Song lyrics in this chapter: I Put a Spell on You by Jeff Beck and Joss Stone (original lyrics by Screamin' Jay Hawkins)


It was the night of Fangtasia's grand reopening; the line outside was chock full of humans and vampires waiting to get in, the lights were dimly lit to set the mood and the staff was dressed to the nines mingling through the crowd serving cocktails and attitude while provocative filler music spilled out of the speakers. Everything was just as Pam had planned, but Eric Northman was miles away and couldn't care less. He sat on his throne, empty and numb.

The Viking's disassociation started in July just after Sookie's disappearance; it resulted from over a thousand years of routine being pivoted in a relative instant, among other things. Eric thought that he would continue to feel like a god after torturing Russell Edgington and giving him a punishment worse than the true death. He'd spent his entire undead life hunting the blasphemous vampire that killed his family, his vengeance giving him a reason to wake up each night. And the Sheriff didn't regret any of it. He didn't want to give Russell peace, he wanted him to fucking suffer in that concrete. But after it was over and Eric stood victorious, he felt nothing. His drive was gone and Eric was faced with the reality that he had to keep on living anyway.

A life that didn't include Godric, his anchor. His maker had been his father, brother and son for so long that Eric still didn't know how to make sense of reality without him. Especially since Godric had morphed into an angel on Eric's shoulder when all of his twisted memories of him were filled with blood, sex and slaughter. He still saw him in his day rest dreams; the scene was always the same, Godric standing before him and Eric kneeling, crying infinite blood tears of grief. How could his maker have been so selfish and met the sun when he still needed him? Why was he still in his head, trying to make him change now that he was gone? Eric had been the vampire's dark knight through so many bloody battles that the thought of facing a new enemy without the old Godric by his side to guide him was too daunting to bear.

And there was indeed another enemy lurking in the shadows. Eric knew it was likely that Bill Compton would strike back after he told Sookie the truth - something the Viking replayed in his mind when he needed to display a smile on his face - but he didn't expect a vampire so young to rise as quickly as Bill did. He was now King of Louisiana and the Sheriff's superior, which was cause for concern. Godric taught him that real, powerful opponents don't disguise themselves or outright attack you, they control you. And so far, Bill had been attempting to remind Eric of their hierarchy. After the AVL trotted Nan Flannigan out on TV and told everyone that Russell had been dealt with, Bill ordered all his Sheriffs to host human and vampire led events to promote peace and order or be absurdly fined. He made his decree knowing Eric would be unable to comply since he was in the middle of renovating Fangtasia after humans had continually vandalized it. Of course, Eric used the damage as an excuse to expand his square footage for more revenue opportunities and launder the remaining illegal money they'd made from selling V at Sophie-Anne's request, but Bill's orders and planned fines only felt like pinpricks against his skin when the King had meant them to be deep knife swipes. Money didn't matter to Eric anymore; fuck, time didn't matter to him anymore. He accepted the fines and blindly offloaded the logistics to Pam, who had the idea of hosting a cabaret night with a human and vampire band to generate buzz and excitement for their new reopening.

Lastly, there was Sookie herself. Eric didn't expect to feel anything for anyone after losing Sylvie in the late 1980s, but then again, he'd never met a fairy before. Sookie was hypnotizing and addictive, wrapped up in a sweet Southern exterior. She saved him from dying in the sun with Russell and he craved her blood and kiss. But now she was gone and Eric had absolutely no fucking clue where the fairy was. He knew Bill wasn't behind her disappearance - the vampire went berserk anytime someone touched her and Eric didn't believe he'd do something stupid enough to accidentally kill her after her stint in the hospital - but as the months went by, the Viking settled into the despair of not knowing what had happened to her.

