Chapter 8

EPOV

Most of the other guests had either retired to their rooms for the evening or were parts unknown. Our group had been camping in the game room, the same place where we started the evening. We all tried to occupy ourselves in some way; some chose the games while others chose television. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to sit at the bar, brooding about being unable to reach out to Sookie, or Pam for that matter. One was my child and the other my mate, not to mention my bonded and pledged wife. No one would understand what I was going through. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true.

I was on sitting at the bar, facing the openness of the room, with Vayl on my right. He was facing the shelves of liquor. He looked as if he were yearning to be able to drink all of them so he could tolerate the uncertainty he currently felt. Sinclair was pacing the width of the room in front of me. His pace was that fine line of human and supernatural. His head was down with his hands in his pockets.

"I hardly believe that you should be so worried. What's it like being married to a queen? You know there aren't many." I had to break his annoyingly human behavior.

"I usually travel alone or with Tina. This is our first trip together. I should have had Tina accompany her. But she's so…so…"he trailed off. He looked agitated.

"Stubborn." Vayl and I spoke for him. We all paused and stared at one another. Then, we erupted into laughter. Sinclair, finally, stopped his pacing and sat to my left at the bar. We were all now facing the bottles of substances we would never drink. Vayl was the one to bring up the burning topic of the evening between us.

"Jazmine is unlike any creature I have ever encountered. Her skill for killing rivals my own and she is my hardest opponent. She was made for me. I know she can take care of herself, but the situations she finds herself in…" he trailed off.

"I met Elizabeth the night after she turned. I had discovered that she didn't go into hiding, but returned to her house. I called her home to see if I was mistaken and she answered. I couldn't believe it. Come to find out, she revealed herself to her mother, best friend, father and his wife. Of course, this drew the attention of the King and he tried to kidnap her. He tried to force her fealty, thinking she was just like any other newborn. She actually laughed in his face. He didn't take kindly to this and issued the true death. Little did he know, she couldn't be killed."

That was new. I'd never come across one of our kind that couldn't be killed by sunlight or a wooden stake to the heart.

"Well. That is…something" I offered.

"She told me that when she woke up that first night, she tried to kill herself and just wouldn't die. With my own eyes, I have seen her staked, exposed to sunlight without burning, and decapitated. She heals and her rage erupts. That is more chilling than the thought of losing her."

I was speechless.

"I had been working for the C.I.A for half a century when I met Jasmine. I had her assigned as my assistant. She was…difficult to say the least. But ironically, we made a great team. We have yet to miss a target. We've fought all types of creatures. We've even been to Hell."

Sinclair and I were staring at him with gaping mouths. "Yes, it does exist. I've been to Heaven with her too. But you both have probably been there too, in your own way."

We nodded our agreement. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of my 'breakfast'. The silence was beginning to grow, so I finally decided it was safe to share.

"I pursued Sookie from the moment I saw her only to be rejected at every turn. After a few years, we were both able to admit our true feelings for each other and made it work for several years after. But, I was not the first vampire to make her acquaintance. He not only had her before me, but he was her first. She, foolish, loved him and he betrayed her in order to procure her telepathy for our former queen. I exposed him and she dumped his pitiful ass. But he became a stalker and chased us for years." I had to pause before speaking again. This would be the first time I had spoken about what transpired aloud.

"He succeeded in killing me and her, although she ran for several more years. But in that time, my wife had learned much more about herself and took him to his true death along with her. She didn't stay dead. She hasn't really told me how it happened, but she was sent back in time to before she met her first vampire and given the opportunity to prevent certain events from happening, including my death and that of all her loved ones. Now, here we are and I couldn't be happier."

"I have never heard of such a thing." Sinclair stated as a fact. He wasn't accusing, just musing.

"I have. Jasmine has died and been brought back twice."

"Under what circumstances, may I ask?" I'm usually not so…nosy, but I couldn't ignore the irony that we had so much in common.

"The first was before we met. She and her special ops team were ambushed at their safe house by the nest of one of our most difficult targets, Edward Ramos."

"You kill Edward Ramos?!" Sinclair was almost off his stool.

