Chapter 30
Felipe had told him to leave at first dark. He was tempted to go, regardless, but he knew it would be a terrible idea, especially with Pam on her way from Shreveport with Victor. He was preparing himself for trouble. He didn't want Felipe to use Pam as a stand-in for him, the way he was likely going to act as a stand-in for Sookie. All for something that was none of their faults.
He dressed and headed for Felipe's office. He hoped the King wasn't down in the VIV Club. He didn't think he could stomach it right then. Going upstairs to Felipe's domain was bad enough.
The trip through the casino felt like he was headed to the electric chair. A literal dead man walking. He hated being afraid. He hated the grief that had settled in his chest and the pit of his stomach. He hated having feelings.
He took the elevator up to Felipe's office. The King's receptionist was behind her desk in the lobby but it was very quiet. The place felt empty.
"Eric, I'm sorry but the King isn't in."
"Is he at the VIV Club?"
"No. He left at first dark. He said he would be back around ten to see Victor."
The band around Eric's chest loosened.
"Thank you. I will check back later in the evening."
At least he would be able to meet Pam's flight.
He headed back downstairs to the casino level. He was antsy. He wanted to investigate Sookie's death, but his only clue was that she'd been headed north. They could have switched directions at any point during the day and he'd have no idea. They could be anywhere.
Who in the hell could have taken her? It was someone who could make themselves look like another. Shifters could only transform into animals. He'd never heard of a vampire with such a gift. He supposed it could have been witches, but they would have had to have been very powerful ones. The casino was warded. He knew that some fairies could disguise themselves, but the lemon-scented air freshener that hung in the air was designed to repel fairies, if they even dared to enter a vampire-owned casino in the first place. The film they wore for protection didn't cover their nostrils and mouths and eyes.
And could a fairy have fooled the vampires he must have met on the way to and from the room? Or could he disguise his scent, too?
He would find the imposter. Somehow. If it was the last thing he did. At least if Felipe allowed him to exist that long.
He went back to the casino's security office. It was early in the evening and the man behind the desk was human this time. It would make his job that much easier.
"Do you have the footage of Sookie leaving the casino last night?"
The guard sat up straighter.
"Yes. But I'm not authorized to show that to anyone except the King."
"I am authorizing you."
"On whose authority?"
"Mine."
He caught the guard's eyes.
"Show me the footage."
"Yes, Mr. Northman."
The man cued up the video clip the vampire guard had spliced together the night before for Felipe. Eric watched it through five times.
The Eric on the screen looked exactly like him, right down to the designer suit. It was maddening. He was quite sure the imposter was Vampire. He thought the faint glow of the man's skin had come through in the video. If so, they couldn't have gotten far after sunrise. But they had continued to head north after dawn, regardless. He'd felt it. It made no sense. The man had flown away from the parking garage with Sookie in his arms before the sun rose but they'd still been moving at flying speed when Eric had first noticed her gone shortly after daybreak. They must have gotten into a vehicle before Eric had felt her moving away from him.
He thought they'd been moving too quickly to have been travelling by car. A train, maybe? A helicopter? It had happened far too quickly for them to have caught a plane and they hadn't been moving that fast. Maybe it wasn't a vampire after all.
He wanted to believe that somehow, their bond had been broken by magic. That she was still out there somewhere, alive. But maybe that was selfish of him. Maybe her death had been a mercy. He needed to end the imposter.
He left the security office and went outside to take flight. He needed to clear his head. Nearly an hour later, he touched down on the tarmac at Mccarron airport, air traffic controllers be damned. The last time he'd been there was the night he had first seen Sookie, up on the stage sucking Victor Madden's cock. He didn't need to think of that. It was almost nine and Pam's plane was due to arrive soon.
Generally, the workers ignored him. One approached but backed away as soon as he'd realized Eric was Vampire.
Eric paced, well away from the landing strip, waiting for Pam's plane to land. His patience had worn very thin and he needed to see his child. Hopefully not for the last time.
A limousine arrived to take them back to the hotel. The plane approached a few minutes later. He was relieved. He smiled at her when she got to the bottom of the stairs. He ignored Victor and Bill.
"Would you like to fly back to the Transylvanian with me?"
Pam sighed.
"Technically, Victor is still in my custody. I can't imagine he'll go anywhere, but I'd rather not chance it. Come with us."
Eric thought about it and decided to take her up on the offer. It would give him a chance to talk to Victor. He would still have some time to speak with Pam after they arrived back at the hotel.
He climbed into the limousine last. He and Pam sat together, facing the other vampires. Eric sat across from Victor, who was sneering at both him and Pam. Bill didn't look much friendlier. Both of them had raped and abused Sookie. Both of them wanted him finally dead. Both wanted her. Neither knew she'd been killed. Hell, neither knew she'd been taken. He meant to keep it that way, at least for the time being. He was sure they'd find out soon enough, after the King returned.
"Bill. Victor."
His voice was dead cold.
Their sneers grew.
"Eric."
Victor didn't even reply.
Eric looked at him.
"Did you make that woman think things at Sookie?"
"What woman? I don't even know what you're talking about."
"She belongs to the vampire who works for you. Johnny."
