A/N: SVM is owned by Charlaine Harris. The beta for this story is FiniteAnarchy, and she continues to be fantastic.

Thank you to both, and also to all those who took time to send kind words and thoughts. I ended up going just a few hours shy of 2 full weeks without power after the storm. Yuck. It took a bit of time to get re-situated and back on track – and I had a hangup about not replying to reviews until I had a new chapter ready. Now that it's done, I won't make you wait again. Thanks for sticking around!

In the last chapter:

Sookie learned of a plot to frame Eric for the murders of two emissaries from Arksansas, and intervened. Though Sookie was only able to save one of the two slated for death, Bill and Eric managed to kill/capture the attackers and secure Henrik Feith as a witness.

Since Sookie's presence would inevitably draw the curiosity of the powers that be, an unspoken decision was made by Eric and Sookie to "go public" with their relationship, in the hopes that this alone will answer any questions about her involvement, ie, a human's blind devotion to the interests of her vampire lover, and nothing more.

Pam was sent to escort Sookie home from the casino. On the way out, they passed two vampires assumed to be arriving to "discover" the murders. After reaching Sookie's house, Pam notices a car pass by several times, realizing they must have been followed.

Chapter 31 – A Pound of Vampires

Pam and I stood side by side in front of the sink that sat below the window in my darkened kitchen. Another car had just driven by. It wasn't the car. The car hadn't appeared again in almost an hour. We were still on high alert.

I had tried and failed to get a mental read on the car's inhabitants. There was too much distance between here and the street, and even the relatively sluggish pace of twenty or so miles per hour moved them out of my range before I could hone in on anything.

The mild consolation in the situation was that the combination of dark tinted windows, and the intermittent glare of lights on the windshield, had rendered Pam's vampire vision just as ineffectual as my telepathy for determining who, or even what, was in the car. It wasn't exactly a comfort, but at least we'd struck out together.

"I think those are my neighbors," I said, of the innocuous sedan. It was hard to be certain, but I thought it was red, which would mean it belonged to the people three houses down.

Pam nodded. We'd talked for a while, but after I'd run out of details of the evening to recount, the mood had gradually shifted from tense and ready to anxious and frustrated. Given her preference, Pam would probably have found a way to get closer to the mysterious car and its occupants, but she'd been charged with my safekeeping and had no intention of leaving me alone in the house.

"Just go and check," I tell her. Her impatience was getting hard to ignore. "You can sprint right back in here as soon as you've had a look up and down the road."

"You wait in the back of the house," Pam instructed, and I rolled my eyes at her. As if the space of the hallway would preserve me from anything that managed to get in through the wards. "Fine," she said testily, "but keep back from the door."

Pam was out and back in only a couple of minutes. Considering the speed she was capable of I figured this had been more than enough for a thorough look around.

"Well?" I asked, locking the door again.

Pam straightened her hair in the hall mirror. "I think they've truly gone," she said. "When Eric checks in again I'll let him know."

I nodded, feeling myself relax only slightly. I didn't want to think too hard about the details of what Eric was doing right now with the two Weres that had been captured for questioning.

My hope was that Pam didn't want to call Eric right away only for fear of interrupting their flow. Surely interrogations have something of a procedure? At least that's what I've seen on the cop shows on television. Eric would probably play the good cop; not because he's the soft option, but because he can be charming when he's trying. From my limited exposure to Bill Compton, he didn't seem to share the same gift. I pictured Bill being a jerk, maybe hurling some chairs around. Then Eric would come in and ask the Weres if they needed to feed, and offer them water and stale crackers in a gesture of his magnanimity.

It was more pleasant to picture this scene, rather than the one where Eric wouldn't answer a phone call because his hands were busy beating someone to a pulp.

Pam and I retreated to the living room then, though she positioned herself so as to keep a view of the outside. I sat in the chair by the lamp and picked up a book to try and read. I didn't want to turn on the television just in case there was a noise outside that we needed to hear. The only sounds we heard for a long time were the occasional turn of a page and my steady breathing. I couldn't say exactly what was happening in the book. The maiden was disguised as a teenaged boy, was the main plot. The swarthy captain was probably in the process of figuring it all out, but I found it hard to devote myself to the story.

