Chapter Four: Two of a Kind
Pam's POV
Korea really is beautiful, I think happily as I stroll through the market's busy streets. Some of this beauty is marred by mopeds and scooters zipping past me on the sidewalk, but I know that I cannot be harmed so it is of little consequence.
As I am not distracted by the hazardous pedestrian conditions, I am all too aware of the hand slipping into my purse to lift my wallet. With no effort, I grasp the wrist of the offending limb and pull the urchin around to face me.
What I find stuns me. This gorgeous young woman is no urchin. She is dressed like an upper society Gangnam girl, and I cannot understand why she is lifting my wallet. Then again, kleptomania knows no one society.
"What are you doing?" I demand of her angrily in Korean while pinching her wrist and forcing my wallet the rest of the way from her hand.
While she is uttering stunned remarks, I can't help but stare. This woman has the clearest skin I have ever seen on a mortal. I can see old incision scars from plastic surgery, but only because I am a vampire. This girl comes from real money, and if she were just a kleptomaniac, she would be lifting from retail, not wallets. Pick-pocketing is generally far more difficult than shop-lifting.
The thief struggles against my grip, but I am too busy examining her. Her skin is a few shades darker than is the trend for women in this area, and now that I'm listening to her inflection, though still oblivious to her words, I realize…
"You grew up overseas," I comment, releasing her arm. She is staring at me in surprise. "English?"
"Most Koreans speak plenty of English," She points out with some feistiness.
"Agreed," I nod in concurrence. "Daddy shipped you off to the states for boarding school, then?"
"Are you going to call the police, or what?" she demands as she flicks her hair and crosses her arms over her chest.
"Why did you try to lift my wallet?" I ask curiously, but without my usual iciness.
The young woman continues to stare, "Call the cops or let me go."
"I am not holding you here," I point out as I hold my hands for her to see. She remains standing before me as if uncertain about her next move. "What is your name?" I ask.
"Park Jin Ae," she responds, and I can almost see a desperation in her artificially widened eyes. "They called me Jenny in the States."
A smile lifts my cheeks, "Pam." I offer my own name. "Did you prefer Jin Ae or Jenny?"
"Jenny," she says quickly as she stares up at me. Our eyes linger a moment longer until Jenny glances away. I'm disappointed that she prefers her Anglicized name, but mentally force myself to use it. "Are you going to call the police on me?" she asks again.
I can hear a note of hope, but for some reason, I know she is hoping to be arrested and not released. "Why would you want me to?" I ask curiously and Jenny looks back into my eyes with growing surprise.
"It's a long story," Jenny utters.
"It's a long street," I point out, nudging her closer to the buildings to avoid yet another inconsiderate scooter rider.
Jenny is quiet as we begin strolling down the sidewalk, but eventually, she confesses, "I've practically grown up entirely in the United States. Since I was ten years old, I've lived in California, I don't even have an accent when I talk. I grew up watching American teen dramas, not K-dramas…" I listen as she rambles, waiting for her point. "Now I'm expected to be a perfect Korean bride, and I'm not even sure what all that means." We quietly walk a few more paces before she continues. "I just finished university, and now I'm supposed to marry this guy my family chose and push out babies without even using my degree!"
A cringe at the thought of arranged marriages. I escaped one as well. I paid for that with my human existence eventually, but it was definitely worth it.
"So, you do come from money," I say instead of ask.
"A lot," she admits.
"And you were hoping if you got arrested for stealing that maybe your betrothed or his family would go back on the marriage agreement?" I guess.
Jenny nods slowly, her hair cascading like a sheet of silk over her shoulder as she does. Damn it, she's too fucking gorgeous.
"That explains why you are so shitty at picking pockets," I laugh. She looks up at me and laughs in surprise. "Do you want to get out of here?" I ask after our laughter has died down.
"And do what?" Jenny sighs, brushing her hair back from her beautiful face.
"Well, me if you're interested. If not, I suppose I could at least go for a manicure," I reply flippantly while simultaneously letting my intentions be known. Jenny stares at me hesitantly, but I hold her gaze unblinking.
"You," she tells me, and as her doll black eyes look up at me with some sort of helpless trust, something in my chest moves for the first time in my vampire existence.
Jenny uses her phone to summon a car, and I tell her the name of my hotel. As she types into her phone, I can see a small tremble in her fingertips. While we wait for the car to arrive, I tell her, "You can change your mind."
"No, I want to," she assures. "But… I've never uh, been with a girl before."
"I have been with enough to make it worth your while," I tell her confidently, "And I would never hold you to my own standard."
The young woman nods shyly, and we wait in silence for our car. Even the ride to the hotel is a silent one as I give her room to process what is happening to her. Part of me wonders if this is a set up for a later con, but I cannot say I would care if it meant getting to bed such a gorgeous woman.
