Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns all.
Rated M for several reasons.
Chpt 26 Dungeons and Dragons
EPOV
"Eric . . . ."
Her soft quavery voice grates on me, but I need to know, no matter how far-fetched it seems, that she was not working with the Fellowship. The deaths of the bombers before they could be questioned, the fact that they knew her, were looking for her, that she almost averted the bombing completely. Godric's loss . . . .
The shape of her warm palm is still burning my back, feeling like a cattle brand on my skin.
As her eyes become accustomed to the low light she sucks in a sharp breath.
"Newlin." She gasps, spotting the form straining against the chains on the wall. "He's a vampire."
"Yes."
"How?"
"I do not know. I am hoping you can tell me. The King of Texas found him in Houston."
"Why?" She demands, darting forward, oblivious to the way he is struggling to reach her, deaf to his ferocious snarls as the scent of her blood drives him wild. "Why would you do that? All those innocent people? And you think vampires are monsters!"
I watch in fascination as she stalks across the bare concrete floor toward him, every bit the warrior queen I met earlier this evening, her fury mounting. I do not think that she has even registered that the slavering beast chained to my basement wall is beyond responding coherently to her words.
"You're a murder! All those people . . . ." Her voice chokes for a second and I wonder what it must have been like for her, I know she helped with the rescue attempt, I am no stranger to death but in fairness I have never had to 'hear' it happening to anyone. ". . . . I'm not sure whether to be sorry or glad someone's made you a vampire. But since you are I hope you suffer forever! God's forgiveness is too good for you . . . ."
Apparently she has a lot to get off her chest and her words pour down on him like monsoon rain, but when she steps closer and reaches out as if to slap him I pull her back into my chest sharply, he is dangerous, he hasn't fed and Pam has been draining his blood.
Her eyes meet mine and I'm struck by how big and round they are when she is in the grip of a strong emotion. Her heart is hammering against me. Her soft lips are parted and I am bitterly regretting the compulsion that made me kiss her in Rhodes, if I had not done so I would not be so tempted now . . . . And I am currently not too happy about my plan to keep her close to me and push her until she makes a mistake . . . . There is a risk that it will be me that makes the mistake . . . .
"Want her . . . . need her." Newlin hisses, breaking the spell.
Stepping back I pull her with me and then release her.
"He is thirsty and too new to be in control." I warn her. "Do not get so close to him."
The anger seems to have left and she takes a deep, shaky breath.
"Did I just threaten to stake him?" She asks, inspecting her sneakered feet.
"Yes."
"Total personality bypass Stackhouse." She mutters, shaking her head to clear it.
Then she fixes me with her blue gaze.
"Why did you bring me down here?"
"I want you to read him."
"I can't." She responds immediately, holding my eyes and apparently willing me to believe her. "He's a vampire, Eric, I told you the truth. I can't control it, it just happens, and it was only ever . . . ."
Me.
"You have heard his mind before?"
"Yes, I think so, I think he was at the Church that night, with Godric and I."
"Then perhaps you can still read him?" I have theories about her gift, on the assumption that she is not lying and has not always been able to hear vampire.
"How? He's just a void, same as the rest of you."
"He is very new, some of his humanity still remains."
She looks him over doubtfully and I cannot blame her, he does not look very human at the moment and he was a poor excuse for one in the first place.
"I don't want to know what he's thinking." She says with a shudder.
"But I do Ms Stackhouse. Vampire were killed and seriously injured. Humans and weres too." I add for her benefit. "The bombers were executed and he was made vampire in the space of mere hours. I need to know why and by whom. "
"Why?"
"Because I have been given the responsibility by a counsel of the monarchs. Because this state is about to be taken over as a result of the bombing. Because I need to understand what danger this represents. And because I say so."
"Don't you have other ways of finding out?"
"Of course. I will torture him, would you like to assist me?"
"No." She says quickly, returning to the examination of her sneakers.
"I am short on time." I confess. "Getting the information you need through torture can be hit and miss. You reading his mind will be much quicker."
She shudders again and I smile at the top of her head. I imagine she is wondering, as I intended, if I will use torture to learn her secrets.
Eventually her head comes back up and I can see a decision has been reached by the determined set of her jaw.
"I'll need to touch him, if I'm going to try."
"Do not move." I order, using my speed to secure his body tightly to the wall, punching him negligently in the jaw when the fool tries to sink his fangs into me.
She blows out a resigned breath when I come to a stop in front of her again.
"This isn't going to work." She informs me and I shrug lightly.
I have stretched one of his arms out straight and she moves toward his hand, keeping well out of his way and he squirms against his restraints and hurls obscenities at us both.
Tentatively she reaches out to touch her fingertips to the back of his hand and I step closer to him, leaning down into his face and letting my fangs run out as a warning for him to behave.
She closes her eyes and scrunches up her face, concentrating.
"Can you hear him?"
"No." She huffs. "But I can hear you, stop talking."
With another huff she opens her palm, laying it flat over his hand.
"Ask him something." She suggests.
"Who made you vampire?"
"Nothing." She responds.
"You will try harder." I insist.