The pounding at the door startled me, and I think Pam as well, though she didn't let out my same shriek.

"It's me," came Eric's voice as the banging paused.

Pam let him in, and the two of them immediately bent their heads and began talking, so I pointedly cleared my throat. I wanted to know what was happening too.

"What's going on?" I asked, after another moment where they didn't acknowledge me. I suppose vampires must get used to ignoring the noises humans make, but this was really not the time for it, nor was I at all prepared to lump myself in with the humans they are accustomed to disregarding. Not tonight.

When they still didn't answer, I strode forward so I was standing right next to them, hands on my hips. "Well?" I asked.

Pam's eyes darted between Eric and I and she stepped back. Eric turned to me with an appraising look and then nodded.

"Compton has taken this Henrik Feith to New Orleans, as the Queen instructed. The Weres have been secured. What little they have said so far seems to corroborate what you have told us, but they must know they are going to die. They have stopped talking."

"Maybe the Queen would spare them?" I suggested. They treated me to matching dubious looks and I put my hands up. "Not out of the goodness of her heart, but because they could provide other information about how Threadgill operates if their loyalties would shift. Giving someone their life back can be a pretty compelling reason to switch sides."

Eric seemed to consider the suggestion, but Pam jumped in. "It wouldn't work," she said simply. "Weres are not like vampires. They will have family ties or pack obligations back in Arkansas that they would not simply abandon. It's one of the reasons why vampires are able to trust in their service in the first place. Besides, even if the Queen did not order their deaths, they still killed one of King Threadgill's people. If it's not one monarch, it will be the other."

"True," Eric agreed. "And this way, she will be able to present the culprits to Threadgill with justice already served."

"What?" I asked. "They'd still be on friendly terms? Even after this?"

"Outwardly," Eric said. "At least until she decides how to proceed. She may still be desirous of the wedding."

I gaped.

Pam smirked.

"Vampire marriages are rarely made due to mutual affection," she supplied.

"I know that," I defended. "But you'd think they'd at least be based on a shred of mutual trust."

"Not if she plans on taking Arkansas before he can take Louisiana anyway. When you think about it, there's little reason for her to entertain such a match in the first place. It would be useful if there were some greater threat to both states, but I don't see this as a lasting arrangement."

I frowned. More than anything, the situation just seemed sad to me. I struggled to shake it off.

"So," I asked. "What about me? Any questions about my presence or involvement or..." Or the uncanny way I put together the very limited amount of information I actually overheard with only my ears?

"There are some questions," Eric conceded. I felt my heart begin to race. "But none which can't be answered."

"What does that mean?" I demanded.

"There are a few gaps in the information we can fairly claim that you overheard in the traditional manner. You seem preternaturally shrewd, but my expectation is that we can pass it off as something that you happened to stumble upon, rather than pieces that you put together."

"And trust in vampires' opinion that humans and Weres are just so stupid that things were bound to unravel?"

"More or less," Eric agreed. "Although Compton may be more of an issue."

"Meaning?"

"He asked what you were. I answered that you were the goddaughter of Desmond Cataliades. Whether or not he leaves it at that is something we will need to wait and see."

"Eric, that's not good."

"I know," he said. "But the present issue, this Arkansas plot, far eclipses your identity at the moment. Tonight, we have other things to deal with."

"Right," I agreed, but feeling defeated. It was clear that Eric had bigger fish to fry tonight, and my fish would just have to wait.

"Pam, I need you to go to the club for an hour or so. Make sure things are running smoothly. Be seen by the humans. This is not the best night to have staged our reopening."

Pam didn't question his orders, but she didn't immediately run out the door to obey them, either. Maybe she, like me, was wondering what Eric was going to get up to while she was busy playing stereotypical-vampire to the humans. I didn't have any can't-question-your-maker hangups like she did, so I went ahead and asked.

"And what will you be doing?" I asked him.

"We will go to the warehouse and discover the whole truth of this matter. When the club closes, Pam, you will join us."

"There are some things you and me need to talk about before we go," I told Eric.

"Yes," he agreed, not meeting my eyes before he turned back to Pam.

I left the two of them alone then, retreating back to my bedroom to find a hat and gloves and a scarf. If we were going to be flying again, I wanted to be well bundled up. A moment later I heard the front door close and Eric was standing in my doorway.

