Thanks for all the reviews of my last chapter, it's great to know that you are all still out there, and that you are taking this ride with me, even if it is a little slower than my usual affairs. Who knew I wanted plot to be as important as lemons eh? I promise it will be worth your while.

Enjoy this little outing with CH's characters.

Merick

Part 6

The scent of her body remained in my bed, and as I woke it flooded my senses. As exhausted as I had been, she had slept soundly. Her presence beside me had been comforting, keeping my angry emotions from overwhelming my thoughts. And though I knew that now with the setting of the sun that I would have to deal with the circumstances that had brought her to me, I lingered beside her for a few minutes longer, deliberately breathing in the sweet smell of her, and the scent of her blood, hearing her pulse pound in my ears in the silence of the room.

There was something about her blood, not that I wanted to say that was what had first drawn me to notice her, because I believed it was more than just the lust to taste her. It was something else that made her so special, besides the telepathy, and her stubborn self-confidence, and her loyalty, and her beauty. I reached out to her still sleeping form and ran two fingers lightly down the side of her face, curving around her chin and just onto the upper part of her arm, the one not curled under her chest, wrapped under the quilts. She trembled, and then wrapped her fingers over my side, under the sheet, curving them around my ribs without opening her eyes. I hoped just then that I could have become part of whatever dream was occupying her thoughts. I brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. Her hand slid down, to come to rest just at the small of my back as she drew her body closer to mine, and she moaned just softly into her pillow. I couldn't help but drop my fangs; the beginnings of my arousal were instinctual.

Her eyelids began to flutter and she began slowly taking in the sight of where she was, and who she was with, but instead of being frightened, which I could not have blamed her for feeling, she smiled at me.

"Good Evening Sookie."

"Good Evening." She came to the transposition of human greetings fluidly. I wondered if any of that was from a practice her memory might have forgotten but that her mind retained. I didn't want to think about the time she had spent with Bill Compton, but his part in her life was in the back of my mind too. And I knew that at some point, unless we restored her memory quickly, that she would ask me those kinds of things, and that I would have to tell her about how she had come to be a part of the Vampire world. I wasn't looking forward to that conversation, but I was going to make damn sure that when we had it she knew the whole truth of what Bill had done to her. Maybe it was petty, so sue me. I was also going to make sure she knew as many good things about my nature as she could. Of course, always present in my mind was the fact that I had retained nothing from my time in her position. So it might not matter what kind of conversations we had; they might all be lost too. 'Damned if I do, and damned if I don't' came to mind quickly. I tried to push the feelings away.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I did. Thank you for letting me stay here with you. I know you must think I'm very silly, a grown woman afraid to be by herself."

"No, I don't think you're silly. I actually know a great deal about what it feels like to be alone."

"How old are you Eric? Can I ask you that?"

"I'm just over a thousand years old."

"Wow." Her innocence was so charming. "Can I see your fangs?"

I smiled broadly.

"Wow. Have you ever bitten me?"

"I have tasted your blood, yes."

"Why?"

"You were," I paused, hesitant to frighten her any more than the circumstances already had, but I knew I had to be truthful, she trusted me. "You were poisoned, I was helping to heal you."

"I've led a pretty exciting life for a waitress haven't I? Was I a bad person, that all these things happened to me Eric?"

"No, not at all. You're a really good person Sookie; maybe too good. People have used you for their own purposes, and that has drawn you into danger."

"Did you?" A fair question on her part, even as she was lying in my bed, hand still on my skin.

"You have worked for me before, and that has led you into danger, but never by my design. You were always so generous to offer your help to me. I probably should have refused it, but it was always hard to say no to you Sookie." My mind was filled with the memories of her standing with Godric. She had been with him when I could not. That favor alone had put me in her debt for a lifetime. "You have done me a great many favors Sookie." I assured her.

I wanted so much at that moment to reach out and touch her face once again. The memory of her with Godric roused strong emotions with me. The way that she had come to me after, to comfort me when I was at my worst; her soul was so pure. I wanted to kiss her, and I wanted to make love to her, remembering her tenderness. I knew I was staring at her, and the blush that rose to her cheek told me that my gaze was embarrassing her.

"Why don't you go and wash up first Sookie?" I only had one bathroom in my suites, it had only ever been me down there before, and I hadn't needed another.

"It's okay Eric, this is your house. You should get first chance at the hot water."

"Well it's just that I'm not wearing any clothes right now Sookie."

The blush turned to a bright red. "You mean? All night? I've been?"

I laughed at her, loving her stuttering. I nodded. She flew out of bed, apologizing. I heard the water go on and only then did I rise, wrapping myself in a robe and going upstairs to where I heard Pam also starting to move about.

She met me at the top of the stairs with a hanger in one hand, holding up a wrap around dress, and sandals in the other.

"I knew you'd forget she'd need something to wear." She thrust the clothing towards me. Her tone of voice was infuriatingly superior.

"Well thank you Pam."

"She going to be here long then?"

