A/N: I think I must be really determined to finish this story, or the girls over at the Sookieverse glamored me into putting up another chapter. Yeah, that's it . . . glamor. Well here you go. Oh, Linds, Rox, cat . . . remember when I asked if you wanted to know why Sookie got on the plane? Oops. Not this time! Sorry! However, you will get another answer.

I want to mention how amazed I am at the response to this story. I know that not everyone who reads it writes a review. I get that, I really do. What amazes me are the number of people who have tagged this as a favorite story. I'm humbled and awed by all of you.

Once again my thanks go out to Kristin for being such a great beta and ego stroker. Thanks to the crew at the wiki and Sookieverse for your support. Enjoy.

Chapter 15

"SOOKIE!" Her name tore from my throat as her eyes made contact with me. I saw her break away from Sutherfield's grasp and take two steps toward me. Then we were under attack.

Shots were being fired and humans were attacking us with non-silver weapons. It made no sense. Nothing used was lethal to the vampires, although a bullet would certainly take out one of the shifters. I was slicing through them effortlessly. A couple of them were strong, like bitten weres who could not change without the moon, but mostly Bill, Pam, Ian and I, were busy fighting a slew of poorly armed humans.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alcide and Sam taking on the few fully changed Weres that were present and, saw Calvin's panther stalking the trees. I heard occasional screams, and noticed the frequency of the bullets markedly decrease. However, I did not spend too much time considering the make up of the attack.

My entire being was focused on one thing and one thing alone . . . her. I had to get through them to get to her. My sword was a blur as I moved through my forms, severing limbs, bisecting bodies, and cleaving through midsections. Ian was at my back the entire time.

I heard the roar of a jet engine. Another man jumped in front of me, and as I flew past him, my left hand pushed him into the sword held in my right, and I sliced clean through him. Then I was through, and there was no one between me and her.

I watched her take another hesitant step toward me and, I could see the pain in her steps. "SOOKIE!" I screamed once more. As I began to run to her, our eyes met, and oh the pain and love in her eyes. Then she turned, and once again, boarded the plane with Sutherfield. "NO!"

I ran at vampire speed, but the distance was too far, and once again, I was no match for a jet engine. As I watched the plane disappear, I realized that my blood was still too heated. The fight, seeing her, and losing her again, it was too much. I needed to kill someone, something . . . anything. I needed to regain control somehow.

I turned and looked back at the group. I saw Calvin and Sam wisely holding Amelia back, near the tree line and away from the vampires. They were draining the bodies. It would not do for the witch to inadvertently get between one of them and their meal.

I spotted movement to my right, and in an instant, I cornered two more armed men, who were cowering behind some mining equipment. One wisely dropped his weapon, the other fired at me in a panic. The bullet hit my shoulder, ironically, in nearly the same spot as the one Sookie sucked out for me in Dallas. It did not stop me as I grabbed him to me and sunk my fangs into his neck. I could feel the bullet work its way out as I drank deeply. I felt the man struggling against me, pleading with me for his life, but I just kept drinking until I felt his struggles cease, and could no longer hear his heart.

I dropped him where I stood and turned my eyes to the other man, who still cowered, crossing himself and praying to the Virgin Mary.

"Olhe-me." I commanded him in Portuguese. Look at me. It took only a touch of glamour, and he was spilling every scrap of information he knew. When I threw his drained body down to join his friend, I turned to find Pam behind me. She looked pink and flushed from feeding, as I am sure I did.

"We were very close Eric."

"They knew we were coming."

She looked up at me, and for the tiniest, most fleeting of moments, I saw sympathy pass across her face. It was gone in an instant and, in its place, was the unruffled, calm mask of my child. It was a measure of how much she cared, both for me and Sookie, that she allowed me to see it at all.

While the rest of the group did "clean up", I went inside the building to investigate. I smelled it before I even entered the room. I knew what I would find. I had felt it through the bond, but being there, and smelling it . . . seeing her blood on the mattress . . . I snapped. I tore the room apart, roaring like a beast, but I could not get that smell out of my head. Her blood, her sweat, her tears, her juices, mingled with his, all tinged with the scent of terror. I turned to find Calvin standing by the door, sniffing the air.

"And the humans think we're the animals." He said. "No one in my pack would ever do something like this to another person."

It was a measure of my despair, that I did not hear him approach and a measure of my gratitude to him, that I did not kill him where he stood for witnessing my complete loss of control. Also, there was something about this were, that despite all our prejudices, I simply liked. He was lucky.

When all the bodies were disposed of, we drove back to the capital city and regrouped at our hotel. Alcide could not stop pacing. Weres are notorious for their post battle needs, and the young pack leader was at a decided disadvantage being this far from his pack's females. I could smell the frustration coming off of him in waves. If I was not so grateful for his help and his dedication to the safety of my bonded, I would have snapped at him already.

When everyone was settled, I relayed the information I had gotten out of the human, which was not much. However, he did provide me with information he did not even know was important.

"They knew we were coming."

"Well of course they knew we were coming. Sutherfield has to know we're going to keep coming after them." Alcide snapped.

I growled low in my chest. I was grateful for his help, but he would keep a civil tongue or I would rip it from him. At least he had the decency to look abashed.

"I mean, they knew exactly when we were coming." I paused for a moment as everyone in the room digested the information. Then I noticed several sets of eyes turn to Sandy and Ian. I quickly dispelled that notion.

"The guard I questioned told me they received a phone call, while it was still daylight," I emphasized that point, "that told them how long they had until we arrived."

I turned to Amelia. "When did you last speak with de Castro's people?"

She blanched slightly. "I spoke to one of his secretaries while we were on our way up. Maybe an hour before we got there. Shit!"

"The king has a security breach." Sandy stated, and immediately stepped to the side and called de Castro. When she was finished, she turned back to us. "He is starting the investigation as we speak. I'm sure we will know who it is soon. Then, perhaps we can get some answers."

I nodded at her, and then turned to Amelia. "Were you successful?"

She looked . . . excited. "I was not able to do anything with Sookie. I don't know who they got to magic her, but she is so shielded it isn't funny. However, I was able to put . . . well, for lack of a better explanation, a magical tracking device on the plane. For once, we'll know where they are when they land and, we won't have to wait for nightfall to get moving!"

"Good. He's done chasing the light."

Amelia and the shifters all looked at me, puzzled.

"He's been using the different time zones to gain an advantage. He's been using the light against us, against me. He knows I can't track her during the day. They timed when they took her. Calculated flight times, time zones, and knew exactly when the sun rose and set here and in Caracas. This time, it won't help."

I looked at Sandy. "If the king has not figured out who the spy is, we cannot tell anyone else with him about this. No reports to anyone but him. I don't want them running again. Not now that we have an advantage."