A Star In The Night

by ACB621993

Bill Compton is on his way to Bon Temps to pick up the latest acquisition for Sophie Ann's court when he got an urgent sire's call. With Bill not making it to town on time, life went on for Sookie Stackhouse. She never got attacked by the Rats but Jason still got questioned for the murders of two women. What will happen when Sookie goes to Fangtasia without an escort?

36. Chapter 36

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, i'm terrible with fight scenes and school is kicking my butt! Here's the fight, i hope it's worth the wait!

Also this is the last chapter of this installment of the series!

EPOV

Godric crashes through the window less than a second after I send him the signal through our bond. He throws me my sword that he's had with him on the roof as he's been waiting. It's clear that Sophie Ann is confused, she knows she's under attack though I have a feeling she cannot tell who the enemies are. I take her moment of confusion to vamp toward her, while Pam does what was planned and vamps over to the enemies that are closest to Sookie and her brother. I notice unfortunately that happens to be the Berts who are older than her by about 200 years, and on top of that there are two of them who have spent their entire unlives fighting next to each other, I have a moment of worry before I see that Godric is going to help her too.

I make it to Sophie Ann, normally I'd say something to piss her off or draw her into a fight but there are humans here, my Sookie is here, and I can't take the risk. The faster she is dead the faster the people in this mansion that are still hers will stop fighting. I know that no matter what the fight won't be over until her children meet the true death as well because they will want to avenge her after she's dead. I'm also not sure how many people in this compound are mine compared to how many are hers, Joseph said that many want her reign over and will have no problem following and fighting on my side when the time comes but I have not been able to speak to many of them myself so I cannot count on them until Sophie Ann is nothing more than her remains on the ground.

Even though I have my sword, I use my hand to go right for her heart, trying to jam my hand right through her rib cage, it's an easy enough task for one of my strengths but not when the person I'm attacking is a vampire and has fast reflexes. That's why I'm not surprised when it doesn't work and she grabs my wrist in her hand right before I enter her chest cavity. I look her in the eye and I'm surprised to see shock and betrayal on her face, what did she think was going to happen? That I was just going to stand idly by while she tried to drug me and tempt Sookie, my fucking bonded, away from me? All because she's a telepath, a telepath that had no problem working for her, for being under her employ, but that wasn't enough for her. She's not used to having consequences for her actions, she's used to others like her children cleaning it up but there's no getting herself out of this one, the damage is done.

Since I was expecting her to block my first attack, I already had my second one planned. I used her grip on my wrist and twisted it so that she had no choice but to let go or break her own wrist. The way I twisted allowed me to grab onto her hand and I used the momentum to spin her around so her back was to my front. She tried to use her free hand to punch me while simultaneously using her leg to kick my knee. I was able to avoid the punch to the face but unfortunately, her kick hit its mark. Thankfully it was not hard enough to break it and I was able to keep my grip on her. I use my free hand to grab her hair roughly, pull it to the side, and expose her neck.

Drinking from a vampire doesn't give you any sustenance, other than your sire of course, and it doesn't taste particularly palatable either but it does prove my dominance over her and at the very least, is a mind fuck for her, though I have no intentions of dragging this out. I bite viciously and take pleasure in her scream of pain. I have all intentions of finishing the job and ripping off her head by the hair but it's only a second later that I'm shoved away from her.

It doesn't surprise me that it's Andre coming to her rescue. He's her most loyal support and she would rather die than let anything happen to her. I take a quick look around and see that Sookie and Jason are okay, Pam and Godric are defending them from the Berts enough that they are making their way to the door where they can go outside and meet Chow who will get them to safety. Rasul enters the room with two vampires behind him, he gives me a nod before Sophie Ann looks over to him and turns back to me with a big smug smile on her face as she's thinking that her reinforcements just arrived.

"Eric, this was foolish of you to do, you're clearly outnumbered, and there is no way you are going to be able to win this. Unfortunately, this is treason, there is no way you can make it out of this alive since it is clear that you are the orchestrator. However, if you give up, surrender, and get everyone on your side to do the same, I will let them live. Your child can still survive this, and so can whoever this is, and your precious telepath doesn't have to die either, if they pledge their loyalty to me, it will take some time and punishment but I think I'll be able to eventually forgive them."

