Sookie uncorked the bottle, and both Vampires inhaled. "What is that smell?" Pam was on the edge of her seat.
"Fairy blood," Eric mumbled.
"Heavily diluted with bottled human blood," Sookie explained. "It's magically sealed, so it retains its freshness and warmth. She filled both their glasses to the brim. "Should give you a nice little buzz." She settled down next to Eric, planting her feet on his lap.
"I've never had Fairy blood, not that I've ever gone looking for it," Pam mumbled as she took a sip. "Well, fuck me!" She drawled. Jason laughed at her outburst.
It wasn't as heavily diluted as Eric had expected, but again, he'd suspected it from the smell. "This is unexpected, thank you." He raised his glass in cheers. "How did you get your hands on this?"
"Niall sent me a few bottles of pure Fairy blood."
"He bottled the blood of his enemies. Some of them were family. That's some badass shit and creepy as fuck." Jason mumbled.
Sookie rolled her eyes at this outburst. "Apparently, I could earn a few good favors with this, and he was right. This is Jesus' latest project. He diluted it for me and bottled it, giving me a few cases of this stuff.
I sent a bottle to Russell. You should have heard the voice message he left." Sookie laughed at the thought of Russell's barely coherent praise and thanks.
Jason damn near choked on his beer at the look Eric threw Pam when she poured herself another glass to the brim. He quickly swiped the bottle before she drank the rest. While he was savoring his, she was practically knocking it back.
"At this rate, you'll have to sleep here. You'll be no different to a human driving drunk." Sookie warned.
"You have no idea how good this is. You have forever ruined my taste buds." Pam groused.
"So I keep hearing." Sookie laughed at the forlorn look on Pam's face. "I will give you a bottle to take home." She added placatingly.
"Oh, you are my favorite breather." Pam cheered.
"I know." Sookie's smile was so wide Eric theorized there was a story there.
"You dated a human?" The revelation visibly surprised Eric, as touch strongly strengthened her telepathy.
"Oh yeah, Damien, Devil, or something like that," Jason grumbled.
"His name is Daniel, and you know it." Sookie giggled.
"Don't care, I don't like him," Jason mumbled petulantly.
"When you can hear every thought that goes through… whether a boy or a man, it's the same. Men's thoughts on sex are damn right off-putting. My first real notion of sex was Bartlett Hale molesting Hadley. My parents did not believe me when I told them, but gran did after we moved in with her. She told him never to come back. She believed me without question." The mood in the room had taken a somber turn. "For years, that was my notion of sex, until Rebecca Sanderson…"
"Wait… Becca, my girlfriend, Becca." Jason asked.
"The one and the same," Sookie whispered. "Her thoughts about you changed my view on sex completely. Bartlett had shaped my view on sex for so long, and then fifteen-year-old you…" She stared at her brother. "You had that girl on cloud nine, and she could not stop broadcasting just how fantastic you were. Why do you think I've never given you a hard time about your inability to keep it in your pants? I have never known a woman to complain about you. You are selfless; it's all about the woman. You care so much that it impacts their lives. They all knew you were incapable of having a relationship, and they didn't expect any. They still came back, time and time again, because you set a standard. Haven't you ever stopped to wonder why they couldn't stay away despite your inability to commit?" He had. Jason knew he was good in bed. It was all he was good at for a long time until Sookie revealed the horror that would have been their future. Jason liked pleasing women, he just never knew it made such a difference to them. He was never one for deep thoughts on any subject.
"Daniel is just like that," Sookie revealed.
"Oh fuck sake, Sook. I'm trying to hate the guy, not like him." He groused.
"Sorry, but he is. Even more astonishing, he has a mind the likes of which I have never encountered. His words match his thoughts precisely. Listening to him is like listening to two people say the same thing simultaneously. His words are an echo of his thoughts. When I switched my major to business in my junior year, we had most of the same classes. We partnered on a project and got to know each other well. He invited me to a party, I went, he walked me home. I invited him in, and as they say, one thing led to another." Sookie said with a shrug.
