A/N: I contemplated how to do this. So I decided to do "chunks" every few days. This segment has four chapters. Enjoy and review to share your thoughts and feelings!

Chapter 16

"I was beginning to worry," Eric said in hello after I called back.

I made a noise of interest but said nothing. I had called him on what had to be the worst night I'd had since I left home. He hadn't been there, most likely he was cleaning up after his sadistic Maker and demented vampire sibling. Honestly if I didn't have my own issues with Ocella, I wouldn't have held that against him, but I did.

I heard my husband sigh. "Are we fighting again?" he asked calmly, and his calm while I was so emotionally torn bothered me. It fueled my response.

"You tell me," I said, because I had no idea.

I'd called and left a heartfelt message, apologizing for things that weren't my fault. Although Eric had called me back, he had missed my return call, but now I wasn't sure anymore. I was expecting Eric to spell it out for me. In his own direct, unconventional way, he did.

"You are my mate, love cannot even begin to describe what I feel for you," He replied. "You are also my wife, so I am afraid of angering you for I value my life."

I didn't want to, but I burst out laughing. How was it that all my insecurities dissipated? I couldn't explain it but I didn't have to. No matter what was wrong with my world or his, we had this, us.

"I could not imagine life being remotely comfortable with a pissed off woman such as you at my heel."

I laughed. "Damn straight," I agreed.

We talked about nothing, nothing at all, not Ocella or my job. We just talked about what being apart felt like. It somehow bridged the distance that separated us. Maybe it wasn't just being at home around Eric's Maker that made me feel as if I was on a short fuse. Perhaps it was the time I spent working with the Fae. I didn't think of it that way. My night and day was on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to tell him everything, but something foreign stole it away.

I couldn't tell Eric about what happened because I honestly felt like I couldn't. It was too shocking. I thought I'd put violence behind me. Then two years later it jumped out at me and I had no hope of making sense of it. It had left me feeling… so raw, somewhat tainted. It hadn't been a lie, more as though I was omitting details until I was ready to spill.

Coming to Florida had been a path to compromise our way to peaceful solution in the beginning but I liked my work. Since leaving home I felt, no; I knew that Eric was trying to be my everything because he knew what I'd lost. It wasn't just that he knew what I lost; he knew how badly I wanted it back. He tried and I loved him for it, but it wasn't healthy or fair to him.

I liked having a place that was separate from Eric, but one I could share with him at the same time. I felt balanced. If Eric found out about this I would lose that balance. I would go back to pretending full-time. The thought alone… it made me cringe. I wanted to wear the lab coat, play football with vampires, and mix in with humans.

A part of me rose and compelled me to trust him. It said that I could tell him the truth, no matter how ugly and he would understand. Another part of me, the part that understood the baser instinct of vampires, knew for a fact that Eric would lose his shit. He wouldn't let me leave his side for the next decade, if that.

I couldn't rationalize why he should. I was working with a faction of Fae while another would want me dead for it. Then I come across humans, dangerous, gun-toting humans whom I couldn't read or control. That had never happened to me in almost three decades of life. If I was Eric, I would lock me away too. I couldn't tell him. I also couldn't hide anything from him either, so I made a deal with myself. Knowing me as well as he did, Eric would catch on. He would ask and I would come clean.

Tom and the other CIA agents entered the room and I knew I had to go.

"I love you, see you soon."

"Looking forward to it."

The switch for me was instantaneous when I hung up the phone. I immediately got my head in the game. The plan was simple. I would be the bait. If Matthew Ward was as smart and as well-connected as he had already proven to be, he would be watching the exit points out of town in search of me. I'd bought a one way ticket to Nevada and I would be heading to the airport. He knew where I worked, but couldn't risk coming here to get me even without my added security. The campus was too big. I had no doubt that he was watching the surrounding areas. I wouldn't make it to the highway once I left campus.

I was dressed casually, but the all-black ensemble was like nothing else I wore while in Florida. It was the only indication that I was going out to shed blood. We had gone over last minute preparations and I was ready to head out when Niall unexpectedly arrived. I hadn't seen him since the day we renegotiated our contract.

