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I don't own these characters, but I sure love that they came to play in my yard.
Part 19
If it had been anyone else I would have ignored the phone until it quieted, or simply crushed it to shut it up, but this was a special ring tone, and the person who was calling, never, ever called 'just to chat'. No, Pam only called when there was a serious emergency, and by serious, I meant absolutely dire, something that even her capable hands couldn't manage. I sighed, a human habit that I still hadn't been able to put aside, even after a thousand years; funny what sticks with you isn't it? But I just could not tear my gaze away from Sookie's blue eyes, even as the phone rang twice more.
"You should probably answer that Eric." Her voice pulled me back to the reality of the situation.
Resigned, I reached into the breast pocket of my jacket, and took out the annoying little box, snapping it open to bring it to life. At the same time I twined my fingers into Sookie's, because I was not about to let her run away from me again.
"This had better be good Pam." I practically growled it into the phone, but of course I knew it would be, or rather, that it would be bad, and important.
"You need to come back to the club. Now." Her voice was tense, peppered with an anger that set my senses on alert.
"Why?" I felt the moment I had been waiting so long for slipping away from me.
"Bill Compton is here." Bloody, fucking hell. "He insists on seeing you, and Sookie."
"Can't you just tell him I'm not there and that he should leave?"
"Oh thanks Eric, I never thought of that." The sarcasm nearly dripped through the wireless connection.
"Tell him I'll see him later Pam."
"He says that he'll see you both tonight, now, or he'll burn the club to the ground."
Oh I desperately wanted to ask her to just kill him there and be done with him. She might not have been as old as Bill, but she had me as her sire, and my thousand years, plus Godric's two thousand which gave her a blood advantage that Bill Compton would never have. Of course, I couldn't just ask her to do that over the phone, not with Sookie sitting right beside me. And besides that unfortunate proximity, if I had him killed before I could drag the information out of him, I might never know what role, if any, he had played in Sookie's curse. I swore out loud, in the ancient tongue I had taught Pam, I could almost hear her nod in agreement with my assessment of the situation.
"Tell him we'll be there shortly, but as to whether or not he sees Sookie, that decision is hers alone." I snapped the phone shut before I could hear any more bad news. Sookie was staring at me, lips just parted, and again I sighed. The moment was lost. I looked around me at the tombs, and the dust, and the cold stone. Perhaps a graveyard was not the place to profess one's love anyways, not that I was about to credit anyone, especially Bill Compton, with saving me from a mistake. I supposed I would never know.
"Who am I supposed to see Eric?"
Again I sighed, I had known that the moment would come eventually when we would have to confront him, but it didn't make it any easier to digest.
"Bill Compton, but only if you agree Sookie. He's at Fangtasia, waiting for us to return."
"You don't want me to se him?"
"What I want is immaterial Sookie. The choice is yours."
"Do you think seeing him may bring back more of my memories?"
"I don't know Sookie. I just don't want him to be able to hurt you again."
"Will you stay with me?"
Thank the gods she had asked, not that I'd had any intention of leaving her alone with him, but I didn't want her to think that I didn't trust her, or that I thought she was weak. It would make it a lot easier if she wanted me present. And I would have that ammunition against Compton when he tried to order me out. Not that he could really order me to do anything mind you.
"I will never leave your side Sookie."
"Then I'll see him."
And if he tries to hurt you, I thought to myself, I will kill him, information or no information.
I held her to my chest for a few moments after we landed in the back parking lot of Fangtasia. There were no cars there that night, but it was still early, relatively speaking for Vampires and their fans. There was a spot, where I'd purposely disabled the overhead lighting, just so I had a shadow to materialize in. We didn't make a habit of letting humans see that some of us could fly. Not that I'd cared a wit about it back in New Orleans. I kissed her forehead, drinking in the clean scent of her hair again. I could have spent hours there, not doing anything else but holding her, and for her part, she made no move to pull away from me, which made me indescribably happy; and not just because it would be my scent all over her body when Bill saw her. I lamented the fact that I couldn't just make love to her there so he'd have had to smell that too, but that was selfish, as enticing as the notion was.
I could kiss her though, and I took advantage of that opportunity with some gusto, roughly forcing her lips apart with my own. I felt her mind reach out with a wash of butterflies, and I felt her body tremble in my arms as my fangs dropped against her tongue, cutting it. The blood taste made me clutch at her harder, and I loved that she yielded herself to me just then. I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved her independent spirit, the one that challenged me at most turns when no one else dared do so, but at times, I just wanted to feel her as mine, mine to care for and protect, at her wish. And just then I wanted her as dependent on me as I was on her. Not that I would admit that to anyone but myself.