We arrive up in my penthouse, and Jenny looks at me in surprise as I drop my purse on the entryway table.
"You come from money, too?" She asks.
"I do not come from money, I make money come to me," I answer, holding my hands out to remove her coat.
"Oh, new money?" Jenny guesses.
"Not exactly," I shake my head. "If you stick around long enough, perhaps I will regale you with the tale of my family's fortune."
This seems to intrigue Jenny, but she merely stares at me quizzically near the front door.
"Do you want something to drink?" I ask, trying to break her tension.
"Oh, um, do you have wine?" She asks.
"I can call for some," I tell her, reaching for the phone. "White or red?"
"White and sweet," she replies. I nod in understanding and order a bottle up, choosing something more expensive as I know it will not be wasted on her with the upbringing she has had. Sookie was easy enough to introduce on cheap wines and we slowly advanced her pallet. Jenny would have most likely grown up on finer wines.
I gesture to the rest of the suite as we wait for the wine to arrive. She looks around curiously before spotting some of my recent purchases still sitting on the chaise.
"Oh, you got this bag?" She picks up one of my designer handbags. "I wanted this one, but it was sold out."
"I have connections," I reply. "Fashion is my passion."
"Mine is music," she says. "Not that I don't love a nice pair of stilettos, though."
"Music? Do you play an instrument or sing?" I ask curiously.
"I can sing, but I play a few different instruments, too. I double majored at Stanford. Economics and music," she says. "The only way I'd ever get to major in music was if I also majored in some stuffy subject too."
"I learned the violin once upon a time," I comment.
"On a whim?" She asks with a surprised laugh.
I nod, "I was bored and had a lot of spare time on hand."
"That's impressive," Jenny laughs again, this time nervously.
"Are you worried about sleeping with me?" I ask as the knock on my hotel door announces the arrival of the wine.
"Eh," Jenny hesitates to respond as I open the door to bring the bottle and glasses inside. The cork has already been removed, and I pour a glass for my guest. She accepts the wine and downs it in one gulp before holding it back to me for a refill. "Are you having any?"
"I don't drink wine," I tell her truthfully.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jenny plays with the stem of her glass nervously.
"No need to apologize," I wave off her words.
She guzzles down her second glass of wine, setting the crystal on the nearby end table. Taking a bold step toward me, I watch amusedly as she leans in with a false start and then shyly backs away. When she does this a second time, I take her delicate face in my hands and kiss her deeply. Her tongue takes a moment to respond, but as my arms wrap around her body, Jenny goes boneless in my arms.
Laying the young woman on the nearby chaise, I hover over her thoughtfully. "Have you at least been with a man before?" I ask curiously.
Jenny nods, her cheeks going rosy as the weight of my breasts rest atop hers.
"Did you like it?" I ask.
"It's fine," she answers, making me laugh. "But I already like this much more."'
I smile at her confession and lean in for another kiss. As I do, I shifty myself to rest between her legs. The smell of her responding to me fills my nostrils, and I feel giddy.
"I am excited, too," I tell her quietly. With that, I resume our kisses, pressing our bodies tightly as she becomes shorter and shorter on breaths. Once I have her gasping beneath me, I begin kissing her elsewhere. Across her cheek, down her neck, up to her ears all while my hands whisper gentle promises to the rest of her body that they will soon know the pleasures of my mouth as well.
As I start kissing down her body, Jenny touches my shoulder cautiously. "Can we do it in the bedroom instead?" She asks in her shy voice.
"Certainly," I agree easily and pull her into my arms, taking Jenny by surprise.
"You're strong!" She cries, holding onto me as I carry Jenny to the bedroom. When I lay her down, she insists, "You made that look effortless."
"Because it was," I tease. "Now, open your legs." She quickly complies and I lick my lips at the obedience. She seems to like being ordered around, or at least finds some sort of familiar comfort from it. I can relate, having come from a background of taking orders until I could no longer find it in myself to do so.
Kissing my way along her inner thighs, I cannot help but smile at the way that they tremble in my hands. I also cannot help but give her pulse point a gentle nibble that makes her whimper. One of my hands runs gently up her hip before circling to her belly to offer a soothing caress, all while my mouth sucks and nibbles its way to her impatient center.
My bedroom is soon filled with sweet mewls and gasping breaths as I pleasure her over and over with my mouth until she can scarcely draw a breath. By the time I have decided she has had enough, she is a sweating, gasping, pile of limbs on my bed.
As I gaze down at her appreciatively, all I can think is I wish I could stay in this room with her forever.
Eric's POV:
"I am mistaken, yes? It must be a mistake," I ask of my Maker.
Godric is frowning as we stand in my office away from the rest of the family. My children have gone off on their respective dates with Quigley and Diedre. Now I am left staggered about my eldest Child and the very real possibility that she has been possessed by the urge to Bond.
