Eric and Appius stood, the latter drawing Alexei closer to his side, as Sookie went to answer the door. Alcide had not come alone. A were-bitch stood on either side of him, and neither of them had dressed to dig up a body this evening.

"Fucking Weres," Appius muttered.

After Sookie had greeted the new arrivals, she motioned for them to come in, and they filed into the living room.

"What is this problem Eric called me about?" Alcide asked, his eyes narrowing as he saw Appius and Alexei.

Eric opened his mouth to answer, but it seemed the Southern humans had some politeness to get out of the way before they could move on to business.

Jason shook Alcide's hand. "Alcide, good to see you. Ladies," he said, grinning at them broadly, "looking mighty fine tonight." He winked at the one on Alcide's left.

"Hi, you-all!" Sookie said. Perhaps she thought she should greet them again on the vampires' behalf, since they certainly had no intention of extending the courtesy. Her voice was too cheerful – brittle. "It was so nice of you to come at such short notice. Eric, you know Alcide." She gestured to Appius. "Alcide, this is Eric's longtime friend, Appius Livius Ocella, who's in town visiting with his… uh… protégé, Alexei." Eric's mouth curved into a brief, grim smile. "Eric, I don't know if you've met Alcide's friend, Annabelle, a new pack member, and Jannalynn, who's been in the Long Tooth pack for ages." Jannalynn he knew of; Annabelle he didn't. He didn't give a shit about either of them. "Jannalynn," Sookie continued, "we've never had a chance to talk much, but of course, Sam talks about you all the time. And I think you all know my brother, Jason."

We could kill them so quickly and easily, Appius was thinking. Alexei could kill them single-handedly.

"Won't y'all sit down?" Sookie asked with a sweep of her arm. "Anybody want a drink?"

No one took her up on either invitation. The Weres seemed as impatient as the vampires to get this over with.

"Alcide," Eric said, stepping forward, "one of my trackers went over Sookie's land after Basim al Saud warned her about the strangers he smelled in her woods. Our tracker has found a new body buried there."

"We didn't kill anyone that night," Alcide replied firmly, and Eric could tell that he meant it. "Basim said he told Sookie we smelled an old body, and a fairy or two, and a vampire. But he didn't mention a fresh body."

"Yet there's a new burial there now." Alcide may not know about it, but any of the other Weres could have done it.

"Which we had nothing to do with," the packleader insisted. "We were there three nights before your tracker smelled the scent of a fresh body."

"It seems quite a huge coincidence, doesn't it? A body on Sookie's land right after your pack is there?"

Alcide smirked. "Maybe it's more of a coincidence that there was already a body on Sookie's land."

It was a valid point, but Eric did not acknowledge it. He and the Weres stared each other down for a few seconds.

It was Sookie's brother who suggested the most pragmatic next step. "I say we should go see who it is."

Eric and Alcide nodded at each other in agreement, and the vampires waited while the Weres changed into more suitable clothes. Once shovels and a light had also been distributed, the group set out for the woods. Sookie pointed them east according to Heidi's directions. The seven supernatural creatures had no problems navigating the woods in the dark, but Sookie kept stumbling and snagging herself on branches and thorns, occasionally muttering "Ouch" under her breath.

Finally, Eric gave his shovel to Jason and helped Sookie onto his back. He remembered carrying her like this once before, when his memory had been lost. Their evening in both instances had taken a fucked-up turn. At least he could enjoy this much contact with her before he had to leave with Appius and Alexei. Even with his long hair, he could feel the damp heat of her breath on his neck.

Jannalynn, who had taken the lead from the outset, held out one arm to stop them. "I smell it," she said, lifting her nose to the air. Then she jogged further on and shouted, "Here it is!"

Eric and Sookie were the last to join the small semi-circle around the shallow grave. The stench was repulsive. Eric released Sookie's knees and leaned back slightly as she hopped to the ground. She moved to his side, staying close. "It's not…?"

He looked down at her and shook his head. "No. Too recent."

Alcide held up his shovel. "Only one way to find out who it is." He pushed the shovel into the dirt, and Jason, who now had Eric's shovel, handed the light to Sookie and started digging as well.

Eric noticed that Alexei had left Appius to stand on Sookie's other side. Sookie wrapped her free arm around the boy's shoulders as they stared down at the deepening hole. Lethal as Alexei no doubt was, still Sookie saw him as a child first, a vampire second.

What a nice little family. If she stays with you, she will never have a child.

Eric turned to Appius, whose face was wearing a cruel expression.

When the smell finally pierced Sookie's human senses, she gasped, and her hand flew from Alexei's small shoulder to her nose.

Alcide and Jason evidently saw the body or felt it beneath their shovels, for they both laid the tools aside and hunched over the hole.