And so, he clocked in and out each night as Sheriff, punishing, torturing and killing anyone who broke the Authority's rules or upset the King; he still used the Fangtasia basement during the remodel and run up to the big reopening show to bathe in the blood of his responsibilities. But it didn't matter. Even though Eric felt a small amount of satisfaction from sitting on his throne in front of everyone again, the feeling quickly dissipated and was replaced with apathy. An attractive man and woman approached his dais, ogling him to try and get his attention. It was just like the old days when humans would offer themselves to him, something that should have pleased him. But he blankly stared at the empty stage across the room, uninterested. Feeding was few and far between for Eric these days; he didn't feel up to it, even though he covered himself with other beings' blood each night. Instead of taking the couple's offer, he leaned into his warped sense of time and space and experienced the world as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button on the movie of his life.

"Sheriff, we're secure. Pamela says we're ready."

The Viking lazily tilted his head to see his third-in-command Vincenzo standing behind him, just at his ear. He sighed heavily. Vincenzo was trustworthy as it came since he was part of Eric's bloodline; Godric had a brother named Remus from his early days in Rome who eventually met the true death, but not before starting a family of his own. Yet, Eric hated the reminder Vincenzo brought along with him. Vincenzo joined Godric's American nest once his maker passed and Isabelle connected him with Eric after Chow's demise. While he was a natural fit for the late vampire's job, Isabelle's act was likely her way of keeping tabs on Eric to ensure he didn't voluntarily meet the sun like his maker. The Sheriff was closer to that state than he was willing to admit. Nothing really matter anymore.

"Very well," Eric eventually responded with an indifferent twirl of his fingers to wave him off.

Vincenzo nodded and put things in motion. He locked eyes with Pam, who was dressed in a black corsetted Dior number and standing by the bar, and gave her a discreet hand signal. She smirked and motioned for the tech crew to start winding down the music and lights for the show to begin. The crowd started to buzz as they took their seats. Vincenzo raced back to the door to keep watch and make sure any wayward humans or vampires didn't spoil their triumphant return.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," a mysterious voice announced through the speakers. "Please silence your cellphones and enjoy the show."

The crowd's murmurs softened into an excited lull, the house lights turned off and the band took the stage in the dark, but Eric made no move to touch his phone. He knew the rules didn't apply to him, nor did he have any intention of paying attention to the show. As the drummer started the opening beat to 'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Rolling Stones and the band leader Louis strutted out on stage under a spotlight and sang the lyrics to introduce himself, Eric checked the clock on his phone and realized he'd be stuck here for at least another hour. The Sheriff had some respect for Louis as Pam had worked with him back in the 1940s and highly recommended him, but Eric didn't have the energy to pay attention.

"And now, I have the pleasure of introducing Fangtasia's newest diva, Gigi St. Claire!"

The crowd cheered as a woman sashayed on stage. Eric's eyes strayed from his phone screen to her dazzling smile and he couldn't deny that she was attractive; Pam's fingerprints were all over her black dress, towering heels, glittering jewels and vampy makeup to make sure that she was selling sex. And Eric could smell her blood, she was the human band member to comply with Bill's wishes which would surely wet some fangs. Yet, when she looked over and caught his gaze, there was something in her eyes - a bit of deer-in-headlights recognition, it seemed - that gave him pause. Eric didn't remember her from anywhere, but maybe she'd heard of his reputation. He was sitting on a dais after all. He sighed and went back to picking at his nails, sucked into his gloom again.

If he were paying attention, Eric would have noticed the room's mood change once the show started. The human started singing about her evil gal blues and the crowd loved it. They continued to lavish attention on her for the following couple of songs; they whistled, hollered and occasionally banged on tables for more. As the night wore on, the bar staff was moving at lightspeed to deliver True Bloods and cocktails to the seated patrons, everyone with smiles on their faces and in the mood to spend money. Louis cut in for a song to keep the story moving and the woman kept shooting glances in Eric's direction, which he of course ignored. In response, her singing voice became more tempestuous with a slight undertone of rage. The crowd ate her next few songs up and started dancing amongst the tables, getting deliciously close.

"Well, I hate to tell y'all this is the end," Louis lamented theatrically as his fingers danced along the piano keys. "But we've got one more for you, a real treat. Miss St. Claire here is going to send you off with a little bit of magic. Right, Gigi?"

