43

That's All You Have to Do

Hello, everyone! I apologize for the delay in posting the chapters. I've been going through it and it has not been friendly. My sweet fur baby has passed on and it's killing me inside. I never knew that I could love a dog as much as I love Dennis. It's breaking my heart. Love and grief go hand in hand, I guess. I'm trying my best to deal with it, but it's so hard. It's been hard for me to work or write, but I'm trying. Please forgive me for the delay and making you guys wait for so long. I give you my word when I say that I am going to finish the story. I'm not going to rush it either. It may take me a little longer to finish it, but I'll get it done. I have a few chapters that I'd done a couple of months ago and I will get them posted too. Again, I'm sorry for the delay.

As always, I want to thank each of you for reading, reviewing, favoriting me and the store, and alerting to the story. Y'all are wonderful and you make a bad day so much better.

Side note to my wonderful beta. I will let you edit the chapters soon. I need something to preoccupy my mind.

If looks could kill, I would have died right then and there. Bill was glaring at me. He and I rode in the back of his limousine … not speaking at first; only glaring. There was no need for words to be spoken. We both knew what had upset up him. The reason for his anger was more than apparent. He knew that there was no chance in hell that he'd ever claim my woman for his own. I know that he wanted to ask me about Sookie and the progression of our relationship. It pleased me to see that he knows that that he can never take her away from me. There was nothing that he could do to break the bond that Sookie and I have. There was nothing that he could do to make her leave me ... even without the bond.

Nothing.

The devil suddenly appeared in me. "Has something upset you, Your Majesty? You seem to be upset." I looked concerned for my king's well-being. After all, he is the leader of the great state Louisiana.

His icy stare was his answer.

Still feeling overjoyed by the king's discomfort, I continued to express my concern for him. "I only asked because you seem to be going through something so harsh, so unforgiving. If you need someone to lend an ear, I am here for you. The only reason for my concern is that you are an important part of our world. You are our king." Smiling, I added, "If I've overstepped my boundaries, please, let me know."

From the look that he gave me, he knew that I was bullshitting him. "I'm fine, Sheriff."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't understand the attitude, but I am happy to hear that you are fine."

He was a fucking liar. He was anything but fine. It seemed that even he couldn't handle his anger. He would sniff the air constantly. He would look at me through hooded eyes … anger seething through him. He was so angry, I could almost smell it. He had many things to say, but he couldn't say them. There was no way in hell he was going to let me know that I'd bested him. And I had bested him.

His glaring stare was steady and even … hate and jealousy was more than evident. I can only imagine the disdain going through his mind as he recalled the many times Sookie has turned down his offers. How she took him to task for his arrogant and high-handed ways. How she let him know that she was mine. The thrill of knowing that the great king Bill Compton has been turned down and taken to task by a faery human was more pleasing than I could have ever imagined. I smiled as I looked at the sound-proof window that separated us from the driver. His feelings of anger almost made me giddy with delight.

Almost. I continued to dazzle the king with my glassy-eyed stare.

"I see that you are quite happy this evening," he said.

There was no expression on my face.

He crossed his legs and placed his hand on his knee. "I can only guess that it's because you have rightfully claimed Ms. Stackhouse as your own. I can smell her on you … in you. The scent of her virginity is quite intoxicating. You must be very proud of yourself."

A gloriously, beaming smile replaced the glassy-eyed stare. I didn't have respond to his statement with words. My smile more than conveyed what I was feeling.

He nodded as he spoke. "So, she is yours."

My smile never faltered as I made Bill aware of what Sookie is to me. "She is my woman."

"And you are hers."

Though it was question, it wasn't posed as one but I answered it anyway. "I am."

Bill cleared his throat. "I've noticed many changes in you since she's been in your life. I say this because when you were at my home with her, you seemed to be lighthearted and calmer than you've ever been. She joked with you and you returned the banter. It surprised me. I've never seen you as are now. You have never been what one would call a happy vampire … though there's really no such thing." He nodded his head as he spoke. "You're different. One would never expect that from you. Your anger is well known in our world, but those days seemed to have past. You are happy."

