Catalyst Ch. 52

Chapter Fifty-Two: Foreseen Unforeseen

Eric’s POV:

This is new, I think in surprise as Lust flares in the Bond.

True, my Bonded was particularly frisky this morning and has been every morning since returning back from Dallas a few weeks ago. At first I thought the increase in her sexual appetite stemmed from the espionage, but then I thought it was the disguises. After all, my wife is young, and I believed that the thrill, make believe or not, of taking a different lover seemed exciting to her. This did not unnerve me at all because I can become a different lover for her, and she can become a different lover for me as well.

However, my assumptions proved inaccurate. She chose my name to call out in our fantasy. Despite the fact she knew she was free to pick any name she wished, she chose her husband’s name. I will not pretend my love for her did not swell in that moment.

That was not the only proof of my miscalculations.

After my hair had grown back in my Death Sleep, I had risen to her bouncing on me like a star rodeo rider. She had said her husband was back and could not wait to have him again. This enthusiasm alone was enough to dash my earlier assumptions relating to her Lust.

Finally, after I had cut my hair to the length she had suggested (much shorter than I ever thought she would want) she had purred and bounced on me some more. Ever since the chopping of my Viking hair and adaptation of a style which Pam finally approves, Sookie has been climbing atop me endlessly ever since.

It has been a wonderful nuisance, but a curious one too.

Every day since our return to Ohio, Sookie has distracted me from my efforts at uncovering the root of our most recent problems. However, she is no mere distraction. Sookie is the cure to my distress. She is the remedy to my saddened soul. Losing the Ancient Pythoness is a burden much easier to bear with Sookie held tightly against my side. She holds the weight of my heart on her shoulders so I might hold the weight of the vampire world upon my own.

Perhaps this is where the Lust stems from? Is it her way of helping me through these past weeks of work? I wonder as I reflect on her actions these past weeks. Every time I receive updates from Isabel, Sookie has been there to alleviate some of the distress. For every ounce of sickening news Isabel gives me, Sookie is there with a pound of medicine.

It is not just Isabel who brings me troublesome news. Since the murder of the Ancient Pythoness, it seems that the entirety of the vampire community has reached out to us for information; either to receive or give it.

So far Isabel has concluded, through use of heavy glamour and light torture, that Hugo’s orders came from the state of Nevada. Some of his correspondence’s envelopes were still in his office, stuck precariously to the underside of a drawer. Whether those envelopes had latched opportunistically to the underside of its neighboring drawer, or if Hugo had retained the envelopes as some sort of leverage is unknown and inconsequential. Hugo’s fate is sealed. After this matter is cleared up and all responsible parties are apprehended, Hugo will face a tribunal. Whether that means a local hearing with the Magister or a national hearing with the North American Council has yet to be seen. Either way, Hugo is unlikely to survive the situation.

From informants other than Isabel, I have been updated on many movements. Particularly the movements of ancients and council members that have left the country as of late. My pool of potential Big Marks is now merely the size of a single ocean rather than all Seven Seas… I need more information!

Before I can succumb to the turmoil of puzzling out this latest mystery, I let my mind reflect once more upon my wife. I fantasize about her actions before she left for school.

This morning she was playful, cuddlesome, and absolutely delicious; a real lightness to my heart. She spoke all sorts of words about her desire to call off work and stay all day in our bed together. However, being the responsible teacher that she is, Sookie pouted as she slid out of our bed and prepared for her day at work.

Now it is almost noon, and that earlier friskiness has evolved into an earnest need. Her yearnings are nearly stifling, and without really considering the fact that I have work to do, I find myself snapping my laptop shut. Grabbing up my car keys, I head to the school and arrive just as her lunch break is beginning. She must have felt me arriving because she comes running out of the building, jumps into my car and kisses me feverishly.

“What has gotten into you?” I laugh as I pull away from our kiss and push her hair from her face.

“Hopefully you; right now,” She tells me urgently. “Go park down the street-”

“Sookie-”

“Eric, I am so serious right now,” She bares her teeth at me aggressively, and as her Bonded I feel no compulsion to question further.

Instead, I shift into gear and tear out of the parking lot. Thankfully I had the foresight to bring the SUV. Now I can pull off the road behind some covering foliage. As I do just that, Sookie wastes no time crawling into my lap.

“Thank God, you’re already hard!” Sookie moans as she starts opening my pants and pushing her panties to the side.

“Of course I am hard. Do you feel what you have been sending to me all morning?” I chortle as she holds my cock in her impatient hand and quickly impales herself upon me. “Fuck, Sookie,” I snarl as I grab her hips.

“Shut up, and just fuck me,” she pants into my ear as she grinds recklessly above me. Without another word, I grasp her sides that much harder and begin bucking my hips upward. “Yes, yes,” she mumbles against my ear as she snakes her arms around my neck. “Just like that!” she is already clenching around me in preparation for orgasm. “AH!” Her cry fills the car, and I am surprised by the abrupt intensity of her clenching walls. It is very much like the orgasms she experiences when I stimulate her ears. However, I have hardly been inside her very long and she is strangling my cock with her vice-like pussy.

“Sookie,” I snarl as she drags my own orgasm from me without my realization. It is not until I feel my shaft pulsing and emptying inside her that I realize that she has turned me into a one-pump-chump. “The fuck you just do to me?” rumbles from my lips in both surprise and unbidden exhaustion.

“You’ve been hangin’ with Jason too much,” she mumbles tiredly, her dwindling backwater accent re-emerging with her own fatigue. “That’s his catch phrase.”

“Sookie, even our quickies have never been that quick,” I tell her.

“It’s for the best. I gotta get back to the school,” she tells me as she climbs shakily from my lap and back into her own seat.

“Mm, but you smell too good to let go,” I reply, leaning toward her seat and inhaling the freshly fucked scent she is emitting.

“Eric, I can’t go missing like this for very long. Please?” Sookie asks me sweetly and I sigh.

I pause only a moment to watch her clean herself up a bit. Then I throw the vehicle back into gear, I pull back onto the road and return my Bonded to the school.

“Thanks for the quickie, Darlin’,” Sookie smiles at me a bit shyly. Though she often humors my enjoyment for “naughty public play,” as she calls it, she has never desired it to such a degree. I never believed before this moment that my Sookie would have ever needed it so intensely.

It is not until she is back at work and I am driving home that I realize the peculiarity of the situation. That was not a whim. It was entirely instinctual. It was need not mere desire. An instinct rises inside me. Her desire for me might be indicative of her body finally preparing for reproduction!

Taking out my phone, I dial Dr. Ludwig.

“What?” the doctor snaps as she answers her phone.

“This is Northman. I think you should do Sookie’s evaluation today,” I tell her without hesitation. Her last one had been the weekend before our trip to Dallas.

“She is not due for another week. Do you have reason?” Ludwig asks with more curiosity than irritability this time.

“It is more of a feeling than a reason,” I confess. “It is very strong, however. After years of being Bonded to this woman, I have never felt her like this. That is saying something because I have felt many a thing from my Sookie, and this was definitely different.”

Ludwig snorts, “I know your former reputation with the female populace, Northman. That does not mean you know a woman’s body better than she knows her-” The doctor pauses a moment. “Hold on, I have another call.” Ludwig puts me on hold as she accepts the other call. I am home by the time she picks up my line again. “That was your Bonded.”

“Oh?” I can feel in the Bond that she is not unwell, in fact she feels rather giddy.

“She just made the same request for an evaluation. Apparently your instincts are not far off the mark. I will meet you at your home when she has returned.” With that, Ludwig hangs up on me, and I find myself laughing.

A baby! I think with wild excitement and a little trepidation. For the first time in over a thousand years, I will have a child of my own flesh and blood!

It takes all of my willpower not to start researching pregnancy and infants. I decide that I should wait until conception is confirmed. After all, with our different… heritages, we might not manage to conceive the first time around. You should probably wait until ovulation is confirmed, I berate my impatience.

The excitement will not be contained, however, and I cannot help the whimsical musings of watching my wife growing round with our child. She will be lovely when she is heavily pregnant, but I feel a concern grow with my excitement. Many years ago we had discussed her career and motherhood. She loves her job, and I find myself worrying that she will not desire to give it up like we had discussed.

Then again, I think wildly, I am not all that busy during the day. I require absolutely no rest, and I am old enough that it hardly effects my feeding habits.

There are plenty of ways for me to continue running my businesses while raising our children. The only thing that I am adamant about is that our children are raised by their parents. That does not mean the one to stay home with them all day must be Sookie!

All the remaining work day, I accomplish little more than analyzing Sookie’s every mood and plotting ways to bring a baby with me to business meetings. How hard could that be?

I know that I should be hunting through all the information Isabel gave me regarding Hugo’s anonymous contact. I am well aware that I should be going through Compton’s emails about the vampires forced to meet the sun, and looking for clues coming out of Louisiana. I certainly should at least be checking to see if the mysterious Nevada number has made any calls since our trip to Dallas a few weeks ago!

However, Sookie is still greatly aroused, and I cannot wait to make love to her when she gets home. If she is actually fertile, I want to beg her to take off work the remainder of the week and pump her full of every drop of my seed that I can provide. Anything to ensure that my first born is in my arms before the end of the year!

My fantasies are interrupted by a POP, and I turn to look down at my left side to the little doctor who has arrived.

“You are early,” I say, but with excitement rather than annoyance.

Ludwig shrugs, “It was one thing when a man thought himself more aware of his wife’s body than she was. It is a completely different matter when husband and wife both notice a change in a woman’s body. I am just as impatient and excited for this as the two of you,” She points out.

“I severely doubt that,” I shake my head, and despite my annoyance at her assumptions, I cannot stop myself from grinning.

The doctor stares at me an extra moment and then gives me a rare smile, “I suppose you are right,” she relents as she begins removing equipment from her enchanted doctor’s bag. It appears that she has brought along her entire lab to perform tests she normally does at her office.

By the time Sookie arrives home, she is bounding through the door excitedly and flinging her purse and tote onto the front entryway table as I have finally grown accustomed to over the years.

Ludwig holds out a specimen cup as my Bonded bounces toward her, but the doctor’s face has transformed into a frown.

“What is it?” I ask of the doctor when my wife has banished herself to the powder room.

“I,” Ludwig seems at a loss for words, and rather than reply beyond that, she begins rifling through her bag for a file.

Sookie returns, eagerly holding the cup of urine, but Ludwig is ignoring her and thumbing through pages within the file she has begun reviewing. She seems to finally notice Sookie, and quickly begins loading the applicators so she may return to her notes.

“Sookie,” I take my wife’s hands as Ludwig goes about performing her tasks.

“What is it, Eric?” Sookie is barely paying attention to me as Ludwig has not said a word to her yet.

“Before any results come through, I want to tell you something,” I finally earn Sookie’s focus and she tilts her head curiously at me. “When we do become pregnant, I want you to know that I am aware that things have changed. I know that your mind may have changed over the years, and I want you to know that if you wish to return to work sooner than we originally decided; I am entirely committed to becoming a stay at home father.”

Sookie’s eyes widen at my declaration, and I do not miss Ludwig looking up from her work to gape a moment.

“You’d do that so I could keep teaching?” she asks softly.

“If it is what you want, then I will do so happily,” I assure her. “If you want to become a stay at home mother, then that is fine too. I just want you to know that I am not going to push an agreement we made ten years ago. We are husband and wife. We are Bonded. We will raise our family together.”

Sookie can only stare at me in surprise, but I can feel her love for me bubbling over inside the both of us. Suddenly she is distracted and peers around me.

“Doctor, what is it?” Sookie asks, having must seen the doctor doing something behind my back. I turn to look at the tiny doctor and can see the astonishment on her face.