The singer nodded flirtatiously and readied herself for the final number as the band started the intro. She glanced over at Eric, who this time happened to look up and catch her gaze. Her eyes narrowed with fury and scorn and the vampire felt himself unable to look away. She sang the opening lyrics to him directly.

I put a spell on you

because you're mine

Her last word reverberated throughout the room and the vampires in the crowd growled in appreciation. But it hit Eric the hardest. His body didn't physically move, but his icy demeanor cracked wide open; he felt like someone had placed a defibrillator on his chest and cranked it up to the max shock setting. Or like the time during the Russian winter of 1576 when he'd been holding onto a tree that was struck by lightning. What the fuck had just happened?

The singer held his gaze for a moment longer before scanning the room and continuing on with the verse as if he wasn't there at all. He felt himself craving her attention again. The female guitar player took her solo and passed the spotlight back to the mystery woman. Eric watched her with rapt interest.

You better stop the things you're doin'

I said, watch out, I ain't lyin', oh I ain't lyin'

'Cause baby, I love you, can't you see that I love you?

I love you, I love you even if you don't want me to

'Cause I put a, just like a little

I put a spell on you, yes I did

Because you're mine, you're mine

He felt a familiar, deep hunger rise within him that had been absent for months. The old Eric was flooding back, especially between his legs. He wanted nothing more than to bend her over his office desk, grip the flesh of her sultry hips, drive in and out of her from behind and feed from the tantalizing curve of her neck. His cock throbbed with anticipation. And it seemed the crowd felt the same lust. Vincenzo raced into the room and pulled a vampire away from some human's jugular. There were no bite marks, but it had definitely been trending in that direction. Yet the woman's husky voice continued the rest of the verse without recognizing the disruption she was causing. She closed her eyes and swirled her hands, reaching out to the crowd.

So I, so I-I-I put a spell on you

because you're mine

You're mine, yeah

Because you're mine

The more she moaned that word, the more Eric couldn't look away. The band fluttered their final notes and the crowd promptly gave the singer a standing ovation, full of whistles. When she opened her eyes, she threw Eric a scorching look and his fangs immediately dropped; she smirked and then moved her attention back to the crowd, giving them a small curtsy. Louis jumped up from his piano bench and grabbed her hand, showing her off to the patrons again and demanding that they continue to praise her. One human even went as far as to raise a shot of alcohol to the stage and Eric watched the singer take it, pour it down her throat and throw the empty glass to the ground with a flourish. The crowd roared at the sound of smashed glass and she shouted a few more ostentatious goodbyes before Louis led her off the stage.

The audience exploded with chatter as the house lights came up; Eric blinked a few times and rescinded his fangs. His lust was still present but slightly dulled now that the woman wasn't singing anymore. Now, he predominantly felt the pulsing need to feed. Deeply, without restraint. It had been months since he'd properly satisfied himself. He spotted the female from the earlier human couple hanging by the bar and motioned for Vincenzo to bring her to the side door away from prying eyes. Once they were alone in his office, he didn't bother with the niceties; he swiftly sank his teeth into her neck and sucked as much blood as he could before feeling her heartbeat start to slow. The singer's devilish eyes never left his thoughts. When he'd had his fill, Eric licked the human's skin and healed her to cover up his bite marks. She looked up at him in a daze with a disjointed smile.

"You were never here," Eric responded, glamoring her. "None of this happened. You have no idea who I am, you are scared of interacting with vampires again. You will leave and never come back."

The human blinked a few times, settled into her new reality and immediately cowered. Eric opened the door for her to leave and she ducked her head and ran out. She almost knocked into Pam, who was on her way in to talk to the Sheriff. His second-in-command had a look of concern on her face until she saw that Eric had been the one to prey upon her. Her features promptly softened.

"You fed," Pam whispered, shocked.

"I did," he said matter of factly like it was a normal thing these days.

