A/N: Thank you all for reviewing. I truly appreciate the continued love and support. I honestly didn't mean to make anyone feel guilty for not reviewing. I was agreeing with reader that mirrored what I felt.

Another reader brought up an excellent point. Gumdrop21 says, "...perhaps it's me but this Eric appears more vulnerable and not as strong? Not sure why I feel this way..."

One of the things I love most about this version of E&S is that they are both formidable and direct. Give them, a coop to quash, a horde of vampires to fight and they will do it with little effort. Give them something emotionally complex and watch them trip and fall. If you recall from the first installment, it took them a long time to find their way.

I have always been doubly fascinated by what strong characters do when they're in a place where their strength does them no good. If you have inlaws you know how delicate it can be if you don't get along with them. Your spouse gets stuck in the middle and that is where Eric is. Sookie is his wife; his mate. He loves her. Ocella is his Maker and even in the books he was loyal to that bastard to the bitter, bitter end.

I hope that offered some insight into my head as I was developing this. If anyone has any point in the story they want to discuss just let me know!

"Sookie?" Eric called.

I stupidly looked toward the door.

"Sookie?"

It was then that I noticed the phone in my grasp. It was dented and the markings matched my fingerprints perfectly.

"Hey," I greeted in a thick voice.

"What happened?" he asked. I don't know why but his concerned tone made the fear go away. "Are you alright?"

I cleared my throat. "Nothing, I'm fine. You?"

Ocella was his Maker. He could make him do anything, but I knew from experience that most Makers used edicts to protect, not dominate free will. It was actually frowned upon. Something in me said that Ocella didn't care. He not only liked to abuse, he enjoyed it. When he made Eric do something he didn't want to… Already I was thinking about how long it would take me to get back home. It wouldn't take much to find Preston or Colman. If I had to smack Caspian I would.

"Yes, but you don't call this early and you seldom call the house." He explained.

I pulled in a deep breath to wash away the last of my immediate overreaction. I called because I had good news I wanted to share, but now that his vampire kin was in town and, apparently in our house, it didn't quite seem like the time to share it. I would tell him when I got home. With any luck they'd be long gone by then. They had stopped in Louisiana on their way to wherever and were now heading back.

My hopes were dwindling. I checked in with Eric every day until I was set to return home and Ocella was still there. Once he answered Eric's cell and told me that he was busy with Alexei. Then he hung up. After that I knew what kind of game I'd been initiated into. He knew what I was most afraid of, what I hadn't even admitted to myself. He wouldn't need to actually do it; just his knowledge that I was afraid of it gave him enough power to torment me.

On one hand it laid my fear of Ocella abusing his power over Eric to rest, on the other it confirmed what I knew. I'd been raised to know my weaknesses. Mine was my temper. My father did all he could but not even twenty years of training could liberate me of the vice. These were the facts; Ocella didn't like me and I had no idea why. I disliked him as well, maybe even more than a little, but a stupid and impractical part of me wanted him to approve of me, even silently; if only for Eric's sake. Ocella wanted to prove to Eric that I was a weakling. I refused to give him the satisfaction.

I also knew that if I didn't get my head together before I got home, Eric would be smack dab in the middle of any quarrel we might have. I would never want that for my husband. I'd been there; maybe not in the same capacity, but I knew what it was like. Ocella wouldn't stay forever. I could endure, he would leave, and Eric would be happy. For that matter, so would I.

I was packing to return home and, despite me avoiding him like the plague, Caspian popped into my room.

"Cas, I'm not going to tell you again," I warned. "I don't have anything yet. Get lost."

"What's up your ass?" he retorted. "Or are you so short because of what isn't?"

I glared at him. "I am going to assume that wasn't a real question."

"Kinda was…but no response needed. I can draw my own conclusions come Monday morning when you're more personable again."

I growled at him. Just as my fangs were going to extend I clenched my teeth. The menace rolling off me though, I couldn't hide.

"Bad vampire!" He scolded. "I'm friend, not food."

