X.

Sam and I arrived at my house to find Octavia and Amelia sitting on the front porch along with several of their friends from the Shreveport coven. The front drive of the house was littered with cars but we parked there instead of around back, where it was even more crowded according to Sam. I smiled wanly at the witches on the porch. They rose and murmured politely to me and then moved out toward their cars. Amelia and Octavia followed us in through the front door and I entered my living room in stunned amazement. The house was a wreck, with chairs and folding chairs all over the place, while maps, notes, drawings, empty bottles, and crumb-laden plates were scattered over every possible surface. I walked over to look at a hole in the living room wall near the kitchen. I stared open mouthed into the hole, which was about five feet off the ground and which looked like something had broken out of the wall. It went clean through the plaster and wood and looked like it ran into the concrete. There was a bent iron reinforcement rod tossed on the couch. In spite of my being lightheaded, battered and exhausted I turned to Amelia, Octavia and Sam, pointing to the hole in the wall as if to say 'what gives?' with an exasperated look.

Amelia shook her head and put up her hands defensively. "Don't look at us. He's your boyfriend and we didn't think we were exactly in a good position to tell him to stop breaking your house right then, did we Sam?" She looked over at Sam.

Sam stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and shook his head. "Definitely not a point where we could step in. Sorry, Sookie."

I gave them both a dark look and went to glance at the dining room with the china cabinet, thinking I'd be rolling people's heads if anything had happened to Gran's porcelain. The dining room appeared unscathed and I saw that some kind soul had crowded some of the leaded crystal that had been in the living room display shelves into the cabinet to safeguard it.

I went back and looked at my living room wall. "Well, can you at least tell me what happened?" I asked them.

Sam looked sheepish about it but Amelia piped up "Eric and your grandfather had an argument about a few things."

I glanced down at the iron rod on the couch and, wide-eyed, got the picture. I sat down in the armchair, feeling suddenly really dizzy. Eric had taken iron to my great-grandfather? I hadn't seen Niall there at the battle but I knew that he had to have provided all those fairies guarding the witches outside the compound. Where had he been? Had they fought about anything other than just the obvious situation? Had he hurt Niall?

Octavia came out of the kitchen and pressed a can of soda pop into my hand. "You should have some sugar. I'll try to make you something light to eat. Chicken noodle soup, okay? I'm defrosting the broth. Amelia, maybe when she's done with this, you can help her shower. Sam, if you're staying for a while, maybe we can get some of this sorted" she said waving toward the living room mess, "while the soup is cooking."

Sam nodded in agreement and started collecting bottles right away. I felt terrible about that.

"No, Sam. Please stop. Everyone did so much to help me and to stop what was going on. This can all wait. Please don't. Just rest. Really. You all look exhausted. Everybody should just rest."

Sam looked at me and shook his head. "I'm tired but you're tired and beaten up. I win." He went on picking up bottles on his individual fingers and carried them out to the kitchen.

"It's 4 am in the morning Sam. You need to stop, or I'll go to work tomorrow." Now that one seemed to give him pause for thought… He gave me a look but stood out in the kitchen for a bit chatting with Octavia.

After finishing the soda, Amelia packed me off to the bedroom and helped steady me while I undressed, showered, and changed into a nightgown and bathrobe. She seemed edgy looking over how bruised I was, not just on my face but on my back, arms, throat and she seemed like she was looking me over for other things. At first I thought it was the burns on my arm that had her worried. Finally, I got it.

"I wasn't raped, Amelia. I was starting to think I definitely was going to be, right before they got there, though…"

She looked so relieved. "Claudine and I were so worried. I don't even want to imagine what Eric and Niall were thinking about it… It sounds like this fairy was a really nasty piece of work. Claudine said he is very sadistic. That vampire Thalia hates him like you can't imagine. Pam told me she had never seen her interested in anything as much as she was interested in participating in killing him."

I couldn't stop myself from shuddering remembering him. Would I ever forget his face? The way he had looked at me right before Quinn died, his face so close to mine. The way he held me, the look in his eyes and the sound of his voice… Dead, I told myself. He's dead and gone.

