DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ALL OF THE CHARACTERS AND NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT IS INTENDED. ALL CHARACTERS BELONG TO THEIR REPECTIVE OWNERS. I AM SIMPLY TAKING THE CHARACTERS OUT TO PLAY FOR MY OWN AMUSMENT. WARNING: RATED M FOR SEXUAL CONTENT, ADULT THEMES, AND LANGUAGE.
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Chapter Three
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Sookie and I sat across the kitchen table from one another. We had both agreed that to tame some of the lust we had from sharing blood that we would limit our contact and shut down the bond. Sookie would not be bonded to Nikolai, they would only have one exchange, and we were trying to recreate the circumstances as close as we were able. I took blood from her wrist and closed the wound. I was doing my best to ignore my urges, and I ripped open my wrist handing it to her over the table. Thoughts of tossing the table aside and taking her on the floor of the kitchen crossed my mind and felt myself harden. Sookie only took a couple of sips and then released me. I was longing for more contact but was grateful when she pulled away. She needed to practice this and there was no way I was letting her share this with any other.
Sookie gave us both time to compose ourselves and then she reached out her hands to me. I took them in mine just as I had seen her and Claude do so many times. She closed her eyes and I also closed mine. I tried to relax and leave myself open to her. I waited patiently, giving Sookie time to work this out, but after a while I felt nothing and snuck a peak at my lover. Her eyes were still closed and although we were both glowing her light was not overtaking mine as it did when we made love. Our colors mingled where we touched but it did not go any further.
I was disappointed but when I opened the bond it was tempered by her overwhelming feelings of failure and self loathing. Sookie blamed herself for this not working, "Sookie...open your eyes." I pulled my hands from hers and she was frowning when her blue eyes met mine. "You need to rest lover." I looked at the clock. Time had seemed to have flown and we had been at this for over three hours.
"No, I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes and we can try again." She was exhausted and she couldn't hide it. I knew all the signs even without the bond.
"No, that is it for tonight. I have other things that need tending and you need your rest if we are going to try again tomorrow." I was determined to make this work, but we had been practicing for days without results and the dark circles around her eyes clearly showed how hard she had been working.
Sookie nodded and rose from the table. Her lack of sleep was wearing on her, so I tucked her into bed and then went on to resume working on plan B. I needed to speak to Christian and Pamela so I called her and asked her to meet me at the hotel. I thought about going to the compound but I could not force myself to face my dying brother...not yet anyway.
"I am beginning to think you are hiding Sookie away from us," Pam said as she took a seat in the living room. "I wish..." She set down a stack of papers she had carried in and then leaned back into the couch. Christian followed her in and took the seat next to her. He looked a little better than he did last time I had seen him and I was relieved.
"No. She is just resting. She has been working hard with the Fairy to find a way to break the spell on Nikolai." Sookie had not been the only one. I had even gone so far as to try to find another Fairy to do the deed but that had been fruitless. No Fairy in their right mind would agree and to find one who could keep their mouth shut was impossible with the time we had. I kept my face passive but my child knew me too well.
"It's not going well...?" She wasn't really asking.
I shook my head. "No. So let's get started, shall we?" The two of them nodded and I continued, "Tell me what Owen's witches said. If we kill Freyda or the witch who cast the spell can we end it?" Christian had been talking to Owen Black, a member of the B Team. We had used his team to help us take out Sophie-Anne's children. Owen had deep connections in the world of magic and Christian asked him to look into it.
"Without knowing the exact making of the spell to try and break it would put Nikolai's life at risk. There could be a fail safe built into the spell. We need the witch who cast it if we are going to make any headway."
"How is that going? Any of your connections have any luck?" Christian had told me that he had spread out a lot of cash and called in a lot of favors to track this witch down.
"We are looking, but Freyda has gone to great lengths to cover her tracks. We can not even be sure she still lives." Christian was frustrated and so was I. Nothing seemed to be going our way.
