A/N: Two updates in one day? Goodness! Well, I can't make any guarantees about updates for the next week or so; I wanted to make sure this chapter was out before I flew off to colder pastures. After all, last chapter dropped some pretty big bombs (or at least, confirmed some of your suspicions).


Sookie POV

When I rose for the evening, the bond with Eric was one of the first things I noticed; either he'd consciously stopped blocking me, or he hadn't yet realized I was awake. Being able to feel him again made me recognize just how much better I felt with the bond open; I'd missed it. It didn't hurt matters that he was a good mood.

I stayed in bed for a while, thinking about the events of the previous night. Sometimes it really did feel like Pam and Eric treated me as if I were a baby; then I would remember just how much older than me they really were. It was easy to forget, since they both looked so young. They had centuries of knowledge and experience, whereas I was barely halfway through my second decade.

When I was a teenager and thought I knew everything, Gran pulled me aside one day and called me out on it. She asked me if I knew more at age fifteen than I did at age ten. I'd replied that of course I did. She then asked me if I thought I'd know more at age twenty than I had at age fifteen. Again, my answer was yes, I would know more. The third and final question she asked me that day was why, then, did I think I could possibly know more than her, when she was two generations my senior?

Multiply that by... well, a lot: that was Eric and Pam. The thing I had to learn was how to pick my battles with them, learn when to stand my ground and when to give in. I was still trying to figure out where Felix stood in all of that.

Pam had given me some context last night, when she and I were talking quietly after my shower. She acknowledged that both Felix and Eric wanted me, but asked me which one I thought would be more respectful of my boundaries. She was quick to point out that most other vampires would have already compelled me into having sex with them, had they been my master. No matter how much Eric might want me, he would never force or compel me along those lines.

To be fair, neither of us knew Felix well enough to know whether or not the same could be said for him. While he couldn't compel me, he was stronger than I was. Physical strength aside, there were plenty of other ways to coerce or pressure someone into doing something they didn't want to do. Even if he turned out to be above all of that, Pam asked me if I thought I'd remember him in a decade. Again, it was something I had no way of knowing; she knew that, but wanted me to keep that in mind when I interacted with him in the future.

When I went out and sat next to Eric, I tried to pay closer attention to his body language and to what he wasn't saying. I knew it would have made things so much easier if only I could have read his mind; but conversely, if I could have done so, it wouldn't work out between us. Only with a vampire could I have something that approximated a relationship that normal humans could have.

Eric was my maker: I'd never be able to really forget him. The connection that he and I had would last as long as we were both around. That meant that if things went sour between us, there was no getting away from it. The stakes were higher; there was more to lose. It frightened me.

When he sensed that fear from me, he did his best to comfort me. He asked about it, and didn't really push me when I gave him a half-assed answer. I could sense that he wanted so much more from me, and if the sun hadn't been so close on our heels, I might have given serious thought to giving in.

As nice as it was to simply lay in my bed and think the night away, I knew I needed to get up. If nothing else, I needed sustenance.

I pulled back the covers, got up, and stepped out into the living room to find my vampire family already dressed. Pam was reading some glossy magazine; Eric was browsing a section of the newspaper.

Neither of them was dressed for Fangtasia. Well, Eric might have been; he had on a pair of black jeans and a green v-neck shirt. He was the boss, he could wear whatever he pleased. Pam had on something that I would have considered dressy, but it was her version of casual: a pink pants suit of some type. Eric once told me that he'd seen her in a pair of jeans, but I didn't believe him. I couldn't imagine her being caught finally dead in denim.

"We skipping out tonight?" I asked.

"Hell and yes," Pam answered.

"I will go in for a short amount of time," Eric said. "But I won't be there the entire evening."

I went into the kitchen to heat up a bottle of blood. Eric had long ago told me that all of the houses had full kitchens in the lower levels to add to the resale value, but he didn't quite understand why humans rarely used more than one kitchen per house. Then again, I didn't understand why he refused to ever rest above ground. Every last one of his houses were equipped with light-tight shutters on all of the windows. Without separate entrances, these basements couldn't really qualify as separate apartments. When my breakfast was ready, I took it back into the living room and curled up in a chair.

"What are the plans for the evening?" I asked.

"We don't really have any," Pam said. "Well, you and I don't. Mr Responsible over there insists on going to Fangtasia to take care of business and make sure everything is running smoothly."

