Quiet Lies – Part 2- Cheap Thrills

A/N

Like all of you, I had a hard time letting this one go. When I heard this song the other day I could see them dancing together and knew that I had to go on. I still have not found a better plan this Eric’s in the TB version of things, so I have pulled together a hybrid mix of TB and SVM that allows me some freedom to play here a little more. It’s all still coming together for me, a little at a time, but I wanted to share what I had so far. I like it better than either the book or the show so far.

Be sure to check out the song and let me know if you agree with Eric and his pop hip hop tango.  

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SPOV

 

Sia and Sean Paul’s Cheap Thrills filled my ears, while I filled his arms, stepping in perfect time through a pop hip-hop tango.  I couldn’t stop smiling.  I was intoxicated by the music and the vampire who moved with me in perfect sync through steps that I was sure he made up on the fly, just to see if I could keep up.  His sexy smile as he looked down at me erased where we were and what we were doing for a precious few minutes.  We held them all in our hands when he spun me, pressed against me and dipped me dangerously close to the floor of the vampire bar in Jackson, Mississippi.

He had told me the best defense was a good offense, loaded me into his Corvette and headed to where he believed Bill was being held. When I had asked him why he was willing to help Bill he had explained in his typically blunt way that he was not. He needed Bill because he and a queen, which I had never met, had framed him for selling V, and now Pam was in danger from the same Magister that had forced Bill to make Jessica for the staking of Longshadow.

“But you were selling V?” I had asked while sitting on my sofa wrapped in a robe I had pulled on when Pam had called us, telling him that Fangtasia has been raided. He had left immediately to go to her, returning to me shortly before sunrise. He was pacing furiously, his long strides eating up my living room in three or four frustrated bites before spinning like a top to repeat it over again.

“Yes,” he snapped at me, in danger of wearing out the rug as he turned to continue pacing.

“I don’t understand.  If you were doing it, then where does Bill and this queen fit in?”

“She made me do it.”

“And you can’t tell the Magister that?”

“No, it would be treason.  I would be executed for naming her as I would for selling V.”

“That’s just…fucked up.” He growled at me.

“Regardless, that is the way of it in my world.” I shook my head, already missing the quiet time we had shared just a few hours ago.

“And where does Bill fit in?” He growled again move savagely, and clenched his fists as he turned to me with his fangs down. It probably should have scared me, but it didn’t. I had my fingers under the edges of him now as well. “I get that my questions are pissing you off, and you are worried about Pam, but I can’t help if I don’t understand.” I patted the sofa next to me and smiled at him, sweetly. “Park it, big boy and tell me what I need to know.”

“You can’t help!” he yelled at me. I came to my feet like a shot.

“Sit down!” I pointed at the sofa with a grim look on my face. He had the grace to look ashamed for his behavior as he retracted his fangs and huffed his way over.  He flung himself down, more than sat, and for just a moment in the dark cloud of his mood I saw the man who had swept me up the stairs and promised me no more quiet lies.  He was in there, surrounded by this coating of frightened petulant child that seemed so lost and unsure.

I took a deep breath, pushing my own anger away, and set about soothing him by planting myself in his lap, sideways to see his face.  I was so glad I did, because the look on it was priceless. I snickered a bit, and then planted a kiss on his careworn cheek.  “Now, from the beginning, please.”

“She’s had me selling V for months because she is financially incompetent.  When I went to see her for information on how to kill the maenad she heard Bill threaten to reveal me to her.  She was very upset that he knew, and threatened me.  I should have seen this coming.”

“What would happen to her if they found out she was selling V?”

“Same thing that will happen to us, execution.  It is a capital offense to our kind.”

“But you tortured Lafayette for selling V?”

“I also spared his life.”

“Why?”

“Because he was your friend. At least I hope he was.  My cheek is still stinging from your slap.” A corner of his mouth turned up as he stared at me, daring me to say something to his confession.  No, confessions.  He had gone to the queen to get information about the maenad? He had run into Bill in the same place?  I had begged Bill to help, but Eric had gone on his own, apparently at great risk, to a crazy queen for information to help me.