"That's not what I meant. There's nothing. He doesn't know, he must have been unconscious or something."
"How were you made vampire?" I ask Newlin, leaning in further.
"He was eating dinner, with a woman? His wife I guess . . . . the window shattered . . . . there was lots of screaming, someone grabbed him. Its all jumbled and blurred, kind of playing round on a loop."
"You cannot find out more?"
"No. He's like a radio that keeps losing the station. There's either a void or this jarred stuff from when he was taken."
"He must have seen something." I push. "Who took you Newlin?"
She gasps, jumping back from him.
"What is the matter?" I ask, turning to her.
"Nothing." She mutters, shaking her hand as if it's been stung. "I'm just not used to someone visualising my death in quite such graphic detail."
"He cannot harm you now." I point out.
She just looks at me.
"Sookie, please, I need to know what he knows."
"He doesn't know anything Eric." She sighs sadly. "He's just a monster who going to get what's coming to him. All he can think about is fucking me while he drains me. Torture him, I don't care."
And she turns away from me, wrapping her arms around her middle, shrinking in on herself.
Furious I rip one of Newlin's new fangs out, smiling at his scream of agony and flinging it across the room as I take his face in my hand.
"I will be back." I promise him, squeezing his jaw until the bone starts to crack. "And you will tell me everything I want to know."
I brought her down here to see if there was any connection between them. I brought her down here as it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to pressure her over her ability to read vampire minds. And I brought her down here because I wanted to frighten her.
I did not see any evidence that she and Newlin know each other. Her partial ability to read him proves nothing. And I have done something other than frighten her I realise as I turn back to face her.
"Come." I place my hand in front of her where she can see it, blinking in surprise when she takes it so I can lead her out of the basement and secure it behind us.
She is totally compliant, not a good sign in my experience, as I lock up the club and load her into the Corvette.
Ah, my baby. This will be the last time I drive it for a while, it is too conspicuous.
She doesn't stir when I pull into the lot of an all-night store.
"You will need supplies."
"Huh?" She is practically asleep again.
"Food?"
"I guess." She murmurs, pulling herself together. "Do you have anything I can cook with?"
"It is unlikely." I confess.
"Coffee?"
I shake my head, supressing my smile as her face darkens.
"I will not be held hostage without coffee Eric." She growls. "It's banned under the Geneva Convention or something."
As we head back to the car I wonder if I have allowed her to spend too much time with my child, the coffee maker cost much more than a human could make in a month when I first came to America.
By the time we reach the safe house I have chosen for the night she is asleep.
I carry her purchases in first. Most of my houses have a secure underground area for my day time rest, this one has two which is why I have selected tonight. Quickly I clear out the refrigerator I usually use for blood and stock it with her food, I am assuming the coffee maker itself does not need to be cooled. Then I transfer everything I might need to what is normally my separate guest 'room'. Next I grab her suitcase, placing it beside the bed.
Still able to hear her steady breathing I pause, running my hand through my hair. Though I do not need to breathe my chest feels constricted. There are so many dangers and complications I barely know where to start and yet the current situation is not as dire as some I have faced in the past. I am at a loss to understand what is different but I do not like it. If only I could speak with Godric . . . .
Her breathing changes and I hear movement, cursing myself for my stupidity I dart back outside only to find her fidgeting restlessly in the Corvette's bucket seat but still fast asleep. I had better get her inside before she starts drooling on the leather in that curious way slumbering humans have.
Her eyes flutter open as I lay her out on the bed.
"You are always putting me to bed." She murmurs.
"So it would seem." I chuckle. "And yet I get nothing in return for such chivalry."
"I miss old Eric." She sighs, rolling away from me and curling into a ball.
Shaking my head I leave her to it, shutting the door and setting the security code behind me before collecting my own belongings from the car. I have an hour or so until dawn and many calls I still need to make. The situation is still very fluid, Stan may have committed to a course of action but there is still a risk that someone else might act before he is ready, I cannot afford to let my guard down and I do not trust that 'child' Andre to be in control of everything at a time like this. I do not even know if the danger of a takeover has occurred to him, he certainly has not seen fit to communicate with me if it has. What I do know is that if it comes from a hostile state I will quite possibly be the first target.
Several hours later the pull of the sun is becoming too much for me to resist and I shut down my laptop and stretch out on the bed, my thoughts, as is often the case now, consumed with the non-human. There is nothing about her to suggest she is an evil genius or a hostile agent, to all intents and purposes she appears to be everything she claims, and therein lies an ability to deceive I can admire. Because I know it is a lie. I read the report on her and I made the time to glamour her imbecile of a brother and a few of her friends. They all confirm the 'official' story. Yet I know she is not human, that she has been bound to me by someone with power I cannot comprehend.
And by Godric. I must have faith in our relationship, our bond with each other. Father, Brother, Son. That he would not have allowed this to be done to me without good reason . . . . . But it is hard, I cannot visualise it and it goes against everything he taught me . . . . And he is not here to explain . . . . I am alone . . . . Alone enough to admit that she frightens me . . . . This woman who saved my life . . . .