PART TWO

CHAPTER 28

I think it was Mother Teresa who said, "Loneliness is the ultimate poverty", although it might have just been Dear Abby. Well, I never realized how impoverished I had been until I finally had someone that I could call my own. Lying in bed now, watching my Viking as he got ready for work I felt like the richest woman alive.

"What are you thinking, My Love?" Eric finished buttoning his shirt, grabbed the hairbrush and came to sit by me, on the edge of the bed. "Are you coming to work tonight?" I had been going with Eric to his office most nights and was learning some of the ins and outs of running a small empire.

I was thinking how lucky I am to have you," I told him, propping myself up with some pillows. "Give me the brush and I'll do your hair." Eric's beautiful golden hair tumbled about his head in a mass of tangles. He sighed with contentment as I ran the brush through the long strands, almost as long as my own hair. "I'll get up in a minute. I was just enjoying watching you get dressed."

"If you lie there much longer, you will have to watch me undress again," he said with a wicked smile. "You look quite the tempting morsel." Taking the brush out of my hand, he bent over me, nuzzling my bare shoulder.

"You can't still be hungry!" I exclaimed with mock disbelief.

"There is always room for dessert," he replied and ran his tongue down the side of my neck.

"Says the man that has never had to diet!" I teased him. "I'm getting up." We could never seem to get enough of each other. I knew if I didn't get up now, we would be another hour getting out of the room. As tempting as that was, there would be people waiting for Eric and we had a plane to catch later that night. I pushed at him and he obligingly moved over enough that I could get out of bed. "Why don't you go on down to the office, and I will meet you there later. I think I'll finish my packing and then go to the kitchen and find something to eat."

My luggage, that had seemed so roomy when we had come on this trip, was bulging at the seams by the time I packed everything that was going home to Shreveport. In the two months we had been here, I had managed to pick up quite a few new things. The shopping in New Orleans was so much better than home. Some of the clothes could be left here, since we would be coming back and forth on a regular basis. The financial base of the kingdom was still in the Big Easy and Eric would need to spend most of his time here. The practical side of our living arrangements hadn't really been ironed out yet.

When Eric had taken on the position of king, he had also assumed the whole retinue accorded that position. As sheriff of Area Five he had been a lightweight by comparison. As King of Louisiana and Arkansas guards, business managers and financial advisers surrounded him. We weren't yet sure whether we could manage all of this from Shreveport. Eric, in his usual pragmatic manner, was trying to make the best of things but I hated to be so far from home. I was looking forward to being back on my own stomping grounds for a while and seeing what was happening with my house. I was anxious to see Amelia and hopefully I would have time to see my little cousin Hunter soon.

Gathering up the last of the things I planned to take and placing them by the door, I headed out to find some food. I was surprised to see that Rasul was my guard for the evening and he made a quick bow and snapped to attention. "Good evening, My Lady," he said grinning, his teeth showing very white against his brown skin. "Still that delectable smell of fairy," he continued.

"Rasul, how nice to see you! I didn't know you were in New Orleans." I had last seen Rasul when I had come to New Orleans to work for Queen Sophie Anne.

"Oh, I just returned a few days ago. I was keeping a low profile in Arkansas under the last administration." He said Arkansas as if it was the last place in the world a vampire would want to be, and perhaps it was. There were only a few vampires in that whole state after their king's vampires had taken on Sophie Anne's ranks and been virtually wiped out.

"I think I'll like things here again though, especially since I get to guard you. I hear something amusing is always happening wherever you are." Rasul was pretty forthcoming for a vampire.

"Well, we are heading back to Shreveport tonight, so I won't be a source of amusement for long!" I said laughing.

"You will leave me bereft," he said gallantly. "I may have to find an excuse to see Shreveport, perhaps to visit Thalia!" he quipped and burst out laughing. I surmised that visiting Thalia was not something anyone even remotely sane would consider, although she and I got along just fine.

"Well, you are always welcome and I'm sure Thalia would say the same," I said politely and this brought on another hoot of laughter.

"Yes, a great source of amusement, just as I'd heard."

I wondered who was having so much fun at my expense. It had taken a while for me to learn that many of the vamps had a sense of humor. Bill had always been so darned serious, and most of the other vamps donned an aura of power and disdain when they were around humans. It seemed that I was generally accepted now as one of the gang and I was beginning to see a different side of the vampire world. I hoped I didn't end up having to see more of the violent side, which I knew existed but was generally kept hidden from humans.