Ludwig says nothing but picks up the applicator and stares for a long moment.

She is fertile! She is fertile! I think with wild, uninhibited excitement.

“You are-” despite everything, I hold my breath with my wife, “already pregnant.”

“B-b-b-but-” Sookie starts to babble in confusion and all that I can think to do is keep my own mouth shut because I am just as flabbergasted. “When!?” Sookie finally manages to spit out.

“I would guess some time between now and your last exam,” Ludwig replies, clearly concerned by the absence of any warning about the impending event. “My best guess, since you are showing positive on the pregnancy test is that you conceived either the week of or the week after your last check up,” Ludwig confesses.

“There was no indicators in my blood or urine?” Sookie asks a bit shrilly.

Ludwig fumbles with her papers a moment, “There was a modest increase in your hormones, but nothing indicative of ovulation, let alone an increase I would have expected to see for a vampire pregnancy!”

“But I am pregnant?” Sookie demands.

The doctor fumbles for a moment and I see her apply the remaining urine onto three more tests. She takes a needle to my wife’s arm and draws blood for other tests as well.

“I haven’t felt nauseated or tired or anything,” Sookie tells me, and I can tell that she is confused and disoriented by the news. To be truthful, so am I! Never would I have expected to have been so blindsided by our first pregnancy!

Machines are whirring, and the mad scratch of Ludwig’s pen in her notes is filling the stunned silence between myself and my Bonded. Finally everything seems to occur at once and Ludwig is saying all sorts of words that, for the first time in a long time, I am unable to absorb through my whirlwind of thoughts. My wife is going to have my baby…

“Northman?” Ludwig snaps at me.

“Yes, Doctor?” I jolt back to attention.

“Did you hear what I just told you?” she demands shortly.

“No,” I admit, still too overwhelmed.

“Sookie is pregnant,” Ludwig confirms concretely.

“All right,” I whisper, feeling like a lost boy adrift on the ocean.

“That means a lot of changes going on between now and the birth,” Ludwig says slowly, as if she has realized that I am not as quick minded as usual.

“Yes,” I agree automatically.

“Sookie,” Ludwig tries her instead.

“Huh?” is my wife’s eloquent reply. At least I am not the only one who has just had the rug pulled out from beneath them.

Ludwig claps her hands in front of our faces, and I finally rein in my bedraggled mind and focus. Now is Sookie’s time to be confused and uncertain. My entire existence must focus all of its will upon making sure she stays safe and healthy. Currently Ludwig is trying to tell me exactly how to do that.

“She needs to begin sleeping regularly again. Growing an immortal child is not something someone does without plenty of sleep,” the doctor begins. “Also, there is no way she will be able to consume enough calories in a day to keep her body running twenty-four hours, six days a week and simultaneously giving enough of those calories to the baby.”

“Yes,” I agree firmly.

Ludwig reaches into her bag and extracts a paper, “This is a list of foods that are considered unsafe for pregnant women to consume. I’ve added a few over the years that I would like Sookie to avoid because of her ancestry.” I see that lemons are on the list and am not surprised. “Weekly blood exchanges to keep you two calm and your connection strong. I have read in the other Ludwig’s notes that irregular blood exchanges lead to your other versions being temperamental with one another.”

“Yes, Doctor,” I commit her suggestions to memory.

“I will continue my monthly check-ins. In four weeks we will do your first ultrasound.”

“I have never heard of you using ultrasound,” I frown. Ludwig has always been able to feel unborn children to know if they were in distress.

Ludwig scowls, “Apparently one of the children born to the other version of you was known as a Mirror Twin-”

“I have heard of those-”

“No,” Ludwig shakes her head. “Not just a run of the mill mirror twin. The child had the ability to mask their presence within their own twin. They could disappear from their own parents’ perception at will. Apparently that Ludwig could not even sense the child’s existence before or after it was born. However, I should be able to see the fetus or at least the amniotic sack in an ultrasound.”

I nod in mild understanding. It will be another thing to research. I have known for a while that the children Sookie will give me must be special, and this information on a Mirror Twin only cements that suspicion.

“Are you certain nothing happened in the last two to three weeks?” Ludwig asks. “She has not been any different?”

I lift my shoulders in an uncertain shrug. Our sex life has always been very consistent, and with her living immortality, Sookie usually gives me sex twice a day. The only time she might skip a day is Sundays because she sleeps Saturday evenings.

Grasping for any explanation, I offer the single anomaly involving our sex life, “The only notable variation was the Sunday we were in Dallas. Sookie woke some time in the early morning despite having fallen asleep at sunrise and raised me from my Day Death for sex. She has never broken a sleep pattern herself for sex. I believe the last time she had sex after interrupted sleep was when you took her temperature by ear her first year of college.”

“Ah, I remember that,” Ludwig chuckles. “Still, that is something. Once I can do an ultrasound, I will have a better idea of when the conception date was.”

“Is there anything else we should know?” I ask as Sookie continues to sit in stunned silence.

“I do not know when the fetus will receive its immortality,” Ludwig tells me. “For all I know, it is already invincible. However, for all I know, she is still capable of having a miscarriage. We will work under the assumption that you are two weeks pregnant until evidence says otherwise. That means your body might not be showing any symptoms. What clued you in that she might be fertile?”

Carefully I glance at Sookie who is still staring at the pregnancy test, and I can see her eyes growing into big orbs of emotion. “She was insistently aroused today. Her scent was practically irresistible, and she was urgent to be with me.”

Ludwig takes some quick notes, nodding her head. “It could be the extra blood flow to her reproductive organs that brought on the urgency. There’s a chance that may wane as other pregnancy symptoms come about. Nausea can kill arousal quite effortlessly.”

I slowly nod as I look between my wife and her doctor. What I would not give for Sookie to say something. Anything!

“Well,” Ludwig begins packing away her portable lab in preparation to depart, “I will let you both know what I else I discover. Congratulations to both of you.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” I tilt my head respectfully.

Sookie jolts then and stammers a quick word of thanks before staring once again at her positive pregnancy test.

When we are alone, I take one of Sookie’s hands in my own, “Are you all right, Dear One?”

My Bonded sighs and looks at me with mild bemusement. “I’m just… Stunned that we had no warning or precursors. I mean, I’m grateful in a way,” she confesses. “It feels more exciting this way, more real. I’ve been scared that there would be some huge sign that I’d be fertile, and Ludwig would tell us what day we’d get pregnant on before we even had sex… It’s just such a relief, you know?”

I smile at her words, “I was a bit disappointed to lose my excuse to fill your body over and over again.”

Sookie rolls her eyes at me, “Eric, that’s a bunch of bull. You fill me up every darn day, and you know it.”

“I do,” I laugh in agreement. “So, you are happy?” I ask

“Very,” she assures me and leans her head upon my shoulder. “When do we tell the family?” she asks.

“Any time you like,” I say. “I am certain with our emotions shifting so drastically throughout the day, Godric probably suspects something.”

Sookie considers my words a moment before giving me one of her little smiles, “I guess that’s true.”

“How are you feeling?” I ask with mild concern. Her body is still filled with confusion, and I need her to discern if there is anything below the surface of that confusion.

“Confused,” she says with a laugh, “but excited and a little overwhelmed, too.”

“This took me by surprise too,” I tell her comfortingly. Perhaps some of the anxiety will ebb if she knows she is not alone in this shock. This beautiful, wonderful shock.

Sookie’s smile transforms into a goofy grin as she giggles, “Eric, your baby is in me!”

Dragging her into my lap, I hold Sookie tightly and whisper, “Yes, he is.”

Sookie’s POV:

My hand flutters across my abdomen in startled disbelief. I think I’ve been stroking my belly over half an hour now, and it still feels like I’m in a dream. That point of half awake, half asleep. That uncertainty of what has really transpired. It reminds me of when Jason and I were poor and starving. I would have dreams of finding a winning scratch off ticket for twenty-thousand dollars or winning the lottery. Then I would start to wake, and my stomach would growl hungrily. I would cry because we were both so hungry, and no matter how hard we both worked, we would stay hungry forever.

Now I sit here stroking my and Eric’s child through the thick flesh of my stomach, and just praying that my eyes might stay closed, that this dream won’t end, and that this miracle I’ve longed for won’t be taken away.

“He’s here, Sookie,” Eric tells me as he kneels between my legs and cups his large hands over mine. “He is right here, and he will not disappear.” The firm pressure his hands bring over our baby makes an unashamed sob tumble from my lips.

“I was so scared I wouldn’t get this surprise,” I finally confess.

“So was I,” Eric tells me, squeezing my hands and leaning over to kiss just above where our hands are joined. “Of course it would happen in the middle of this conspiracy. Why do all of our happy moments as husband and wife need to coincide with some supernatural event as well?”

“I know!” I sob and laugh simultaneously. I can feel a strange impatience in my husband now that he has eased my worries that this was a dream. “What’s wrong?” I ask him softly.

Eric shakes his head and grins, “Nothing is wrong, Dear One. I am merely preening a bit.”

Suddenly I understand what he means. He wants to tell everyone that we’re pregnant. He wants to gloat! I realize amusedly. Then again, I suppose that as a vampire, impregnating someone is quite the achievement. Although, Ludwig was very clear all those years ago that conception would be all my body’s job.

Regardless of this, I know that the truth is Eric did do something. He fell in love with me, and stayed by my side through stubbornness, school, work, meltdowns, conspiracies, espionage, my still lingering crisis of faith, and now he’ll be with me through this.

On to Chapter Fifty-Three!

Catalyst Ch. 51

Chapter Fifty-One: Playing Pretend

Sookie’s POV:

The doors of the car all shut simultaneously like we’ve practiced this exit over and over. Once we’re in the safety of our car, and pulling out of the “church” parking lot, I reach into my purse and take out the little bug sweeper.

Once we’re out of anyone’s line of sight, I scan the entire front of the vehicle before Jason sweeps the back and what part of the trunk he can reach. “Clean,” he declares before handing me the tiny wand.

“Eric, is there enough time for you to die for the day and get your normal look back?” I ask my husband, maybe a little desperate sounding. I have Sarah Newlin’s fantasizing in my head, and the little thrill of my husband’s makeover has been splashed with frigid water. And he flirted with her!

“I do… If I do so immediately upon returning to the hotel-”

“Please do,” I suggest rather sternly.

“Your excitement for it has waned that quickly?” Eric asks, more than a bit disappointed to hear it.

“The second my fake husband flirted with the enemy’s wife,” I pout.

Eric laughs a bit, “It was hardly flirting,” he insists.

“It was enough to get her mind creative, and now I’m seeing all her fantasies instead of my own,” I complain.

Eric raises his eyebrows in surprise, “You have never caught a human fantasizing about me before?”

“All the time.”

“What is different about this time?”

“Did y’all forget I’m in the back seat?” Jason chimes from behind us. “Not that I’m really all that bugged about your sex life anymore, but we kinda have a lot of work to do before nightfall.”

I consider taking my brother’s interruption as the opportunity to change the subject. No one’s ever fantasized about my husband’s eyes before. There’s so many delicious features to daydream about, and nobody’s ever chosen his eyes. Sarah got that stare of his down perfectly in her mind. It was unsettling how she imagined that playful, intense stare when he looks up at me from between my legs. The look Eric gives me when I’m right on the edge and he’s deciding whether or not it’s time for me to tumble into oblivion-

Eric takes my hand, interrupting my reflecting, and kisses my knuckles. He doesn’t say anything, but those eyes. Those green eyes tell me he knows what I’m thinking.

“Can you at least take out the contact lenses?” I whisper.

“Yes,” he replies simply. Bracing his knee against the steering wheel, he reaches his free hand up and plucks out one lens and then the other. Next they’re thrown out the window, and my blue eyed devil is back. “Better?”