"Keep looking." I turned to Pam, "What about Alexei? Have we been able to track him down?" I had given this task to my child days ago. I really didn't want to dig up my insane brother but I was running out of options. I thought maybe I could turn him over to pay for his crimes, or get him to drive Freyda to meet the sun with his gift. It was selfish to even consider this since Alexei was a wild card that could be a huge risk to anyone who came in contact with him, but I still considered it a better option than Sookie having to "join" with Nikolai in order to save him.
"We are following several leads, and it looks like we are closing in." Pam was confident and I trusted my child to get it done. "I did raise her after all."
"Good. Alexei is not subtle when he kills and it should not be too hard to find him." The little fucker left a trail of bodies in his wake. He was a nightmare, literally.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pam asked, "If we manage to bring him here we may not be able to control him. If Ocella couldn't do it, how will we?"
"We will have to take precautions, but I have much more control over my own powers now and I am sure I can restrain him if need be." "I'll lock the little shit up in a cell he can never escape from."
"I agree with Eric. We need to do everything in our power to save Nikolai." Christian backed me up and I felt guilty that I had not told Pam or Christian that it was likely Sookie could share her light and save Nikolai, if they exchanged blood and had sex. I had only told them that she was trying to learn to share it with someone other than me and another Fairy.
I feared that they would insist on going that route, even if it could permanently damage the relationship between Sookie and me. I also was sure Nikolai's life was worth the risk of losing the love Sookie and I shared...in their eyes. I was having a harder time coming to that conclusion. My love for Sookie and my love for Nikolai were at war with each other. I didn't want to risk either. I wanted to keep them both but I was keeping all my options open, even the options that I loathed the most.
After I dismissed Pam and Christian, I called upon Ethan and Evan. They were helping me come up with a plan to kill Freyda if we weren't able to catch the witch and learn of the spell she cast. If the spell would only die with Freyda, then her days were numbered.
Christian had given me some really good intel on Freyda and her Queendom. He was good at what he did and was able to dig up a fair amount of dirt on the Queen. Her intelligence was certainly not to be underestimated, but she was also young and ruthless. After convincing her maker to marry her off to the King of Oklahoma, she asked her new husband to kill her maker so she could be free to rule at his side as an equal. As long as a vampire has a living maker they are unable to rule and could only rise to the level of consort. The King of Oklahoma was blinded by her beauty and charms and as a wedding present he secretly fulfilled her wish. It wasn't long after they bonded fully and Freyda rose to be the Oklahoma King's equal. A couple of years after she established her place at his side, her husband mysteriously met his own demise during an attempted takeover by Kansas, leaving her the youngest Queen in all the Kingdoms and Queendoms. There were whispers about an arrangement between Kansas and the Queen of Oklahoma but nothing could ever be proven.
"She lives in quite the fortress," Evan said as he spread a map down over the table. Ethan and I leaned in to get a better look. He had the floor plans for the Queen's palace.
"From the looks of it, I would say it was built as formidably as your Bon Temps estate," Ethan added not holding back the bad news. My estate could withstand a nuclear attack, if her place was half as formidable as mine this was not going to be easy.
"There has to be a way in, some flaw that we can exploit." I scanned the plans over and over, searching for anything that stood out.
"You know, Your Majesty," Evan pulled out several more pages of schematics and laid them over the ones of Freyda's main residence, "she has this place in Guymon, Oklahoma. It's close to the borders of the surrounding states and she often stays there when she is called to meet with any of the Kings or Queens of other Kingdoms. When she travels, she only takes eight of her guards. The home she uses is isolated and off the beaten track. It could be an advantageous place for us to take her out without exposing our involvement." "Brilliant! I knew I made a good choice when I allowed him to join our little family."
"I will call Texas." I knew there was a good chance that Stan Davis would assist me. He would like it if I was in his debt and with him running both Texas and New Mexico he had a lot of pull. "Stan may be willing to set up a meeting. If he agrees, we can ambush her on the way."