"I am no different. I am the same vampire that I was last year. Having Sookie in my life, has not changed who and what I am. I am still Eric Northman."

He cocked his head to the side and stared for a brief moment. "No. You're different."

I only smiled.

"Eric, I …"

"Forgive me, your majesty," I interrupted. "If you have requested that I meet with you to discuss my relationship with Sookie, we could have done this at the bar. Why did you need to meet with me … alone?"

He tugged at his suit jacket as he shifted in his seat. "You have a right to wonder why the secrecy. It is because I have some very important information for you. It's information that I believe should only be shared with you." He glanced at his watch before continuing. "I know how private you are about your past life, your human life. I've heard many rumors and I must admit, most of them are quite unbelievable." He chuckled. "The one rumor where you fought to the death with a broad axe while your body was riddled with the arrows of your enemies, that has to be a falsehood. It's not possible." He shook his head in disbelief. "I find that to be quite the fairy tale."

I glared at Bill as I spoke. "That rumor is not a rumor."

He leaned forward and placed his hand on my shoulder as he laughed … louder, longer, and harder. "Even you are beginning to believe the rumors. There is no way that you would have survived such damage to your body as a human." He continued to laugh as he removed his hand from my shoulder. "You'd have bled to death. There's absolutely no way."

I lifted my shirt and showed Bill the permanent scars on my sides and my stomach. I let him see the scars on my back. I showed him to battle wounds remaining on my chest for all eternity. "As I said, it is not a rumor."

Bill's laughter ended as quickly as it began. "Forgive my disrespect, Sheriff. I truly had no idea." He was still staring at my scars as I lowered my shirt. "What did Sookie think of those scars?"

It never dawned on me that they were there and obviously, neither did she. She never mentioned them. I'm not even sure that she noticed them. She could have but she never mentioned them. Proudly, I said to the king, "They didn't bother her at all. She is quite pleased with what I have to offer."

"She is a treasure," he whispered.

"That she is," I agreed.

He sighed. "Well," he began. "Until tonight, your past has always been rumor and innuendo. No one truly knows where you come from or who you are. You're a mystery in the vampire world and that's something that's hard to be in this world. I must admit to you, Eric, that I admire that about you. Your sense of privacy … loyalty. You must've had very encouraging people in your life." He nodded as he continued. "I admire that. That encouragement is something that so few of us ever receive. I gather that's what you get from Ms. Stackhouse ... loyalty, sense of privacy, respect."

I continued to stare at the king and wondered where he was going with his words of flattery and bullshit. I know Bill and I know that he's up to something. Bill is always up to something and it's usually not good. And when he gave me that look, I knew that he knows more than he's letting on. Instead of reaching out and grabbing him by his throat, I waited from him to continue.

He uncrossed his legs as he talked. "I know that you love Pam. She's your child. You two have been together for many, many centuries. I've heard rumors that she's just as old as you are. Some people claim to know that she hasn't been a vampire for no more than five hundred years, but no one really knows … only you and Pam." He then leaned back in his seat and stared at nothing. "I envy the relationship that you have with her. I've not had that luxury in quite some time." He waved his had nonchalantly as he continued. "Yes, my maker was a great maker. She protected us, but I never had what one would call a great life. Things have always been hard for me."

He glanced at his watch once more as he continued. "Don't get me wrong. I've had some great moments, some outstanding moments. My childhood was better than most. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either." He chuckled briefly. "My family had an enormous plantation. I had horses and I had many pets. I would have rather had siblings but that wasn't in the cards for my parents. My mother seemed to have issues with bringing life into this world. They were lucky to have had me."

Were they, Bill? Were they really?

"But that was okay," he continued. "I had the slave children as my siblings and their parents were my extended family. They took care of me. They loved me." He almost looked happy. "My parents were always too busy. They always had something better to do when it came to being a part of my life but that's okay. I understand it now. I understand that Mother had to meet with the ladies on the veranda for mimosas and that my father would have to manage his fields. It was a part of life ... my life. It was something that I had to accept and I have accepted it."

