Chapter 3

EPOV

The phone on his bedside table vibrated and he reached over to check to see who was calling. He shifted Sookie on his chest and tapped his screen.

"This better be good." He stroked Sookie's hair away from her face, touching his lips to her forehead.

"Eric, we have a problem." Pam's matter of fact voice perforated his comfortable silence. He and Sookie had been quietly contemplating the changes the second bond had made.

"And what is that, Pam? Besides you interrupting me, when you know I am otherwise engaged." His voice was level. His child knew better than to call him when he was with a human, especially this one.

A soft laugh caressed the line. "Oh, Eric. Are you still entertaining our telepathic friend?"

He growled under his breath. Sookie was warm and naked, still pressed to his side and he would much rather further explore the different ways he could make her scream. "What. Do. You. Want. Pam?"

She sighed. "Witches. A coven has entered your area."

He sat up quickly and Sookie gave him a curious glance as she slid off his side. "Witches?"

"Yes, I need you to get to Fangtasia as quickly as possible. Hallow will be here soon."

He stood up and reached for the pair of jeans he had shed the night before. He glanced back at Sookie who sat in the middle of his bed – his bed – barely covered by a sheet. "We will be there soon."

"We?" Pam responded a bit of a taunt to her voice.

"Yes, we. I am not leaving her alone." He ended the call and tossed it onto the bed.

"What's going on?" Sookie asked, sliding towards the edge of the bed. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders as she pushed herself off the bed, touching the floor with her tiptoes.

"I am not sure," he responded. He threw open his closet door and yanked the hangers aside till he found a t-shirt to pull on. "Get dressed, you are coming with me."

He heard her feet fully hit the floor and the rustle of her clothes. "I only have what I wore last night."

He stepped back into the bedroom. "There is some Fangtasia gear in the closet in a box. You should be able to find anything you need there."

He watched her as she padded naked into the closet and listened to her rummaging around. He scrolled through his missed texts on his phone, responding in a blur. He noticed her phone lying on the bed and picked it up. He touched the screen and saw that there was an outgoing text to Bill. He smirked as he read it and his finger hovered over send. He pressed it and tossed her phone back on the bed.

She giggled and he couldn't fight back a smile as she came out in a tank top and bootie sweat shorts. She looked down at her clothing and smiled back. "Maybe I should just put my dress back on?"

He pulled her forward, taking in the snug black shorts with Fangtasia across the butt, the red tank that showed off her breasts. "No, this is perfect." His fingers trailed down her arms, leaving gooseflesh behind.

Her large blue eyes stared innocently into his. She was so trusting.

"It looks good on you," his lip turned up in a smile, spinning her in a small circle. "Maybe too good." He kissed her on the forehead and went back into his closet, pulling out a sweatshirt. He handed it to her and watched as she slipper her arms through the large sleeves. It ended on her mid thigh.

She pushed the sleeves up her arms to her elbows. She shoved her feet into her heels. "I look like a hooker." She stood in front of the mirror.

He came to a stop behind her, pulling her back against his body. His face nestled her neck, placing a soft kiss against it. "I take exception with that," his voice was low. "You look nothing like a prostitute." He grabbed her hand. "Come, we need to go."

He kicked his feet up on the desk while Sookie settled onto the couch, pulling the sweatshirt over her knees. There was a knock at the door and Pam entered. "Eric, they are here." She looked to the side, catching Sookie out of the corner of her eye. "I suggest you hide your human. These bitches—excuse me, theses witches mean business."

He sat forward at his desk and glanced between Sookie and Pam. He nodded. "Sookie, go with Pam."

"Eric," she responded as she stood up. "I don't want to-"

He stood as well. "Sookie. Go with Pam." A look of hurt flashed across her face and he forced himself to take a moment. The hurt sank into his very flesh. This would not do. "Sookie, it will be fine. Trust me."

She sighed and got to her feet, as she followed Pam out of his office. She paused at the door and his eyes caught hers as she looked at him longingly before Pam led her away.

He braced himself in is chair, bringing himself to his full and intimidating height as he waited for the witch to be escorted into his office. There was a short rap at the door.

"Enter," he responded, his tone even and bored.

Pam pushed the door open and bowed her head. "Master." She crossed the threshold and behind her stood two witches. "This is Hallow," Pam inclined her head at the tall woman with long, wavy black hair. Her eyes were an emerald green, as if cut from the very gem they mirrored. "This is Marnie." The other witch was much more plain, her brown hair and eyes were of no significance to him and he barely gave her a second look.

He stood from his chair as they crossed to him "What brings you to my area?" He asked his hands clasped behind his back.

Hallow regarded him slowly and he did not like the look in her eyes. Her head to toe black was stereotypical, but her leather bustier was not. It laced tightly up her full breasts, pushing them over the top in a dangerous manner. "I have a proposition for you," she said in a sultry voice as she sank into the chair in front of his desk.

"My master did not offer you a seat," Pam said sharply, stepping forward, her eyes narrowed.

Eric raised an eyebrow. "By all means, ladies, have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable."

Hallow's laughter filled the room. "Oops. It appears I have all ready done just that." Marnie sat down in the neighboring chair quietly.

"What is this proposition you speak of?" He asked stonily. "I hardly see how you can have anything I might need."

Her eyes darkened and a blood red nail drew a small circle on his desk as she spoke. He found it hard to break her gaze. "Maybe not. But you have something I need."

"And what is that?" He lowered himself into his chair, once again taking on his nonchalant demeanor and crossing his ankles on his desk.

"A body. A dead body." Her voice was icy.

Eric laughed. "A dead body? As in a vampire?"

