I'm finally back to writing after the holiday break - sorry its been such a struggle to get this chapter out, but hopefully I'm now back in the swing of it. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts – apologies to those I haven't had time to respond to.

If you've been following the story you'll know that in this version of Season 4 Eric hasn't lost his memory but is hiding out at Sookie's to escape the threat from Marnie Stonebrook. Pam has discovered that Marnie is possessed by the spirit of the Necromancer Hallow but they have no idea how to deal with her.

There had been many times in the last month when Sookie had longed for the normality of her work routine in Sam Merlotte's bar. As she settled back into it, she began to change her mind. Perhaps it was that she was a different person after everything she had been through, but she was pretty sure that she wasn't the only one who had changed.

It hadn't taken long for her to catch up on the gossip. Anything that she wasn't told directly, she quickly picked up from people's thoughts. She'd heard of the mysterious arrival and disappearance of Sam's real Mom and Dad, and his troubled relationship with his new-found younger brother. She counted Sam amongst her best friends and was concerned to realise that his patrons were now just a little bit scared of him.

There was no sign of Tara; no-one had heard from her for days and it seemed that she had taken off without warning or any indication of where she was headed. Although her cousin, Lafayette, was still there in body, his spirit seemed diminished somehow.

Superficially he was his old teasing self. "You looking real good, girl," he said, sounding suspicious. "You sure you ain't hiding a man out there in your old house."

Sookie was very grateful for all those years of practice keeping a straight face. "We don't all depend on regular sex for our happiness," she said, feeling guilty at the lie. The truth was that regular sex with Eric made her feel wonderful. It wasn't just the physical pleasure, although that was better than anything she could ever imagined. She was very glad that no-one was able to read her thoughts as they did have a tendency to focus on the Viking more often than they should.

What made her suspicious was Lafayette's wariness about introducing her to his new lover, Jesus. That surprised and concerned her as she could see nothing about the man for him to be ashamed of.

She tried to read Jesus' thoughts, justifying the intrusion because of her concern for her old friend's welfare. To her surprise he seemed to be able to block them. There were definitely thoughts in there; his mind wasn't a void in the way that a vampire's brain appeared to her. If she had to describe it, she would have said that the effect was like a small child sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting 'la, la, la, la' to avoid hearing what they were being told.

As far as she could tell the only good news was that Jessica and Hoyt seemed to be building a home and a strong relationship together, despite the best efforts of his mother. Whenever Hoyt was in the bar his thoughts were always on his vampire lover, and Sookie was pretty sure that if she could read Jessica's mind she would find the same thing.

The person she was really struggling to figure out was Holly, the new girl. It was several days before they had a shift together and an evening quiet enough to exchange more than a few words. Whereas once she would have been pleased to have a new face, now she was wary. She had no doubt that the threat facing Eric was real and serious. She had no idea where it came from and to her mind that meant anything or anyone she couldn't trust completely had to be suspect. Arlene may have happily befriended the woman, but Sookie's old friend had never been the sharpest tool in the box. After all she'd managed to shack up with a serial killer without even realising it. She hid her doubts as she took advantage of a lull in custom to approach the girl.

"Hi, I'm Sookie Stackhouse. I was away when you started, but I'm real pleased to meet you. How are you finding working for Sam?" Over the years, Sookie had discovered that making small talk was a really good way to get into people's heads. She knew it was rude, but at the moment she just couldn't take any chances.

"It's great," Holly replied with genuine enthusiasm. "Everyone's real friendly 'well everyone except that vamp girl' and I can organise my hours around the kids."

Sookie didn't miss the nasty glare directed at Jessica, but ignored it and carried on the conversation. "So what brought you to Bon Temps, it's rather a backwater, if I say so myself."

"I just thought it would be a better place for my kids. We couldn't afford anywhere decent in Shreveport, but out here it's a lot cheaper. 'Marnie was right about that'."

It took plenty of self-control, but Sookie willed herself herself not to react. She recognised the name from Pam's conversation with Eric. The problem was how to find out more without giving herself away. "So did you have friends here or did someone recommend it to you?" Sookie hoped that the question was obvious enough not to make Holly suspicious. Even she was a little surprised at how easily it had the desired effect.

"Listen," said Holly, lowering her voice even though there was no-one near them, "I don't know if Arlene has told you, but I'm a Wiccan." Sookie must have looked puzzled as she continued with an explanation, "that's a white witch, I mean I'm a witch but I use my powers for good, or at least I try to. There's a woman in Shreveport called Marnie Stonebrook, she's one of us and she's always been a good friend to me. It was her suggestion that I move here."