It seems she does not recognize Godric, he's not come to visit me while I was at the compound before but I suspected, like most vampires, she'd take notice of and study the strongest vampires around her. I suppose that is just another way she's lazy and short-sighted. I scoff she should know me better by now than to think I'd surrender, I'll speak to her and wait until I have an opening to attack again. "I'm sorry, my queen but I'm afraid that isn't going to happen. You've pushed too far, I've worked with you for a long time but you still try to take more, and are willing to sacrifice me to get what you want. I can't abide by that, so if there are any last words you want to give to your people, now is the time since you are the one who won't be making it out of this confrontation."

She laughs and turns to the area where Sookie, Jason, Pam, and Godric are, who are also at a standstill. Sophie Ann is overconfident thinking that it is three against seven. "Eric, what do you think would happen if you were somehow able to defeat me and my children? That everyone else in the compound would just let you survive? That you'd just take the crown and become king? It won't happen that way, my people are loyal to me to a fault, and they'd avenge me. No matter what, you're not making it out of here alive."

She sounds so confident in her assessment which I find laughable but I play long because she doesn't yet realize that Rasul and his underlings are on my side. So instead of talking, I vamp forward with my sword and raise it to Andre since I know he'd rather die than let me get to Sophie Ann, lucky for him, I have no problem obliging him. I hear the queen yell to 'signal the alarm' at the vampires that have just entered the room. It couldn't have worked out better than this, I had planned to have all of the people on the compound in the fight but it seem that most of them won't even know that a fight is happening until it's over since the ones she ordered are actually mine. She doesn't notice though because she's too focused on my fight with Andre.

He came into the room with a weapon when he heard the commotion so he blocked my first swing with a sword of his own. So we fight, a swing here, a slash there, I have to admit he has some skill with the sword though I have much more experience. Every few moments I try to get an eye on Sookie because I'm wondering why she's not out of the room yet. Thankfully, she's close to the doors now, it's hard for me to give the fight my full attention when I'm so worried about her safety.

Unfortunately, during one of the times that I flick my eyes to Sookie, Andre takes the opportunity to slash my calf. It stings and it's pretty deep but not enough to slow me down. What really pisses me off is the fact that he's drawn first blood in this battle, I'm better than that. It'd be really easy to lose myself to my anger, it's strong in me right now but I'm able to keep my head, I need to be at the top of my game right now, there's too much at risk. It doesn't take long to get a hit off on him and just to fuck with him, and yes maybe be a little petty, I get him exactly where he cut me except the cut I give him is much deeper and he'll have no choice but to have a limp until he heals himself.

I'm able to get Andre to lose his sword when he swings at me and I use my wrist to swirl my sword around his and send it flying. I look at him with victory in my eyes when I feel the pain coming from my bond with Pam. I don't look, even though it's almost impossible not to, I have to end Andre and finally get one of our enemies off the field and I trust her and Godric to keep her safe. I swing my sword and although he tries to vamp out of the way I am faster than him and with a scream of pain and heartbreak from Sophie Ann, Andre's head is cut off causing him to meet his final death.

I can't take time to bask in my victory, I turn to look at Pam who is now safe away from the Berts but she has a big gash on her stomach. Godric looks to be coming close to the killing blow of Sigebert but his brother has set his sights on Sookie and Jason who for some gods forsaken reason is still not out of the fucking room. I see the doors open and more vampires come in, unfortunately, I don't yet know whose side they're on. I have all intentions of vamping over there to make sure the humans are safe but a sound of pure fury and pain comes from the queen's lips and I have to turn my attention back to her.

