Chapter 23 Meeting with the FBI Part III

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters; they belong to the wonderful world of Charlaine Harris.

A/N: Thanks for following along so far…this is a dark one—again trying some new types of writing and all reviews are welcome…the next chapter should be full of lemony sunshine.

Eric POV

I heard the whole conversation. That stupid fuck! Did Preston think he could take her away from me that easily? Did he think she would go? Sookie is mine. We belong to each other, and no one is going to get between us, least of all this fucking Faery.

Sookie had the good sense to bring Preston within my reach. As she ran past her bedroom to the kitchen, I grabbed her and set her gently on the bed. I heard a scream come from Preston, and I slammed the bedroom door to find him writhing with the pain from the juice of about three dozen lemons. As I approached his body, he lay limp on the floor.

Just as I thought, he was still alive—the juice hadn't killed him as it would have a full blooded Faery. That was proof that the good doctor was right. I lifted his limp body of the floor of the hallway. There was enough juice on his skin to scar him for life, at least in his Faery form—good! I was allowing myself the pleasure in thinking that he wouldn't have much life left to live when I was done with him, but damn, then I remembered that I promised Sookie I would kill him quickly and only if necessary, no torture—(well, not much anyway). A promise bent is not a promise broken.

Preston remained out cold while Sam and I tied him up with iron chains to keep him. We had brought him out onto the porch to interrogate. I told Sara to go into the bedroom to look at Sookie and make sure she was okay. Then I splashed cold water on Preston to wake him up. "Wake up!" I said to him forcefully circling him as I spoke.

"Sookie," he said. "Gotta get Sookie," I kicked him hard in the chest and he doubled over as much as the chains would allow.

"Don't you ever speak her name again, Preston. You have no right whatsoever to speak about my bonded," I said to him as my hand came down and slapped him-WHACK! Blood splattered across Sookie's clean porch and I was glad we were in a place I could clean with a hose. I had a feeling it was going to get messy.

"She's Fae, she's one of us, Eric, let her go. She belongs to us, to me. She's going to come back to Faery to live and raise our children in the beauty and harmony of Faery. Naill,-" he began.

"I thought Naill's hand was in this," I interrupted.

"Naill told me he needs healthy young Faery women to produce babies since the population is so low. I knew when Sookie was missing; I would be rewarded if I told him where she was. So I told him where to find her when she was being tortured, and now I get to keep her. She's my reward for being helpful." I couldn't believe that Naill would "give" Sookie away to this imbecile, and I refused to believe that he would use his own great granddaughter like a brood mare. I knew that he loved her. Preston must be lying or mistaken.

"She said you were there when she was being tortured. She recognized you." I told him. He better not tell me he was there, even if he was, or I would it would be next to impossible to NOT to kill him.

"Yes I was there," he said openly and defiantly. WHACK! Blood spurted out of his mouth and sprayed across porch.

"You couldn't have known where she was unless…" I began. I was aghast that I just figured out that he'd arranged for Sookie to be taken. I challenged him on it. "Why? Why would you do that to her and then claim you love her. You're sick! She could have lost the babies."

Preston's scarred and silent stare glared back at me through defiant blue eyes.

"WHY?" I again demanded, pacing back and forth. I felt like a caged animal. I'm a vampire and I'm not impressed with people who aren't useful to me. I generally feel indifferent toward them, but I didn't know I could HATE another creature as much as I hated him right now. I would equate the strength of my hatred for Preston right now to the strength of my love for Sookie—two extreme ends of my emotional spectrum.

"Why? WHY? Because I LOVE you Eric. I've always loved you. Don't you see I did it all for you. I worked for you, I slaved for you, I would have done anything for you. Then you met Pam and you turned her and made her more important than me. She took my place. You trusted her and you stopped trusting me. You loved her and you stopped loving me. I've never stopped watching you, Eric. I saw how hard you fell for Sookie. I saw how you loved her in a different, more intense way than you loved Pam. I've always loved you like that Eric! I know you loved me once, trusted me once."

"I never loved you Preston," I interrupted. "Is this why you seduced Sookie? To get back at me?"

"No. I seduced her at the request of Naill. He wants to bring her back to Faery, or at least bring the babies back."

"Then why were you there when she was tortured?" I asked, trying to draw him out. "Surely Naill didn't…"

"No! Naill didn't have anything to do with Sookie getting captured. I did," he said with pride in his voice, like I'd be proud of his actions. Fucking Faery. WHACK! More blood spurted and a tooth or two flew across the room this time as well.

"Explain," I said through clenched teeth. I always pride myself on an even keel when extracting information, but having to talk about Sookie being tortured when I couldn't go to help her was agony. I wanted quick answers and an even quicker dispatch of pain, but patience is always a virtue, particularly when interrogating.

"Naill wanted to give Sookie a Christmas gift; he gave her me, and I made her feel wanted and loved—even needed for an evening. He said I was supposed to give her everything she had felt for you when you stayed with her, whatever that means. And she reciprocated! She's one hell of a good fuck!" WHACK! WHACK!