"So your friend Marnie is a white witch too? What kind of powers does she have?"

"She does a little tarot reading, fortune telling, that kind of thing. To be quite honest I didn't think she was that good, but she must have been working on her powers as she's improved a lot recently. I could ask her out here if you'd like to meet her?"

"Don't ask her especially on my account," Sookie replied, "but if she comes over to visit with you, I would like to meet her. I've never met a witch before, well until I met you of course."

The conversation was cut short by an influx of customers. Sookie was left with plenty to ponder on. Unless Holly was an incredibly good liar, she seemed to have no suspicion that her friend Marnie might have any evil intentions. But then again, her own thoughts had given away her dislike of vampires so perhaps she was part of the plot, whatever that was.

Unfortunately the new customers were already drunk and their loud demands for more beer and food made it impossible to concentrate. She had to put all her energy into avoiding the groping hands and lecherous thoughts of the football jocks.

Then, just to ensure that her evening was complete, Bill Compton showed up. He was alone this time, without Portia in tow. He had that look on his face which marked him out as a man with a mission, but it clearly wasn't a happy one.

"Sookeh," he said as he cornered her out back by the store room. "I have a message for you from Pam; she wants to meet you at my house tomorrow night."

"Why on earth does Pam want to see me?" Sookie retorted, using all her acting skills to sound both confused and angry.

"I have no idea, perhaps something to do with Eric Northman, you know he has gone missing." Bill gave her an odd look, and the way he framed his words as a statement, not a question made her hesitate. She bitterly regretted boasting to Portia that she was seeing someone else. What if Bill had put two and two together? What if he was the person who had been out there watching them from the dark?

"Do you honestly think I would care about where Eric is? If Pam wants my help she can go whistle for it."

"So you refuse to meet with her then?"

"I didn't say that. When does she want to meet me?" She sounded resigned, but inside she was churning up with a mixture of hope and fear. Eager to get away from Bill, she agreed to call at his house the following evening.

She hadn't noticed the frumpy middle aged woman who had entered the bar and taken a seat in Arlene's section while she was talking to Bill. It was only when she realised that the newcomer had both Holly and Arlene engaged deep in conversation that she even considered her. She didn't have to listen into their thoughts to guess who the woman was. It had to be Marnie Stonebrook. She cast several surreptitious glances in her direction, trying to commit her image to memory. She decided against approaching her or trying to listen into her thoughts, in case the woman had powers which she hadn't anticipated.

The old Sookie, who would have thrown herself head first into any challenge without thinking, had most definitely changed. She held back, considering her next move. Her suspicions about the new customer were confirmed when Holly caught up with her and asked if she wanted to meet Marnie.

"I'd love to, but my section is real busy right now. I'll pop over and say 'hello' when it quiets down." Only to Sookie's relief it never did quieten down. Marnie got up to leave about eleven. Sookie was so busy keeping herself busy that she didn't notice until it was too late that Jessica had approached the woman and was engaging her in conversation. She was too far away to even attempt to hear what they were talking about, but a very unpleasant suspicion was forming in her mind. She determined to find out the truth as soon as possible, but the arrival of Hoyt prevented any private discussion between them. It would have to wait until tomorrow night, Sookie decided, as she finally hung up her order pad for the evening.

"How was work?" Eric asked as she arrived home. It was the kind of question thousands of couples asked each other every evening across the US, quite routine and unremarkable. To Sookie it was the sweetest thing she had ever heard.

All the stresses and cares of the evening seemed to melt away as she stepped in close behind him, slipping her arms around his waist and resting her head against his broad shoulders. She breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. The moment couldn't last, she had to tell him of the events of the evening, but she wanted to prolong the feeling for as long as she could.

He was looking extraordinarily pleased with himself, having managed to use the microwave to heat up a convenience meal. He sat across the kitchen table watching her while she ate. After she'd finished she took her things to the sink to wash up. A glass slipped out of her hand, grazing her wrist as the pieces fell onto the drainer. In an instant Eric was beside her licking the cut clean. Sookie wrinkled her nose in mock disgust, but Eric just grinned back at her. As he slipped his arms around her waist he could sense the tension in her.

"What is wrong, my darling?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"Pam has asked to meet me, apparently she has more information."

Eric regarded her carefully, but said nothing.

"I have to meet her at Bill's place."

"I'll come with you, if you want."

"Absolutely not, you know perfectly well what will happen if Bill finds out you're here. And besides Marnie Stonebrook has showed up in Bon Temps."

Light the blue touchpaper and stand well back, Sookie thought even as she uttered the words.

"What!" Eric yelled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did just tell you," Sookie replied, sounding plaintive.

