Spellbound
Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. I also want to thank you for taking my mind off of my grief. I can't thank you enough.
The faery was in trouble; trouble that she couldn't escape. Not because she was afraid but because she'd been weakened. They'd surrounded her with iron bars and iron has never been a very good friend of the sky people. She felt hopeless. Her glowless body slumped wearily against the cement wall. Her happy faery scent had all but faded. She began to cry; tearless sobs ravaged her body. She wasn't crying because she was afraid. She was crying because she wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to Faery. She wanted to feel safe again amongst her people. The marriage between the vampire and the fae princess was supposed to change everything. It was supposed to prevent this; their captivity. They weren't supposed to be food anymore. Sookie and Eric had made it possible for them to be free. Just like everyone else, they were supposed to be free.
"Pixie?" the menacing voice called out to her. "Can you hear me, Pixie?"
The metal doors to the damp and musty basement slammed behind her approaching assailants. The sounds of their heavy feet as they stomped along the damp, cement floor sent chills through her body. Those sounds always affected her that way. They always made her jump; especially when she could hear their footsteps walking in her direction.
Pixie closed her eyes. "They're coming for me," she whispered in a hoarse voice. "They're finally coming for me."
She was right. The door to her cell opened and the faint light from the candles that they carried hurt her eyes. If only she could see their faces. If she could have seen their faces, the princess would be able to make them pay for what they've done to her and for what they're about to do to her. She could make them all pay. Pixie squinted and tried with all of her might to see them but saw nothing but the candlelight.
As the leader drew close to her, she pushed herself up from the floor with a lot of help from the wall. And just like every fae she's ever known, though she was weak and her powers had faded, she stood tall and proud and stared into the brightness of the candlelight. "I don't fear you. I will never fear you. You are cowards. We don't fear death."
They laughed at her but his laugh was the worst. It was the loudest and the most menacing. She could hear his fangs as they snicked into place. She saw him move in closer; towering over her as his broad body stood before her.
Looking down at her, he said, "You will scream before this is over."
For the first time in what seemed like years, she laughed. She never thought that she'd laugh again but she laughed. It sounded beautiful. It sounded free. "Even if you kill me slowly, I will not give you the satisfaction that you seek. The only thing that you will get from me is my blood. You will take my life but you will take nothing more of me."
When he looked into her eyes, he could see that she was telling the truth. He's never gotten what he wanted from them; the faeries. He needed their fear. He needed their essence. This faery was just like the others. They wouldn't fight. They wouldn't scream. They gave him nothing more than blood. That first taste was all that he could stand if they didn't scream and beg. That's why he needed the others; to finish off what he couldn't bear to eat.
Violently, he jerked her into his body. Her head fell back onto his arm from the force; exposing her vulnerable neck to him. She looked up at the ceiling and imagined the waterfalls and the unicorns of home. She thought of the sweet smell of the honey flowers and the white tulips that grew in her mother's garden. She loved the smell of the flowers in Faery when they bloom in springtime. She thought of the feel of the softest grass her feet have ever known. She missed the songs and the laughter. She missed her people. Tears began to fall from the corners of her eyes as she recalled home.
"Sweet," he purred. He assumed that the tears were for him, because of the fear that she was feeling. She wasn't as accepting of death as she'd pretended to be. She was going to give him what he needed. His fangs scraped along her delicate skin. It pleased him to see the tears. He knew that the tears were only an inkling of what was to come … the rapid heartbeat, the racing pulse, and her screams. They always made the blood taste so much better. He wanted to bathe in her pain. He longed for it. He needed it.
"Do you want to know what I will miss the most?" she whispered.
He laughed in her ear as he bit into her lobe. "What?" he asked. "Life? Living? Being?"
She closed her eyes.
"Scream for me," he growled into her ear. "Scream for me."
Barely lifting her head so that she could see him, she began to laugh. Her heart wasn't pounding her chest. Her pulse wasn't racing and she wasn't screaming. She wasn't afraid. She did none of that. She was laughing at him.
