"If there is one thing I miss about being human is the ability to get completely inebriated." Godric heard Thalia say as he walked into the house.
"Babe, why can't you just say drunk?" Jason grumbled.
"Inebriated is more common on our tongue at our age. The word drunk is only a couple of centuries old... at least in terms of using it as part of the English language." Godric interjected.
"Aren't most words." Jason challenged.
"Inebriated, If I remember correctly is Latin." Jason's eyes widen. "You were speaking Latin before English."
"We were," Thalia answered. "Anyway the English language has its basis in old English which was a West Germanic language and Latin and bits and pieces of other older languages. The English language is quite young compared to Sumerian, Aramaic, Sanskrit, Latin, Tamil... the list goes on." She finished.
"Yeah, but Godric somehow sounds more modern than you do and he's older than you." Jason lifted an eyebrow at his bonded.
"He makes an effort... I don't." Thalia replied with a raised eyebrow of her own. "Have a problem with that?"
"No, Hoyt wants to meet ya, and I can just imagine your conversation with him." Jason murmured. Sookie let out a snort of laughter at the thought.
"So is everything squared away with Sophie-Anne?"
"Yes, I have loaned the crown two billion dollars..." Jason started choking on his own saliva; Sookie just stared at Godric in disbelief. She knew he had money, but not so much as loan someone two billion dollars.
"I'm sorry... I'm sure you just said two billion as in with a B." Jason whispered.
"Yes, she has a great many debts to settle and to stop the likes of Edgington and Threadgill, the state needs to be able to show it has a significant amount of money in its purse and therefore does not need help."
"Fuck me." Jason murmured. "So how are you for money now?" He asked earning an eye roll from Sookie.
"I still have sufficient funds to manage," Godric answered with a chuckle.
"I thought Thalia was loaded, but this..." He let out a loud whistle that had everyone holding their ears. "Sorry, I forget sometimes." He added sheepishly. "I don't envy the amount of paperwork Sook got to sign."
"What paperwork?" Sookie stared at Godric.
"That was the other thing I needed to talk to Desmond about. Now that we are officially bonded I do believe it is prudent to make you aware of my assets and give you access to them."
"Why?" He bit his lip to stop the smile threatening to spread across his face. Most people knowing he had that much money to loan 2 billion would have asked when they could sign the papers not why.
"In case of an emergency, you have access to the necessary funds to..." He waved his arms about.
"You don't even know why I need to have access." Sookie accused.
"If our positions were reversed..." He didn't need to finish his sentence as he saw her look of resignation.
"Yeah, Thalia used that same reserve psychology crap on me." Jason groused as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey.
"Desmond will be here tomorrow night before you go to work with the necessary paperwork."
"I'm not working tomorrow night, but sure, I still don't see why it's necessary." She continued to argue.
"Because you are bonded," Godric answered.
"Wanna try some." Jason handed Thalia a glass half full of whiskey, she ignored him and turned to Godric.
"I am concerned about what the sheriff plans to do with his knowledge of you been a telepath."
"I have wondered about that. So far, he's still ignoring me." Sookie added.
"Well, with that bartender stealing from him... that's what he'd use." That got everyone's attention.
"Jase, what are you talking about?" Sookie stared at her brother.
"That vampire bartender, that shadow guy..."
"Longshadow," Godric confirmed.
"Yeah, him... he's got that waitress, Ginger stealing for him. She doesn't hand over every money at the end of the night."
"How do you know?" Thalia asked.
"She's been pocketing a few dollars here and there. I noticed it the few times I was there. Now, I've been watching her, and it's every single time I'm there. I can also guarantee you Eric knows, even if he's not entirely sure how he's doing it, he has some idea of what is going on." Jason stared at them. "Guys, it's my job to notice these things, don't be so surprised." He took a sip of his whiskey.
"I have to admit, I'm interested in seeing how he'd play this," Sookie admitted with a chuckle at the look of annoyance on Godric's face. "Well, I'm off to bed. I have classes in the afternoon." She left the three talking in the kitchen.
