Chapter 8

She had awoken from the commotion from the secure room and as plush as she remembered the suites in the mansion to be, they were still formidable, practically impossible to escape when one such as she was in the condition that she was in. knowing that drugs really wouldn't work on her any longer, what with her being part vamp, she knew it was some kind of iron based mixture what was weakening her to the point she couldn't use any of her fae powers, though she could, though her blood bond, sense the danger he was in, that he had, of course come after her. But that he had literally walked into the wolves den, she knew it was a foolish thing for him to have done. The room she was in was larger than the one she had been in years before when imprisoned her by Edgington and she saw it was divided, as if she was not to be the only prisoner in the room. The attack on her by Carter had left her weak and it was clear he had injected her with whatever it was before she blacked out. And hearing the scuffle from downstairs, she became more on edge as she heard more noise, heard it coming closer.

Leading the way, Carter boldly strode into the room, followed by a half dozen wolves. As lightheaded and as weak she was, she managed a loud and painful scream of anguish as she watched them drag a bloodied and beaten Eric into the room, going to the other section of the room separated by bars that looked as if they were forged of silver and iron. Chaining him to the wall by silver cuffs at the wrists, she saw he was raised a foot off the ground, no doubt to create even more discomfort for when he did wake from his stupor. "He put up a hell of a fight, as I suspected. Killed more of my wolves and never before have I seen a one man wrecking crew. All the more reason I am glad to have him safe here and don't worry, Sookie. He will be cared for, because I need his blood for my wolves, after all."

She couldn't speak, seeing him prone as he was. Though she knew he had, in fact done all he could to fight for her, she knew even he had his limits on what he could deal with and a bunch of v addicted wolves was something nearly impossible. "Let him go….keep me here, but just…..let him go!" she knew her pleas were for naught and it sickened her to see him allowing the wolves with him to bite from Eric one by one. Finally, Carter stopped them, though it left the Viking even worse off than he already was. Entering her side of the room, he grinned wickedly. "You two messed with the wrong vampire, you should have submitted to my maker Russell and now you reap the rewards for what you two did to him. Enjoy your stay, dear girl. It will be some time. And I daresay you know Pam and Willa came along but rest assured, though they took out some of my wolves as well, they are now spending time out in the shed where your former lover spent some quality time. They too, are getting, shall I call it, the "Lorena" treatment?" he savored the look of horror on her face as he and the wolves left the partitioned, secure room. Managing to get off the bed on which she had been trying to recover, to gather as much strength as she could, she gingerly went to touch the bars and sure enough, she detected the iron, smelled and saw the silver woven through the bars.

"Please, wake up…..I can't even give you any of my blood….." she was starting to weep as she let her hands fall to her stomach where she felt the life within her still growing, thought she still had but a slight bump to her figure. Looking up, she wanted to conjure the magic of her faerie rage, feeling as if she couldn't be in more need of it. This time, she thought, perhaps it was time to embrace, to more fully test out her vamp talents. Feeling a little stronger, she tried to pull off the iron, ignoring the discomfort that it caused her. And to her surprise, one by one, she managed to rip them off her ankles. Perhaps, she thought to herself, she did have more strength than she had feared.

Turning her attention to the bars that separated her half of the room from his, she braced herself for the pain she would undoubtedly fee. Silver hadn't affected her, even with having become part vamp. But it was the matter of the iron that she knew would cause her pain. But she knew she had to try and an idea came over her as she made her hands alight with her power, feeling it starting to rush back through her with the removal of the iron. And coupled with her vamp strength, one by one, she pulled out enough bars for her to wriggle through to get to Eric.

Reaching up, she cupped his chin in her hand and was startled with how rough he looked, his healing slowed by the silver. Anger raced through her as one by one she melted the cuffs away with her light and using her strength, helped lay him gently down onto the ground. Anger tore through her as she made her fangs come out and after biting into her wrist, she put it to his lips, just as she heard more sounds coming from outside. She silently prayed to whoever may be listening that he recover enough to get out of here and she only felt a smidge of relief as she felt him drinking from her. He was still out cold as the doors once more burst open and Carter stood, looking as if in a pure rage. Shooting to her feet, she let her secret out, her fangs once more revealed.

Carter's anger melted somewhat, into a look of incredulity. "impossible, such a being was said to be a myth…..I heard something not long ago about a hybrid named Warlow but he couldn't have been-"

"He was real. As real as I am and this was my ace in the hole. Well, that and this." she knelt and touched Eric and in a flash, they were gone, out of the reach of the villainous vampire.

With the protection of her special blood, she knew that this place would be safe, giving them enough time to regroup and return to battle. Pangs of guilt overtook her as she remembered being here with Warlow, telling Bill to take the blood he needed from Eric instead, to leave her and Warlow alone. It was a cold thing on her part, to be sure, that she could have been so foolish to fall for Warlow's charms. Shaking these thoughts aside, she looked at her clothes that were as bloodied and as damaged as Eric's were. Seeing him still resting, dead to the world, she feared what she had done wouldn't be enough somehow. She feared he would expire before her eyes. Instead, he started to move and she hurried to be at his side.

"Hey." she said as she put her hands on his face, tears in her eyes. He blinked and seemed still slightly out of it. But the wounds were all healed.

"Who are you?" he asked quizzically, sitting up and looking around the sparkling surroundings they were in.

She felt like she had been punched in the gut. Not amnesia again, she thought to herself. Not good timing at all… about to once more plunge into misery and despair, she hung her head, only to have it lifted back up by her chin and as her eyes met his, she saw that mischievous glint in them and let out a sigh of relief. "Do. Not. Do that to me!" she cried, falling into his arms and managing a laugh.

"I thought you could use a laugh…..bad timing, maybe?" he replied as he looked around at the Faery sanctuary he had visited just once before, not exactly taking the time to notice, to appreciate the serenity and beauty of the place.

"How do you feel…I mean, they did a number on you like I have never seen. And you've gone through the ringer so many times…" she trailed off, looking at him with concern as he looked out upon the crystal clear pond several feet away from where they leaned against a tree.

"I feel…..like a swim." he replied, shooting to his feet and taking her by the hand, led her to the water, water she knew had healing powers from what her grandfather had once told her and feeling like they could use all the healing they could get before returning to the mansion. Watching him strip off of his clothes, she had to roll her eyes at his brazenness. "Come on, it's not like I had much left to begin with, what with the wolves snacking on me." he said innocently.

"My figure isn't exactly as impeccable as yours." Sookie said, nodding downward to her slightly enlarged belly. She knew she was bigger than she had been a hour ago and was self conscious.

"I see nothing wrong with your figure." he replied and helping her strip off her damaged clothes, they enjoyed a relaxing swim, feeling reinvigorated after a mere five minutes. When they emerged, they found new clothes had appeared on the shore, a flowing, shimmery pale blue sundress for her that was not unlike what she had once seen her fairy godmother Claudine wear. A silvery pair of ballet like slippers were also made ready for her, as well as undergarments. And for him, it seemed that whatever force was at work granting them new clothes seemed to know the Viking's preferred style and as he put on his black jeans, boots and racer back, he was about to balk when a leather jacket popped into existence, appearing on a tree branch,

Dressed once more, Sookie used her light to being them back to reality, where they hoped to put an end to Carter and his schemes once and for all.

To Be Continued