Pam's bitchy demeanor was nowhere in sight; she quickly crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Eric in desperation. He sighed and slowly touched the small of her back, holding her closer. The maker had recently told his progeny that he loved her more when she was cold and heartless, but he gave her this small moment. The afterglow of his feed - or perhaps some ghostly version of Godric - fueled his compassion and Eric recognized how much he'd pushed her away when dealing with Russell and the aftermath during the last few months. They barely saw each other, even at their shared nest near the woods on the outskirts of town, and he'd saddled her with the full responsibility of running Fangtasia through a remodel without any guidance. Of course, Pam had done everything perfectly, but after struggling with Godric's inability to feed in his later years, he understood her concern. Yet Eric wasn't about to discuss it.

"How did we do tonight?" he asked, changing the mood as he released her.

"We made a killing," Pam smirked, resuming her ruthless temperament. "Our biggest night in Fangtasia's history."

"And not just because we came back from a hiatus?"

"This was different. I charged a fortune for those front tables."

"So it was legitimate. All thanks to you, my child."

"I'm the brains, yes." Then her tone became more desperate. "But that woman. She's a star Eric, a real money maker. I've already had several people - big fish - ask me when she'll return. We can't let her go that easily, extend the band's contract and make this a regular thing. We'll make a fortune off her." Pam's head tilted to the side and displayed a devious grin. Her intense hunger was apparent. "I'll let you feed off her first. But I have dibs otherwise."

Eric paused. Now that he'd satisfied some of his earlier needs clouding his judgment, his Sheriff instincts kicked in as he watched his second-in-command practically salivate; this wasn't the normal Pam. Something was different, she didn't typically give out praise like this. She was acting wild, just like the crowd did in response to the singer's performance. And the woman had influenced him as well, hadn't she? Her final song punched him in the gut and knocked him out of his fog. Eric was thankful to feel like his old self again, but the connections set off alarm bells in his brain. What initially felt like a logical response to a good performance now seemed like something mysterious and possibly supernatural. Who was this woman, what had Pam caught in their net?

Eric decided to keep his suspicions to himself to conceal any of his future actions on the chessboard but knew he had to monitor the singer's every move just in case she was launching an offensive against them. Otherwise, perhaps she could be a pawn in his game against Bill if she did have some secret powers. He probed for more information.

"Her real name?"

"Grace Williams."

"How did you find her?"

"My contact from the agent world sent her. He owed me a favor."

"And where is she now?"

"Don't know. Let's check the cameras."

Pam walked over to his computer, jiggled the mouse to wake it up and clicked a few times to bring up their live security footage. Both vampires scanned each camera angle until they spotted Grace in the central green room with the rest of the band members. They laughed and celebrated their success, Grace with liquor and the vampires with bagged blood. She got up and started dancing, sensously moving her hands through her hair to release it from her up-do and Pam started to lick her lips. Eric decided to distract her to get her off Grace's scent.

"Here," Eric pointed to the screen, singling out the man who had approached his platform earlier. He was standing near the stage in the main room. "He offered himself to me tonight, but he is yours." Pam put a hand on her hip and raised a sassy brow, questioning his motives. Eric smiled. "After tonight, you earned him. Go on, feed. You can break him if you'd like, I will clean up the mess personally." His progeny beamed. Bill cautioned against rough feeds to keep up appearances, but it was clear the Sheriff was breaking the rules to reward his child.

"Bring your mop down to the basement in an hour," said Pam with a diabolical look on her face.

She promptly left the room and Eric went back to the security cameras to keep tabs on Grace. She was still with the band and the Viking put a pensive hand to his chin, trying to see if the singer gave away any clues about her real nature. Unfortunately, everything seemed normal; however, Eric picked up someone else's mood as the scene unfolded. The bassist from the band was observing her from a slight distance and Eric recognized the yearning on his face. He'd seen it too many times before. The Sheriff watched him slowly slide next to Grace and put his hand around her waist. Grace didn't make any moves to discourage him, so the bassist leaned in and nuzzled the curve of her neck. She laughed and caught his face in her hands to move him away from her jugular. He responded by hastily swooping in to kiss her.