"Are we going to the same place?" I asked him.

"Yes."

I looked down at my clothes. I wasn't going to change again today. I'd just have to avoid touching anything. I took a deep breath.

"What is wrong?" Eric asked.

"Let me start by saying that I am going to help you tonight, okay?"

"Alright. Go on."

"Eric, what am I to you?"

"You're my lover," he answered, nonplussed.

"And... how many of those do you have?"

Thankfully, Eric didn't answer that question.

"Sookie, where is this coming from?"

"You know where," I insisted. "It's from the other night." Last night? Good grief, this day seemed interminably long. "You were jealous about Ghellert, which is stupid, by the way, but I was jealous too. I know what it's like when you feed on me, it's extremely sensual and pleasurable and I don't know if I like... no. I know that I don't like the thought of someone that I'm..." Again, I made the helpless gesture between him and myself. Dating? Screwing? "Doing that with other people."

Eric had used the word lovers to describe us, which sounded fine, until you tried to use it as a verb.

"You want me to stop feeding on other humans but you?" I expected him to sound incredulous, but he didn't. It was hard to read the expression on his face, and I kind of wished I could read his mind.

"No, not exactly. I mean, I know you have to, if you want to keep up your strength."

"Then what are you asking me?"

"I'm not comfortable being just one of the women you have sex with."

"I don't have sex with every woman I feed from." He managed to sound offended, but not much.

"I don't have sex with anyone but you." My tone was matter-of-fact. He knew this. He might have made that comment about Ghellert, but he knew I wasn't really doing anything with anybody else.

"And that is what you want from me?"

"Is that so much to ask? Every vampire from here to New Orleans knows I'm your lover now. Mr. Cataliades knows. Gladiola and Diantha know. Is it so much to ask that these same people not also be fully aware that I'm simply one among many?"

"You're not one among many, Sookie. It is the act of feeding..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I cut him off. "Sexy vampires, sexy blood, sexy feeding, sex, sex, sex. As it turns out though, that doesn't seem to be all this is about, with us. Is it?"

"No. That is not all there is to us."

"Right," I said. "Well that's what I need. Otherwise... otherwise I think we should just go back to being friends. The deal stands. I'll help you with telepathy on the really important matters, and you keep me safe from the other vampires."

"Alright."

"Alright?" Alright, he heard me? Alright, he'll think about it? Alright, we'll just stop having sex then?

"I agree. I will not have sex with anyone but you for as long as we are lovers." He seemed to consider something, and then continued, "I will not stop feeding off other humans though. We can survive on the synthetic blood, but you are aware that to stay strong we require human blood, and you would be unable to fill that need exclusively."

I nodded. I did understand that.

"And that will go in reverse as well," he added.

"Don't worry, I don't need to drink anyone's blood to stay strong," I smirked. I was a little giddy. I think a thousand year old vampire just agreed to something resembling fidelity.

"No, you don't. And you don't need anyone else's company, either."

"Company? I'm not giving up the few friends I have, Eric."

"You will also not have sex with anyone else while we are lovers."

"Of course I won't! You think I would ask you for something and not be prepared to offer the same in return? Anyway, I'm not that sort of woman."

"Your kind are known for taking many and varied partners."

"Mostly human here," I corrected. "I assure you that is one way in which I am not in touch with my fairy side."

"Alright," he said again.

"Alright. I still think it's best if I stay away from other vampires."

"Agreed."

I found myself in Eric's embrace and I wrapped my arms around him tightly. It was comforting. It felt like something was settled. I felt happy. Considering my plans for the rest of the evening, that was a minor miracle.

"You're pleased," he observed.

"Yes." I pressed my face into his chest and inhaled.

"I am pleased as well. It is good to have this settled. I do not enjoy quarreling with you."

"I don't enjoy it either."

"I much prefer your amiable company," he informed me, letting one of his hands drop from my back to my butt, giving it a little squeeze. "But as much as I would like to take this moment to seal the deal, I have much to do tonight, and I am sure you would prefer to be done with your part as quickly as possible."

"Yes," I agreed, pulling back with a little sigh. "Onwards then, to the torture chamber."

