Chapter 9

Sookie washed her face and brushed her hair in the small bathroom in Eric's office. There was a shower and fresh towels, but there didn't seem to be much point in taking a shower when she didn't have anything to wear except the clothes she'd slept in. It was well past noon and she didn't have to work at Merlotte's that night so she figured she had about eight hours to drive home, get cleaned up and fed, and take care of some chores before returning to Fangtasia by sunset.

She was determined to get back to the club before Eric woke up so he couldn't spend one unsupervised moment with Hope. Eric told her that his blood exchange with Hope wasn't sexy, and Sookie told him she believed him. And she did believe him – sort of. She believed that he believed the new bond wasn't sexy. She also believed that deep down inside, Eric was still a man, and that when it came to women, men were stupid.

She smoothed out her clothes as best she good and then grabbed her purse. There was only one more thing to do and she could be on her way. She went into Eric's file cabinet to get the spare key that he kept in an unmarked manila envelope filed under "S" for "spare key". (Eric believed in the K.I.S.S. system of business filing – Keep It Simple, Stupid.) The envelope was there. The key, however, was not.

Shit!

There were three vampires sleeping at the club, so she couldn't very well leave without locking the door behind her. Sookie rapidly clicked through her mental list of potential key-carrying saviors: the cleaning crew had already come and gone, Eric hadn't yet found a trusty day person to replace Bobby, and the human staff wouldn't arrive for their shift until five o'clock.

Wait. Hope was here. Hope could lock the door behind her. Sookie punched the security code into the cellar door lock and bounded down the stairs to Pam's private love lounge. She didn't take any pains to be quiet. The vampires could (and actually once did) sleep through a bomb, and waking up Hope was really the point anyway.

She knocked on the door. "Hope?"

No answer.

She knocked again.

Still no answer.

She opened the door, and in the dim red glow of the security lighting that filtered in from the hall, she could see Bill Compton resting in peace. Alone.

So that's where the key went! Sookie stomped up the stairs, cursing Hope every step of the way. The sneaky brunette, blood-sucking, bond-stealing trespasser was out and about enjoying her day while Sookie was stuck in a closed down vampire bar with nothing to eat for breakfast but soda pop and cocktail olives.

Sookie flopped into Eric's "Master of His Domain" throne in the middle of the bar and settled in for a good sulk. That was entertaining for about five minutes.

Then she thought she'd give the dancer's pole a whirl. After about half a dozen attempts she thanked her lucky stars that she didn't have an audience, proclaimed pole dancing harder than it looked, and came away from the entire experience with a new-found, grudging respect for Eric's dancers.

That passed another ten minutes.

She settled back into Eric's chair and listened to the symphony that was her stomach growling.

Those cocktail olives were starting to look good.

Sookie had worked herself up into a good froth of self-righteous anger when she heard a key turning in the lock of the club door. She reached out with her mind and confirmed that it was Hope, who felt just as easy breezy as you please, at least in comparison to the storm clouds that had formed in Sookie's mind. Sookie stood with her hands on her hips and waited for Hope to come through the door.

"I have a bone to pick with you."

To Sookie's immense irritation, Hope laughed. "I figured you would. Can I put all this stuff down first?" Hope had a cup-carrier with two Starbucks cups in it and a sack of something that smelled wonderful. She put them on the table and then unloaded the interesting collection of items that were slung across her back. There were two swords in ancient looking scabbards, a quiver of arrows, and an enormous modern hard plastic case, similar to one that a musical instrument would be packed in.

"What are those?" Sookie asked.

"Beignets and café au lait," Hope answered. She opened the plastic case and took out a very high tech bow. In one graceful motion, Hope pulled back on the bowstring and sited an imaginary target. Satisfied with the condition of the bow, she placed it back in the case with almost loving care and smiled at Sookie. "And weapons."

