A/N: Helloooo my lovelies. Another uber long chapter that had to be split up, so yes, I ended on a cliffie but the next chapter should be close behind. If you guys haven't noticed, my pattern for posting is usually concentrated on weekends and Wednesdays. So, just a little heads up, if you wanted it. Oh, extra big Viking smooch for SVMlover1378 and villanh who pointed out I used Sookie's name, versus Suzie in Eric's convo with her. I knew I was going to do that, at some point! You guys are so awesome (and patient) about understanding when I screw something up. I try to keep the reigns tight on my wild horse of a brain, but it's a struggle. lol I really struggled with this chapter and I don't want to spoil, but you'll know why when you read it. As always, I love you and thank you all so much for the reviews and love back. Pardon any grammar or spelling, or Sookie/Suzie eff up; no beta. I do not own these crazy lovable characters, C Harris does, lucky hookah. *does the hokey pokey out of room with Santa hat on* (off to try to get some shopping done)

The Procurer

Ch. 9

"By the way, you do look lovely. I only wish I had been able to see what lies underneath,"

I harrumphed at him. "Moving right along. Where do you want me to work?"

"You do realize you aren't obligated to stay tonight? You have done more than enough work today. You've accomplished a lot."

"Yes, thanks, but I want to see how it all fits together. I'm just like that. I like to see from A, how you get to Z and the like. And I'm not afraid to work. Besides, this is fun."

"I'm glad to hear you think so. I feel the same. I have fun around you, and Pam has taken a liking to you, more than I've ever seen her have-when there's no sex involved."

"Ick. Oops, sorry. No offense. I definitely have nothing against who a person is attracted to. I have a male cousin who prefers men. I just meant, I have no persuasion for women."

"I see. Do you have a persuasion for men?"

"I guess." I felt my cheeks get pink. I didn't like where this was headed.

"You guess? You don't know?"

"Yes. I am attracted to men. Happy? I just don't have a lot of experience with-you know what? We aren't having this talk right now. Where did you say you want me to get started? I could go to the door with Pam." I was babbling, my voice higher than it usually was. A look of smugness-no, more like extreme satisfaction crossed his face for a split second, then he surprised me by getting serious.

"Yes, I think Pam would like that. We could have you do that, till you get bored of it." What no merciless teasing about my slip up of being inexperienced? Hmm, maybe he needed Pam around, to goad me. Or maybe he would tell her and they could gang up on me later.

We stopped at a chair I hadn't seen before, a throne. It was such a gaudy example of a throne.

"Oh, lord, don't tell me..."

"Oh yes, Miss Stackhouse. This is where I sit to enthrall the masses."

I bent over in laughter, "It's awful."

"I know, it's great, right?"

"How did I not see this last night?"

"Would you like the mysterious, fake answer for the patrons or the real one?"

"The real one please."

"It was being reupholstered."

I doubled over again. "Was the king's crushed velvet butt seat wearing out?"

He looked a little indignant. "A little." He flicked invisible lint off his shirt. "And I had it filled with memory foam."

Now I had tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. I held one hand on my belly and one hand in the air to signal I could take no more. He started to give in to my laughter with his own, when a single tear slipped out of my eye and down my cheek. Without a second for me to react, he reached out, grabbed the tear with his finger and popped it in his mouth. Weird.

But even weirder was the look on his face after he did it. A myriad of emotions displayed across his face in a flash. Hunger, recognition, anger, doubt, then fury, then a cold, emotionless stare as he looked me up and down as if he'd never seen me before. His fangs snapped down. Uhm, okay.

"You alright? I've never seen anyone taste tears before, did mine poison you?" I tried to joke.

"In more ways than you know, Miss Stackhouse." He practically spit the words out at me, grabbed my arm, very tightly and dragged me in four wide steps back to his office. He slammed the door so hard I was surprised it didn't split, locked it, and threw me down on the couch.

"Eric! what the hell?" I rubbed my wrist where he'd left a mark. "What exactly did I do that has you so pissed off, tossing me around like a rag doll?"

He said nothing, just paced back and forth. Several minutes ticked by. He would occasionally look at me with such hatred, I began to become more and more afraid, wishing I had my dagger, or at least the chain on me. Dammit-why had I allowed myself to become so complacent and trusting? They were nice, but I knew better than to let my guard down. I felt embarrassed. What would Kvelin say? Probably that I'm an idiot for letting my defenses down completely.

He stopped pacing for two seconds to pull his phone out and send out a text. Great. Was Pam coming in and they were going to lock me in the basement and punish me like they had Compton? Or just tie me up and drain me? I could always pop out of here if I had to, but I didn't want to abort this mission unless there was truly no hope. Since I wasn't restrained, or dead yet, there was still a chance I could talk to him. A few minutes later and he was still pacing and he still said nothing. I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on in his mind. I wasn't just going to sit here in silence.

"Okay, we've established you're sudden hatred of me. And while your method of wearing a hole in the floor in silence is super effective at communication, I need a more direct approach. Should I leave and come back when you're ready?"

