A/N-Arggghhhh! Having a hard time getting this posted. This is my third attempt. *shakes fist. Come on FF! So, hope this moves us forward a little bit. I was sad because I couldn't squeeze in Pammy girl talk and Dr. Ludwig, but it's coming. Okay, kisses to you all. Thank you to Viola1701e and VAlady for the pms letting me know this wasn't posting. For me it was showing, so I was confused. I've never had this problem here before so I wasn't sure what the deuce was going on. Love you all, thank you so much for reviews and for following this story. I won nothing **crosses fingers this works**

Ch. 27

On the trip to Pam's, Eric told me more about Phaedra. Apparently several centuries ago, he and Godric actually met her, in Greece. She had made a huge play for Eric and he denied her, having heard of her reputation. That and she wasn't at all attractive to him, he told me, and I snickered, "Riiight. Nice save." At the time, Godric took the heat for it, saying he forbid it; Eric was his. And she had to accept it. But that way at least, her anger was toward Godric. Eric voiced his concern, now that his maker was gone, was she attempting to get to him again, hence the abduction of Alberik via Breandan? There was so much to postulate and consider and until all involved parties were at bay, there was no way to know. I did know that crusty, crazy old bitch would see the pointed end of my sword, before she got Eric, but I kept that to myself for now.

Pulling in to Pam's neighborhood, then her driveway, I was surprised at what I saw. Not at the manicured lawns and modern stucco houses. More that there wasn't one signature thing separating her among the cookie cutter houses. I expected to see Edward Scissorhands topiaries or a lifelike Zombie statue in her front yard. Not sure why.

Eric entered a code and we slipped in, only given away by the beep of the security display. He called out to her and she appeared before us, in a lovely pastel pant suit. "Master. Sookie!" She hugged me to her, to my surprise. But then she wouldn't let go. And was holding me very tightly and it was hard to breathe.

Suddenly, I was on the floor on my butt and Eric had her pinned against the wall. She was struggling, all claws and fangs,

"Master, the fairy! I must have her! Let me go! How have you not drained her?!" She was looking at me, eyes wild, but she did not recognize me. Her pupils took up the entirety of her iris, her fangs were huge and she was drooling. I wanted a picture. The delicate graceful Pamela drooling! Oh she would be so pissed.

"Pamela! I command you to leave Sookie unharmed. Stay five feet away from her at all times. Understood?" She made one small nod and he let her go then stood by me, holding my arm.

"Well, that was unexpected."

"I'm sorry, lover. I did not anticipate that. Apparently your smell has gotten stronger and I have become immune to it's strength."

She caged me, pacing back and forth stalking me like a large cat but keeping exactly five feet of distance. This was unnerving. I considered summoning my sword. I looked up at Eric, "Do you think I can try to influence her? Because we aren't going to get very far with this going on all night."

He thought it over. "Yes. If she is mad, I will handle it."

"Okay, I guess, if you can hold her or command her so she doesn't bite me, I just need to touch her somewhere, an arm or shoulder is fine." He pulled her over to the couch, sat her down, restrained her and again issued: "Pamela I command you not to bite or harm Sookie. She is going to try to influence you and calm you. Do not be afraid, she has done this with me before and it is pleasant." As an afterthought he added, "I forbid you to fight her influence." He looked at me and shrugged, as if to say 'Just in case'.

I touched her shoulder from behind, figuring I would be less tempting if I was out of sight. I did my ritual- breathing, focusing, centering and pushed it through her; taking her extreme hunger, and manic emotional state and replacing it with tranquility. I felt a strength and ease this time I never had before. I stayed like that for several minutes, till we were both mentally humming, in a meditative state. When I released my hand from her, I looked up at Eric and noticed he had a dreamy look on his face. "If it didn't work for her, Sookie" he almost slurred "It worked for me."

I walked around to look at Pam. Her eyes were heavy lidded, she seemed to be wobbling where she sat. She slowly turned her head to look at me "What was in that drink, Mister?" and mirrored Eric's dreamy, glassy eyed daze. I snorted. He came behind me and hugged me, then Pam stood up and hugged my front. Oookay...this was getting a little awkward. And it was a little hard to breathe.

"Uhm, hey guys? So glad you feel all googley, and I hate to break up this love-in, but I'm feeling a little weirded out right now."

Eric laughed harder and longer than seemed warranted, peeled Pam off me and sat her back down. She didn't even seem to have heard me. "Lover, now I know your powers have gotten stronger. That was some very powerful influence."

Pam laughed softly to herself, at what I wasn't sure. This was all very funny but I was getting a little nervous because this was uncharted territory. It had never worked this well before, let alone on two people at once. Eric rubbed my arms up and down, "My little fairy has much magic" and he booped my nose with his finger.

"Okay, big boy. You sit down too." He laughed and plopped backwards on to the couch.