"So," I said, changing the subject, "you were laying low in Arkansas?"

"Oh yes, I did not care for Mr. Madden at all. Quite the petty bureaucrat! There are bets on how long he will be able to hold Nevada. It's too bad Eric didn't just kill him too; I might have enjoyed working in Sin City for a while. Victor is blaming all his troubles on you, you know."

"On me? How does he figure that? Isn't he happy to be king?" Like I needed to be on any more hit lists. And why would his troubles be my fault?

"Well, yes, no doubt he is, but half of his vampires stayed here in Louisiana and are now pledged to Eric. He won't last long and he probably knows that."

This was interesting. I hadn't thought about Victor Madden at all since he had left the night Felipe de Castro was killed. Rasul was quite the gossip. I wonder what else he could tell me.

"Rasul, do you know what happened to Bill Compton? Is he still in Louisiana?" I hadn't wanted to ask Eric about Bill since that was obviously a sore subject with him. I wasn't worried that he was dead, but I did wonder if Eric had punished him and if he was banned from the kingdom or something.

"I haven't seen him lately," Rasul said dismissively, but he was thinking something else entirely. Something more like, "Poor love sick bastard." I had been trying to stay out of the heads of the vamps, but I probed a little to see if I could find out anything else. He gave me a very puzzled look, so I backed out immediately. It was better for my health that the vampires didn't find out I could read their minds.

"Come on, Rasul, I'm starving. I'm going to head to the kitchen for some food."

The kitchen at the headquarters looked like any industrial kitchen you might find in a church or school. The walls were a dull hospital green and would benefit by a new coat of paint. Two large and sturdy folding tables were located in the center and surrounded by an odd assortment of folding chairs. Several of these were presently occupied by a group of girls wearing what seemed to be the fangbanger uniform: all black clothing, dyed hair trimmed by a weed whacker and blood red lipstick. They all looked young and undernourished, although they supposedly had to be legal to be let inside. If they came into Merlotte's, I would card them.

"How y'all doing?" I greeted them as I headed to the refrigerator to see what was available. The kitchen staff that fed the day guards was usually gone before dark but there was always an assortment of sandwiches, fruit and beverages available at night for the regular donors. It reminded me of a blood bank drive. At least the girls weren't sent out onto the street without getting a chance to recover a bit. Although the oldest vamps like Eric could manage with just a small amount of blood, the young ones needed quite a bit and the policy was to avoid as many "accidents" as possible. Donors passing out on the street outside of the compound gave the lie to the idea that vampires were living on synthetic blood alone and weren't a threat.

"Hey Sookie," everyone responded as I sat down to join them with a sandwich and a glass of milk. There was a flurry of readjustment to hair and outfits as they noticed that Rasul was standing in the doorway, keeping an eye on me. Some of the fangbangers were regular girlfriends to one of the vamps, but those that were unattached seemed eager to catch the attention of any vampire that was available.

"Where's Lauren tonight?" I asked, noticing the usual group was missing one of its regulars. Lauren had been there almost every night for the past few weeks. Lauren was small and pretty and always cheerful, unlike many of the fangbangers that adopted an attitude of mystery or melancholy, thinking that would be attractive to the undead.

"She hasn't been here for a few days," a girl named Erin answered. "She was talking to one of the guys out front a few nights ago, some tourist taking pictures. I think she went home with him".

There was always a group of tourists outside the front door of the compound at night. There were usually spotters for the Fellowship of the Sun too. The new technique of the hate group that called itself a church was to harass humans that worked for the vampires. Preferred methods were to throw animal blood at them or to find out where they lived and spray paint their doors, often with something like "Blood Whore". Because the vampires were good for the tourist industry the city had tried to discourage this by stepping up the police presence, but they couldn't very well keep people from taking pictures and the vandals were proving hard to catch in the act.

"I hope she's okay, do you know where she usually stays?"

"Sometimes she sleeps here, when she has a date, you know?" Erin said, glancing up at Rasul so that I would know having a date meant donating blood. "Sometimes she stays at the shelter, but I don't know where she stays otherwise."

Recruitment of blood donors didn't seem to be a big problem for the vamps. There were prostitutes that specialized in the needs of the undead. There were always thrill seekers that were drawn by the danger of an encounter with a vampire. Some humans hoped that if they attracted a vamps attention, they might convince the vamp to turn them eventually.