His face told me otherwise.

"Anyway, they were my family ... the slaves and their children. The times that I spent with them, those were great times. The singing and dancing, the storytelling, and the laughter; they were all amazing to me. They had so much going against them, and they were still able to be happy and love each other, and they included me in their lives. They allowed me to be a part of their families. Some might believe that they had no choice, but they did. They could have seen me as nothing more than an obligation … the master's child, but that's not how it was. They loved me. I would stay the night with them in their homes. They fed and bathed me. They tucked me into bed just as they did for their children. To them, I was more than the master's child. I was a child that needed them and they accepted me. Those were the most amazing and gratifying days of my life."

Something new soon appeared in Bill's eyes. "My life changed for the better when I met my wife. My dear Caroline. We were married for eight short years before the call of war came. She gave me two beautiful children during that short time." He pointed me as he said, "Now, that was amazing. My children and my wonderful wife were more than I ever deserved. To see the smiles on their faces, that was the life. They were my glory, my heaven. They were everything." He chuckled as the memories surrounded him in warmth, but it didn't last long.

From the look in his eyes, I could see that he was reliving those times of loss and war. I knew what he was feeling. They're never memorable moments, happy moments. There are never any winners; regardless of what others want you to believe. There's no joy. No laughter. Depending on why you're fighting, there are no real feelings of accomplishment. Only feelings of fear, anger, and everlasting resentment. Death.

"Then there was the war," he said as he glanced at his watch once again. "The war changed everything. As everyone knows, I fought in the civil war. I hated it, but I had no choice. None of us had a choice, really. That's where I lost most of my friends and neighbors." He closed his eyes as he talked. "Their deaths were vicious and bloody. Heads exploding. Limbs being ripped from bodies. Screaming out in agony as their intestines lay on what used to be their stomachs. No one should have to die like that. At least, that's what I used to believe, but we'll get to that later." He winked at me before continuing. "While I was away fighting in a war that I didn't believe in, I lost everything that was dear to me. When my father released the people from their servitude, he gave them money and he gave them land. He gave them acres of his land. He said that he owed that to them. He told them that they were no longer property but free men, women, and children. He told them that they could continue to work the plantation, but they would receive wages for their hard work. When I learned of what my father had done, I was so proud him. I'd never been prouder. In my eyes and on that day, my father was a hero. He was my hero." A faraway look appeared on his face. The mood suddenly changed.

"Some of the town's people didn't think so. They murdered the families that my father had set free; men, women, and children. They were angry because my father gave them what they so rightly deserved, what they'd earned. They were angry that my father gave them their freedom. Killed them all in the dead night; the slaves, my parents, my wife and my children."

I could tell what was coming next.

"I returned home to a town that killed my family because they were unhappy with the way things had gone." He almost looked surprised. After all these years, he almost looked surprised. "I don't understand how they were thinking, what they were thinking. I don't understand why they thought they would get away with what they'd done. I don't know what made them believe that I would forgive such malice ... such hate."

I knew why. I'd been there. I gazed into Bill's eyes as I answered his rhetorical question. "Maybe they needed to feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense of being. No one enjoys war. No ever wins a war. But to feel human again after taking so many lives, you need something to hold on to, to believe in. They killed your family because they couldn't accept their fate, what was to come. They couldn't accept that the world that they knew was suddenly gone." I raised my hand in silence when I noticed the look on Bill's face. "I'm not saying that they were right. They weren't. Whatever came to them, they deserved but maybe, they believed they had no other choice. Everything they'd ever known was gone, and it was easy to blame the man that was willing to follow the new world order."

Bill stared out into the distance before answering. "Maybe you're right."