“Much,” I agree with a smile.

“All right, now that your sex life is back on track, can we get to business?” Jason groans from the backseat and I giggle.

“Of course,” Eric mumbles as I feel a little fluster fill the Bond. Aw, he’s embarrassed! It’s so rare that Eric feels that way that it’s almost like a special treat. He’s so damned adorable!

“I’m gonna call Godric on speaker and find out how Diedre’s doing,” Jason announces as he takes out his cell phone.

“Jason,” Godric answers halfway through the first ring.

“Hey, Godric,” Jason replies solemnly, “how’s Diedre doing?”

“Not very well,” Godric tells us. “Quigley is at rest with her so she is not left alone, but I fear she will try to meet her end.”

“Dang,” my brother whispers. “How bad’s the damage?”

Godric pauses before answering, “Her left side is in ruin. Her arm and leg are both gone. Ludwig is coming to tend to her this evening, but from what I could see, she might very well lose the right leg as well. The charring was terrible on it. Depending on how burnt through the femur is, Ludwig might suggest removing it and let it grow back from scratch.”

“How long does that take?” I ask with a touch of morbid curiosity.

“At her age, I would guess about two to three months if she continues feeding properly. If she does not feed enough, it could take five to six months,” Godric answers my question without judgement.

“Which means we have anywhere between two to six months to convince her not to end herself,” Eric points out. “Weakened as she is, she will not be able to remain aware during the daylight hours for some time.”

“She could still stake herself,” Jason chimes in.

“Quigley and I can prevent that for now,” Godric assures. “However, once she is healed, neither of us will be able to stop her from ending herself.”

We all sit in silence a moment, absorbing this. Jason and I aren’t close to Diedre, but I can tell by the Bond that Eric is taking this pretty hard. He’s had this undercurrent of sadness in the Bond since last night, and I know it’s because the Ancient Pythoness was killed. If he loses Diedre too, I think my husband would be very, very sad.

“What if Diedre found Cassandra again?” Jason finally interrupts the silence.

“The odds that Cassandra’s soul has been reborn yet is… Very unlikely,” Godric tells him.

“What if I know her soul will be reborn and that Diedre will find it?” Jason mumbles a bit nervously.

“What are you talking about, Jason?” Eric demands with more sharpness in his tone than I like.

“Just… No one get mad at me,” Jason replies meekly. “The Pythoness swore me to secrecy.”

“Jason!” Godric barks.

“The night of Eric and Sook’s wedding, the Pythoness showed me her own death. I guess she’d seen it for a very long time. If she didn’t die, a lot of ancients and a lot of humans would get killed. Diedre would die unless the Pythoness did,” Jason rambles out quickly. “But she saw herself reborn, I think. Or she saw Diedre meeting her real soulmate. I don’t know, but she saw Diedre Bonded after her own true death.”

“Who is her Bonded?” Godric demands.

“I don’t know,” Jason answers. “I was kinda just looking down at Diedre in that vision. She had a pair of arms wrapped around her. Looked like a man’s arms to me, but it was a quick glimpse. I had no idea what I was really seeing at the moment. Wouldn’t have even known about the Bonding if I didn’t recognize that look in her eyes. She was looking at whomever was holding her the way Cammie and Sook look at the two of you.”

There’s a long silence again before Godric asks, “Did it seem like you were looking from the perspective of the person attached to those arms?”

Jason is pondering a moment before he answers, “Yes.”

“That implies you were looking from Cassandra’s eyes. Her reborn eyes,” Eric says quietly.

“How long does it take for a soul to be reborn?” Jason asks.

I can practically hear both Eric and Godric shrug. “Any time five to nine months after the death of the original vessel or far, far longer. Some souls are reborn quickly, others linger in the afterlife. Older souls tend to be reborn quickly.”

“Five to nine months?” I consider.

“Some souls attach to new vessels early in pregnancy, some later,” Eric replies. “Usually it is after the heart begins to beat.”

“How does the soul arrive?” I ask.

“Sookie?” Godric asks.

“Well,” I think for a moment, “if Endymion has anything to do with it, couldn’t we ask him where Cassandra will be reborn so we can give Diedre hope?”

Eric shakes his head, “That would be interfering with Free Will. He could still try and put the vessel of Cassandra’s spirit in Diedre’s path, but he could not tell Diedre whom that vessel is.”

“Aw, okay,” I pout a bit.

“That sucks,” Jason plants his chin into the back of my chair and holds the phone between the three of us.

“I wish I could share this with Diedre,” Godric sighs. “But she would find a way to murder Jason for not warning her ahead of time. Why is it that Cassandra swore you to secrecy?”

Jason frowns, “She told me that her death could save a lot of lives. If she survived, then a lot of ancients would perish and a lot of humans too… Mostly, though, I think it’s because Diedre was killed in every one of Cassandra’s own deaths except this one. I don’t know she meant me to see that.”

We’re all quiet again as we absorb this, and I’m grateful when Eric and Godric are in agreement that Jason did the right thing. I reach behind me and stroke my brother’s hair. It must have been a difficult burden for him to carry these past few years.

“I’m sorry you had to go through this, Jason,” I tell him gently.

“It’s okay,” Jason replies with a soft smile. “It was what I had to do, but, please, don’t tell Diedre. She’d rip me limb from limb, I bet.”

“Master,” Eric continues on with Godric as Jason and I have a little empathetic moment, “did you manage to contact as many of our allies as possible before sunrise?”

“Yes, I have informed all that I could to take shelter in undisclosed locations for the time being. So far I have managed to get ahold of Joan, Russel, Caroline, Compton, and Nan.”

“All right, we are about to return to the hotel now. We have a great deal to sort through before our meeting with Isabel and Hugo,” Eric replies.

“Keep me abreast to the situation,” Godric tells us before hanging up the phone.

Soon we’re pulling up to the hotel and carrying box after box of information up to our room. Thanks to Eric and Jason, we do it in a single trip, and I just carry the DVDs. Well, I guess it’s silly to have me balancing stuff when they can both lift a car…

When we’re tucked away in our room, I start giving the men a synopsis of what I picked up telepathically at the Fellowship headquarters.

“They have some sort of Soldier program-”

“Got the literature on it,” Jason interrupts me and tosses a file on the table between the three of us.

“And they’ve been forcing vamps to meet the sun-”

“Those are the copies of the bonfires,” Jason points the the DVDs I’d carried up. I put my hands on my hips and purse my lips at him. My brother immediately shuts his mouth.

“From what I could glean, though,” I continue, “Steve Newlin’s father has no idea any of this is going on. I get the feeling that Steve sees his father as an obstacle in his goal. I thought I saw the beginnings of a plot to remove Theodore from the equation, but it could have been fantasizing.”

Eric’s flipping through the paperwork as I speak and finally asks, “Do you believe Theodore Newlin might be a target as well?”

“I’m thinking that Steve might have made a deal with whomever is giving them the information on the vamps. It felt more solid a plan than a fantasy,” I reply. “I also think that he believes that Hugo is his only informant.”

“Who do you think is the real leak?”

“A vampire,” I whisper and both my husband and brother look at me. “I think there’s a vampire giving away vampires’ locations to the Fellowship to cover up a hit list. I think Diedre and the Ancient Pythoness were the real targets, and everyone else who’s been killed are just decoys.”

“How’d you come to that conclusion?” My brother asks, but his expression says he agrees with me whole heartedly.

“It’s really just a hunch,” I reply slowly as my brain keeps making more and more connections. “I mean… Young nests have been hit and then there’s this one ancient dropped in there like the Fellowship got lucky and hit some key player by accident. Only, I think someone purposefully made it seem that way.”

My husband leans back thoughtfully as he considers my observations. Eventually he sits forward and nods in agreement, “I think you are right, Sookie.” Eric crosses his arms over his chest as he considers my theory further. “It would be a perfect scapegoat for a vampire trying to dispose of his enemies. The Fellowship of the Sun would happily accept all responsibility for the killings, and the informant would happily enjoy a world that no longer had his enemies in it.”

“Who would want to kill the Pythoness, though?” Jason asks a bit forlornly. “I thought she was revered by our kind!”

“She was,” Eric agrees, “however, she would be the only one that they know of who could out the truly guilty party.”

“So, who else has been hit? A bunch of mainstreamers and a few hungry vamps?” I ask.

Eric shakes his head, “I do not believe the five who were ended by their meals are part of the same picture we are looking at. If I had to guess, I would say the mainstreamers were the targets.”

My face sneers, “I know a vamp who doesn’t like mainstreamers.”

“Jorge is certainly at the top of my list, but we cannot disregard other potential masterminds because we know of an immediate individual we all despise,” My husband chuckles as he leans forward and begins perusing the documents Jason managed to scrounge up. Jason grabs a DVD and a laptop and starts watching executions. At one point I’m tempted to cover my ears as too many vampires’ screams as they meet the sun will surely haunt me for years to come.

Eric’s POV

“Any of the bonfire kindling look familiar to you?” Jason asks me as Sookie continues scanning her own stack of documents.

“No, but I can tell that they are younger than myself and they were not in the reports Compton gave me,” I reply. “Do a few image captures for me to forward to Compton. He has a database of vampires. Perhaps he can identify them.”

Jason begins capturing images of the slain vampires and compiling an email to Compton as I return to the documents I had been neglecting. There is plenty here to have the Fellowship of the Sun shut down and several members thrown into prison, but whoever gave the organization this information has left no paper trail back to themselves at the ‘Church’. If we have any opportunity of unearthing the source of these tragedies, it will have to come from Hugo.

As I am looking over my stack of notes, one of the future marks strikes a sense of familiarity and dread. Rhodes. The date correlates with the Summit, and I am aware that the hotel listed in the attack plan is the very one meant to host our conference and trials.

The initiator of this attack had leaked the Summit information to the Fellowship. That makes no sense, I realize. With the Ancient Pythoness dead, the Summit will be postponed… Many vampires and humans would die, I realize now what Jason had seen. If Cassandra had not met her Final Death before the Summit, it would not have been cancelled and many vampires and humans would have died in whatever plan the Fellowship had made.

Still, this attack on Rhodes seems silly. Why target the Ancient Pythoness at all prior to the Summit? If the attacks were unsuccessful, it would put Cassandra and her guards on high alert and potentially risk her avoiding the Summit all together. With the Pythoness dead, the Summit will more than likely be cancelled all together, and the attack will now be cancelled as well.

It is almost as if our leak had no idea that they shot their own plan in the head… This speaks of one or two things. Either the leak is actually human and unaware of the Pythoness’s importance, or the Pythoness was not the mark at all.

And there is still the ‘Big Mark’ that Jason mentioned, I ponder this. I would have thought maybe they were referring to Diedre, but Jason said that the mark was out of the country. Diedre has not left the States since the last International Conference of Supernaturals which was over five years ago.

The thought of trying to drudge through the vampire community’s travel plans is a tedious one. There are those of our kind who will leave the country for a weekend on a whim, and they are quite tight lipped about their itineraries.

With any luck, Hugo will know more about this situation, and I will not need to search too deeply.

“Jason,” I say suddenly and I see my brother-in-law and my wife jump at the abruptness, “how far can you be from another vampire?” I tap my head because to this day we have avoided saying his or Sookie’s gift aloud outside the privacy of our homes.

“Oh, I’d say about fifty-feet,” Jason offers.

“I suggest that we leave separately for this meeting and that you two go to dinner on the opposite side of the room. That way you can text me leads or questions as needed without raising suspicion,” I tell them.

They both pause a moment to consider my plan before Jason asks, “Won’t it be a little suspicious that you’re getting texts all through the meeting?”

