Sorry you guys the site is still having issues. It is killing the pace I was setting :(

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This chapter is goes out to the one the only ebm1 I watched the reviews and you were my two hundredth review. While there is no special prize to give I give you a great big super-sized virtual hug. It makes me feel special and I glad to have you as a reader. Thank you for taking the time to review. Every word is encouraging,

Eric

Chapter Fourteen

Mysteries

When Gideon entered the room the tension between him and Sookie was evident it was made even more so by his overly formal greeting. It left no room for guesses. Sookie sighed feeling both irritation and apprehension. I shot him a warning glance that he ignored. He was privy to all my tumult of the previous night and I regretted it now. It made it hard for him to let his anger with Sookie go. He was my child and a good one at that. His loyalty was with me first and foremost. Gideon was entitled to his emotions and Sookie was entitled to handle this how she saw fit.

Gideon sat so his training could begin. All the while he avoided looking in Sookie's general direction. I am not sure how he knew it would anger her but it did.

"If you have something to say come out and say it" That tactless and confrontational statement came from my wife. It gave Gideon all the invitation he needed. Neither of them were ones to back down from anyone or anything. It was as admirable as it was foolish in both a human and a vampire.

"I have several something's to say" He was still not looking at her. She folded her arms in front of her and waited. It was a sign that they cared for each other. Neither was looking for any outside intervention form me. Both their tempers were rising. I trusted them both not to cause the other harm. "You shouldn't have taken his hand if you didn't mean it" I felt a pang of her regret but outside she was the pillar of hostility. If I were Gideon I would be careful of the next words I uttered.

It was understandable. In this situation he felt like she had wronged me. He was not inclined to let it go as easily as I. He did not know her as well as Pam and me nor had I explained anything to him. They would have to form a relationship separate from the one he and I shared.

They would have to resolve it on their own. How they resolved their dispute would determine the kind of relationship they had. He found a friend in her in the short time that we have shared this house. After all she was the one who found him. To a certain degree he felt abandoned by her-again I felt he was entitled. It made his transition easier to have a human that had lived amongst vampires to whom he could relate with during his early years. Sometimes I would find them discussing the physical difference between the species. She was drawn to him because while he was very much a vampire he still remembered what being human was like. His personality today was the same from the day she met him. I was apt to believe he was challenging her illusion that being a vampire automatically made you what we all became eventually. In short there was no place for me in this.

"Are you angry that I left or that I came back" Gideon seemed to think about it.

"Both and I don't care why you wanted to leave I care about why you are here now" She took a deep breath and her hostile exterior softened. Between the three of us there was a lot of emotion bounding about. As the medium amid the two of them I blocked both ports.

"Not that it's any of your business" He gave her a look that was not friendly but not hostile. It perfectly conveyed his disagreement to her statement. "but I have always known where I wanted to be I just panicked" He looked at her as if he was going to press for details but he thought better of it. He nodded and felt secure in her words. When they had made their uneasy peace his training began. I would explain the circumstances to him later.

Being on the receiving end of Gideon's ability was unsettling. In the beginning when he was learning the basics of it it would creep slowly into the peripherals of my sight and blur my vision. Now it dropped like a tight fold over my eyes showing me things that were not there or nothing at all. He was also able to tamper with my hearing. In both instance his influence was absolute. Sometimes I heard nothing other times it would be songs and sounds I knew were only in my mind. His only handicap lay in his inability to separate his mind from the one he was controlling.

Gideon was attempting to mask his frustration with his continued failure. "I think we should try the opposite" Sookie declared. The exercise was yielding the same results. Any suggestions would be welcomed. I waited for Sookie to explain. "What you do is sort of the opposite of telepathy" That made sense. "Instead of trying to separate your mind from the one you are controlling let it go" He looked at me I nodded to indicate I was ready. I locked my muscles in place and waited.

I knew my eyes were blinking in rapid succession because I felt my lashes batting against each other. All I saw where tropics; endless green and water. The view was aerial. There were sounds of blades like a helicopter. Nothing about my sight or hearing told me I was still in my living room in Shreveport Louisiana. Gideon tapped my shoulder. I knew it was him because his touch was stronger than the one I was expecting. Like a switch that had been flipped my vision and hearing returned. My child was in front of me grinning. He was filled with pride, a little more than pride, arrogance would be more appropriate.