"No. Jasmine did. Not only did he have to die because he was our target, but he was relentless in his pursuit to kill us and didn't waste an opportunity. To answer your question Eric, Raoul brought her back as she agreed to continue her mission to defend humanity. The second was during one of our mission in which she was fatally injured. She just wouldn't rest. She's much like me in that sense."

"So, what is Raoul?" Sinclair asked. It was an excellent question. However, we are vampires and secrets are what keep us alive.

"He would have to answer that one. Dave, Jazz' twin brother, has a similar background. He was a Ranger Commander at the time and Raoul gave him the same opportunity as Jasmine. You two should meet him. We've had some…interesting experiences together." He turned around to scan the room for the man in question. He was sitting on one of the couches, talking to Raoul and Godric. "Dave" he called. The tall, muscular man looked over to us and rose. He walked toward us, his military training oozed off him like a body order. His strawberry blonde hair and green eyes made him resemble a model, fresh off the catwalk at Fashion week. He made me think of Jason, Sookie's idiot brother. Like Jason, I couldn't imagine him having a problem getting a woman.

Vayl introduced us. "Dave, this is Eric Northman and Eric Sinclair, who we just refer to as Sinclair." Dave nodded to the both of us and walked behind the bar. He searched until he found a bottle of Hennessey Paradise and poured a generous amount into a snifter.

"You guys must be sharing war stories. Has Vayl been rambling on about my sister again?" We laughed for a moment.

"Your sister sounds like a seasoned warrior" Sinclair said. "He mentioned that you've both have seen death, only to come back out of refusal to be defeat."

"I like that. Very eloquent." I said. He nodded his appreciation.

"Yea. We have always shared certain experiences. Even as children, we were in competition. When I made the football team, she did too. She actually made the team, but was kicked off almost immediately when they discovered she was a girl. So she was the track star. Our father was a decorated Marine commander, so out of his three children, Jazz and I followed in his footsteps. Our sister, Evie, remained the civilian." He paused and looked at Vayl. "Did you tell them about Matt?" he asked.

"No. I mentioned it in a general way. I would rather you or Jazz speak on this out of respect." Dave smirked and patted Vayl on the shoulder. Although the Great Revelation has been about 25 years ago, public displays of physical contact have remained somewhat taboo. This gesture would normally mean that Dave was Vayl's human pet. Of course, we knew that wasn't the case. Vayl picked up on the vibe coming from Sinclair and me.

"Dave is my brother-in-law and part of my Trust as I am Vampere." I liked him even more, but wanted to hear more from Dave.

"Ok. Before I made the move to the Rangers, Jazz and I were on the same Special Ops team. We were the first team to have both human and vampire members. There were 9 of us. One was my wife, Jesse, and another was her fiancé, Matt. We were decompressing after cleaning out a nest of rogue vamps, when one of our newest members made the mistake of answering the door. We were ambushed. I thought that I was the sole survivor until I reached Command. They said that Jazz was alive. Both of our significant others, as well as the rest of our team, perished." He stopped and bowed his head. "I was mad at her for a long time. I blamed her for my wife's death, but after my own death I realized that the only one to blame was the fuckers who attacked us. She was the one to get revenge for the both of us. Anyway…she was emotionally broken until she met Vayl here."

We both glanced at him and he smiled wide. "So, what is Raoul?" I asked.

"Raoul is, what we call, our Spirit Guide. He isn't human. I can never say the word right. Vayl?" he said searching for assistance.

"Edyhar is the word you are looking for, but it's all so complicated" Vayl offered with a dismissive wave of his hand. Dave agreed with a nod and took a deep swallow of his cognac.

"I think of him as the ultimate commander. He's trained us in our abilities as Sensitives and we've become better soldiers. Better than any human." He was proud, as he should be.

I thought it best to keep the mood light, especially with the new developments. I decided to change gears. "Are you single or involved?" I asked.

"I'm married to Jazz' best friend, Cassandra. She a Seer and like almost 800 years old. So, I guess you could say that I prefer older women." Sinclair and I glance at each other.

Vayl added, "We met Cassandra during one of our missions. She was helping my find the souls of my deceased sons. She touched Jasmine and well, the rest is history."

All of a sudden, the three of us all shuddered. I felt panic and concern. It was worse for me because I felt these emotions from both of my women.