I shake my head and dispel his concerns by explaining, “Isabel would most likely assume they are updates relating to our investigation. I often received correspondence during investigations while I was still a Sheriff, and I am certain she does as well.”

Sookie and Jason finally nod in agreement to my plan before we all begin dressing for our respective dinners. All three of us remain in our disguises from earlier, and a rather… alluring idea strikes me as we make our way to the parking garage.

“Will you meet me at the bar after the meeting, Sookie?” I ask of my wife when I open the door to her seat. Jason falls behind the driving wheel as I stare into the dull brown of Sookie’s disguised irises. The thing she can not disguise is the creeping blush across her cheeks and the way her nipples harden under her cotton dress. The lace of her bra accents the points of her breasts, and I feel the Bond swell with arousal.

“Sure,” she replies breathlessly before I smile and close her door. I wave goodbye as Jason pulls out of the parking spot and then I head to the lobby. Once I am on the street, I hail a cab to make my own way to our destination.

Sookie’s POV:

“What are you doing?” I ask my brother when he quickly pulls into a drugstore parking lot.

“Hold on a sec,” Jason jumps out of the car, leaving it idling as he enters the shop. He returns no more than three minutes later and hands me a plastic bag. Inside is a notebook and a pack of cheap pens. “When we get to the restaurant, I’m gonna ask for a table in a corner. We’ll talk through the notebook. If anyone gets nosey, we’ll say it’s notes from work.”

I chuckle at his idea, but it really is a simple excuse for silent communication in a public space. Heck, it’s better than texting back and forth. There will be no gaps in our communication other than the speed it takes us to write. Also, we can burn the pages. Texts are stored and can be pulled up if someone has the means and desire to do so.

When we arrive at the restaurant, I look around to judge the size of the dining area. Thankfully, no matter where we sit, all diners will be in Jason’s range. We’re seated and take our time deciding on an order, though Jason is just going to glamour a ‘Blood Mary’ of literal blood and maybe actual Mary if it’s Genuine instead of synthetic. Unfortunately for Jason, it’s very rare that human owned and operated establishments carry Genuine instead of True Blood.

About ten minutes later I feel my husband arrive. He spots us from the hostess stand and I see him gesture to a corner about fifteen feet from where Jason and I are sitting. He raises his hand with a ‘3’ gesture on his fingers. Finally he is seated and we all three wait for our guests to arrive in as unsuspicious a manner we can manage. Eric’s a natural. He plays with his flatware, checks his phone from time to time. He occasionally plays with the band on his watch and occasionally spins his wedding ring when he sends me a dose of love and affection. That last one makes my heart pound and I send him back my own responding love.

All the time he’s playing the role of nonchalance, I can feel his presence in me become more excited. He loves a good interrogation. My heart begins to race again, and Eric’s excitement transforms from anticipation to lustful. He can feel my anticipation, and I’m sure some part of him is already conjuring delicious ways to make me enjoy this cloak and dagger business even more!

God, I think as the restaurant suddenly seems too hot to bear, did someone turn up the furnace? Even disguised as someone else, I can’t deny that my husband is hotter than any man has a right to be. One night with this stranger husband, I think with a dose of exhilaration and guilt. And what is there to feel guilty? I chastise myself. I know this vampire is my husband, and he knows that I am his wife. What’s so harmful about a bit of pretend? Nothing! Absolutely nothing. It’s no different than when I pretend to be helpless and at his mercy when he ties me to the bed. I’m in no danger, and he would never hurt me. That’s only pretend, and so is this!

My justifications are cut short as I feel a vampire arrive, and Jason scrawls, ~They’re heeeeere. I nod in agreement, quickly finding Hugo’s mind beside the blankness of the vampire.

~H, very nervous. -Me.

~I, excited to hear news.-Jason.

That doesn’t seem like someone with anything to hide, but Jason and I write back and forth, including my dinner order of wine and wild mushroom manicotti.

“Have either of you had any strange contacts lately?” I hear my husband ask through Hugo’s mind. Politely smile and shake your head, Hugo thinks. In his mind I see many written correspondence burning. One letter after another is set ablaze in his memories.

“No,” Hugo replies as his mouth smiles with a genuineness that would have fooled me if I couldn’t hear his thoughts.

~H, lying. He’s burned many orders.-Me

~I, seems honest with answer of ‘no’.-Jason

Eric leads through some of the information our adventure at the Fellowship of the Sun brought us this morning. He describes his suspicions that someone in the vampire community has been leaking vampire hideouts to the zealots. My husband drops quite a few, seemingly unconfirmed suspicions, and Jason and I listen to our marks through the entire brainstorm.

Oh, God, this guy knows too much! Hugo thinks frantically before their orders can even be taken, Didn’t he just get in tonight!? How have I screwed up this bad that he already knows so much!? What if he knows who’s been giving me information!? Shit! I don’t even know who my informant is! They just promised to turn me if I coordinated the hits with the Fellowship!

All the time Hugo is having a nervous breakdown, his face remains unreadable and professionally polite. He must be a champion lawyer, I think with a bit of disgusted admiration. He uses his gift of a neutral expression for terrible things.

Where were my leaks? How did the Writer know I was setting up vamps for the Fellowship’s Sunday Slaughter? How did this vampire sympathizer find out about the marks!? I’m never going to get turned! Fuck that! I’m not going to make it out of this meeting alive!

I take out my phone and text Eric what I’ve found out so far. Jason does the same, presumably to clear Isabel’s name. Now that we know that we can trust Isabel, maybe she can takeover getting us more information. Maybe she can get more memories about those burned letters and what they told him to do. Maybe we can get an idea of the identity of The Writer.

Jason and I watch discretely as Eric pulls Hugo under his glamour, and Isabel’s quiet but angry indignation at his actions. When Hugo is neutralized, it’s obvious that Eric is explaining the situation to her, and gives her the option of continuing the interrogation herself or risk being tried alongside her human. Of course, the only reason I know what Eric is saying is because Jason is quickly jotting down the conversation from what he’s able to hear as we wait for the situation to reach a conclusion.

At Eric’s threat of holding Isabel accountable for Hugo’s actions, she quickly subdues and agrees to dredge out all information she possibly can. Eric takes out copies of the information we gathered earlier and slides it over to the vampiress. Apparently she is meant to submit it to Nan Flannigan first and then human police and media. She takes over the glamour of her human, drops a hundred dollars on the table for their uneaten food and leaves the restaurant.

Taking this as our queue that the night of espionage is over, Jason pays for our bill, we hug goodbye, and he leaves the car keys with me to catch a taxi himself while I head for the bar. I order another glass of wine and wait for my husband to meet me, wondering what he has in mind for the night. Will we escape to a new hotel for the night and give my brother a break from our sexual tension? Will he take me in the bathroom of the restaurant? Our rental car?

“Hello,” I hear a familiar voice near me and nearly jump out of my seat. Eric is standing next to me and I can’t even remember the last time he’s snuck up on me since we Bonded. “Did your husband get called away?” Eric asks quietly.

“Husband?” I stare at him confusion.

“The man with whom you had dinner,” Eric replies and I catch on to the fantasy now. Picking up a woman at the bar!

“Oh, that was my brother,” I tell him a bit shyly. This feels so weird! And exciting!

“I’m definitely glad to hear that,” Eric tells me, and I notice he’s using a much looser accent than I am used to. It deepens the illusion and makes my pulse pound.

“Why is that?” I ask in a coquettish tone. After all, I’m not the shy, naïve girl he first met. In this illusion, I can be the sexually educated woman that I am!

Eric raises his eyebrows at my tone, and a pleased smile tugs his lips as his eyelids hood over his oceanic irises. “Because it means I have a chance of taking you home with me tonight.”

I gasp in shock, “Do I look like that sort of woman to you, Mister?”

“No, but you look like the sort of woman who would like to try it,” he answers as his body pushes into my personal space. My body’s on fire with just this little sliver of air between us. He must be able to feel the heat coming off me. If he can’t, he must have lost all feeling in his skin!

“You look like the sort of man I wouldn’t mind trying it with,” I answer more breathlessly than I’d like. After all, I’m a well rounded woman in the sexual arts. There’s probably women twice my age with less experience than me between the sheets. But, Lord, if Eric Northman couldn’t melt the panties off a nun!

Eric pays for my glass of wine, and I tip the remaining bit of crimson fluid into my mouth before letting him take my hand and lead me to the parking lot. I hand him the keys to the car, and for the first time in my life with him, he doesn’t open my car door. Because I’m a lay, not a lady this time. I think in surprise as I open my own door. I can feel the slightest awkwardness in the Bond, but I push it away, although I find it cute and endearing that he thinks less of himself for not opening my door.

As we drive a moment, I try to think of what a lay would do or say right about now.

“How far is it to your place?” I ask, it feels natural, and I am curious about our destination.

“A few miles,” he replies as he pulls onto the interstate, heading nowhere near our hotel. “It should only take about ten minutes to get there.”

“What do I call you?” I ask.

Eric glances over at me and grins, “What would you like to call me?”

Now it feels like I’ve picked up a male prostitute! I giggle a bit on the inside, but not out loud. What do I call him? Definitely not Elijah. That was the name of the zealots we were pretending to be. I realize then that I don’t want to call out a name other than Eric’s when I cum. That makes the decision for me. We can still play this game with our real names.

“Eric, and mine’s Sookie,” I tell him, and I see the smile in his eyes and feel that happiness in our Bond. He doesn’t want to call out Sandra’s name any more than I’d want to call out for Elijah.

Soon we arrive at a rather beautiful Tudor style home, and I marvel at its simple attractiveness, even in the night.

“Whose place is this?” I ask, forgetting our game for a moment and seriously wondering whose house we are about to defile with our sexual antics.

Eric chuckles, “My brother Godric’s, but don’t worry. He’s not home.”

I pause a moment when he climbs out of the car, but quickly remember that he won’t be getting my door this night. I have to jog a little to catch him at the front door, and when I do, he’s already unlocking it and punching in the security system code. When I’m inside, and the door is closed behind me, Eric reaches around me and pulls me into his chest.

“So, Sookie,” Eric tilts his head curiously as his hips sway, pulling mine along in a close, intimate dance, “are you a soft girl, or a rough girl?” His hand leaves my hip and reaches behind to lock the door behind me. Certainly if this situation were real, I would have panicked at the locking of the door. Instead I feel that same earlier exhilaration. We’re going to fuck!

“Tonight?” I look up at him and hope he can see and feel the fire igniting in my eyes through the contact lenses. “Tonight I’m a rough girl.”

Eric grins down at me, captures me face in either of his hands and kisses me hard. He backs me up against the door, and I feel the grooves of the steel mold into my back. “Ah,” I groan as he presses me hard between his body and the door. He captures my wrists and holds them above my head as his hips pin my lower half.

“You do like it rough, Sookie,” Eric tells me in a snarly, cold voice. “I can already smell you.” I moan again at his assessment. “I’m just going to fuck you right here by the door. You don’t seem to need a bed.”

Without further ado, my lover pulls his hips from mine and pulls my wrist toward the floor until I fall to my knees.

“You can have me wherever you like,” I reply, “but not until you show this girl you know how to eat.” Kneeling on the hardwood floor, I reach beneath my cotton dress and push my panties down until I’m squirming out of them. I throw the tiny scrap of lace at Eric’s chest and he catches them reflexively to bring to his nose.

“You smell like a pie I could eat all night,” he tells me as he gives my shoulder a little shove and encourages me to lay back. I do as he silently suggests and bend my knees wide and open. Eric quickly falls to his own knees, grabs my hips and drags me up to meet his mouth.