I smiled, he certainly didn't need my approval he had plenty of his own. "I'm freaking awesome" He stated. His speech would drive Pam crazy. According to her many of things that passed for English was a travesty of the worst sort against the language. "Let's test range" He said. I shook my head. Sookie yawned and stretched.

"Lover you should rest" I could feel she was nearing exhaustion. She was going to protest when another yawn over took her. I walked over to her and lifted her off her seat. She smelled of shifter. I did not want to get into any of that tonight. She would have been an asset in dealing with that situation but now I wanted as far away from it all as possible. Her only duty now was to keep our children growing and happy.

To my dismay Sookie insisted on cooking her own meals and cleaning the house. She even tended to the laundry of Gideon and myself. She insisted it made her feel normal. It wasn't the first time I would suggest it but I was pondering getting her more hands to assist her around the house. With children on the way she may be more amendable. That was not likely. Knowing Sookie she would not change her mind.

I joined her in bed and wrapped my body around hers.

"I went to see Sam today" I kept stroking her hair. If she wanted to tell me about her day it was fine but if this conversation was going where I thought I would kill the shifter myself and end it before it began. "You know what happened to him" I made a low noise of accent. We had been dealing with our own dilemma. A half dead mutt was no on my list of priorities. "You know a vampire did it" I nodded. "He wanted me to know he wanted me to help" The hand I had around her waist tightened instinctively. She tensed and I took a second to edit my response to something more appropriate.

"Lover I am sheriff of the area. I am working on it" She didn't turn and give me a probing gaze like I expected. She did not argue. She simply nodded. It was unclear if she was too tired to fight at the moment of if she was taking my words at face value.

While Sookie slept I lay with her as long as I could. I was trapped in one of those rare moments where I was trying to recall details of my human life. Most of time I focused on the opposite those memories were useless here. Sometimes I found uses for reminiscing. Every now and again when something elicited an emotion from me I did not understand or could not rationalize I would revisit those memories. I had been jealous but it took me many months to put a label on the emotion that surrounded Bill when he introduced me to Sookie. The same was true when I just wanted her body but not at her emotional expense.

Tonight I dredged up as many mental photographs of my previous life that l was able. I had been married. My wife's name was Aude. She was my brothers widow and she was older than I. Her demeanor was even. There were no fantasies to be seen through her eyes. I liked her. It was the most I could say. Then love was as foreign a concept as it was before I met Sookie. At her young age Aude had known the death of two children and a husband. We had six children. Together we buried two of them. Alone I buried my wife and our last daughter.

The names of five of our six children were lost in the archives of history I carried around. Apart from Aude I remembered Ivar. He was my oldest son. He resembled his mother but he was all that was best in me. When I was made vampire his face tormented me. I pinned after him the longest. After the faces of my parents faded into the recesses of my mind and the ache for my home and my people were forgotten his smile remained. My only solace was that he was strong and would grow to be an honorable man.

As a husband and father it was my duty to protect and provide. Sons were trained to fight but other than that child rearing was entirely up to the woman. I found myself without a reference point. Usually Pam would be an excellent resource but this news would have to be broken to her delicately. My meeting with her was still some weeks away.

Children have not been part of my life since my human life ended. This was different. My children now would be unique. It would make them targets of both the supernatural and the mortal world the second their existence became known. The only way to protect them would be to fortify my rule. The priorities of my kingdom would have to shift somewhat. It had been my plan to build strength by accruing wealth. Now it would be through lethal force; swift and inescapable. Their father's rule could never and would never go uncontested-ever.

The time came for me to go. I left Sookie a note and went to find Gideon. We had to make rounds through the state.

This house had sixteen rooms. It was the biggest of the homes in the compound. Excluding the day chambers there were five bedrooms that were all equipped to be light tight. There was a room that served as my office. Others were for entertaining. The living room and the den both had ornate fire places. It provided more than enough space for the three of us. I now wondered if I should be considering something bigger. I found Gideon in his room. He no longer had to remain in the house with me. He was gaining hold of his hunger and new physical strength. The need for close supervision was not as crucial but he was happy here for now. Sookie did not mind it.

"Do you have experience with children" He pulled back from his video games to look at me. His expression was aghast.

