Chapter 31

I told myself not to search for him, but it had been day and that translated to eons to my heart. I needed to look at Eric. Before I gave into that need, I told myself that I wouldn't wait hours for him to talk. Each night I had run over surveillance of every room to find something useful. I had forced myself not to dwell on his handsome face.

Tonight after coming so close, but yet so far, I simply couldn't help it. I would have been lying if I said kidnapping him along with all the other hostages hadn't crossed my mind, it had. It would have been the worst move I could have made. Eric was the only thing Freyda had on me, she could use it, she would win, and then we would all lose. She wouldn't have to ransom him, she would sue me, and it was an option I didn't have because I had married him as a human.

I watched Eric. How bizarre was it that he had divorced me months ago and had been married for under a week, but I loved him even more? I mean, just seeing his face made me want to break down and cry. Goddamn, how weak was I? Too much for words would be my guess. It didn't keep me from hanging on every continuous breath he didn't take.

Eric watched the night, but he looked forlorn and anxiety kept his perfectly chiseled jaw rigid. I touched the screen and rubbed his face as if I could wash it all away. Why did he look like this? Didn't he know what I was doing? Couldn't he hear the rumors catching fire? I could, and so could every other Kingdom. I could practically feel the circle forming around Freyda. Friends I didn't even know she had left her.

Didn't Eric know the days of Freyda of Oklahoma were numbered? Why wouldn't he talk to me? Why did he look so defeated? Was she hurting him? Was Ocella? I knew that wasn't the case. I had accounted for every minute of their day and night. I even watched while Freyda attempted to heal Alexei.

Amelia had watched with me in case it was something insidious. It wasn't. It was bullshit, according to Amelia. The spell was doing nothing more than clouding his impulses like a band aid, but she was by no means curing him. I was glad of that too. I knew that along with everything else I had constructed, this would blow up in her face quite unexpectedly, and I couldn't wait for her to get that little surprise. I hadn't thought much about how I felt about Alexei being healed. Like Eric, he was also a victim, but, unlike Eric, his mind was broken, and the veil was his only freedom. I needed to get Eric away before he was damaged beyond recall too.

It was seven days after his forced marriage, but victory was so close. I could almost feel my husband's arms around me. Tonight I knew I was going to have to take the one thing that Freyda thought could save her before her first trial date, Isaiah, the king of Kentucky. He hadn't garnered many followers in his crusade against me, but with every asset she lost, he was looking at Freyda as more of a meal and less of an ally. He was making promises to her that he couldn't keep. He was trying to make a power play, and that was even better. I didn't have to turn him against her, but I paid him a visit that would ensure that he sever his ties with her.

Nim, Sai and I took a flight into Kentucky. It was almost dark when I waltzed right into the court of Isaiah. When he rose for the night, all his Were guards and any human staff were unconscious where I'd found them. It didn't take long for his guards to find me. When they did, they came out in full force.

They formed two circles around where my brothers and I sat in the ballroom looking as if we owned it. I knew if we were anyone else, we would be dead if we were lucky. Such it was, they paused, unsure how to continue. I was the telepath and a hybrid vampire. Sai was known as the mighty Moor. No one knew anything about Nim, and that was even more terrifying.

"You are banished from setting foot in my state and all others in Amun, under pain of death," Isaiah snarled. "Leave now and I may be swayed to forget this."

I nodded my head as if I would do just that but I didn't move. "Forgive my directness, Your Grace," I said with a nod of my head. "There was no other way."

Tempting as it was, good manners always worked. While I knew that every single vampire in the room would blitz us to save Isaiah, the tension wasn't thrumming though the air as violently anymore. I knew it disappointed Sai though he didn't show it. After a quick deliberation, Isaiah relented. It was my guess that he saw the odds, and even with home field advantage, they were not in his favor.

"Leave us!"

The room emptied of the nearly two dozen guards. I watched the flurry of activity with only mild interest.

"When I faced all the regents of Amun, I paid handsomely for their permission to free Louisiana, Arkansas, and their silence. Now a regent from that same territory is siding with my enemy. It is disheartening because I have kept my word."

"I have kept mine!" he snapped.

Calling any King a liar in his own castle was an invite for violence. I didn't say anything. I just kept staring at him. The longer I stared, the more unnerved he became.

"Someone has been telling you lies," He said flatly. "I have nothing to do with your war against the Queen of Oklahoma."

I smiled. "Good."

With a respectful nod my brothers and I left.

I wasn't wrong. I played the footage back when I got home and I saw Freyda try to implore Isaiah, but he feared me more than he wanted to use her; smart of him. My plans had come to fruition. Freyda was without an ally, money, or power, but she would have to continue her fight with my father even without those things.

That was why my father insisted on scheduling his suit against me on the same day as the preliminary hearing on Freyda's case. We had to go rub it in. It wasn't as though there would be many witnesses her humiliation, but pure relish was enough.

It was just as I wanted, Freyda's name was a curse and no one wanted to get close to it. I wore my best dress, but as much as I wanted to convince myself that it was to upstage a Queen, I knew it was to try to impress Eric. Nothing had cured me of that. I still lived for his smile, weak and pathetic, but it was true.

I was walking beside my father as he made way to the elevators. Sure enough, I ran into Freyda. I had known that she would leave Eric behind, but to see her without him hurt. I wanted to see his face in person. I had dressed for the occasion knowing he wouldn't be there, but hoping that he would. He wasn't. It was a good thing, I convinced myself.