The other vampires looked at one another in amazement but said nothing. He was angry. His anger filled the tiny cell that had been her prison. Though he'd spent days trying to break her, he couldn't. She'd done just the opposite. She'd shamed him.
After her laughter had subsided, Pixie said, "I'm going to miss seeing you die … coward."
His fangs pierced her skin.
Silently, Pixie screamed but not from fear and not for what she's lost. She screamed out for help and only one being could avenge her.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The sounds of Pixie's screams and her ringing cell phone woke her up. Sookie sat up in bed and took in her surroundings before answering the phone. She was safe. She was in her home and in her bed. She placed her hand on her belly and calmed the fluttering baby in her stomach. Once she was able to compose herself and the child, she answered her phone.
"Hello?"
"Postpone it, Sookie. You must postpone it," the voice whispered.
She swung her legs off of the bed and sat tall. "Andromeda?" she asked. "Is this you?"
"Postpone it," the voice warned again. "Not tonight. You can't go tonight."
"I don't have any appointments tonight. Who is this? What do you …?"
Click
Sookie looked at the caller ID and it said private caller. She took the warning to heart. She began to call everyone that she had an appointment with for tomorrow and canceled each one. She even canceled appointments for the following day just to be on the safe side. "Maybe they meant tomorrow," she said to the empty room. She nodded as she repeated, "Maybe they meant tomorrow." She knew that they didn't.
Her next call was to Claudette.
"What is it!?" Claudette answered with frustration in her voice. Her breathing was labored and rushed. Sookie guessed that her cousin was entertaining a guest. Any other time, she would pump (ha!) her cousin for information but tonight wasn't the right time.
"Claudette, this is an official call. Pixie is gone."
Taking the phone from her ear, Claudette said, "Move over." Giving her attention back to Sookie, she asked, "Now, what did you just say? Pixie is gone? Where is she?"
"She's in the Summerlands, Claudette. She came to me. She didn't go to her closest kin. She came to me."
"No," she whispered. Claudette knew that when the faeries come to Sookie, they've died before their time and in the worst way. "Did you see? Do you know?"
"A vampire had her. She has been drained."
Sookie could feel Claudette's aura change. "I'm on it."
"I'll send Jensen and Kellan to you. Call me back as soon as you hear something; anything. Call Colman and let him know to keep Claudine safe. Tell him not to release the guards that are protecting her but that's all you tell him. Tell him that after what happened at the Essential Spark that I'm requesting that Claudine needs to be under continued protection. She is with child and she's a Brigant. We can't have this getting out before we know for certain what's going on. We don't want to cause any issues; not yet."
They both knew that it would mean the end of the earthly realm for them. They could no longer stay in this world. They would have to go home. Sookie would have to go home without her lover; especially if vampires are killing off her kinsmen.
"Yes, my lady," Claudette responded. "Antony is a close friend of Colman's do we send him to their home?"
"No," Sookie answered quickly. "I want him close to me. I want to be able to keep an eye on him. I've met all of my guards before and he's slipped in under the radar. I want him here."
"Do you have anything else from me, your highness?"
"Yes," Sookie whispered. "I need for you and Claudine to stay safe."
"I promise. Promise me the same?" she asked.
"I'll do my best. Don't forget. We keep this quiet. Remind your guest, dear cousin. You know what will happen to him if he betrays us," Sookie warned.
"I give you my word."
Before Claudette hung up the phone, Sookie could hear a man's voice ask if everything was okay. Claudette told him that it was none of his business. They began arguing about the phone conversation she and her cousin just had. Obviously, he'd heard everything. He was arguing that she wasn't going to do anything alone. Claudette didn't want to hear any of it.
"I love you," Sookie interrupted.
"I love you."
Click
Sookie then jumped up from the bed and grabbed her robe from the back of the chair. She began scanning the bond for Eric and she found that he was close by. She ran downstairs and as she walked towards his office, the bond began to hum with his life force. When she approached his office, she heard the tail end of a tête-à-tête that he was having with Pam. And from what she gathered, it was tête-à-tête that she was not supposed to know about.