I started to get up but found myself pinned back against the couch, beneath a very heavy, very angry vampire. "You're her aren't you?" He spat. "I knew you couldn't be human. I knew it was too good to be true." Before I could even wrap my brain around what he was saying, he had his hand around my throat and was sniffing my neck. He roughly scraped his fangs against my skin. "Is this what you wanted? Is this why he sent you here? To woo me with you, give me a taste of you and all he offered, to get me to take his side?" He wasn't blocking my air yet, just squeezing lightly enough to illustrate how easily he could take it away. Or pierce my jugular with his fangs in half a heartbeat.

So many things were running through my head. First was how the hell this could be the same creature that, only last night, was gently licking my wounds and so protective of me, even though he had just met me. Second was who and what the fuck was he talking about. Third was that he had obviously figured out I wasn't human, but how? Fourth was how I should get away from him, long enough to either explain or escape. I could well be mere seconds away from getting drained. Fifth and possibly the most disturbing was sadness. I was sad that, if I could not explain to him, that I would lose his respect and friendship.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to be calm. I breathed deeply. And out slowly. I repeated this several times till I felt the calm radiating through me and opened my eyes again. Eric had grown quiet. His hand had relaxed it's hold around my neck. He was looking into my eyes but this time there was no hate. Mistrust and anger, yes, but his emotions seemed to have shifted.

"Did you do that?"He looked at me strangely.

"What?" Now what had I done?

"The sense of calm that just washed over me. I was very angry, then I felt calmness all over..."

I smiled gently at him and felt a little pride. Had I? I've never done that before, so this was a nice way to find out about that little trick. "I guess so. I was only trying to calm myself but maybe I was able to push it through you, too. I've never done that before."

I had to make him understand and not hate me anymore. I couldn't take it. Here was my chance, I better take it quick I grabbed his shoulders. I wanted so badly to touch his face, but thought he might interpret that as an attempt to "woo" him. I could tell I made the right choice when I saw him flinch at my touch."Eric, I don't know who 'he' is, or what 'her' I am supposed to be. If you would let me up I could tell you everything. I do have a backstory, but I mean you no harm."

"How do I know you can't wield some magic on me like you just did?"

"Uhm, good question. I don't know. Can we at least sit up? It's a little hard to concentrate with all of you pressed down on me like that." Not even a hint of a smirk from him as I had hoped, but he did lift me up, so he was sitting next to me within grabbing, or killing distance. Gulp.

"Talk."

"My name is Sookie Suzannah Stackhouse-Brigant." A light of recognition in his eyes that softened his anger a little, then his mistrust came back.

"So, you are a fairy." Statement more than a question.

"A halfling-less actually. Niall's son, Fintan had children with my all human grandmother. My father was Fintan's child. My parents and brother were killed by the Water Fae when I was young. I was supposed to be with them when they died, but I managed to survive."

His eyebrows shot up at that and he looked confused. "Go on."

"Niall learned of my family after Fintan died. He begged Niall to take me from my grandmother to keep me from Breandan. He would have hunted me down until he knew I was for sure dead. Niall didn't want to, but did it out of duty to his son. Most everyone in Faery was against it, but-as he tells me you know him, then you know he does what he wants. I also like to think he did it to save me from a lifetime of torture; living on the human plane, in a podunk town like Bon Temps with special powers that would have been increasingly harder to hide with age. Anyway, he got permission from The Council and my fairy family kept me at the Royal Palace, hidden from all but a select few. So, they trained me most of my adolescent and adult life to fight against the water fae, vampire, all supernaturals. Great grandfather always said it was because I was a great warrior, but I have a feeling it was more so he could keep me out of their hair and burn off the stubbornness and hyperactivity I had-err, have." I corrected.

I caught the barely imperceptible flash of humor cross his face, then back to his no-nonsense, puss face. "The other day, I was told for the first time, that The Council made a deal with Niall that, in order for me to be allowed to stay in Faery, he must promise to offer me up as the sacrificial lamb, if there were to be impending war. I was to be the emissary, or spy or whatever was required at the time for them. Honestly, I think it was that I was considered expendable. Anyway, once it was learned you were consorting with Breandan, I was sent to infiltrate." Bad word choice.

His eyes narrowed, filled with anger again. Great. I just talked him down. He started to speak, but I held up my hand. "Please, let me finish." He gave a pissy, curt nod. I placed my hand on top of his, very lightly and he allowed it. I closed my eyes and let the calm wash over me again. When I opened them this time he was looking at me with a little awe so I knew he felt it again. This was cool. "I was sent to figure out why you had been seen meeting with him on three separate occasions. I was told you were a fair vampire. My great grandfather has respect for you. He just didn't understand why you would deal with Breandan. Please understand, while there may be some level of respect there, that does not mean he trusts you implicitly, as I'm sure you feel the same. While Niall is a very powerful, old fairy whose powers are many, he had to send me in, versus himself. And, rather then send me in to ask you directly, in typical fairy fashion, we had to go about it in a round about way. I have to say that is one trait I do not share with my family. They think in...a different way from others. Instead of saying or doing something straightforward, they approach it in a twisted, indirect manner." He snorted at that.

