Chapter 8
Bring it
While Sookie was now beyond the Pythones' jurisdiction, I only had a limited amount of time to protect her. When the Old Bat came looking for me, and she would. I had to go with her or she would have to issue a warrant with my name on it. I wouldn't get a choice in being a deserter. The mark on my back made the choice for me and it would only complicate things more because in addition to Sin Eaters, we would have Water fairies on our asses, as well as fellow Enforcers. I sighed internally. I guess there was nothing to do but let, the good times roll.
Sookie and I sat in silence. There was nothing to be said. We were both up shit creek and we knew it. So for the second time we took whatever comfort we could find in each other's arms. Suddenly her head turned left and she stilled. Tension washed over her features. She rose in one fluid motion.
"I need to go. They're coming," she said. "I'll catch you later."
"What happened to needing my protection?" I asked, keeping a firm hold on her hand.
"That won't be until later," she replied. "When I'm too far along to run, I'll come find you."
Her hand rose and she caressed my cheek. Involuntarily, I leaned into her touch. The look in her eyes was that of someone who was parting with what they wanted most. It was there, but I didn't want to see it. It wasn't real. It never could be. It didn't keep me from denying her when she leaned in and kissed me, chastely. Light as the contact was, it eased me in a way nothing else could.
Maybe if she hadn't done that, I would have risked letting her go. It was the sensible thing to do. It would allow me to avoid trouble with the Pythoness before it happened. After all, Sookie had proven more than efficient at fighting. I should trust her to come back to me when she was in need. It would give me the distance I wanted from her but after suffering the separation, I wasn't looking forward to reliving it. The mere thought made my skin crawl. I hated that I couldn't help it, but I hated the constant anxiety even more. We were mated so she wasn't going any damn place.
"I have a problem with that," I told her.
"I can take care of myself," she replied.
She had set herself up and me, being me, I just couldn't resist. "As evidenced by the ass kicking you took earlier, I'm sure you can," I said dryly.
"That was because I was counting on powers I didn't know I'd lost."
I shrugged. "You say, 'Potato'. I say, 'Po-Ta-to." I scoffed. "Point is you got your ass kicked."
She opened her mouth and I thought she was going to continue arguing her point, futile as it might be. Then the expression on her face became thoughtful instead of annoyed. "I think you're asshole." It sounded like a question and I had to smile.
"I think you're right." I agreed.
All I had were the two daggers that were normally in my boots. Pam had more than a few weapons in her office. I raided her stash. Not knowing what was coming I took what I could easily hide.
"I don't very much care for being told what to do." Sookie, snapped at me. "I asked for protection, not for you to swoop in with your cape and save the day. Last I checked, I didn't hand over the reins on life."
"Part of being asshole is selective hearing," I said absently. "I tuned out after the fourth word of all that but you can repeat yourself if you like."
She didn't so I took her hand and began moving us to the main floor of the bar. The entire way there she tried to reason and talk her way out of it, but I ignored her and just pulled her alongside me. Whoever was coming in search of her would find that she wasn't alone. I was the top Enforcer for the law of vampires. My sister was a sheriff in the area with more than a few vampires under her control. My maker was the Visigoth, and his wife was a skilled witch. If they wanted to pick a fight with her, then they had better come prepared.
Since I'd taken residence in my sister's area I had never had a human with me in the open. As I mentioned, I had developed quite the following. It consisted of an even amount of women and men. I entered the main floor of the bar and all eyes turned to me. Then they moved right. The expression on their faces was the same.
"Oh, give me a break," Sookie grumbled under her breath.
I eyed her and she just shook her head with a frown on her face. I pulled her to sit with me at my reserved table, but I ignored her and everyone else. Danger was coming, and I needed to signal my sister. I caught Pam's eye. She disappeared for all of three minutes. When she reemerged, she looked every bit the sheriff she was. She was in black jeans, a white t-shirt and black heels. The leather jacket she wore was no doubt meant to hide a wide assortment of weapons. She flashed a signal to a vampire who was acting as DJ. The music came to an abrupt stop.
Then Pam got on the stage and let out a shrill whistle. The sound cut through the chorus of protests. "Everyone with a pulse," she said, turning the lights on. "You fuckers have five minutes to get the hell out. After that I'm declaring open season on your bitch asses."
The cows seemed too stunned to move. Never one to bluff, Pam flew from where she was and landed on a nearby table. Her fangs were fully exposed and she was in a pose that showed all the grace of a predator. She snatched the closest human to her and lifted him as if he were light as air. She brought him to her eye level. Instead of feeling afraid, he was teeming with excitement. I was the only one who knew how amused Pam was.