Some of the donors were just street kids that lived off the "tips" from the vamps. For them, donating to the vamps was better than the abuse they suffered at home or on the streets. Although most of the vamps didn't spare too much thought for their "food", they were generally not cruel to the donors. At the compound they were welcome to eat in the kitchen, but not provided with beds unless they stayed with one of the vamps.

The thought of these young girls leaving here and walking to the shelter alone on the streets of New Orleans concerned me. I walked out to the hallway and took my phone out of my pocket and speed dialed my vampire. "Hey sweetie," I said to Eric when he answered. "Will you do something for me?"

When I had hung up the phone, telling Eric that I didn't think I'd come over to the office tonight, I went back into the kitchen to finish my sandwich.

"Ladies, if you don't stay the night here, the guards at the front gate will get you a taxi to take you home. No charge for you, okay? It's safer than walking, especially with the FOTS getting so aggressive these days." I thought I would talk to Eric about providing someplace safe for them to sleep too, but that might take a little bit of planning.

The girls had surprised looks on their faces at first and then they were all smiling. "Thanks Sookie," they said. They were soon bubbling over with stories about creepy things they saw on the street at night. What they didn't say out loud was even creepier and I knew that I would have to think about what else could be done for this group. I wasn't without resources and it only seemed right that someone should look out for them. As I so often did, I thanked God that I had had my grandmother to look out for me.

Before long the conversation turned to boys and clothes and general girl talk. I wouldn't have even noticed that Eric had come to get me if the group hadn't gotten quiet all at once and stared open mouthed at the doorway. When I turned to see what they were gaping at, I stared for a moment too. My Viking was definitely an eyeful.

"Good evening, ladies," Eric said politely. "If you will excuse my wife, we have a plane to catch."

"Oh geez! Sorry Sweetie, I wasn't watching the time." Eric walked over to me, kissed the top of my head and extended his hand to help me up. I called my goodbyes to the girls and Eric and I joined our guards and headed for the airport.

We had the two front seats to ourselves on the Anubis flight. Travis and Mark were sitting in the back, along with two vampire guards. Thomas was almost as big as Eric with long red hair, peach fuzz and an adolescent face that made him look about sixteen. His youthful exuberance belied his age, which I thought might approach Eric's. Daniel, although considerably younger, actually appeared more menacing. He was average height, maybe five feet ten but it was solid muscle. His long brown hair framed a face that was classically handsome except for the scar running from his ear to his chin on one side of his face, a sword wound maybe? They all seemed to be watching me as I attempted to get settled into my seat.

"It will be nice to be home," I told Eric as I rummaged around the seat for the other half of my safety belt. I could never understand how the damned buckle parts managed to get jammed so far down between the seats.

"Yes, Lover, it will be. Do you need help with that?" Rather than wait for an answer, Eric just reached over, scooped me up and plopped me on his lap.

The steward came in a moment later and looked askance at this arrangement. "Ma'am, we will be taking off momentarily, if you would care to take your seat," he asked politely.

I began to wriggle off Eric's lap, but he held me tightly. Directing his eyes to the young man Eric said, "My queen would prefer this seat."

The steward looked uncertain and more than a little scared. Deciding that Eric was not one to argue with he said, "Uh, no problem then Sir," and scurried back to the cockpit of the plane.

"We're supposed to be in our seat belts, Eric. You're such a brat!"

"But this is very cozy, don't you think?" Eric asked playfully. His lips pressing against mine stopped any further protestations on my part. I snuggled up against him and enjoyed the feeling of comfort and safety that I only really felt when I was with Eric. Eric was enjoying it too and his hands slid under the hem of my shirt heading for his favorite part of my anatomy. As much as I enjoyed the sensation, I did not enjoy the venue.

"Don't you dare, Buddy!" I whispered, a nod of my head indicating the audience we had. "You can wait until we get home."

"That could be hours," he said with a pitiful look, as if I had taken away a toy from a two year old. Of course he couldn't quite pull off puppy dog eyes with his fangs run out. I just rolled my eyes.

"Be patient," I scolded.

"I waited a thousand years for you to come into my life, My Love. I don't want to ever wait again." This was about the sweetest thing anyone could have said, and I was tempted to just disregard the other passengers and see how far we could get with our clothes on, but that just went against the grain for me. I had become a lot bolder in the last few years, but I drew the line on public sex. My gran would just roll over in her grave. I gave Eric a big kiss though, and settled in on his lap. I barely even noticed the plane taking off. Safe in Eric's arms, I wasn't nervous at all.