"Don't you ever talk about her like that again!" I screamed at him, jealously. He? With her? And she liked it? Reciprocated? I was enraged.

"What's the matter? Can't you handle the truth, Eric? I've had her and she screamed for me," he sneered at me. "She screamed my name—ALL—NIGHT—LONG!"

"ENOUGH!" I shouted. "Sam," I said to Sam, who had been standing there all the while agape, watching us in either awe or disgust…I don't think he knew which, "please get me the rest of the lemons and then go check on the women." He left and came back silently with a bag of lemons, then left us again. Preston's eyes grew big.

"What are you going to do?" he asked in a frightened tone. Stew on it you bastard—sweat it out and wonder! I remained silent, but smiled knowingly as I took out a knife to peel the rind off of a lemon. I just peeled, stared and smiled and let him sweat it out for a while. "Explain," I said finally in more controlled tone.

"She was lonely because you had been occupied by the takeover," he offered. "Naill wanted her to be happy. Neither of us bargained that I would fall for her too. She's everything. She's fantastic. She's caring. She's-"

"She's MINE!" I interjected.

He would have been wise to shut his mouth, but Preston sophomoric, and continued, "I had her for an evening. I loved her for an evening. I had you occupied with your vampire politics." What? HE had me occupied? "It was perfect, I was got to know her and wooed her and made her fall for me. Then you came back to her. You took her away from me, too," he whined. "You took her away, just like you took yourself away. I had to get back at you." WHACK!

"By kidnapping and torturing Sookie? Were you trying to kill her?" I was livid. I wanted to kill him slowly. I wanted to cut him up into little pieces…

"No! I never wanted to kill her. I just wanted to teach you both a lesson. When I learned that Naill had forced you to suppress your bond until she knew what she wanted, I took the chance to arrange with the Faery torture experts to kidnap her and teach her a thing or two about loyalty. She should never have let you back in her life again! She was a bad girl…I didn't want her to stray from me again…especially not with you! But then you came back into her life again and she took you back even after you let her down." WHACK!

"Did Naill know that it was you that took his great granddaughter?!" I asked.

"No, he only knows that I saved the day by telling him where she was. It's a shame he rescued her from them. She would have caved after only a little more delicious torture. I would have been able to teach her and train her to love me and be MINE again. I had broken her—broken her away from you and I was going to keep her to myself with the added bonus of cutting your heart out in the bargain. You would have known how I've felt for the past couple hundred years."

WHACK! It was torture time now. His face looked, as Sookie had said once before, like a Boudain sausage, but now it was time for a little lemon peel under the skin. I took a knife and sliced open the skin on his wrist and slipped in a small piece of lemon rind. He screamed in agony and writhed around in his chair. "Mother fucker!" he screamed at me. WHACK! More teeth this time as well as a great deal of blood.

"Eric Northman," spoke a soft and gentle voice from the past, "I must ask you to stop that now." Without turning I knew who it was. Naill. The fun was over before it had begun—damn!

"Naill Brigant," I said as a statement of fact more than anything else.

"Your Highneth," pleaded Prethton who wath now lithping through broken teeth. "Pleathe get him away from me. He'th torturing me and he'th ruining our planth."

"Preston," said Naill contra-conspiratorially, "See now, Preston, that's where you are wrong, you misguided miscreant cousin of mine. He's not ruining MY plans, for I have no plans other than to repay my debt—my debt to you, Eric," he said turning to me, "the debt from centuries ago. You said you would take your debt in kind, but, my longtime friend, but alas, I have no more time to settle up.

"I had offered my young cousin here as a stud to give you the blessed gift of children with my much-adored great granddaughter, if she was willing. I'm sorry, I had to tell him a fib or two to get him to comply with my command, but he got into his head along the way that we were planning to keep the babies and keep Sookie and take her away from you. I assure you that nothing is farther from the truth. Now, before Sookie wakes up and comes out here to grace us with her strong opinions, I will once again take my young cousin and go. And I see you have a little cleaning up to do. Are we settled?" said Naill.

"NO! I want his blood. I want to kill him. I want him dead. He was the one that arranged for Sookie to be tortured, and he did it to get back with me. I demand retribution," I said looking Naill in the eye.

"Nonetheless Eric, I have said my piece and will take him now. Besides, you promised Sookie you wouldn't kill him. You know how she'd feel if you broke your promise," he admonished. How could he have known my promised to her? Had he been watching all this time? "We have only a few more weeks left in this world before the final gate closes. I will make sure that he comes to justice in Faery and that no harm comes to you, or Sookie and the babies, at his hand until the gate closes. It will be closing on March 17th in Ireland." It was a battle of wits, but one that I would ultimately lose if I engaged Naill. He was much older and more powerful than I, so I let it drop.

"Just get him out of my sight," I said. Poof they were gone. I kept my promise to Sookie after all. I didn't kill him.

Sookie POV

Anger filled his eyes and he grabbed for me. I darted away as quickly as I could to the kitchen. He pursued and I was grabbed with vampire speed into the bedroom with by a hand. I was set down gentle, but swiftly onto the bed, and I heard the door slam. I sat up to the sound of a scream, and then everything went black.