That came as something of a surprise. Given the recent kerfuffle with the Felix situation, I would have assumed that there were big mysterious plans afoot. We hadn't taken a simple night off in months; I wasn't sure what to do with myself if I wasn't working or training. Even on the family nights we had with Jason and Gran, we usually went to Fangtasia afterward.

"It's still early. We could give Gran a call, see if she's up for a visit."

Eric shook his head. "You are not going to Bon Temps without me. We will see them in a few days."

Right, because sleepy little Bon Temps was so much more dangerous than Shreveport. I waited until he was looking away, then stuck my tongue out at him. Pam caught me doing it and chuckled.

"I can't remember the last time we didn't have something planned," I said. "What are we supposed to do with ourselves? Just sit around like bumps on a log? Hey, maybe we could go catch a movie?"

Eric was quick to veto that idea. "You want to go sit in the dark with a room full of strangers? I think not."

"Oh, come on," I said. "It's not like we can't see perfectly in that level of lighting."

"There's always shopping," Pam said with a smile. "Especially if Eric gives us his plastic."

He looked at us over the edge of the newspaper. "Both of you have plenty of your own money that you are free to spend as you wish."

"But you have so much more of it," Pam protested.

"She has a point, Eric." I wasn't hurting for cash; between the money I got from Fangtasia and my regular sessions with the Queen, I was sitting pretty. Gran's house had been as repaired as it needed to be, and I'd even put some money towards fixing up Jason's place. This year for Christmas, I was thinking about getting him the pool table he'd always wanted. I had no idea where he was going to put the darn thing, but that wasn't my problem to figure out.

If Pam and I went out shopping, I had no idea what I'd buy. My new clothes would be arriving any night, and I wasn't big into gadgets or electronics. Even if I could think of something, I wouldn't really need Eric to pay for it. But every now and then it was fun to gang up on him with Pam.

Somehow I managed to keep a straight face when she gave Eric a serious set of puppy dog eyes. He flipped her off and went back to reading; she glared at me and gestured her head in his direction. I grinned, then started giving Eric a pitiful look as well. Just for added measure, I stuck my lower lip out in a pout.

"I am not looking at either of you," he said.

I whimpered.

He looked.

Eric knew when he was outnumbered. He reached into his wallet and, with a sigh, handed Pam his black Amex.


Eric POV

I knew that Pam could keep the two of them safe, and Sookie had turned out to be a better fighter than I'd originally thought she'd be. Neither of them liked fighting, but they were quite capable of defending themselves. Even without the mysterious fairy visitor and this Felix asshole, random attacks by bigots were always a possibility.

Pam and I discussed it before Sookie rose for the evening; we figured that if Felix was going to seek her out again, he would come to Fangtasia first. I wanted to speak with him alone, and the only way that was going to happen was if Sookie wasn't there.

I would have much rather spent the evening with my girls, but the sooner this matter was dealt with, the better.

As predicted, Felix showed up a the club about an hour after it opened. Something was off about him. Rather than displaying his usual cocky arrogance, he appeared to be on edge. Either he was no good at masking his body language, or he was more nervous than he was capable of hiding. Instead of looking around, he walked straight to the booth where I was sitting. He sat down without requesting permission; if he wanted to get on my good side, he was going about it all wrong.

Not that he had a chance of ever getting into my good graces.

"Just the vampire I was looking for," he said.

I raised en eyebrow at Felix, then looked down at my own self. "I didn't think I could be so easily confused with my child."

"Ah, but she's not really yours, is she?"

"For all intents and purposes, and especially as far as you are concerned, yes she is."

Felix leaned in, narrowed his eyes and kept his voice low. "This isn't a conversation we want to have in such a public venue."

I smiled. "I know just the place."

We stood and walked back to my office. I let him enter first: no way was I giving him the merest glance of my back. He took a seat in a chair; I leaned against the edge of my desk, in front of him. I would have towered over him even if seated, but wasn't above using my height to intimidate him.

"Start talking," I said.

"I know you don't trust me, and that's actually a good thing: it means Sookie is in good hands."

I gave him a hard stare. Was he aware of some threat to her? "I think you need to explain yourself."

"She isn't like most vampires, is she?"

"Now, what would make you think a thing like that?"

"I'll take that as a yes. Let's just cut the waltzing and bullshit, shall we? I know what she is because it's what I am."

"And what are you?"

"A vampire who, before being turned, was part-fairy."

I kept my face blank. I had long suspected that she was something other than human, or something in addition to being human, before being turned. That she was part-fairy wasn't a surprise, all things considered. I wondered if Felix had been the one we had scented outside the house. "Are you able to mask your scent?"