"We had no way of knowing how susceptible you would be to my scent or how my powers would hold up against your kind. So, I have been equipped with a masking spell. Fear of the unknown is a powerful thing. So, for them, it made more sense if I approached you as human, masking my scent and nosing around, to see what I could find out. I couldn't just waltz in as a halfling asking questions-especially not knowing your position in the Fae situation. If you were on Breandan's side, you could have killed me in a nanosecond. Or summoned him, then he could have used me against my great-grandfather. And that would immediately start a war. Please believe me when I say I had planned on telling you this, before you found out on your own, I really did. In the unbelievably short amount of time I've gotten to know you-and Pam" nice recovery "I like you guys. I didn't want all the lying between us and I wanted to be myself. In some pathetic attempt of being truthful, I kept a lot of my details as close to the truth as possible. I almost told you earlier, when you said I didn't seem quite human. But then you almost kissed me then Pam burst in...I got a little distracted."

"Is there anything else you should tell me? About yourself? Any powers I should be aware of, that could cause any of us harm?"

"Well, apparently I can now transfer my emotion to others. Also, I can teleport, and I am telepathic, though great grandfather thinks that is not a fairy trait."

His anger flared and his fists clenched. "You can read our minds?!"

"No, no! I mean humans only, not you guys. Though I didn't know that until I came here yesterday. I wasn't lying when I said I had never met a vampire before last night. Oops-wait that's not true. I do have a slight history with our friend Mr. Compton." I sheepishly told Eric the story of using him as my guinea pig two nights ago. I could tell he was still trying to be serious and scary but my description of that event was testing his will.

"And, I'm not sure if it's a fairy thing, or a telepathic thing or just a me thing, but I don't think I can be glamoured. Bill has definitely tried and failed. But, if you or Pam have tried, I can't tell. You guys definitely seem more powerful than him. If it would make you trust me more, you can try. If you succeed, you can ask me anything to see I'm telling you the truth. Just, please don't make me do something you don't think I would do voluntarily. Like cluck like a chicken. Or something...dirty." A corner of his mouth lifted.

"I haven't tried, though I am not sure about Pam. I will try. Do you go by Suzie?"

"I prefer Sookie. My family calls me that."

"Sookie" he repeated. It gave me chills to hear him say it. He grabbed my chin, to look into my eyes. "Okay, Sookie. Are you telling me the truth?" I could feel him pushing his will on me, a tingling on my brain, but nothing else. "Are you really Niall's kin, sent only to inquire; not as Breadan's bait?"

I blinked. "Yes. And no. Sorry, it didn't work. I can feel you trying to glamour me, but that's all."

I thought he might be mad, but he seemed more curious than anything. "Interesting."

"Now you see why it was important for me to try it out on my unsuspecting victim the other night. We really had no clue. Obviously any fairy around a vampire long enough to get glamoured never made it back to tell us about the experience." I shifted gears because it was killing me, "How did you know I wasn't human just now?"

"Your tears. They had a very fairy-like taste to them."

"But I cried last night, you didn't taste them then, why tonight?"

"The impulse just struck me, I suppose. If I had tasted them last night I would have known then."

"So my tears tasted fairy, but not my blood?"

"Your blood was sweet, arousing. But not craze-inducing, like full fairy blood. Unless the masking spell included your blood?"

"My grandfather said it couldn't do that. I was to prevent any vampire from tasting it at any cost. But as usual when I'm around you, all my training and sense seems to fly out the window." He seemed to like that answer as I finally got a smile from him. "But, who really knows. This is all new territory."

"Why wouldn't The Council just approach me, if they knew about me meeting Breandan? I would have to answer to them. Instead they sent you to attempt to find it out on your own? That makes no sense."

"If you find out, let me know."

He got thoughtful. "There must be an ulterior motive."

"So, will you tell me why you were meeting with him?" He didn't answer and his eyes got dark. "Eric, we are on the brink of war. My family has been trying to avoid it, but Breandan has been spoiling for a fight. Any information could help us. I don't know what he has told you, but we have tried many, many times to bring peace between us, but he wants none of it. If he's trying to bring you in to his fold, that means he is trying with other Supes as well, and we need to know if it will be an all out sabotage. The Council can only keep it at bay for so long. You know they rarely intervene, unless it's in small ways-like sending me here, regardless of the cost."

"He is not so much trying to win me to his side as he is blackmailing me." His mouth was set and he looked far away and angry. My mouth fell open. This is one angle we had not thought of-bribery and lies, yes, but not that he would try to blackmail Eric into helping him.

"Okay...What is he blackmailing you with?"

He was silent for a moment, then so quiet I had to strain my ears, "He has someone...I care for."

A/N: See what I meant? About my struggle, I mean. I wanted to carry the ruse on a little longer. I toyed with the idea of Eric tasting her tears, knowing she wasn't who she pretended to be, but stewing on it for the evening. However, after some thought, I had to have him address it right away, since he's just a head on type of guy. He's not one to stew lol. So, a little sooner than I wanted, but there it is. Damn thing writes itself so I have to do what it says. Bossy. *kisses