"What in holy fuck have I done? Now I have to babysit you two punch drunk vampires?" I debated calling Claudine, when a voice from the doorway startled me.

"You have enchanted them with your magic, Bergljót. It is stronger than you realize." Once I peeled myself from the ceiling, I was immediately on guard. Resting himself confidently against the door frame was Eric's brother. I was unsure if he would be blood crazed as Pam had been, not to mention he was still weak from his ordeal. Without even thinking about it, I called my sword. All showered and clean from dirt, caked blood and wounds, he looked so much like Eric, I felt like I was seeing things. He was slightly less tall and slightly less broad-shouldered and the angles of his face were not as exaggerated, but otherwise, he looked like he was literally Eric's blood brother. Except for his still greyish hadn't moved but he was eyeballing me pretty intently.

"Brother!" Eric cheerfully shouted and shot up from the couch to stride over to him, still with the goofy look plastered on his face. He followed Alberik's eyes that were fixed on me, then noticed me with my sword. He froze, and growled. "Brother. Have you threatened her? She is mine. You will control yourself or I will control you."

Oh, thank you-he was back, I said silent thanks. Alberik pushed off the frame and stood very still, "I mean your fairy no harm, brother. She saved me. I will protect her with my life. She is my Bergljót." They stared at each other a while longer, Eric's eyes apprising him, Alberik looking as innocent as he could to convince his brother he meant me no harm. I was sold by his words and demeanor, so summoned my sheath and belt and stashed my sword on my hip.

"How is it her scent has not affected you?" Eric seemed unsure, or just cautious enough, which I appreciated.

Alberik shrugged. "I do not know. It is possible, from what you have told me of the process it took for her to find me, mixing something with your blood, that it has rendered me immune, like it has you?" Shit, this supported the possibility of a bond with Alberik.

I paced, "Can we call Dr. Ludwig? We have a lot of questions that I hope she will have answers to." Eric had his phone out and was dialing.

Suddenly, from the couch, Pam piped "Sookie, I love your sword. May I see it?" I looked to Eric, for his opinion, but she caught my glance. "I am getting better, no need to coddle me from sharp objects like a child."

Eric nodded, "She's still under my command not to harm you." I handed it to her. Alberik edged closer, to look at me and the sword. He sat next to Pam.

"So you are feeling better, then?" I asked. "I am slowly recovering. I have had a lot of blood in the last day which has helped immensely. The silver has to work it's way out of my system. Only then will I regenerate my hand and my fangs." His eyes shone with bitterness and I didn't blame him one bit. Eric was talking to someone on the other line in his usual curt, bossy tone.

I came to Alberik and grabbed his hand. "We will punish all who are responsible for this." Which reminded me. "Can you tell us everything you saw?"

He nodded and gestured to Eric. "This is the first I felt well enough to have a complete conversation. I was waiting until you two were here." I heard Eric end his call. He came to me and draped his arm around me waist, a little possessively, I thought, but I didn't mind.

"She will be here within the next few hours. She is assisting in a Were birth", he scrunched his nose up like he could smell them "but dogs deliver relatively quickly." Pam, who had been very quiet, handed me my sword and went to the kitchen. I guess she was still under the calming influence. Alberik and Eric chatted about his health. I looked around the house and took in Pam's décor taste. Everything was white-furniture, carpet, though the walls were a pale blue. Quite the opposite from Fangtasia. Not that I expected red or black based on how she dressed, but the all white surprised me. She returned with three glasses of blood and a pitcher, I assumed for Alberik, setting it down on the coffee table. Eric sat in a chair opposite the couch and pulled me onto his lap. I swallowed a sigh at his claiming rituals, then thought, if there were another woman who looked just like me in the room, I might be just as possessive.

She poured Eric a glass but he declined it. At Pam's and Alberik's raised eyebrow, he said "I have fed tonight."

"But Eric, it is Elite." I took that to mean it was special or extra yummy.

"What I have surpasses Elite by a thousand fold. Anything else tastes like dreck." It made me feel strange that I was being talked about like filet mignon and yet slightly proud. Weird. It didn't go unnoticed that both their eyes looked a little hungry and envious, so they both hurriedly tossed back their blood.

"So, brother. Tell us everything you recall, everything you saw."

He was in New York, at what he thought was a business dinner. He ordered a special blend of blood and when it arrived, it had been drugged with fairy blood and something else. He awoke in a dark, drippy cave, where he was kept and was tortured for weeks. That sounded like what I had heard and read of The Water Fairies' land. They drained him for his blood, though he wasn't sure why, then they injected him with the silver and cut off his hand. But they also tortured him with fairies-they were all around him, not masking their scent in any way. They would even have orgies in front of him and tear their skin to expose their blood to him, of course, not giving him a drop, just to torment him. "I believe they were ingesting my blood, which is what instigated the orgies and biting of each others flesh."