Amelia looked at me cowering, lost in my memories and gently touched my face. My eyes filled with tears. She hugged me for several minutes.

I went back to the kitchen and sat with Amelia, Octavia and Sam and had some homemade chicken noodle soup with peas and carrots. It was like ambrosia.

As I passed by the refrigerator door on my way back to the bedroom, I noticed that a new addendum had been made on my word, 'accord', while I had been missing. Eric had noted that he was glad I was using possessive pronouns. He had made the note while I was gone, as if he was sure of my safe return, I thought to myself. Well, I was never going to complain about them arranging for my protection again. And I was going to apologize to Bill, who had watched over me steadfastly while awake, in spite of all my surly complaints.


I was tucked into bed by 5 am. I wanted to sleep with the light left on. I looked around my room, thinking about how fairies had so easily taken me away. Through all the wards, in spite of the iron in the walls, it had just been easy for them. They were so powerful, I thought to myself, so terrifyingly powerful. Even a half-fairy. I hadn't been afraid of the dark since I was a child, but I didn't feel foolish leaving the light on, since I felt I had seen real darkness, face to face.

My mind wouldn't settle down. I wondered if the vampires who fought Dieter's group were all okay. Even without the fairies' magic, some of the Louisiana vampires were small and many of them were too young, I realized, to have ever seen the someone like Dieter or Helga. Perhaps the element of surprise, not so much that the attack occurred, since Dieter had provoked it, but that their magic had been depleted, gave the vampires the advantage. The Fae were fighting without their usual abilities, unlike the vampires. I thought about the alliance between the Shreveport group of vampires, witches, the Brigant Fae, Alcide and Sam. Maybe there was a hope for peace between all of them, I thought. For every hateful member of a race like Dieter, there were examples of people trying to do the right or honorable thing. Even Preston had kept his word and had come back to try to aid them in rescuing me and getting rid of Dieter. I wondered if Dermot was still alive and what Eric had done with him if he was. How could a man hate his own father so?

I dozed off after about fifteen minutes and then a short time later felt myself being lifted away slightly from the pillows. Eric slipped in place behind me, surrounding me with his legs and arms. He had changed clothes and was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. I rolled my head to the side, pressing my cheek into Eric's chest. He examined my wrist and made a sound of disgust and then started rubbing his blood very gently into the burns. He tipped my head forward and did the same with the laceration on my scalp. When he was done he bit his wrist and pressed it against my lips. I took a bit. I was afraid to have too much on the heels of having had his blood only a few days before. He kissed my head and pressed his face against it while I sucked on his wrist and I pressed back into him. Even though I was sleepy, I felt aroused and he was getting aroused, and so he drew his wrist away. He finally spoke,

"No, not happening... You're too weak and I'm still too hyped up. I'd end up hurting you. I'll stay until you fall asleep and then I'll go to the hidey-hole," he whispered softly. "I think it will drive Octavia from the house, however," he said with a chuckle. Once his wrist had healed, he held my hands in his and had wrapped my arms with his across my chest and waist. He was silent, just pressing his face into my damp hair. Tears just started rolling down my cheeks.

"I love you. I just wanted to tell you, before anything else could possibly happen. I love you." I said softly.

"It was the sword. I saw how you looked at me when I stood there with that sword, Lover. I should have gotten into a good fight with it weeks ago. I could have broken down your resolve so much sooner. Women always love men with swords. A thousand years and it's still the same."

"Eric!" I hissed and then I had to laugh even though I was still crying.

He chuckled then whispered to me softly, "Sookie , I've known since Rhodes…"

I nodded, understanding. The bond. But it wasn't the same to feel something as to say it. To be willing to own what you feel enough to give voice to it. "I just needed to say it out loud. To have you hear the words. To give them voice."

He kissed my bare shoulder. He paused a moment and then said, almost as if he couldn't believe he was saying it, "I love you, I am yours."

He held me tight in his arms and I just cried my heart out. "Shhhh. You're safe. You're safe now. Just rest my Love, rest…"

To be continued- how they did it, Niall, and what about that bond…