Pam and Jordun were waiting for us at the Shreveport airport with two vans. Jordun bowed to Eric and me and greeted us warmly. Pam gave Eric a perfunctory bow muttering "Master" hastily. Focusing on me, she crooked her arm around my elbow and escorted me to the van. "Sookie, my friend, it is good to see you back. Life has been so dull since you left, I don't think we have had to kill anyone!"

"Gee thanks, Pam, I think. How is everything at Fangtasia?"

"Oh the vermin are still thronging to get in. Jan is quite the rage now that our master is not there to enthrall them. He actually seems to like the creatures!" Pam had very little good to say about humans in general, but she considered me a "natural phenomenon" and so she tolerated my human failings.

"Is that delicious roommate of yours still with the cat? I don't know what she sees in him."

"Yeah, she is still with Bob. He hasn't been a cat for months you know, it's not like he's a shape shifter," I replied.

"He does have a beautiful smile I suppose, for a witch, but I liked him better as a cat," Pam said grudgingly as we climbed into our seats.

Pam chatted with me about what new clothes I'd gotten in New Orleans and what I planned to do while I was in Shreveport. Eric and Jordun talked business, catching Eric up on local affairs. It didn't take long to get to the house.

The quiet wooded grounds had changed dramatically. Jordun had arranged accommodations for our security personnel so that guards would be on our property twenty-four hours, vampires at night and weres for daytime. Apparently the grounds were being fenced and a trailer had been installed for the guards' headquarters until a more permanent building could be constructed, or until we bought another property altogether. Travis and Mark would be staying there and coordinating the daytime crew. A light tight bunker had been installed that would provide secure sleeping quarters for vampires. Thalia and Jan would be taking charge of the night security and would be staying with us. They were both waiting to greet us when we got out of the vans.

When everyone had completed their bows and proper salutations to me and Eric, they began to unload the luggage from the back of the vans. I snatched up a box that was prominently marked "Fragile" and addressed Thalia. "Thalia, I brought you something from New Orleans."

I had been shopping in the garden district and had come across a shop that specialized in dolls. Surprisingly there were a group of dolls modeled after characters from the Anne Rice vampire novels and on impulse, I had bought one for Thalia. It was dressed in an ornate blue gown and had a wig of long brown ringlets. What made it really special was that the doll was a vampire, with tiny porcelain fangs in its mouth. I had no idea why I thought Thalia would appreciate something like that, but somehow it had made me think of her.

Thalia was looking expectant as I laid the box on the seat of the van and opened it, took out the doll and handed it to her. She didn't say a word, but her eyes glowed as examined it closely, looking under the skirts at the fancy lace trimmed undergarments and scrutinizing the old fashioned button up boots on the small feet. When she saw the fangs, she broke out in a big smile. The other vampires, curious to see what Thalia and I were up to, came up to peer at what Thalia was holding. Thomas saw that it was a doll and sniggered.

Thalia passed the doll carefully to Eric who had been standing beside her. Looking totally nonplussed, Eric put the doll over his shoulder like a baby and patted its back. Tiny Thalia turned to the ancient vampire Thomas, glared at him, and faster then my eye could catch it, she slapped him across the face with an audible "whack", knocking him several feet into the yard. Turning back to Eric, she took the doll, cradled it in her arms and smiled. "She's beautiful!" she said and without another word carried the doll into the house.

"Well," Pam said. "That was a hit." Literally, I thought.

Pam was eyeing Thomas, who sat on the ground rubbing his cheek. Thomas was wondering if he could take Thalia in a fight, when he wasn't taken by surprise. He was also wondering if she was that feisty in bed. He rose to his feet with typical vampire grace, grinned and said "Women!" in exasperation.

By the time the luggage was brought in and the vampires had all been offered a True Blood, I was yawning with exhaustion and I excused myself to head off to bed. Eric accompanied me down the stairs into his underground retreat. Although I had spent such a short period of time in this house and in Eric's bed here, it felt like coming home to be back in Shreveport. I sighed with contentment as I crawled under the sheets. I rolled to my side and Eric crawled in beside me, his long hard body spooning against my back. "Time for dessert, Lover?" he asked, cupping my breast in his large cool hand.

"Yes, glutton, time for dessert," I laughed as I rolled onto my back and spread my legs in invitation. It wasn't long before both of our appetites were sated and we rested comfortably in each other's arms.

"Better than chocolate," I whispered to my vampire as I drifted off to sleep.