A/N: Sookie gets a visit from everybody's favorite vampire.
Disclaimer: everything belongs to Charlaine Harris, although I insist on doing something different with her characters.
When I woke late the next afternoon, I quickly threw on some khakis and a blouse and hightailed it downstairs to attend to a few things and make it to staff dinner. When that was done, I headed back up to my room to check my email on the laptop Amelia had loaned me. There was a mandatory business meeting for the vampires and their entourages later, which I'd need to attend. I made a quick call to Quinn, then stashed a small notebook from the hotel's shop in my large, black leather purse. I wanted to jot down some notes if I had time to visit the vendors later, as research for my new role.
By the time I finished all my odds and ends, it was dark out, and I still needed to change clothes. I slid into my pink shell, dark grey skirt and suit jacket, pearls, and black t-strap heels. Glancing at the red digits of the alarm clock, I realized I'd have to wait a bit longer to have much of a talk with Karin. There was a knock and a void at my door, and I assumed it was her, ready to escort me down for the meeting. I threw open the door without checking the peephole, but my eyes met only man chest where I'd expected to see my blonde vampire protector. My eyes slid upward as the charcoal-suited figure stepped forward, and I had the slightest moment of panic before everything clicked: Eric.
The well-dressed vampire barged into my room without invitation or greeting, while I stood holding the door wide open. I gathered myself and shut it, then turned on my unexpected visitor. "Eric, again, what the fuck are you doing here?" As far as I knew, he was still prohibited from seeing me. We also didn't have much time before we absolutely had to be at the meeting.
Eric had walked all the way to my window and looked out, but now he turned toward me with a concerned expression on his face. "Sookie, we must speak. Just before dawn, the council informed Freyda and I that the terms of our contract have been breached through an attack on you." He was apparently satisfied by looking me up and down, because he didn't bother to ask if I was okay. "We have been told only that the decision is ours, as to whether we wish to proceed with the marriage. I do not know what plotting is behind this…" My former vampire husband searched my face for clues, and I could tell he was at a loss. Not a good look on an ancient Viking vampire.
"I must tell them my decision this night, but I do not know if anything else has changed. I did not wish to leave you, and find no joy in the prospect of serving Freyda for two centuries. Out of respect for you, lover, I wanted to find out your desires in the matter."
I eyed him skeptically. "And you wanted to find out if I knew anything, too."
Eric did that vampire zoom where he was suddenly mere inches from my face, but he still wasn't touching me. I'd known he'd go from caring to aggressive when he didn't get answers right away. He continued, "Sookie, you have no idea how much hinges on this decision. If I turn her down - again - I will have no place in the vampire hierarchy. Freyda may simply decide to kill me and pay the consequences. She may decide to kill you."
I decided not to worry about that vague possibility of violence, which just showed how my life had changed. When Eric's words got no reaction from me, he tried a different approach. "Karin told me you were more involved with the council's decision than I know, but refused to explain. What is going on, Sookie? You smell of Karin. My child refused a direct order to tell me more."
Well, that confirmed my long-held belief that it is possible for a vampire to refuse his or her maker's orders. It was a big deal that Karin had done so, and it made me respect her even more.
"Of course I smell like Karin, Eric, you commanded her to hang around me." I paused for effect. "She and I have been having sleepovers for weeks now." I couldn't resist grinning at him suggestively. I may have bitten my bottom lip. Just a little.
To my surprise, he only looked at me seriously. "It is more. You have had her blood. Has she had yours? Have you formed a relationship with Karin?" His eyebrows scrunched together and he began pacing. The Eric I remembered would have at least gotten a laugh out of my performance. He was obviously not thinking clearly; he knew very well that I wasn't into women that way. For once, he knew way less than I did about vampire affairs, and I decided to have a little mercy on him.
"Eric, I can't and won't tell you any more about my conversations with the council than Karin did. I'm sorry, but as long as you're all wishy washy about Freyda and what you're gonna do, I can't give you all the details of my life. I will tell you this, though: make your own decision about whether you actually want to be Freyda's husband. But don't make that decision thinking you'll be in Oklahoma, acting as consort and plotting to help her take over America if it happens. And don't make it because you think it's the only thing that will keep me safe, or you safe, or Pam or Karin, because none of those things are true."
I waited for Eric's frustration to boil over into anger at my cryptic response, but it didn't happen. Instead, he sank down onto the edge of the bed, sitting hunched over with his long arms folded across his lap. I almost felt sorry for the poor vampire, then I reminded myself that not only were we not a couple, but he was a thousand years old and extremely capable.
I sighed, and made sure my voice was confident. "I'll tell you one more thing, Eric. I don't expect anything that's going on to lead to your final death. I can't predict for certain how things will turn out, but you'll probably end up better off than any of us, as usual. You're a survivor, Eric. Survive. You can do that without Freyda, if you want to."
Eric lifted his blue eyes up to mine, and they seemed to hold both sadness and hope. Stepping toward him at the edge of the bed, I gently brushed his long blonde hair out of his face, and allowed my hand to trail lightly across his shoulder and down his muscular bicep. As I stroked his arm, I told him, "One more thing, Eric. I want you to remember that you can still trust me, and that those times when I've accused you of being high-handed...I know you thought you were looking out for my safety and freedom, at least a little. I will do the same for you."
Eric didn't say anything, but his face had transformed to hold much more of the calm, power, and control I expected from him than it had when he'd walked in. Standing, he began to resemble a vampire who could handle whatever was coming - the vampire I knew. I gave him a final firm pat on the arm and and said, "Let's go, Eric." I watched my fine-looking ex leave the room ahead of me before I followed, quickly saying a silent prayer that everything I'd told him was true.
A/N: Eric's not used to not having all the information and control, is he? ;) Sookie's not being mean to him here, she just needs to know which way he's going to jump before revealing anything - including her bond with Karin. Do you think the council might have also ordered her to keep things a secret for now? In the next chapter, we'll find out what's going to happen with Eric and Freyda, and Sookie will get some much-deserved recognition.