Sookie pulled up outside Merlotte's, with class canceled, she decided to indulge in one of Lala's burgers before heading home. She'd meant to get one for weeks but never got round to it. "Hey Sook." Arlene greeted. "You staying?"
"Yeah, could murder a burger and a vanilla shake."
"Okay, coming right up." Arlene chirped. "Erm... Arlene, how are things with Rene?" Sookie whispered.
"Not good, I kicked him out. He hates vampires, and he is entitled to how he feels, and I respect that, but you'd think he return the courtesy." Sookie wholeheartedly understood. "Worse thing, when you ask him why he hates them so much he can't tell ya. Had enough of his bullshit. If Jesus can befriend a vampire, who am I to hate them. Last I check the bible weren't trying to get me to hate anyone."
"Amen." Sookie returned. She had to admit Godric's story had had an impact she never expected. Even Crystal, an active member of FOTS church, was currently in the middle of a crisis of faith.
"Well, if it ain't Miss College student." Lafayette teased as he placed Sookie's burger in front of her. "How has you been?" He asked taking a seat.
"Great, Laf, and you?"
"Oh, you know me." He chuckled.
"Yes, I do." She smirked at him before taking a bite of her burger.
"Great minds think alike," Jason said taking a couple of fries from her plate. "Aint you 'pose to be in class."
"Cancelled..."
"Oh fuck." Jason murmured looking away from the door. Sookie turned around to find Rene glaring at Jason.
"Oh, fuck indeed," Sookie whispered.
"Well, if it ain't the Stackhouses. Heard you two tied yourselves to a couple of bloodsuckers."
"Yes, we did." Sookie cheered.
"The best thing we could have ever done," Jason added. Rene stared at the pair of them in disbelief.
"Y'all couldn't find a couple of humans. You two about the most good looking people in Bon Temps. Jase, here is a celebrated cop, Sook getting herself an education and you telling me a pair of deaders was the best Y'all could do." Rene bellowed.
"Yep," Sookie responded getting back to her burger.
"Seriously, why do you have such a problem with them?" Sookie who was listening to Rene's thoughts finally heard it.
"What has your sister got to do with this?" Sookie asked although she already had the answer. She needed Rene to say it out loud.
"Get out of my head, whore." He sneered.
"Funny how when some men don't get their way results to calling a woman a whore, bitch, tramp anything to try and bring her down to their level." Sookie slurped on her shake.
"What has your sister got to do with this?" Jason reiterated putting every ounce of his power behind the question.
"The whore was fucking one of them... such a sweet girl, fucking a deader. So yeah, I put an end to that shit and killed her." Rene wasn't quite sure why he answered the question.
"Don't forget to add the fact that you raped her dead body," Sookie added nonchalantly. Someone threw up at that point, but everyone was too busy staring at Rene to look elsewhere.
"You can try to run, but you won't make it. So do yourself a favor and give yourself up." Jason warned. Minutes later the entire Bon Temps police department showed up with sirens blazing. Andy Bellefleur was front and center scowling at the sight of Jason taking his cuffs off Rene.
"He's all yours." Jason wasn't about to get into it with the sheriff, the man already had a problem with Jason for no reason other than Jason was apparently the better cop. Jason also knew the Monroe police department would be coming for Rene, as the murder was committed on their turf.
"Rightly so, he killed in Bon Temps, so he is ours," Andy said puffing out his chest.
"Actually, he killed in Monroe." Sookie offered ignoring his glare turning her attention to Arlene.
Hours later, that was were Godric found the two. Merlotte's was packed to the rafters with people desperate to hear what happened. Mrs. Fontenberry was front and center giving a blow-by-blow account as though she was present when it happened. "Arlene, I heard. Are you alright?" Godric asked.
"I'm fine. My only concern is that I allowed a murderer in my home. A home I share with my kids." She shivered thinking of the worst.
"Focus on the fact that your kids are fine. Don't dwell on the worse. He was arrested and will be spending the rest of his life behind bars." Godric would make sure the man never saw the light of day.
Several hours later, Sookie finally made it home with Godric and Jason in tow.