"Yes, master," she said. "Are you going to wake her and tell her that you're leaving tonight?"
"I have no choice. I won't allow her to wake up and find me gone."
"She's going to want to go, Eric. She's not going to let you leave her behind."
"Once I explain what's going on, she'll understand that she can't go. She'll have to stay here. She'll agree to letting you watch over her and she'll be fine. I won't be gone for long."
"Where are you going?"
Her voice must have been louder than she'd intended because they looked surprised to see her standing at the doorway. Their vampire hearing must be on the fritz or either they were too involved with their discussion to hear her coming. Either way, it didn't matter. She'd surprised them. As an afterthought, she realized that she must have sounded rude and angry. Pam called her salty. She was sorry for being salty but Eric was sorely mistaken if he thought that he was going anywhere without her; especially after the dream and that phone call. Their new beginning isn't complete. Their love story hasn't been written. No, he wasn't going anywhere without her.
Pam's smug and arrogant voice filled the room. She looked at Eric and said, "Yes, Eric. Where are you going? When are you going? And I have one more question if you don't mind. May I come along?"
He looked at her and thought that there are times when she loves her more than she'll ever know but then are times when he wants to rip her fucking tongue from her mouth. Tonight was one of those nights. "Good night, Pam," he said.
Pam stood up from her chair and stomped her foot. "Goodnight? Goodnight? Are you telling me that I can't join in on the fun? If you love me …"
"GO!"
The playfulness and the amusement quickly left the vampiress. She was no longer teasing her maker because she'd pushed him a little further than she'd meant to. She decided that it would be best not to give him a hard time anymore … on the surface. She was as giddy as a schoolgirl to know that Eric was in trouble with the little woman.
"Before I go, may I ask a question?" Pam didn't give him a chance to respond because he would've said no. "It's too close to dawn for me to go home. You wouldn't mind if I stayed here would you?"
"You're more than welcome to stay here," Sookie answered.
"Thank you," Pam said. "Good night, Eric."
"Pam."
Winking at Sookie, she said, "Good night, my friend."
"Good night."
Once they were alone, the two lover stared at each other; one waiting for the other to speak. Sookie waited for Eric to tell her where he's going. Eric was waiting for her to tell him what had gotten her so agitated. Though her face was blank, her emotions were off the chart.
"What's wrong?"
She laughed quietly. "It's never a good sign when a question is answered with a question, is it? Tell me where you're going."
She tried to keep the quiver out of her voice and the fear out of the bond but she failed. The dream and the call have unnerved her. One of her oldest fae friends is now in the Summerlands because of a vampire and she was being warned to postpone something. She'd postponed all of her appointments when her appointments weren't the problem. She needed to postpone Eric's. He needed to tell her where he's going.
Eric gently placed his hands on Sookie's shoulders. "There's a lot that I must tell you before I go."
"I've never asked much of you so please, Eric, answer my question. Tell me where you're going."
He gripped her shoulders and said, "This is something that I have to do. The AP told me that I was going to have a meeting with André Paul. This has to be the meeting that she was speaking of. There's some problem that he needs for me to …"
'Postpone it!' she heard in her head.
Sookie hurriedly wrapped her arms around him and said, "Please, don't go. You can't go without me. Not tonight. Something's not right."
Enveloping her in his love and his protection, he kissed the top of her head before speaking. "I must, my lover. André has requested that I come tonight. I can't disobey him. He's the head of the council. He said that there is a problem that he has to discuss with me. I have to go. There's no way around it."
She stood back and looked at him. "What's the problem? If there's a problem I should be with you. You're not supposed to meet with any council member without me. We are to always go together. It's in the contract." She studied his face and asked, "What exactly did Andromeda tell you?"
Looking smugly at her, Eric said, "I thought that you didn't want to know."
"Well, at first I didn't. Now I do."
Eric did as she said. "That I'd have to meet with André and that I'd have to meet with him alone. She said that I would have to kill him in order to take his seat on the council. She said that's how I keep you and our child protected in our world. It's what I have to do. You cannot go because of the pregnancy. It's not time for them to know about it."