I continued to stare at the king, and I wanted to find deception in what he was saying. I couldn't. I watched him; his body language, his eyes. I listened closely as he spoke and there was no sign of deception. He was being honest with me, and I didn't know why. I still didn't trust it. "Why are you telling me this? Why do you feel the need to share your human life with me?" I shook my head in disbelief. "We've never been friends, or even friendly for that matter. We're not even associates. I've always hated you. You have never hidden that you loathe me and now you decide to share your life with me. Again, I ask why."

He crossed his legs as he rested his hands on his ankle. "You're absolutely right. I do hate you; especially now that you have something that I want, but what can you do, right? I've never been one to share with others. I've told you things that I haven't even told Salome, but because of your precarious situation, I feel that it's necessary." He seemed to sit impossibly taller in the back of the limo. "How long have we known each other, Eric?"

"A couple hundred years or so, I do believe," I answered. "Give or take a few years. We met for the first time in Belgium."

Bill smiled as nodded. "We were at Guinevere's ball. Remember Wilson?"

As soon as he mentioned Wilson's name, laughter filled the car. "He was … different … even for a vampire." Wilson came to the ball wearing a pink ball gown and a powdered wig. His date was dressed as King Henry the VIII.

The king's eyes lit up as he talked about the vampire. "Wilson was an amazing vampire and an even more amazing friend. He was always smiling and happy, but he was also vicious when he had to be. He didn't know fear." The smile slowly faded from view. "He was my brother … my vampire brother."

Now, that was news to me. "I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. Did Lorena ever learn the name of the vampire that killed him?"

"No," he answered. "She met the true death without ever knowing. Wilson is why I'm here with you tonight. We shared blood and a maker. She turned him a few months after turning me. She found him roaming the streets one night. It was wintertime and it was freezing cold. There was snow on the ground. My brother was living on the streets. He was starving and had no one else. He would beg people for a place to stay, but no one would help him. There wasn't a decent human in the bunch. Lorena took pity on him. She brought him home. She let him live with us. He was the help at first. She wanted to make sure that she could trust him, and over time, she learned that she could. She adored him. She loved Wilson. He was amazing."

"He was."

Bill smiled. "And he's gone. My maker is gone and I'm all alone in this world."

"You have Salome."

With a cocked eye, he reiterated, "I'm all alone."

He glanced at his watch once more. This time, he tapped on the glass that separated us from the driver.

The limo stopped.

"That's why we're here. Vengeance. As I said earlier, we all need vengeance. It soothes the soul." He sighed. "The men that killed my family, I killed them all with my maker's help. We ripped them to shreds after draining them of their blood. We killed their wives and their children in front of them. They needed to see the life leave the eyes of the ones they loved so dearly. Oh, and they didn't die quickly. We made sure of that. My family … my parents, my wife, my children, and my extended family weren't killed quickly. They had to know what I felt when I saw my family's mangled bodies lying in their beds as if they were sleeping. I had to scrub their blood from the walls and floors. I had to bury their bodies alone. The bodies of my extended family, they were hanging from trees. Some were burned beyond recognition. Babies had their heads bashed in. Children with their innards wrapped around their necks. The women's bodies were mutilated, ripped apart. And the men, their bodies were in pieces. No man should ever have to see what I'd seen or do what I had to do, and those men, they had to pay for what they'd done." With his voice dripping with anger, he said, "That was a glorious day." He frowned for a brief second. "You know, I used to think that I couldn't kill children but after the lives of my children were taken, I had no problem with returning the favor. It was easy. It was much easier than I thought it would be."

I'd enjoyed his tale of loss and vengeance, but it was getting on my nerves. I needed to know what was going on. I needed to know why the car had suddenly stopped. I needed to know now. "Tell me where we are and why we're here."

He fanned his hand at me. "I was getting to that, Mr. Impatient. Just allow me a little more leeway. Family and friends, and even lovers are vital parts of our lives. We need them; especially because we're vampires. The loneliness can be deafening. We walk this world for many, many centuries, many millennia, and most times we do it alone but then, something changes." He soon had a look of longing on his face. "I'm always surrounded by underlings or equals that want or need something from me. I miss the days of being with my human and vampire families. I know what it means to need family with you in this world. I know what Pam means to you. I know that you need Pam just as much as she needs you."