I got all bundled up and led Eric to the front door, allowing him to go out first, while I locked up behind us. He stood at the bottom of the porch stairs and extended his arms to me when I turned. I embraced him tightly, and he held me in turn, and then we took off into the sky.

My heart felt lighter, and not just because we flew. I thought that Eric felt the same. There seemed to be a bit more swooping than was strictly necessary. Despite where we were headed, or maybe because of it, the ride was very enjoyable. When I chanced to peek up at Eric, he was smiling faintly. Was it his own feeling, or was he just sensing my delight?

It was incredibly cold and breezy on the way. Maybe if Eric and I are still seeing each other when it gets warm again, he'll take me joy-flying.

The parking lot of the warehouse was exactly the same as it had been the last time I was there; empty and lit with distant orange light. The only additions were an unmarked white utility van, and standing next to the door, a vampire I didn't recognize.

Eric stood me on my feet and I held his arms before stepping back. As we passed the vampire, he greeted Eric as "Sheriff," and me as "Miss Stackhouse," though he didn't look directly at me.

Once inside, I saw that the darkened waiting room now contained most of Bill Compton's possessions. It was nice to see the warehouse actually being used to store things this time. I was very curious about all his stuff, and said so.

"It's tempting, yes, but he would know if anyone tampered with his possessions."

"What, are they booby-trapped or something?"

"I doubt it. I meant that he could smell it."

"Ah, right."

"Maybe if this were a more public place, or these were not his personal possessions, it would be less noticeable. Do not touch anything."

"Got it."

Eric led me back through the maze of corridors to the little walled in space that seemed to be designated for this sort of thing. I mentally cringed at the thought of this place ever becoming more familiar to me. I felt different being here; not nearly as terrified, nor disgusted. I worried if perhaps being mixed up with the vampire was causing me to become desensitized to this sort of thing. I didn't want that.

I'd been conflicted the first time I came here. At first I was reluctant, and also disgusted with the way the men had been treated. After I'd seen inside the drainers' heads, my opinion had changed. I couldn't condone the way they'd been brutalized, but part of me saw the justice, the symmetry.

Unlike the last time, there was no stink of filth wafting out of the little opening. It had been cleaned in the meantime, and the two Weres hadn't been here for more than a couple of hours. The body of the third, Randy, wasn't here. Either it was still in the van, or it had already been removed. I thought no more about that part of things. I wondered if he had a family and what they would be told. He was a murderer, well, an assassin I suppose. There's a difference there, in the motivation.

I wasn't sure the distinction made him any better until I started reading the minds of the other two.

Keith, the blonde, had the clearer mind, and was the easier read. He was in pain; that always came through loud and clear when it was present, but he was also resigned. He didn't feel guilty about what he had done, and he didn't feel particularly angry about his current circumstances. It was like he had been playing a high-stakes game, and now simply accepted the fact that he had lost.

I guess that's the sort of thing one resolves for themselves before becoming a contracted killer.

I tried something a little different when I asked the questions. Gary was more opaque, but I could get his general feelings easily enough. Though I had to probe him directly for some specifics, since he had broader knowledge, for the most part I questioned Keith and used Gary as kind of a litmus test. When there was more to a line of questioning, his thoughts became noticeably cloudier; the fog was denser. It was interesting, and pretty effective.

Unlike last time, Eric led the questioning, with me jumping in only occasionally to lead their minds in the right directions. He stood in front of them, while I stood behind. They'd each quickly identified me as both the woman from the diner, and as me, from Splendide. They were suspicious of me, and how I seemed to know what they were thinking, but they didn't seem to fully understand that I was reading their minds, at least at first. That was good, because there was every likelihood that they would speak to other vampires after this, and we hardly needed them to be spouting off, "Is that telepath coming back?"

Some questions they answered verbally, and some they didn't. Pam had been correct that the only thing they feared now was some kind of retaliation by Arkansas against their loved ones. Keith had proclaimed loudly and repeatedly that he was, "not a snitch," but he still thought about everything Eric asked him, so it didn't matter.

We took a lot of breaks, during which Eric and I retreated out of earshot to discuss what was on their minds.

"This is the first time Keith has worked out of state," I told Eric, "But Gary thought of other assignments. He was with the group in New Orleans earlier in the month, when you were there. You didn't recognize him?"

