AN: Sorry, just an appetizer for now. More to follow soon. Work, work, work, gotta keep our phoney bologney jobs.

I got a few hours sleep and then required my daily dose of coffee. There was no avoiding it or I wasn't going to have any energy by tonight. I wasn't through pouring the first cup before Amelia came to claim it.

"You're welcome."

"Uh…Thanks…sorry. So how'd things go with the fanged Fabio last night?"

"Good. I guess."

"You're never gonna tell me are you?"

"Nope."

She frowned a bit. "I don't get it. You have the hottest vamp in the area knockin' on your door every night and you aren't allowing entry?" Her look made it a question even if it was a statement. "Spill it."

I explained the complexity of my virginal problem to her. It wasn't like there was a point in keeping it a secret.

"So you've never had sex-sex with Eric? Not even once and then fed from him?"

"No."

"So when was the last time you drank his blood?"

"A few nights ago. I don't have any other effects of it anymore either."

"Then it sounds like you're ripe for the picking. Are you waiting for something special or just someone?"

"Something I guess."

"Then what'd you have in mind?"

"I made some plans for tonight." She was watching me, but not quite letting it sink in….

"Oh! You want the house to yourselves!"

I didn't want to kick her out tonight with no where to go. "No. I…Well, I was hoping to not be here tonight either."

She let out a low whistle. "Well look at you, little Miss Seduction. Where you going?"

I told her my plan and about shopping today, and she was all for it. "We better get movin' then. You've got a lot to get done."

Since we were only a few minutes from Shreveport it made for a quick trip into the city. Amelia knew where all the places I needed to go were, so most of it went quickly and without a hitch, but when it came time for lunch, I couldn't help but argue with her. Fast food was one of the only vices I had, and I wasn't a fan of giving it up anytime soon.

"It's not like that. Think of it like making out with a guy with bad breath."

"I wouldn't know."

She remembered that I hadn't been with anyone other than Supes really.

"Yeah, well. It's still cool because you're getting busy, but it would be much better if their breath didn't smell like salami."

"I don't smell like salami."

"I know, but Pam always said that a human's diet changes their flavor."

"So I should go vegan?"

"No! I mean go persevative free or organic. You have to have meat and lots of it, but you want to eat stuff low in fat and fillers. Especially synthetic or processed products."

I knew defeat when I saw it. I wanted tonight to be special for him too. "So what did you have in mind?"

"There's a WholeFoods Market around the corner. It's got a really good deli."

She was right it was delicious, and had a cute little outdoor dining area. It was bright enough to even out Amelia's suddenly dark topic of conversation.

"So I've been thinking about this spell business." She was testing the waters.

"and?"

"and I think it's more complex that you think. This isn't some generic spell. If you were being murdered, and you could only do one last thing, what would you do?"

I couldn't come up with anything else. "I'd fight back. Bite, scratch, pull his hair whatever I could come up with."

Amelia shook her head dimissively at me. "Yeah, cause you think like a regular human. What if you were a Supe too?"

"I guess I'd do what she did and try to cast a spell."

"Try?"

"Yeah, I was thinking too. What if that's why he's only somewhat confused? What if she wasn't finished casting the spell?"

Amelia poked her salad tomato a few extra times more than necessary. "Possible but not probably. In my experience magic doesn't give partial credit. It's kind of an all or nothing deal."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just a thought."

"And a good one. You might even be right. If anyone could work half a spell it would be Octavia."

It was my turn to skewer a tomato.

She was looking deeper than usual. "I think this is a real curse. More voodoo than anything else. Vampire magic is different. They're reanimated corpses by magic. You can't just use the same spells you would on people."

"So it's like doing a spell on the voodoo doll itself rather than on the person it's supposed to be?"

She looked taken aback for a moment. "That's a good description. I hadn't thought of it that way. That might be what's going on. Eric's not himself…..he's more his old self?"

I nodded and forked in another mouthful.

