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I reloaded this chapter, the last edited didn't save
when posting, thank you for letting me know. :)
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*Eric's POV*
I closed my eyes for a moment to center myself. I knew that no matter what happened Sookie can't learn about Niall just yet. He made it clear from the start, if I tell anyone about the changes before this Time-line was set, the Wraiths will realize what we've done.
I was sure that Sookie won't let the mystery of her family rest.
If I don't obtain Niall's blood she'll turn to the Fae database.
"Godric the tether ritual wasn't risk free, as a precaution I'll call Dr. Ludwig to examine us both. She's likely at Havenwood hospital now." Despite her foul temper for once I was grateful that Godric convince her to move her practice inside the hospital, her skill was unmatched.
Godric gave me a grateful smile,
"Thank you Eric I was thinking the same thing, I'll stay with Sookie while you call her."
After a quick nod I raced upstairs and called the hospital for Dr. Ludwig. She was in the middle of a procedure but thankfully said she'd be there in around ten to fifteen minutes. It gave me enough time to contact Niall and hopefully resolve things before the sun rose.
I closed my eyes and focused on Niall. It wasn't easy to contact him – I don't have psychic abilities. His own skills were honed however, so I only needed to call him mentally.
When I opened my eyes I was standing in the cave where I met Niall. He glared at me, but the reason was understandable. He was dressed in what appeared to be Fae night clothes.
"Eric this had better be important, I was asleep." Niall sat down at the table and waited impatiently for me to explain why I contacted him. I sat down and did my best to compress 24 hours of events into less than a minute.
"Sookie knows about the Fae blood bank and intends to contact them today. If they agree to match her blood she'll find out you're her grandfather. I need a vial of your blood right now to prevent it. I also need to return in ten minutes so we need to do this quickly."
I answered his questions, but I refused to tell him who cast the tethering spell on Sookie. Orion was taking a huge risk helping Godric, he trusted us to keep his ability private and I'll honor it.
Niall's eyes narrowed for a second then returned to normal.
"I don't like it, Eric, A mysterious spell was cast on Sookie and you won't explain in detail or tell me who cast it. However, I'll honor your request to keep it secret. It'll help keep her safe and free to leave Havenwood. A Fae can't survive without sunlight for very long."
I nodded in agreement. "I won't keep her locked up behind walls."
Niall waved his hands and a crystal vial floated under his wrists, along with a tiny dagger. Within seconds, the dagger cut his wrist cleanly. Once the bottle was full it landed in front of me.
Niall waved his hands again and his wound vanished.
"I've bound the vial to your soul, Eric, so that you can take it with you. If you can't stop Sookie let me know; I'll see what I can do."
Before I could thank him the cave filled with light, and everything appeared fuzzy until my vision cleared. I was back in our botanical garden again.
I had his blood but it created a new problem. How was I going to explain having her Fae family's blood? I'd only been gone from the room a few minutes.
The other problem was the house alarm. It would've gone off if I left without prior notification. There was no non-magical way I could've left the house tonight unnoticed to get the blood.
I had no intention of telling them how I did it; I couldn't risk the wraiths finding out. But I needed to tell them something believable about where I obtained her family's Fae blood. I needed the help of a Pix to pull this off.
I stopped in the kitchen to switch Niall's blood into a new container in my personal fridge before placing the empty jewel encrusted vial in my pocket. I certainly couldn't bring Niall's blood or the vial with me; it would be a conversation starter at the very least.
I took a detour and headed toward the pantry where our baker was working. I saw the little Pix flying around the baking pans in the store room. "Miss Yadira, I know you're busy, but I need your help. I'm invoking my contractual privacy agreement with you, I need a favor."
The tiny Pix gave me a nod and dried her hands,
"What do you wish of me, Master Eric?"
I handed her Niall's empty flask. I could tell she noticed that it was Fae but she said nothing. "I want you to pop to an isolated butcher's without any cameras nearby to film you. Buy enough blood to fill this flask. Once you've left the store put the blood in the vial and pop back to me."
The Pix within a second vanished in a tiny puff of white smoke. After five minutes she returned with the vial full of blood. "I've done as requested and I'll never tell a soul. I'm happy to be of service as always."
I thank the Pix and gave her a generous cash bonus. With a bow she vanished into the pantry. After she left, I raced back to the living room hoping that everything would work as intended.