"He's wrapped up," Jason said.

Alcide, who had pulled on thick work gloves, reached down and worked at whatever covering had been used. "I think I got it pulled apart," he said, straightening. He raised his arm to wipe his forehead on his sleeve.

Jason extended his arm. "Pass me the lantern, Sookie." He held the light over the hole, and he and Alcide squinted down. Eric immediately saw recognition dawn on Alcide's face. "I don't know this man," Jason said.

Alcide turned away. "I do."

The female Weres rushed to look in, and even Sookie approached to see. She looked back at Eric, her face grim. The Weres howled. Accomplishing what, Eric did not know.

Sookie returned to Eric as the Weres continued their ugly noise. Appius had come closer as well, looking vaguely curious. "It's the Long Tooth enforcer," Sookie explained quietly. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and gagged. When she had regained her composure, she said, "It's Basim al Saud."

After what seemed an eternity, Alcide and his bitches stopped their howling. Jannalynn kicked a clod of dirt away from the hole. "Shit!" she shouted, her voice swallowed by the trees.

"I only met him the once," Sookie said. "Of course, he was fine when he got in the truck with Alcide and Annabelle."

Alcide stepped back from the makeshift grave and faced Sookie and Eric. "He told me what he'd smelled on the property, and I told him to tell Sookie. She had a right to know." He turned to the newer member of his pack. "We didn't talk about anything in particular on the way back to Shreveport, did we, Annabelle?"

"No," Annabelle murmured. She had been the first to look away from the body, but she had stayed by the hole. Now she, too, moved away. Her eyes were red from weeping.

"I dropped him off at his apartment," Alcide went on. "When I called him the next day to go with me to a meeting with our representative, he said he had to pass because he had to work. He was a website designer, and he had a meeting with an important client. I wasn't too happy he couldn't go, but of course, the guy had to make a living."

Annabelle sniffled. "He didn't have to work that day." She lowered her head. "I was at his apartment when you called… I had been there a few hours." Alcide growled at her, and her voice broke as she continued. "I know… And we'll talk about it later. I'll take my punishment, which I deserve. But Basim's death is more important than my bad judgment. This is my duty, to tell you what happened." She took a deep breath, bringing her voice back under control. "Basim got a phone call before yours, and he didn't want me to hear it. But I heard enough to understand his conversation was with someone who was paying him." Alcide and Jannalynn looked even angrier, if that were possible. "So Basim made up an excuse to get me out of the apartment, and he took off. I tried to follow him, but I lost him." At last, she was silent.

Jannalynn looked like a cobra now, and she even hissed like one. "You were suspicious, but you didn't call the packmaster. You didn't call me. You didn't call anyone." Alcide placed a hand on her arm, but she pushed it away. "We took you in and made you a member of our pack, and you betrayed us." At that, she struck, and Annabelle stumbled backwards and fell to her knees, moaning.

Eric felt Sookie hit him in the arm. When he looked down at her, she nodded toward her brother, who had come out of the pit and was now holding on to Alexei with all his strength. The young vampire was clearly in the grip of madness. In a flash, Eric went to help. Though he was no longer needed, Jason kept his hold on the boy as well.

Touching Alexei, Eric immediately understood the malevolent influence of the boy on Appius. His mind, quite independent of what he actually thought and believed, was plunged into a violent bloodlust. He didn't know what he might have done if Appius had not made his way to them and taken Alexei into his arms.

"Shhhh," Appius said, holding Alexei's head to his chest and stroking the boy's hair with his fingers. "My son, be still."

Eric stepped back and tried to compose himself. He glanced at Sookie, whom he had wanted to tear apart and drain only moments before. It was a mercy that she would never know.

"Jannalynn, you are my new second," Alcide said. The Weres, then, would be wise and say nothing about Alexei. "Annabelle, get up. This is pack business now, and we'll settle it at a pack meeting."

Alcide and Jannalynn turned in unison to leave the grave site. No one helped Annabelle to her feet, and she remained crumpled on the ground.

"Excuse me!" Sookie called. Alcide stopped and turned back, though Jannalynn kept walking. "There's the little matter of the body being buried on my land. I think there's something pretty damn significant about that!"

Jannalynn, far ahead now, finally stopped. Alcide sighed heavily.

"Yes," Eric said. He had pushed the incident with Alexei aside for now, and his voice, to his relief, was firm and commanding. "Alcide, I believe Sookie and I need to sit in on your pack meeting."

Before Alcide could reply, Jannalynn's ill-tempered voice interrupted him. She had stomped her way back to his side. "Only pack members. No oneys." She narrowed her eyes at Sookie, then at Eric. "No deaders."

Eric ignored her and kept his eyes on Alcide. "Alcide?"

