Chapter Forty One:

The room was dead silent.

The moment Eric had dashed from the room, everyone had gone still, even Marnie. Not a single peep sounded in the room, everyone holding their breaths. I was the first to make a move, to make a sound. My breathing was unsteady, the tears staining my cheeks as I tried to push myself up into a sitting position. But pain racked through my body and I had to just stay there, crumpled on the ground, and watched everyone jolt back to life.

Marnie slipped to the ground as if the life was just yanked from her and I found myself not caring at all. I had not a single ounce of worry for her. How could I? I didn't care for her. All I wanted was for her to feel the same pain that she had forced me to endure. All I wanted was to get my hands on her for whatever she had done to Eric. Because she had done something. That look on his face, it was as if he wasn't even there. It was like he was a thousand miles away, and still, he didn't even look like himself. His eyes had been glazed over before he had made a mad dash out of the magic shop and to god even knows where.

"Eric..." I muttered to myself, the worry washing through me. What had Marnie done to him? What spell had she cast on my vampire? What could she possibly have done to cause this all?

I didn't even get a chance to try and question the fallen witch as suddenly, the doors once again burst open, only this time to reveal another vampire. I sighed in relief as Godric's pale face came into view, the vampire racing over to me before even a single member of the coven could blink an eye. A gasp sounded from one of the witches, but Godric had me lifted into his arms and we were out of the back door before anyone could even get a good look at Godric.

I clutched onto Godric as best as I could as he sped as far as he could from the building before leaping up into the night sky. Neither of us spoke. I couldn't find the words to even begin retelling the story of what had just happened. Godric must have known part of it; he had been able to feel every little thing that had happened. The only reason I suspected he hadn't come sooner was the dark magic littering the air around the shop. It felt suffocating in that room, it felt like I couldn't even breathe; I could just imagine what it must have been like for Godric on the outside looking in. But he was here now, and I was thankful. Because Eric was out there somewhere, and no matter how many times I pushed at our bonds, I couldn't find him.

Finally, Godric touched down on the rooftop of an older building, just high enough to shield us from civilians walking about. The moment my feet touched the roof, my mouth just wouldn't stop rambling.

"He's gone, Godric." I clutched onto Godric's arms with wide eyes. "She...she did something, she was chanting something and he...he just left."

"I saw him leave." Godric nodded with a frown. "I watched him run from the building but when I called to him, he wouldn't stop."

"I can't feel him, Godric. I'm trying, but I can't find him." I felt panicked. Why couldn't I find him? Why couldn't I feel him at all? "Where is he, Godric? Why can't I feel him?"

Godric didn't respond at first, and by the look of concentration on his face, I knew he was trying to locate his progeny. But as his face fell, as the worry grew in his orbs, I knew I wasn't the only one facing this mysterious problem.

"Where is he?" he murmured to himself.

"You can't feel him either?" My eyes grew wide. "How? How is that possible?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. "This shouldn't be possible. I've called to him, but it's like he's not even there. I can't find him at all."

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know..." he admitted sadly.

"We need to find him." I looked out onto the night, as if I would find him out on one of the other rooftops just waiting for us. "We need to find him now. Something bad happened, I just know it. We need to..."

"We will, but first, we need to concentrate on you." Godric stopped me.

"I'm fine." I insisted, my heart racing a mile a minute. I didn't care about myself. I didn't care about anything other than finding Eric. He could be anywhere. We couldn't waste time on worrying about me. He was the one we needed to care about. "Godric, we need to look for him."

"We will, I promise you." Godric cupped both of my cheeks, his blue eyes boring right through me, the concern and fear radiating off of him. "But we can't do that if you bleed out on me. Just let me heal you."

"Bleed out?" my eyebrows furrowed together. "What are you talking about? I'm fine, Godric. Now let's just..."

"This, this is not fine." He forced my chin down so I was looking down at my chest.