“Why didn’t you come back with Bill after you saw the queen?”

“She made me stay, letting Compton return to you.”

“Why would she do that?”

“Something I have been wondering about myself.  I suspected she wanted me out of his way so he could play the hero for you.” His face was grim.   “After this, I am sure of it.” I sat there quiet as I turned these pieces over in my mind. “Having the Magister execute me neatly frees up Bill from my tendency to be around whenever you are, and it also frees the queen from being responsible for selling V.  It’s what you call a win-win solution.”

“Why is Bill so special that the queen cares about his love life?” He chuckled.

“Sophie Anne is many things, but all of them are about her.  If she is invested in Bill’s interest in you, it only serves her.”

“I need to know why she is interested in me.”

“Agreed.  However, I can’t help you if I don’t find a way to prevent my execution.”

“You want to offer Bill in your place?” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.  I didn’t think I was in love with him anymore, and I definitely had questions about him and this queen, Sophie Anne, but to let Eric and the Magister kill him?  I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

“This is why you can’t help me,” he said, his face filled with sadness.  “You would never choose me over Bill.”  The idea of Eric dead was chilling.  I was sure that I wasn’t ready for that. Distracting myself from the unpleasant idea, I kissed him, soft pecks at first that turned into something else as my arms slid around his neck.  It’s too soon to lose you, I thought as I deepened the kiss, turning my body into his pressing myself to his chest.

“I know that I don’t want to lose you,” I said, placing soft kisses on his cheek next to his lips. “I know that I will help you if I can.”  He sighed as his arms came around me, holding me tightly as he let me continue kissing him. “What do you think we should do?” At first I didn’t think he was going to answer me.

“We have to go to Jackson and find out where Bill is, why the wolves are after you and see if we can figure out how to save my ass along the way.” I smiled against his skin.

“It is an ass worth saving.  A very nice ass, in fact.” He almost smiled before he went on.

“Gods, I am a fool for taking you with me, but I can’t leave you here unprotected.” I continued kissing him.

“What you mean is that I can’t protect you if you don’t take me with you.” He groaned, squeezing me that much tighter.  It wasn’t an agreement, but it wasn’t a disagreement either.

“You aren’t going to like this next part.”

“Try me.”

“If the wolves are after you because they think you hold sway with Bill, we need to convince them that this is no longer the case.” I stopped kissing him, pulling back to look him in the eye.

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“That if you go with me to Jackson, you will go as mine.”

EPOV

I rushed on to stop the words that I didn’t want to hear from passing her lips. “I will need to give you my blood and take more of yours.  It will strengthen my ability to track you if you get in trouble, and with my blood in you, any supernatural would know that you are mine.  It would be some small protection.”

“It would not be small,” she said quietly, managing to surprise me even as she stroked my ego.  Maybe she saw me better than I had ever imagined. “I know better than anyone how formidable you can be, Mr. Northman.”

“Once we arrive, we will make them come to us, but the illusion must be seamless.  No matter what happens, no matter what you see, you must at all times conduct yourself as though you are mine.” She swallowed nervously.

“What would that mean?” I reassured her as she had me, by placing kisses on her face as I described in precise detail how it would be with us, alone and surrounded by enemies.

“Only I can touch you.  You must behave as though I am your whole world.  That only my touch matters.  That you long for my kiss more than your next breath of air.  The thought of any other is repellant to you.” My hands had been sliding up and down her back as I spoke my quiet words of possession to her.  If she only knew how long I had thought of saying them to her, and how much I hated that she would only be playing at what I wanted most in the world.

When she rocked in my lap, her hands coming up to pull me into a deeper kiss, I shoved away my foolish wishes and found a small scrap of gratitude that she was here in my arms now.  I let myself believe it was real for a moment, kissing her with the same passion that she used on me. Within a few minutes we were both swept away in the spell we had weaved together.