I stared at him as I said, "Make yourself a companion."

He smiled as he repeated, "You need Pam just as much as she needs you."

I was suddenly on edge. Everything that Bill was saying replayed in my mind. I got out of the car and the limo had stopped at a three-way intersection. There were no street signs, only trees. The strong scent of honeysuckle filled the night air. The sounds of the night surrounded us but there was nothing to indicate where we were. A chill suddenly went through me.

From inside the car, Bill said, "Get in, Eric."

And I did as I was told. "Where the fuck are we?"

"You'll know soon enough."

I dropped fang on him and I was going to drain him of every drop of his rancid blood if he didn't tell me what was going on, but something stopped me. The gun that was surely loaded with wooden bullets, and it was aimed at my chest, was the reason I thought long and hard about what I thought I was going to do.

He fanned me off once more and said, "You're overreacting, Eric, but I will kill you if I have to. Now, I'm doing us both a favor, especially you. Put your fangs away. I've brought you here because I know where Pam is. Well, I think I know."

With my hands clinched in fists, I asked, "What the fuck do you mean when you say that you think you know?"

He shifted in his seat. "You must calm down, Eric. We can get this settled if you'd just calm yourself down. My only goal here is to get you back with your child and give you the vengeance that you rightly deserve. And as your king, I am trying to do that for you." He shook his head in fake disappointment. "I can't believe that you don't trust me. I've shared my life with you, and you want to make me out to be the bad guy."

My jaws tightened. "It's because you are, Bill. For the two hundred or so years that I've known you, I've never trusted you. Tonight, has only increased those feelings of distrust."

He glared at me. "Are you willing to work with me to get Pam back home?"

If there was any chance that he could help us get Pam back, I had to hear what he had to say, but I sure as hell wasn't going to agree to anything until I heard what he has to offer. "What do you have?"

He tugged at his jacket and said, "Good. I'm glad that you've decided to calm down and listen to me." Though he seemed to relax, he still held the gun in his hand.

"Tell me what you have."

He waggled his finger at me. "Do you not know me at all, Eric? You will not get the information that quickly, my friend."

With my fangs drawn, I said, "We are not friends."

He shrugged his shoulders. "You're right, but it sounded good when I said it." He had the gall to smile. "Maxwell is a very strong vampire. You know this for yourself. His verve and fight are why he was a part of your retinue, but he's old and he's strong," he said as he pointed at me. "I heard that you are fantastic at torturing other vampires … and humans. You don't discriminate. Do you love Pam?"

I didn't answer because he knows.

He sighed. "Do you want to keep her safe?"

His words brought a smile to my face. "Pam is a very skilled fighter. Nothing will keep her from fighting for her freedom. Nothing will keep me from fighting for and finding her."

Bill glared at me. He shoved the gun back into his jacket pocket. "Are you saying that you don't want her back?"

I refused to dignify that with an answer.

"I can assume that you don't want her back."

I scooted closer to Bill; not fearing the gun or the wooden bullets at all. "If you're going to kill me, kill me, but know this, Bill. I will not allow you to fuck with me any longer. I will find Pam with or without you. Your games aren't beneath you. I wouldn't expect anything else from you." I placed my hand on the door handle. "And for your information, Pam is safe. I leave the bond fully open so that I can feel her, but I will not let you use her captivity against me."

He looked surprised. "Are you saying that you don't want her back?"

"No."

He stared at me for a long minute. "We know where Maxwell Lee is."

I removed my hand from the door handle and sat back in my seat. "Where is he?"

He pointed me and smirked. "I knew that would get to you. I will give him to you, if you give me Sookie. If you don't give Sookie to me, you won't get Maxwell." He looked at his watch once more. "We don't have a lot of time, Eric. Tell me what you want. Do you want Pam or Sookie?"

And just like that, my phone began to chime.

It was Thalia.

I smiled as I looked at the king. "I think I'll take them both."