And what I found nearly had me emptying my stomach right on that rooftop. I had been so worried about Eric, I had been so focused on searching for him, on making sure he was alright, that I had never once noticed the large clawed marks running down my chest. My eyes grew wide, my face paling considerably as I stared at those deep gashes. There was a reason it had felt like beasts had been clawing at my chest, because somehow, there had been invisible beasts doing just that. That pain, that suffering I was forced to endure, it had all been real for a reason. It hadn't just felt like those claws were digging inside of me, searching for my necromancy. It had all been real. The agony, it had just been so extreme that I never once noticed that body chest was being ripped to shreds, that the blood was pouring out of me. And then Marnie had turned her attention on Eric, and it just all didn't matter anymore; only he did.

But now, as my mind realized the extent of my injuries, I began to feel the pain. It hit me so suddenly, nearly knocking me off my feet if it hadn't of been for Godric slowly lowering me down onto that rooftop. A howl of pain escaped my lips as tears blurred my vision. The pain, the agony, it was too much. It was searing through me like flames. It felt as if those claws were once again here, trying to pry out what was mine.

"Shh." Godric slipped an arm around me before raising a wrist to his mouth. His fangs were extended and with a single crunch, Godric was pressing his bloodied limb against my lips. "Drink, Savannah. Please. We'll find him, we will. But I need you to drink."

I didn't fight him on this. I needed the pain to stop. Before it pushed me over the edge. I felt myself fraying. I felt myself breaking. It was all too much.

"Drink." He whispered soothingly, forcing his wrist passed my lips so the first few drops could slide down my throat.

I didn't have the strength to hold his wrist there, and could barely even lick at the blood he was supplying for me. But Godric must have ripped a chunk of flesh out of his wrist as his blood flowed naturally into my mouth, over my tongue and down my throat. With each drop, I could feel a single sliver of relief. Drop after drop, slowly my chest began to heal, the pain lessening until it was only a dull ache. I even stared down at my chest, watching as the skin patched itself over the gashes, the only evidence at all that tonight had happened being the blood soaked clothes and the rips in my shirt.

"How do you feel?" Godric asked, smoothing down my hair soothingly as he gently tugged his wrist away, his wound already beginning to heal.

"Better." I traced my fingers over where the gashes should have been, still amazed at the effect of vampire blood. It was amazing to me that I could be in that much agony, that I could be nearly ripped to shreds and with just a couple gulps of Godric's blood, I was as good as new. "Thanks."

"How did you not realize you were injured?" Godric questioned with a frown, his thumb wiping away the last of his blood from my lips.

I shrugged, gazing up into his worried orbs. "I was just so focused on Eric I guess I just never noticed. I mean I could feel it happening. I just...I was just in shock I guess."

Godric nodded, his other hand falling down to where the rips in my shirt were, his frown deepening. "In all my years, I've never seen anything even remotely close to this."

"She wanted to raise a human body, Godric." I thought back to what happened and shuddered. "She wants to raise the dead. And not just animals. Humans. She wants to raise human bodies. That zombie apocalypse everyone is predicting, yeah, it'll likely be her doing. And I'll be her little puppet in it all."

"No." There was a fierce look in his eyes as he shook his head, his fangs pressing hard against his top lip. "She won't touch you, not again."

"How can we possibly stop her? Look what she did to me." I waved at my now healed chest. "We don't even know where Eric is. I don't even feel attached to him anymore, Godric. That scares me. Whatever she did, it's like our blood bond with him just vanished. How can that be possible?"

"It shouldn't be." He sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But we'll find him and we'll fix this."

"Then come on then." I slowly began pushing myself back up to my feet. "We need to go find him. And soon."

Godric nodded, allowing me to drag him up beside me. "Fangtasia isn't far from here, we'll search there first."

"We'll find him, right?" I asked in a small, scared tone as he swept me off of my feet so he could take back off into the night sky. "We will, right?"

"We will."