"Hardy-fucking-Har!" I snapped.

It was sarcasm, but he was right. I was acting like a hungry vampire. I scrubbed both hands over my weary face. I was so tired, worried, and uncertain about what I might find when I got home. Since learning that Ocella was in Shreveport and in our home, I'd slept worse than usual. That meant instead of six hours of sleep, I was barely clocking in four. I spent all my waking hours worrying and missing the man I was worried about.

I should be looking forward to going home but I wasn't. Deep down, I knew I was dragging my feet. My head was trying to think of ways to delay my homecoming. Maybe if I stayed one more day, Ocella would be gone by then? My heart and body was on a schedule and both were aching to see Eric no matter whom or what was around. Neither parts of me gave a shit what my mind had to say.

Caspian looked concerned instead of curious. For someone who simply had to know and understand everything that was saying something.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

It crossed my mind for an instant to tell him what was troubling me. I wanted to tell him. I really was going to, but then I inhaled a breath and caught his sweet scent. I clammed up. It wasn't because I knew I couldn't fully trust him. Mostly I didn't open up because his scent didn't match what I had been raised to associated with trust. Caspian's scent was heavy and syrupy. I was used to dry and light.

"Nah," I said with a worn smile. "Thanks for the offer though. I just need to get home. I miss my husband."

I may not be sure about anything else but that last sentence had been the kind of complete truth that made one feel whole. It lasted, and for a little while as my body dissipated into the ether during transport I was excited. Then I felt my feet touch the ground. I could hear the snarls before my senses registered anything else.

The hold Preston had on me grew painful as he too registered it. That was all I felt while he pulled us away. I found myself in a little house. Colman was there, and so was Claudine as well as a few other faeries I didn't know. The minute my head stopped spinning, I lost it. I yoked Preston up by his neck, using my hold to bring him down to my eye level.

"How dare you?" I growled. "Take me back, now!"

From what I'd seen of things back home, there had been some kind of fight. He had no right to pull me from it, especially when it had to do with my husband, at least that was what I thought. I had caught the scent of blood but it wasn't Eric's. I hadn't even seen his face but that didn't matter. Preston picked me and dropped me off at the same place. The scene of whatever that conflict was had been the farm house.

"No," he said. His coal black eyes didn't hold defiance, they were resolute. "No one here will. The prolongation of our species depends on you. If you kill me, I will gladly die to safeguard the cause."

I looked around and not a single soul moved. I flashed fang and squeezed his neck until his muscles creaked. Nothing changed. No one moved to help him, not even Colman. I dropped him because he was useless to me as he was now, he would be more so dead. I knew it but I was ready to go off into a rage the likes of which these Fae had never seen.

"Give me the room." My voice was less than a whisper but the message was received. Between one breath and the next the room emptied.

'Think, don't feel.' I told myself. 'Think, don't feel.'

Eric was a thousand-year-old vampire who was a warrior before his change. He was telekinetic. There was little that he couldn't handle even without his clout as a sheriff. Even if something came up, Pam was there. As much as it rankled, so was his Maker; between all three of them there was more than three thousand years of fighting skill and power.

What if Ocella had been the cause of what I'd heard? Not likely. Ocella wouldn't need to fight Eric to subdue him or cause him harm. I took a deep breath. If there was a fight, and I knew that there had been, he would be of use to Eric. My fear and dislike was making me demonize him, not that he needed the help.

My countdown from ten thousand was interrupted by Caspian. While I had rationalized all the ways Eric would be okay, I was sick with worry. Counting wasn't about controlling my temper; it was to keep my mind busy so my heart wouldn't choke me with concern.

"They said you were going to kill Preston," He said.

"I thought about it," I admitted. "Did they send you here to try to make me feel guilty about it?"

He shook his head and plopped down beside me, looking miserable. "No, I got pulled from the lab as a precaution."

