XIII.

After my grandfather left, I sat there stewing. On the one hand, it was the second time in my life where I was well prepared for some really bad eventuality. I guess I'd have to give myself a pat on the back for having foreseen more trouble with the Fae. It had been quiet for me personally on that front for far too long. And I owed much of my ability to react to Rico, because of research he'd helped me do on the Fae. And for keeping me safe while I explored a long and dark history of the Fae, in part from a demon perspective. Rico, our half-Fae, half-demon security person for the past five years was not exactly a fan of either race. Like me, he knew what it was like not to fit into the world you were born into. He had felt, at times, ostracized by both, and although he had come to us indirectly through Niall, he had implied more than once that it was considered to be a step down among the Fae, who already disliked him for his demon heritage, to be working for vampires, even a vampire king. Rico had a special disaffection for the Fae. Rico had also accompanied me on an interesting trip I'd made to Renard Parish, to check something out back in January. A curious clearing that I had heard about from Claudine. Oh yes, I knew quite a lot that would disconcert my great-grandfather…

After my grandfather left, Eric came and sat in the chair next to me and put out his hand to me but looked away. I winced when I saw the crisscrossed burns on his forearm and the top of his hand still looked wicked. I knew those marks well and remembered how it stung. They'd heal within a few hours but, nonetheless, it really made me angry to think that my Grandfather had left him looking like that.

I took his hand very gently. I felt immense turmoil from him. It continued to go all wrong, this business of my being turned, I thought ruefully. At least in his eyes. Something that he had thought would make him happy and which should have been so simple had brought him ongoing frustration and worry. Pam was going to marry Tan but had decided that maybe it was better to just leave things as they were- with Tan warm, human, and aging. Eric would not have been able to accept such an option. But at present, I felt a twinge of guilt from him. Had turning me put me in serious danger now?

"It was my choice, Eric. My choice. He's right. I'd been edging steadily toward being turned for years. And other than briefly during the stress of that first week, I have never regretted it. So don't beat yourself up about it, okay? It's not going to do either one of us any good."

"What are we going to do?" he said, his voice sounding tight.

"About the Raedself? My grandfather accepted her favor and it is his problem if he cannot deliver what she wished in return, not ours. He can try to fix it himself. I am not what she wants, anyway, because I'm not what she thinks I am. I am no one's servant. And neither is Hunter, nor will he be. Hunter throws off glamour better and better and when I'm done with him he will be better and stronger than I ever was even if he is less Fae. I would be a threat to her if she tried to put me in a submissive position. She remembers what I was and does not know what I am. But don't worry. I wasn't bluffing. If it all goes south, I have a few interesting things up my sleeve."

Eric was silent. Thinking about what a strange little vampire I was. That eighth fae blood along with a powerful sire had been just enough to make me a bit… unusual. Well, I'll say, I thought to myself trying not to roll my eyes. I should really keep out of his head so I don't get annoyed.

I really hoped Eric could understand why I had not told him in all these years about Hunter's gift. I tried to tell myself that he knew me well enough, that he would understand because it was exactly the type of choice that he would have made. I wasn't so sure he'd understand that, though. Lately Eric showed a lot of signs of not expecting me to think like him, or being caught off guard when he realized I did. He wanted me to act more like him but was somehow surprised if I thought like him and acted like me.

"Listen Eric, I didn't tell you about Hunter because…"

Suddenly, I just felt such a build up of internal turmoil from him. It was hard to sort out. Eric was usually so calm, so measured. Not currently though. But was it even about Hunter? I tried to gauge his thoughts again a bit. No, he was still stuck on the issue of turning me, wanting me with him, anger at Niall, anger the Raedself. He was still churning internally about it all…

He cut my thoughts about his thoughts off by rising and, lightening fast, pulling me to my feet and kissing me passionately. He pushed me into sitting on the table and, engulfed in his arms, before I knew it I was flat on my back on the table, with him looming over me, his hands already under my blouse. A heady reminder of part of why I got turned in the first place, without question… the love and passion between us. I held back his hair, which was hanging down loose and looked up at him. Ten years and still taking my breath away, metaphorically speaking at this point. But this was not happening in a room with an unlocked door, even if it was our own house or compound.

