Appius leapt up from the sofa and rushed into the main area of the bar, Eric and Pam following close behind. "We must track him with all haste," he said after he had scanned the bar and the parking lot.
"Can you not call him back to you?" Eric asked.
Appius glanced at Pam, seemed to decide that she was trustworthy, and looked back at Eric. "I cannot," he said. "He doesn't respond to my call."
"But-"
"He has to obey when he is near me," Appius explained. "But if he gets away, there is nothing I can do to control him."
After instructing Pam to stay at Fangtasia in case Alexei returned, Eric and Appius rushed through the streets in a blur of motion. They could feel Alexei fairly strongly, meaning he had not gone far. It took them no more than ten minutes to reach him in Columbia Park, but that did nothing to help the young man who lay bruised and pale on the ground. Alexei was swinging, his mouth still bloody.
"Come here," Appius said, and Alexei obediently dragged his feet on the ground until the swing stopped. He stood up and walked to Appius, head bowed. "Why did you leave?"
"I wanted to find her again," Alexei said softly. "Eric's wife. I could feel her blood, and I remembered how nice she was and how good she smelled, and I wanted to find her."
Eric ground his teeth but remained silent.
"And this man?" Appius pressed, motioning to the body.
"I was hungry."
"Is this how you show your devotion to your brother, Alexei? You kill a human in the area he manages? What if he were blamed for this?"
Forget the fucking human, Eric thought furiously. What about stalking Sookie?
Alexei turned to Eric, though he kept his eyes on the ground. "Please forgive me," he said.
Forgiveness would accomplish nothing. They had a body to deal with.
When Sookie called some nights later, Alexei had killed again, having crept from Eric's house close to sunrise that morning. They were so occupied with the boy that the matter of the arranged marriage had not come up again. They had not spoken of it, but it was always on Eric's mind.
He saw Sookie's number on the caller ID and answered the phone in spite of his better judgment. He knew he should keep her far away from all this, completely out of sight until Appius and Alexei were gone. But his need for her outweighed his wisdom.
"Sookie," he said. His eyes darted out to the bar, but his two guests were speaking to Felicia. Normally, she would be too busy attending tables to allow for a chat, but Fangtasia's clientele had dwindled since Appius and Alexei's first visit. Either the customers had felt something wrong and spread the word, or the humans suspected that the deaths reported in the newspaper weren't truly gang-related. Whatever the reason, Eric found himself relieved.
"The pack meeting has been set," Sookie said, her voice high and anxious.
"Sookie," he repeated. Before he could stop himself, he said, "Can you come here?"
There was a brief pause, and then she said, "I'm on my way."
Eric molded his features into what he hoped was a cheerful expression and joined Appius and Alexei at their table. Felicia seemed more than happy to leave them.
"Sookie has asked to see Alexei again," he said. He reminded himself to smile. "She will be here soon." A smile – a real one – lit the boy's face. "I think she's going to pretend that she came to see me, but I can tell when I'm not the main attraction." A wink, a light laugh. Easily acted.
Easily acted, but perhaps not successfully acted. Appius looked skeptical.
When she arrived, the flood of happiness in his blood was difficult to suppress, even as he sensed her tension and anger.
"Good evening," she said, giving each of them a nod. "Eric, you wanted to see me?"
He made room for her on their side of the booth as she slid in beside him. The warm contact with her body was something he normally found arousing; tonight he found it comforting.
"A pleasure to see you again, Sookie," Appius said. Eric hoped that his own smiles hadn't looked as forced as Appius' did now.
Alexei leaned forward eagerly. "Hello, Sookie."
Under the table, Eric caressed the back of her hand briefly with one finger. "I've missed you," he murmured. For a moment, he allowed himself to forget Appius, Alexei, Victor, and Oklahoma. But moments were all he could afford.
"As I was trying to tell you over the phone," Sookie said briskly, turning to look at him, "the pack meeting about Basim has been set for Monday night."
Fucking Weres. "Where and when?"
"At Alcide's house, the one that used to be his dad's. At 8:00."
The Herveaux house was near Eric's home, so this, at least, was good news. "And Jason's going with you, without a doubt?" he asked.
"I haven't talked to him yet, but I left him a message." She put a strange emphasis on the word "message" and turned away from him.
"You've been angry with me," he said.
Her gaze returned to his, and her face softened. "I've been worried about you."
"Yes," he said absently. He couldn't tell her there was nothing to worry about. That was a dangerous lie. Nor could he see any purpose in saying, "For good reason!"
Alexei had been watching Sookie as if she were one of the Fabergé eggs so loved by his human family – something beautiful and fascinating. Something he wanted to open and look inside. "Eric is an excellent host," he told her.
"That's good to hear, Alexei," she replied, smiling at him. "What have you two been doing? I don't think you've ever been to Shreveport before."
"No, we hadn't been here to visit." Appius laid a hand over one of Alexei's. "It's a nice little city. My older son has been doing his best to keep us busy and out of trouble."