She's running at me like a wild banchee and I have just enough time to lift my sword up and block her blow. She isn't thinking straight, I've never lost a child before but I don't doubt it's disorientating. She's swinging at me with just her hands curled like claws, she scratches the side of my face before I'm able to get a hold of her arms and subdue her. If she was more clear-headed she'd remember she cannot take me with just strength, she'd have to fight smartly in a one-on-one with me, because of my age I am stronger and faster. Truthfully, I almost feel like I'm doing her a favor when I end her the same way I ended her progeny, by taking off her head, this time I have no choice but to do it with only my hands because she's so close I cannot swing the sword. So I grab her head and hair like I did a few minutes earlier and pull as roughly as I can. Unfortunately, this means that she's so close when her body combusts, it happens all over me, I must look a bloody mess.

I don't have time to worry about that though, I turn to look at Sookie, and somehow in the last few moments since I've looked at her, gotten wrapped up in the arms of one of Sophie Ann's underlings and it seems her scent is getting the better of him because he looks blood-crazed and he's going in for her neck. I want to kill him nice and slowly for the damage he's trying to cause my bonded but I don't have a chance because Jason shoots him with the gun that has the wooden bullets and apparently he has good aim because the next second the vampire (I'm not even sure what his name was) is nothing more than a pile of blood on the ground.

Where the fuck is Rasul? I think wondering how vampires even got that close to my humans, I look back to where Pam is and somehow she's gotten even more fucked up because she's on the ground with a gash on her face. Godric has the upper hand with Sigebert and I see him shove his fist through the imbecile's chest and grab his heart. I notice Wybert is coming up on Godric from behind, I just decide to vamp over and take him out myself when I hear a scream from Sookie. I turn thinking that someone is attacking her again but as I do I see the light she's told me about come out of her hands and shoot Wybert. I turn back to look at him and although he isn't dead, he's on the ground and the smell of burning flesh is strong in the room.

I look around and realize that all the vampires in the room are those on our side now, the ones that entered and stopped Sookie from leaving were under the queen's employ but as I suspected, saw no reason to continue fighting after their queen died. I turn back to Wybert planning on ending him too since he will never stop trying to avenge the queen's death but see there's no need to. Though she's injured and definitely needs a donor, Pam is on her feet and walking over to finish the job.

"Mother fucker, this was a brand new dress." She huffs before using her heels to literally stomp his heart into tiny pieces, killing him.

I vamp over to Sookie to check her over, I don't smell any of her blood, Jason's either but I'm not comfortable until I get a good look at her myself. I feel she is uncomfortable and maybe even a little scared, I look around again to confirm there is no more danger here when I notice she's looking at me. I realize I must look terrifying right now, covered in blood, on edge, fangs out, though she should know by now I'd never hurt her. Then again, she'd never felt me in the heat of battle before, felt my enjoyment of the kill, the rush I get while using my tactical brain for the best offense, waiting for the opening to win.

"Are you well?" She nods her head but doesn't look at me in the face, she's looking over my bloody body. Then she starts running her hands over me and I realize she isn't scared of me, she's scared for me. "None of this is mine, I am unharmed."

She breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh good, thank the lord, that was scary."

I chuckle because I don't think any version of her god would have wanted to help me in this attack, my Gods on the other hand…

"Jeez dude, you look like a bucket of red pain was just poured over you. I didn't know that's what vampires look like when they die, that's sick!" I'm not sure if Jason is using the word 'sick' literally or in the modern-day vernacular that I've heard be used in America before.

"Jason, you were at Godric's in Texas, you saw what happened to vampires when they die before." Sookie points out. Though most of the vampires made it out of that attack fine, there were a few that met their end that day.

"Yeah, but I just thought that the bullets made them do that."

I decide to leave them to their conversation and move over to Pam, though she's up, I feel the amount of pain she is in. I know most of the donors ran as soon as Godric came through the window but there had to be a few that were still on the compound. After all, the whole battle took mere minutes.

If I'm shackled with the title of king I'm at least going to use it to my advantage so I turn my head to Rasul and order, "Bring Pam a donor."

He simply nods and vamps out of the room. I turn my attention back to Pam and cup her face with my hand. "Are you well?"

She nods and quirks her lips at me. "Yeah, I'm more pissed than anything, I can't believe I let that big oaf get the better of me."