Eric growled. His reaction was fueled by jealousy; the scene brought back memories of when Bill paraded Sookie around his bar to taunt him. But he quickly let that go and settled into being Sheriff, vigilant for bad behavior. Eric watched Grace lean into his mouth, giving consent to his advances. Louis looked uncomfortable and must have said something because the bassist shouted at him before zipping out of the room with Grace in his arms. Eric quickly scanned the other cameras to see where they had gone. The pair popped up in the main room near the bar. Grace moved to order a drink, but the bassist pulled her into the corner for another kiss. She let him run his hands over her curves and underneath the thigh slit of her dress while he attacked her mouth and Eric felt his jealousy return. His other need hadn't been met that night and it showed. He returned to his earlier mirage of having his way with Grace in his office as he watched them continue to paw at each other, but didn't pursue it. He'd have to find someone else to fuck later to release his desire; it wouldn't be wise to unleash himself on someone who could be plotting against him.

Suddenly things went south. The bassist sank his teeth into Grace's neck - in full view of everyone in the main room - and she immediately tried to push him off her. Within a split second, Eric's fangs dropped and he sprung into action with Vincenzo not far behind him. The Sheriff knew he couldn't drag them to the already occupied basement, so he instead took the vampire by the throat and Grace by the arm to swiftly force them into his office, out of sight. His third-in-command slammed the door shut behind them. The singer was breathing heavily with one hand on her neck stemming blood and the other over her heart to steady herself.

"How dare you disobey the King's orders in my Area," Eric snarled, his hand still around the vampire's throat. The fucker could have gotten him in hot water. The blonde vampire squirmed and the Sheriff quickly pushed him up against a wall to stop him from moving.

"I needed everyone to see!" the bassist challenged, his fangs bared.

"See what?"

"That's she's mine! No one can have her but me!"

Eric gnashed his teeth and his earlier emotions flooded his brain. The vampire was mistaken; Grace hadn't directed her attention and lyrics at the bassist. She'd looked directly at him. So if anything, the Sheriff had a claim on her. He turned his head to look at Grace. She was shaking.

"Well, are you his?"

"... I don't know what that means."

"It means he has exclusive rights to feed on you in exchange for protection," Eric rumbled. Grace dropped her hands and narrowed her eyes in disgust. Her earlier trepidation was gone.

"We did not discuss that," she said, turning her nose up at the bassist. "I'm not his." Eric growled ferociously as he turned back to his target. A part of him wondered why the vampire was lying, but ultimately he found he didn't care enough in the end.

"But I want her, she's -"

"His name?" Eric cut him off.

"Dallas Hogarth," Vincenzo supplied. Eric pushed into the vampire's throat even harder at the mention of his maker's city.

"Well, Dallas," Eric finally taunted. "We can add perjury to your charges. And I am going to enjoy enforcing your punishment, trust me." He let out a guttural roar before quickly ripping out the vampire's right fang and then the left; blood spattered across Eric's face and black leather jacket. Dallas cried softly and held his mouth to stop more blood from pouring out, but it escaped past his hands and dribbled down onto the floor. The Sheriff paused to look at the vampire's teeth. He turned them over with his fingers.

"I'll have to do something with these. They're the tenth pair I've pulled this month, a new record," he chuckled to himself. Eric then turned back to Dallas and glared at him menacingly. "Now get out of my Area or meet the true death." Dallas didn't have to be asked twice; he sped out of the room and left a small trail of blood behind him. Eric then turned his attention back to Grace. She looked terrified.

"Are you going to punish me too?"

The office fantasy played in his brain again. But instead of acting on it, he ran a hand through his hair, wiped some blood off his ear and flashed her a charming smile. He would need to regain her trust if he planned to keep her close and figure out what she was. If he made more money along the way, that was just an added bonus. The hunt was what really drove him.

"No," Eric assured, softening his demeanor. "In fact, we want to extend your contract. I'll be by tomorrow night with a hard copy."


Author's note: ahhhhh, Eric! This chapter was hard to write (still not 100% happy with it), but fun. The money laundering comment was my nod to Wicked Games by SpiceHoney, one of my fave fics eva.

I've been on a roll publishing chapters but that's going to slow down as the holidays end. I'm targeting the end of Jan for the next update, at the latest. Please review in the meantime, I would love to hear from you!