“Like that,” I whispered to her, when the kiss ended, resting my forehead against hers, letting my eyes close so that the illusion could live just that much longer.

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” she whispered back to me, sighing softly as she settled deeper into me.

“I will allow Bill to perish to save myself or you.” She needed to be clear on that.

“I know,” she told me, her eyes still closed, I saw when I opened mine to gauge her reaction.  “I will pray it doesn’t come to that.”  I didn’t tell her that I was praying it did.  I released her long enough to pull out my credit card.

“Take this and purchase some things for yourself today.  Get the kinds of things that you would dress in if you were truly mine. Get some things for fancy nights.  Get some things you have always wanted to have, but never let yourself have before.” She looked like she was going to refuse, so I quickly added the magic words. “If you truly want to help me, I need you to look the part.  I would never let a woman of mine be less than her best at any time.” She pouted, her bottom lip coming out and distracting me with a desire to bite it.

“You don’t like me as I am?”

“How can you ask that?  I have done nothing but pursue you since the moment I first saw you. This isn’t about me, it’s about suiting up to make them think you are mine.” She was still struggling, and I knew then I had tangled in her pride.  It was a disease I was all too familiar with myself. Before I could go on she asked me something I never expected to hear from her.

“Is…is this what it’s like to be yours?  Fancy clothes, credit cards and masks that hide who really I am?”

“For you, never.  I…accept you just as you are.  This is part of the game we must play, if you wish to help me.  I understand how this world works, and what they will think to see you decked out and acting like you are crazy about me. It will keep them from the truth that we need to conceal.”

“What truth is that?” It hurt more than I had expected to say it.

“That you are smart, savvy, and there to kick their ass to reclaim the man you love.” I couldn’t say his name, and I hated myself for it.  She gave me the strangest look while I stared at her refusing to blink or show my pain.  She had the grace not to argue with me. I was grateful for that at least.

SPOV

He had left before dawn, and after a few hours of sleep I had gone out and used his fancy black credit card.  I thought of him as I shopped, looking for things that he would like in the things he had told me to purchase. I was most pleased with a beaded red dress that hit above my knee and dipped between my breasts.  I bought lacy red panties to wear with it and red strappy heels.  It wasn’t the kind of dress that you wore a bra with, and I already knew that when I put it on I would be transformed into exactly the woman he had described last night.

After a moment’s hesitation I had also purchased some gold jewelry, small hoops a thin necklace that hugged me almost like a collar and matching bracelet. I smiled as I thought of how it would look on me.  I smiled more when I imagined what his face would look like when he saw me in it.

I had taken a nap after getting back from shopping, and I awoke to find him in bed next to me.  He was smoothing the hair from my face, startling me at how his large hands could be so gentle. Seeing him there felt right, it was natural that I move closer to him, and more comforting than I had ever imagined when he wrapped me in his arms and kissed the top of my head.

I glanced at the window, seeing that it was dusk outside. He had risen and come straight to me.  “I like you here,” I told him. His hand came up to stroke my hair.

“I do, too.”

“Tell me again.”

“What?”

“How I am to behave tonight.”  I hesitated and then plunged forward. “What it’s like to be yours.” He slid down in the bed beside me, looking into my eyes.

“Only I can touch you.” He ran his hand up my arm, coming to rest on my face.  He kissed me then, a kiss so powerful it made me feel like I did never want anyone to touch me but him. He went on when the kiss ended. “You must behave as though I am your whole world.” I pulled off the tank top I had worn shopping and shimmied out of my cut offs, my eyes never leaving his. “That only my touch matters.”

I pulled his shirt up and over his head.  He reached back to undo the clasp on my bra, which ended up lost in the covers in seconds.  His hands moving down to slide my panties off.  I unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down.  “That you long for my kiss more than your next breath of air.  The thought of any other is repellant to you.”