"Let's go upstairs," I suggested softly in between his kissing me, unbuttoning my blouse and unfastening my bra. He didn't stop. "Eric…" I was cut off by his mouth on mine.

It seemed he was just spilling over with emotions. In the end he was practically lying on top of me and it really didn't seem like stopping to go upstairs was part of his plan since his pants were coming down. Well, I was still an old fashioned girl with human mores. I thought I heard someone walking in the hall and so I wrapped my arms around him and in a flash we were in our bed. With an umph! I'd had 200 lbs of Eric land on me. If I breathed I would have had the wind knocked out of me. He looked somewhat disoriented. Meanwhile I immediately wondered how long I'd be able to go without a really good meal after that little stunt. Taking someone else with me required much, much more energy. I'd only done it with Hunter once to show him something. Hunter was tiny compared to Eric, who was big and quite magical in his own way. Dragging him along, with whatever his magical energy was, was quite something. But it was an interesting experiment, actually. It was good to know I could do it. I could already feel the traces of hunger begin though.

"Now you've done it," I said, shaking my head. "Now, I'm going to be really hungry. And the reason we couldn't simply walk upstairs was…?"

Without missing a beat, Eric pulled slightly away from me and his eyes glowed as he smiled at me with admiration to say,

"Well, you've definitely kept that one a secret, Lover. What else have you got up your sleeve?" he said, taking my hand and kissing it and then pushing up the sleeve of my unbuttoned blouse to kiss my forearm.

I looked at him wondering how some of the rest of it would go over. I frankly didn't think he was going to be very happy with a few things I had up my sleeve.

"Just… what's your line? Trust me? Trust me, Eric."

His long fingers held my face tenderly and smiled.

"You're one thing I'm sure of, Lover."

He smiled at me, but his eyes, and his emotions, still betrayed the intense conflict and worry that he felt about me, about everything that revolved around his having turned me. He was still worried that ultimately, it would harm me to have been turned. In his eyes, much as he loved me, I had come out all wrong. I sighed.

I kissed him and he rekindled that conference room passion.


It was shortly after sunset more than a week later when Eric gently shook me awake. We were in bed, wrapped in the sheets. The light in the room was given off solely by Niall, who was pacing, and extremely agitated.

I sat up groggily, pulled the sheet up over my bare breasts, and wrapped it around me a bit.

I suddenly felt a lurch of something painful and bent over. I felt… horrible. I let out a small gasp. Something was very, very wrong.

Niall turned to face me, his eyes wild and looking tearful.

"You need to brace yourself," he said hoarsely.

Eric put his arm around me, and drew me closer to him as he looked at Niall.

I breathed in deep as I hadn't since I was turned. It was as if something had knocked all the wind out of me.

I met Niall's eyes. "What happened? What has happened?"

Niall looked at me, almost as if fearful. He said in one short burst,

"Claudine is dead and Hunter is missing."

I gasped and bent over again, feeling ill.

"Dead? Claudine is dead? What happened?!" I sat back up practically shaking.

Niall looked at me, his eyes now looking openly as if he had cried.

"I sent Claudine to watch over Hunter. I told the Raedself that we were unable to comply with her request. With her request for you to serve her. I told her that I did not feel that the plan in its present form was wise. She did not appear to be very perturbed. I told her that you would be willing to speak with her to discuss alternate terms but that you would prefer remain here, with Eric. That I had no right to guarantee your service to her. And that she had no right to ask it of you because you are not entirely of our blood. I told her that you were willing to consider assisting her, that we would meet with her. I warned her that you are not what she expected."

He paused and seemed to frown and hesitate.