I gasped. "No fairy would ever purposely take vampire blood!" All three looked at me, insulted.

Eric said quietly, "I beg to differ." and looked at me meaningfully.

I blushed beet red, much to his and Pam's delight, and corrected myself. "I mean no offense. What I meant was, fairies look at vampires as an enemy, for obvious reasons. To take their blood would be demeaning to them, not me. They look down on vampires, as most Supes do of anyone outside their species. Like you do with Weres."

"Well, they were crazed and drunk and I could smell my blood in them. Whether they knew it or not. Maybe they were drugged as I was."

"That would go along with Phaedra's m.o." Eric said more to me than anyone else.

Alberik choked on his blood. "Did I just hear you correctly? Fucking Phaedra?!" I laughed a little. That was the second time I had heard that. It's like that was her full name. Eric explained our theories about her involvement. Alberik knew of her but Pam did not, so he briefed her. While he did that, I asked Alberik to describe every fairy he saw to me. None sounded familiar, other than Preston. He said he never heard Breandan's name mentioned and his description sounded like they were all Water Fairy. I just was glad he didn't describe anyone else from The Palace. It wasn't until a few days before I came for him that he was moved to the room I found him in and he couldn't describe his arrival there because he was teleported.

"Why would you be taken from one spot to another, especially somewhere on The Palace grounds. That's beyond the reach of the Water Fairies." I hoped. No one had any theories because none made sense. He didn't have much more information than that; nothing that gave us any other clues about what was being planned and by who.

"Will you tell me about the potion that was used to find me?" He had a far away look, staring at the blood in his glass, as he swirled it around. I looked to Eric, silently asking permission to divulge any concerns about a possible bond, he nodded.

"My cousins and I conjured you with our magic. That is, an image of your location. We weren't sure if it would work or how we would get to you, but we thought between all of us, we might recognize your surroundings. Though I didn't know at the time, I used a fairy binding potion to draw your essence out of Eric's blood, since you share a maker and we had nothing personal of yours. When I mixed the potion in to the bowl with his blood, both he and I lit up. Then, when I retrieved you, only he was able to see my journey, not my cousins. We are now suspecting that we are bonded in some way."

Eric added, "We feel each other's presence and become anxious when separated, as in a blood bond, but we do not feel each other's emotions, other than briefly when sharing blood."

Pam and Alberik's heads snapped up and looked back and forth between us. "Are you bonded?" Pam looked relieved and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"No."

"Not yet." I added.

Eric's head snapped to me with a look of astonishment, then briefly, joy, but he collected himself. Hmm. "But we have shared blood twice."

"Now the concern is, are we all three bonded because the blood I added the potion to, had all of our elements in it? Especially now that we see you are not affected by my fairy scent, just like Eric."

"But I was the night you saved me. I would have attacked you." He seemed to think aloud.

"Brother, I would attribute that to intense starvation. But also, her cousins, full fairies, had just been in her apartment. You could easily have been under the influence of their scent." Alberik seemed to agree with that, as did I. We kicked around other ideas and theories, but were ultimately at a loss until Dr. Ludwig's arrival.

I showed Pam and Eric the photos of Fangtasia and we agreed, if there was time we would go see it tonight, in person. I got their input on Herveaux's questions. I asked if they thought it wise for me to meet the crew there tomorrow during the day. Eric didn't like it, but agreed I could take care of myself and took pity on me for going a little stir-crazy at doing so little. He consoled himself by putting a call in to Herveaux and telling him I would be there, but I was to be protected with his life if trouble arose then hung up on him. I looked at him sharply. "He owes me many favors." How he interacted with people sometimes, just floored me.

I excused myself to get some water. As I was filling a glass, Alberik appeared right behind me and I flinched. "Balls! Do you guys take classes on sneaking up on people?"

"Yes, actually, I have a badge, would you like to see it?" He joked and I snorted at his unexpected come back. My laughter died down as I realized the intensity of his stare. His eyes were so much like Eric's, maybe just a touch more grey. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I felt a tickling at the back of my brain. Was this bitch trying to glamour me? Now I was curious to his motives. I was pressed up against the counter and he was inches from me-the proximity was making me nervous because I wasn't sure of his intentions. He may be Eric's brother, he may be almost as hot, and we may be sort-of bonded but that was all he was going to get from me. Was he expecting something else? His eyes bore into me, "Sookie, do you love my brother?"

He was trying to glamour me! "I care for him very much. Beyond that, it's none of your business. If you have more questions, you will ask them to me in front of Eric, since I am his." I knew very well Supe propriety rules and I knew damn well he did too. "And if you're trying to glamour me, it won't work."

