hello! I am in the room! I am involved here! It didn't matter. I could no longer see straight, anyway, much less comprehend what was being said.

"With his power, he is a threat to no one—other Supes, shape-shifters, weres, witches, you name it."

"Suupes, werz, witcheses?" I mumbled.

Eric bent down and looked over my face. It had been burning the past fifteen minutes, and I knew I was wasted off my ass. "Connee, look at me." I did. "You still with us?"

"Yeah, I think so." I wasn't sure if that was in English or not.

He frowned, but after a second He stood back up again. "I'll explain the others when you're sober." He turned to Daniel. "Why should I believe you?"

"Mr. Northman, Connee is a beautiful, smart, incredible woman. I do not want her hurt. It didn't take me long to fall in love with her. I assume you have by now?"

"That is none of your concern," Eric snapped.

Throwing my head back so fast, I lost control of my head. It smashed into the head rest as I looked up at Eric. "You love meeee. You wanna daaate me." I thought Sandra Bullock was in the room. I hadn't realized it was me until Eric looked down at me, rolling His eyes.

"Okay, little girl, time to get you to bed."

"No, I wanna know—" I was cut off when He picked me up and carried me to my bedroom. I had to lay my head on His chest to stop my head from spinning out of control; nausea was setting in, too.

I thought He was still holding me, but He easily pulled down the covers and placed me gently on the bed. Closing my eyes, I grunted, but got a bad bed spin and forced my eyes open again. "Seriously, Eri,' I nee' to hear wha'—"

"I'll take care of everything. You go to sleep." He covered me lovingly.

"No, don' wanna. Ain't gonna," I muttered. "What'cha gonna do if I stay awake?"

I felt half my body being pulled over, yet I stayed on my side. Then there was a sharp smack on my ass cheek. I cried out something I had no idea what. "That, young lady, was for you not obeying me, not from your earlier discretion. Now, close your eyes," He ordered.

I could barely keep my eyes open at that point, and I must have said something that He didn't like. Another quick fwap on the exact same spot. "Ow, ow," I whined. The bed shook, but I didn't realize until later I'd actually cried.

Eric's cool, smooth lips kissed my forehead, and I no longer had the strength to fight Him. I closed my eyes tightly, fighting the urge not to vomit. The last thing I heard Him say was, "You are never drinking again."

I'm lying on my stomach with my arms over a cliff, looking down at the terrified and pleading eyes of Eric in one hand and Daniel in the other. I can no longer hold on to both of them. I have to let go of one of them go to save the other. I can't decide. I love them both, yet differently.

I look past their dangling bodies to see just how high we are. I am horrified to see not a rocky cliff with water splashing on them, sharp, deadly stakes for miles. I have to let go of one of them to save the other. One of them will die, but I can't decide which.

Eric's hand slips from mine. My heart cries out for Him. "Eric, I'll be right behind you. I'm sorry."

Ironic that my lasts words to Him includes the one word He hates the most.

I take a deep breath and let go of Eric's hand ...

"NO!" I scream out, shaking myself awake.

Tears poured from my eyes as I sat upright and the worst wave of nausea tore through my stomach. I ripped the covers off of me and ran to the bathroom, making it to the commode just in time to lose my dinner. I vomited until I had nothing left, then dry heaved a few times. I held my clammy, sweaty forehead in my hand and prayed it would end. It never seemed to. My stomach tightened up on me. I could barely move.

A cold, wet washcloth wiped across my hand, and I removed my hand so Eric could wipe my forehead. "Shit," I groaned, holding my stomach and falling back on my ass, leaning against the tub. "Why'd chu make me drink all tha'?" I grumbled.

"I made you do no such thing," Eric replied with a grin. His fangs were hidden.

The dream flooded back into my head and I glared up at Him. "Eric, Eric, I know ... the dream I told you about ... I let you go, and—"

"I know, you told me. Let me—"

"No, listen to me!" His eyebrow rose. I looked at Him apologetically. "I know what I said now." I was afraid to tell Him, but I braved on. "Sir, I told you I'd jump right after I saved Daniel." I was excited, strangely enough.

"Hmm," He contemplated.

But I knew what it meant. I couldn't say it, though. "Help me up?"

I was soon swaddled in my bed, the covers up to my chin without the ability to move, my eyes shut tightly but fighting off sleep. Eric pushed back my hair and He comforted me. "Sweetheart, I've got to leave, but Sookie will be here around noon. I think you'll still be passed out by then, though."

My eyes flew open. "Oh, Eric," I moaned, "she hates me."

He chuckled. "No, no she doesn't. She's quite fond of you, actually. So am I. Now shut up and go to sleep."

I knew better than to argue with Him. I just nodded, mumbled something and let sleep take me away.

Eric's POV:

No, she did not just say that. But I couldn't help but smile. God, I hated her. I hated her for her beauty, her strength, her wisdom. And I hated her for telling me she loved me.

Only when her breathing had become steady and I knew she was asleep did I bend over and kiss her sweet, supple lips, running my fingers through her silky hair. "I will let no harm come to you, my little one."

Connee's POV:

God, did my head hurt when I woke up at one o'clock that Sunday, my body, too, for that matter. I vowed there and then never to drink again. Grunting and groaning, I finally made it out of bed, but noticed Heather wasn't with me, nor did she wake me up like she normally did. I brushed my teeth, washed my face and headed out into the hallway, groaning all the way.

