. First point for the night goes to Stackhouse. I couldn't help but smirk as I continued staring him down. Poor thing clearly hates starting off his nights already caught off guard. Game's still on, people.

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EPOV

I emailed Pam to remind her that I would not be in Fangtasia tonight and sent her the file list of things I wanted her to do while I was gone. She sent me a text wishing me luck, and the fact that I knew she sincerely thought I needed it pissed me off to no end. I needed to figure out my game and get dressed. So the suit from before didn't work. I needed to branch out. Staring at my closet was not helping. I couldn't find a single thing with a tag reading: Eric's mojo can be found here. I did, however, find a new garment bag I hadn't remembered from before. I removed it from the closet and sniffed. Pam. This could not be good. I laid the bag on the bed and removed the blue henley sweater from the bag. Nice taste, Child. Although I had to resist an urge to call her then and there so I could light her ass up for thinking she needed to help dress me, I knew she meant well. Deep down I knew she couldn't figure out why Stackhouse was immune to me any more than I could, and I understood that that frustrated her as well. Afterall, she couldn't resist me those centuries ago, I'm sure she couldn't fathom anyone else who could. It was competitive at this point and Pam was my wing man, er, whatever. I slid on the slacks Pam enclosed and then the pair of ankle boots she had put in the bottom of the bag. Finishing with the sweater, I pulled my hair back into a leather thong at the base of my neck, grabbed my black blazer and walked down the stairs. I grabbed my keys, shut off the lights, locked the door and slid into my car. Hearing the engine pur to life, I threw the car into gear and left a nice track of rubber on my quiet suburban street as I peeled off into the night.

It was only 8:15 p.m. and with the way I drove, I'd be at the hotel in fifteen minutes. I would be the first one there tonight and that would throw her off her guard. I might even have her drink ordered and ready for her when she got there. The thought made me drive even faster.

As the valet took my car, I reminded the fucker to be careful with it, and added, "Vampire have impeccable hearing and if I so much as hear a chirp of rubber on asphalt, I'm coming for you, got it?" I didn't wait to hear his pathetic response. I strode into the hotel as if I owned the place. I took a step into the bar and scanned for Stackhouse. At the far end of the bar I saw her look up, turn in her seat and stair straight at me. Did she know I was here? She couldn't have. When I saw the smirk on her face I knew that woman knew the moment I arrived and she found my face without the need to scan the crowd. What the fuck?

If I was human, I would have tripped over myself, but I wasn't so I didn't. I strode through the bar and sat down across from her. Our waitress was on us right away and I ordered my blood without taking my eyes off of Sookie's. The waitress was quick tonight and she came back with my blood right away. I opened the bottle and took a swig without breaking eye contact with Sookie. I needed answers.

"You knew I was here?"

"Yes."

"I didn't say anything, you could not have heard me?"

"I didn't."

"Then how did you know I was here?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because it's been centuries since I have been surprised."

"That explains the lack of personality."

"Why can't you just give me an answer?"

"I'm the journalist. It's my job to ask the questions."

This entire conversation was futile. The woman just won't budge. Of all the fucking stubborn people I've dealt with in my existence. Fuck. Change it up, Northman. "Why are you so difficult?"

"Why are you?"

"Fine. We're here. Let's get this over with."

"Mr. Northman, if this is so tedious for you, perhaps I can work with a different subject. Someone a bit more cooperative?"

Unwillingly I dropped my eyes and ended the staring contest. I sat back in my chair and exhaled, needlessly. "Of course not. Proceed."

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SPOV

He said proceed as if it was an order. I could give him that much, so I took a sip of my drink and did as instructed.

"The synthetic blood. Does it really meet all of your needs?"

It was a loaded question. I was goading him into making me end this entire affair. He smirked and I could see him getting ready to make another off handed comment. Amazingly, he said, "Nutritionally, yes." Good boy.

"What other needs do you have that the blood doesn't handle?"

He thought that one over for a moment before answering. His voice sounded defeated, "Vampire have more carnal needs. We are not human. Blood lust and sexual relations are a large part of our lives. Often feeding and relations are intertwined. We crave fighting. Passively living out of a bottle cannot meet those needs. If they are ignored for too long, vampire can lose control of themselves."

"What steps do you take to prevent this loss of control?"

"Do you want my answers to be personal or general or both?"

Now it was my time to flirt, "I want everything to be very personal, Eric."

He smiled at my use of his name and continued. "As sheriff, when there is fighting, I am usually at the forefront. It's not often, but we do have our own small wars with our own kind and others. I often take humans to my bed which allows me to feed and cater to my physical needs."

"Are all of these humans willing?"

His face erupted in a smile that reached his eyes and he smirked to himself. Okay, Mr. Humility. "Everyone is willing with me."