I climbed up into his lap and kissed him just as he had described, feeling it in my bones that I truly did need him more than my next breath of air.  Feeling him harden beneath me was exhilarating. He leaned up and used his long graceful arms to push his jeans down further, finishing their removal with his feet, making me bounce on his hard length.  As if he body knew mine better than I did, his hard cock found its way to my wet folds, sliding through me luxuriously hitting all the places that were burning for him.

The feel of his chest pressed to mine was sublime.  When his arms wrapped around me I closed my eyes and surrendered to the need for him that was eating me alive. His hips kept a steady rhythm as his mouth found my breasts, kissing and sucking in the same rhythm that he used between my thighs.  He was so good at this! I was right on the edge when his ragged whisper cut through the mist in my mind.

“Please, open your eyes, Sookie.  Don’t pretend I’m someone else.” The raw vulnerability in his words tore me up. Reacting to his state, I took his hand and pressed it between my thighs, encouraging him to touch me where I most needed him, as I looked into his eyes.

“I know it’s you, Eric,” I told him breathlessly as he found the perfect rhythm to touch me.  “It’s you I want.” His other hand came up to pull me into a savage kiss as he worked me faster.  I cried out, and he swallowed my cries of unbearable pleasure like fine wine.  I shaking all over but he refused to stop, instead he shifted me, his cock sliding into me slowly, grunting in time with the pulses he had created in my body.  His sounds drove me deeper into the waves pleasure he had given me.  His first full deep thrust set me off again, squeezing him as though I meant to keep him forever, and make him a part of me.

My hands came up to his shoulders as he rocked up into me again and again, “God, how do you feel so good?” I was uncensored now, my brain completely disconnected from my mouth as he moved inside me. My words spurred him to move, rolling us over.  He pulled my legs up, and when I felt him sink all the way to the bottom of me I screamed his name. His hips started to pound me then, our flesh smacking as he set a perfect consistent rhythm that did exactly what I needed it to do.  I came again, a long string of sounds meant to beg him to never stop exactly what he was doing.

“You will be covered in me, in my scent,” he ground out next to my ear while his hips maintained the same relentless pace.  His words of possession came to me so strongly he was like a voice in my mind, whispering revelations I wanted but dared not speak.  “My come will be dripping down your thighs tonight, and everyone will know you are mine!” Fucking Eric and his filthy talk was only gas on the fire of me. I hated that I loved that about him.  The way he saw through me was mesmerizing.   His fangs had been down since I had unbuttoned his jeans, I watched him tear his wrist open, and offer it to me.  “Take my blood.” I was numb and sensitized to every touch of him, every thrust taking me back to the well for more.

He slowed enough for me to take his wrist and a mouthful of his blood. He stiffened at the touch of my lips on his skin, his whole body convulsing as he threw his head back lost in a pleasure so intense that even in my passion drugged state I was jealous.  I wanted to feel that, too, and I wanted it with Eric.  I wanted to share it with him.

I released his wrist, and pushed at his chest.  He frowned, but responded sluggishly to my direction. I hated the loss of him, feeling empty and aching when he pulled out of my body, still hard.  My own hungry body responded too slowly for my need, but I got there, turning him to sit and then sliding into his lap my back to his chest.  When I raised up just enough for him to fill me again, we both groaned with satisfaction from his entrance.

I moved a few times, enjoying the sensation of him again, before stopping to articulate my need.  I pulled my hair to side and grabbed his wrist again.  It had healed now.  “I want to feel that with you,” I rocked on him slowly, keeping him deep inside me as our addled brains tried to communicate.

“What?” I pushed down harder, making us both shake and rumble.

“Want…to…drink…you, while, oh! God! While you bite me!” I finally got out, my body pressing me to move faster and savor the pleasure it felt from having him so deep in me.  His hands came to my hips, squeezing hard enough to bruise as he lifted me just far enough to fuck me fast and hard, showing me with his body what my words had done to him.