"Heather, ki ... OW!" Oh, my head! I decided then not to talk louder than a whisper.

Forgetting Heather, I headed straight to the kitchen for much-needed coffee, shuffling my feet and wishing I were dead. I opened the cabinet to get the Folger's in the cabinet over the coffee pot and pulled it out. The creaking of the door hinges was like a freight train a foot away from me. I dug out two scoops of the grounds, put them in the filter, and turned to fill the carafe with water. Even the water coming out of the faucet was like I was standing at the bottom of Victoria Falls.

"Hey, Connee," came a voice from the doorway.

I was so startled I threw my hand up holding the carafe, which was glass, and lost my grip on it. It crashed to the floor and shattered to a million pieces. "Shit! OW ..." That sounded like the freight train collided with the rock cliff behind Victoria Falls.

"No, no! Don't move! You're bare-footed. I've still got my sneakers on. Let me get that," Sookie said as she walked in.

"Sookie? Wha'—" Apparently my ears and brain weren't working together properly because I took a step onto a big chunk of glass. "OW! Fuck!" I didn't know which hurt worse at that point: my foot or my head.

"Oh, Connee. Hey, you're close enough to the counter. See if you can jump up onto it."

Without moving my feet, foot, actually, the other was in the air and dropping loads of blood onto the linoleum floor, I put my hands in back of me and pushed myself up. I made it without dropping anything else. Miracles can happen.

"Where are your bath towels?"

"Hall closet."

Sookie left then came back in and handed one to me. "Let me see your foot."

With much difficulty, I lifted my foot up over my knee and saw the two-inch gash with blood pouring from both ends of the wound. "Oh, hell."

"You're going to need stitches."

"No, no," I whined, and couldn't stop a few tears from falling. "Where's our vampire boyfriends when we need them?" We both had a laugh at that, which calmed me down a little.

She removed the glass shard, with pathetic cries of pain from me, and the most amazing thing happened: the wound began to close up. "When was the last time you had Eric's blood?" Sookie asked.

"Um, two weeks ago, I think, maybe three. I had a lot ..." I had to shut up so as not to tell her too much.

When I looked at the bottom of my foot again, my mouth gapped open at the slice of skin that was then almost half healed. "Holy crap!"

"Let's give it a minute. Looks like you'll be fine," Sookie said, relieved.

And sure enough, within ten minutes the wound was completely healed. Sookie had already cleaned up the mess I made, with many apologizes to her. When she was done, I carefully slid off the counter and tested my foot. "Wow! This is amazing."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Do you have another carafe?"

"No. I think Aspirin is my only alternative."

Once I got myself together and taken the medication, we settled in the living room. Heather was currently curled up in my Irish wool blanket. "I think I wore her out. We've been playing for a while."

"Oh, good. And thank you for your help." After a hesitation, not wanting to even think about what happened the night before, I told her, "Look, Sookie, about last night, I'm really sorry for the childish way I acted."

"No, Connee, don't worry about it."

"Why are you doing so much for me? You hardly know me."

"To tell you the truth, Bon Temps is a very small town, and I don't really have any close friends. Well, there's Tara, but ... what it is, I think, is that it's because you're seeing Eric, I mean another vampire." I noticed how quickly she added the last few words.

"I owe you a lot, especially after last night. Let me make you my famous lasagna, and I won't put any garlic in it. We'll have a girl's night, um, well, afternoon."

And with that, we talked for hours. I got to know Sookie much better, and I picked up right away that she really was a good person.

Around five o'clock, I realized I needed something in my stomach, although even the thought of food made me queasy. I had to finish up the deli meat before it went bad, so I made us sandwiches. That gave me time to think about what happened after I got home the night before. Spreading Mayonnaise on the bread with a dinner knife, I kept getting flashes of Eric pressing me against a tree for some odd reason, then me kicking Him away, seeing Daniel knock out Eric somehow, drinking, hearing a discussion of Minotaurs or Cemataurs or something weird like that, drinking, witches and weres or some funky creatures, then me telling Eric that I loved Him ... I said what?! The kitchen knife slipped out of my hand and fell into the sink, making a racket that sent my head clanging.

"Connee? What happened?" Sookie said alarmed as she rushed into the kitchen.

I was shaking so badly I had to put my hands on the counter just to steady myself. "Sookie, Sookie, oh, my god ... I ..."

"What! What did you do?"

"I ... oh, shit, no, no," I wailed, tears falling down my cheeks in sheets.

"Oh, honey, come sit down." I felt my body being dragged to the small table and she set me down in the chair. "You're as pale as Bill."

I buried my face in my hands and cried, though I don't know why I was so emotional. I just told Eric I loved Him.

"You did what?" I heard Sookie say astonished.

"I ... I told Eric, I think that ... I loved Him."

She placed her hand on mine and squeezed gently. "Oh, no, Connee, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But I was drunk," I muttered, wiping my face, but still crying. "It doesn't count, right?" She laughed, which made me feel a little better. "Oh, god, what am I gonna do? It's Eric! Do you see Him settling down ... much less with a human?"

"Look, I've told you before, Connee, that I think Eric's met his match with you. I have never, ever seen him this ... crazy over anyone before."

"Then I must be as crazy as Eric."