He looked at me in shock, then admiration. "Pardon me for the attempt, but I have never seen my brother so taken with anyone before. I wanted to make sure you didn't have him enthralled or have a spell on him. Though the more I know you, the more I understand why he is so taken with you. You are quite an extraordinary woman. I am honored to have you as my sister." How did we reach that relationship? He kissed me lightly on the forehead, then my nose, then my lips, then Eric kicked the swinging door in so hard, it left a huge crack on the wall. Uh-oh.

For the second time tonight, a vampire was pinned by their throat to the wall because of me. Except this one was much more in danger of meeting his final death. "Explain yourself. Now. Before I rip off the other hand." Eric's body was rigid, his voice tight with rage. He was holding Alberik up like he weighed no more than a balloon. I could have come to his defense but I knew defending him right at this moment would make it worse, so kept my mouth shut. Pam came in, looked between the three of us and narrowed her eyes at me. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Pammy.

Alberik seemed unfazed. "I came to question your woman, brother, nothing else. I foolishly thought I could glamour her. I was concerned she would have a spell on you as I have never seen you so enamored with anyone before. Once she set that record straight, I welcomed her as my sister, then kissed her. That is all."

"Sookie?" He barked at me.

"Yes, Eric, that is all that happened."

He dropped Alberik. "Leave us." And they were gone. He had me pressed up against him, and was rubbing himself all over me before the door swung shut. "Eric? Are you okay?"

"Mmm...I am now."

Who could resist that? I smiled. "What brought that on?" He had his face in my neck and his hands on my bottom pulling me into his hard length. Okay. Uhm, wow.

"I heard your words, that you cared for me. Then you put him in his place by telling him to mind his own business. Most women would be attracted to him, scared of him or try to impress him because of his relationship to me. And that you claimed yourself as mine and told him to only question you further, with me present." He was kissing my neck and collarbone. "That made me extremely happy. And horny." He emphasized by thrusting into me and squeezing my bottom. I was really trying to resist a dry hump session here in Pam's kitchen but he was making it difficult. "I heard him call you sister, and in theory, I should not have minded the kiss, but seeing it in front of me was something else. I wanted to crush him into a fine powder." He put my bottom up on the counter and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Sliding his hands up to my neck he held my head on either side and kissed me all over my face. I understood his need to mark me. It was his primal need to claim me, once his claim was challenged, whether founded or not. I offered him my neck, though I didn't think he would take it, since he's so insistent about not taking too much.

To my surprise and delight, I felt a pinch as he slid his fangs in. He drew on the wounds and I felt it right between my legs. He slipped his hand down the front of my pants and slid his fingers between my folds. He rubbed the heel of his palm up against my nub, while he inserted his fingers as deep inside me as they could go. I tried hard to be quiet, but honestly wasn't sure I succeeded. I came quickly and he drowned out my cries, mostly, with his kiss. I think a total of a minute had passed. I felt slightly ashamed that we couldn't keep our hands off each other for more than an hour, then thought better of it. My vampire was marking me, drinking from me and he made it pleasurable for me. A symbiotic relationship, nothing shameful. The end. He cleaned up my neck, and stared at me while he licked his fingers. I blushed but didn't look away. "To be continued." He purred at me.

Pam came in, sniffed, then rolled her eyes. "Great, now my kitchen smells like fairy pu-"

"Pamela. What do you want?"

"If I answer that question, you'll have me by my neck again. Ludwig called. She says to meet her at Fangtasia within the hour. We better take separate cars, what with hot pants making us all nuts. Speaking of, we should get Alberik laid. Especially once he gets a whiff of her." She frowned. Neither attempt to embarrass me had worked.

"Enough, Pam. Go. We will be out in a moment."

Once she was gone, "Now, where were we?"

"You were offending my delicate sensibilities by licking your fingers in a lewd gesture and eyefucking me."

"Ah, yes. But, Sookie, joking aside. Your feelings for me, they are true?"

I got shy and toyed with his hair, but I wasn't going to avoid it, as I had promised myself. I took a deep breath. "Eric, I meant what I said. I care for you. More than I ever have for someone, other than family. And I don't know what love is or feels like. I just know I want to be with you. I want to be yours and I want you as mine. Anything beyond that is...irrelevant."

That look of joy flashed across his face again and he looked like a little boy for a second. "Good. I feel the same. When you said we weren't bonded 'yet', does that mean you are seriously considering it?"

"Of course. I wouldn't say something like that and not mean it." He kissed me hard and passionately. When he broke the kiss, I slid down off the counter, to avoid any possibility of round two. I adjusted my clothing and hair and splashed some water on my cheeks. "Do I look like I've just been fed from and fucked?"

"Yes, you do. It's a good look for you." He rubbed up against me again.

"Oh no. Uh uh. Let's go." He protested as I pulled him out with me. Two sets of vampire eyes met us in the living room, scenting the air then looking at Eric and me with envy. With a smug look at them over his shoulder, he held my arm and led us out.