"I have been informed that you have not been to work in the past two days." He said in hello. "I have come to inquire as to why."

If the Prince noticed the seven automatic weapons trained in his direction he didn't show it. His eyes were on me. His expression was curious, but he was lacking that calm that should be natural for him. I only needed one guess as to what had him perturbed. It wasn't that long ago that Colman had stolen Caspian away because Lochlan and Neave had been spotted near here. I wasn't going to ask, he had his own problems and I had mine.

"I have a score to settle with a very bad man who has done very bad things." I said. "I will not be long."

"This is not acceptable to me, if not because I cannot afford to risk you, then because you are on my time." He said. "You will do as we agreed."

He was in the right and we both knew it. "That is business. This is personal," I replied. "He killed my mother."

Niall seemed to deliberate the matter. "He is human?"

A monstrous human but a human, I nodded. "Yes."

"Then allow me to be of service," He held his hand out in invitation to me. I placed my hand in his and, with his free hand; he materialized a golden pin from thin air. The space surrounding Niall became tight while his power sucked all the air from it. I didn't flinch when he poked my little finger. I was more curious than anything else as he squeezed the finger and my blood dropped to the ground.

"What is his name?" He asked.

"Matthew Ward," I replied.

"Matthew Ward, come to me."

There was no shimmer in the air like when the Fae used their means of travel. Much like the needle had materialized out of thin air, so did the man. He popped up in the place where the droplets of my blood had fallen. He was wearing a face mask, his hair was longer and had grayed, but it was him. I saw those eyes and I froze. He saw me and the hate rolled off him and crashed over me like a wave.

"You!" He screeched. He got to his feet and charged me.

Lattesta, who had been silent and watchful throughout all of this, made his move. He put a bullet in Matthew Ward's shoulder, bringing him to his knees while he screamed in pain, and then just as suddenly he began cackling. He removed his mask while he laughed and I saw the extent of his damages. A portion of his nose had been cut off, and his top lip had been cleaved from his face.

"Every vile and degrading thing your father did to me, I will do to you tenfold! Ten—" He was back to screeching.

Then his head exploded. Oddly enough, that was what snapped me out of it. The agents dove for cover as blood, brains, and bone went flying. They came up in a perimeter around me with guns up, searching for the threat. I looked to Niall. He was a faery, fully tapped into his powers. His ears were pointy and his skin was slightly aglow.

"Presumably there is nothing else to keep you from your obligations to me?" he asked calmly.

Even with all the training I had, I couldn't keep the shock off my face. I knew Niall was powerful but that… My eyes were wide as I shook my head. "No…"

He nodded his head and just as suddenly as he'd arrived he vanished. I looked behind me and saw Lattesta staring after him. He was the only one that was standing; the four others were losing the contents of their stomach. I couldn't blame them.

"What the hell was that?" Lattesta asked.

"The Prince of the Sky Fae," I said, "and if I told you anything else, he'd have to kill you."

In accordance with her customs, Chari's body was burned the day after she died. I didn't know her that well, but I went to the memorial service because Caspian did. They had worked together longer than I'd been alive. I found out that he met her when he was her Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut over thirty years ago. Every time he had to be relocated due to the threat of the Water Fae, Chari had followed.

"I'm sorry she's gone, Cas," I said.

What else could I say? He was my friend. Nothing would make him hurt less, not even the fact that Matthew Ward had met his end. I wanted to be there for him. I stayed another day, but all he wanted to do was work as his ode to her memory, so we worked. In the back of my mind, I admitted that Caspian was right about me and what revenge would have done. Given his age, I knew it wasn't the first time he had lost a mortal friend. I guess if you cared, it was just one of those things that never got any easier.

I returned home. Eric wasn't at the house in Bon Temps. It told me that Ocella was still here and I just couldn't seem to get used to the idea of him. Maybe if I tried I could, but I didn't think I should have to do all the work. Still, I wanted to see my husband and neither Ocella nor anyone else would prevent that objective. There was so much I wanted to tell Eric. I hated the fact that I was keeping things from him, especially now that the associated threats and the danger posed from them had passed.