"Maybe," said Eric, considering. "There are always a lot of people at the Queen's residence. It is hard to keep track of all the new faces."

"Well that's stupid."

"What is stupid?"

"Why would she let a bunch of strangers into her house? You'd think as Queen she'd be more careful."

"There are many guards, even beyond her own retinue. The Queen is well defended at home."

"Well, apparently not, if she's got plotters and schemers staying in the guest room."

Eric let out a mirthless laugh. After a moment's thought, I could see why. Vampires are all plotters and schemers, right? That didn't mean you had to let them in your house. Unless you were a Queen, I suppose. Then the royal residence would also be where she conducted her business, and it would be impolitic to refuse admittance to everyone who seemed a bit shady. In fact, she probably wouldn't be able to admit anyone at all.

"So, that's where this trouble started for you, anyway," I explained. "When the Queen had you bring Clancy to New Orleans for his uh, execution. I guess it was at that point that Threadgill realized you'd be a real threat to his attempt to takeover, so this was his means of getting you out of the picture."

"I had already gathered as much," Eric said. I had a flash of indignation. If he knows everything already then why couldn't I be at home in bed? "Though it is nice to have suspicions so easily confirmed," he assured me.

"This was supposed to be a win for him no matter what. Their first hope was that they'd discover you at the scene and then you'd be taken to vampire jail, or whatever, or maybe even human jail."

"Human jail?" Eric asked, disbelievingly.

"You would have had to go willingly, or else become a fugitive. Either way you wouldn't have been around."

"And if not jail, what outcome did they anticipate?"

"They thought you might fight the discovery party when they came to detain you, or else they would take you captive, or else you would flee, which would have made you look guilty. In that case, it would be a good excuse for Threadgill to get a lot more of his people into the state to search for you. If you truly cut all ties and fled, that would accomplish the same thing; you'd be out of the way."

When Keith had made his remark much earlier in the afternoon about wanting to see "the fallout," I hadn't realized the degree of uncertainty. He had imagined a dozen different scenarios that could have occurred, and had been eager to see in which way it would all play out. None of his imaginings had included his current predicament.

"So what happens to those guys now?" I asked.

"Do you really want to know the answer?" He quirked a brow at me.

"Yes," I declared. "I don't want the details, but I'd like to know if they're going to be questioned by others, if they're going to be delivered to New Orleans. I'd like you to try to glamour them to forget I was here tonight as part of their questioning."

"This can be difficult. The Werewolves..."

I held up a hand to cut him off. I knew, Weres can be hard to glamour, and it doesn't always stick. "I'm going to need you to give it your all," I said sternly. "They're in good shape, I mean comparatively. Physically, mentally. They're not going to forget I was here. If they are questioned again, and they decide to start talking about how they were found out, instead of what they did..." I trailed off.

"It will be addressed."

I was weary when we were finally through, and so were the Weres. Sleepy minds tend to be more open, but they are harder to focus. We'd descended into the minutiae of Arkansas' assets, a subject on which their knowledge was patchy at best. Finally, I declared that there was nothing else to draw from them. The well was dry, and I was ready for my five hours of sleep. Eric made one of his terse phone calls, double-checked the Weres' restraints, and then led me back to the exit.

I was invigorated by the cool, fresh air outside. The vampire on guard at the door didn't need to straighten up to attention, but he did blink as we emerged, seeming to come out of that trance-like state that constitutes the vampires' downtime. Eric had another call to make, I didn't catch much of what he said, but I thought it was to Pam. I stretched my arms and legs, walking around in a tight circle. I started to wonder what we were waiting for, until another car pulled up.

I tensed up immediately, but Eric didn't. He was obviously expecting the arrival. To my surprise, it was Thalia who emerged. I hadn't seen her drive before, and it struck me as incredibly peculiar. Like Eric, she didn't really try to seem like anything other than exactly what she was; an ancient vampire. She didn't have Eric's savoir-faire. She stuck out, even among her peers, as distinctly inhuman. Seeing her do such a regular thing as driving was just plain weird, as was her choice of vehicles. If I had to picture Thalia's mode of transportation, it would have been a palanquin, or a chariot, not a Hyundai Sonata.

