Dead Broke

Chapter 7

I needed a phone. Oh man, I needed a phone. I got up from the table. A hand caressed my shoulder and for a split second I thought maybe, just maybe…

"Sookie," Felipe murmured near my ear. "You look beautiful." I cursed in my head. Felipe took my hand and kissed it, just as he had the night before. I could feel his eyes on my throat. He was eyeing the bite scar Eric had left on my skin. I wondered what it made him think of. On the other hand, I didn't want to know.

Good job, Sookie. You're really in a pickle now.

The night's events were long, tediously long. Felipe escorted me to a garden patio where the entire party was gathering. A vampire band was playing old covers of Frank Sinatra tunes. Felipe waltzed me across the floor, and if I had been paying attention, I might have noticed that he was an excellent dancer. I had only to follow his exceptional lead. He whisked me across the floor as though I were made of air.

I plastered my anxious grin to my face and tried to formulate some sort of plan in my head. I needed to talk to Eric. Something bad was going to happen. Specifically something bad was going to happen to me, Sookie Stackhouse, arm candy. In a half-assed sort of way, I wondered what flavor of candy I would be. Maybe strawberry or blueberry, something sweet but tart but not too tart. Jesus Christ Shepherd of Judea! Pull yourself together, Stackhouse! You're going to get out of this, whatever it is.

We danced for so long that my feet hurt. I had to sit down. Felipe hovered around me as though I might bolt at the first sign of an exit. He wasn't wrong. I touched my neck at the spot where Eric had bitten me. I felt like Felipe was drilling holes into me, right there, with his eye balls. I almost felt sore from the constant focused attention. My head actually started to throb. I felt a little nauseous. I touched the King's arm. He flicked his eyes to my face.

"I'm not feeling very well. Would you mind if I retired a bit early?" I felt more ill when I spoke.

"Certainly, Miss Sookie. Victor will take you to the car." The King flicked his fingers and Victor got up from a chair at the end of the dance floor. "I will see you tomorrow night."

The driver took me back alone, and I scrambled into the villa's bedroom. I was holding my stomach to keep from throwing up. I found the phone on the floor and shuffled into the bathroom, shedding the beautiful gown as I went. I clicked the phone open. There were about a hundred messages. I didn't have time to read them. I dialed the number for the bar. It rang three times before someone answered.

"Fangtasia." This wasn't a voice I recognized. My stomach lurched.

"Eric." I choked.

"He isn't taking calls."

"Put him on the phone. NOW!" I was gagging. My mouth tasted like day old cabbage and cotton balls.

"Fine, fine." I could hear her curse me under her breath. I dropped the phone. I could hear footsteps. I shut the thing off. Then I vomited into the toilet bowl.

"Miss Sookie, are you alright?" It was the King. Oh shit oh shit. I gagged and brought up another wave of vomit. My whole body, pretty much naked, shook. Felipe bent down beside me. The phone started to ring. I didn't reach for it. The King picked it up and dropped it into the toilet bowl full of floating yellow and green stomach contents.

"Perhaps we should get you a drink of water." He was up again. I considered fishing my phone out of the bowl. The screen had shut off. The mechanism shorted. The whole thing sparked at me. Great.

I coughed and choked. Felipe returned with a glass of water, and I slumped against the cedar closet beside the toilet. I felt sort of like death. I thought about Eric. Felipe was talking but I figured I could tune him out and blame it on my sudden illness. I thought harder about my Viking. I repeated his name over and over in my brain. I tried urgency. I tried fear. I tried romance and bravery and trepidation. I even tried to recreate that ecstatic desire I felt when I surrendered to orgasm. I didn't hear a response, but I didn't stop trying.

"Sookie?" Felipe asked me. I looked at him with one eye. I was extremely tired, sick, frightened. "Tell me about your gift."

"I've been telepathic all my life," I murmured. My tongue tasted like vomit. I repeated his name again and again in my head. "I can't hear the thoughts of vampires, only humans, sometimes supes a little."

"Fascinating. I have a similar ability. As I'm sure you know, all vampires have some kind of individual gift. The Viking flies. I can make people feel whatever I wish them to feel. It is like a glamour, but much stronger. I have never met a vampire or human that could withstand it."

"Oh," I murmured. My stomach tightened. Had he made me want to throw up? I didn't know.

"You've put up quite a fight, Miss Stackhouse. I will see you tomorrow night. Please get some rest."

I felt so ill, I couldn't move. I slumped against the closet and closed my eyes. I was in deep, deep trouble. The King of Louisiana was hypnotizing me. He'd been at it for two days. It was finally sinking in, and I could feel it. I closed my eyes and thought of Eric. Eric Eric Eric. I repeated his name over and over again. At some point, I fell asleep on the floor of the bathroom. I woke up in the same spot several hours later. My neck was stiff.

"Eric," I whispered. "Please help me."

I struggled to my feet and stumbled across the hall. I drew myself a bath and sank into the water. I still felt sick, as though my stomach were tied up in knots. Out the small bathroom window, I could see that it was dark outside. I glanced at the clock on the television. It was a little past six in the evening. I'd slept all day.

"Sookie," George called through the door. I craned my neck around. "It is nearly time to get dressed."

