I'll never know

How the future will go

I don't know what to tell you,

I'm not a fortune teller

I'll never change,

But I want you to stay

I don't know what to tell you,

I'm not a fortune teller – Maroon 5

Sookie POV

My first thought at the words of the lawyer was that no one had ever called them that before. My assumption of what he was talking about was based solely on where he was looking, which happened to be my chest. I can also tell that's what Eric's assumption was too and the lawyer is lucky he still had a mouth to announce what he was actually staring at. Now we at least have a name for the little charm, though it's not a term I have heard before. But that's true for a lot of the supernatural terms I have been learning since Bill came into my life, more so since I decided to have a life with Eric.

"God bless you," I say making a joke of the situation to try and give myself time to wrap my head around it. My Gran had this. My Gran had hidden it pretty well. Eric and I had found it. I seemed to have a reaction to it. It was currently around my neck, feeling warm against my skin. Those facts are what I know right now. My biggest question about this is, do I have to be worried that this all going to blow up in our faces.

Given the pale look on Cataliades' face when he saw it, I am a bit worried about the answer to that question.

It's Eric that starts the next part of the conversation. "A cluviel dor?" he repeats, matching Cataliades pronunciation. If I had been the one to try and pronounce it, it probably would have sounded more like 'car door.' "Do you mind explaining what it is? I do not recall ever hearing about one."

"As a vampire you wouldn't," Cataliades tells Eric before shifting his eyes to me. "It is made by the Fae." He hesitates before adding, "When one is in love. There has to be love between a Fae and another for it to be forged."

I get a meaningful look at the lawyer. I don't know what I have thought about my Gran's affair. Okay, maybe I knew what I thought about it as much as I am ashamed of my thoughts. My father and his sister should have been proof enough, but people have children with people they don't love all them time. But here is someone who has told me that he has seen the love between them. He's telling me that this little charm, this charm that gets a reaction out of me, is proof of that love.

Those words make it all the more clearer.

I may not like that my Gran had an affair, though I can understand her strong need for children. I couldn't imagine her without any even though she had far too little time with them, as I had far too little time with her. I would not even be here if it wasn't for the affair she had with Fintan. Though I may not like it, I am happy that she was lucky enough to find love twice in her life. I know that she loved my human grandfather and I have proof that she loved this Fintan. My Gran had plenty of love in her and showed it to those in her life plenty everyday.

I lean back into Eric's arms, which wrap around me tighter. "What is it," I ask softly.

"It's a Fae love token," Cataliades starts out explaining in a shaky voice. "It's a wish a fairy would give to his or her true love."

"So Fintan gave this to Gran?"

The lawyer nods while saying, "It would appear so. That's what it feels like to me. I can feel him, his magic in the charm."

"You can feel his magic?" I ask him. The thought isn't too far to believe for me; I know that many Supernaturals can feel magic, can feel when it has been used. Octavia knew when magic had been used but she needed to perform another spell to see who was responsible for it. It looks like Cataliades does not.

"I had spent enough time with Fintan to know the feel of his magic. The magic I feel around your necklace is his."

"You must have known him very well."

"I did. In fact, I have known about you since your mother fell pregnant with you, as I knew about your father and aunt when your Gran was pregnant. He was so excited to have a family and so willing to do anything to protect you. Even staying away." He pauses like he is considering telling me something else. He must decide to finally say it because he continues, "I am actually your sponsor. Something like a godparent," he adds, probably due to the look of confusion on my face." That must mean something to Eric because he lets out a gasp at the lawyer's words. I look to him but he is only looking at Cataliades at the moment.

"Telepathy is not a fairy trait is it?" he asks.

Cataliades shakes his head and says, "No, not usually."

"But it is a demon trait." At that the lawyer shakes his head. I am a little confused on the details but I understand enough of the exchange between the two of them to get the gist of the conversation. "My telepathy. I got it from you," I say to him with accusation in my voice. Accusation he seems to miss because he sounds very excited as he confirms my thoughts.

Part of me is happy to be getting some answers, finally after all these years. I had always been the one that was different. Even when the vampires came out and I learned of other Supes, I was still different. Learning I was a fairy was a help, once I got over the shock of all that entailed, but even then I was the still oddball with the telepathy not being a usual fairy trait and only being and eighth as it is. And now I find that my telepathy, something that had made my life very difficult growing up had been a gift from the half demon best friend of my half fairy grandfather.