He wasn't at Fangtasia. Pam had sworn up and down that he hadn't been in at all tonight. The last time she had heard from him was when he called her to let her know what had been happening with Marnie. And by my calculations, that would be just before he showed up at the magic shop. Which didn't help us at all. Not even Pam could find him through the bond she shared with her maker. Whatever Marnie had done, she had hidden him from all those connected to him. And that scared me. If she was capable of all this, what else could she do? And for how long will I be dragged along for the ride before she tires of me? How much more of this could I even take? There were only so many dead bodies that could reenergize me. There was only so much blood that could heal me. Eventually, it wouldn't be enough, even with the added strength of this triumvirate.

"We'll find him." Godric promised for the hundredth time since we had left Fangtasia.

"Will we?" my arms were wrapped around myself as we stood in the elevator of Eric and Godric's penthouse suite, waiting to reach the top floor. "What if we..."

"We will." He cut me off before I could finish. He placed his hand on the mid of my back, adding a hint of pressure in assurance. "Maybe he's already here searching for us."

"Maybe." I nodded, though I doubted it. He would have called us if he was alright, if he was just sitting waiting for us at home. Hell, if everything was fine, we would have felt where he was. But we couldn't.

I was relieved when the elevator finally reached the top floor. I darted right out of the contraption before the doors were even completely open, bolting into the living room, calling out Eric's name. Godric, though he appeared calm and composed, raced through each room, searching for his progeny. I followed at a human pace behind him, looking into every room I passed, gazing into every nook and cranny for the Viking. But he was nowhere to be found.

"He's not here." I stood in the middle of the bedroom, my legs growing weak beneath me, threatening to give out. Why wasn't he here? If he wasn't here, then where was he? Where could he be? "Godric he's not here. Where is he? He's supposed to be here."

"We'll find him." Godric assured me, but I could see the doubt and worry swimming in his sea coloured orbs. He was worried. He was concerned for his progeny. If he feared the worst, then I knew we were in trouble.

My hands began to shake and I had to clench my teeth tightly together to keep from crying out. Why was this happening? This wasn't supposed to happen at all. I hated Marnie for this. I hated the fact that I was a necromancer. I hated Bill for blackmailing us. I hated the universe for letting this happen. We were supposed to get rid of her, to make this end as quickly as possible. But tonight had gone downhill quickly and that hadn't happened at all. And now we had a missing Viking on our hands; a Viking that could out run a speeding bullet, a Viking that could beat superman in a flying contest. He might not even be in the city any longer, not to mention the state. He could be anywhere right this minute. And without our bonds, without that connection to him, we were searching for him completely blind.

"Where is he?" my bottom lip began to tremble.

"We'll find him." Godric flashed before me, taking me into his arms. "We'll find him I promise you."

"But where could he be? We've looked everywhere." I was working myself up into hysteria. "We looked at Fangtasia; we've looked all around Shreveport. Where else could he be?"

"His other home perhaps." Godric suggested. "It's his safe house, only Pam and I know of its whereabouts. If he's in any sort of trouble or needs sanctuary, he retreats there."

"Do you think he could really be there?" I looked up into those blue eyes, searching for hope.

"I don't know, my love, but we can hope." He leaned forward, brushing his lips against my forehead affectionately. "Let's go. The quicker we get there, the sooner we'll know if..."

Before he could finish however, a ringing sounded from his pocket. My heart leapt inside of my chest. Could it be Eric calling to tell us where he was, to tell us he was alright? Or was he calling, pleading for help? No, I couldn't think like that.

Godric didn't hesitate for a second and whipped the phone from his pocket. "Hello? Yes Pam, what is it?"

My heart stopped. Had Pam found him?

"Where is he?" Godric's voice grew strained, forcing my gaze to snap up to his face. "We'll be there right away."

I didn't even have a moment to understand what was happening before Godric slipped his phone back away and had me swept up into his arms, taking off through a window and into the night.

"Pam found him at Sookie's." Godric explained as we flew, my head digging into the crook of his neck as the wind whipped at our bodies from the speed Godric was going.

Everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion. Despite Godric's vampire speed, the trip to Sookie's still felt like it was taking hours, not minutes. I was growing impatient with every passing second. I just wanted to see him. I needed to make sure he was okay. He would be alright, right? Marnie couldn't have damaged him for good, could she have? All I was thinking was the worst. Was he near death? Godric wouldn't have been racing us there if it wasn't serious. I tried once again to push at those bonds, searching through our blood for our missing link. But I just couldn't find him. And that was worrying. What the hell had Marnie done to hide him from us metaphysically?