"As I felt the emotion through your connection, I must confess that it truly felt similar to the feeling you gave me when you met Sookie- although you seemed intent to disregard it at first," Godric tells me thoughtfully. "Ludwig did tell us that both Pam and Jason would mature much faster with their continuous awareness. Jason is merely twenty and already showing strength equal to those at their century mark."
"But Bonding," I shake my head in disbelief.
"It was merely a thrum," Godric points out. "You said that you have not noticed any changes in Pam prior to this, correct? It is most likely a physical response only. Give her heart time, see if it grows or wilts."
"She better not Bond before bringing this woman here to meet the family," I grumble annoyedly.
"She would never," Godric assures. "Although, it would be staggering to gain three new members within the same year."
"Three? You can't possibly think Pam, Leif and Alexis would all-"
"Our bloodline did grow quite swiftly once you met your Sookie," Godric reminds me. "Within very little time, you were Bonded, Jason was sired and I was Bonded. Not too long after that Sookie had Leif and Alexis."
"Still, Pam is barely two hundred," I shake my head. "Even with the acceleration, she is nowhere near an age or experience that we would expect such compulsions."
"Do not worry, Eric," Godric smiles at me comfortingly. "There is nothing to do but give it time."
"That is true," I agree begrudgingly.
"I would be focusing more on your younger children since they are actually more likely to be coming to that possibility," Godric teases me.
I groan and shake my head, "I'd rather not think about any of it right now. Diedre and Quigley both had the gall to tease me about it when they arrived."
"It bothered you?" Godric is surprised.
"I would not say it was bothersome," I insist. "Still, the notion did fill me with some sorrow as I realized they are growing up. Their childhoods are nearly over, and I do not want it to end just yet. If they both were to unite with Bondeds… They would be watched over by them and not myself and Sookie. I suppose I am not ready for that just yet. Without knowing if or when Sookie can give us more children… It makes it harder to encourage them to become adults."
Godric stares at me and I know it is because I have left him flabbergasted. I know I never thought I would enjoy fatherhood so deeply. It must be even more of a shock to him. I am certain he has thought I could not wait to have my children leave home so I could regain some sort of freedom.
"I envy you, Eric," Godric smiles sadly instead. "I wish I could have such a purpose."
"You mean the world to this family, Master," I tell him earnestly.
Before I can give anymore assurances to my Maker, I hear a car door shut outside and my body is at the front door to snatch my daughter out from beneath Quigley's lips.
"Oi! Northman!" Quigley shouts at me as I wrench Alexis from his grasp and prevent him from kissing her goodnight.
"Dad!" Alexis whines in frustration and embarrassment.
"You said ten. It is nearly eleven," I tell Quigley annoyedly.
"And is your boy back yet?" Quigley demands.
"He is not, but Diedre did not make any promises to me," I tell him. "Next time, remember to follow through properly."
"Imma 'bout to kick yer ruddy arse, Northman," Quigley snarls at me.
"Dad," Alexis pleads.
"As if you could," I snap at Quigley.
"What is going on out here?" Sookie calls having heard the commotion. "Eric! Close that door this instant! It's too cold to be standing with the front door hanging open!"
"MOM!" Alexis turns to her mother, "Mom, Dad just yanked me into the house! He didn't even let Quigley tell me good night!"
"Quigley," Sookie turns to the vampire on the doorstep, "tell Alexis goodnight."
Quigley's shoulders slump, "Good night, Storeen."
Alexis melt's at Quigley's sentiment, "G'night, Quigley."
"Now off to bed with you. Quigley, goodnight," Sookie shoos him away and closes the door before turning on me. "Eric, you need to play nice."
I scowl at my wife's reprimand, "He said he would have her back by ten."
"But-"
"To bed, Alexis," my Bonded commands our child and she mopes her way up the stairs. She looks at me and I feel the Bond hum with comfort. "I get it, Darlin'. I'm sad too."
A heavy sigh escapes my lips, "Why do they have to grow up?"
"Where's Leif?" Sookie asks me.
"He is not home yet," I confess.
"And you wouldn't even let Alexis get a goodnight kiss?" Sookie scowls.
"Diedre did not make any promises about when she would be bringing him home. Quigley promised me he would have Alexis back by ten," I tell her.
"Call your son. Tell him he better be back in this house in the next twenty minutes," she demands sharply.
Even as I am taking out my phone I hear a car pulling up to the driveway. Peering through the glass, I see my son clambering out of Diedre's rental before stumbling up the driveway to the front door. I open the door as Leif reaches for the handle. He has a lovestruck gaze in his eyes and I merely shake my head before ushering him past the threshold.
"Go to bed," I tell him with an exasperated sigh. He does not smell of sex, but his skin is flushed. I can tell by Sookie's expression that she is less than pleased by Leif''s condition.