"Oh." Sookie studied the arsenal Hope had lugged in. Sharp objects changed the balance of power at the table somewhat. The scent of the beignets worked its magic on her senses and she peered into the sack. There had to be twenty doughnuts in there. "Are you expecting company?"

"No," said Hope, taking a seat at the table and sipping her coffee. "Moving at the speed of vamp burns a ton of calories. I have to eat a lot to keep weight on."

Great, one more reason to hate her. Sookie smiled the most insincere smile of her entire life, and when you considered that she was a telepath who worked in a bar, that was really saying something. "Thanks," she said, biting viciously into a beignet. Powdered sugar dusted her dress. This was not turning out to be a very good morning.

"So, what's on your mind?" asked Hope.

"I don't like this blood swapping between you and Eric," Sookie stated plainly.

"I didn't expect that you would," said Hope. "I'm not terribly fond of it myself."

"So then stop doing it. Find another vampire to suck on."

Hope got a real chuckle out of that. "If Godric had another child to 'suck on', I would certainly do you that courtesy, but he doesn't, so I guess we all have to live with this arrangement for the time being."

"No, we don't. You could bond with Godric's maker." Sookie gave Hope a look that said, Ha! You didn't think I knew about that, did you?

Hope abruptly lost her sense of humor. "That would be ill-advised."

"Oh, I don't think so," said Sookie, taking another bite of her doughnut. "I was thinking about it, and the way I see it, finding Godric's maker and bringing him here would kill two birds with one stone."

"No, having Finlo here would only kill one bird with one stone, and that bird would be Eric. Trust me, if you love Eric – and I think you do – having me 'suck on him' is your better option."

"Why would Godric's maker want to kill Eric? I know Godric and his maker had a falling out over Eric, but that was nine hundred years ago." Sookie gestured with her beignet for emphasis, "If this Finlo really wanted to kill Eric, wouldn't he have done it already?"

"No," said Hope. "Godric's offense almost destroyed Finlo and may have cost three of the seven brethren their lives. You've seen vampire justice. You know what the penalty for such an offense is."

"The stake," said Sookie.

"Exactly." Hope continued, "But Finlo loved Godric, despite what he'd done, and didn't want to lose a fourth child, so he spared Godric, but with the promise that one of Godric's children would pay the price for Godric's crime after Godric went to his final death."

"Eric is Godric's only child," Sookie said, more to herself than to Hope. There was a long pause where Hope didn't breathe, and then Sookie was awash with the other woman's emotions. A sense of sudden understanding and overwhelming sadness were rolling off Hope like waves. Sookie eyed her cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"Eric is the only vampire Godric ever created," said Hope.

"Yes, that's what I just said."

"No, it isn't," said Hope. "Not exactly."

"Just wait," Sookie waved her hands as if to erase the conversation. "None of this makes sense. Why would Godric kill himself if he knew his maker would kill Eric?"

Hope nodded. "I'd wondered the same thing, and it didn't make any sense to me at all until just now. Do you remember what Godric said in his letter to Eric? That he had to pass on to another realm to give Eric the tools he needed to face the Slaugh?"

"Yes, I remember," said Sookie.

"What if Finlo is the tool Eric needs? It all makes sense. Godric knew that Finlo would sense his death and eventually go to Eric. Finlo is the father of all vampires. He can call every vampire in existence to Bon Temps if he wants to. He can declare Eric king, and every vampire will have to swear fealty."

Sookie dropped back in her seat and stared blankly at Hope. This was a lot of information to process. Then, a thought occurred to her. "How will Finlo make Eric king if he kills him? Why won't Finlo just declare himself king?"

Hope shrugged. "If Finlo wished to rule, he would already be the king of all vampires. Perhaps a better question right now is, if Finlo can make Eric king with a word, why am I here?"

Sookie's eyes narrowed. "I don't really think that's a better question than 'why won't he kill Eric', but I'll bite. Why are you here?"