“Ah!” I reach back in some sort of half-assed yoga pose and feel a squirm building inside me. His tongue is dancing in a rhythm that is not his usual steps. There’s a disjointedness to his technique. Less practiced more… stranger. Like being ate out by someone who doesn’t know my body, or who doesn’t have a millennium of doing this act.

The lines are getting blurrier and blurrier, and so is my coherency. It’s different, less practiced, but so pleasurable. The film between fact and fiction is getting thinner and thinner. Finally I just accept that I am a little sex kitten, and I did get picked up at the bar by some hottie that just wanted me. Just for tonight.

His tongue laps urgently at my clit now, and I feel a pair of his fingers diving into my pussy with a speed and strength that pulls guttural moans from my throat. Every so often a stray knuckle strikes my g-spot accidentally on purpose. He knows what he’s doing, but my one night stand doesn’t. Over and over again his rhythm brings me right to the edge and then the rhythm breaks and I stumble at my climax.

“Please,” I moan as I’ve come so close and feel so far from what I want. “Eric, please make me cum,” I gasp and cry a little. Eric’s speed picks up once more, nowhere near his vampire pace. We are human tonight.

Finally the lines break and I scream as I reach my orgasm at long last! God it feels so good to lose control of my body! To spasm and twist toward and away from pleasure! My body is moving so much with the resulting climax that I scarcely notice Eric guiding me onto my stomach. I blissfully accept the thick, hard cock that he thrusts deep into me without warning.

“Fuck yes!” I whine and sob gratefully as I’m filled with the one thing he can’t change- the familiar shape and hardness of his dick. He can change his stroke and his depth, but he can’t change the way he touches every bit of my inner wall. He can’t help the way the head of his cock thumps deliciously against the backside of my pelvic bone and causes jolts of electricity to flash from my womb to my spine.

My breathing labors as Eric intermittently squeezes and spanks my ass. I feel his thumb tracing my butthole and I know how much it would please him if I tell him to put his finger in it. So I do. I cry for him to fill my ass and he quickly complies by spitting on my backside and planting his thumb inside. His fingers squeeze, pulling the ring of muscles open and leaving fingerprints in my ass cheek.

Then my labored breaths turn into another crescendoing cry and I cum like a contortionist being exercised of demons. I twist and howl and feel that splendidly well-known cock filling me with that familiar sticky-ness that my husband likes to watch drip back out of me.

As I lay panting, recovering on the floor, Eric slips his dick and thumb from my body, picks me up and carries me to the bathroom. My wig is gone. My body is washed. When we are clean, the contacts are removed as well. At last, I’m in a big bed, and it’s cold and lonely as Eric disappears in the bathroom again. There’s a loud buzzing sound, and just as sunlight is creeping into the bedroom window, Eric returns, his head shaved, and crawls into bed with me. His familiar weight, his familiar smell. The only thing that is not my husband is the fact he is bald. Eric has shaved his head in preparation for a day of death that will bring back his long, blond locks.

“I liked your hair short, but not this short,” I mumble in fatigue as I lazily run my hand over his smooth head.

“By the time you wake up it will be long again,” he tells me reassuringly.

“Will you cut it?” I ask.

“Would you like me to?” he asks.

“Would you mind?” I skirt the topic a bit.

“Not at all.”

Then there was sleep.

On to Chapter Fifty-Two!

Catalyst Ch. 50

Chapter Fifty: Gathering the Players

Godric’s POV:

“I’m worried about Sookie,” Camilla whispers as we sit in a Pittsburgh parking lot, waiting for our injured allies to arrive. Bringing her hand that I am holding to my lips, I give it a comforting kiss. “She’s never done anything like this before. What if she gets hurt? What if Jason gets hurt?”

I squeeze her hand as I bring it back to rest in my lap. “Sookie and Jason will be fine. They are stronger than you give them credit, and they have always risen to the occasion,” I tell her comfortingly.

Sometimes even I forget the hardships those siblings endured before Eric’s arrival in their lives. They have suffered losses Camilla cannot even fathom because she cannot remember what she has lost. That is not to say what my Bonded has overcome is miniscule; it is merely incomparable.

Camilla leans her head back and stares out the window. “Godric, is that who we’re waiting for?” she asks, pointing to a sedan that has pulled into the deserted area. “I feel vamp energy coming from it.”

A black BMW pulls up, sleek and silent. When it pulls alongside us, the aura of an ancient far older than me presses against my own spirit in warning. Much like the aura a Bonded couple wears, ancients have their own presence to exude our authority and status in the true hierarchy.

“Yes,” I flick my lights twice, pause and then hold them for two counts. The car responds by turning off its engine. Camilla grows nervous beside me, her fingertips fiddling with the string of her hooded sweatshirt as she waits beside me. Eventually the string begins moving of its own accord like it is playing on a gentle breeze, but I know it is Camilla refocusing her nerves and practicing her energy manipulation. She has come so far so fast, I think admiringly.

I turn my engine back on and wait. Soon the driver’s side door of the other vehicle opens, and a familiar voice booms into my ears.

“Ay there, Godric!” A sturdy five foot, ten inch mass comes toward the car and opens the back door. “It’s been too long! Why don’t you ever come out my way?”

“Quigley!” I greet welcomingly. He is an imposing figure of solid muscles, thicker than Eric, but easily a head shorter. Scraggly dark blond hair with accents of orange frames his face and he has allowed his beard to make a reappearance. “You have Diedre with you?” Of course I am well aware that Quigley is not giving off the foreboding aura that urges me to exit the car and take a respectful knee.

The vampire’s face grimaces, “Yeah, she isn’t in the most right of minds at the moment. You know how she felt about Cassie.”

“I do,” I lower my head apologetically. “I know how you felt about her too.”

Quigley had been a result of desperation. Diedre and Cassandra had been so frantic to connect more deeply than that of a nest. After over a millennium of existing side by side in the deepest of love, they finally began seeking a way to weave their existences truly into one. It was what is known as a Binding Union.

And along came Quigley.

Though many vampires of the age had scoffed at Quigley’s mere existence, they could not deny the genius of the Diedre and Cassandra’s plan. Each vampiress had fed from the young priest and then forced an even blend of their blood down his dying throat. Quigley became the only instance of a double sired vampire, and coined the term of Binding Ceremony. His participation in the ritual became known as ‘The Knot’ of the Binding. Through him, Cassandra and Diedre could feel each other at last, much like I can feel Pam through Eric when I desire to do so.

“How are you handling her final death?” I ask courteously. I can only imagine the younger vampire is shaken to the core at the loss of one of his Makers. Despite the rough start he had accepting his fate as one of the undead, Quigley eventually adapted and became a rather interesting addition to our culture. He is one of the few truly religious vampires in existence, but when he had been changed, he had cursed Diedre and Cassandra both.

It was not until years later that he felt the genuine love they had for one another, and the regret they bore upon turning him into a vampire for their own wants and desires. That love and regret is what gave the former priest the heart to forgive them and finally accept what he had become. After all, if a creature could love so strongly and still feel regret at harming another for that love, was that creature really evil? Was he truly evil now that he was a vampire?

Quigley shrugs, “I’m pissed off is what I am, but I also know that the arseholes responsible piss you off too. Especially when you see Diedre!”

I frown at Quigley’s words, but give a gesture for my friend to make quick work of getting Diedre into our vehicle for the ride back to Ohio.

Quigley gives me one of his charming grins that contradicts the priest he used to be, and opens the back passenger door for Diedre. The ancient vampiress holds out one complete arm and one stump. I watch sadly as Quigley reaches into the vehicle and lifts what remains of his Maker from the vehicle.

“Thank you for your harboring of an old fugitive,” Diedre gives a despondent thanks as she is placed carefully in the backseat. Her destroyed arm was something I was prepared for, but her other injuries were not known to me. There is hardly anything left of her. A torso and a left arm. That is all that remains of the strongest vampire in existence. One leg is completely gone and the other looks as though it could fall off any moment.

“You thought we would leave you to fend for yourselves?” I ask as Quigley seats himself behind Camilla.

“We knew you wished to be left out of human and vampire politics, but we hoped that you would help,” Diedre replies weakly.

“As we speak, Eric, Jason and Sookie are preparing to find out how this happened,” I assure her.

“I have information about the methods the extremists are intending to implement,” Diedre replies as Camilla fidgets quietly.

“Excuse me, M’am,” Camilla interrupts softly to get Diedre’s attention. “Is it all right if I record this? It’s going to get back to Eric, and this way nothing gets left out.”

“It is fine,” Diedre flicks her wrist impatiently. “It is probably better if my words are saved in case I am unable to speak them again.”

My frown deepens at Diedre’s remark, “What are you talking about?” The recorder in Camilla’s hand clicks as it starts documenting our conversation.

“Cassandra’s surviving handmaiden brought me to Quigley. If she had not survived the blast, I would be truly dead,” Diedre begins monotonously. “Someone even my Cassie could not see managed to take her existence and nearly extinguish my own. You of all people should know that Cassie and I are not easily attacked!”

Her progeny places a comforting hand on Diedre’s shoulder and continues for her, “What Diedre’s trying t’say is that she doesn’t believe she’s safe anywhere if Cassie couldn’t even keep her safe. I don’t know she’d want to…-”

“Continue existing without her,” I finish for Quigley and the vampire nods as he starts smoothing his beard.

“I know it might sound unbelievable to a Bonded vampire,” Quigley gestures to Camilla and myself, “but Cassie was Diedre’s soulmate. If they had met while Cassie was still alive, they would have been Bonded. I know they would have!”

“Quigley,” I interrupt his demonstration on the impact the Ancient Pythoness’ demise has had on Diedre, “I have never seen two unrelated vampires maintain such a loving and deep relationship. I have never seen a monogamous, unBonded relationship between two vampires other than Diedre and Cassandra. Believe me when I say I hold their relationship in the highest regard; Bonded or not.”

Diedre lowers her head sadly and Camilla sits awkwardly silent beside me. I can feel that she is self conscious in flaunting her Bond in front of one who has just lost their lover.

“Camilla,” I try to give her an escape. We can easily continue this conversation later, “do you need me to pull over for some food?”

“No,” she whispers and takes my hand to squeeze it reassuringly.

“After Cassandra and her second handmaiden were killed,” Diedre begins once Camilla has settled in, “our residence was burned to the ground. All security personnel perished,” she says bitterly. “There was no mercy for vampire nor mortal. The only ones to escape were myself and the other maiden. She passed shortly after getting me to safety.”

“I’m so sorry, Diedre,” Camilla murmurs and reaches for the ancient’s remaining cool hand to squeeze it comfortingly. Diedre looks at my Bonded with surprise and a brief spark of amusement. For ancients like us to be comforted by beings so young, it is… warming.

“Thank you, Camilla,” Diedre whispers. She shakes her head to dispel the moment and turns back to me, “From what Cassandra told me before her… final death… there is a hand being dealt. Cassandra told me that once the first spark to the plan is struck, I should bring Quigley, and ask for your protection. I would believe that this is the spark she mentioned.”

Diedre’s expression twists at the foreign request. Normally she is the one granting protection, not asking for it.

“We happily offer our protection to you and Quigley,” I assure her.

The most ancient of vampires flops her head against her half-progeny’s shoulder as if she is relaxing for the first moment in years. “I am sorry to be a burden upon you, but I could not bear if something happened to Quigley as well.”

“Don’t worry about me, Mum,” Quigley takes her hand and squeezes it affectionately. “You just concentrate on healing.”

All she offers him is a soft, empty smile. It is a smile one makes when no true feeling lives behind it. Vacancy resides in her flat, black eyes, and placation gleams off her bright, white teeth. She has very little interest in healing.