"Good idea," Ethan and Evan said in unison. I used to find it unsettling when they did that but I had grown accustomed to it over the years.
I called Stan immediately and I was surprised that he answered himself. I usually had to leave a message with his assistant. "Northman." Stan's voice was gruff and I could hear a sloshing sound in the background but it was too quiet to identify.
"Stan, why is it you are answering the palace phone?" I was too curious not to ask. It was extremely out of character, and Kings don't answer their own phones, with the exception of their cell phones.
"My assistant..." Stan paused, "has her hands full and when I saw your number I knew it would be important." I was distracted by the sloshing sound that was accompanied by a soft muffled moaning. "Fucking fantastic. I have the best timing." The twins gave me matching expressions of disgust. They were sitting close enough that they could hear Stan loud and clear.
"I hope I have not disturbed you at in inopportune time." I had a pretty good idea what Stan was up to. He was either getting blown or fucking his assistant. I recoiled at having to listen in, but I needed his help and it was a small inconvenience.
"Ah...ah...no. This is a fine time. What do you need?" He growled the word "need" and I cringed. Soon there was a shuffling and then a slow pounding noise, a faint gasp of breath with every one. Ethan and Evan looked at each other with huge grins on their faces. "Ugh...I hope he is a quick shot."
"I need a favor." The pounding noise came to a halt for a moment before it started again. "Fucking Stan and his fucking fetishes." He was known for being an exhibitionist. Hell you could find his sex video's online, he would even sell copies of them at the summits, and once in a while he would send everyone on his call list a dick pic "by accident". He blamed it on "butt dialing", as if anyone believed that.
"What...would...that...be...?" He was grunting now and I wished I could hang up. The images of Stan with his hag of an assistant was almost too much. I pinched my nose in frustration, "Why the hell must I always have to be involved in the most bizarre of situations, especially in front of Ethan and Evan? They gossip like women."
"I need you to call a meeting with Oklahoma." Ethan and Evan had leaned closer to me and I growled. They both took a step back.
"Oh, Northman, do you know what I am doing right now? Do you want to know?" Of course I didn't realize that when I growled Stan had thought I was enjoying his...phone exhibition or whatever. "Fuck!"
"No. Absolutely not. I just need you to set up the meeting Stan." "Please don't tell me."
"What...ah...kind of meeting? Yeah..."
"The kind that gets canceled at the last minute." I just needed her to travel out to her safe house in Guymon.
"Where will I be calling this meeting?" He spoke quickly and I heard more movement.
"Anywhere in the Amarillo area should be close enough," I said over the much increased pace of the pounding that started again.
Stan was quiet though I could hear the girl clearly now and so could Ethan and Evan who both laughed silently. "Yes..." he called out and I wasn't sure if he was answering me or cumming. "Maybe both."
"Yes? You'll do it?" I asked again. I hated to repeat myself and I made it clear with my tone that I was demanding an answer.
"Yes...yes... yes I'll do it...Northman...!" he shouted and then Stan hung up. "I think I might be psychologically damaged by that experience." Ethan and Evan burst out into a fit of laughter and I stared at my phone as if my ear had just been raped.
"Holy shit, I thought it was only a rumor!" Evan said to his twin, who shared in his love of gossip.
"Well we know for sure that this one is confirmed," Ethan said and his smile widened to something more sinister. "You owe me twenty bucks."
"I don't remember making that bet," Evan protested and I momentarily questioned why I ever agreed to let these odd vampires join our family.
"Ethan...Evan..." I interrupted and their banter stopped immediately. I changed the topic, "How has Sookie been?" Even with the bond in times like these, Sookie would do her best to put on a brave face and try to keep things to herself...even from me. I knew it to be true just as I knew I did the very same thing when I believed I needed to shield her from something. The only difference was I wasn't above having her guards report everything they had seen and heard to find out if that was the case. I was too old to believe that a lasting love, even one as wonderful as Sookie and mine had been, did not have it's fair share of white lies and omissions between lovers. I wanted to know when they popped up, what they were, and what I could do to help or interfere.