"Does he know about your gift?" Eric asked.
Sookie nodded. "His ex-girlfriend absolutely hated me, never mind the fact that they broke up because she cheated. No, as far as she was concerned, I was the reason they were not back together. Her plan to get rid of me involved planting drugs in his car and calling it in anonymously. I had no idea how that was supposed to get rid of me. I took her seriously when her thoughts revealed she still had the spare key to his car. I had no choice but to tell him. Imagine my surprise when he asked if I was a half-demon like their lawyer, Mr. Cataliades."
"What's his family name?" Eric asked.
"Vashist." Sookie wasn't surprised they all recognized the name.
"As in the manufacturing and telecommunications company?" Pam asked, her words a little slurred.
"The very one," Sookie mumbled, getting up to get herself a beer.
"What happened to the ex-girlfriend," Pam asked.
"He installed a camera in his car that caught her red-handed. She was arrested and suspended with immediate effect. No amount of daddy's money could save her, especially when her intended victim's family had just as much."
"Not surprised the family lawyer is Desmond; the very wealthy have always been in the know when it comes to the supernatural world," Eric admitted.
"Yeah, he told me, the family had known Desmond since the days of his great-grandmother. He inherited her unique brain, which he was quite proud of when I told him."
"That demon I saw you with in Houston just before the great reveal," Eric grumbled.
"Yes, what about him?" Sookie asked mischievously, knowing full well what Eric was asking.
"I can feel your emotions." He growled.
"Nothing. I did some work for Bartleby, and he asked me to accompany him. We went our separate ways at the end of the night." Sookie smirked.
"Dude, at a thousand years old, you can't have an issue with her dating a handful of men?" Jason chuckled.
"Nah, he doesn't have a problem with that. He only has a problem with Bartleby." Sookie giggled.
"He told you, uh." Eric groaned.
"What?" Both Pam and Jason asked.
"None of your business," Eric muttered, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
"Sook, come on." Jason pleaded, having caught just how uncomfortable Eric looked.
"Sorry, but my bonded's secrets shall remain just that, secrets." Sookie mimed, locking her lips.
"Thank you, min karla." Eric leaned over and kissed her softly, at least that was the idea until Bella bit his lip, and things quickly escalated.
Jason cleared his throat roughly. "There are some things I do not need to see or hear, and I've already heard enough."
"Really, let's talk about.. what was her name, the one that sounded like a sheep bleating." Jason immediately went beat read. Pam's cackling did not help Jason's growing blush.
Okay, I will give you that one." He mumbled.
"You don't have a choice." Eric laughed.
"Don't like any of you very much right now." He crossed his arms over his chest, pouting.
"Gran's reaction was the best. The next morning, she said she was going to the butchers to get some lamb because she kept dreaming of sheep bleating." The room erupted in laughter, Jason included.
"What's worse, we had some lamb chops and potatoes that evening," Jason added. He looked at Sookie, and the two of them lost it.
"What happened to Bartlett," Eric asked, his feigned nonchalance was fooling no one.
"Killed himself." Jason groused. "According to his doctor, he had been complaining of severe headaches to the point of losing consciousness. Run all the tests they could and found nothing. He couldn't take it anymore and ended it. Didn't suffer enough if you ask me." Jason finished. Eric suspected it was Sookie's doing.
"Oh, after we've dealt with the witches, remind me I need to talk to you about Mickey, Salome's child," Sookie murmured. Her change of subject confirmed his suspicion.
"Sure," Eric said, emptying the bottle. "The Russian, what's his name." He asked.
"Gavril, why?"
"No reason, just curious." He said with a nonchalance Sookie didn't buy.
"I'm not all that interested in the male species, but even I will admit he is just stunning." Pam cut in.
"Wait till you meet Camille. That woman is beautiful and fucking dangerous." Jason piped up, much to Sookie's horror. She had wanted to tell Eric herself; she never seemed to find the right time.
