Hope you guys are enjoying the book so far! Thanks for sticking with me and the continued support. I may not have a ton of reviews yet, but the ones that have taken a minute to comment have really helped me. I know this story isn't action packed every page, but I'm trying to build some relationships and still incorporate adventures. Things will begin to pick up soon with the way I'm heading, so hopefully you guys won't get impatient and stick with me for the ride. Thanks again!
I slept late into the afternoon the next day. Maybe I was exhausted from my mini exorcism, or maybe it was because Eric had kept me up all night and thoroughly drained my energy; not that I minded, but either way I had slept until 4:30 and I hadn't gotten anything accomplished in Hadley's apartment. I set about trying to change that and went back to sorting through her clothes and jewelry and other personal effects that were now mine. My cousin had some very nice clothes that I had set aside to see if I could fit into them, and she had some things that weren't exactly my style or at least not for anything other than being alone with Eric. I may not be able to wear all the clothes, but luckily Hadley's foot was the same size as mine and I found several beautiful pairs of shoes that I would definitely take home for me and Pam.
Even though I felt weird about taking her jewelry, she did have some nice pieces that she had obviously wanted me to have. As I looked through her jewelry box I found a little black velvet bag that seemed set aside as if it were more special than the rest. I opened the bag and found a platinum ring with a big yellow diamond. It was exceptional. I stuck it on my finger and moved my hand around looking at it from different angles admiring the effect. It looked as if I held the sun in my hand. I knew immediately that I would not keep this piece. I had a feeling someone else would treasure it, so I stored it in my purse for later.
I had made several piles in the living room by the time Eric walked in. Clothes to keep, clothes to donate, some other household items I wanted to keep, and a donation pile.
"Good evening lover. I see you have had a productive day." Eric bent down and kissed me. I never understood how vampires looked perfectly alert as soon as they woke up. Humans woke up, stretched, had sleep in their eyes, and generally required coffee to function at that level.
"Actually since someone kept me up until dawn, I've only been at this for a little over an hour. Check out these shoes I'm giving to Pam!" I held up a hot pink pair of Manolo's with silver spikes around the heel. They looked beautiful and lethal, just like Pam.
"She will love them, and she will love you for the thought, though she will never tell you that." Eric smiled thinking about his wily child. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check a text he had received. I never even heard it, so apparently he had the ringtone volume set to vampire hearing.
"Mr. Cataliades says the Queen will meet us at The Crimson Quarter in two hours. Apparently she was able to secure another reservation after we cancelled last night's."
"I wonder how she did that, I mean who would ever give Sophie Ann whatever she asked for?" I said this with a lot of sarcasm and eye rolling. My guess was the manager probably liked his throat intact so he bumped some other party off the list to fit us in.
"Well what would be the fun of being a vampire monarch if not to scare humans into giving you your way?" He was smiling that devilish grin that I loved. "Now whatever should we do for the next two hours…." He was already on me and pushing me to the ground with his lips on my neck.
"Honey as much as I…ooohhh….want to skip dinner and let you eat me instead….aahhh…I really do have to get this done and we shouldn't be late for dinner." He gave me a sad puppy dog look and sat back up.
"Whatever, your loss" He smiled and went to grab me some more boxes to help package the clothes.
Mr. Cataliades showed up an hour and a half later in the limo and drove us to the heart of Bourbon Street. The restaurant was beautiful with its red lettering and black and gold trimming. There was a line of people behind a velvet rope, hoping to get in. It was really like some hot club that everyone was dying to get into (no pun intended) rather than a restaurant. When Eric and I got out of the car, I started to walk to the back of the line when my Viking gave me an odd look and pulled me by the hand to the front.
"I am Eric Northman and this is my date, Ms. Stackhouse. We are with the party of Sophie Ann LeClerq."
The doorman immediately showed us in, much to the anger of the 50 plus people waiting in line. I couldn't help but to grin like an idiot and Eric quickly saw it.
