A/N: Howdy! A little bit more interaction before Sookie and Eric hit the palace. And new YnB tomorrow. :D Someone is coming to visit. Thanks to ilovemysteries for betaing!

Chapter 7

Sookie didn't know if she wanted to curl up into a ball and die of embarrassment, or climb aboard and ride Eric into the sunset. Which she had actually felt a half an hour or so before. That whole exchange, from being bitten to biting him, had been the most… erotic thing she had ever experienced in her life. And erotic wasn't something she'd ever really even thought about before. Sex was generally just a tool she used for having a good time and feeling closer to her wolves, or for getting out of trouble. Nothing that had felt that good had ever felt so serious before. Well, if anything had ever even felt that good before. And they hadn't even been having sex! But what else would you call it when you had an actual orgasm from being bitten and drank from, and then another one from biting someone's wrist and drinking their blood? His was delicious and made her feel powerful. And the blood felt like it was supposed to be a part of her somehow. She felt a connection to it right away, like her blood recognized his, and welcomed it into her body or something. But that was just weird and didn't make any sense at all.

When they were through, she really did feel closer to him. And not just because of the sex-that-wasn't-sex part. She could feel how much he wanted to protect her. She could feel that she was his now, too. And she liked it. She found herself snuggling back into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her for a few minutes. She just felt incredibly safe with him. Which was crazy! She had been terrified of him just the night before. But now that she could feel him inside of her, she really had no choice but to trust him. He was as laid bare to her as she was to him. And it was kind of like her internal compass had just realigned. The wolves had been her protectors Before The Exchange. Now, After The Exchange, it was Eric. She still loved them, so much, but she felt like this was how it was supposed to be now. They were still her wolves, but now he was her Eric, and she was his.

And yet she didn't really know him at all. She wasn't usually shy - just the opposite, actually; ever since she had left Bon Temps, she had made friends everywhere she went - but she felt so shy with him. She felt like a great big contradiction, but so much more grounded and relieved than she had since she had woken up and hid in the bathtub. And whole. And like things might be Ok again, at some point.

Eric's compass had shifted as well. At least as it pertained to his status as a maker. The needle had just been spinning since he had felt Pam's final death. But Sookie was his new North. It wasn't the same as the connection he had felt with Pam. But, of course, his bond with Pam was nothing like his bond with Karin, either. And this one was different than both, but Sookie was his child now. As much as she was Pam's, at least as far as he was concerned. She needed him. And the fact that she was a seventeen year old homeless runaway orphaned telepathic fairy hybrid newborn vampire didn't feel quite like such a burden any longer. At that moment, at least. It was just a laundry list of things that proved how much she did need him. The very strange connection with Weres from two different packs would take some getting used to, though.

He wanted her, but he would let her come to him in her own time. And he would encourage her to use the donors as she wished. She needed sex as well as blood. But right then, he felt that she needed reassurance, and he held her a little closer. He could feel at the time that the exchange had affected her as it had him, but the moment had passed, and now he felt her embarrassment. He pushed calm at her, and she visibly relaxed.

His motivation to find out what exactly had happened to Pam and why had not wavered. In fact, now he needed to know for Sookie's sake as well as his own. He was anxious to get going, but it was early, and he could tell that Sookie needed a little more time. She had much to come to terms with, and he was going to need to be much more patient with her.

"Sookie, our visit to the palace is going to be very delicate. I suspect that the Queen is responsible for Pam's death, but I cannot let on that I know. I also cannot go back to Shreveport without going by the palace first. Not after Pam's final death here in the city. And not with a newborn. It would raise too many questions.

"I will destroy the surveillance footage first, so I will be able to tell her that I was unable to view it. We will need to be very careful."

It was going to be potentially very dangerous. He hated the idea of taking her, but he really didn't have a choice. He hated politics, but it was unfortunately how things were done. He had a part to play and, especially as Sheriff, there were things that were expected of him that he absolutely had to do. He also couldn't pass up the opportunity to look the Queen in the face when he told her about Pam. And for Sookie to read Hadley's mind. But he needed to be prepared if they were walking into a trap. It was a precarious position to be in.

Sookie's Weres had brought up her belongings before they had left, and she took some clothes into the bathroom to shower.

He had swept the suite for bugs earlier, and it was clean, as it had always been. He paid very well to ensure it. He had a fresh burner phone and a new SIM card in the bedside table. He had some calls to make.

It was still too early to call the west coast, but William would agree, if asked, to say that he had left Los Angeles on Friday, he was sure. The two of them had spent the weekend locked in a room devising a plan for William to ascend to the throne of California. Eric was not willing to join the fight, but he was happy to lend an ear and a few ideas, under the table. And he would support William openly were he successful. He was in The Viper Room for less than a minute, and he would ask William, who had set him up with what's her name, to glamour her to forget him tonight. She already thought his name was Leif.

Pack Master Flood told him that he would say that Sookie had contacted Alcide on Wednesday after rising, if asked. That she had told Alcide that she had met Eric through Pam on Sunday night, had gone with him to his safehouse of her own volition, and had agreed to be turned. He would have been free to make the calls about Pam and even travel to the warehouse while waiting for Sookie to rise. Flood would contact Sookie's Weres, and they would corroborate. Flood knew that the palace was no place for a girl like Sookie. Hopefully nobody would have cause to go digging, but it was better to have his bases covered if anyone did.