Hope folded her hands in front of her face and sat silently for a moment. "I thought Godric sent me to protect Eric and his vampires from Finlo, but after reading the letter…" She leaned her head back and blinked to avoid shedding tears. "The blood, the blood, the blood. Every day the blood. His blood. Godric's blood. And now his blood through Eric. The insistence on the bond. The swords…"

"These swords?" Sookie gestured to the two ancient swords on the table. "What about them?"

Hope unsheathed the larger of the two swords. Its wide blade gleamed even in the club's artificial lighting. It was made from two metals – iron and silver – that met in an intricate pattern down the center of the blade. The handle was inlaid with gold. Sookie could see that the sword was enormously heavy without picking it up.

"On the night of their making, each of Finlo's children was given a sword. This is the Seventh Sword," said Hope. It belonged to Udaan, Finlo's seventh child. Udaan fell in the first Slaugh war. He didn't create any children of his own, so Godric was able to obtain this sword for Eric."

Hope unsheathed the second sword. It was shorter and lighter than the first, and as plain as the other sword was ornate. Hope wrapped her fingers around the hilt and took a few experienced strokes. "This is the First Sword – Godric's sword. This sword, he left to me."

Sookie examined the two swords. Eric's was certainly more impressive, but she couldn't help but think that Eric would much rather have Godric's sword. She would not have believed that Godric would leave his sword to anyone except Eric, but a quick glimpse into Hope's mind confirmed that every word she'd spoken was the truth. Sookie posed her next question carefully. "Why did Godric leave his sword to you? Was it because of the size difference?"

"You know, that's what I thought when Godric first told me who was to get what. The big, pretty sword for the big pretty Viking, and the little plain sword, for little plain me. But now, I think he had something else in mind." Hope shook her head sadly. "These swords are not so much instruments of war as they are symbols of authority. Seven brothers, seven swords, seven bloodlines. When Godric left me this sword, it could be argued that he made me the ruler of his bloodline. You know better than anyone how serious vampires are about the rituals of exchanging blades."

Sookie couldn't argue with that. She had unknowingly handed a knife to Eric, and now the entire vampire world considered her his wife. Lord only knew what kind of commitment a whole giant sword would entail. Still, she had a pretty good idea how Eric would react to the news that Godric named Hope as the ruler of his bloodline, which is to say, the ruler of Eric.

"Eric will never stand for this."

"Yes, he will," said Hope. Her tone was flat and resigned. "Don't you see, Sookie? Godric didn't send me here to fight for Eric, and he certainly didn't send me here to rule over Eric. He sent me here to die in Eric's place."

Sookie gasped. "But you're not a vampire! Are you even…eligible…to stand in Eric's place?"

"That remains to be seen. It's true, I'm still human, for the most part. But the blood that flows through my veins is almost the oldest vampire blood on earth. Godric always thought it was crucial that I carry the blood, but not turn. Perhaps we'll learn why before…"

The image Sookie pulled from Hope's head was gruesome. "But I thought Godric loved you!"

"He did." Hope managed a small smile. "He just loved Eric more." She wiped a tear from her cheek, and stood up. Now composed, she spoke to Sookie. "Here's the key to the club. I need to get out of here and think things over. Will you lock these things in Eric's office for me, please?"

"Sure," Sookie answered, still shell-shocked from the events of the conversation. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Probably not," Hope answered with an ironic laugh.

"Before you go, can you tell me one thing?" said Sookie. "What was Godric's crime?"

Hope smiled sadly. "During the first war, Finlo and Eric were both captured by the Slaugh. When Godric had to choose who he would try to rescue first, he chose Eric."

Sookie watched silently as Hope left the bar. She slumped in her chair and absently bit into a beignet. "Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea. What a mess."

Author's Note:

True story. You know you've been spending too much time writing SVM fic when you see a Red Cross Blood Drive van, and your first thought is "meals on wheels". Enjoy the new chapter.