"Did I fucking stutter?" she asked. "Out!" she roared, flinging him across the room.
That was all the incentive the remaining patrons needed. There was a mass exodus. Pam's vampires hung like portraits along the wall. Some tossed weapons to those who were unarmed.
"I'll say one thing about you night children," Sookie commented. "You guys are always down for a fight."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Are they close?"
She shook her head. "No." Her frame was wrought with tension. "They're here."
Oh good. I didn't have to wait long to see the group of cowards who was hunting a pregnant woman. That was definitely a slice of tomato in my sandwich. They entered simultaneously using all the entrances. Then they lined in a near spear formation as if they owned the building. The blatant disrespect was enough to have all seven of Pam's vampires flashing fang. Blood shed was all but guaranteed.
How many people does it take to pick on a pregnant fairy? The answer was nine. I couldn't hide how impressed I was. I wondered if their numbers were for her alone, or if it was because she had sought refuge in a vampire bar. If that wasn't the case then just how powerful was she?
"All this is for you?" I asked her.
She nodded. "No," she murmured. "There were thirteen this afternoon."
I didn't miss the way she wrapped her hand around her middle. She moved so she was partially hidden behind my back. When a tenth fairy joined, she moved to stand in front of me. The reason was simple. He was powerful. Despite being in an open space filled with vampires, this newcomer had eyes only for her.
"Preston," she said. There was something akin to heart break in her voice.
"Hello, my love," he said with a nod.
At that, my fangs tingled with the need to extend. I repressed the urge. For all I knew, this was a man she wanted, but couldn't have because she had landed with me instead.
"Don't force this," she begged. "Please don't, Pres. I don't want to fight you."
"Of all the people in all the worlds do I think I want you as my opponent?" He moved to the head of the formation. "You have left me no choice!" he bellowed, "You wounded your brothers and sisters. All that you swore to uphold, you have betrayed. What other recourse have you left me with? What am I to do?"
Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered. "It wasn't my choice. I swear to you. It wasn't."
Her tears seemed to have reached him. "I love you. I have always loved you. Come back," he said, holding his hand out to her as if the room didn't separate them. "You are valued still. The elders do not want to put you down. They will punish you, but it will be less severe if you surrender and end all this now."
"This isn't 'All My Children' or an afterschool special. You're either going to leave or you're going to get your asses handed to you," Pam sneered.
I was glad because with every word they exchanged, my anger toward Sookie grew. If there was anything I needed to know that told me this situation was similar to Freyda, this was it. I was supposed to be her mate, but she was professing to love another man in my presence. I'd already been in a love triangle and the best to be in that situation was on the outside looking in and that was exactly where I wanted to place myself but I couldn' mating mark wouldn't allow me to take the quickest way to break the bond, which was death, otherwise, I would have taken the option. Instead I was stuck wanting, protecting and resenting Sookie. I had a feeling that those feelings wouldn't go away. They wouldn't quell until I was free of her and this damn marks.
A predatory look fell over the face of the fairy named Preston. "Were I you, child of the night, I would silence myself," he warned,
"Feel free to make me, bitch," she said, unsheathing a dagger.
Even for a fairy, Preston was fast. In fact, I thought he was using restraint in the way he moved. I moved toward him, but Sookie pushed me back. Then she flittered away from my side so quickly, I barely saw her. All this happened in the smallest fraction of a second. When it stopped, Sookie's hand was around Preston's neck. In the same frame, she slammed him to the ground hard enough to leave a crater at the point of impact while her knee pressed into his sternum. With one hand, she flung him away much like Pam had done with the human not too long ago.
Clearly she and I had more to talk about.
"I have always been stronger," she said, and the expression on her face was unrecognizable. It was sharper than a sword and cold as ice. "I have always been faster. Don't make me hurt you. I don't want to."
Despite the thrashing he just received, the other fairy flipped to his feet and into a neat crouch. Blood was running down his face, but he looked more betrayed than damaged. His forces fanned out and so did ours, but he warned them off. I knew if the odds had been better, he would have attacked. We would have had casualties of our own, but we would have won in the end.
"Have you lost your mind?" he asked looking at her. "You would defend them, them over me?!"
In response, she turned her back to him and bared her shoulder to show the mating mark. That seemed to take this Preston person from betrayed to confused.
"How is that possible?" he asked. "I thought…"
"I was just late, but it happened."