Before I entered the room a wave of dizziness hit me. I leaned against the wall to keep from falling. It quickly passed once I stopped my vampiric speed walking.
Orion's scent was faint but still present. He'd wisely chosen to vanish before Dr. Ludwig was here. Everyone knew that she could keep a secret, but why give her one if you could help it.
Sookie was sitting on the sofa while the doctor ran a small diagnostic wand over her body. Godric sat beside her, holding her hand in support. A few moments later the doctor took one last curious look at Sookie's eyes before putting the wand away.
"Other than looking like an extra for Star Trek she's healthy. But Godric, since you won't explain what caused her eye change I can't promise she'll remain healthy," Dr. Ludwig said while she put away her equipment.
Godric gestured for me to sit down. "It's your turn, Eric. I told her about the excessive pain you suffered during the spell; she's keen to examine you."
When I sat down next to Dr. Ludwig she shifted away from me slightly. She's an amazing supernatural doctor but her bedside manner left much to be desired, especially with vampires. After removing a small blood collection pad from a sterile container, she placed it on my arm.
Once the white pad was full she inserted it inside a small handheld machine from her bag. Looking over her shoulder I had to smile. It was one of Godric's portable blood scanners.
It's one of our biggest sellers; it could detect any known virus or bacteria in less than three minutes. It even had a 48 hour intensive scan mode to check for unnamed pathogens, just in case someone starts tainting the human blood supply again to wipe out vampires.
I read that in this timeline the government developed biological weapons against vampires. They offered the pathogens to human carriers. Millions of humans volunteered in the first month.
The introduced pathogens wiped out more vampires than the Crisis ever could. Vampires started kidnapping healthy humans to avoid tainted blood. The blood crisis ended after Godric helped design a portable blood screener.
With the new blood screeners, vampires could quickly test human or bottled blood before they fed. The device could also test for vitamin deficiencies or high cholesterol. Those additions weren't critical, but a donor's health can affect the blood's taste.
After the war, we started selling the machines in stores. Humans quickly saw the device's upside for their own health, and bought millions of units in the first month. It prevented so much human suffering that Godric was named Time Magazine's man of the year three years running.
The doctor ran the wand over me until it stopped glowing. She frowned when the blood count screen returned a red beep. "Well Eric you're not a disease carrier, but your blood count is dangerously low; you need to feed right away."
Godric was gone in a blink of an eye but quickly returned with four warmed bags of human blood. "I brought him four bags doctor; let me know if he'll need more."
After I rapidly downed the blood I held up my arm up for a retest. After checking me with a fresh pad she waited for the results.
Within a minute the screen beeped and showed a green light. "OK Eric you're back to normal, but your system's strained so rest for 24 hours – that's an order."
I stood up and clicked my heels together, giving Dr. Ludwig a mock salute with a grin, "Yes, madam, I'll do as ordered. Will you torture me for non-compliance?"
She gave me an annoyed look. Afterward, she waved a sheet of paper under my nose expectantly.
I gave her a wicked grin in return. "Dr. Ludwig I knew you were a fan of mine. Admit it; those scowls directed at me weren't real. Are you keeping my autograph for a collection?"
Rolling her eyes she dropped the paper in my lap, "No. It's the hospital's billing form. Sign it so I can leave. I have other patients Eric."
I gave Dr. Ludwig a sour look in response. Sookie laughed at the expression on my face.
Godric opened his wallet and removed ten $100 bills,
"The hospital will take days to pay you doctor. I'll take care of your payment personally. I can obtain a refund from the billing department later."
Dr. Ludwig quickly pocketed the money in her purse and smirked.
"I like you, Godric, but you're lying your ass off. You're paying me in cash to avoid a paper trail; you'll never submit that bill. Not that I mind, because I know if you're keeping this secret, it's to protect Sookie. I know you well enough to give you the benefit of the doubt."
Godric gave her a friendly smile.
"You're perceptive as always Doctor Ludwig, and yes, your visit must remain private to protect Sookie. You've never gossiped about your patients; I trust your discretion."
Dr. Ludwig nodded and turned to go but paused to address Sookie, "I'm not a fan of most vampires, but if you had to live with them, I can't think of a better home than this one."
With that she popped out of the room. Not that I expected her to say goodbye; that's not her style. I could feel in the bond Godric's shock at her compliment before she left. I wasn't surprised. He has that effect on almost everyone he meets.