"So it's your fault," I say to him and I can tell that he understands that I have not appreciated his gift as he intended. He looks to me confused and explains that he thought it would help me in my life. I bite my tongue at the response that is threatening to come out of my mouth and force myself not to roll my eyes.

My Gran would be proud.

"My fault," he says sounding confused.

"My telepathy."

"It was my gift to you."

"Some gift," I say, knowing he would hear the sarcasm in my voice.

"I gave you a desirable skill."

"And left me not knowing how to control it. Do you know how overwhelming it was for me? I had no idea what it was or how not to let it take over my head," I tell him, proud of myself for not yelling at him. I know he didn't mean for it to make my life so difficult but that doesn't mean it didn't.

"You have good control now," he tells me.

"After years of practice and teaching myself how to keep the thoughts out. But in my childhood, it was uncontrollable. It was painful just to be around people."

His face is nothing but apologetic as he takes in my words. "I had never thought my gift to you would cause you that much pain, would be so troubling for you. Please accept my sincere apologies." I nod accepting that he is sorry about the circumstances. "You could wish it away," he tells me motioning to the cluviel dor around my neck.

Not going to happen and it doesn't take Eric's sharp intake of breath to convince me of it. My childhood may not have been the best it could have been but this is my life now. I am choosing to be with Eric, choosing to be around other Supes. This is a skill that could help us. This was how he intended it to be used.

"So I make a wish and the magic of the cluviel dor will make it come true?" I ask bringing the focus back to that.

"As long as the wish is made with love. That is key. That is the purpose of this love token, to help those in love."

"And the wish will not hurt her," Eric asks, no surprise that his concern is for me in all of this. That was going to be my question, but I was going to be asking about him. I want to know that if I use this to make a wish for Eric he would be okay, especially given that he is a vampire and this is something Fae related.

It's Cataliades hesitance at Eric's question that worries me. I can tell it worries Eric to by the way he repeats his question. "It will not hurt her," Cataliades says in a way that tells us that is not exactly the truth."

"But," Eric says, trying to get the lawyer to expand on his words a little bit.

"Magic is a tricky creature," he starts after a few seconds. That's something he definitely does not have to explain to us. Between the amnesia spells placed on Eric and the traps Octavia found laced into spells, calling magic tricky may just be a bit of an understatement. "While the magic would not inherently hurt her especially if she is the one making the wish, the potential repercussions of the magic should not be ignored."

I looked to Eric before bringing my attention to back to Cataliades. We had seen the repercussions and fallout that spells can cause but I have a feeling that what Cataliades is talking about is deeper than that.

"The magic of the cluviel dor will do whatever it needs to do in order to fulfill the wish."

"So the wish would be completed but could have other influences than the direct wish."

At that the lawyer nods. "You would get the wish, you could get what you wanted, but you will not know the cost of your wish." He stops talking for a second and his voice is trembling a little as he starts again. "This is a wondrous gift and as Fintan's granddaughter it should be yours to use as you need. But as Fintan's friend, as someone I pledged to my friend to help protect, you need to know the possible repercussions of using the object you currently possess."

There is a long pause in the conversation as we take in the situation. It's not long enough for me to think through everything we just heard, but I know that Eric probably has had about a hundred thought processes about this already. That's a lot more than me seeing as I can't seem to get pass the fact that what I have around my neck is something like my own, personal genie. Eric ends my thinking time though when he asks the lawyer why he was here in the first place tonight, and he has a good point. Cataliades obviously didn't come here to tell us about the love token Fintan gave to Gran; he didn't even know of its existence until he saw it around my neck, which leaves the question, what news was he bringing us now?

Apparently, he came to inform Eric about some things about the negotiations between Sophie-Anne and Felipe. Felipe has been extra pushy lately. He's being careful about not crossing the line, but it is becoming clear that once the year is up, he won't be taking no for an answer. It doesn't even seem like he will be willing to wait a night. None of which bodes well for us.

"Sophie-Anne has not mentioned anything," Eric says. I can tell with his tone that he is already thinking about what to do about the situation. I can also tell by his voice that he is not feeling as calm as he appears to be at the situation.