Ethan answered first. "The Weres tell me she has been working hard with the Fairy during the day and when she is not with him she is pouring through the fairy spell books that Claude was able to obtain." I knew from the dent in Sookie's bank account that she had shelled out the money to buy the rare books. The Fae guarded them closely and when they were stolen they went for a high price on the black market. Claude set up the deal and she bought as many as she could get her hands on. They managed to obtain five of them and Sookie had been obsessed with finding something in the texts that could help us.
The texts were written in the language of the Fae so Sookie had her friend Amelia whip some kind of brew that worked like some sort of universal translator. From what the head of Amelia's coven told me, when I not so nicely implied that I would rip out her lungs if Sookie was harmed, was that it was perfectly safe and had been used by witches for centuries. I made the witch take it in front of me and prove it before I would let Sookie drink a drop. Lucky for the witch, she was telling the truth. Apparently, much of the content of their spell books would have been lost to the ages if they had not come up with a way to read the texts written in the dead languages of old. I still wasn't happy about it, but Sookie would not take no for an answer, so the witch supplied her with a batch and Sookie had been working her ass off ever since.
"Did she sleep?" Sookie would not be any help to anyone if she ran herself into the ground. My wife was so stubborn it could be to her own detriment.
"Some, but it has been fitful." Evan's answer was upsetting. I had felt her emotions earlier, but I assumed she was working not sleeping. This whole thing was plaguing my lover, even in her sleep. I needed to go to her. I probed the bond and found she was indeed sleeping, but not soundly.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss before I turn in for the day?" My focus had already shifted to Sookie and I was done talking. I knew time was ticking away for Nikolai, but if Sookie was too weak to help him in the end all of this would have been for naught. She was my priority.
"No, Your Majesty," they answered in unison with a deep bow.
I didn't bother with a response and made my way to Sookie. She was asleep in the bed with one of the Fairy books across her chest. Her cute little nose was scrunched up and her eyebrows were drawn together. I quickly stripped down and carefully removed the book before proceeding to undress her. My love didn't even stir. When I finally had her laid bare before me, the cold air of the room had her nipples hardening. Normally, I would let myself enjoy the sight of my magnificent lover, but she needed me in a much more emotional way.
I pulled up the heavy down comforter over us and I spooned in behind her. Sookie's face became peaceful and her whole body seemed to relax as if she had been tense this entire time. I thought she might have awoken when she turned in my arms to snuggle against me, but her even breathing told me that was not the case. I had an hour or so before the dying for the day and I spent it staring at the beauty before me and thinking about what I was going to do to get things back to the way they were.
Everything in my world was turned upside down and my blissful life was turning into a bizarre episode of Game of Thrones, only the Queen wasn't wielding dragons to take us over, she was wielding a contract and a blood spell.
"Eric..." Sookie muttered, bringing me out of my thoughts, but she wasn't awake. I could see her eyes fluttering underneath her lids, "Don't hate me."
I was taken aback for a moment. "I could never hate you my love." I whispered back hoping that even in her dream state she would hear me. She didn't speak again and it wasn't long after that I died for the day.
When I awoke, I was standing alone in cold, damp room that smelled strongly of mold. The walls were made of crude concrete and there were no windows in sight. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling and lightly swung, as if there had been a breeze, shining light into the dark corners of the room. I heard a scuffle of movement behind me and I whipped around ready to defend myself. I could see a figure move just as the light swung in that direction. There was a vampire huddled in the corner. He was dirty and smelled worse the closer I got. I could hear the chains scrape against the floor and I could see that his hands and feet were shackled. His face was hidden by long matted hair and I couldn't make out who the vampire was.