"What the hell was that?" Dave asked us.

"I assume I wasn't the only one that felt that?" Vayl asked of Sinclair and me.

"You are right." I said. "I felt it through my bonds with Sookie and Pam."

"I, too, felt it from Elizabeth." Sinclair added.

"Damn! I wish Cassandra and I could feel each other like that. I don't worry about her getting into trouble when she is alone, but…when she is with my sister, all bets are off." Dave was ready to bolt from the room, but stop short when he realized he didn't know where to go. "What did you guys feel?"

"Fear" I said.

"Concern" added Sinclair.

Vayl said, "I felt the same from Cirilai. I don't feel anything now."

Godric and Raoul came over to us. Before either one could speak, Carlyle and Edward entered the room.

"Edward just saw something. He can read minds and is linked to his sister, Alice." Carlyle was on alert, while Edward was visibly shaken.

"I think they may have been attacked. But, there isn't any more alarm." Edward announced. He looked to Godric and said, "Are you sure that we can't contact them, at least by phone to ensure that they're safe?" He was pleading with my maker, clutching his cell phone almost to its breaking point.

"It is late for them to be away from us, especially in a strange area. You all may call, but do not make them aware of anything going on here. Just check on them as you would normally." That was all we need to jump into action.

Dave, Edward, Vayl, Sinclair, and I drew out our phones to dial our women. We slowly scattered through the room to get some privacy to our conversations. Just as I decided exactly how I would approach this, she answered.

"Hey hubby!" she hiccupped. I could tell that she was outside, near trees. The other women were not far.

"Hello wife. What are you up to?" I had to dull the bond as to not alarm her or Pam to my storm of emotions.

"Nothing. We are sight-seeing. I miss you." Her love and lust were pushing back from her end of the bond. I want to go and ravage her in every way possible.

"I'll be here when you are done for the evening. You will need to be fully functional when you get back." I sent her a strong burst of lust. I could hear her breathing increase over the phone.

"Mmmm…I'll be there soon. I love you, Viking."

"I love you too…and please try to be careful. And that goes for both of you." I told her and hung up before I loss control. I need them back here. I walked over to Godric who had been deep in conversation with Raoul. Obviously, they knew each other. I didn't recall him ever speaking of a creature such as what Raoul had been described to be.

"Excuse my intrusion." I began as I bowed. "Master, may I speak to you for a moment?"

"Yes. Raoul, this is my child, Eric Northman, the Viking." I felt pride and love through the bond. Normally, this would be a happy moment. But it felt like déjà vu. He was in mid stride to step away from Raoul to speak to me when he stopped. I knew that he was getting a message from AP, as she is his maker and powerful enough to have telepathy with her children. Then it clicked. The feelings I felt from Godric were the same as the night when he meet the sun. Now, THIS! I quickly closed all bonds – Godric, Pam, and Sookie – as to not alert them to the dread and fear that was trying to consume me.

Godric 'reanimated' and came over to me. "The enemy is on the move. The first attack will be the night of the wedding. Niall is going to get the women now. Take everyone to the grand dining room. Raoul and I need to see AP first."

He went back over to Raoul. A moment later, they were gone. "Attention. There have been some new developments. We need to go to the grand dining room immediately." I said to everyone in the room as I headed for the door.

We trickled into the large room. We instinctually went to our seats during the rehearsal dinner. I was getting more anxious and was beginning to lose my patience. Sinclair sat down next to me.

"Should I be worried about Elizabeth?" It was a fair question, but I didn't know the answer and was already stressing about Sookie and Pam's absence.

"I know that they will be back soon. That is all I know." I replied, but I was sure of nothing. I knew that Niall would bring them back. Sooner rather than later would be much appreciated.

Author's Notes:

And they say that men rule the world…seems like the ladies have the been wrapped around their manicured fingers. For those familiar with SVM: As you can see, Niall is about to make his appearance. After all this time, have relationships between Sookie's fated mate and her great-grandfather improved? You'll see in the next chapter.

SPECIAL THANKS to my 'regulars'. I'm gonna have to come up with a new name for you guys.

*All characters belong to their respective authors.

**I OWN NOTHING**