I want to ask her how he did, I've taught her to fight better than that, she's long ago learned how to use her smaller size to her advantage but I don't ask, not yet at least. It seems my face and the bond are giving away too much because she answers anyway. "Though they were idiots, they were smart enough to know that getting to Sookie was the way to win the battle, every time Godric or I got the upper hand the other one would go for Sookie, I've never had to protect a human in battle, it's not as easy as one would think."

I nod, everyone is okay if not a little damaged, we've killed our enemies and she kept Sookie safe when I could not, that is all I could have hoped for as an outcome. Rasul comes back in with a donor and I leave Pam to feed and heal and walk over to Godric who is away from the group and looking out of the windows, one of which is the one he broke. We stand there in silence for a few moments staring at the queen's grounds, though I suppose now they're mine if I want them.

"You did well tonight, Eric."

"Thank you."

"I know you do not want to be king and I understand why you don't, as you know I have no such aspirations either." I quirk my lips softly but don't speak, I know he's not done his thought. "I think you should embrace it though, it is the type of position you were made for. Turn this state into what it could be, what it should be. Sophie Ann was too selfish and short-sighted to do anything other than keep it afloat, you could make it the most lucrative state in the union. Think about it, we have New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Shreveport, which you've already fixed up into exactly what you wanted to be. Think of this as an opportunity and I'll be with you the entire way."

I sigh, which is not something I usually do but I can think of no other reaction to his words. That's because I know he's right, I've already considered this and know I can do it but the thing is, I don't want to. I was hoping to have some time to enjoy the fact that I've bonded with someone, just enjoy time with Sookie in general. I'm not someone who gets intimidated by hard work or someone who tries to push it off to someone else, I have more honor than that. So it means I have no choice but to accept the crown and do exactly what Godric suggests. I was hoping, even though I knew it probably wouldn't happen, that Godric would decide that he wanted the crown but it seems that isn't going to happen.

I hum, "Yes, it seems Louisiana is next on my list of things I'm going to conquer."

Godric pats his hand on my shoulder and chuckles lightly, "That's the spirit, my child."

We're brought out of our conversation when Sookie yells "Hadley!" Loudly while sounding scared and upset. I turn around to see Hadley, looking distraught, holding Sookie front to back with an arm around her waist and a knife to her neck. What the fuck, how did I miss her coming into the room?

"Hadley, what are you doing? Let Sook go!" Jason demanded.

"No! Where's Sophie Ann? Bring her to me!"

Sookie looks upset, not even scared, in fact, I can feel anger in the bond. Though her anger is nothing compared to my own. I let my fangs down and growl menacingly at her, I know Adele wished for her to survive but she's threatened my lover and there's no coming back from that. I warn her, "Hadley, I'd let her go if I were you. Unless you wish to have the same fate as your master."

She cries, "No! Tell me what you mean by that!" She pushes the knife harder against Sookie's neck and for the first time all night, I can smell her blood in the air, a moment later I see a blood droplet well where the point of her knife is. "Where is she?"

I know I can get the knife from Hadley, most likely quicker than she can react but I don't know for sure how much damage she can do before I get to her and I'm too far from her to be able to glamour her. I take a few steps forward so that I can get good eye contact with her but she pushes the knife in even deeper and the smell of blood gets stronger so I stop moving.

"Hadley, Gran wants us to take you home, she wants you to be okay but even I know there's going to be no saving you from Eric if you hurt Sookie, it doesn't matter how much Eric likes Gran," Jason says trying to talk some sense into her.

"Just tell me where she is! She's all I have!"

I notice Jason's cringe and feel the pain and upset Sookie feels at her cousin's words because they'd have been there for her and with her the whole time if she hadn't left them. I decide this is foolish, she's a child, drugs stopped her mental growth, and then the steady supply of blood meant to control her didn't help her grow at all. I'm not going to let her hurt Sookie because she's obsessed with a vampire that didn't give a fuck about her in the first place.

I chuckle harshly, and meanly and look right at the big blood puddle that used to be Sophie Ann. "You're looking at her."