I smiled at her, and she glowered at me in return. I'd learned that was just her way, and wasn't offended. She nodded to Eric and the other vampire. At first I thought she was here to relieve the other guard, but then the two of them moved to go inside.

"We'll take the van back," Eric said, though he didn't move to get in, nor get my door.

"Alright," I agreed, shifting back and forth on my feet. "What are they doing in there?"

"Our captives need to have the appearance of a more trying evening than they have enjoyed so far."

I swallowed. Thalia and the other guy were in there beating up the Weres. She always seemed so angry. Maybe to her, this kind of task was a reward.

If I strained, I imagined that I could hear noises coming from inside. I shivered. There was a dull thud. My head snapped to Eric. He was watching the door. That had not been in my head. A louder crash and then, shouting. Another crash. I moved to stand closer to Eric, but he shoved me back.

I stumbled, and turned back to the door just in time to see it fly open as a wolf bounded through.

Eric leapt forward with a shout and I was frozen. I had no weapon, and nothing that could be used as one. I wanted to help Eric, but I couldn't fight with my bare hands and teeth as he could. I'd be in the way. The wolf lunged at Eric and he rolled with it before they both found their feet again. I had to move.

"Move!"

Was it him shouting? Was it me?

The door banged open for the second time and the second wolf scrambled through. Once it got outside it paused. Where the hell were the other vampires? The second wolf seemed more injured. It moved on only three legs, starting towards Eric. I had to go. Eric is strong. Eric can literally kill Weres blindfolded. Eric didn't need my help. I needed to get out of the way. I started to run toward the van, and the thought didn't enter my mind until I tugged on the door that it wouldn't be open. I ran to the other side and pulled. Nothing. I looked down and was met with a growl.

I think it was Gary. He bore his teeth at me and lunged and I kicked out to deflect. I kept my hold on the door handle, stepped up onto the running board, and kicked again and again. On the third blow, it caught my shoe and didn't let go.

It jerked me forward and I felt my other foot slip out from under me and suddenly I was flying outward, the gravity of my fall combining with the wolf's pulling. I tried to pull my legs back under me and had only a second to drag a hand behind my head before it smashed against the same running board I'd just been standing on. I cried out in pain; a horrible sound that was not the shrill scream of a heroine in a horror movie, or the shocked shriek of a girl who has just seen a spider in her bedroom, but the guttural bellow of a woman who has just sacrificed at least two bones in her hand to spare her skull from cracking open.

I couldn't stay like this. I yanked at my legs and suddenly they came free. There was a sharp whimper as Thalia pulled the wolf from me, wrapping her arms around its body, and then throwing it to the ground. Before it could right itself, she pounced on it, snapping its neck with finality.

Eric strode over then, looking pleased and then instantly worried as he saw the state of me.

"Where is Dustin?" he snapped, coming to my side and kneeling.

"Inside," Thalia answered. "He needs blood."

"How did this happen?"

"They managed to free themselves of the silver bonds. One started to shift, allowing him to slip out from the rest, and the other followed suit. They attacked Dustin first. I fought with one, while the other fled. When the second realized he was alone, he broke away from me and fled as well. I chased and pulled the one I had been fighting from Sookie."

"See to Dustin. Give him blood if he requires it," he ordered. "I will tend to Sookie."

"Thalia, Thank you," I said to her. My voice sounded raw. She gave me a slow nod, and then turned to obey her Sheriff's orders.

Eric pulled the keys from his pocket and pushed a button and I heard all the locks click open. He scooped me up and placed me in the passenger's seat as I cradled my hand.

I stayed silent as he called the Queen and spoke to her representative to explain that the Weres had tried to escape, had attacked, and had been killed. He quickly reassured whoever was on the other end of the line that they had been fully questioned, and started relaying some of the valuable information we had obtained. He didn't hang up until we had reached my house, which I figured was also deliberate.

Owing to my injury, I couldn't reach my keys, so I asked Eric to fish them out after he helped me down from the van. He led us inside and I walked immediately back to my bedroom. I toed off my shoes, one of which was ruined. There was blood on my sock. I guess the wolf had bitten through. I made my way into the bathroom and turned on the water in the tub immediately.