"Hell no" I needed Pam. While she had no experience she would be more eager to help me gather the information I needed to prepare. He caught onto my disappointment in his answer. "Why"

"Sookie is pregnant" He went from shocked to angry and settled on confused. I explained before his emotions could escape him entirely. He knew a little of the Fae. I explained the circumstances to him in greater detail. When I was finished he opened his mouth but nothing came out. He took another second and finally spoke.

"That's why she ran isn't it" I nodded. His eyes moved up stairs and came back to me. They were riddled with uncertainty. I could already see what he was going to say before he said it. "Maybe you should have let her go"

This life; our life was one of constant threats as young as he was he understood it. He was not saying anything that I hadn't thought of. In truth letting her go into hiding was the obvious thing to do but it wasn't the best thing. I wondered if this is what Anthony was trying to tell me. Would I have to let her go? Mentally I rebuked the thought. That future would not come to be not as long as I still live. If leaving her was the only choice there was I would fight to etch out an ulterior one. Sookie is mine; she belonged to me and with me and so did our children.

"We are strongest together" I answered simply. He nodded. He armed himself and we left the house and walked a few houses away. This was where Indira assigned messengers and handled incoming and outgoing communications around my state. Phones were flawed. While they were fast they could be easily traced and confidentiality was lost.

One of the systems I came up was simple yet very efficient. It created a system of checks and balances. My state was split into three. Rasul was sheriff of New Orleans and its surrounding boundaries. He was familiar with it all. He had earned the title and he had proved his loyalty such as it was. Maxwell was my other sheriff his territory was in the middle of mine and Rasul's. Within those three divisions there were a series of networks. Crucial information was sent in person by me or Gideon. Letters that had been sealed by witches were passed amongst us all. They were hand delivered. In the event someone had managed to intercept one of the transmissions it never held all the information. If they got past the spells they would not have what they needed to decode the message. We also checked in nightly with one another. Mostly Gideon took those calls. It would serve to establish his place his place as my second in command.

Tonight I was meeting to discuss what news we had on Curtis. Pam and I had agreed that he had something to do with the attack in Arkansas. The only problem was he did not have that kind of muscle or audacity. If he was indeed behind it then he wasn't acting alone. His association with Eliza was becoming more public but not official. It could be that they collaborated on the attack and when it went awry they wanted to secure a union. It was excellent guess, but that was all it was. We did not have proof so in the mean time we were just waiting and watching.

It was not Curtis I was cautious of. He was a fool. Eliza was playing him like a fine tuned instrument. She was much younger than he. This fact made him complacent. It blinded him and he could not see she was using him. Eliza herself was a skilled warrior despite her young age. Her ruthlessness was prominent within the ranks of my kind.

"I am making a trip into Alabama" I told my child. We were moving at a slow pace to the main house that I used for meetings.

It would be low key. Pam and I would slip into his state. It was rather bold of us to stroll in uninvited and unannounced but we were not going to fight or make peace. We were going to offer Curtis an out. Isaiah did not agree he wanted to show might in the wake of such an open act of war. A part of me agreed with him but ultimately we all knew he wanted more territory. Pam would not help him claim it so he was going along grudgingly with this plan.

The fate of Curtis did not trouble us. If he would provide evidence or testimony against Eliza we would take our claim before the Ancient Pythoness and leave him out of it. In the court Eliza would lose more wealth than she could afford for her crimes against Pam. It would leave her vulnerable for another monarch to pick off. Even if he gave us nothing useful we would use the meeting to reiterate to him that he had nothing to fear. There was no doubt he was afraid. He would do something stupid and would end him. I wanted to avoid it if it was possible to do so without any personal risk.

"When" He did not like this plan because he already knew he would be left behind.

"Soon" I wanted to dissolve the problem before it became something critical. Gideon could keep watch over Sookie.

The meeting with sheriffs and varying informants did not yield anything I did not already know. I received a progress report on this supposed vampire that ignited the fire at the bar. Then I moved further into Shreveport to meet with the pack master. When we arrived he was expecting to see Sookie. We both had been counting on her as a medium. It would not happen.

"Eric" I nodded. Alcide's hostility towards me was always more potent that was natural between his species and mine. The underlying cause was a woman that had always been far out of his league. In this instance his enmity was magnified. I pretended not to notice. The death of a were was not something any vampire would strop over.