A minute later Orion shadow-stepped into the living room. He perched on the sofa's arm waiting for a report, "Since no one's running around frantically, I assume you're both fine?"
Godric nodded as Sookie leaned against the sofa's cushions. She looked ready to fall asleep, "Yes they're both fine, but Eric needed a few extra meals after the ritual."
I sat on the other side of Sookie and gave her a soft kiss; I was relieved she was OK. Quickly my gentle kiss woke her like Sleeping Beauty.
Sookie ran her fingers in my hair, "Eric I'm so glad you're not sick. I was worried."
I deepened the kiss, which she happily matched in intensity. She tasted of honey and sunlight.
"It's OK Sookie – I'm fine; I'm not going anywhere."
Orion chuckled, waiting for us to come up for air, "Did you forget you're not alone, Eric?"
Reluctantly I ended the kiss but kept her in my arms, "Nope, but I'm at home so I don't care."
"Vampires," Orion laughed then pulled out a flask before he knelt in front of Sookie.
"It's getting late so time to take your blood to the Fae. They might be more willing to run the tests if I bring them a sample."
Clearing my throat I gained the room's attention.
"I have something important to tell you all. Given the risk that Sookie would be taken from us if we didn't cure her I called a friend for help a few minutes ago." Three sets of eyes stared at me waiting for me to speak.
"I couldn't risk the fallout if the Fae didn't honor our request. So I called in a favor and acquired a sample of Sookie's family blood. I'm sorry but her benefactor insists that for now their identity must remain hidden to protect us all. Sookie, I couldn't risk losing you – can you forgive me?"
Sookie reached over and stroked my cheek, "I trust you Eric. As much as I wanted to know who my family is, making sure SNAP couldn't take me away tomorrow is far more important. I will find them some day. I know getting my family's blood wasn't an easy task, thank you."
I could feel her acceptance of my actions through our bond and I relaxed in relief.
Godric looked at me thoughtfully,
"I'd love to know why you have high level contacts in Faery, Eric, but not enough to violate your trust by looking into the matter. I know you will tell me when it's safe to do so. Good work, my child, you did the right thing."
"Thank you, Master and Sookie for your support, I'll go and get the blood." I left the room and washed all the pig blood out of the vial before switching Niall's blood back into it. I then raced back down to the others and handed Orion the vial.
"Keep your eyes closed Sookie, this won't take long" Orion said as he began to chant softly.
The stopper on the blood floated away and the blood floated upward in a thin solid line. With a twist of his wrist it moved toward Sookie and spun around her body faster and faster. The blood started glowing as it touched her skin, until with a burst of light it vanished.
Sookie opened her lashes and we all gave a sigh of relief, her eyes were back to normal. "Sookie, as much as I love the blue in your eyes I'm glad it's only in your irises again."
With a laugh Sookie flung herself at me and I gave her a big hug. I reached over to shake Orion's hand, "Thank you Orion, you are a true friend to me and my family, we owe you a debt."
Godric offered Orion a smile, "Thank you for your help, and as always if you need my assistance just ask. In my heart you're a member of this household, and one of my closest friends."
Orion smiled while packing up his things,
"Thank you, Godric. I value our deep friendship. Besides after all you've done for me I'm happy to help you and your Nest in any way I can."
We stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to do next. We had so many issues left to resolve, so many people lining up to harm our family. The whole thing felt like a weight.
I was startled when I felt Godric grab my hand; he held Sookie's hand in the other.
" We should all go in the gardens for a few minutes. We've never given Sookie a proper tour. All our problems will still be here when we return. Our existence will always involve conflicts for us, but that shouldn't stop us from enjoying the life we're fighting so hard to protect."
Sookie give me a hopeful look and I realized that despite everything I was the luckiest man alive. Godric was right, sometimes you have to stop and just breathe, or life will pass you by.
We spent half a hour strolling the garden but was interrupted when our office phones began to ring then quickly stopped.
A few seconds later our security system announced visitors waiting. One grouped wanted to pop in and the others were waiting at our front gate. I tried to speak with Godric but he'd already left the room carrying Sookie. A moment later I heard the sound of Sookie being locked in the panic room. The heavy metal doors clicked behind her with a thud.
I didn't know what was going on outside but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Orion removed his elven sword from his back; he positioned himself at the door. I clicked my fangs in place and stood beside him, my own weapons drawn. We listened, but heard nothing for over a minute.
The silence was unsettling, where the hell was Godric, he should've returned by now.