I can't deny that I feel for her a little bit when she lets out a howl so loud and painful that it shows how much that truth hurts her. Thankfully she lost sight of what she's doing while she's lost in her grief that I'm easily able to vamp over to her, take the knife from her, and then knock her out with a swift hit to the back of her head. I let her fall to the ground so I can wrap Sookie in my arms and pull her close, she hugs me back just as tightly.

"Are you okay min stjärna?"

She doesn't verbally respond but I feel her nod into my chest so I kiss the top of her head and hold her while she calms down. Jason walks up to us and puts his hand on her shoulder, "You alright, Sook?"

She pulls back from me enough to look at her brother and smile softly at him, "Yeah Jace, I'm fine."

"Oh thank god," Jason says and I'm surprised at his audacity when he literally pulls her out of my arms so that he can hug her. I hear Pam laugh and turn my head to see her looking at me laughing at my incredulity at the human's actions, I'm glad she's already looking much healthier from only one doner. I look down to Hadley and want to end her, she deserves no less but Sookie must feel my intentions because she breaks away from Jason and turns to me.

"Eric, no, you can't!"

"Sookie. What do you propose we do? Bring her back with us?"

"Yeah, exactly!"

"Sookie, she tried to kill you!"

"No, she didn't…" She trails off at the look I'm giving her and flinches when I raise my hand to her neck where the cut is and pull my bloody finger away from her. Without thinking about it I bring it to my lips but it proves my point that she was very much in danger and she deflates that righteous indignation that was brewing under her skin. "Okay, she was willing to hurt me, I can't deny that but she's still family and Gran's heart would break if she didn't make it out of this okay. We can help her, this doesn't have to be her life anymore."

I strongly disagree, we bring her back with us she'll end up causing nothing but trouble, I know it. Though I did promise Adele I'd try to save her and I have a feeling if I kill Hadley right now Sookie would have a problem forgiving me. "Fine, she can come but she'll be tied up until we're sure she isn't going to try to hurt you again."

It's clear she wants to fight that, I feel it through the bond so strong it's as if it's my own but she eventually talks herself into agreeing because she simply nods. I turn to the vampires that have all been gathering since the fight, they're all standing around wondering what's going to happen now.

"You have three options, one, leave the state, two, stay and right now pledge your loyalty to me, or three, accept this is your last night on earth because I will not stand for any vampires in my kingdom that are not loyal to me."

I notice some of the vampires are waiting, looking around to see what others do, they're the ones I don't know too well, I've seen them around the compound on my visits before but have never had a need to interact with them. Rasul, Pam, and Godric are the first ones to bend a knee and accept me as their new king. It feels wrong seeing Godric kneel to me but it's what has to be done when accepting a new monarch. Soon the rest of the vampires follow and only Sookie and Jason are standing. Jason is looking around confused like the simple man he is and Sookie is almost in awe of the situation. "Good, rise." Once they all stand I continue, "Go about your duties tonight, tomorrow I will be back and the new regime will start."

They nod and start to scatter and soon the only ones left in the room are the people that came with me tonight. "Let's go back to the hotel and try to enjoy the rest of the night. Tomorrow we'll be dealing with an immense amount of bullshit as we try to get this state in order."

Sookie doesn't need to be told twice, she leads the way out of the mansion and I nod at Pam to pick up Hadley as we all follow her. We have the car parked a few blocks away in case we needed a getaway if the battle went bad. It only takes a few moments for Godric to vamp away and bring back the car and nothing of interest happens on the way home. Thankfully, in the van, we prepared for all contingencies so there is water to get a lot of the blood off me and a change of clothes. I don't want to think about the dangerous speeds Adele's heart would beat if I came in the suite looking as I did at the end of the battle, not to mention the police I'd have to glamour if someone in the lobby had seen me that way. I still need a shower but I at least don't look like a fledgling vampire after their first meal anymore.

It's not surprising when Adele is sitting in the living room looking out the window lost in worry even though the TV is on. I knew she wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight while she was waiting for us. She stands up as soon as the door opens and doesn't breathe a sigh of relief until everyone is in the room and accounted for. She gives Hadley, who is still knocked unconscious as she hangs over Pam's shoulder, a strange look but doesn't ask any questions yet.