"The World Market is fun," she said. "You can get stuff from all over the world there. And Shreveport was the capital of the Confederacy for a while. If you go to the Municipal Auditorium, you can see Elvis's dressing room!"
Her suggestions were so human and so utterly in vain, considering her present audience. Yet they only increased his affection for her.
Alexei, apparently encouraged by her enthusiasm, responded happily, "I had a very good teenager last night."
"Alexei, you have to watch it," Sookie said slowly after a surprised silence. "That's against the law here. Your maker and Eric could both suffer for it."
Eric knew Sookie well enough to know that her first concern was for the human who had been killed, and not for Appius or himself. She had spent enough time with vampires and had seen enough of Alexei to know what did and did not matter to them. She was often naïve, but never stupid.
If Alexei felt chastised or abashed, he didn't show it. "When I was with my human family, I could do anything I wanted. I was so sick, they indulged me."
"I can sure understand that," Sookie replied. "Any family would be tempted to do that with a sick child. But since you're well now, and you've had lots of years to mature, I know you understand that doing exactly what you want to do is not a good plan."
Eric hid a smile behind his hand. Only Sookie would try to mother a vampire.
"I don't look grown up," Alexei pointed out.
"No, and it's an awful pity what happened to you and your family, but-"
To Eric's great surprise, Alexei reached across the table and clasped one of Sookie's hands. Whatever passed between them in those few seconds, it affected Sookie deeply. She blanched, trembled, and looked as if she would be violently ill. Eric wrapped his arm around her and glanced at Appius, who sat silent and still. Alexei had probably shown her the same thing he had shown Pam and Felicia and Maxwell and anyone else within reach.
"You see? You see? I should be free to go my own way!" Alexei exclaimed.
At this declaration, Appius stared at the boy, and Eric saw the grim resolution in his eyes. He could not continue to postpone sending Alexei Romanov to the final death.
"No," Sookie said, her voice soft but clear. "No matter how we suffer, we have an obligation to others. We have to be unselfish enough to try to live in the right way so others can get through their own lives without us fouling them up."
Alexei sank back into the booth and frowned. "That's what Master says, too. More or less."
Without looking at Appius, Sookie said, "Master is right."
Appius motioned for Felicia, who came to their table a little more relaxed than she was when she had left it. Perhaps Sookie's presence reassured her.
"What can I get you all?" she asked. "Sookie, can I bring you a beer or…?"
Sookie smiled. "Some iced tea would be great, Felicia."
"And some True Blood for all of you? Or… we do have a bottle of Royalty." Eric winced; Alexei had been offered Royalty the night before, and he had not taken it well. Eric was sure it had to do with the boy's own royal family. Felicia recovered quickly. "Okay, True Blood for Eric, tea for Sookie."
Sookie thanked her, and she went for the drinks as Pam approached them.
"Excuse me," she said in Appius' direction, though she didn't quite look at him. Then she turned to Eric. "Eric, Katherine Boudreaux is visiting Fangtasia tonight. She's with Sallie and a small party."
Shit. Fuck. Crazed underage Romanov vampire, unpredictable Roman, empty bar. Nothing like putting one's best foot forward. "Tonight," he muttered, shaking his head. "With much regret, Ocella, I must ask you and Alexei to go back to my office."
When they had gone, Eric cursed under his breath, then put on his most winning smile for Katherine and Sallie.
Sookie, as if she sensed that Eric needed a moment to order his thoughts, put her Southern upbringing to good use. "You must be Katherine Boudreaux. I'm Sookie Stackhouse. I'm Eric's girlfriend."
Wife, he corrected her mentally.
By the time Katherine had greeted Sookie warmly and introduced herself and Sallie, Eric felt more like himself.
"We're so glad you're here," he said, smiling at each of them. "Sallie, always good to see you. How's the tax business?"
"Taxes are booming, as always," she chuckled. "You ought to know, Eric. You pay enough of them."
Too right he did.
"It's good to see our vampire citizens getting along with our human citizens." As if to prove her optimistic point, Katherine looked around the bar – and Eric was faintly amused at her disappointed reaction.
"Your table is ready!" Pam announced, motioning for them to join her. Eric shot her a grateful look, which she pretended not to see.
"Excuse me, Eric," Katherine said. "I've gotta go pay attention to my company."
"Of course. I hope they enjoy themselves, and I look forward to seeing both you and Sallie again soon."
"Absolutely," Sallie said. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Sookie."
"You too!" Sookie replied.
Once Katherine and Sallie were seated with their guests and Felicia had taken charge of waiting on them, Pam looked inclined to join himself and Sookie. He signaled for her to give them a little time alone.
And then they were – finally, blessedly alone. He threaded his fingers through hers and lowered his forehead into his free hand, staring down at the tabletop as if it held answers to his myriad problems.
Sookie squeezed his hand slightly, drawing his attention back to her. "Can you tell me what's up with you? This is awful. It's very hard to have faith in us when I don't know what's happening."