That explained why he was still in his lab coat. Damn. I'd been so worked up that I hadn't even contemplated that angle. Working for Niall would garner me attention. What if it got me attention from Breandan? What if that was what Eric was up against as I whiled away in some safe house? I refused. I needed answers or I really would lose it. I walked out of the room with Caspian trailing after me. The first person I saw was Claudine. She was dressed in what I now assumed were Sky Fae uniforms. Seeing her again brought me up short but as with all the things I felt about hurting her, I pushed it away because it wasn't the time.

"Send scouts to my house," I said.

"If I comply, you will remain here until it is safe and you will keep your hands, legs, and all other dangerous features of your body to yourself," Her tone was scathing.

I nodded. "I want updates every hour on the hour and come what may, the sun will not find me here. Got it?"

Her face broke into a smile that was by her nature utterly beguiling, but given our history it was out of place. "If I wasn't afraid of your father I might show you why ordering about the Captain of the Sky Guardians is so dangerous."

Something told me that she didn't mean my adoptive vampire father. I didn't know why she would be afraid of Fintan though. She didn't hang around for me to ask. She took two steps to the left and vanished in a shimmer of golden light. Exhaustion was catching up to me, but it wasn't physical or mental. It was emotional.

I'd been worrying all week about Ocella abusing his power over Eric but I hadn't contemplated that anything else could be a threat to him while he was in Louisiana. I truly never worried about him with the state being a republic. Now I was living that reality, images of Eric fighting Lochlan and Neave weren't the beginning. More than once I saw him bound and helpless as they tortured him. I knew that it wasn't the case but…

"I'm sorry that you're having a shit day," Caspian said. "Crash, I'll wake you when I hear something."

He didn't touch me, but he was close enough that I felt the heat from him. When I looked up he wasn't wearing his usual smile. He looked like I felt, that he would rather be anywhere.

"Where are we anyway?"

"The Everglades, a few miles off the National Park," He replied.

"How many faeries are here?" I asked.

There had to be a great many. I couldn't even distinguish the mental signatures. When I tried all I got was one never-ending blur. The scent was heavy, so much so that I had no idea where one faery ended and another began.

"A lot." He replied.

"We should talk to all the females present," I said. While I was stuck here, I might as well work.

I spun on my heel to leave but Caspian placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you can work?"

"Yeah."

No, I wasn't but if I didn't, I would lose my shit before Claudine was due for her next check in. I couldn't afford that. I needed to work to replace the solace that counting usually brought me. I walked back into the room and took a seat to wait for news or something to fill the silence. The Fae females came first. It was no surprise but the disappointment was potent all the same.

Total there were fifteen women. Some were dressed in modern clothes while some looked like the picture of the fairy folk of lore. I didn't have much experience with them and legend filled in the gap. The reality was that not all faeries were fair. I saw some that were tanned, tall, and short. They were beautiful, but not like Claudine.

I saw a female that was sexy, so much so I wouldn't allow her near my husband's shadow. There were some that were pretty. Others had an intense kind of beauty from which any normal human would shy away. It was too symmetrical. Then there were those that were just set apart by the glow of their best features alone. I watched them covertly as Caspian made introductions and explained the reason they were there.

"Who is the eldest?" I asked.

A platinum blonde that was of the most intense beauty category raised her hand. "It is I, Rhian."

"Youngest?" I wondered.

A dark-haired female raised her hand. I saw her hair but she wouldn't offer her eyes. She didn't offer a name either. It was obvious she didn't want to be here. I wasn't sure if it was because she was shy or because I smelled like vampire. Then I had to wonder why I cared. I was just here to do a job. What did it matter if she or any other one of them was afraid of me? They should be.

"For the experim…"

"What my colleague wishes to understand is the physical sensations you under go during your cycles," Caspian interrupted. "Anything you can offer."

I knew by his gentle voice and soft smile that his interruption hadn't been inadvertent. I was coming off as too clinical and cold. I shut my mouth and tried to look as non-threatening as possible.

"Then she will give us the secret to fertility?" The voluptuous-looking female asked.

"That is the goal, yes." I told them.