"It might be that part of it affected the original Eric while another affected the part that was active. Or maybe just one or the other. Is there any pattern to what he can't remember?"

I hadn't thought of it that way. I was listing what he could remember as the most important. Then judging that column against the other instead of isolating the negative column. "He can't remember me, our bonding, Pam, how to be Sheriff, his maker, and a few other odds and ends."

"But he seems to get everything else?"

"Yeah. For the most part. Why?"

"That's great! That answers a lot." She was damn near bouncing up and down in her chair.

"Huh?"

"Don't you see?"

"Um…no….I guess not."

She spoke so slowly that I could have counted her teeth if I had bothered to. "I think Eric told Octavia why he was there. He wanted her to know why he was going to kill her. He wanted justice." It fit with my view of Eric's behavior so far. He was very just if not always justified. "He told her about the bond! She wouldn't have known otherwise. She couldn't do anything to protect herself, but she knew the spell would do two things. One was fuck up what he went there for in the first place, second it would mark him as her killer."

"Whoa."

"Yeah, but now we know where to start. It's a long shot, but I think she cursed him. Not like an average spell but a real curse. She wanted something that would plague him. He was willing to murder her without cause because of his attachement to you. I think she made it so that he couldn't have you. She just didn't plan on how strong a bond y'all have….or you bumping uglies with wolf boy."

I was going to scold her for insulting Alcide but I knew it was really more about her feelings towards Trey at the moment, so I let it slide. "But what about Pam and being Sheriff, and his maker?"

She blinked a little longer before answering. "Not a clue, but my guess is that the curse was a little vague. She couldn't curse you directly, or maybe she felt sorry for you having been bound to Eric since you had obviously sought someone's assistance at severing the bond. I think it was probably something like he couldn't have what he prized the most….or that he wouldn't know it if he did."

"Power….family…..and me."

"Weird that he's so normal huh?"

"Yeah. I guess all men are basically the same even dead ones."

"That's what Octavia used to say, "The only good husband is a dead one." I don't think this is what she meant."

"So what do we do now to break it?"

"Do you want to?"

I was shocked she'd think I wouldn't. I wasn't that selfish…..or stupid. "Of course I do!"

She shook her head. "I just meant…..you might want to wait."

"No. I couldn't do that to him. He deserves to be happy. I might not l…like the old Eric, but he was happy."

Her look was piteous. "Yeah, well, the problem is that I can't reverse the spell without knowing exactly what was cast or how."

Shit! "So it's all for naught?"

"No! No. No…..I can still do it."

"How? The only person there can't rember it."

"There's a spell. It's heavy duty stuff. I can magically recreate the events but I have to be at the scene to do it."

"But that's New Orleans. You can't go back there. They'll kill you!"

Amelia smiled. "That's the point. Why would I go back?"

She was on to something. "I can't ask you to do that."

"Then don't. I'm offering."

"I won't let you go by yourself."

"I won't be, and you've got somewhere more important to be tonight anyway, young lady." She made the shame shame gesture with her fingers. "Godric already volunteered."

"You told him?"

"He already knew something was up, and had guessed a lot of it. I just filled in the blank spots. He really cares about you, Sookie." She was looking for me to elaborate, but I didn't have anything else to say, nor anything to make her feel more secure.

"Yeah, you know how it is feeding strays."

That got her laughing. "You didn't….did you?"

"No. I couldn't do that to Eric. He's the only one who's fed from me."

"Not even Pam?"

"Nope."

"Godric….he's different. I kind of like it. It's gentle but has a little more edge to it than Pam's bite. What's Eric's like?"

"Different when he wants it to be. Sometimes it hurts, but mostly….it's …warm….and wet."

She smiled the know-it-all smile. "Yeah….warm and wet alright." Her snickering was cut short when I finished my lunch.

"Let's get some more groceries in case we have to stay a little longer. I know Bobby has his hands full with the Sheriff's office stuff, so I can shop for myself….ourselves."

We picked enough food to get us through another three days or so and loaded it into the back of the SUV with the other purchases.