"Sophie-Anne has been busy," Cataliades says. It's a simple statement yet the meaning of it is anything but. The threat is clear in his voice. The lawyer is making it clear that Sophie-Anne can't really communicate at the moment. That alone would be enough of a bad thing. Add in everything else that is going on and we have a major issue on our hands, one that seems to be getting bigger and more complicated with each passing day. Talking about this and given the topic of the earlier conversation I am happy that Sophie-Anne hasn't felt the need to have any more listening devices in Eric's office any more.

"He is trying to cut her off from the state," Eric says quietly and Cataliades tells him he is right. I doubt Eric even heard him though and is already thinking of ways to counteract whatever it is de Castro is doing. "He wants to make sure that she is in no position to turn him down after the year is up. Even better, if she only has him to turn to now."

"Can he do that?" I ask.

"Nothing he is doing is against any vampire law," Cataliades says, carefully picking his words.

"He is making sure that he or one of his people is constantly around Sophie-Anne so everything she does, everything she says will be known to him," Eric says and Cataliades nods.

"Why doesn't she just kick them out? It's her home. Her state."

"And he could simply attack to get what he wants."

"What's preventing him from doing so now?"

"It is not his style. He is not going to attack when he is not a hundred percent sure he would win. If Louisiana had been hurt worse in the bombing, yes he would have used that to his advantage. With keeping his people close to Sophie-Anne he is also learning information about the state, information that would be vital for him should he choose to attack to acquire his goal."

"And his goal is?" I say my voice trailing off, hoping that it is not what we think it is.

Cataliades offers no comfort at that. He shrugs his shoulders while looking over at Eric, which pretty much confirms my thoughts. The two of them then start to talk about ways we can try to circumvent de Castro's plans. Sophie-Anne may have a difficult time contacting or calling us but she's not the only contact we have in New Orleans. Once a plan is in place the lawyer leaves, eager to get back to New Orleans and Sophie-Anne.

Once he leaves, Eric takes the charm, the cluviel dor, in his hand and says, "You have something very powerful here."

"We have something very powerful here," I tell him, correcting his statement. "We found it together and it has to be a wish based on love. For me that would be you."

"We have to be careful about using it," he says and I know that like me, he is thinking of the warning that Cataliades had for us.

"I'm not even sure about using it. There has to be a reason Gran never did," I say to him shifting slightly so I can face him better. "She had plenty of reasons to in her life. She could have used it to bring back my Granddad. She could have used it to make a relationship with Fintan possible. She could have used it when my aunt and parents died. With Hadley and her drug use. She could have used it for me," I finish, my voice sounding small as I do so. I also try to look away from Eric as I do so.

Of course, he doesn't let me.

"There is nothing, nothing," he repeats again for emphasis. "That your Gran needed to wish away about you. You are perfect in every way. I know it was difficult for you growing up with your telepathy. But it is a part of you. The strength you had to deal with it has helped make you into the person you are today. And the person you are today is amazing. I happen to love the person you are very much."

That's not really something I can argue with now. In fact, any argument that I could feel building in me immediately deflated at his words.

Eric POV

Sookie has been doing a lot better lately with everything that has happened to her and that makes it easy to forget that in the scheme of things, she is still so young. Her feelings when she found out the source for her telepathy, the source of something that has caused her much pain in her few years could be felt clearly in the bond I share with her. Though she now has mechanisms to help her fight the pain instead of falling prey to it that does not erase it. It is still there, below the surface. That is something I can understand well.

But I meant every word I told her. We may not like everything that has shaped us into the people we are today, but even the parts of the past we despise has played a role in who we are today. And I like who Sookie is today. I like it a lot.

But of course, thinking about how young Sookie is has me thinking about another drastic difference in our lives. Sookie will age and grow old and will die someday while I in theory could go on living until the end of the world. I used to look forward to seeing how the world will change and advance as knowledge and technology grows. Now that I have found Sookie, now that I understand just how much she means to me living until the end of the world without her is a much less appetizing idea. I know she has said that she never wants to be a vampire but now I find myself needing to know if this is something that has changed, given everything that has happened.

"Can I ask you something?" I say to her.

"Anything."

"Not here though," I tell her not wanting to have this conversation where it is at risk of being overheard by Supernatural ears in the club, also known as Pam.

"Anywhere," she says and her voice does not express any of the concern I feel coming from her. I take her hand and lead her out the back of the club. Pam will be able to close everything down for the night. Once in the car, I think about where I would like to have this conversation. With how it could go, the clearing in Bon Temps is out but this is also a conversation where the comfort of being outside might be needed so I would rather not go back to my house.