He glared pointedly at the clock. "It's been an hour – did you not think it was important enough to tell me earlier."

Sookie was silent. She knew he was right to be angry with her, it was important and she should have spoken earlier. Was it so wrong though, to want just a few minutes of happiness before having to confront the inevitable?

She followed him as he stalked into the living room. "I'm sorry, I should have said something, I just….." her voice trailed off.

Eric leant against the fireplace glaring into the empty space, his body tense. He couldn't stay angry with her for long though, and besides he had to recognise that his anger was partly directed at himself. He'd been put in a position where he was weak and powerless, and he didn't like it one little bit.

Turning to face her, he crossed the room in an instant and took her in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Could we just change the subject for a while?" Sookie asked, trying to will away the tension which still engulfed her whole body after the stresses of the evening. "Why don't you build me a fire, it's quite cool this evening." She knew that Eric was excessively proud of his fire-building skills, and expected regular praise.

"Do you remember your human life well?" Sookie asked, as she watched him construct his artful combination of scrunched up newspaper, kindling and logs.

"I remember everything that ever happened to me in both my human life and my undead existence," Eric replied, sounding smug. "You can ask me anything," he continued with a smile.

"What would you have been called?" She worried that her questions seemed prosaic, but everything he said was so outside her experience that the most mundane details were fascinating to her.

Officially I would have been Eric son of Ulfrik, but most of my people had nicknames. I would of course have liked to have been known as Eric Bloodaxe, in honour of my prowess on the battlefield and the number of men I had killed. Most nicknames were not very imaginative, so I would most likely have been 'Eric the Tall'."

"Not 'Eric the irresistibly gorgeous' then?" she laughed.

"I'm very happy for you to call me that," he grinned, looking even more smug, prompting Sookie to give him a playful slap.

He grabbed her hand before she could pull away, bringing the palm up to her lips for a tender kiss. "I remember the time you slapped me in anger. You said you hated me."

Sookie scowled at the memory. "I did hate you then, and you deserved it."

"And now?" he asked.

"Now I know that things are complicated, nothing is simple black and white to me anymore."

Her brief period of good humour evaporated as the cares of the evening came rushing back in. Turning to Eric she buried her head against his shoulder, screwing up her eyes against the tears that threatened.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, unable to keep her voice from trembling.

"I think you should stay here, don't go to work tomorrow, call in sick." His voice was too stern for her to even think of arguing. "You'll need to go over to Bill's as you arranged, but we can trust Pam to be sensible. Meanwhile I think we should exchange blood. It may give us protection."

"What do you mean?" she knew she was sounding like a particularly dumb toddler.

"My blood will give you strength, and your fairy blood may give me a protection against the necromancer. Besides it will reinforce the connection between us so we will know if the other is in trouble."

Sookie nodded her head slowly, her reluctance increasing as Eric explained what they needed to do. "Let's go to bed," she said. At least that might make the act more pleasurable.

As it turned out she needn't have worried. As Eric positioned her across his lap, he began to kiss and nibble at her neck and the sensitive spot behind her ear. Stripping off her T-shirt and bra he transferred his attentions to her breasts, using his hands and tongue to arouse her until she was moaning with desire. His dexterous hands quickly removed her shorts and panties, followed by the loose sweat pants he was wearing.

His attentions had Sookie hot and ready for him. As she lowered herself down, savouring the feeling of having him deep inside her, he bit into his wrist and held it out for her to suck on. They began to move together, fast and urgent. Eric jerked his head forward in a quick movement and without warning bit into her neck. The sensation was incredible, the connection between them more intense than it had ever been. As they reached their climax together Eric released his grip on her neck, quickly licking the wounds to heal them. Sookie reluctantly let him pull his arm away as she collapsed down on top of him, letting his hold her tightly in his strong arms.

"We're going to be alright, aren't we?" she asked, her voice tremulous.

"Of course my darling, I'm here for you always." He smiled up at her and for the first time she was sure the look in his eyes was the look of someone who really cared for her.

They lay holding each other for a long time, as Sookie drifted off towards sleep. "I love you, Eric," she whispered, so quietly that only a vampire could have heard her.

Eric waited until he was sure she was asleep before extricating himself and gently laying her down under the covers. He brushed his cool lips against her forehead. "I love you," he murmured.

It would make me really happy if people would check out my new story "Lady Persephone's Lover". It's posted on the page for the newly revived English TV series Upstairs Downstairs – it's a romance with a feisty heroine and a tall blond and gorgeous hero – but one is a spoilt aristocrat and the other is her family chauffeur – let me know what you think! the link is www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6619956/1/