"Tell me who," he asked through clenched teeth. She didn't answer and that must have been answer enough. His eyes went wide and he backed away as if she had turned into something toxic. "You didn't…you didn't, tell me you didn't."
"I can't undo it," she said, as if resigned. "You know I can't. I love you but you know I don't have a choice."
"Last warning, get lost," I said, appearing at Sookie's side. "Please refuse so I can make you."
My threat might have been more effective because I was taller or because I had an incredibly large hunting knife in my hand. I didn't know, but they filed out in as a neat a formation as they had entered. The door closed and Sookie hunched over. Her hands were braced against her knees. She looked as if she had run a mile in a minute. I held my hand out at the exact moment that she reached for me. It was just an automatic thing. I wrapped my arms around her and skirted backward.
"This was the most action we're seen in ages," Pam said, grinning at her people. They all looked disappointed. It said that they were looking forward to a full-out brawl. Pam turned her eyes me. "But get bent all the same."
"Thank you," I told my sister.
"Are you going where I think you're going?" she asked, with another hostile glance at the fairy.
I nodded. "No other place is safe."
She sighed. "Go to Bon Temps, to a bar called Merlotte's. There is a mutt there who owes me."
She moved to me, kissed my cheek and handed me her car keys. The fairy had crashed her car into the red corvette I had rented during my short stay. I suppose I could add that to the list of things she had turned upside down. No one would be the wiser as we exited the parking lot. There was still enough traffic to conceal our departure.
"I need my bag," Sookie murmured as I loaded her into Pam's silver BMW. "In the stolen car."
It took me a tenth of a second to retrieve the item. I had no idea why she wanted it. It seemed like a raggedy old thing. I recognized it as the same rucksack from the hotel so long ago. It also felt empty.
"I need a BLT sandwich, a bottle of milk, and a bottle of water," Sookie said.
Seeing I was still waiting for one inebriated human after another to make their way on the main street, I spared a glance at her. This wasn't a restaurant, and I sure as hell wasn't about to be taking her orders. However, she wasn't talking to me. I saw as the limp bag filled. She reached and retrieved all that she had ordered.
"Let's pretend that I have no idea how you did that," I said to her.
She rolled her eyes. "It gives me anything I want that can fit inside it. It can't be magical and it has to exist on this world. The catch with that it can only give me as much as I can put in mentally. The things I need that it can't provide, I've stashed elsewhere and it teleports them to me, when I ask."
"Where did you get it?" I asked. It wasn't that I wanted one. I didn't need it. I asked because like her sector of fairies, I've never heard of such a thing.
"Bought it off a pixie with a bad Angel dust habit." Her answer was delivered between hearty swings of milk.
I couldn't help but laugh. That was all kinds of fucked up. Then again this whole situation was. Still I was curious. "Angel dust as in cocaine?"
She finished chewing a bit of her food before she answered. "Angel dust, as in the dust the shakes from the wings of Angel's when they flap their wings."
All I could do was shake my head. That was just something I was going have to ask her about later. It was on the list right under Preston, the douche bag. That would have to wait until I got us where we had to be. With such enemies after us, there was only one place that I knew that was safe. The problem was it was in Hawaii, which was 1,500 miles and an ocean away.
Before we could even worry about crossing the Southern Pacific Ocean we had to make it to California. That in itself seemed impossible. We could take a flight I supposed. That seemed so easy I knew it was hazardous. I was hoping Pam's favor would be enough to at least bring us half way.
The ride was silent and it was my suspicion that Sookie ate slow as to avoid conversation. But by the time I had reached the little town of Bon Temps, she had eaten and provided herself with a new outfit, tags and all. Temptation on two legs is what this woman was, just like the first time. I shook the idea aside. It was that thought that landed me in this fucking mess. Still, it was impossible not to notice as she walked ahead of me and into the bar. She was dressed casually much like she had been the evening we met.
Unlike the west coast with its endless good weather, it was winter and even in the south, there was a chill in the air. She had on grey low-rise jeans that did incredible things for her round bottom and over that was a form-fitting waffle knit top. The look was completed with a black leather jacket, black knitted hat, and black boots. I had to smile. That was my standard attire, save everything was black. I couldn't say if that made me angry, resentful, or delighted.
Um...so remember that promise I made about daily reviews, (ducks behinds the Vikings back) ot might be in danger. I'm considering a major rewrite. It happens more times than you can image. I have an idea and a clearly laid path and then the characters and events just don't cooperate. They take a life of their own and pull me in a different direction. I'll do my best.