"This was three days ago. I thought everything was fine, but still, I took precautions. I asked Claudine to watch Hunter as she used to watch you. She did and things had been fine. In mid-afternoon today, Claude contacted me. He suddenly felt... He felt…"

"The void of her presence. Not being able to feel her…" I gasped. "She's really gone." Up until this point I had never been aware that Claudine was such a constant presence in me. In some way it was almost as if we had been bound to one another I now realized. Now she was gone and it was like someone had erased something vibrant inside me. I just shook my head and tears rolled down my face. We had cancelled plans to see each other only days before. She hadn't explained why to me. She must have been watching Hunter but she didn't tell me.

Niall looked as if he'd been hit by a truck. "I …" He looked so genuinely distraught. His daughter Líadin's child, his grandchild, beloved and gentle.

"Who did this for the Raedself? Would she have killed Claudine herself?" I asked, my jaw tight with anger.

Niall shook his head mutely. "I do not know for certain who did it. Whoever has Hunter killed her to take him. I do not believe that the Raedself would have done this herself. But someone working for her has. I am not even sure she will know that it was done in her name. It is not… her way. I assume she has Hunter in order to get you to come to her."

"You're sure it's her? The Raedself? Not Gwyn ap Nuad? Not one of the others?"

Niall merely nodded his head soberly.

I rose to dress. We had to move quickly, I thought to myself. Hunter was 14 years old. Even if his abilities might in the end exceed mine because of my helping to guide him, he was still a child. While he could resist my strongest attempts to glamour him when we practiced, I was quite sure that he would be no match for the Raedself or really any one of the Fae. He was only a child and they could really harm him. And she'd threatened to have him turned. How could someone have taken a child, I asked myself? What kind of person did these things? And then there was Claudine, my beloved cousin and friend. Working her way up, but always, in my eyes, already an angel because of her kind heart. And she was gone. I buried the urge to cry deep inside and latched instead onto the urge to find out who had done this vile act. I had always disliked the idea of retribution but this… this was enough to motivate the very darkest in my nature.

I turned back to Niall and said simply, "How?"

He bowed his head. "She was stabbed. Iron. She died protecting him, trying to prevent him from being taken, I think. I smelled lemon in the room as well."

She was clearly stabbed many times then, from what he said, because Claudine was strong as a horse. I looked at him and saw the edge of something that he didn't even want to think. A full fae-blooded person could likely not have handled the iron or lemon even with protection. But a part-Fae? I stiffened. No. Stick to what must be done to recover Hunter. Focus on that. Claudine is already lost. First Hunter and then Claudine's killer. Still… I tried to force myself to focus.

I left the secure room and went to change. I dressed in all black, denims and a heavy raw silk shirt. For the first time in a week, I put the my locket back on. Claudine was a Brigant and so by blood was Hunter. Eric and Niall were waiting for me outside the bathroom. Eric was already dressed, also in black. My hair was pulled back severely. No makeup. I pulled on my boots and then opened one of my drawers and took out a long thin steel cord with small wooden bars at the end that I could slip into my pocket. I carried this sometimes when working on some of my Fae cases. It was light and handy.

"I have to go downstairs to the basement." I paused for a moment and picked up Eric's hand, looking up into his eyes. "You're going to have to trust me, Eric. Really trust me. You may get very… concerned before this is over."

He looked down at me, with eyes that seemed to glow with the color of the evening sky.

"Well, I'm going with you. I'll leave Pam in charge. I cannot let you do whatever you plan to do alone. I won't let you go alone."

"I'm taking Rico. I'll be fine." I glanced over at Niall. I seriously wondered if he'd be any help or if he was worried about starting some sort of internecine war between the fairies and the elves. He was such in a difficult position even if it was his grandchild who'd been killed and his great-great-grandchild who'd been taken.

Eric shook his head. "I don't care if you're taking Rico, Hubert and an army. I'm going with you. She did it to get you, Sookie. I'm not letting you go there on your own with a bunch of Fae who may end up flipping sides for convenience," he said firmly.