"Your Majesty," I greeted with a respectful nod and curtsey. "Pleased to see you again."

Freyda lost her cool and launched at me, but I didn't even let the air she disturbed force me to bat an eyelash. I fought Sai on a regular basis. I didn't fear him and didn't fear this whore Queen. I was begging that she hit me. I would end this now, but she didn't. One of her guards grabbed her and another got between us. I smiled while I baited her further. I wanted to cost her what little respect she had left in the presence of those who remained loyal to her.

"I know times are difficult, what with the walls closing in all around you. It must be impossible when you go to ground wondering if this is day that I come to claim your head." I said. "Please allow me to reassure you, I simply refuse to put you out of your misery. It amuses my father and I so very much."

She shrieked and launched herself at me again, but she was being hauled away. My laughter followed her.

With the information that I had been able to garner, Freyda was sure that there was no one she could trust, especially not Eric. She couldn't control him without Ocella, and bringing Ocella anywhere meant Alexei. She couldn't afford it. Another slip or scandal would ruin her, and I made sure that was awaiting her when she got home.

I leaked a portion of the footage of Alexei attacking Jermaine Hosely. I bounced the footage off every IP address in the world until Freyda thought it came from her house. Most importantly, whatever defense she had went out the window. Humans protested and boycotted, and then the queen really was alone, but still not as alone as I wanted her.

I knew that the vampires who were with Freyda were the ones that were willing to meet their end at her side, all except two; Bishop and Eric. They were there against their will at her behest. I couldn't extract Eric safely until Ocella was gone, and all the time he had been in Oklahoma, the Roman was yet to rest at the house or anywhere near it. If I could just find him, I could end him while he rested for the day and when Eric rose, he would be free and he would free himself of Freyda.

I tuned in as Freyda had a full blown meltdown in the middle of her house. Tears were running down her face as she unleashed her anger and fear on the few subjects that she had left.

"Traitors!" she screamed. She cut down two. "Interlopers, the lot of you!"

Something I never expected happened. Eric left his seat where he had been watching impassively. He wrapped and arm around her shoulders from behind and pulled her to him. I knew what it was like to feel as though you had nothing. That was how I was so able to inflict that pain on the Queen, but Eric was… Comforting her?

Jealousy was the one thing I had never felt for Freyda, but at that moment, I must have turned every possible shade of green as well as some not seen on Earth. Eric was willingly touching her. Was he sympathizing with her? He couldn't be, but what he was doing contrasted that so very much.

"Leave us," Eric ordered, and it showed the state of things. Guards heeded the Queen's consort without as much as a glance at the Queen herself. Eric led her back to the rooms, back to his room.

"You must calm yourself," Eric told Freyda.

"This is my end, does it not please you?" She spat.

He shook his head. "No," He told her and I saw the sincerity of his words. "It does not, for your end is my own. If you do not survive Sookie's wrath, neither will I."

What? He couldn't really believe that. Sure I had unleashed all manner of Hell of Freyda, but Eric must have known that he was safe. He didn't really believe that I would hurt him, did he? He did. He wiped Freyda's tears with his thumb and brought the digit to her lips. She sucked it, and before her blood was gone from his finger, his lips followed pressing against hers.

It was like I had escaped the worse nightmare of my life, but then as my day went on I realized my nightmare had been nothing. I had taken a wrong turn into Hell. That was what this was! I had kept Freyda so torn and distracted that she never forced herself on Eric. It turned out she didn't have to force him! He offered! Eric kissed her lips, and wiped away her tears, and of course she let him!

I wanted to die. No, this wasn't a nightmare, it was as if I was in a special part of Hell for all the sins I hadn't known I had committed. Ocella wasn't around, and she didn't have the power to control him with her subjects gone or going. Yes, this was a circle of Hell.

I thought I would cry or have another fit. Maybe Sai would beat some sense into me, but none of that happened. It seemed I was finally all cried out, and I was as broken emotionally and desolately as Freyda was financially and politically. I didn't watch. I needed to get to sleep. I didn't think I would but when my head hit the pillow, I was dead to the pains of this world.

Close to dawn, I reported upstairs to where Sai, Nim, and Amelia were waiting. This was the final blow. Tonight we would take what Freyda had left outside of her unhappy, mainstreaming citizens. We would capture or kill the few vampires Freyda had left. The only ones we would leave alone were the three main targets, Freyda, Ocella, and Eric.

Victor was in Texas waiting to strike come dark. His forces would wash away what was left of Freyda's regime. He would end Ocella, capture Eric, and bring him back to me unharmed. I didn't want to trust him with this. It was my revenge. It was my pain, and that was exactly why I had to let the shark attack. Nobody did subjugation like Victor Madden.

"We have accounted for all essential personnel?" My father asked.

I nodded, but said nothing. The image of Eric comforting and kissing a woman who had been an instrument to our divorce was burned into my brain. For the first time, my heart was silent because it finally been dealt a blow that was too much.

"Sai has lead," My father said.

I didn't say anything to that either though I knew that having Sai being in charge of anything I was a part of was the worst. I just wanted this over with. We were heading out when my father waved his hand in my general direction. It was as good as shouting my name.

"Are you well, Shy?" he asked.

"No," I admitted, not wanting to lie to him. "I will be, very soon."

He searched my face, but I hid nothing. Finally he released my hand and I left with the others. I was expecting to ride with Amelia but I got Sai instead. It told me that whatever else he thought as he let me leave his side, my father wasn't sure of me. That made two of us.