His head fell to my neck as he pounded into me.  I could barely understand him between his grunts and the tingling sensations of another orgasm that was pulling at me again. “One,” he panted out as he kept up the pace.  “We would be one!” I wasn’t sure I understood his meaning, but the imagery of them sent me right over into another full blown orgasm making me cry out.

“YES! One with me!” In my drugged mind I caught brief flashes of waking up to him every night, of having this feeling for the rest of my life. I wanted it and I wanted him.

When I went limp in his arms, he eased me down, rocking into me slowly as he tore his wrist again.  My slow clumsy hands came up to pull it to my lips as he continued to thrust. At the first pull his muscles locked beneath me again. I felt his cock jerking inside me and shivered from the sensation.

I tried to rock on him, but he held my upper body as his fangs sank into my neck and I felt the first pull of his cool lips on my skin. We went off together like the Fourth of July.  There were explosions across my eyes as our bodies locked together.  His hips rocked hard and fast fucking me perfectly as I groaned around wrist.

His sounds as he drank me were primal, touching something wild inside me that rolled over and rubbed its eyes.  The sensation was overwhelming and I could feel a heat growing inside me that was more powerful than anything I had felt before, but it reminded me of the feeling when I had shot light out of my hands at the maenad.

What are you? She had asked me.  It was everyone’s favorite question.  I had heard it all my life.

My body shook hard, my muscles as incoherent as my mind.  When I felt him come inside me, a wet surging of pulses filling me with coolness that did nothing to stem the tide I heard his words again, that image of him dripping from me as we faced our enemies, and how they would know I was his. It was the edge of everything I could stand.

When my vision went red, and this world faded out, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had been right. I knew what I was at last.  I was his.

EPOV

Her heartbeat assured me that she was alive.  If not for that I would have lost my mind when she passed out in my arms.  I was poised over her when she awoke, wondering if she has any idea what had just happened, even as I cursed myself for letting it happen.

She had been so sure, so confident, so wet and hot around me that I could not deny her.  Even now I only regretted her inevitable anger when I told her that we had bonded.  The feeling had been beyond words.  When she had demanded a mutual blood exchange I was as lost in the magic between us as she.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at me when she could get her eyes to focus.

“Hey,” I said back, waiting for the less pleasant explosion I was sure was coming.

“If we could package that for sale, we would be rich beyond measure,” she joked as she lay there looking like a sweaty angel in the moonlight. I tried to smile, but couldn’t find one.  I had to tell her, otherwise it would be another quiet lie.  I had vowed to do that no more, and where we were going there was a chance that someone else would do it for me.  If that happened our fragile truce would end in anger and recriminations. I needed to be right with her, even if the rest of the world was going to shit.

“Sookie, what happened, it was special.” She chuckled.

“I’ll say.”

“No, I mean, when you asked for a mutual blood exchange.  It’s not something we do.  There are…complications.”

“What kind of complications?”

“It bonds us together.”

“In what way?” I explained it to her, the whole thing and what it meant.  She was quiet throughout my explanation, which I kept as concise and sensitive as possible since the clock was ticking and we needed to get moving.

“All right,” she said.  I checked our blood connection and was shocked to find that she was calm on the inside as she appeared on the outside.  She must have read something on my face.  “It’s all right, Eric.  I wanted it.”

“But you didn’t know what it meant.”

“I knew what it meant to me.” I wasn’t expecting that.

“I don’t understand, Sookie.”

“I wanted to feel what you were feeling when I drank from you.  I wanted to feel you. I may not have understood, but I got what I wanted.” She paused, plucking at the tangled sheets nervously. “I’m only sorry that it’s not what you wanted.” Her eyes dropped down and remorse ran through her.

“It’s not what I had planned for tonight, but I never said I didn’t want it.” Her eyes flipped up to mine, looking to see if I was telling the truth.  I met her gaze openly.  She smiled again, her desire ripping through me, making me wish we had time to celebrate this strange wonderful turn of events for the rest of the night, but it was not to be.

“We better get moving,” she said rising.  “Can you tell me where we are going so I can get dressed?”