At this moment, I do not have the heart to push her for the information she had offered earlier. Seeing that despondent gaze has paralyzed me. Perhaps it is better to allow Eric and the others to discover more about our enemy and let Diedre rest. Maybe it is better to let her think of Cassandra with love rather than recall the Seer’s shared visions. For now, let her mourn. Information can wait a while longer…

Camilla’s POV:

When we arrive home it’s almost daylight and there’s barely enough time to get our guests tucked away for the day. Their luggage is left in the hallway as I show Quigley to the vampire guest room, and he slips Diedre’s damaged body into a protective cache.

“Thanks again,” Quigley says to me as I show him his own reinforced hiding area. We light proofed a spare bedroom and added the fireproof, break-in resistant, insulated (for lack of a better word) caskets. The tiny chambers were anchored into the foundation of the house so they could not be washed away in a flood or carried out while no one was home. Of course, to even attempt walking away with our guest, you’d have to know the code to the hidden spare bedroom. I affectionately refer to our guest room as Fort Knox.

“We never meant to tell any community we wouldn’t help when we were needed,” I tell him truthfully.

“Then why the big ‘leave us alone’ announcement a couple years ago?” Quigley teases as he closes the lid on his hideaway.

Thanks to his age and vampire hearing, he’ll still be able to hear my reply, “Because we were nervous about how others would take it. Eric might have been feeling a little cocky and wanting for a fight, too.”

I hear an obvious laugh from inside the cache and smile myself. If he replies beyond that, I can’t hear it. Instead, I pat the door and say my farewell.

When I arrive in the kitchen, my Bonded is standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a thoughtful look on his face. I can feel a dose of anguish in the Bond, and I place my head against his chest as my arms wrap around him comfortingly.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. What’s wrong? Have you been in a coma these past eight hours, Cammie?

“The final death of the Ancient Pythoness is unsettling, Camilla,” Godric tells me. “If she could be taken, any vampire could.”

I nod in agreement, “It seems a little far fetched to believe that any human could get the drop on her, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” he agrees solemnly, a bit reluctant. I know that he doesn’t want to believe anyone in the community would do such a thing, but disregarding the possibility is foolish.

“You think a vampire was involved,” I guess and he nods, still reluctant. “Did the Pythoness have any enemies?”

Godric sighs and puts his hands behind him to lean into the kitchen counter. My world tilts with him as I still have him wrapped in my arms. A small smile tugs at my lips. This small ounce of playfulness takes the weight of the evening from my shoulders.

My Bonded finally answers, and I hear a soft amusement in his tone, “That is a difficult question to answer. Being a Seer, she was an enemy of everyone and no one. Those who wished to change the world in an image she would not agree with would be her enemy. Basically, if you had to lie to her, she was in the way.”

I listen to his words and quickly understand his meaning. Cassandra could have been in anyone’s way at any given moment and even she might not have known why at the time of her True Death.

A tiny shiver runs down my spine at the idea. Perhaps Cassandra had seen her own death many times over. Maybe this was the death she chose. Is there ever a future so absolute that even those who could See were still doomed to accept it?

Jason’s POV:

I discretely take a peek at my phone while I wait for the cute-y at the receptionist’s desk to find me a tour guide. Too bad she’s a Fellowship of the Sun nut job, I think with disappointment, but still consider banging her in a nearby office. The little fantasy of giving this girl a few ‘love bites’ and watching the mayhem as she tries to explain them to her zealot friends entertains me for a moment. Then I think of the fact it would mean using my glamour on a girl to give her a dicking and my fantasy turns ugly. A shudder of disgust in myself runs into my center. It would only be funny if she wanted the fang herself.

Sookie: Security office, Matthew, has footage of vamp executions. “Brother Gabe” has target listings and potentially other information. I read the text message that’s just popped up on my phone and frown. I slip my phone back into my pocket and try to make up a plan all on my own. There’s no Eric, Godric, or even a Pam to spoon feed me an idea. The weight of my decisions is all on me for the first time in a long time. The last time I had to think on my own two feet was when Godric called the school to say Cammie had been attacked.

Finally, the start of a plan takes root in my head. After all, I’m really good at two things: glamour and reading vampire minds. Since there’s no vamps to read, that leaves me one option.

“Hey, Hannah?” I lean into the receptionist’s personal space, “When’s my tour guide gonna get here?”

Hannah pulls the phone she’s been pressing into her ear away to whisper a reply,“It will only be a minute. I just need to find someone who’s free.” Her smile is amazingly big and white as she tells me in her own way to calm down and be patient. Damn, that’s a beautiful, fucking smile, I think in disappointment. A girl with that pretty a smile shouldn’t be following the FotS. She should be in a soup kitchen feeding the homeless if she wants to feel pious.

“Any chance Brother Gabe might be available to give me the tour?” I ask while my eyes bore into hers and instill my glamour. Hannah leans forward dazedly.

“Brother Gabe?” she mumbles. Her voice is almost drunken as she falls under my spell.

“You will give him a call for me, right? Because he’s not doing anything right now,” I press and watch her hand reach obediently for the phone.

“You have to be part of the Soldier program to speak with Brother Gabe,” Hannah replies like an automated message. I guess Gabe is very strict about whom he takes meetings with.

“Would Matthew in Security be a good reference to join the Soldier Program?” I press gently.

I hate using my glamour for anything other than covering for my vampirism, but Sook’s text has kinda put me in a spot of necessity. There’s no way I’m getting close to the guys she suggested without the help of some glamour.

“Yes, Matthew has brought several recruits through his online message boards,” Hannah tells me in that sweet, drunken haze I’ve put her in.

“Then you go ahead and tell Gabe you’ve got a recruit for him that Matthew has convinced to come join,” I instruct her.

Obediently, Hannah picks up her phone and dials slowly. “Gabe, I need you to give a potential recruit a tour,” Hannah says into the phone casually. “He’s here in the reception area.”

“How did he hear of the Soldier Program?” I hear from the other end of the phone.

Hannah answers with a rather natural pause, “Matthew from Security recommended him. They’ve been talking through a message board online.”

“Ask him to let me meet Matthew too so I can shake his hand,” I tell Hannah in a soft, commanding whisper.

“Any chance you can bring Matt along with you? The potential recruit would like to greet him in person,” Hannah adds.

There’s a long pause on Gabe’s end of the line after Hannah gives him my risky request. Suddenly, Gabe hangs up and Hannah smiles up at me.

“What’s up?” I ask of Hannah.

She shrugs and starts filing her nails. My glamour has waned smoothly from her, and she goes about like everything that has transpired in the last few minutes was completely normal. I clear my throat reflexively as I wait quietly.

Soon the door from the hallway I was in a bit ago flings open and a big, crew cutted guy and a nerdy looking tech guy are standing in the receptionist’s area.

“Hey there, nice to meet both of you,” I reach out to shake Gabe’s hand and as I do, I take his mind quietly into my control. “I was hoping you’d give me a tour of the Soldier Program. I’m very interested in it.” Matthew looks at me a bit aghast.

“Of course,” Gabe replies quietly, subdued.

“And I’d like copies of your vampire executions,” I enthrall Matthew next before he fully realizes why Gabe is following my commands so easily. The stench of his suspicion nearly broke my concentration, but now I have two well glamoured men following my orders while Hannah sits at her desk blissfully unaware of the lion she’s let into the hen house.

“I’ll get right on that,” Matthew responds obediently.

“Leave them with Hannah and tell her to give them to me when I return. Tell her they are recruitment discs,” I command quickly before putting Gabe into action.

“Sure thing,” Matthew exits robotically as Gabe starts leading me out of the greeting area.

“I want the lists of your marks, blueprints of the facility, and numbers for all your contacts that helped you get information on your targets,” I command Gabe as we walk briskly down the hall. In no time, I’m in his office with a pile information. I got notebooks, tape recordings, blueprints… How the fuck am I s’pose to walk out with all this shit without being suspicious to non-glamoured folks? It’s then that I remember I have the other set of keys to our car rental. Lord knows Eric wasn’t about to give the other set to Sookie! I give them to Gabe, “Go put this all in my car and lock it back up. Then come back here to me.”

Gabe takes the keys obediently and goes to perform his assigned tasks. Man, I feel like a dickweed, but this is a matter of life and death… and final death…

With that excuse becoming a mantra in my head, I start snooping around Gabe’s office. I read up on the Soldiers of the Sun and a bunch of other propaganda as I realize, partially, what’s going on. Even with a quick glimpse at some of the documents Gabe’s currently putting in the car, I have a sinking suspicion about everything.

There’s a vamp out there using the Fellowship as his scapegoat. No doubt there’s some kinda incriminating evidence at all the murdered vamps’ places linking them to the Fellowship. Shit, I wouldn’t be surprised if the FotS just started taking credit on their own!

I start wondering if the Ancient Pythoness knew when she was going to die. I know she’d seen it. She’d shown me she had several years ago when we first met. The thought makes my fangs throb, and not in the good way. It’s almost like when I’d get shivers down my spine as a human, only it’s in my mouth now. I feel that vibration all the way into my cheekbones, and my eyes shake a bit. Dang.

At least the Pythoness sees Thorn being whole again in the future, and I guess she meets someone. That must’ve torn the Pythoness up to see the love of her existence with someone else. I hope Thorn at least has a considerable grieving period.

My thoughts are interrupted then as Gabe returns and hands me my car keys back. He’s still obedient, and waits for further instruction. As I am about to break the glamour, I realize this guy’s gonna realize at some point that a bunch of his information is missing, and the security footage is going to show me as the last person he was with before it went missing.

Another idea comes to mind and I take in Gabe’s line of sight once more. I impress upon him that I am Steve Newlin giving him an order.

“Your contact has been compromised, and is recalling all leaked information to be gone over with a fine toothed comb,” I tell Gabe. “You delivered that information to a courier while taking a meeting with a new recruit. Once the information has been authenticated, it will be returned with a new list of names.”

Gabe’s eyes blink once I tell him what he did this afternoon, and he nods gravely, “It’s a good thing our informant noticed the mistake before one of our people got caught. It’s too soon for our involvement to be known.”

I tilt my head curiously, “Why is that?”

“Because our Big Mark isn’t back in the country yet,” Gabe replies with a shrug.

Oh, shit, I think in bewilderment. “Who’s the ‘Big Mark’?!”

“Don’t know yet. I only know that I was told we can’t let the media know of our involvement until we take care of the ‘Big Mark’,” Gabe shrugs again and I want to beat my head against a wall.

“Do you know anything about it? Where it will take place?” I try to press.

Gabe’s brow furrows. I feel him pushing against my glamour and realize that I’m overstepping what his mind is willing to accept. Steve Newlin trying to get information out of Gabe makes no sense to his mind. Steve tells him what is going on, not the other way around.

Instead of pushing further, I end the glamour marathon and head back to the reception area while Gabe recovers from my mind control. I wait for Sookie and Eric to return from their own tour.

Hopefully there will be clues in our notes… Hopefully Sookie has found out some things of her own.

On to Chapter Fifty-One

Catalyst Ch. 49

Chapter Forty-Nine: Playing Spies

March 2009

Eric’s POV:

“Sookie,” I growl against my wife’s lips as she kisses me urgently, “you have to leave for work.”

“Just one more time,” Sookie pleads as her stocking encased thighs squeeze my hip. She is dressed for work, minus her bottoms, and she has never looked so delicious.

I groan and pull her mouth back to mine while giving her bottom a soft smack with my hand. The playful attack makes her body tremble excitedly, “Go to work.”

My Sookie pouts as she rolls off of me and onto the floor. She huffs and shakes her bottom with its soft, pink glow.

“Dear One,” I sigh as she pulls a thong from her panty drawer and slides it up her legs, “please stop trying to break my resolve.” She snaps the elastic against her hip and I purse my lips in response. “You are a devil.”