The moment we arrived in Bon Temps, the moment we landed on Sookie's front yard, Godric had to take control before I just bolted right towards that house.

"Savannah, we need to tread lightly here." Godric slipped his hand over mine, a guarded expression on his face. "We need to prepare for what we might come across."

I couldn't speak, the words lost in my throat, and instead just nodded. My heart was pounding painfully in my chest as we grew closer to Sookie's house. I was barely paying attention to anything around me, ignoring the slight buzzing from the cemetery. Nothing else mattered. All I cared about was seeing Eric in the flesh. I needed to know he was alright. I needed to know that whatever Marnie had done, it hadn't of hurt him. She may have put me through the ringer, channeling my necromancy, but at least I didn't disappear without a trace. I didn't even care that it was Sookie who had found him, who was keeping him safe at her house. I hadn't even let that fact sink in yet. I just needed to see him, to feel him, and then everything else would make sense.

"He'll be fine." Godric assured, squeezed my hand. Though he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself more than me. This was his progeny, after all. To not be able to feel him, to not grasp onto that bond they shared for the past millennium, it must have been torture for him. But unlike myself, he was acting calm and composed, just another difference between a twenty something girl and a two thousand year old vampire.

"He has to be." I nodded, keeping a tight hold onto his hand as he led the way up onto Sookie's porch, the vampire reaching out to knock on the white door.

We waited nervously for someone to answer. I couldn't keep still. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, my free and clenching and unclenching repeatedly until I felt the sharp prick of my fingernails breaking through the skin of my palm. But even then, the dull pain meant nothing to me. It didn't compare in the least to the torture, the pure agony I had been put through earlier. I don't think anything could ever compare to that pain.

"Finally, you're here." It was Pam who threw open the door, a look of relief sweeping across her panicked expression. "We have a problem."

"Where is he?" I demanded to know, peering around Pam as best as I could.

"We have a problem." She repeated, stepping out of the house and closing the door behind her. She shot me a look, a frown settled on her bright red lips before sending a long glance at Godric. "Maybe you shouldn't have brought her."

"Where is he Pam? Now's not the time to decide you don't like me." I was seconds away from pushing passed her and storming into that house. I needed to see him. I needed to make sure he was alright. The longer she stalled, the more worried I became. Was there something seriously wrong with Eric? Was he really hurt? Why did she seem so worried? What the hell happened to Eric?

Pam sighed, flicking her hair over her shoulder before settling her gaze on me. "Eric's not exactly...himself."

"What do you mean?" Godric questioned.

"Eric not...well...Eric." Pam glanced over her shoulder towards the house, her frown deepening. "He's not even in the same vicinity as himself."

"I don't like the sound of that." there was panic lacing my words as my muscles grew tense. "Where is he? I want to see him."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, cupcake." She shook her head.

"Why not? I want to see him." I argued.

"Savannah, perhaps you should wait outside." Godric suggested, obviously understanding something that I didn't.

"No." I shook my head, my hair whipping from side to side. "I want to see him. Now."

Godric sighed before turning me around so his hands were firmly on my shoulders, both in reassurance, and I was certain to also make sure I didn't just suddenly bolt into the house. "We need to be prepared for whatever is waiting for us."

"It's just Eric..." I insisted. No matter how injured he may be, he was still my Eric. He was still our third. So he was hurt. We could fix that. Once the three of us were together, everything would be alright. I would even offer him my blood if need be. It didn't matter what shape Eric could ever possibly be in; he was still Eric, still the man I loved. Nothing would ever change that.

"Maybe you should let me see what we're up against first." He advised. "And then you can..."

"Oh fuck you." I spat suddenly, my nerves and anxiousness getting the better of me. I shook my head, pushing Godric's hands away before darting towards the front door. Pam was faster however, and was blocking the door before I could even take more than two steps. I growled in annoyance, just wanting to see Eric, to see what all the fuss was about. "Move, Pam. I want to see him. I deserve to see him."