I walked into the house in Shreveport. Eric wasn't there but Ocella was. This home wasn't nearly as big as the one I grew up in, but with present company, it felt like a goddamned shoe box. There was no use pretending he didn't make me sick. I ignored his scent and the void of his mind. I went up to the Master bedroom. I needed to shower, do laundry, and get gone.

I was loading the washer when I heard an odd sound. It was a muffled cry. I didn't even think on it. I went toward it. In the day chamber hidden under the house, I found Alexei and he wasn't alone. Beside him was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than eight. Her face was buried in her stuffed unicorn while she wept. It was clear that she had been taken from her bed. She was in her pajamas and bare feet.

"Alexei," I called.

The little girl looked at me before he did. His eyes seemed to be all over the place, tracking things only he could see.

"Who do you have with you?" I asked conversationally.

"Margo," he replied. "But she doesn't want to let me love her and it makes me angry, so I think I will kill her."

"I want to go home!" the girl wailed. "I want my mommy!"

I entered her mind and put her out. She was riling Alexei and he was closer to her than me. No matter how fast I moved, he could snap her neck before I got to her.

"She is tired," I said. I kept my voice calm, lulling. "Maybe there is something else you want to do, a puzzle, a video game, or perhaps a show. What kind of movies do you like? I like comedies personally."

"Mythical or fantasy, but I like some Japanese Anime," He said. He was talking but it wasn't to me. It was more like he was regurgitating information. I would take that, or anything that kept his attention from the helpless human child in the room.

"I loved 'Star Wars,'" I said inching into the room.

"That is Science fiction or Sci-fi for short," He said. "It is not the same."

"No, but I remembered how enthralled I was when I first saw it. Have you seen it?"

The glazed look faded as he seemed to engage in the conversation. He shook his head. "No, I have not seen this. Have you watched the Lord of The Rings?"

I shook my head. There was a beat of silence. I saw that I was losing him. "Tell me about it, and then I could tell you about Star Wars if you want."

That was the only invitation he needed. I got the story of the One true ring and how it took one unsuspecting, little creature called a Hobbit from a happy place called the Shire to an evil kingdom known as Mordor. With every word he spoke I inched more closely into the room and to the little girl who was in a house of horrors threatening to swallow her whole.

"What part did you love most?" Alexei asked.

At this point he appeared less manic and I was on the other side of the bed, beside the little girl. "When Gandalf the Grey translates the inscription on the One true ring to Frodo."

It was the saddest thing I think I have ever seen. Alexei's face lit up. He no longer even looked like a vampire. He looked like a child on Christmas morning. He had turned his back to the little girl, and was facing me with big brown eyes full of excitement, not at all warped or insidious. He simply looked like a boy his age should.

"I love that too!" he exclaimed. He clapped his hands and everything.

"One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness to bind them," He repeated.

"It was indeed a powerful moment," I agreed.

When I reached for the girl, his eyes zeroed in on my hand and it was clear he was undecided about biting it off. "When last did you feed?" I asked conversationally.

He stopped and seemed to think about it. "I do not know."

"There is blood upstairs," I told him. "It is bottled, but it will keep the hunger at bay and keep your mind clear so you can focus when I tell you about Star Wars. I think Frodo sounds a bit like Luke Skywalker."

Alexei left humming happily to himself. Relief didn't come. I felt as disgusting as Ocella because I was manipulating him. I was using what he loved to get him to do what I wanted. I knew it was wrong but there were two heart beats in this house and the one of the little girl didn't belong. I needed to get her home. I needed to stop the backlash on the vampires in this Republic. More importantly, I needed to protect Eric.

I heard the microwave open and that was my cue. I gathered the little girl in my arms and bolted from the house. It wasn't until I was several blocks away that I slowed down. Alexei hadn't gone into another tantrum. He wasn't following. I woke little Margo. I kept her just conscious enough to find her address, and then I broke into her house and had her back in bed within ten minutes. I'd already wiped the memories of the abduction. It would be nothing more than a bad dream and she would never again open a door, a window, or so much as a doggy door for a stranger. I'd been able to make Alexei smile if only for a second. I had been able to save a little girl. I felt good about me for a change when I turned onto my street.