I only let go of Sookie's hand so that I can circle the car and get in myself but it is she that grabs onto mine as soon as I am back in the car. During the car ride, she asks a few more questions about what Nevada is up to but the truth is we do not know too much about it. He seems to be after Sookie, like Threadgill was but I am finding it hard to believe that she is the initial reason for all of this. I find it unlikely that these two kings would risk everything for a telepath. No, I think their target became Sookie once they knew of her, which begs the question, who or what is the true target of the one who is carefully trying to arrange all the pieces.

I pull over on the side of the road near a spot that I know. We get out of the car and I help Sookie cross the tree line and into an open field. I lead her into the middle of it and sit down, bringing her down with me and depositing her on my lap. Wrapping my arms around her I stare up at the stars for a few minutes trying to find the words to start this conversation.

"It's beautiful here," Sookie says breaking the silence. "I know you love the stars. Do you come here often?"

I shake my head and tell her no. "Not as much as I would like," I explain. "Living in a city like Shreveport, even with its small size, the lights tend to block out the majority of the stars. When I first moved here, I found this spot and would come here nearly every night so I would not lose my stars. Over the years, I have come less and less. I think I was here once in the last year."

Of course the new spot I was lucky enough for Sookie to share has been taking up more of my time lately.

"But you needed them to comfort you during this conversation, with this question you want to ask me?" It should not still surprise me how well this little fairy knows me, especially with how well I have gotten to know her. But it still does. My vampire children got to know me out of necessity. Sure it developed into something more, much more but it started with their need to live. With Sookie though, it was different. Yes, I had helped her after Bill's attack on her, but she could have kept her distance while still healing but she did not. She had gotten to know me because she wanted to, like I had gotten to know her because I wanted to.

I sigh and feel her snuggle further into my chest at it. "With the topic I wish to talk to you about, I could use some of the comfort they offer me."

"You have me for comfort too, Eric," she says as she starts to run her fingers along my arms.

"I do not know for how long though," I tell her bringing up the topic I want to talk with her about. Her fingers hesitate for a split second before continuing their journey up my arm.

"That's what's worrying you?"

I rest my head on the top of hers and say, "Time will take you from me."

"It may not be time," she says soft and gentle. "De Castro could win and take me from you. The Fae could come and take me from you. I could get hit by a car tomorrow or choke on my breakfast."

"This is not making me feel better," I tell her, once again hating how fragile her mostly human body is.

She turns in my lap so she is facing me, careful to hold my arms around her as she does so. I would not have let her go but it helps me to know she wanted me to continue to hold her.

"The unknown usually doesn't make us feel better. My point is we can't see into the future. We don't know what is going to happen. I have the same worries about you. De Castro could kill you or the person in charge of this whole plot could kill you. Your abusive maker could come back and kill you. You could die in a fire during the day. You could get a splinter in your chest. You may be harder to kill but you are not indestructible."

"Do you still have absolutely no desire to be harder to kill, to be a vampire," I ask her needing to know if her feelings have changed.

She looks straight into my eyes and I hear her swallow big, which has me thinking that I will not like her answer. "I still cannot say that being a vampire is something that I want to be." I get a quick kiss to my lips when I try to say something, followed quickly by a nip, which tells me she wants to finish talking. I let her. "But I also can't say that it's something I never want to be. I'm in a relationship with you, with a vampire, Eric. It would be selfish to not consider it."

"And in your consideration," I ask her needing to hear her say the words.

"Someday, maybe," she tells me with a little smile on her face. "I'm kinda liking the idea of a forever with you."

I kiss her nose and tell her that just may be the best thing I've heard in my thousand years. "And in the meantime, I'll be careful crossing the street."

"And I may give you a head start on an all liquid diet to reduce the choking possibility."

She laughs and shakes her head. "Uh, no. I will chew my food extra well though."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

And there, underneath the stars and with my Sookie, I have never felt more at ease than in that moment.

Hello dear readers. Sorry for the wait on this chapter but I do hope you enjoyed it. As always, thanks for taking the time to read and thanks to those taking the time to leave some feedback. I appreciate it.

Just so those who haven't found it yet know, I am working my way over to WP and moving my stories over there too, after MsBuffy makes them more fantastical with her editing skills. The site is .com. This trilogy will be moved over there eventually as well as will other stories circling round in my head.