"Savannah just let me ensure that everything is..."

"No." I sent Godric the darkest glare I could muster. "We're in this together, Godric. We're a triumvirate. Whatever happened to him, I can deal with it. Don't sugar coat crap for me. I need to see him. You need to let me see him."

"Savannah..."

I could feel the tears beginning to prick my eyes as the desperation entered my voice. "You don't know what tonight was like, Godric. It was...god it was a nightmare. I...I just need to make sure he's okay. I need to. Because right now, I'm imagining the worst and you're only making my imagination run wilder. Please, just let me see that he's..."

I never got the chance to finish however, as the front door was once again ripped open. Only this time, it was literally ripped from its hinges. A yelp escaped from my lips as I jumped back away from the door, Godric instinctively putting himself in front of me protectively.

"Eric?"

The moment Eric's name slipped out of Godric mouth, I was trying to push myself from behind Godric to get a better look at the Viking. Godric couldn't stop me, and seemed too stunned to even do so, and I was able to join Godric at his side. My eyes grew wide as I took in the tall Viking. He looked the same as he always did. There were no serious injuries, not even a scratch on his perfectly sculpted body. And that's when I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, his chest naked for all the world to see. And his hair, it was so unlike him. It looked like he had just woken up from a long night of twisting and turning in his sleep. And he was a vampire; that never happened. Instead of his blonde locks being slicked back without even a single strand out of place, his hair was flopping around his forehead, just barely grazing the tops of his eyes. Eyes that were wide, and looked suspiciously like a puppy and not the ferocious vampire he had just been not even a couple of hours ago.

"Eric?" I stepped forward hesitantly, frowning at the subtle changes in the vampire. I was stopped in my place however, when Eric took a quick, flinching step backwards, his eyes growing even wider, looking panicked and confused. "Eric, are you okay?"

When he didn't answer, I knew something was wrong. He may not physically look harmed, but something was just not right. I knew that the moment Eric had disappeared from the magic shop. I couldn't feel him. It wasn't like our blood tie was just suddenly severed; it was like it hadn't been there in the first place. The triumvirate that had suddenly been formed between us, it felt like it was missing a piece to the puzzle, a very giant and important piece. I felt empty, not whole, and I knew Godric must have felt the same. Even as we stood there, before our third to this odd little bond, it didn't feel the same as it used to. Whenever Eric or Godric were in the same room as me, I felt this buzzing, this sudden leap to my heart. It felt as if I was feeling alive for the very first time, like the colours of the world were brighter, like all the sounds were more magical. And when the three of us were together, god, it was almost an orgasmic feeling. That was how tightly we were bonded.

But now, now it felt like we were strangers.

What the fuck had Marnie done to my Eric?

And how the hell were we going to fix this?

"What happened to him?" I turned back to Pam, demanding an answer. "What's wrong with him?"

"I told you." She planted her hands firmly on her hips. "I warned you, sweetheart."

"You just said he wasn't himself. He's...he's..." I waved my hand at the still timid Viking who was cowering more and more towards the open doorway, looking like he wanted to curl himself up into the corner and rock back and forth. That wasn't like Eric at all. He always demanded that his presence be known, that he was the centre of attention. This was the furthest from that. "This is just not Eric."

Pam opened her mouth, but before she could even utter a word, I stopped her.

"Don't say it." I snapped, gritting my teeth together. "Do not even say it, Pam."

She just sent me a smirk, rolling her eyes before her gaze settled on Eric. Her expression immediately sobered, the worry and concern returning to her ice cold blue eyes.

"Eric?" It was Godric who stepped forward this time. If anyone would be able to figure out what was wrong with Eric and snap him out of it, it was his maker.

Eric however, took another step backwards, nearly stumbling over his own two feet as he put distance between him and his maker. "Who-who are you?"

My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Was he shitting us right now? Was this just some sort of joke? Was Eric trying to lighten the tense, agonizing mood by being cheeky?