“I’m an angel and you know it,” she teases as she grabs her slacks and slips them over her legs. Gods, I want to rip those off and take her against the chest of drawers!

As I watch my wife finish dressing for work and walk her to the garage for a departing kiss, I have a moment to reflect on the last couple years.

After the reuniting of the family, I felt Sookie’s spirits rise once more. Though the doubts returned occasionally, it was obvious that they did not consume her like before. It was a relief to me, but also quite bitter. The realization that my Bonded needed more than me was a disappointment, but I remained considerably calm about the epiphany. After all, with youth comes uncertainty and a mild level of discontentment.

Thankfully, her crisis of faith seemed to ease with the arrival of Camilla and Pam. I do not know what they said to her, but when everyone returned that evening, Sookie was in better spirits than I had seen since arriving in Ohio. She began getting to know the neighbors, and took on a job teaching summer classes. My wife began befriending other teachers, and she started dragging me out in the evening for gatherings.

It is with a happy smile that I spend my morning and early afternoon going through business emails and combing through Compton’s most recent information leaks. Another vampire nest was attacked? The news distracts me through the remainder of the day until I hear my wife return.

“What are you up to, Dear One?” I ask, arriving in the study to find Sookie setting a stack of papers on her coffee table. She has continued to refuse using a real desk to do her work. She insists that working on the floor makes it feel more fun.

“Grading some papers,” she answers. Sookie looks up at me with a soft smile as she turns on the TV to prattle on in the background.

I smile as I come sit on the couch behind her. She is on the floor, legs crossed lotus style and poised beautifully beside the coffee table. As she lowers her head to continue grading, I reach forward and begin rubbing her shoulders. Her pen quickly falls to the coffee table and she groans.

We remain like that for a while. I rub her shoulders, and she moans softly as I work out the knots from noisy children and overdo assignments.

~ “Soulless creatures have no rights!” screams Reverend Newlin who is being interviewed on the news. “My church is about the preservation of humanity, and encourages the true children of God to heed not the denizens of darkness!”~

My ears tune out the “reverend’s” words. He has been making quite a stir lately, and Nan Flannigan is becoming increasingly frustrated by his rantings. Twice now they have been put on the news together to debate vampire/human politics, and both times Newlin refused to speak directly to her. Instead he spoke to the prompter, and ignored every statement the vampire representative made.

This afternoon the bigot is being interviewed by himself, and he is further proving his extremist views. Just as his “sermon” is hitting a screaming stride, he is interrupted by the news anchor.

~ “Excuse me one moment Reverend, but we have breaking news,” Chad Spencer interjects. The camera pans to square him in the shot, and the anchor speaks into the camera. “According to overnight reports that have only just now been confirmed; no less than five vampires were slain in the Dallas area last night. Additionally, this station has been tracking vampire slayings for the past six months after a rash of murders occurred-”

“Something dead and evil cannot be murdered!” Newlin admonishes the anchor’s statements.

Without breaking his professionalism, Chad continues as if an outburst had not just happened, “- that brings this years wrongful vampire deaths to eighteen nationwide!”

“Do God’s work, true followers of Jesus!” Newlin cries.~

I quickly shut off the television and Sookie and I sit stock still in the study.

We are absorbed in silence a long time before Sookie finally whispers, “What’s going on?”

Leaning back into the sofa, I confess, “Compton has been telling me for a few weeks now that there has been an uncomfortable number of vampire slayings this year.”

“How many?” she asks cautiously.

“In addition to the eighteen you just heard reported, there have been five others,” I tell her.

“Twenty-three murders in six months?” Sookie leans forward, pulling her knees up to her chest. I see as she rests her head against her knees that she is considering the magnitude of the number. “Is it hate crimes?”

“That is what Compton and quite a few other vampires are thinking,” I answer. “Four nests were struck accounting for the eighteen True Deaths the reporter announced. The other five occurred among individuals who took home a meal from a bar.”

“Drainers?” she guesses.

I nod, “I would guess so.”

She frowns a moment before stating, “Isn’t tracking down and killin’ a nest of vampires supposed to be difficult?”

“It is, and the nests that were struck were not what we would consider ‘at risk’. Three of the four nests were mainstreaming and not putting themselves purposefully at odds with humans. The fourth nest was a pair of older vampires both over the age of five hundred. They should have known how to keep safe.”

“You think it’s organized.”

“I do.”

“Do you know by whom?” she presses.

It is my own turn to frown now, and I point loosely to the television.

“That crazy Newlin guy!?” Sookie gasps.

“A figurehead. His son has been doing far worse in Dallas. Over half the destroyed nests happened in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Area,” I confess. “Theodore Newlin has accomplished most of his roaring from Utah as of late, and left Dallas to his son. Steve Newlin has stayed mostly in Texas.”

“Wasn’t the Dallas/ Fort Worth area Godric’s Area before we were Bonded?” she wonders.

“It was, but last I heard, it was under the control of Isabel. She has been in control of that Area since before vampires came out of the coffin. Actually,” I pause to reflect, “if I remember correctly, she still calls Godric from time to time for advice.”

Sookie watches intently as I reach for my phone and call my Maker.

“Yes, Eric?” Godric’s voice answers politely after the first ring.

“Master, have you heard from Isabel lately?” I ask.

There is a pause before he replies, “Not since last year when she told me she had taken a human lover.”

‘That information strikes me as peculiar,’ I think guardedly. “She called you to gush about her human?”

Godric chuckles, “No, she called to talk to me about the expansion of the Fellowship of the Sun facility. Hugo merely came up after we talked business.”

“What was her concern about the FoTS?” I ask.

“From what she was able to glean, there was no order for the expansion. She believed Steve Newlin was preparing to do more than merely denounce the vampire community, but also work toward destroying it,” he tells me.

“Have you read or heard about the number of destroyed nests?” I press, trying to keep the anger from my voice.

“I have, but have yet to determine a course of action,” he confesses.

Sookie, who has had her ear pressed against the phone, chimes in, “What if Eric and I went to Dallas and did some snooping?”

“Excuse me?” Godric replies with surprise.

“The Fellowship considers themselves a church, right? We can go there under the guise of being new to the area, and scoping out a new church for after the move,” she explains.

“Eric?” I can hear the hesitant hopefulness in my Maker’s voice.

He likes this plan, but I have my concerns over bringing Sookie into such a place. My wife is fiery. Some of the things she could hear might make it difficult for her to maintain her poise. But, I look at her appraisingly and remember that she hears unsavory things all day. Our short nine years together have proven time and again that I underestimate her abilities far too often. My wife is fiery, but she is also strong, resilient and smart.

“If Sookie is willing to do this, I am too,” I reply to my Maker at last. Godric releases a slow breath. “I would like to take Jason as well. If he can sense a vampire mind nearby, it might imply there is a traitor to our kind.”

“This will be Sookie and Jason’s first reconnaissance mission,” Godric points out.

“I am aware. It is better for him to train among humans rather than vampires,” I remind and Godric chuckles an agreement. “We will leave this weekend.”

Sookie’s POV:

Godric called ahead to warn Isabel that we’d be doing some snooping in Area 9, but as the plane begins its descent, I can’t help but feel anxious and a bit excited. Isabel’s human is supposed to be meeting us at the airport, and as far as he knows, we’re humans who are vampire sympathizers. Our story is that we are part of an organization trying to prevent vampire hate crimes. Eric explained that the vampire community created a law stating the nature of our existence was not to be known by any humans. I guess it’s for moments like these…

As my family lands in Dallas, and we find ourselves at the gate, I can already see a man holding up a sign that says ‘Northman’. He’s good looking. Dark brown hair, professional looking. Godric told us he’s a lawyer.

‘Shit, the burner cell is still in my office… I’ll drop them at their hotel and slip back later-‘ I hear from our escort during a precursory scan of his mind.

Taking Eric’s hand I tug him away from Hugo like we never even saw him. Jason looks at us confusedly, but follows without a word. When we’re on our way to the car rental area, my brother finally says, “Leak?”

“Yup,” I respond. “Stay away from him.”

“You are certain?” Eric asks me.

“Pretty darn,” I reply, “but I want to meet him on my terms, not his. Somewhere without all this white noise.”

“I will have Isabel arrange a meeting with him later,” Eric replies and kisses the top of my head. “We will have to make other room reservations as well. If he had any part in the process, our room could be compromised.”

“Agreed,” I nod.

“All right,” Jason adds, “I’ll grab our bags and meet ya around front.”

“Thank you,” Eric nods at him.

As we stand patiently in line for a rental, Eric takes out his cell phone and calls around for a hotel room. By the time we’re at the front of the line, we have a new reservation, and Jason is standing with us, holding all our bags.

Finally we get our rental car, and as we leave to retrieve it, Hugo passes us. I watch him intently as he throws the cardboard sign with our last name into the trash.

‘Did they miss the flight? Maybe Isabel died for the day when they called… At least I got time to clean up some more of this mess!’

“Eric,” I whisper, “tail him. He’s gonna dispose of information. Jason and I will meet you back at the hotel.”

“Look at you,” Jason snickers, “commanding this badass like some sorta Head of the CIA!”

“Watch out for your sister,” Eric tells my brother before disappearing into the throng of people.

I don’t know how you lose a 6’5” vampire in a crowd of humans during the day, but my husband is a master of his art. That’s for sure.

When Jason and I are in the car, he wastes no time grilling me.

“So, what happened?” Jason whispers as we hit the road.

Unfolding the map I grabbed at the car rental, I look for our destination, “Head North on the Parkway and then take it to the One-Fourteen East. Looks like a drive to the hotel.”

“Sook,” Jason stops me, “what’s goin’ on?”

“Hugo is part of the problem,” I sigh. “I don’t know how much of it, but definitely enough not to trust. We made a new reservation at the Hyatt, and are going to meet with Hugo under our terms tomorrow. Eric’s gonna track him for now, see if he tries to dispose of any more information. We don’t want to accuse Isabel of anything without evidence. For now, she’s as much a victim as anyone else.”

Jason nods slowly as he weaves in and out of traffic. “So we may have already found the mole?”

“Maybe,” I frown thoughtfully. “I don’t want to assume anything. There have been nests that were hit outside of Dallas. That’s information Isabel wouldn’t necessarily know. If Hugo is behind this, he can’t be working on just the information that was available to Isabel.”

Jason runs his hand through his hair in a frustrated tell, and I pat his thigh soothingly. “You think the FotS got other informants?”

“They must,” I shrug. “If Isabel were the only common link between the destroyed nests, someone would have put it together a lot faster than you or me.”

“I guess that’s true enough. Heck, if the only link anyone’s seen so far is the Fellowship, anyone could be informing to them. They got a bunch of followers nationwide. They even condone draining, although not the consumption of blood.”

“You’ve been doing your homework,” I laugh.

“Ever since I became a vamp I’ve been trying to catch up. Although, I don’t really like it when Eric takes me out back into the woods and shoots me. Bullets hurt,” he whines.

“Just so long as he doesn’t stab you at random around the house. Your blood took me an hour to get outta the carpet,” I complain.

Jason snorts, but nods in agreement, “I told him he can stab, shoot and maim me all he likes outside or at my house, but he said he wants me on guard at all times.”

“I knew I should have gotten hardwood floors throughout the entire house,” I pout.

A smirk tugs at my brother’s lips and he just shakes his head. With the mood moderately lightened, we make the remaining journey in thoughtful silence. I know that we’re both wondering what we’ll learn when Eric returns.

{†}

It’s almost five in the afternoon when my husband knocks on the hotel room door, and I let him in. Jason sits up on the sofa when Eric enters with a trash bag tucked under his arm.