"Camille, as in Rotterdam," Eric asked, voice low. "You told me she was dead." He growled.
"I did no such thing. I told you Gerrit was dead. I never once said Camille was as well." Sookie explained to the infuriated vampire.
Eric thought back to the conversation and realized he had assumed Camille was dead. "How is she a part of your team?" He asked, clearly still incensed.
"She is a siren, they are rarer than telepaths." With that information, Eric relaxed.
"I didn't stand a hope in hell." He laughed. A siren's lure was stronger than a vampire's glamour, and it worked on vampires, too. The only difference was that it didn't work on females. "That explains so much. I knew she was dangerous, it was so fucking obvious, but I just couldn't help myself." He added.
"I only realized that when I listened in on the interrogation with Aisha and Barry. Barry nearly attacked Aisha in defense of Camille. Even then, I only had a vague suspicion as her gift worked on Barry, not Aisha. Uncle Desmond confirmed my suspicions. Barry was lucky all Aisha did was knock him out, she used to be with the New York Police Department SWAT Unit." Sookie smirked. "Between her, Bakari, and Patrick, they could take out the witches without anyone else lifting a finger," Sookie mumbled.
"It might come to that." Eric thought out loud.
"I've got some sliver throwing knives I worked on, a chance to test them out," Jason added.
"Oh, I like that." Pam piped up suddenly, her words slightly slurred.
"It will appear the guest bed is yours." Sookie laughed at the vampire, struggling to sit up straight.
"Wow, that really hit you hard." Jason chortled.
"It's very much like a human drinking alcohol for the first time, and Pam is also young, which does not help," Eric explained, his merriment at his child's predicament evident.
"I'm off to bed," Jason mumbled, and with a quick hug, was stumbling down the hall.
"I didn't see her yesterday," Eric stated.
"No, she, Barry, and Porter are in Oklahoma, reading the queen's human staff." Eric smiled.
"How did you manage that? I'm still hoping to plant a spy in her court." Eric sat up straight.
"One of her humans mentioned how a telepath read her friend for the sheriff of Area Six in Dallas." Sookie shrugged. "The thing is, it had nothing to do with us. Stan's human has a friend in Freyda's court, and he told her all about Barry. As you can imagine, she was also eager to have her staff read. Stan's human informed him of her request for my information, and he passed it on. She called and was asked to email her request, and we would get back to her. Naturally, we happily obliged." Sookie smirked.
"And you sent Camille to get as much information as she can."
"If you are none the wiser, her gift looks very much like a telepath. The only difference is you feel the need to please her, so you answer her question. It only works on men, regardless of the species." Eric stared in admiration.
"Oh, even better, Threadgill is making inquiries of Oklahoma after Sophie-Anne told him where to go." Eric laughed at Sookie's description of Sophie-Anne's rejection of an alliance between the two states.
"Jade Flower is also gone," Eric added. Sookie hadn't known that, but she knew Desmond had warned the queen. Sookie wasn't sure when the queen knew Jade was a lackey for Oklahoma, but the whole Hadley thing had revealed that information. Suddenly, the very stratagem he'd been searching desperately for was right in front of him. "You know a heads up to Oklahoma about Threadgill's intentions might help just be simply fortuitous."
"Not when you plan it." Sookie countered with a smirk.
"They don't know that." Eric leaned closer. "Even better if someone calls the council in addition to Jennifer Carter's complaint and says Threadgill's death was premeditated, and he had no plans to take over. I don't see why Jennifer Carter would act any differently. Threadgill met the true death, it makes little difference by whose hand. In your nightmares, it was your testimony in Rhodes that saved Sophie-Anne. I see no reason why you can't do the same for Oklahoma." Eric's voice was barely above a whisper.
"Eric Northman, my love, you are fucking devious and I love it." Sookie squealed. It was brilliant, pure brilliance on the part of her vampire.