Once our son is upstairs, Sookie has begun shaking her head. "I'm not ready for any of this!" she comments. "I thought I was, but I'm just not."
"You were not much older than them when we met," I point out to my wife.
"I know," she answers, "but… It was just me and Jason." I follow her into my office and take a seat in the one of the wing-backed chairs. Sookie immediately falls into my lap and I wrap my arms around her comfortingly. "There's a certain amount of growing up Jason and I went through living like we did."
"There is a certain amount of growing up Leif and Alexis have gone through being part of a family with so much diversity and secrets," I remind her. "But that is easy for me to say now that they are back under our roof and off to bed."
"We spent all these years trying to make sure that we were taking care of them and protecting them, and now I'm scared to let anyone else have that job," Sookie mumbles against my shoulder. "And I'm scared that they might rush into a Bond and not be prepared for the work that goes into it. We make it look so easy."
"Being your Bonded is the easiest thing in the world," I tell her. "And should they choose to create those connections to Diedre and Quigley, it will be the easiest thing in the world for them as well." Sookie embraces me tighter, her heart thrumming against my silent ribcage, echoing her life force into me.
The past decades we have been together have not come without difficulties. Keeping our secrets as more supernatural societies came out to the public eye has been tedious on its own. Our saving grace is that we are immune to the usual exposures of our nature. The greatest challenge will be starting over again and again as the world becomes more connected- more invasive.
"What are you thinking about?" Sookie asks. "Wait, I bet I can guess. You're still concerned about when we have to start over. Right?"
Of course my wife and Bonded would know the thoughts that wrack my brain, especially as she is attuned with my emotions and has probably associated these feelings with these reoccurring concerns.
"Every year government documents become harder and harder to forge. As our family grows, so do our problems," I confess. "If Diedre and Quigley join this family, it will only be more difficult."
"At least the jewelry Cammie enchanted lets us look like we're aging," Sookie reminds me. "That at least buys us several decades."
I nod in agreement that our family caster has done a marvelous job reducing the frequency that we are forced to start anew, but sixty or even seventy year intervals add to a nuisance given enough centuries.
"Camilla has been invaluable," I reply, but that is all that I manage before a knock at the front door draws a frown to my face. I rise carefully, setting my wife back onto her feet before heading to the entrance. Before I touch the handle I know it is a vampire on the other side, but not either of the two I would have expected. "Theo," I greet as I open the door, "you are a long ways from Louisiana."
"Sheriff- I mean… Northman," Theo nods his head respectfully, his hands nervously clasping and unclasping at the waist. "Sir," he finally decides. "This… this thing. It started glowing. I know I should've turned it over when you buried me, but-"
Theo stops talking as I take the glowing stone from his breast pocket.
"You took this from the Old Kingdom?" I guess.
Around the time Sookie was conceived, the gate to Elfyria's Old Kingdom opened as Endymion arrived to bestow the powers from which we now all benefit. Theo had been nearby at the time, and slipped into the Old Kingdom to steal artifacts to sell on the underground market. Unfortunately for him, I caught him, confiscated what I thought were all of his procurements and then buried him in silver for a few decades. Admittedly, I may have forgotten him a bit longer than his sentence warranted.
"I did, yes," Theo confesses. "It was just a chip that fell off one of the things you confiscated. I didn't think anything of it, but then tonight, it started glowing. I couldn't stand to get in trouble again, Sir. I got up here as fast as I could. I didn't know what to do with it!"
"I will inform the North American Council," I tell him. Thankfully, Thorn is in town and easy enough to contact. "Congratulations on making a better choice this time."
I close the door in Theo's face and wander back into the house. Godric is already heading toward me curiously, but one glance at the object in my hand and he confirms my suspicions, "Empyrodite?"
"So it would seem," I agree with a slow nod.
"If it is glowing, that means Elfyria is generating its own magic again," Godric says slowly, his tone dripping with confusion.
"It's been nearly five hundred years that it started falling into ruin," I consider. "Perhaps it was merely going into dormancy at that time. Without a way in, no one was ever able to scout out what actually happened."
"It didn't help that Niall and his family were doing everything possible to hide what was happening," Godric agrees. "Was it eighty years or so ago that the gates fell for good?"
"That sounds about right. The last surviving fae managed to clamber out around the 1950's. Over the next couple decades even they died off here," I remember. "The gate didn't open again until the 1980's when Endymion came through. Of course, Endymion opened it by his own power, so no one felt it. Theo just got lucky and was there when it happened."
"Would you like me to contact Diedre about the Empyrodite?" Godric offers.
"Thank you, I have a feeling Diedre would merely use the opportunity to tease me about whatever she did to make my son stumble through the door like a newborn calf."
Godric merely laughs at my comment and takes the stone from my hand while simultaneously taking out his phone.
TBC
A/N: Please remember to review!
-Andi