"Not in the slightest. I didn't have much of a fairy scent before dying; my blood was too diluted for that. More than Sookie's was, from what I've heard."

"How much do you know about her?"

He laughed. "More than you, it seems."

"Oh, really? What's her favorite color? What is the first thing she does when she rises in the evenings? What sort of movies or books does she prefer? You may know more about her heritage than I do, but you don't really know Sookie. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise."

As we each tried to stare the other down, I saw his anger levels rise. Mine remained steady, receding slightly when he looked away first.

"Tell me why you are here. Tell me who sent you," I ordered.

Felix sighed. "For years, Sookie's family has been keeping tabs on her. I'm not sure how a vampire managed to turn her, with them keeping watch. Whatever the case, they lost track of her once she was turned. They managed to find her again in New Orleans, just under a week later, but lost the trail again. From what I understand, they lost her when she was drained the second time."

"How would such an event cause them to lose track of her?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Fairies can track each other by the blood in our veins, but it's iffy after being turned. When we're drained, it takes a few days for that connection to come back. Since they'd lost her twice in New Orleans, they figured she was staying in that area. After being unable to travel freely there, it being so heavily populated by vampires, one of her relatives contacted me to help in the search."

"This would be the friend who you owed a favor," I said.

"Yes, but that's not a story you're going to hear today, if at all. It's not relevant to anything going on now."

"So you started working your way north and eventually found Sookie here in Shreveport."

"Obviously, yes."

I smiled. "I could hand you over to any of the other Sheriffs in the state for trespassing and evasion of protocol."

He shrugged. Given his record of being able to evade his trackers, no doubt he had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. "You could, but it wouldn't be in your best interests to do so."

"And why is that?"

"An act of aggression against me will be interpreted by her family as an act of war against them. Do you really want to go to war with the fae?"

I was fairly certain that he was lying, but that wasn't a risk I was willing to take. Not without a lot more information.

"What exactly do the fae want with Sookie?"

"For now?" He shrugged. "Not much, especially since she can no longer bear children. I suspect that eventually, they will want to meet her."

As much self-restrain as I might have, even I would have trouble containing myself around a full-blooded fairy. If Sookie's fairy relatives wanted to meet her, they would not be able to do so with me present. Not unless they could mask their scent. I knew of one fairy could do just that, but I hoped he was of no relation to my child: he was too important in the fae realms, too powerful.

"You don't react to their scent, do you?"

"No. Neither does Sookie, I imagine. If she had an interest in meeting her kin, I would be able to escort her in your stead."

He was a damn fool if he thought that was going to ever happen. I stared hard at him for a moment. "That was not part of the original plan, was it? You were hired simply to find her and then disappear. You chose to stick around. Tell me why."

He frowned while he considered how much to tell me. "I've been watching far longer than I've let my presence be known, and that was mostly out of personal curiosity. Sookie is the only other vampire I'm aware of who has fae heritage. Most people with fae blood do not survive being turned."

I stood up, walked around the desk and sat down in my chair. "I am not foolish enough to assume that you have just laid all of your cards out on the table, but you have been more forthcoming than I expected."

It didn't need to be said that since he was giving up so much information, he expected something in return. I enjoyed that awkward moment just before he realized that I wasn't going to ask him what he wanted.

"In exchange for the information I have given you, I would like to be guaranteed access to see and speak with Sookie."

"And if she does not wish to see or speak with you?"

Felix cleared his throat. "Then I will respect her wishes on the matter."

I waited a minute or two; just long enough to make him squirm. "I will consider it. For now, I will refrain from alerting the other Louisiana Sheriffs to your negligence in following proper protocols."

While Felix presented problems of his own, the primary underlying issue would not go away if or when he disappeared. Sookie's family would still want to keep an eye on her, might still want to contact her.

"In the meantime, I imagine you will want to update this relative of Sookie's... what did you say his name was?"

He smiled shrewdly. "I didn't."

"And let me guess: you won't."

"Not just yet, no. This may be the end of this round, but the game is far from over, Sheriff."

I didn't attempt to stop him when he stood up and left my office. I had already wrapped up all of the business that I needed to take care of, and there was at least one conversation that Sookie and I needed to have before the night was over.


Disclaimer: All of the characters contained in this story are property of Charlaine Harris (except Felix, he's all mine). I don't own them; I just like to play with them a bit.