"So, it's true," Adele asked as Sookie collapsed on the couch.
"Yes, the boy killed his sister for been with a vampire," Godric answered.
"He saw the bite marks on her, and that was it. He doesn't seem to have a real reason for hating vampires outside of that." Sookie murmured.
"If you ask me it was the excuse he was looking for. I believe he more than likely had a thing for his sister, and it wouldn't have mattered who she'd slept with. Raping her dead body was proof enough." Jason's theory made too much sense to ignore.
"Sixty-five thousand dollars has gone missing from our accounts. A small amount of money is missing when we count at the end of each night. Of course, we only learned of this when we when did the inventory at the end of the month. This has been going on for the last three months, and tonight it stops." Eric growled as he stared down at his staff menacingly. Sookie had been waiting for this for the last week. The whole affair smacked of something you'd find in a melodrama on daytime TV. She was surprised he'd waited that long to pull this shit. She managed to stop her eyes from rolling, but what she didn't manage was the yawn that left her. "Am I boring you, Miss Stackhouse?" Eric asked his eyes boring into her not that she gave a fuck.
"I am also bored with this charade," Godric announced pulling Eric out of his staring contest with Sookie. "You already know who the culprit is, so what is the point of this." Pam from her corner sighed in resignation. She knew this was a pointless exercise as Godric wasn't going to stand for it, and there it was. "I do believe we can leave now or do you have another performance for us?" Eric didn't get a chance to respond as Longshadow leaped over the bar and attacked. Eric, who had several centuries on Longshadow, dispatched him without effort.
Everyone stared at Eric who was covered in Longshadow's remains as Ginger screamed the house down. "Ginger, shut up," Pam ordered. Ginger clamped her mouth shut as though she had been glamoured.
"All this could have been avoided had you not felt the need to make a spectacle out of this. " Godric stared at his childe in disgust. "You can all go home," Godric ordered, although it was Eric's employee's he didn't argue. Effectively Eric was left to clean the mess, a mess he had made.
Pam had kindly helped him clean up the remains of Longshadow without a word. He knew she didn't agree with a lot of his machinations when it came to Sookie but stood by him anyway. Indeed, he should have told Sookie he knew of her telepathy and asked for help outing Longshadow. In the end, Longshadow revealed himself to be the thief. He could have called Longshadow's maker, but instead, he called the magister and reported the incident. Revealing that Godric had been present had helped with the magister.
He had made a complete fool of himself, and he knew it. Of all the ways he saw the night going, how things had actually transpired wasn't one of them. He'd never once taken into account they would know he already knew Longshadow was the culprit.
He pulled a phone out of the desk drawer and dialed. It rang longer than usual, and that didn't surprise him, but in the end, it was answered. "Yvetta, meet me at the apartment." He refused to acknowledge his leaving her a few nights ago knowing she had no transport. In his defense, not seeing the paperwork regarding Godric's bond to Sookie had annoyed him more than he could understand. No one in all the time he'd been sheriff had ever felt the need to have a lawyer present when signing the paperwork. When Pam had admitted not seeing what Desmond added before sending off the paperwork had added to his ire.
"I will be there soon." He sighed in relief. He had been prepared to grovel and concoct some story as to his behavior that night, but alas, it was not needed.
"Excellent." He purred before hanging up.
He drove to the apartment like a man possessed, and was there in record time. He took his time taking a shower and setting up the scene. After the humiliation he had endured tonight he needed to vent in a way only Yvetta could handle. He planned out the scene in his head, the entire time imagining Sookie in Yvetta's place.
Two hours went by before he realized she had no intention of coming to the apartment. He tried calling her, and to his surprise, she answered. "Where are you?" He forced through gritted teeth.
"I got dressed, left the apartment and got outside only to remember I don't have a car." There it was.
"Take a cab I will pay for the fare." He replied nonchalantly.
"Okay then." She said hanging up. Eric stared at the phone recalling she hadn't been to work in the last few days. He sighed knowing she wasn't coming and had just been stringing him along. He couldn't wait for the fucking night to be over.