"Look at me vampire," I commanded and he shook his head. "Where is this place? How did I get here?" Something was off about this whole thing. I woke standing in the center of the room. I looked down at myself and I was dressed in black jeans and a tee-shirt. "I died for the day next to Sookie. I was nude when I did so." I glanced around the room for a way out but there was none. It dawned on me where I was and who I was with. I strode over to the vampire huddled in the corner and I grabbed him by his hair and pulled his head back so I could see his face.
As soon as I did, I released him and took a couple of steps back. I felt a shiver roll through me and I had to remind myself that he was dead. "Come out Alexei." It had to be him. He was the only one I knew who could construct something like this besides Gersemi the Fairy Princess. She had managed to stay away since the contract but that didn't surprise me. Time moved differently for them and besides they had been too busy trying to secure Gersemi's throne after she took over.
I heard a few footsteps behind me and I turned to see Alexei standing there in the corner with a baseball hat, a pair of baggy jeans, and an oversized red tee-shirt. His hands were in his pockets and he rocked back and forth on his heels. "Where are we?"
Alexei shrugged, "I heard you were looking for me. I thought you would appreciate meeting me in my mind instead of yours this time." Alexei looked thoughtful, "How is that girl of yours...Sookie?" I growled. I remembered the horrific dream he had sent me with perfect clarity. It was ironic that I was now faced with that very possibility in the near future. I wanted to throttle him, but I knew in this place I could not harm him. "Oh, by the way, please tell Pamela I apologize for last night and let her know that I would have never harmed her, but her associates were not welcome."
"What happened with Pam? If you touched a hair..." My fury burned at the thought of him getting his hands on her. He may have been younger, but he was clever on top of being completely bat-shit crazy.
"Relax, Eric, I did her no harm. I can't say the same for the others, but they should not have interrupted my...feeding." Alexei was creepy but was worse was the sound of his voice. It was like a child speaking.
"So have you heard about what is going on with Nikolai and Oklahoma?" I pushed on even if I wanted to end this conversation. "If I can sit through Stan's phone sex shit, I can handle this dream."
A large feral smile spread over his face and it was scarier than his standard blank stare by far, "Oh Oklahoma. I had such fun there." His black eyes seemed to glaze over and when the light shined just right he looked like a demon. He was enjoying reminiscing, "Our maker had wanted me to stay cooped up in that horrible hotel room while he attended the Queen's ball, but I am not one that likes to be locked up. I was hungry and in the mood for something sweet. I had heard the guards talking earlier about the "special" donors the Queen brought in for the occasion." Alexei looked down at his feet and shuffled them, kicking up the dirt on the floor. "I was only going to have one, but I got a tad bit carried away." His eyes met mine then and his tone turned irritated, "It wouldn't have been a big deal, but two of the guards disturbed me while I was feeding and I killed them. The donor's though," Alexei licked his lips, "were very good."
"It is your fault Nikolai is in this mess! He is dying Alexei. Our brother is dying!" I wanted to shake him, but I saw no feelings, no emotions behind his eyes.
"Dying?" Alexei scoffed, "He is marrying a Queen not facing the stake."
"You really know nothing." I turned my back on him and Alexei was not too happy about that. "At least I got a reaction from him."
"I might have made a small mess in Oklahoma, but it was Ocella who sealed Nikolai's fate." His tone was ice.
"That may be so, but you could help us remedy the situation," I said through gritted teeth. "I wish I could find the little shit and teach him a lesson."
"Why would I do that?" Alexei's face was blank and I should have known this would be useless.
"Because you caused this and Nikolai is our brother."
"Brothers? Ha! Where were you two when Ocella was torturing me? Touching me? Making me do all those...things..." I saw Alexei's rage for the first time as if his mask had fallen. It was disturbing.
"We didn't even know you existed. As soon as Ocella released us we took off. Nikolai and I didn't even speak for a long time. It was many years before either of us could heal and move on from what he did to us. If we had known about you..." I knew the statement wasn't true. There would have been nothing we could have done to help him. We were just as much slaves to Ocella as he was.