I hesitated. On the one hand, I would feel safer walking anywhere on this earth with Eric at my side. On the other, I knew where I was headed, and what I would do to get there would be difficult for him to accept. There was a way to do what I wanted, what I needed, to do. What I needed to do in order to be sure, absolutely sure, that I could retrieve Hunter. A frightening way. An old way. But Eric would find it hard to accept. Nonetheless, this was likely a one shot deal. If I didn't do it right, it would disastrous. She could have us both, Hunter and me. Maybe kill us both when she realized I wasn't quite the bargain she wanted. No, it was the only way. Niall watched us as I silently sized up the situation. It was better for Eric to know, even if he hated it. To know the truth, in case I was wrong about any part of it and I didn't come back. Finally, I nodded.

"Rico will never flip sides, Eric. But if you want to go, I'll feel better with you with me. But you cannot expect to do anything other than just accompany me. You do not really know the elves. You…." I just shook my head. Eric knew fairies but that wasn't knowing elves or some of the less amenable Fae. "Just meet me in the kitchen in a few minutes. Tell Pam I need blood. Real blood." I was going to need at least several glasses before I left.

"Where are we going?" Eric asked quietly. He had taken down his long sword from the bedroom wall and was examining it instead of looking me in the eye as he asked. He already had a bad feeling about the whole business.

"I don't know that you'll need the sword. But… maybe you'll feel better carrying it. Take it. I'm going to Renard Parish. To Hotshot."

Niall's brightness dimmed. "You will not. You cannot know this!" He stared at me in amazement.

"Actually, Grandfather it is so much worse than you think. And I'm not even going exactly where you think I am, either. Let's just say that in the past six months, I've been quite busy. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I popped downstairs into the hot basement and knocked on the doorframe to signify my entry. They were listening to Springsteen's Live in Dublin album. The reddish glow throughout the black cavern of the basement would have been eerily frightening if I did not know them well.

"Rico?" I called out quietly.

There was a low rumble that seemed to shake the walls as they stirred.

"Remember your offer? I need to take you up on it. I really need your help."

Rico emerged from a dark corner, his eyes glowing like hot coals as he looked down at me. Nearby, Hubert, another Fae/demon cross, moved out of the shadows, as well. He was larger and more frightening to me than Rico but I didn't know him as I did Rico.

"Only Rico, Hubert, but thanks. You remain to guard the others here. We trust you to take care of Pam and Thalia. Guard them well."

Rico moved closer to me and extended a hand larger than a catcher's mitt. He was about seven feet tall and a broad wall of muscle He could eat a tree or a cow or really anything at all. Including me. Without his glamour, Rico was still human shaped. He had black eyes that glowed orange with flames, a large nose and a huge mouth with glittering white teeth. His hair was long, black and wavy. His skin was charcoal color. When angry he glowed from within, like piece of hot coal crusted with ash. Even vampires feared him. He could literally incinerate with his touch if he so desired, descended as he was from fire demons. And yet, he could also be quite gentle and was good humored and a surprisingly deep thinker about the world. Rico liked me because I was kind. He had taken my turning well. The Fae generally really disliked dead people. But not Rico. He said he could not judge me, because I had never judged him. I had never treated him as a person lesser than myself. This, to Rico, was an invaluable thing. We were truly friends. In reading his thoughts, I would have to say that he loved me. He was genuinely protective of me. Even so, thinking of what I would have to do, I was terrified.

Hunter, I told myself. The most viable plan, with an almost certain chance of recovering him.

I took Rico's very warm hand in my cold one, and tried not to tremble. I was used to touching Rico now, in spite of the immense magic that welled within him. There was no electricity, only heat. His fingers closed around mine and he veiled himself.

Stay focused only on the goal, not on how scary it might be to get there, I told myself.

Find Hunter. Avenge Claudine.

Hunter.

I can do this.

I will do it.