I didn't think I was in any danger. Werewolves can transmute something resembling their condition through their bites, but it has to be a particularly savage wound, or many lesser ones. These were just small pinpricks, though my foot was sore, and I could see it already starting to bruise. Eric stood in the door and watched me struggle to remove my jeans one-handed, plucking at the buttons then wriggling down each side, then shimmying my hips until they fell down.

When I started to pull my injured arm through the sleeve of my shirt, stretching it in the process, he stepped forward to help. I let him. He unclasped my bra and then ran his fingertips lightly across my back, which made me wince. I turned my back to the mirror and looked over my shoulder to see a lot of scraped red skin. It must have happened at the same time I banged my hand, that greater pain distracting me from others.

Eric joined me in the shower and helped me wash my body. My hand was swelling up considerably. I need to get it iced really quickly.

"Can you help me with this?" I asked, looking down where Eric crouched, as I held my hand out slightly to indicate.

"Yes," he agreed, and continued to wash my feet.

He dried me off and helped me into my robe and then bid me to sit on my bed while he left for the kitchen. I heard the microwave go as he heated a blood for himself. He'd been in a fight, and had taken some superficial wounds as well. He was entitled.

Eric returned and sat beside me on the bed.

"Will you take blood?" he asked.

I had figured this was his plan when he returned without an icepack. It had been a few weeks since the last time I had taken Eric's blood, and the effects had waned considerably. My injuries were not as serious as the last time I'd agreed to this. I could probably go to the hospital. I wasn't sure how they treated a broken hand. The bones are really too small to benefit from a cast. It would have to be a giant mitten thing to be effective. They probably just tape it. Maybe put a splint in to prevent bending. Then I'd be healing for weeks. On the other hand, so to speak, I could wake up tomorrow feeling wonderful, and being no more or less in Eric's power than I am right this minute.

"Yes," I agreed. I wasn't terribly enthusiastic though, and didn't sound it.

"Lean back," he said, and helped to shift me so I lay against his chest with my head tucked under his chin. He was only wearing a towel, and it felt strange that something this intimate didn't feel sexy at all.

I heard the sickening little crunch as he bit into his own wrist and then drew his arms around me, offering the wrist at my mouth.

I drank a couple of mouthfuls but turned my head away when he moaned softly.

"No more," I said quietly, and he stirred. He kissed my neck softly and then lapped his own saliva across the wound to stanch the bleeding.

"You let that happen," I observed. "You didn't secure their bindings, you loosened them."

"It was necessary," he answered, and I understood that, really I did.

"They had to be an imminent threat to merit killing them," I said.

"Yes."

"A threat to me, specifically?"

"Not to you specifically, no. That was not intentional."

"But it was, wasn't it? You had us wait out there for them."

"He shouldn't have gone for you. Their fighting style is to team up against the greater threat, not to attack the helpless."

I didn't argue the term. In that context it had been absolutely true.

"I could have waited in the van," I said.

He didn't answer that, likely because he had no answer. He had killed them for my sake, and he had risked me in the process. That is what happened, no two ways about it.

"Why didn't you tell me the plan?"

"You would have panicked, or tried to interfere, or seemed prepared. I did not know for sure that the wolves would be the first out of the door. Your surprise only fueled the plausibility of the thing."

"Thalia seemed fully convinced when she pulled the Were off my leg."

"You weren't in danger of any lasting harm," he said. He meant it to sound soothing. It was. It wasn't.

"I'll just have to take your word for that, won't I?"

"Sookie..."

"Eric, I'm very tired. Could you make sure you lock up before you leave?"

"Yes."

I shifted so that I was lying on the bed, rather than on Eric, but he didn't move to get up. Instead, he wrapped himself around me, and held me as I drifted off. My feelings were such a jumble. Frustration, gratitude, hurt, even a touch of pride. It had been clever. Thalia and Dustin hadn't been in on it either, and they'd haplessly assisted in disposing of the witnesses to my telepathy. Eric had been defending two of his vampires and his human. It was all utterly justified. Unquestionable. And yet, completely questionable.

He wasn't there when I woke, of course. There was a note perched in front of my alarm clock informing me I'd hear from him tonight, and reminding me to be safe.

I stumbled getting out of bed as I tripped over the towel he'd left on the floor.