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In no time we were zipping down the interstate toward Jackson, headed toward a vampire bar called Club Dead.  I explained on the way that it was owned by the vampire king of Mississippi. If Bill were in Jackson Russell Edgington would know where to find him.

When I told her of my family and their connection to the wolves that wore the runic symbol she had taken my hand and kissed it softly, refusing to let it go until I had to shift gears as we came off the interstate and merged with the inner city traffic.

I had been as factual and unemotional as possible when I spoke of my past, but I had not fooled her.  Nor had I missed the tracks of her own silent tears as she shed them for me, with a dignity that moved me deeply. When she sniffed quietly and swiped them away, she turned to me.

“I understand.  I killed the man who murdered my Gran.” I had read about it in what passed for a newspaper in Shreveport.

“I wanted to come to you then, but I did not believe I would be welcome and did not want to impose.”

“You were probably right.  It was a dark and confusing time for me. I only mention it now so that you would know that I really do understand your need to avenge them. That nothing matters more, and rightfully so.”

Except that as soon as she said the words I knew that she mattered just as much to me, maybe even more.  I saw my father’s face again, as he lay there dying in my arms.  He demanded vengeance, but would have he have understood my need to protect this woman being placed above it?

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When we arrived at Club Dead it was just after midnight, and the crowd was light.  We took a quiet corner booth ordered drinks and set about making a convincing showmance.  It was ridiculously easy to wrap my long frame around her smaller one and let her adore me in all the ways I had fantasized about for so long.  Less than an hour later our patience was rewarded.

Russell came in with his lover Talbot and a small entourage.  Among them were Compton and his maker, Lorena. I dipped my head down to kiss her neck and let her know they were here, counting on the loud music to disguise my quiet whispers.  I took her hand under the table, squeezing it as I told her that Bill and Lorena seemed to be together.

Her emotions dropped down to a swirl of anger and then came back up almost as quickly as she wrapped herself around me more tightly and sighed resignedly.  I held her a minute, hating that she still cared, but grateful that she had taken my words to heart.  That was Sookie, no matter how shitty the plan was, when she was in, she was all the way in.  I had learned that in Dallas.

I stood slowly, extending my hand to her as Cheap Thrills started to play over the loud speakers.  “Dance with me.”  She met my eyes with a real smile that I could feel all the way to my toes.  Then she placed her hand and her life in my mine as we took command of the small dance floor.

The beat was perfect, reminding me of the tango, so I set a pace that any mere mortal would have stumbled on, but Sookie was no mere mortal.  The faster I moved, she moved with me, responding with sharp precision to the slightest nudge of my hand on her back, her feet almost a blur as we moved.  Her eyes never left mine, and I wondered if she was telepathically reading my steps before I could make them.

I wished she could read my mind, and know my heart.  As I looked into her beautiful eyes the world with all its dangers fell away from me.  She was ideal for me in every way.  If it was a choice to keep her alive or avenge the dead, I knew my father would be disappointed.  I also knew that I would be anything but, she was as close to perfection as I would find in the darkness of my world.

As the song came to a close I spun her at a dizzying pace, while turning my body into it with her so that she wrapped around me, taking the chance to wind her body around me all the way around and down so that as the song faded she ended wrapped around my feet, her face aglow with such love as she looked up at me that it made me feel breathless, too.

I was transfixed, watching her chest pump up and down as she panted for air, the beads of her perfect red dress catching the light of Club Dead, shimmering like stars.  If I had not known we were playing at this I would have thought she was really mine in every way.  It was a sobering thought that got me moving.  I bent slightly, offering a hand to help her stand.  When she did she pressed herself to me, wrapping her arms around my neck to place a chaste kiss there.

“Master, that was amazing!” she whispered to me loudly, almost taking my knees out.  I had never told her to call me that.  I was shocked, aroused and disappointed in thrashing waves, but before any of that could come out and blow our game I felt a tap on my shoulder. Keeping Sookie close to me, I turned us both. Talbot inclined his head gracefully with a cat that ate the canary expression on his handsome face.