I always tell you the truth. I may not tell you everything I know, but what I tell you – it's true. He had said that to her once. Tonight would be a case in point. He could not bring himself to tell her about the arranged marriage. It would only wound her at a time when they both needed their full strength. It would distance her when he most needed her. It would turn her against him when she most needed him. The fact that she had faith in him, and the knowledge of how difficult it had been to win that faith, was something he could not destroy until he had exhausted every other possibility.
"Ocella has had some business to discuss with me… some unwelcome business," he told her. "And, as you saw, my half-brother is ailing."
"Yes, he shared that with me," she shuddered. "You don't go through something like that and come out Mr. Mental Health, but I've never experienced anything like that. I know it must have been hell for him, but I've got to say-"
"You don't want to go through it, too," he finished for her, choosing not to add that what she had endured at the hands of Neave and Lochlan would have disqualified almost anyone else from winning "Mr. Mental Health." "You're not alone in that," he assured her. "It's clearest for us – Ocella, me, you. But he can share that with other people, too. It's not as detailed for them, they tell me. No one wants that memory. We all carry plenty of our own bad memories." Again he thought of the night of Sookie's kidnap and torture, the blackest night of his long existence. "I'm afraid that he may not be able to survive as a vampire." He toyed with his bottle of blood, wondering how Sookie would take the idea of Appius having to kill Alexei. "Apparently, it's a nightly grind to get Alexei to do the simplest things… and not to do others. You heard his remark about the teenager. I don't want to go into the details… however… Have you read the papers lately? The Shreveport papers?"
Her blue eyes widened in disbelief. "You mean Alexei might be responsible for those two murders? The stab wounds, the throats?" She had, perhaps unconsciously, raised her hand to her own throat. "But he's so small and young…"
"He's insane. Ocella finally told me that Alexei had had episodes like this before, not as severe." Again he hesitated. "It has led him to consider – very reluctantly – giving Alexei the final death."
Sookie reacted just as he knew she would. "You mean putting him to sleep? Like a dog?"
He did not avert his gaze as he sometimes did when she expressed her outrage at vampires' actions. He explained to her the necessity of it, the danger to himself and others if it was not done. "He'll subvert all we're trying to do here in the United States," he finished, hoping that this reminder of the larger picture would sway her if nothing else did. "Not that my maker cares about my position in this country," he muttered.
She patted his cheek. "Yeah, let's not forget the two dead men that Alexei murdered in a painful and horrible way. I mean, I realize that this is all about him and your maker and your personal cred, but let's spare a tip of the hat to those guys he killed." She could spare them a tip of the hat on her own time. He didn't give a rat's ass. "So your maker brought Alexei to you, hoping that you'd have some bright ideas about keeping your half-brother alive, teaching him some self-control?"
"Yes," Eric said. He kept his eyes on hers. "That's one of the reasons he's here."
A small part of him wanted her to ask about the other reasons. She did not.
"Appius Livius having sex with the kid can't be helping Alexei's mental health," she observed.
Her face showed nothing but disgust as he reminded her that Appius was from another time with different rules – that not everything could be seen through her own moral prism. Not that it mattered now, since Appius and Alexei were no longer lovers.
She paled a little. "If Appius Livius isn't having sex with Alexei… who is he having sex with?"
He knew quite well what she was asking. "I know this is your business since we're married." Though you introduce yourself as my "girlfriend," a pathetic word for what you are to me. "Something I've insisted on and you've belittled," he added. "I can only tell you that I'm not having sex with my maker… but I would if he told me that was what he wanted. I would have no choice."
She absorbed this in silence, and her expression was impossible to read.
"Eric, you're busy with your visitors," she said finally. "I'm going to that meeting at Alcide's Monday night. I'll tell you what happens… when and if you call me. There are a couple of things I need to bring you up to speed on if you ever have a chance to come to my place to talk."
He could not have failed to catch her less than subtle rebukes, and he decided that she was right. He should have called her, Appius and Alexei be damned.
"If they stay until Tuesday, I'm going to see you no matter what they're doing," he promised. The thought of it lifted his spirits and gave him something, however small in the long run, to hope for. "We'll make love. I feel like buying you a present."
He smiled, and she responded in kind. "That sounds like a great night to me. She raised their hands, which were still clasped, and kissed his fingers. "I don't need a present. Just you. So I'll see you Tuesday, no matter what. That's what you said, right?"
"That's what I said," he nodded.
"Okay, then. Until Tuesday."
She started to go, but he didn't release her hand. His good mood had been swept away as quickly as it had arrived. Even the promise of a night with her couldn't change the fact that Appius and Alexei waited in his office, that Victor continued to plot his ruin, and that Freyda of Oklahoma now considered him hers. What Freyda didn't know was that he could never be hers – that Sookie possessed him in every sense of the word.
"I love you, and you are my wife in the only way that matters to me," he told her. He wanted her to know that. He wanted Appius to know it. He wanted the Queen of Oklahoma to know it. He wanted the whole fucking world to know it because it was something he would fight for.
Sookie looked puzzled, but she said, "Love you, too," and went on her way.