"Oh. Her. She looks like a tasty little nugget. I forgot they were coming. He was supposed to do some… laundry for the King."
Laundering money, Eric was sure. Was it really for the King?
"You had nothing to do with the human testing Sookie's abilities?"
Victor scoffed.
"I already know what she can do, even hopped up on heroin and cocaine. Why the fuck would I test her again?"
The limo dropped them off in front of the hotel and Pam walked Victor and Bill to Felipe's elevator. Victor came willingly enough. Eric followed behind. Fortunately, Felipe was still gone. Pam spoke to the receptionist.
"What should I do with these?"
"I have orders to send them into Felipe's office to wait. You're free to go."
It was a relief.
They went back down to the casino level and past the gaming tables and slot machines to the elevator up to his floor. They didn't speak. He swept his room for bugs and then sat on the bed next to Pam. He put his hands in his hair and his elbows on his knees. She touched his back.
"Tell me everything that happened."
He shrugged one shoulder.
"I got a phone call from the King to meet him at the VIV Club at six. He got one from me to meet him there at six-thirty. Except I didn't make that call. Neither did he. It gave the imposter nearly forty-five minutes to take her and run. I didn't notice she was gone until we figured out we'd been tricked."
"It was a vampire?"
He shrugged again.
"I believe so, but there is no way to tell. He could fly, and they were still moving quickly after the sun rose."
"He must have had a vehicle waiting on standby. Something big enough to hold a coffin."
"Yes. I suppose so."
They were quiet for a few minutes until Pam broke the silence.
"Tell me the rest."
He sighed.
"There isn't really much to tell. He can disguise his voice and his appearance. There is no way to know how long he was here and who he pretended to be and when. If Victor left right after I beat him the evening Sookie and I were bonded, then everything he did after that was the imposter."
If Victor had been in Area Five the whole time, whoever-he-was was responsible for making the woman think that phrase at Sookie again and again. Why? What other plots had he put into motion? This modern-day Loki could have his finger in a thousand pies.
Maybe a telepath would have thrown a wrench into his plans. But, if so, why hadn't he killed her in the room? Why not frame Eric for her murder and then turn into someone else and walk away like nothing had happened. Why take the risk of stealing her away, only to kill her later?
The phone rang at ten-thirty.
"This is Eric."
"The King would like to see you in the VIV Club."
"I will be there."
That was the last place he wanted to be.
Eric sighed again and Pam squeezed his leg.
"It'll be fine."
Both of them knew that was bullshit. She accompanied him for moral support. She could keep an eye on her maker, at least.
They made their way back through the casino to the Club. Bill had joined the orgy going on in the large space. Pam split off and went to the stage to pretend to watch whatever was going on up there. Eric nodded at the King.
"Your Majesty."
He sat down across from Felipe. The King scowled.
"Why aren't you bringing her back to me? You should be long gone by now. You are bonded for a reason."
Eric was afraid but he didn't let it show in his face or his posture.
"She's dead, your Majesty. When I rose this evening, the bond had been severed. She is gone."
Felipe's expression turned black. He was furious.
"Is this some kind of trick? Were you involved in her escape from the very start?"
Eric thought Felipe was contemplating sending him to his final death right there.
"No, your Majesty. If I had, I wouldn't be here, speaking to you. I would be long gone."
Felipe grunted.
"You go and find her and bring her back to me, dead or alive. You have three nights. If you run from me, I will hunt you down and finally kill you. Slowly. If necessary, I will call your maker. Appius is a good friend of mine and I'm sure he will track you down for me. He owes me a favour. And maybe he would like to have some fun with you as well before he hands you over."
Eric's jaw bunched.
"I will do my best, your Majesty."
The King grinned. It was terrifying. His rage bubbled just under the surface.
"Felipe, Eric. You can call me Felipe. We are friends, are we not?"
"Yes, Felipe."
"Excellent!"
The King nodded at two vampires standing nearby. The King's guards.
"Take Pam Ravenscroft. Put her in the dungeon."
Eric closed his eyes.
"A little bit of collateral, in case you don't return. She won't be harmed if you come back on time with Sookie."
The two guards grabbed Pam's arms to lead her away. Eric pushed strength and remorse at her through the bond. He should have told her to stay away.
Felipe barked, "You are wasting precious time. Go! I will see you in three nights' time."
"Yes, Your-. Yes, Felipe."
The King stood and headed for the exit. Eric had been dismissed. He stood and nodded but the King was already gone.
The evening was bleeding away. He went back up to his room to change into a T-shirt and jeans and grabbed a few things he might need.
He went through the lobby and took flight as soon as he got outside. Several tourists gasped and pointed. They were already getting a vampire show before they even got in the door.
Eric had no way to know where to go. He had to spend three days on a futile search for a dead body that could be anywhere. At the end of the search was a beating he knew would be agonizing. He'd seen what Felipe could do to a human. Who knew what he would do to a vampire. And, unless his maker stepped in, his final death — and his child's — would be waiting at the end.
He closed his eyes and tried to hone in on her body. Maybe the bond had some kind of remnant remaining, despite her death. He felt nothing. He headed north. It was the only thing he could do.