Or was there some small chance that something truly was wrong with Eric.

"It's me, Godric." Godric seemed just as confused, stopping in his place as his gaze swept over Eric. "I'm your maker."

"My maker?" He stared down at Godric as if he was seeing him for the first time, as if they didn't have a thousand years of memories together. And from that look on his confused, timid face, that seemed to be exactly true. I thought he had just been pulling our leg, but it was hard to doubt the small, whispered words from Eric were just part of some game.

"You really don't know who he is?" I stepped up behind Godric, Eric's head snapping towards me as if I would suddenly just leap forward and bite him. His shy, lost puppy behaviour would have been amusing if it was all just some act.

But I was beginning to have a sinking feeling that it was the furthest from some game Eric was playing. This was reality and it was slapping us right in the face.

"Oh god." I gasped, my hand slapping over my gapping mouth. "Oh god, he doesn't know who any of us are, does he?"

"He doesn't even know who he is." Pam replied sadly.

"Does he remember anything that happened? Maybe he's in shock." I tried to make sense of it all.

"He doesn't remember anything that's happened to him; whatever happened to him." It was Sookie who answered my question, making her presence known as she stepped around Eric and out of the house. Her gaze fell on me briefly before stopping on Godric. "I just found him..."

"You found him?" I raised an eyebrow. "How? Where? What the hell happened?"

"I was just driving home from work and I found him on the side of the road, looking like this." She nodded at the Viking, who was staring down at her with those round blue eyes, though the only difference was, he looked at her like a sad little puppy would stare at their owner. And I didn't like that one bit. It was hard enough to take seeing him just about eye fuck her; seeing this version of Eric, a version I didn't even understand, looking to Sookie for help, it sickened me. I was the one who he should have been leaning on. I should have been the one he was inching closer to while looking around at everyone like we all had two heads.

"Well something had to have happened." I insisted. "He just left Moon Goddess Emporium tonight without a trace. Something must have happened for him to just show up like this."

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sookie shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. "He was shirtless, afraid and didn't even know who he was."

"Did he say anything?" Godric wondered. "Has he said anything at all about what happened?"

"All he said was something about a woman and her eyes, sucking the life right out of him." Sookie shuddered. "I have no idea what he meant, but he's not himself, Godric. This isn't Eric."

"Not shit." I muttered under my breath.

Godric sent me a point look but I just looked away, risking a gaze over to Eric. He was staring down at his feet, one foot digging into the porch like a shy little boy would when he tried to make himself invisible. This just wasn't Eric. This wasn't Eric at all. Eric Northman was a strong, fearless leader. He was a jackass, a monster half of the time, but he was a confident bastard, that's for sure. He never shied away from anything or anyone. He was the cockiest, arrogant man you could ever meet. He thought high of himself, and expected everyone else to treat him like a god. He wasn't timid, he wasn't shy, and he certainly never hid behind anyone like he was doing now. He was practically cowering behind Sookie like she would hide him from the world. It was like the fact that he was a dangerous thousand year old vampire didn't even register.

"Eric?" I tried calling to him.

He tipped his head in my direction, but wouldn't catch my gaze. My frown deepened as I took a step forward, only to stop when Eric flinched further behind Sookie. That broke my heart. To see Eric, my lover, one of my other halves, cower from me, it was just heart wrenching. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Tonight didn't go at all like we had planned. Eric was supposed to figure out a way to kill Marnie while I kept her busy. And we did that for awhile. But the moment he had showed up, it had all gone to hell very quickly. Now Eric was standing before us, not knowing who we are, or even who he was. Whatever Marnie had done to him, it had wiped his memories clean. Hell, he didn't even know who his own maker was!

"Oh I'm going to fucking kill her." I growled suddenly, feeling a wave of pure flurry wash over me.