"How often do you bed someone?"

"Nightly."

I scoffed in disbelief. "And each and every one is willing? Or do you glamour them into being willing?"

His eyes sparked and I could see anger brush across his face, it was gone as quickly as it began. "I don't consider a woman glamoured into my bed to be willing, Ms. Stackhouse. I may be vampire, but I am not a monster. I have standards."

I snorted involuntarily. "Where do you sleep?"

"In my bed."

"Not a coffin?"

"I only sleep in a coffin when I am travelling. My home is custom built to suit my needs and when I travel, I stay in vampire friendly hotels."

"Who does your shopping?"

"I do all of my shopping."

"Really? I've noticed vampires tend to be very classy, but showy. You're not. Why not?"

"I like to blend in."

"You're an over six feet tall viking, Mr. Northman. You don't blend in."

"So why should make it worse with flamboyant attire?"

"I see. You look nice tonight. You are well put together."

I could see his chest puff up a bit as he smiled and waived his hand as if in dismissal and replied, "Thank you. I thought so when I picked this up."

"Nice. Where did you go?"

"I was at the local mall, I was just picking up some other things and I saw this and picked it up. You like it don't you?"

"Of course. It would look better if it wasn't on a liar."

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EPOV

What the fuck?! Just when we were talking about how nice I looked she called me a fucking liar. Fuck? I closed my mouth, and worked to quell the rage building up inside of me. She knows nothing of me. I speak the truth, I just don't always speak about the truth. The nerve. I thought this was going so fucking well and... okay. I couldn't lie to myself. This was going better than before. Yes, that was it. I needed time to think, but I didn't have any. She was watching me, all calm, leaned back on her stool, legs crossed, chin resting on a hand tucked under it. Her other hand draped across her lap. I had to figure out what she was playing at. If she knew something I didn't, something I didn't catch, she wasn't letting on.

Step one. What did I lie about? I spoke true of my bed, my coffin, my shopping habits. I didn't lie about trying not to be conspicuous, well any more than I already am. Curiosity wasn't worth this bullshit. This woman was going to be the end of me and I should lure her outside and drain her. Hah. I can't glamour her! Fuck! If I could lure her into a hug, I could cut off the blood flow through the arteries in her neck and she'd pass out and I can carry her off and try to act like she's had too much to drink and instead of taking her upstairs, I can put her in my car, drain her and toss her into a swamp!

First things first. "What do you mean liar?"

"You're lying. It's insignificant, I just hate being lied to. If I wanted you to feed me a line of bullshit, I'd make up the interview and sell it as is. I'd get paid either way. I want you to be fucking honest with me about everything. Every miniscule detail, okay? Not just what you feel is important." She didn't shift at all in her physical position. She was calm and I hated that more than anything at this moment.

"Why do you treat me with such contempt?"

She scoffed at that. "Mr. Northman, you're dead. You drink human blood to sustain your life. You kill people, or you have, and I'm not sure I believe that you don't any longer. You glamour people into doing what you want and you have no issue with it. You consider humans to be food, Mr. Northman. To you, I'm some walking buffet that happens to know how to talk. That being said, what else do you expect?"

I was floored. Yes, she was right, but she was willfully leaving out other essential aspects. "We're not just predators living amongst you, Ms. Stackhouse. While I am sure you will find some specimens who asked to become this way, do you really think that is the case for the majority of us? Do you really think that a thousand years ago I woke up one day and decided to find a mythical creature that I'd only heard scary stories about and decided to tap him on the shoulder and ask to be made into a killer?" I watched her body language for any indicator that she was comprehending. I saw none.

"Ms. Stackhouse, I assure you that I did not ask to be this way. But I am. What was I supposed to do? Go meet the sun? Would it make you feel better to know that I didn't ransack villages and drain them dry? Would you be happier knowing that for my first three hundred years as vampire, my maker and I were travelers? Sure, I glamoured people. I had to survive. But that didn't mean I had to kill by the hundreds. So what if I used my glamour to have a warm bed, a warm partner and my meal in one shot? Even then I didn't need to glamour my way into anyone's bed. I got there on merit. I only glamoured the vampire aspects away because we needed to remain hidden and I didn't want the women to remember me for who I was and think that the next passing vampire was safe. We all had incidents initially, we were young vampire. But we gained control of ourselves. After a thousand years I can survive on a mere sip of human blood alone. I've worked very hard to become who I am, and I am happy with my lot in this life. My retinue is happy with me. I hold no one against their will, meal, bed mate or employee alike. Now if you think for one fucking second you can come here and treat me with the contempt you have and somehow guilt me into feeling like a monster, you can go fuck yourself."