We were both leaning against our cars with our people on either side of us. It was only Gideon and I. He had three others with him. The atmosphere was tense and teeming with violent intent. They were free to try their hand if they deemed themselves strong enough. We all knew they knew better than that.

"I have a tracker on the trail" Even now there were still no leads. It was quite the nuisance. I left my statement as is. Alcide was displeased. He wanted blood. I would have been more than happy to let him search on his own but their hunt would be injudicious. They were angry and wounded over the loss of one of their own. I did not want to risk them attacking the wrong vampire. That was something none of us would take lightly. I owed it to him to make a diligent attempt at finding this vampire and I would do so. If I still found nothing well I would pay a fine and he and his party of mangy mutts can fuck off.

"On both trails?" I did not know what he meant. "There was another attack" I had met with my sheriff not long ago if there was another attack by a vampire I would have been informed. "It was in Montgomery" That was just out of my area and into that of Maxwell's. There was no way Maxwell would have made an error of that size.

"Were the details similar?" I could see the shift on his face go from hostile to hostile and confused. He shook his head.

"This was quiet. It was also the second of the pack master and his brother" Not exactly the details I cared to know but I would let him finish his speech. "He left a restaurant and never made it to his car" He squared his shoulders and looked at me. "It was during the day but there was still smell of vampire" A hard expression replaced my bland one. He was either attempting to get me to aid him by spewing lies or someone was attempting to frame vampires. Both of those possibilities made me wary. It was becoming less and less likely that I was dealing with a simple rogue. I dispatched Heidi to the scene. With the time that has lapsed and the high traffic of the scene I did not hold out much hope of finding a lead. The involvement of the fellowship of the sun or the like was evident if it was a daytime attack. This complicated matters. Humans who committed crimes against us could not be killed on command. It would draw attention to their very obvious enemies. That was just the beginning.

During the next two weeks there had been three more attacks in Louisiana all had been against the two natured. Another fire was set to a home. Two more weres were stabbed to death. There were no trails to be found for the two that had been committed at night. The other day time incident smelled of vampire. The tension was rising as the two natured feared for their lives.

There had been several incidents of vampires and weres crossing paths at night and ending in violence. Rasul reported a brawl in his area. Maxwell was having a difficult time preventing a similar situation almost every night. Alcide kept his pack under his heel to prevent similar situations. He was smarter than I had given him credit for. He knew it would have been counterproductive.

Louisiana was not the only state in which the two natured were unsafe. Rusell was reporting a similar problem as was Stan. None of us cared but we were interested for the same reason. There had been no loss of human life in all this thus far. The states affected and others that weren't was becoming torn as people chose their side. The federal government deemed it a hate crime but was dragging its feet. The American vampire league capitalized on this opportunity. It called for law enforcement to protect its citizens: all its citizens. The results were almost instantaneous. A motley task force was formed and the weres exulted as did my wife. She had spent as much of her free time with Sam. He was recovering but it was slow and painful. It troubled her she feared having to repeat it or worse. With every attack she feared for the friends she had in the were community. For reasons I cannot explain she felt guilty that she was not doing something to help. I did not think the task force would find the people responsible but I felt they would act as a deterrent while the supernatural continued to search behind the scenes.

The night I was going to Alabama Sookie would be spending it at her old farm house. She would be visiting with her Hunter, the fairy and her brother. I watched her as she moved about the room getting her bag together. In just two short weeks her body had changed to accommodate the children she carried. There was a little but well defined bump between her hips. Her body was emanating its own glow separate from the effects of my blood. She was a beautiful sight.

"Lover I will not be available tonight" She gave me a questioning look. I shrugged nonchalantly. "Vampire shit" She laughed. Gideon would be staying behind but he would not be far from her. I was placing him with Compton. I contemplated telling her about my exact plans it but I did not want her to worry. Long before the sun rose tomorrow I would be home again.

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Okay, another round of applause for ebm1. Wow! My 200th Review! It is really encouraging. Thanks!

Did anyone think the last sentence was ominous?...

I for one am excited that Pam will be seen again. I missed her voice and sarcasm. Fourteen chapters in and there is just all kinds of funny business going on across the board!