Without any warning, I twisted around and stormed off of the porch and down the driveway. I had no car there, of course, Godric flying both of us here the moment Pam had called. But I didn't care if I had to walk all the way to Shreveport; I was going to kill Marnie for this. It was one thing to tap into my magic, to channel what was mine for her own selfish, dark reasons. But it was another thing to mess with someone who I loved. Whatever she had done to him, it had taken his memories, taken away the thousand year old Viking I had known and loved. Sure, he had been difficult and an ass most of the time, but he was my difficult ass. And I would avenge him a hundred times over if I had to.

"Savannah." There was a sudden gust of wind, blowing my hair back and nearly tumbling me over. I glared at the vampire that stood before me, blocking my back.

"Move, Godric." My hands were clenched tightly at my sides. "I'm going to kill her for this."

"You know you can't do that." he shook his head."

"Yes I fucking can!" My eyes were burning with rage. I was going to enjoy wrapping my hands around her neck and squeezing until her head popped off. I was going to enjoy ripping out her heart with my own bare hands. Maybe those were morbid thoughts that I should never have been thinking, but I couldn't help it. Look at all she had done. Look at all the pain and suffering she had caused. She deserved every ounce of torture I was going to force upon her. And I was going to enjoy every single second of it. "Now get out of my way, Godric."

"I can't let you walk up to that witch when we don't know what she's capable of." Godric refused, standing his ground. "She's dangerous, Savannah, she's proven that to us tonight."

"I'm dangerous too." I hissed angrily. "Especially when she's messing with someone I love."

"You're still weak, Savannah." He reminded me. "You've both been through an ordeal tonight. You need to rest."

"I'm fine." I insisted, trying to move around Godric only for him to once again block my path. "I just need to go kill that bitch which would be so much easier if you would get out of the fucking way."

"I love you Savannah." He sighed, taking a step forward and raising a hand to cup my cheek.

I slapped his hand away however, not wanting his acts of comfort, his attempts at soothing my anger. I wanted to be angry. I needed to be. Because if I wasn't angry, if I wasn't looking to get revenge, then I knew I would break. Because it was one thing to go through what I had tonight, feeling as if my insides were being ripped out, feeling as if beasts of the dead were clawing at my chest until they got what they desired. But to see Eric in this state? It was too much. I couldn't take it. I just couldn't handle it. It was just too much for me. I needed to be pissed off or else I would be a mess. And I couldn't be a mess right now, not while Eric was this apprehensive puppy.

"Please Savannah, I can't lose you too." His voice softened, his eyes growing sad. He gazed over my shoulder to his progeny and I knew how much this must have been paining him to see his progeny like this and there was nothing he could do or say to fix it. This was his best friend, his brother, his everything. He was a broken mess and Godric wasn't able to put him back together. This will killing him, I knew that. "We will fix this, I promise you that. But we need to digest what's happened. We need a plan. You can't just storm in there. That will achieve nothing and you'll only...I just can't lose both of you, not in one night."

His plea broke whatever was left of my already aching heart and a part of me, the logical part, knew he was right. I couldn't just storm in there and attack. I wasn't even sure I would be able to. I was only one person; physically I couldn't do a damn thing. As for my necromancy, well Marnie seemed to have a better knack of manipulating it than I did. How could I possibly go up against her? I was just so angry, so furious, so helpless, that I didn't know what else to do. How was I supposed to help Eric? How was I supposed to fix this?

I just didn't know what to do.

"We'll figure this out." Godric vowed, once again reaching out to cup my cheek. This time I allowed him, melting into his touch. My eyes closed, the tears threatening to escape. I wanted nothing more to just bawl my eyes out in a corner and hide from the world, from all of our problems. But I couldn't. Because while Eric may not even know who we were, he needed us now more than ever. And I made a promise to always be there, despite whatever problems we may have had lately. He had promised to keep me safe, to fix this Marnie problem, and now look what happened. I would fix this, I would fix him. I had to.

"How did this happen?" I whispered, my voice wavering. I was cracking at the seams, though I tried everything I could to keep myself together. "How could this have happened, Godric?"

"I don't know, my love, I don't know." Godric tugged me his arms, folding them around me, shielding me from the rest of the world. "But we will fix this. We will. We'll get him back, I promise you."