"Thanks," I murmured. I couldn't seem to get my voice up over a certain volume. Maybe if I moved slowly enough, quietly enough, I would stop feeling the urge to vomit. I got up slowly and left the water idling in the tub. With a towel around my waist, I moved out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. George handed me a beautiful red silk gown. It was strapless, and it had a fluttering train down the back. I sighed and began the process of conforming by body to the whims of a piece of fabric. When we'd gotten my curved figure into the less than curvy dress, George helped me down to the hair dresser. The stylist pulled my hair up off my neck, curling it around and over and up. She added a few diamond barrettes to complete the look. George helped me to the door. My escort was already knocking.

Eric, I thought. Felipe was standing there. I felt my knees wobble and I wasn't sure why. My body straightened up as though I didn't want to be very sick all over the marble floor. Felipe pulled me against his body and walked me out to the limousine. I thought about my Viking all the way to the nightclub inside the hotel.

I was still thinking about him when Felipe strode with me up to the stage where a band would probably set up.

The nightclub, called The Bank, was decorated in black and gold. The venue had been closed for the vampires tonight, and the room seemed monumental for such a small gathering. Victor was standing on the stage and Felipe tossed me backward. I stumbled into Victor's arms, tripping over the train of my dress. The King of Louisiana (and Nevada and Arkansas) addressed the small crowd of vampire leaders and silly human girls in pretty party dresses. I felt a little drunk.

"I want you all to know that she is more than just a woman. You have all heard the stories, I am sure. Sookie Stackhouse is a telepath, able to read the thoughts of humans, weres, and supes. She is a truly beautiful and compelling woman. When she comes over, she will remain as talented and beautiful as she is now, perhaps becoming even more valuable to our kind. When we seek to increase our number, we do not choose lightly. Miss Stackhouse is a good candidate. She will make a fine vampire."

I choked. Oh no. I didn't want to be a vampire. I had enough problems. I wanted to live. I wanted to work at Merlotte's and pay my bills and feed my cat. I wasn't ready to die. Oh shit oh shit. Sookie, you're so damn stupid!

"Hold her," Felipe said to Victor. He grabbed my wrists and yanked them behind me. Felipe couldn't glamour me, but I didn't need the restraint. I couldn't will my legs to move. I felt like I was at the dentist, weighed down by a hundred doses of Novocaine. I didn't want to face the drill, but I couldn't seem to run away.

His fangs bit into me before I could make a sound. I wanted to scream. I couldn't find my voice. His teeth hurt, much more than any other bite I'd ever felt. I willed myself to struggle. I thought about Eric. I pleaded for him. I felt weak, sick, and horribly frightened. My fingers were cold and I wanted to shiver. I couldn't feel anything but the bite, the weakness, the pain. My stomach tightened again. I wanted to cry.

I felt new hands on me. The fangs ripped through my flesh and finally yanked out. I felt hot blood on my skin. There were arms around me. I was afraid to open my eyes.

"She's bonded to me!" I heard Eric yell. His voice was that angry, scary voice that I genuinely feared. I was so very cold. I felt my fingers start shaking. "She's MINE."

"You never claimed her! She came with me voluntarily."

"She belongs to me, de Castro! Touch her again and I'll see your fangs ripped from your skull."

I could hear murmuring on the ground. Some girl was thinking about how big an error the King had made. Another one was hoping she could escape the room before a fight broke out. There were spots in front of my eyes. I blinked a few times but the room was very, very dark.

Eric lifted me from the stage and wrapped me up in his arms. I could feel a cold breeze on my face. We were flying. I was flying with my Viking. I was shivering so bad I couldn't think straight. His voice seemed very far away. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about anything.

"Wake up," Eric grunted at me. I opened my eyes half way. I was on the floor of the villa. Eric had shoved a bottle of that ultra expensive bottled blood against my lips. I didn't want it. I didn't want anything. Well, maybe a blanket. I shook my head.

"I'm not asking Sookie. Drink it." He growled at me. I opened my mouth reluctantly and he poured the stuff down my throat. I coughed some of it up, but more of it went down. Someone was opening another bottle. I heard a cork pop.

"No more," I whimpered pathetically.

"Don't argue with me, lover." Eric was still angry, still scary. I didn't look at him. I gulped down more of the blood. My stomach turned. I suddenly felt extremely sick, again.

"I'm going to throw up," I said.

"If you do, you'll drink more." He sounded like someone's dad, but not mine.

"I'm cold."

"I'll run her a bath." That was George's voice. I liked George.

"Look at me, Sookie," Eric was saying. I was too afraid to meet his eyes. I wondered how angry he was with me. He'd been absolutely right. I was a stupid fool. He touched my chin with his fingertips. For the first time, he actually felt lukewarm. "Open your eyes."

I did. His huge blue eyes looked back at me, down at me. I was on the floor of the villa's kitchen. I was shaking. "Eric," I said so quietly I wasn't sure he'd heard me.

"You're mine now," he said. He was lifting me up off the floor. He took me into the bathroom and George yanked off the awful red dress. Eric set me carefully in the tub and removed his own clothes with an admirable speed. He said something to George and slid into the bath behind me. I curled against him. The water could never be hot enough.

"Guess I can't fix the porch now," I murmured. I closed my eyes again. I was so tired.

"I'll take care of it." Eric said simply.

"I'm a woman in my own right," I frowned. Eric sighed and pulled me closer to him.

"You're mine, Sookie. I'll take care of you. Please…" He sounded so sad, almost defeated. I didn't want to make him sound worse. I stopped talking.

Stay tuned for the final chapter of Dead Broke!