I had their attention and gave them mine because it diverted me from thoughts of my husband. I first separated the women by those who had gone through the cycle before. All of them had, even though their ages varied from fifty to four hundred chronologically. I then separated that group by those who had been pregnant at least once. The numbers were not at all favorable to the Fae. I was only left with three, three out of fifteen. Of that three only one of them had actually given birth. If I thought to wonder why a bunch of female faeries would gather to meet a stranger who reeked of vampire I had my answer, pure and absolute desperation.

A half hour passed. I was tense throughout every second of it, and then Claudine joined the group discussion. Before she popped herself out of her uniform she gave me an easy nod that told me everything was good. My tension dissipated somewhat and I felt my center return for first time since all of this started. I had been scaring myself for no good reason. Hell, for all I knew Eric had a few vampires over to play football.

"To sum up what I think I understand conception lies entirely within the females." I got a collective nod. "It is only possible during her cycle."

The cycle as I learned lasted two days or two and a half if they were lucky. There was some talk that if the female was successful in conceiving, it ended early, but I had nothing to measure that against.

"During said cycle there is an overwhelming sexual desire, accompanied by an increase in power?"

"Not exactly an increase," Claudine finally said. "Even before it starts we begin to feel closer to our spark. It allows power to flow easier and that accounts for why we feel more powerful."

Everyone nodded. "Okay," I said rising to my feet. I smiled politely or at least tried to. I wasn't used to having to reassure people. "You have all been very helpful. I think I have everything I need for now. Thank you for your time."

Claudine shook her head with a soft laugh that I felt was directed at me. I ignored her because I would hate to punch her in the face again.

"When will we hear more?" A woman whom I heard called Anaïs asked. It was the first she'd spoken or looked up from her place in the back of the group.

"As soon as we know more," Caspian said. "But please trust that we are doing all that we can."

He smiled and escorted them out of the room. Claudine hung back. She was slouched in her seat and somehow that did nothing to take away from her regal beauty.

"When I arrived, your husband was attempting to restrain a child," She began. "There were two other vampires who had been wounded; one was a female, blonde and lithe in frame, and the other was a male with scars across his face. There was also a dead human."

Eric was restraining Alexei. Pam and Ocella had been wounded. "How did the human die?" I asked.

"By the same knife that injured the two vampires would be my guess," She rose to her feet as Caspian entered the room. "You shouldn't let her do the talking. She makes cold iron sound warm."

She had been laughing at me but I didn't give her the satisfaction. My scowl, however, was in full effect. She was still grinning as she vanished.

"Your people skills do need some work," Caspian admitted.

I could give a shit about that right now. I needed to get home. From the information Claudine had given me, I had a good idea what had happened. I just needed make sure Eric was alright. It wasn't the first time I'd wished we were able to form a blood bond. Being mated was rooted in the magic that bound vampires, not just the vampire themselves. It somehow prevented the bonding of a mate no matter how many times blood was exchanged.

"I'll give you a lift," he said.

The trip was instantaneous. I was back at the farm house but it was empty. The scene had been cleaned, thoroughly. Leaves, pebbles, and even dirt that may have been disturbed during the fight had been set to rights. There was no blood to be seen or even faint traces to be scented. The scent of death wasn't perceptible though I knew someone had died.

I said goodbye to Caspian. After dropping my bags off inside I got in the car and headed for Shreveport. Eric was in Fangtasia alone. Pam was absent and, thankfully, so was Ocella. It made me wonder what happened to Alexei. Seeing my husband's face had this power to make the world feel right no matter what was wrong. When he saw me he smiled. My smile. I pulled into his lap and into his arms when I reached him.

"You're late," he said after he kissed me senseless.

"Something came up."

His eyes lost their playfulness as he nodded. "Same here."

I was exhausted but sleeping on the couch in Eric's office was the best sleep I'd had all week. When the bar closed, he carried me to his car and drove to Bon Temps. In my sleep-addled mind, I understood that we were going there because Ocella and Alexei were in our house in Shreveport. I didn't care where I was just as long as I was with him.