"Do we have to go inside Eric?" Those blue eyes drew me in again, like jewels, more precious than anything I had even seen given in tribute to my father in the great hall. And I had seen so many precious things there; but none so precious as the woman in my arms whose mind opened to me in her fear, and her innate curiosity.
I wanted to say no, but I knew we would have to face him eventually, and better on my territory and on my terms, and together. I frowned, which was hard to do with the taste of her still on my tongue, and nodded. She screwed up the immeasurable courage I knew she had, and put on the brave face I had so recently seen in Papa B's and we went inside, her clutching my hand so hard it would have hurt me had I been mortal.
I had informed Pam of our arrival at almost the moment we had touched down; that was a definite advantage of having my child so close to me, that I could send her my thoughts, or call for her. And Pam was well practiced in receiving them, and still remaining unreadable. She knew to wait until Sookie and I were well set in the office, before informing Bill of our presence, I would make him come to me, not the other way around. I was counting on the fact that he could no longer sense her, whether by design of the curse, or of my blood.
We were as far away from the door as possible, with Sookie mostly hidden behind me, as it crashed open. It certainly wasn't the first time I'd had to repair the hinges, but I remained calm, outwardly at least, as Bill Compton made his entrance. I felt and heard Sookie shriek at the sudden upset, but I held her steady.
"Sookie?" His voice wasn't one of concern at seeing a friend thought lost, or even surprise at her circumstances, or relief that she was safe. No, his voice betrayed an annoyance, I thought directed mostly at me for my presence, and my inconsiderate keeping of his former lover away from him. And there was anger in it, as if to ask 'what the hell are you doing with him.' Which, funnily enough, became a question very shortly thereafter, expressed, perhaps not as succinctly as I have put it.
"Bill?" Her voice was shaky, I hated him for doing that to her. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, I could see the uncertainty in her face, and so could Bill and his gaze turned immediately to me, as did the accusatory words.
"What have you done to her Eric!" His fangs dropped as did my own, and both of us curled lips back in an innate, predatory scowl that might have seen us leap for each other, to tear out throats, but for the presence of the woman we both professed to love in our hearts. It was her cries that held us back.
"Stop it!" She yelled it at us both, but it was my hand she continued to hold. The satisfaction in that act was more than I can express. I will admit to directing a grin towards Bill, I thought I was entitled to at least that, seeing as he had broken my office door. We held fast.
"If you have hurt her Eric I will kill you." He snarled at me, he really had no idea how to play the game. But I left him to it.
"He hasn't hurt me Bill, just the opposite. He has been protecting me."
"Protecting you?" The indignation was raw in his words. "Protecting you from what?"
"I don't know exactly." Sookie hung her head, perhaps realizing how ridiculous her answer must have seemed to him.
"I don't understand Sookie. Why would you come to Eric Northman to protect you? If anything, he is the one you should be protected from. You know that I would die for you Sookie."
"No Bill, I don't know that." He took the answer as an insult, when of course, he should not have.
"I know that I have lost your trust Sookie, but I still love you, I will always love you." He took a few steps towards her, looking as though he wanted to reach out to touch her, but she shied away, back towards me. "Do you not remember the times I have come to your aid, even in the sunlight itself?"
"No Bill, I'm sorry, I don't."
His angry gaze turned back to me. "I don't understand."
"Sookie has been the victim of some type of spell, she has lost all memory of who she is." I answered the question for her; sensing that need from her.
"And she came to you for protection?"
"Someone left her here for me to find Bill. But I am protecting her, yes."
"This is not right Sookie. You should not be here with him, it is likely he who has commissioned this spell, so that you will forget the terrible things he has done to you, so that he will be able to convince you of his grace, and use you for his own purposes." I felt her hand tighten around mine again. I offered no retort, allowing Bill to spool out enough rope to hang himself with quite efficiently.
"What kind of lies has he told you about me?" I suppose I couldn't blame him for taking the chance, now that he knew that Sookie had no memories of either of us. Had I been a lesser, more desperate man I might have done the same. Or perhaps not. Sookie also remained silent.
"I imagine he has told you that I sought you out at the behest of my Queen, that I never loved you but only deceived you for my own gains. He has probably told you that I abandoned you for my maker, when in truth I could not break her hold on me, and wanted desperately to come to you. He has probably told you that it was I who put your life in jeopardy for my own selfishness when the truth was that I was a puppet, and that what I did was only to protect you."
"He has told me nothing of you Bill, it is perhaps the one thing he has denied me when I have questioned him about my life."