First, she makes her way over to Sookie and grabs her by the shoulders to look her over and once she decides she's fine, she pulls her into a tight hug before repeating the same with Jason. I probably shouldn't be at this point but I am surprised when she does the same to me. However, I find it funny to see how uncomfortable Pam is when she repeats it again with her and then Godric.

It's not until she's made sure everyone is safe that she sends a look to Pam and eyes her cargo, "What happened to her?"

"I did not handle it perhaps as well as I could have when she threatened Sookie's life."

Sookie looks at me angrily, mad that I didn't soften the truth for Adele. I have no intention of doing any such thing, she deserves to know what her grandaughter is capable of, especially if she's going to be around them for the foreseeable future. Plus, I was being serious about having her tied up, it's better for Adele to know why, or else she might try to untie her.

"What do you mean?"

"After the battle was done and Sophie Ann had already met her true death, Hadley thought it'd be smart to hold Sookie captive with a knife to her neck and try to use her cousin to get information out of us. I don't know why just asking us didn't cross her mind but…" I trail off and shrug in a 'what can you do?' motion. When my words click in Adele's head her eyes grow dark, I've never seen her this angry before, never nearly this angry. That's good, she should be angry, hopefully, that means she'll understand that as of now, Hadley cannot be trusted. "Adele, I need you to promise me something."

"What's that Eric?" She asks in a way that makes it clear that she'll help me if she can.

"I'm going to restrain her, and she's going to have to stay that way until I can ascertain her mental state and know she's not a danger to any of us. Depending on when she wakes up, that might not be until I rise tomorrow. I know it'll be difficult not to let her out throughout the day but it's important. And I need you not to let Hadley talk Sookie into it too. You're a sweet woman, Adele but I know when it comes down to it you can be hard if you need to. Sookie on the other hand will always try to believe the best in people so she'll be much more likely to believe what Hadley says than you will."

I feel Sookie's annoyance but she doesn't interrupt. Adele stares at me for a long time but eventually nods at me seriously and I know that she means it. "I understand, I won't let her out. If she hurts Sookie I'd never forgive myself, plus I got the feeling she might try to run and disappear for another decade if I give her the chance, I'd rather that not happen."

"Good. Pam secure her."

Pam does as she's told and we spend the next hour telling Adele what happened while we were away, or a more PG and less bloody version. I'm sure she doesn't want to know that I've decapitated two people tonight alone and soon after she makes her excuses to go to bed. As we were explaining things to Adele, Pam, and Jason disappeared into her suite, I feel how uncomfortable that makes Sookie and she looks at me with a huff when she realizes I find it humorous.

I meant what I said while we were still at the queen's compound, or my compound now, I suppose, I have no intention of speaking of any of the issues or plans for the future until tomorrow. I've accepted my role, and being who I am I will fucking dominate it. I've not wanted to be king and it doesn't come with an end date, most of the time when you take on the role of monarch, that's who you are until you meet the true death. There are ways of stepping down but it involves a lot of red tape and input from the other monarchs so this is my unlife for the foreseeable future. It's fine though, I've accepted it and have many plans that will need my advantage of being king to succeed, plus this promotion will help me in my ventures to keep Sookie safe and that is really what's most important to me.

I hold out my hand to Sookie, she takes it and I lead her into the bedroom. It only takes a few moments until I have her undressed and on the bed, I spend the rest of the night making love to her. When I close my eyes and wait for the sun to take me while Sookie is laying with her head on my shoulder I have a few moments to enjoy the fact that we've defeated the most recent threat to Sookie and those who we care about most are safe. I pull her closer and inhale her scent one more time before I feel myself dying for the day.

Final A/N: Like I said, this is the last chapter, there are a lot of loose ends like Sookie and all her fairyness, Eric taking over as king, and what the hell they're going to do with Hadley!

My semester ends at the end of the month so I'm thinking I'll post the first chapter of the next installment in the beginning of May and I'll add something here to let everyone know when it's posted.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this monster of a story, it means so much to me. Especially those to take the time to comment, it really makes my day to read them!