"Lover, what are you so happy about? It's all over your face and in your blood."
"I was just thinking that this is kind of our first date. I know we're technically meeting your boss, but still it's a date" I know he probably thought I was silly but I didn't care. I was in a beautiful place with the man I loved and we were having our first real date.
"You're right, this is a very special night and there is no one else I would rather have with me for my first date." Eric smiled at me and I could feel his love and adoration.
"Your first date? You mean your first date in a long time I'm sure."
"No, I mean my first date. In my time, people did not date. You found a family that had an available daughter and you negotiated with her father to marry her. There was no romancing and taking a walk in the park. Since I have been vampire I have enjoyed the company of many women, but I can't say I sought them out to go on dates with me. In my thousand year existence, this is a new experience."
Wow. I didn't know whether to be honored that I was his first date or upset that he never treated other women with enough value to take them on a date. I think I would stick with the honored thing. I leaned in and gave him a slow, loving kiss.
"You two are so beautiful together." Sophie Ann had slunk up to the table while Eric and I were preoccupied.
Eric slid out of the booth and bowed to her. I stayed seated and dipped my head respectfully.
"Your Majesty you look stunning as usual." Eric, always the charmer.
"Thank you Sheriff. Your mate looks exceptionally beautiful as well." Sophie Ann was looking at me with a hint of fang.
"Thank you your Majesty, that is a great compliment coming from a woman as lovely as yourself." I answered politely. "We really appreciate the invite to the restaurant as well. I hope I can show you a small token of my appreciation with this." I handed her the little velvet bag out of my purse.
"Ooh a gift for me! Whatever could it be?" She actually sounded like a sixteen year old girl instead of the 500 year old power hungry, lethal vampire she was. She turned the bag over and dropped the ring out in her hand. She stared at it for a long moment and I was scared I had done something to offend her.
"I hope I haven't upset you ma'am, I just found it in Hadley's things and I thought you might want to have it."
She quickly swiped away a single blood tear that was in her eye and said "I gave this to Hadley a few months after I turned her. She said the only thing she missed about being a vampire was the sun, but she would gladly give it up to see the moon with me. When I saw this ring it reminded me of what I remember the sun to be, so I gave it to her so she could always have the sun close at hand." She was turning the ring around in her hand and appeared to be trying to remember what it looked like on my cousin.
"I would love to keep it, thank you very much." She smiled at me and I knew I had made the right choice not to keep it.
For the next hour Sophie Ann, Eric, Mr. Cataliades, and myself had what you would think of as a strange double date and actually enjoyed it. Mr. Cataliades and I enjoyed real food consisting of Caesar salad, filet mignon, haricot verts, and the most amazing chocolate soufflé that I've ever tasted. Eric and the Queen had their vampire cocktails consisting of Royal; the premiere and most expensive bottled blood, mixed with just a drop of faery blood. Once our table was cleared of the dishes, Sophie Ann said we should get down to business, and the demon lawyer pulled a stack of papers from his briefcase.
"Ms. Stackhouse let me go over the details of your cousin's last will and testament with you." He read all the legal jargon and then got to the part that I could understand.
"If I Hadley Hale, meet the true death while my beneficiary is still living, I bequeath the following to said beneficiary Sookie Stackhouse: The contents of my personal bank account, any properties that I own free and clear, including any contents in said properties, my share and investment rights in Moonlight Cosmetics Co., and any monies remaining from my inheritance."
I felt the tears well up in my eyes. Hadley and I may have had our differences but I loved her like a sister when we were young and she had thought of me when making her will. I doubt she expected that I would ever outlive her, but still she had set a few things aside for me just in case.
"So my dear, here is how those things break down. First off; a check for Hadley's bank account." Mr. Cataliades slid a check towards me and when I didn't immediately look down, he made a gesture towards it with a head nod. When I looked down, the color ran out of my face. Sitting in front of me was a check for $425,000. I must have looked like I was going to pass out because Eric slid his hand behind me and tried to push some calm through the bond.