Bill's eyes grew wide at the admission and he stared back and forth between us, not believing that I had not taken the chance to defame his character in front of her.
"And what has he told you of himself that you cling to him so readily?" Now he was angry. "Has he told you how his actions have nearly killed you on three separate occasions? Has he told you how he tricked you into taking his blood so that he could keep track of you?"
Only then did her small voice, calmer than I expected it to be, answer him. I stood in awe of her response.
"He has told me everything." Bill did not seem convinced. "I know that I put myself in dangerous situations at his request, but he could not have known that the betrayal of others would put me in danger." I believed that she referred to LongShadow revealed as a thief by her inquires, and Hugo, Isabel's human lover who had turned to the fellowship when she refused to turn him. I was surprised that she knew as many details as she seemed to, but I left that curiosity for later exploration. "But still I am here, and not dead, whatever the full truth of the matters. I know that at Godric's home, when the man blew himself up, with the silver IED. Eric stepped in front of me, to shield me from the blast."
"And then he lied to you about the extent of his injuries, so that you would try to help him."
"Yes, he lied to me, and he has sincerely apologized for that action. And I have accepted that apology."
"He almost let the King of Mississippi drain you so that he could walk out into the sun." Bill was grasping, I could see the noose tightening.
"Things went awry. They were never supposed to be like that Bill."
His laugh was frightening. "Things always seem to go awry around Eric Northman, he cares for no one but himself."
"You forget, Eric walked out into the sun first, to save all of us Bill."
"If only you had died in that concrete Eric! I should have waited around till it hardened just to make sure!" He reached out for Sookie, grasping her upper arm roughly, meaning to drag her away from me by force. I let my grip on her loosen, only because I knew that it would either be her hand or her arm that broke if I did not.
"Let go of me!" She screamed at him, and she flung her other hand, the one so recently curled into mine, against his chest with a roar that would have done a shield maiden proud. From that contact I saw a great burst of light, something that blinded me for a split second, and threw Bill Compton across the room.
"What do you mean that you wish he had died in the concrete?" She hurled at him.
He stared at me, knowing his mistake finally, and regretting it most sincerely. Sookie turned her face to me.
"What does he mean Eric?"
"We went to dispose of the King, sealing him in the concrete foundation of a building." I watched her shudder, and I felt the revulsion in her mind at our act, but I could not dwell on it then. "Once the king was taken care of Bill snapped silver handcuffs on me and pushed me into another mould, directing the concrete on me while I was too weak to resist. He left me to be entombed there. Pam pulled me free."
The venom in her eyes was bright as she glared at him. He tried to hold her gaze, but I could see that it was too much for him.
"I may not have my memories but I can see the truth of you Bill Compton. Eric may not have been careful with my life, and he may have even tricked me into taking his blood, but he never, ever set out to do me harm! He is a hundred times the man you will ever be; at least he gave me the truth of his mistakes, he practically begged me to hear them when I dismissed the actions. And he never said anything about the real truth behind your actions Bill, because he didn't want to hurt me, and because he didn't need to use your deception to make himself look the bigger man in my eyes! He may not be perfect, but he has never tried to deceive me into loving him!"
"Sookie." I could have felt sorry for him, but for the fact I had been so recently reminded of that concrete bath.
"Get out of here Bill Compton, don't come near me again!"
He stumbled to his feet.
"What shall I tell Jessica?" She looked at me for an explanation.
"His child," I offered, "Your friend."
"Tell her the truth! Tell her what you did to me!" She calmed herself just then with an admirable act of control. "Tell her that I wish I could remember her, because I could use a friend right now."
"Please Sookie? My love for you was always honest."
"Go away Bill, just leave me alone, please." She pulled back into my arms, the tears beginning to form in her eyes again. "Did you do this to me? Did you take all this away from me Bill? Tell me the truth. Was it your way of absolving yourself, thinking that if I could not remember that your sins would be moot?"
"No Sookie. I would never do this to you. You must believe me."
Sadly, I believed him. Bill was too methodical in his plans and plots, he would never have commissioned a spell that could have gone so badly, that would have put Sookie in my arms rather than his. Even if he hadn't known about her feelings towards me, he would never have taken the chance. He was not innocent, but I began to believe that he had not been involved.
I gently guided Sookie to the couch, and only then let her leave the circle of my arms as I stood to face Bill.
"If I ever see you around Fangtasia again Bill, with so much as a candle in your hand, I will kill you." I don't know if Sookie had heard me, she might have. But just then I had to be Eric Northman, the Sheriff of Area five, and her protector. And I needed her to see my strength.
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