"Sookie can bring Jason, since he's two-natured," Alcide said after a moment. "She's a oney, but she's a friend of the pack. No vamps." He looked almost apologetic. Almost.

"Jason, will you accompany your sister?" Eric asked him.

Jason shrugged one shoulder. "Sure."

Once again the Weres started to leave, and once again Sookie stopped them. "What are you going to do with the body?"

"Do you want us to cover him back up or what?" Alcide said.

Annabelle, who had finally gotten to her feet, pressed her fingertips to her bleeding lip and winced.

"Someone will come get him tonight, so there'll be activity in your woods," Jannalynn said. "Don't be alarmed." She and Alcide disappeared into the darkness of the trees, followed quickly by Annabelle, who obviously knew that it wasn't the best idea to have an open wound around vampires.

"Should we cover him back up?" Jason asked.

Sookie held up the light and looked down at the pit. "If they're sending a crew to get him, that seems like wasted effort." Her eyes found Eric's. "Eric, I'm so glad you sent Heidi. Otherwise…" Her voice trailed off for a moment. "Listen, if he was buried on my land, it was so he could be found here, right? So there's no telling when someone's going to get a tip to come looking for him."

Eric wasn't so sure; there were numerous other reasons why Basim might have met his end here. Two of those reasons were Appius and Alexei.

"Okay, we got to get him out of here," said Jason.

"We've got to put him somewhere," Sookie fretted, waving her hands around. "We could just set him in the cemetery."

Jason shook his head. "Naw. Too close."

"What about the pond behind your house?"

"Naw, damn it! The fish!" Jason looked absolutely horrified. "I couldn't ever eat those fish again!"

"Arghhhh!" Sookie growled.

"Is your time with her usually like this?" Appius asked, and Eric glanced over to see him smiling with genuine amusement.

Eric felt strangely defensive of her. Her instinct to move the body was a good one, and she wouldn't get much help from her dim-witted brother. "Sookie, it won't be pleasant, but I think I can fly carrying him, if you can suggest a good place to put him."

She closed her eyes, thinking. She even hit her temple with the flat of her palm. It was then that Eric realized he had taken shelter in their blood bond again after the disturbing incident with Alexei, and Sookie was feeling disoriented, as she had earlier. He quickly closed himself off from her as much as possible, and he could almost see her usual composure returning to her features.

"Sure, Eric," she said. Her voice was calm, her eyes lucid. "Put him in the woods right across the road from my driveway. There's a little bit of a driveway left there, but no house. The Weres can use the driveway as a marker when they come to retrieve him… 'cause someone's coming to find him, and coming soon."

Eric gave her a single nod and jumped into the grave with the body. He pulled the filthy cloth back over the exposed part of the dead Were's upper body, heaved it up into his arms, and flew up. He knew the spot that Sookie had suggested; it was where Debbie Pelt had parked on the night they killed her. He flung the reeking corpse into the woods just to the side of the overgrown drive, then made for Sookie's house.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should leave Sookie and Jason alone with Appius and Alexei, but he knew that Appius would not hurt them. And Alexei was under Appius' command. If something did go wrong, he would feel it immediately. The lingering scent of decomposing Were was something he simply could not abide.

He pulled off his shirt as he entered the house and went to the kitchen. After making quick work of his other clothes and tossing them into the garbage can, he went to Sookie's bedroom and retrieved his extra set of clothes from her dresser. Once in the shower, he set the water temperature as hot as he could, and it steamed up around his cold body in seconds. Sookie had a variety of soaps and body washes. He reached down and picked one at random. Soap was soap.

Sookie and the others had returned by the time he emerged clean and dressed, his wet hair pulled back in a ponytail. Jason was gone, which did not please Eric. He hadn't expected her to be left entirely alone with the two vampires. But nothing was amiss. Appius and Alexei were quietly drinking True Blood. Sookie sat across from them. She had a smear of dirt on one cheek, and Eric felt suddenly guilty that he might have used all of her hot water. He hoped not.

You are just in time, Eric. I was about to snap her neck and sample her carotid.

Appius drained what was left in his bottle of blood and set it down on the coffee table. "Sookie, thank you for the hospitality," he said placidly. "Come, Eric, Alexei. We have trespassed on Sookie's good will long enough."

To Eric's surprise – and to Appius', if the Roman's expression was any indication – Alexei stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Sookie's waist. Her eyes shone as she returned the embrace.

Following his maker and new brother out the front door, Eric turned to give Sookie what he hoped was a meaningful look. If he had his way, she would never see Appius or Alexei again. Appius lifted Alexei into his arms, and then he and Eric took to the sky.

So this was just a short chapter that I wanted to get out of the way before I move on to Eric's "missing" days (or nights, I should say) with Appius and Alexei. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to leave reviews. Your encouragement means so much. -DeeDee