"You would have what," he sneered, "saved me?
"Didn't we do just that? We fought together against Ocella and we won. Now you are free. Nikolai and I spent hundreds of years under Ocella's thumb, you did a mere eighty. Stop whining about the past and move on."
"You think you can speak to me this way and I will help you?" He was rocking on his heels again, with his hands dug back into his pockets.
"No," I had come to the conclusion that this had been a bad idea, "I may have come here with the intention of seeking your assistance, but I see there is no point. I might as well just tell you like it is...brother."
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The following night I woke reeling from the shared dream I had with Alexei. He had abruptly cut off our talk and I was pretty damn sure that he had no intention of helping us. When I sat up, I opened my eyes to find a very upset Sookie. She was pacing the floor at the end of our bed. I could smell she had been with the Fairy again today and also she smelled strongly of Were. There was also the faint smell of death, "What is it?" I was up and pulling up the pants I had worn the night before and grabbed my shirt from the chair next to the bed, dressing a quickly as possible. Sookie didn't stop her pacing until I put my arms around her and made her stop. "What is it?" I asked again. She had cut off the bond so I knew it was bad.
"Nikolai got a package today." Sookie went pale and I moved us over to the edge of the bed and sat her down. Sookie shook her head as she stared off into space.
"What was it?" I couldn't fathom what Nikolai could have been sent that would have Sookie so distraught.
She closed her eyes as she spoke, "It was the head of the witch that cast the spell."
I was away from Sookie and across the room before my rage enveloped me. I roared and hit my fist against the wall as hard as I could and left a nice sized hole in the process. Sookie had cut off the bond, but she sat quietly, and waited for me to reign in my temper.
"Nikolai...is he...?" I looked right into Sookie's eyes willing her to give me the answer. I needed to know.
"He is still with us," Sookie said softly and a tear ran down her check, followed by several more.
I sighed deeply, "Sookie," "I hate when she cry's." I opened my arms to her and she walked right to me. I wrapped myself around her warmth and she cried against my shoulder. I rubbed my hand up and down her back and when her sobs started to subside, I took her over to the bed and sat her down.
As I stayed silent, Sookie had reopened our bond and I could feel her dark swirling emotions like a black hole. I had never bonded with anyone before Sookie, but this horrible feeling I was getting was something I had never felt before. "Sookie are you alright? The bond it's..."
Sookie immediately shut down the bond again and she spoke quickly as my eyes widened, "I'm fine Eric..."
"That was so not fine. Tell me what this is? What is doing this to you?" My voice grew louder with every word and I was tightly gripping the top of her arms.
Sookie's bottom lip trembled as tears ran freely down her face. Her words tumbled out as the proverbial dam broke, "Eric, I have tried everything I could think of, searched all the spell books, and had Claude talk to every Fairy he knew. I keep coming up with nothing."
"You just need rest..." I started and Sookie flashed to anger in a nanosecond and she stood up. She was frantic and I was at a loss as to what to do.
"Rest, Eric? Ha! You keep telling me to rest, but every time I close my eyes I have the most horrible dreams. I wanted to use a spell I found in one of the Fairy books to keep me from dreaming, but Claude said it was too dangerous." Sookie huffed, losing some steam, but continued to rant. "We are running out of time and options." Sookie looked me straight in the eyes and I almost shivered from the intensity, "I'm so scared that if I end up having to do this, I'm going to lose you."
I froze. Not a single word would come out of my mouth. I think my mind was overloaded. Her fear was my fear. If she had to go through with this could I handle it? Could she? Was this an obstacle we could overcome? Would this damage the sacred bond that we shared? Could either of us be selfish enough to let Nikolai die? There were too many unknowns, but there was something I was sure about.
"Sookie, I love you." I couldn't say everything was going to be okay, because I had no idea. "No matter what, I will always love you." I knew I needed to resolve this. Sookie was turning into a mess all because I didn't want to share. "I am a selfish asshole."