I woke to a scream coming from my porch and a pair of cool hands and a wet washcloth. As my eyes regained focus, I could tell that Sara was sitting next to me on my bed and looked over to see Sam sitting in the chair in the corner of my room.

"What happened? Who screamed?" I asked concerned about Eric.

"Chere, it's okay, Eric is all right. He can handle himself. How are you feeling? Do you need a drink?" asked Sam, looking concerned.

I ignored him and got up off the bed. I stood up a little fast and felt woozy, but I needed to get outside, I just felt I needed to be there. I walked past both Sam and Sara without a word and made my way out to the porch. I stood in the doorway, unobserved by any of them.

"Mother fucker!" I heard Preston shout at Eric as I approached the door. I saw Eric open-fist slap Preston. WHACK! Blood and teeth sprayed around the room.

"Eric Northman," said my great grandfather who was supposed to be behind a sealed gate right now. "I must ask you to stop that now," he was telling Eric. Naill saw me and I motioned to him to not let Eric know I was there. He closed his eyes in confirmation.

"Naill Brigant," said Eric with a little defeat in his voice, like the school bully getting caught by the principal before he could have his fun.

"Your Highneth," whined Preston. Why was he? Oh yeah, the teeth. Ha! Serves him right! I smiled a little at that. "Pleathe get him away from me. He'th torturing me and he'th ruining our planth." Plans? Naill and Preston had plans that Eric was disrupting? Hmmm...

"Preston," scolded Naill, "See now, Preston, that's where you are wrong, you misguided miscreant cousin of mine," Preston is Naill's cousin? Preston is my cousin? How close a cousin? I felt sick to my stomach. "He's not ruining MY plans, for I have no plans other than to repay my debt—my debt to you, Eric," he said turning to Eric. What debt did he owe to Eric and how was any of this repayment? Then it dawned on me, I was the repayment. I was bartered goods to my great-grandfather. "…the debt from centuries ago. You said you would take your debt in kind, but, my longtime friend, but alas, I have no more time to settle up.

"I had offered my young cousin here as a stud to give you the blessed gift of children with my much-adored great granddaughter, if she was willing." Well, I had been a willing participant in the act, no denying that, and I am glad I am pregnant, but a sperm bank and an anonymous donor were looking really good at this point!

"I'm sorry, I had to tell him a fib or two to get him to comply with my command," Gee thanks! "but he got into his head along the way that we were planning to keep the babies and keep Sookie and take her away from you." Like hell I'd let that happen—like hell Eric would allow it either for that matter! "I assure you that nothing is farther from the truth. Now, before Sookie wakes up and comes out here to grace us with her strong opinions, I will once again take my young cousin and go. And I see you have a little cleaning up to do. Are we settled?" said Naill covering for me and trying to make a quick exit.

"NO! I want his blood. I want to kill him. I want him dead. He was the one that arranged for Sookie to be tortured, and he did it to get back with me. I demand retribution," Eric revealed to Naill. I didn't know that up until now. The biological father of my children had tried to murder me. I really was with Eric on this, in spite of the promise he made me. I wanted blood now too.

"Nonetheless Eric, I have said my piece and will take him now." No! No! No! Give him to Eric and let him finish him off, let me watch! "Besides, you promised Sookie you wouldn't kill him. You know how she'd feel if you broke your promise," he admonished Eric. How could he have known what I made Eric promise? Had he been watching me all this time? "We have only a few more weeks left in this world before the final gate closes. I will make sure that he comes to justice in Faery and that no harm comes to you, or Sookie and the babies, at his hand until the gate closes. It will be closing on March 17th in Ireland." Well, that was new information. Here I had thought for weeks now that Naill was out of my life as quickly as he'd come into it, but he'd been hanging around all this time. It would have been better that he left when he said he was going to.

Eric was still contemplating what to do. "Just get him out of my sight," he said finally. Poof they were gone.

"You kept your promise, honey," I said stepping out to greet him.

"I could have killed him."

"You know something strange?" I asked as we stood embraced in each other's arms.

"What is that, my lover?" he said as he bent to kiss me.

"I wish you had." He chuckled and we went back in the house to tell Sam and Sara what had transpired. Eric explained to us the whole long story about Earl the gnome and turning Pam and finding out about Preston and meeting Naill for the first time and, well, everything.

Sara and Sam went back to his place. I pretty much guessed what they'd be doing when they got there and I hoped that Sara would be able to find some way to stay around in the area. I kind of liked her, and she and Sam REALLY seemed to like each other, so I hoped it would work out. Sam deserved to have a nice woman in his life.

Eric and I retired to my bedroom for the rest of the evening, after cleaning up the porch. I told him I could do it in the morning, but he insisted on cleaning tonight. After we'd finished, there were still a few hours left in the night and we occupied them most productively.

A/N: Oh finally, the end of this chapter! Geeze, this was like a mini book within a book. Sorry about that! This was supposed to be a short wrap-up chapter, but again the characters talked and talked so much—what's a writer to do! Next up, Chapter 24!