"Where is he?"
"In New Orleans," he answered. "He's sent his private jet for me."
That bothered Sookie. "We have our own. He knows that."
Eric shrugged his shoulders. "It's André. Before the silver poisoning struck him ill, he was always in control. He's always been in control. I'm going to have the jet swept before I get on it. I will be cautious, my lover. I didn't get this old by being careless. I will be safe."
Sookie looked at her husband with thoughtful eyes. Eric looked annoyingly relaxed. He didn't look the least bit concerned about his meeting. He didn't look the least bit concerned about what Andromeda told him or about what he has to do. His nonchalant attitude was making her sick. She knew that no matter what she said to him, Eric was going to go to New Orleans. She knew that he would risk his well being for her and their child. She was going to have to take matters in her own hands. Sookie marched angrily over to Eric's desk and snatched the phone from its cradle.
Swiftly, she began dialing. "André Paul, please," she said into the phone.
Eric watched her with an amused look in his eyes. André didn't kowtow to anyone. He doesn't abide by the rules of others; unless they benefited him. Whatever he said, he expected it to be followed. He is the head of the council. There's no way he's going to listen to what Sookie had to say.
"This should be interesting," Eric said as he took a seat on the edge of the desk. Though he has vampire hearing, he didn't want to miss a single word that was going to be said.
Within seconds, the angry and salty wife from before was gone. She was as sweet as honey. "Hi, André, it's Sookie. How are you feeling?"
"I'm as well as expected," he replied. "The silver is still taking over my body but I will prevail."
She nodded and smiled. "I'm so sorry to hear that you haven't been feeling any better. As you've probably already guessed, I'm not calling in concern to your health. I'm calling because Eric has told me that he has to leave tonight in order to meet with you tomorrow. Is it at all possible that you could give him at least a couple of hours after dusk? There's something that I have … planned for him."
André began to laugh at her request. "I'm sorry, dear girl but I need him here."
Eric could hear the amusement in André's voice.
"As do I," Sookie replied; the sweetness slowly leaving her voice. "You can give us a couple of hours, can you not? Just two and I promise you, he will be in your home by 9:00 tomorrow night."
André wasn't used to being talked to in such a way. She was being polite but no one told him to wait. No one told him when they could show up for a meeting with him. Not vampires. Not Weres. And definitely not faeries. "Eric has obligations to his leader and to …"
"His wife," Sookie finished. "I believe that the contract states as much. It also states that he is not to meet with any council member without me being present. Am I not correct?" She didn't give him a chance to answer. "If I'm wrong, I'm sure that we can get Andromeda on the phone and ask her."
"The AP?" André asked.
Eric could only imagine the look on André's face. Even he didn't call the AP Andromeda and he's known her for many, many centuries. No one calls her Andromeda but Sookie.
Sookie laughed her most charming laugh. "Yes. That is what I said; Andromeda. So, will 9:00 suffice?"
André was seething with anger. "Tell him that I will see him at 9:00 and he'd better be here at 9:00."
"Good," Sookie said. "I knew that you'd understand. Good night."
Click
"Bastard," she said to the disconnected caller.
Sookie placed her hand to Eric's cheek when she turned to face him. "Who in the hell does he think he is? He has no right to order you around. No one will rule over you anymore. No one controls you. You ask for nothing but deserve everything. You've eaten your own bitterness because of others for years but no more. Your desires will be met and you will be the ruler of your destination. We will control that council and together we will change our world for the better. This is our time, my dearest love."
As he listened to her, he knew that she was wrong. Someone does control him. Someone does rule over him and that someone is Sookie. And he will gladly bend to her will. Eric took her in his arms and ferociously kissed her; tasting her mouth, her blood, her soul. He ripped her gown from her body and drew his lips back so that she could see his fangs as they fell into place.
"Yes, my dearest love," she said as she stood there and waited for him. "Claim what is rightfully yours."