When Sookie got out of the bathroom, he asked her to follow him into the living room. He sat on the couch and she hesitated. He could feel her indecision, and her longing to sit next to him. He was pleased that she was warming to him so quickly, despite how he had treated her in the beginning. He patted the cushion next to him and she stiffly sat down at the edge of the seat. He pulled her against him, and she relaxed almost immediately

"Tell me about your telepathy."

"Well, really, I should be having a hard time keeping the thoughts out in a hotel, but my shields are holding up really well. I can block the thoughts on my own sometimes, but it usually takes a lot of effort and doesn't work that great. Most of the time, I just smoke weed and the thoughts kind of slide right off."

"How does it work? Can you search through memories?"

"Oh, no. Thank goodness. I can only hear what people are thinking in the moment. I hear way more than I want to as it is."

"Hadley might not be thinking of Pam's final death."

"Well, no. But if someone mentions Pam, she'll probably think of it. And, if not, I can be discreet."

"Keep in mind that vampires have excellent hearing. And older vampires, like the Queen and her progeny, will have much better hearing than yours. And there will be cameras and microphones everywhere."

Sookie muttered, "But no pressure, right?" and Eric tried to hold back a smile. The longer he knew her, the more he liked her. And he certainly didn't expect to be feeling like this just 24 hours past the time she had jumped out the window, either.

He explained the politics of visiting the palace and the things that would be expected of her as a subject of the Queen. She was doing a lot better with taking in new information, and he realized how bright she was when she wasn't completely overwhelmed. She really was coming around incredibly quickly, and was displaying amazing control.

If he hadn't been so concerned about Sookie, part of him would be looking forward to the prospect of trouble. He desperately wanted to make some heads roll. And he would, but this was definitely not the time. She was not going to leave his sight, he would make sure. And, if he thought things were going sideways, he would grab her and run. But he didn't think it would come to that. He would have been called to the palace by now if that was Sophie-Anne's game.

"Come, Sookie. Before we go to the palace, we need to go back down to the security office. I will take the opportunity to teach you to glamour." He got a couple of things out of the desk drawer in the corner of the room and stuck it in his pocket before they headed out.

They went back down in the elevator. She was nervous and hesitant until he held her hand, and then she calmed down immediately. He felt that she wanted the reassurance and connection, but was still too shy to instigate it herself. It was no matter. He would do it for her. She was obviously very affectionate with her Weres, and he was a tactile vampire, too.

Down in the security office, he told her what to do. "Look in his eyes, Sookie. Make him heed you. Tell him to stay out of our way until we are through."

Sookie looked at the Security guard, and he immediately moved to stand beside the wall. Interesting.

Eric sat down at the computer and deleted all of the files for Monday. They had been at the security office after midnight the night before, so he deleted the files for Thursday as well. He copied and pasted Sunday's files twice, and renamed the copies to correspond with Monday's and Thursday's files. It was just past midnight. He left today's as is; if the files survived, it would only prove that they had tried to view the surveillance footage. He cleared the computer's recycle bin and made sure that the deleted files were truly gone. He took apart the computer case and took the screwdriver and very strong magnet from his pocket. He detached the hard drive and very meticulously wiped it clean with the magnet. He put it all back together again. The computer would not boot. Excellent. Eric got up and stood by the door.

"Ok, Sookie. Glamour the man to forget we were here. And that he had been having computer issues all day."

She blew out a deep breath and walked over to the security guard again. She caught his eyes and a minute later he walked back to the desk and sat down. He looked past Eric as if he wasn't standing there at all.

"Fucking piece of shit computer." The security guard shut it off and on again, and then picked up his phone and started to dial. A few seconds later, he said into the receiver, "This fucking computer has been giving me crap all night, and it finally shit the bed. What do I do now?"

The guard started trying to troubleshoot, and Eric opened the door. He and Sookie left. It was a very effective bit of glamour, and she hadn't said one word. This was going to work so much better than he could have hoped.

Sookie let out a big sigh of relief. She had done a good job. The man had done everything she had wanted him to. And, even better, she should be able to get Hadley to think about killing Pam, no matter who was around. She had felt the glamour working before she had said anything at all, so she had decided to just try it, and it had really paid off. She could hear in the man's head what she wanted him to do, and he did it.

She hoped that she hadn't just signed Hadley's death warrant. She was the only real family Sookie had left. She sure as hell didn't count her mother or her great uncle. She really hoped that Had hadn't killed Pam, but who else could it have been? Maybe she'd been forced. She hoped Eric would listen to reason if she found something out that would let Hadley off the hook.

She looked up at him shyly. He was holding her hand again in the elevator, going down to the lobby so they could leave for the palace. He was really handsome. And he could be really nice, when he wasn't being a scary monster. And that blood exchange had been so hot. She kind of wanted to fuck him, and wondered if he would want to fuck her, too. Probably not, if she was his child now. But maybe…

He looked down at her and smiled, and she smiled back and leaned into him. He put his arm around her and kissed her temple, and her stomach sort of flip flopped. The elevator doors opened, and the moment ended. He took her hand again, and they walked through the lobby to the front doors.