"Preferably. Or a human that you will allow us to…do with as we wish." Her eyes flashed and her fingers toyed with the pendant around her neck that rested between her pale white breasts.

He regarded her carefully before darting a gaze at Pam. "Are you practicing necromancy?"

Her eyes held his and he felt a strange desire to be closer to her. She inclined her head slowly and it broke his gaze.

"I will not allow necromancy in my area. Your coven is not welcome here, Hallow." He stood briskly, shoving his chair back from his desk. "I want you gone by morning."

She was on her feet as quickly, unmoved by his anger. "I can and I will. If you do not work with me, vampire, you will be sorry."

Pam grabbed her by the arm, wrenching her across the room. Hallow bounced into the wall. "Do not threaten my master, you stupid bitch."

Hallow laughed. "I will let you think this over. If we can not come to an agreement, I doubt you will care for the outcome."

He crossed the room at his vampire speed, his arms on either side of her as he pinned her to the wall. "You dare threaten me? With your silly chants and spells?"

Her eyes flashed and he felt an overwhelming desire to touch her. "Silly chant and spells? Don't tempt me, Viking. It will be in your best interest to work with me, instead of against me."

He inhaled deeply, taking in her earthy, musky smell. "And why is that?"

"I hardly think your finances could survive what I would do to your bar if you don't. Everything you have your hands in will turn to ruin." She raised her chin and met his eyes and he could feel the dare behind them. "You have 48 hours to decide."

He grabbed her arm and held it tightly as she stepped away from him. "I can rip you in two." He growled, twisting her arm behind her back. To his surprise, it did not snap. It bent, as if it was made of rubber.

She laughed. "But you wont." And before he knew it she and Marnie had slipped out the door.

Pam kicked the door shut and turned to him, her eyes wild. "What. The. Fuck. Was. That?"

He shook his head, as if clearing it. He leaned back against his desk, sitting on the edge. "I don't know."

"Why is she still alive?"

"Again, I do not know. That was unexpected."

"You were looking at her like a dog in heat, Eric." She scowled at him assumingly. "You understand the gravity of this situation."

He growled at her as he picked up the laptop on his desk and threw it across the room. It shattered into a million pieces. "I am quite aware of the gravity. I just do not understand what she did to me."

Pam sighed and went over to the cabinet in the corner of his room. She slipped a key into the lock and took out a cardboard box and handed it to Eric. He rolled his eyes as he saw it was a new Mac Book Pro. He looked behind her and saw a whole stack of them. He set it on his desk and continued. "Until we figure out what fuck just happened, we should stay away from her."

"Agreed," Pam responded. "But we can not let her know what she has done, it will give her power over us."

"I'm afraid she might all ready have that, Pam," he reminded. "Did you not see what happened to her arm?"

"We're in deep shit, aren't we, Eric?" She moved closed to him, her hand touching his arm.

He nodded. "We might be." He sat down in his chair and went about taking the laptop out of the box and setting it up. Pam held up the chord to his external hard drive and he plugged it in as the laptop powered on.

"Your laptop backed up automatically every morning to this. Everything you need should still be there."

He couldn't prevent a half smile. "Well prepared, Pam, as always."

"Of course. I will go get Sookie." She made her way to the door.

"Start making some phone calls, Pam. We need to know exactly what we have gotten ourselves into." He commanded as he watched his computer go through the set up screens.

"I will. I have a witch I can talk to, an old friend of mine." She said it with a smirk and he doubted very much she was just a friend.

"Really, Pam? You lowered yourself to fucking witches?" He was surprised at her. Witches were at the bottom of the supernatural food chain, so to speak, since they were not actually supernatural at all.

She snorted and stopped at the door. "She wasn't a witch when I knew her. And she's powerful, Eric. Beggars can't be choosers."

He motioned for her to get moving and he leaned back in his chair, waiting for Sookie to return to him.

Necromancy was dangerous in general, but highly dangerous to vampires. If a witch could bring back the dead and control them, it was highly likely they could also do that to a vampire. He had heard rumors in his many years of this happening, although he had never personally witnessed it. The Salem Witch trials were said to have been in part because a group of witches had been able to control vampires, forcing them to meet their final death by rising and walking into the sun. While he had been in Europe at the time, he had heard of the rumors and knew just who to contact.

He grabbed his cell phone and placed the call as Sookie stuck her head around his office door. He motioned for her to come in. He saw her eyebrow rise when she took in the pieces of the laptop on the floor.

"This is the North Man. I am in need of your assistance." He ended the call after he left his voice mail. He turned to Sookie, who stood at the edge of his. She had zipped up his sweatshirt and it hung on her as if she were a small child wearing her father's much larger clothing. He could feel concern coming from her and he reached out his hand.

She took it and stepped forward as he brought her between his legs. "What did they want?" She asked quietly, taking in the mess from the laptop and his obvious anger.

He shook his head, his thumb brushing against her cheek. "You don't need to worry yourself with this, lover."

He could feel her poking around in the bond, gently prodding into his mind. He raised an eyebrow at her, surprised at how bold she was. He gently pushed back and her brows furrowed and a frown crossed her lips.

"Eric, are you in danger?"

He pushed his feelings down as far as they would go and pulled her into his lap. "Only from falling under your spell." He whispered and kissed her softly.

A/N Thank you so much for your patience while my hands have been healing. I am so so so sorry to leave you guys hanging for so long on these stories! Is everyone enjoying season 4 and AE as much as I am? I think this is the best season hands down. I can't wait to see what is next. Thank you so much for favoriting my stories and reviewing. Please keep it coming, it helps inspire me! XOXO