"As long as it takes. Is that going to be a problem?"

"Am I going to need ear plugs for you two?"

"I'm not having sex with her Pam. I'm trying to protect her." I felt a trifle peeved that she thought I was taking advantage of Sookie. Of course, Pam had known me a long time, and selfish physical pleasure had been a part of my nature most of that time. But I shouldn't say selfish, I have always ensured that my partners were satisfied.

"Sure." She nodded, and turned on her heel. "I'll be at the club if you need me." I could see that Pam wasn't thrilled about the arrangement. Neither of us made it a point to have 'visitors' at the house, sort of an unspoken arrangement between us. But Sookie was different than a one-night stand, quite different. Pam was just probably being Pam and I let it go, I didn't have time to worry about her either. At least until she yelled from upstairs,

"And Demons in the house too Eric?"

Apparently the scent of my visitors also offended her delicate sensibilites. Ah well, she could light some candles.

I left the dress out on the couch for Sookie, and added a bowl of cut up fruit; a glass of juice and some of the Oreo cookies the girls had left. Perhaps not a balanced meal, but I'd get her more protein when we went out. I had a bit of a plan in mind, one that I worked on in the shower while she dressed and ate.

Diantha met us at Fangtasia, Sookie had agreed to me calling her to keep her company while I took the pouch of ash to an acquaintance. Sookie had chosen the semi-demon over the Voodoo practitioner and I left them eating hamburgers and French fries, with careful instructions to Diantha to watch what she said, so as not to upset Sookie.

Papa B, as he liked to be called, had actually sought me out years earlier. He was an old man back then, and had gained even more creases in his face, and shuffles in his walk since then. He had a storefront in New Orleans, off Bourbon Street, and far back from the tourists. The remedies and items he sold were for true practitioners and believers, not visitors looking for souvenirs. He had come to see me, at the club, after making an appointment, as I recalled, unlike my darling Sookie. It seemed that a former employee had cursed a relative of his, as he told it. The curse had been particularly evil, cast by a very old mambo, and required a very special potion to dissolve it, the blood of the undead, taken in a very specific way. So, as he could not simply buy V on the street, he came to me.

After listening to his story, and his offer, I gave him the blood as he requested. I watched as he added it to a small phial, and watched as the subsequent ingredients that he added to it first curdled and then burned it. It was quite educational, and demonstrated his prowess to me. I had known then that having him as an ally would some day be useful. Today was that day.

"Brother Eric." He had greeted me in that way since our first meeting, I had taken the courtesy of calling ahead as well. I stepped past the beaded curtain in to his office at the back of the shop, drawing stares from the Hounsi women who were working behind the counter. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"I find myself in need of your expertise Papa B. I am hoping that you can tell me what this is?" I pulled the still unopened pouch from the inside pocket of my jacket. I warned him that I did not know what it had been used for, or if it still held the spell that had afflicted Sookie; if it was even connected to her amnesia.

He smiled a grin of mostly gums, so different that Diantha and Gladiola, or even myself. But it didn't make him look any less capable funnily enough. He took the pouch from me, sniffed it, and shook it, also without opening it. Then took a cup from the counter behind himself and poured out a circle of salt on the black tablecloth. He put the pouch in the center on the circle, and to its left he put a red candle, which he lit with a wooden match. Only after the flame was well settled did he pour out the contents. It was my first view of them as well.

What the girls had called ash was more of a mixture of dust, dirt and ash, and as Papa B poked a finger through it I could see larger pieces, like flakes. He made several odd noises under his breath. Then he looked at me again.

"And you say the person who had this around her house has been robbed of her memories?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm." He picked up some of the matter and rubbed it between his wrinkled fingertips. "Not nice at all Brother Eric."

"What is it?"

"Grave soil, human bone, and ash from valerian, poppy and skullcap herbs. Blood too, smells like a wolf, but not a wolf?" He smiled at me, he knew about Werewolves but wasn't about to say it out loud.

"Bloody hell." I whispered. "Did this powder cause her to lose her memories?"

"Didn't help." He shook his head. "Don't know if it did the whole deed, but would have made your friend sleep, and made her vulnerable."

"So they could have used this to render her unconscious?"

"Most certainly."

"Is there anything you can do to help my friend Papa B?"

"The witch who cast the spell will likely have to remove it."

I was afraid that he was going to say something like that.

"But let me see what I can do Brother Eric. Papa B still knows a thing or two about hexes and how to find their makers. You bring your lady to see me in a few days. Maybe I can find something to help her, or maybe the Loa will come to her and help her gros bon ange find its way again."

It was something, and I thanked Papa B for his help. Dropping my fangs I scratched a fingertip and let the blood drip onto a white cloth I had brought with myself. I left it on the table and he grinned at me, nodding his head again. It was a fair payment, and I would have gladly given him more, would give him more when I brought Sookie back. I left the shop, feeling just a little better than when I had come in. I flew back to Fangtasia to pick up Sookie, and my car.