"Next we have the deed to the condo you have been staying in. I've already drawn up the paperwork, all I need for you to do is sign on these two lines and initial here." He was showing me where to sign and handing me a pen, but he sounded miles away. Gently, Eric pushed the pen in my hand and placed it at the right spot. I signed something on the deed, not sure if I remembered how to spell my name.
"Of course dear you now also own all the possessions, furniture, etc. in the condo. I wasn't sure if you would want to cash out your shares in the cosmetics company or continue to receive royalty checks as Hadley did, so you can decide that at a later time. Personally, I would keep receiving the checks. After reviewing Hadley's statements, she generally received around $25,000 a month and if you cash out you will only receive a one-time payment of around $350,000.
Oh my God, I was definitely going to pass out. Hopefully Eric wouldn't let my face slam the table too hard when I lost consciousness. Sensing my emotions, he wrapped his arm a little tighter around me and looked me in the eyes.
"Lover I know this must be a lot for you to take in, but your cousin wanted to make sure you were taken care of in the event of her final death." Eric was nothing if not practical.
"He's right dear. Hadley expressed many times that she wished to reconnect with you but just didn't know how. She regretted many of her actions as a human and didn't know if you would want to reconnect with her." The lawyer looked at me and gave me a minute to let everything sink in.
"Moving on to the last part of the will, there's the matter of Hadley's living inheritance that she left to you."
Taking my first breath since we started talking, I asked Mr. C "What is a living inheritance? I mean Hadley was not exactly among the living." I felt like a country bumpkin for asking, but it was the only thought my brain seemed to be able to process for the moment.
"I can answer that for you Sookie." Said the Queen. "Right after I made Hadley vampire, we had a sort of pledging ceremony. It was a way for us to show our devotion to each other as lovers, maker and child, and life partners. As you know many vampires live very, very long lives and if Hadley had to wait for my death to benefit from my will, she may have been waiting hundreds of years, if ever. So instead vampires have a living will. Yes I realize the term is an idiom, but you get the point. As part of our union, I gave Hadley her share of my living will and she has left the remainder to you."
"Ms. Stackhouse, the check for the will is in this envelope. Perhaps we have handled enough business tonight. You and Mr. Northman should enjoy the remainder of the evening and just take the envelope with you." Mr. Cataliades was probably scared I might scream or burst into tears if he gave me anything else.
I shook my head and put all the papers and envelope away. Eric slid out of the booth and motioned for me to join him. He pulled me to the dance floor and held me close to him. I was starting to come back to my senses now. I noticed the look of his muscles moving under his burgundy button down shirt, the smell that was uniquely him, and his strong arms gliding me across the floor as if I were weightless. It was priceless. I felt so much love for him in that moment I thought my heart would burst. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my cousin and mixed in with my devotion to Eric; it was all I could do to hold back tears. We danced well into the night, even mixing it up with the Queen and Mr. C. I really couldn't remember the last time I felt so happy and had so much fun. We said our goodbyes to Sophie Ann and jetted away in the limo back to my new place.
Eric and I were sitting on the bed entwined in each other, discussing our evening.
"I had a wonderful time with you tonight min alskare" He gently kissed my head.
"I had such a great time with you too. You know because of my little ability I haven't really been able to date either and tonight was wonderful. I love you Eric Northman. Maybe I have since the moment I met you, but just didn't want to admit it to myself. I feel things when I'm with you that I didn't know I could ever feel. You make me laugh and smile. You make me crazy sometimes! You give me pleasure so intense I didn't know it was even possible. I can't think of anyone else on this earth I would rather spend my time with."
We lay there kissing, touching, and enjoying each other's company until it was almost time for the sun to come up. I got up to go to the bathroom and reached into my purse and grabbed the envelope on the way in. I opened it and saw more zeros than I've ever seen in a number. My knees gave out and I hit the floor with a thud. Eric ran in and picked me up and placed the $10,000,000 check back in the envelope.