A/N: Ugh. Still Bill, but we need this chapter.

I. Can. Barely. Wait. To. Kill. Him.

Chapter 35:

Bill POV

Karin was smart and strong, but she was not my only bedmate. I also shared my body with her maker's warden, Queen Freyda of Oklahoma. Freyda was a powerful ally. The enemy of my enemy was my friend. And Eric was most certainly my enemy and Freyda was his. Sure, she had contracted to use him as her enforcer, but she had little regard for him – I knew that as soon as she took me into her bed.

The Viking was simply a means to an end.

She still wanted to possess him – have him yield to her – but he had thwarted her at every pass. When he dispatched her enemies twenty years into their contact, Freyda had told me that she finally believed he had given up his love of Sookeh – I had told her she was foolish. I knew that his love ran deeper than that. He had loved Sookeh since he first laid eyes on her – it was why I had strived so hard to poison her against him, making her worry that he had nothing but bad intentions.

She was mine.

But somehow the Viking had become the center of her attentions. At least for a little while. Until he failed her with Lochlan and Neave. Then I swooped back in. It did not matter that Eric was indisposed, I made Sookeh see his absence during her time of need as proof she was nothing more than an asset to him. It had caused me great bodily injury to save her – but it was worth it because she could not deny that I had been there for her when her precious Viking had not.

But he still healed her with his blood – still remained part of her. Took care of her.

Even though I had never met Appius Ocella, he had done me a great service by selling his progeny – Eric – to Freyda, to Oklahoma. Ocella was a real vampire, always trying to secure his position in the world. He and my maker were cut from the same cloth. It was unfortunate when he met his true death, but it made me happy to no end that his hold over Eric had not been abated. Felipe, upon my urgings, ignored Eric's pleas to be freed from the Oklahoma contact.

I played birdie in exchange for Louisiana– to ensure that Sookeh would be lost to Eric forever. How could Eric think she'd ever accept the title of mistress? His desperation was comedic to me, seeing the once great warrior begging a human for her affections. She denied him and I was sure she would willingly make her way back to me.

But Eric had always been defiant, contriving a way to selfishly keep her from me. For that I was going to make him suffer.

KPOV

***After Sookie was taken, before Eric finds Sookie in the dungeons***

Pam was distraught, inconsolable. I...did not know what to feel. Her child had met the final death, our master would never know what he had lost. I was both despondent and relieved. The little telepath's demise meant we were safe, but we were also worse off.

There was a hole where our small connection had once been, the tie we all had shared being of the same bloodline. Its absence should not have affected me; I did not care for Sookie. Had I?

I did a quick appraisal of my feelings and found the answer was a clear yes. And then I knew how to feel, and I mourned her loss. From our family. From my mind. From the world. She really had inspired such love and reverence from all who had met her.

My ringtone echoed through the room. At the height of my despair, a phone call. Bill.

"Bill, what do you want," I snarled. I had no patience for any of his fake pleasantries.

"Pam has not returned from Europe. She will not answer my calls."

"She has lost someone. She will not be back soon. She mourns her friend's loss."

"Susan."

"Yes." Pam had told me of Bill's apparent threat as she left. There was no harm in admitting to what he already knew to be the truth.

"Karin, your family has suffered a loss. Let me come to you."

What. The. Fuck. How had he ascertained that Susan was Pam's child? I processed every scenario and then I knew how it was possible. I needed no further words from him. My bloodlust, my blood left on his tree. He had taken advantage.

"No," I spit out and then growled, "You had better run, Compton. That is a blood offense and I will take your head."

I hit end and threw my phone across the room. It shattered into pieces. A chant took hold of my mind. My vision tinged red with fury.

Fucking. Kill. Bill.

Bill POV

***Flashback, after Sookie's human death***

Sam Merlotte died and Sookeh followed after. My sorrow could not be contained. I could not bring myself to attend the wake after the funeral. Sookeh had requested the wake be held after dusk so that her vampires could attend – I clung to this, sure she had made this decision for me alone.

Once I had confirmed that the guests had vacated her farmhouse, I made my way over to her gravestone. It was next to Sam's. I longed to have her final rest be next to me. And so I dug.

And I dug until I found her coffin, readying myself to see her withered frame. To get some closure. And possibly some piece of her to add to the shrine I had set up in my home for her.

But when I opened the lid, there was no body. Someone was lying about what had happened to Sookeh Stackhouse.

***After his call to Karin, before Freyda's call***

Karin had threatened to kill me. I expected she would rebel against our connection. She would accept it in time.

I had felt a familial loss in my connection to Karin. And she had confirmed my suspicions: Pam had a child named Susan, a child that she had lost. A child Eric had shown interest in. Sookeh had an empty grave. Eric had always felt drawn to Sookeh.

Susan was Sookeh. Of this I was certain. And Eric had caused me to lose her a second time.