For hours, I laid in the tub. Draining and refilling each time the water became cold. I couldn't sleep at all. No - I wouldn't sleep. All night, my mind replayed the same images over and over in my head like a sick home movie, reminding me of what I lost and would never have again. I was angry. In pain in so many ways, and so very tired. My body felt off; my senses weren't the same, I felt sick to my stomach, and I couldn't focus on a damn thing.

I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the tub, until my eyes were the only thing above water.

"You should be resting," He whispered into my ear, his cool breath sending chills down my spine. I shivered.

"I am," I said, sitting up. "I have been."

"You should be resting in bed," Eric crouched beside the tub and wrapped his hands around the rim, pale fingers dragging across the water.

"Why bother? Things aren't going to stop for a day so I can recover."

"Delilah can handle things-"

I turned my body toward him. "Delilah can't do shit. She may be older, but I'm far stronger than she'll ever be. She can't handle all of you, and the Hounds and wolves. This is my job. I have to protect you. I can't just lay around because I got shot," I grew angry.

I'm in no mood for sitting around while Riggs is out killing, much less being glued to Eric's side. I need to get away from him. What I felt last night, the need to be close, it never went away. I've been fighting all night to keep myself from crawling in bed beside him. I can't let myself become close to him.

I won't torture myself again.

"Adrian, you almost died," He hissed.

"I should have," I said quietly, and rose from the water.

Eric grabbed me by the shoulders and pinned my body to the wall, the impact causing the wall to crack slightly. Dust from the drywall drifted down and landed on my bare shoulder. I threatened to burn him like I had the other night, but he only held on tighter. Eric and I stared into each other's eyes, daring the other to look away. We held our gazes for a few moments before I slumped in his grasp, lacking the energy to put up a fight with the vampire.

"What do you want?" I whined, defeated.

"For you to rest. Just relax."

"Why?" I challenged. "I'm fine. I should be out looking for Riggs right now, and putting a stop to all this shit. Not sitting here."

"Even Delilah said it would be best for you to stay in, even for today," Eric looked as if he were about to plead with me. And I could tell by the pained look on his face, he doesn't do it often. Or at all for that matter. I sighed.

"Can I ask why me resting is such a major concern for you?" I twisted out of his grip and returned to the bedroom. "Whether I live or die, become injured or remain unharmed shouldn't matter to you. I'm…I'm just your goddamn muscle. You could summon another one of us just as easily."

"My calling you here was the reason you almost died in the first place," He ran a finger through his blonde hair, jaw clenched tight. "At least for tonight, take it easy. You won't have to stay in; I'll take you back to Fangtasia. Sit with me. Keep me company."

"Fine," I conceded, and looked around, aware that I had no clothes to put on. Should I shift and disappear, away from Eric and this God forsaken town, or-

Eric began tossing clothes at me, and I caught them with ease. When I opened my mouth to ask where he had gotten the clothes, he replied, saying Delilah had returned to Sookie's home and retrieved my belongings. He watched as I slipped into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and stomped past him down the hall, pissed off that I had to sit with him all night instead of finding and killing that wretched fucking Hound.

"You better keep things interesting tonight, Eric." I said. "Otherwise you're going to have me go stir crazy."

. . .

Eric kept me seated close to him, cloaked in shadow beside his throne. I crossed my legs and folded my hands in my lap, and looked on at the crowd of dancing bodies, listened to their pulses thrumming in the air nearly as loud as the music. It seemed a line of humans stood off to the side, every so often one would approach the Viking boldly, though their bodies shook ever so slightly in fear of what the vampire would do to them. Almost all of them were immediately turned away, either by the wave of a hand, or violently dismissed from his sight. Some he humored enough by inspecting them, allowing them to believe they were worthy enough of time spent with the handsome, centuries old Swede before tossing them away like garbage.

I found great amusement in watching him and his treatment of the humans, regarding them as nothing more than walking meals, blood bags unworthy of being in his presence. Such arrogance Eric possesses, an unpleasant quality in a person, but one that did not irk me in the slightest. It is not unlikely for one who has been alive for as long as Eric and I, who holds great power, to feel some sort of superiority over the human race. We, after all, are superior to them. If all creatures came out of hiding, we could extinguish the entire race. I placed a hand over my mouth to hide the smile forming at the thought of all the bloodshed and chaos that could be created.

I knew something like that would never happen. Possible, yes, but a dream. The vampires or any others would never do anything to threaten their existence. And the humans with their advanced weaponry would waste no time in killing off all of the undead.

"Enjoying yourself?" Eric asked, his eyes swimming through the sea of black clad bodies.

"Why do you ask?"

"I can see you smiling," He glanced sideways at me.

I rest my elbow on the arm of the chair and slouched, trying to relax. Sitting still in a chair for hours isn't exactly my favorite thing to do. In fact, I'd rather embarrass myself by trying to dance than sit here. Out of boredom, I scratched my nails into the wood, and dragged them back and forth, wearing a deep line into the seat. Eric noticed what I was doing and clutched at my wrist.

"Please don't damage the furniture," He said, plucking my claws from the armrest.

A man of aesthetics, I mused. He cares about appearance.

"You should have bought me a chew toy then to keep me busy."

A look of amusement crossed his face. "Bored already?"

"After all that fighting about me not wanting to sit around, you should have realized having me seated beside you for hours was bound to bore me."

"Do you not like being in my company?"

I love it. But right now, I want to run away from you. Distance myself, I thought. I know full well what effects a blood bond can have on someone, and it hits Hounds harder. Even more so, the ones who are being kept. I hate this.

I shifted in my seat, itching to get up and walk, run, anything. "Oh, I love nothing more than being in your company, my dear Eric. What I don't like, is sitting still."

"You won't have to much longer. In the meantime, I'll try to think of something that will keep us both occupied."

"Both?" I asked, cocking a brow.

"Yes," He said, looking at me for the first time since we arrived. "I can't have you having all the fun by yourself, now can I? I don't like being left out." Eric smiled wickedly.

A chill traveled down my body, followed by a heat spreading through my veins, giving me a rush I rather enjoyed, as well as a distraction from my stress. I grinned, my mind drifting off to rather obscene thoughts involving the hot, bloodsucker beside me. I laughed aloud. "If you're thinking the same as I, being left out is something you won't have to worry about."