“The King requests the pleasure of your company, Sheriff.”  He never looked at Sookie, which suited me fine, but his expression of interest in me was noted and filed for future reference.  It might come in handy to have an ally here, even if he were only interested in seduction.  I could be convincing if given a chance to make my case.

“Of course,” I answered, taking Sookie’s hand and stepping toward where Russell and his party were ensconced in their own large round corner booth.  We stopped in front the table, I bowed, while Sookie executed a flawless curtsey with her eyes cast to the floor.   I could barely keep my mouth from hanging open.  Who the fuck was this woman and where had she been hiding?

Apparently, she had taken my direction to heart regarding the proper pet behavior.  I glanced at Bill and smirked at his expression.  She had never heeled so well for him.  I knew it was all fake, but he didn’t.  That fact alone made it more sweet than bitter that I was seeing everything I had ever wanted, but knew that it was pyrite rather than gold.

“Oh, my, my!” Lorena gasped, looking at the top of Sookie’s golden head with amused contempt.  “It seems the Sheriff has broken your pet, William.”  She spiked for a moment on the inside, but did not even squeeze my hand as she remained completely still, waiting for me to signal for her rise.  My fangs came down hard and fast as I looked at Bill’s bitch of a maker, my chin coming up sharply.

“Sookie is mine!”

“And what a prize, indeed, Sheriff!” Russell added, clapping his hands for the spectacle before him.  I pulled my fangs back up and inclined my head to his majesty.

“I am quite pleased, your Majesty.”

“Tell us, Sheriff Northman, how did you manage it?” Russell asked, his eyes showing that he was not convinced for a moment that our show was real. Oh, Sookie, hang tight, I thought to her.

“After Compton disappeared, she came to me and asked for my protection.  In return she agreed to be mine.”

“And why would such a lovely young thing need protection?” I wasn’t fooled either.  His concerned face told me that he knew exactly why. What the fuck had Compton gotten himself into?

“After investigating Compton’s disappearance from my area, we believed it to be the work of werewolves.  While inferior creatures, they were more than a mere human could handle.  I simply made a mutually advantageous agreement with Sookie.”  I pulled gently on her hand, indicating that she should rise now and stand beside me.  I was more than pleased when she kept her eyes on the floor.

“Sookie?” Compton spoke, trying foolishly to rise, though he had Lorena on one side of him and Russell on the other.  She did not respond. My fangs came down again.

“You will not address my pet, Compton!”

“Your pet?!” He was trying to rise again, but Lorena pulled him back down roughly in the seat.  Russell, clearly amused at the young vampire’s antics looked back to me.

“And what brings you all the way to Jackson?”

“Coincidence, Majesty.  I wanted some time away with my new pet to enjoy her without interruption.  I had no idea that Compton was here with you.” I glanced at him coldly then. “You should have reported your whereabouts to the queen.” He opened his mouth and then closed it again, telling me clearly that he was not here by choice.

I connected the dots.  The wolves that had taken him from the restaurant had brought him to Russell “We’ll let Sophie Anne know soon enough,” Russell assured me.  “Take a seat, Sheriff, you and the lovely Miss Stackhouse.” A chill ran through me.  I had not told him her name, but he knew who she was already.  The wolf who had come for her was his as well.

I looked at him, forcing a smile onto my face that I did not feel, and took a seat next to Talbot, placing Sookie beside me on the edge of the booth, as far away from this fanglicious crew as possible while something dark and unpleasant tried to connect itself in my brain.

Who is your master?

He is one of you.

These are not ordinary werewolves. They’re organized, well-funded, highly trained, and fueled by vampire blood.

Playing her part to perfection, Sookie offered her lips to me for a kiss, allowing me to hide my thunderstruck expression just as it hit me full force that I was sitting at the table with the vampire who had murdered my entire family a thousand years ago.