“He went to his office, was there for about twenty minutes, and then emerged with this. He drove to a nearby strip mall and threw it into a dumpster behind a set of shops,” Eric explains as he tears open the bag and dumps the contents on the table. “I retrieved it and then followed him to Isabel’s residence. He appeared to be in until sunset.”

There’s a bunch of shredded paper on the coffee table and a smashed cellphone. I pick up the phone and examine it. “The SIM card is intact!” I quickly pop out the chip and hand it to my brother. He’d suggested purchasing a SIM card reader, and now I’m grateful that he did. At first I just thought he wanted one so he could feel like a real spy.

Soon we have a list of contacts, retrieved text messages, and a voicemail that is still processing retrieval.

While this is happenings, Eric and I work together to put the confetti of the shredded documents back together. It only takes a few successfully reconstructed pieces to determine what information they had told, but it’s tedious obtaining even that small bit of information.

“Wait, this looks like a name and house address,” I chime in.

Eric stops what he’s doing to look at my project. “That is the leader of the last nest that was destroyed,” he informs me.

“So, he’s definitely the leak,” I say, still looking for more pieces to put together.

“Yes, but the last nest was not in Isabel’s Area,” Eric leans back thoughtfully. “It is a printout. That implies it was sent to him, not told or stolen; not by Hugo at least.”

“Someone has been giving locations to Hugo to spill to the Fellowship?” I ask.

Jason interrupts us, “Hey, I just checked one of these contacts. None got names, but there’s three total. Two got area codes for Dallas, but this one is from Nevada.”

Eric glances over Jason’s shoulder to look at the number. “The Nevada number is only incoming, and the two Dallas numbers are only outgoing. That means Hugo called whomever owns these number.”

While Eric and Jason talk about the mysterious Nevada number, I’m still piecing together hopeless shreds of documents. Finally, I come across another shred that appears to be part of the ‘hit list’ document.

“Eric, I think I found another victim’s address,” I call to my husband as I’ve managed to piece together more of the paper.

Eric barely glances over my shoulder when I feel surprise and fear flash through the Bond. Next thing I know, Eric has his phone out, and he’s dialing like his life depends on it.

“What is it?” Jason asks as Eric begins pacing. He pulls the phone from his ear and dials again. “Eric?”

I’m sitting quietly, waiting, as Eric keeps trying to call someone over and over again. After the third redial, he pauses and runs his hand through his hair. He seems to think for a moment before trying his phone again. This time, someone answers.

“Quigley!” Eric barks into the phone, making me and Jason both jump. The quiet had been so tense that the abrupt interruption startles us. “I need you to check on Cassandra and Diedre.” I really wish I had vampire hearing. “My family is investigating some wrongful, final deaths. We have evidence that suggests the two of them could be in danger.”

Jason tenses beside me, but I don’t ask what this Quigley vampire is saying. Eric will tell me what’s going on as soon as the situation is brought back under control.

“What do you mean?” Eric demands. He pauses as Quigley gives some sort of story, and when he replies again, his voice is subdued, “You are certain?” Jason’s body is shaking like a leaf, and I put out a hand to run over his back soothingly. “I will call Godric to meet you in Pittsburgh… He will bring you two to safety.”

Two, I think. Someone is dead. Either Diedre or this Cassandra. I pause as I remember who rarely goes by the name ‘Cassandra’.

“The Ancient Pythoness is dead,” I whisper knowingly. All Jason can manage is a nod as Eric hangs up with Quigley and presumably calls Godric. My suspicion is confirmed as I hear Eric coordinating the safety measures for Quigley and Diedre.

When Eric hangs up for the final time, he turns to me and my brother. “Yes, the Ancient Pythoness has been ended. Diedre is in terrible condition. According to Quigley, her left arm has been blown off, and she is in complete despair over Cassandra’s death. One of Cassandra’s handmaidens managed to pull Diedre from the explosion and keep her protected from the sun. Diedre was brought to Quigley, and they are waiting until nightfall to flee.”

“Who’s Quigley?” Jason asks.

“He is about my age, and the only surviving progeny of Diedre,” Eric explains shortly, but something in the Bond and my husband’s eyes tells me it is far more complicated than that. “You will meet him when we return home.”

“So, what do we do?” I finally ask.

Eric considers my question a moment before answering, “We have until nine tomorrow morning to put as much of this information back together as possible. I will call Isabel and tell her we will not be arriving until tomorrow at four in the afternoon. That will give us six hours to infiltrate the Fellowship, retrieve as much information as possible, and meet with Isabel and Hugo tomorrow evening.”

“We’re going to fly behind their backs,” Jason nods in understanding.

“Yes,” Eric confirms. “Jason, I will need you to find out if Isabel had any part in this. You know your signals.”

“Yeah, I got ya,” Jason assures.

“Sookie,” my husband turns to me, “we need anything and everything you can glean at the church tomorrow. We have to find out if any other vampires are targets. Especially ancients. The loss of the Ancient Pythoness will be spread world wide in a few hours, and if a Seer and ancient can be destroyed, then no vampire is safe.”

“I’ll get back to this puzzle,” I promise him.

For the next several hours, the three of us are putting together the shredded documents. Jason has to break to feed, and I’m working with a piece of pizza hanging out of my mouth.

Around 4 AM, Eric’s on his phone, and giving a shopping list to someone. I hear things like: colored contacts, hair dye, hand warmers, self-tanning lotion, and a wig. At 5AM there’s a knock at the door, and when Eric answers, there’s no one there but a big bag.

I watch in dismay as my husband starts chopping off all his beautiful hair while on the phone with Isabel. Then he’s dying it, and I’m just praying he has no intention of doing the same to me!

Thankfully, my disguise comes in the form of a wig and some colored contacts. They make my eyes into a muddy brown color, and I’ll be grateful to have my own blue eyes back at the end of the day. Jason gets his hair dyed next, and some dull brown contacts like mine.

Around seven in the morning, the three of us look like completely different people. I find my ‘Sunday Best’ to wear to this meeting, and get used to my 6’5”, black haired, green eyed husband. This is too freaky!

“You’ll grow it back out, right?” I ask hopefully.

“Tomorrow,” he promises and gives me a kiss. A strange little thrill knots up my stomach. It’s like being kissed by a stranger; a stranger whose mouth feels comfortingly familiar. “Or I could wait?” he looks at me amusedly, having felt my little, excited swoon.

“You can wait until I leave for work on Monday,” I whisper to my husband and he just laughs at my suggestion.

“Aw, ew!” Jason makes a face, but I can see the teasing in his eyes.

At nine, I take a deep breath as my husband takes my hand. It’s finally time to go on my first mission. It’s scary and thrilling at the same time, but with my brother and my husband on either side of me, I’m ready!

Eric’s POV:

It is moments like these that I wish there were a way for Jason or Sookie to be able to communicate telepathically with the family.

“Oh, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Daniels! My name is Hannah!” A bubbling receptionist greets me and Sookie. “And this is your brother, Jacob, right?” She bats her eyelashes at my brother-in-law.

I chose for us to use fake names that at least began with the same letter or sound of our original names. Hopefully if our newest spies have a slip up, they will have time to catch themselves seamlessly. Or maybe it will only be more confusing for them? I wonder a bit nervously. Pam was over one hundred by the time I felt she was ready for something like this.

“Yes,” I reply as warmly as I can muster, which is surprisingly toasty. After all, I would not have survived as long as I have if I could not keep my enemies close.

“Hey there.” Jason gives the woman a playful wink and I laugh internally at her rosy blush.

“Reverend Newlin is planning to meet with you in just a moment. If you’d like to wait in his office, I am sure he will be by in just a few minutes.”

A moment later we are shut into the den of the lion, and I look to my wife for indication of our next move.

“Oh, what a lovely office,” she comments. “Aren’t those paintings beautiful, Elijah,” She points to a rather underwhelming portrait of Jesus. This is her way of informing me and her brother that we are being observed. Jason and I put our hands in our pockets, using disposable hand warmers to increase the temperature of our skin. It would be concerning to the humans if we avoided skin contact as simple as a handshake.

“Yes, very inspiring,” I agree, gazing emptily at the artists rendition of the Messiah.

“I dunno,” Jason frowns. “Where’s the big ol’ crucifix? Remember Reverend Jones had that giant one in his office?”

“You cannot judge a man by the size of his artifacts, Jacob,” I smirk at Jason amusedly.

Jason chuckles and shakes his head, “I guess I was hopin’ for a little flavor of home.”

Thankfully our forced nonchalance is ended with the opening of the double doors to the office. With a well worn in smile, Steve Newlin enters and greets all of us kindly.

“Hi there, folks,” Newlin shakes my and Jason’s hands. When he bends to kiss Sookie’s hand she giggles and pulls away before his lips can touch her skin. “A chaste wife. What a catch, Mr. Daniels.”

“Yes, she is,” I agree easily, but can feel Sookie’s unease after touching Newlin’s hand. I am proud that her internal recoil was so beautifully masked as chasteness.

Newlin gestures to the seats in the office, and my family sits casually before our enemy.

“I hear you folks are moving to Dallas and are scoping out the local churches?” Newlin asks.

“That’s right,” I reply. “Sandra and I are hoping to be starting a family soon, and it is very important to her that our children grow up with a strong religious upbringing.”

Newlin appears to fall into our story, gleefully expressing his agreement with my wife. The pair talk animatedly about their views, Sookie maintaining her charming exterior as I feel our Bond sloshing with an overflow of annoyance and disgust.

After a few moments, Jason injects himself into Newlin’s focus to give his sister time and concentration to scan the rest of the area mentally. After a few minutes, I note her fingers tapping rhythmically against her knee. She has discovered something.

“Do you think we might be granted a tour?” I interrupt Jason’s conversation abruptly. “I would like to see what sort of events and organizations we will be able to join.”

“Does the church provide any daycare?” Sookie presses.

“Yes and yes,” Newlin replies jovially. “Follow me.” He rises from his desk chair and leads us from the office. “If you come this way, I will show you the chapel, and then we can tour the outer buildings of the compound.”

“Compound?” Jason frowns. “You got housing here?”

“For some of our more devout parishioners,” Newlin answers easily. “Our presence of faith is very strong, and many of my flock choose to donate their worldly goods and live humble lives within the church grounds.”

“That is quite impressive, Reverend,” Sookie tells him.

“Y’all don’t have any singles’ events, do you?” Jason jokes.

“As a matter of fact, we do. We understand that it is difficult for our flock to encounter like minded people, and that many have been put in very dangerous situations in their pursuits of finding a companion,” Newlin clucks his tongue sympathetically.

“You think you could find me my own tour of the church? Honestly, Sandra and I are lookin’ for very different things,” Jason remarks.

“Of course,” Newlin gestures back to the receptionist area. “Go ahead and ask Hannah if she can find someone to give you a tour of your own.”

“Thanks very much,” Jason grins at him and waves goodbye to us.

“Reverend, would you mind very much if I use the ladies’ room before we begin our tour?” Sookie asks politely, gesturing to the facility. I know she is trying to break away long enough to text Jason whatever information she has gleaned and instruct him on what he should be doing while away from Newlin.

My wife returns quickly, and smiles apologetically before we begin our tour. It is boring and tedious to be in Newlin’s company, but I must let Sookie concentrate on finding out as much as possible.

Every so often I feel her hand flutter against mine. This is not one of our silent signals, but a physical tell of what is happening in the Bond. She is sad, a little distressed by what she is hearing, and not for the first time, I wish I could do this for her. I wish I was able to listen to the entire world; human, two-natured or vampire. If it meant that my wife and her brother were not forced to hear the unsavory worlds of mortals and supernaturals, I would take the burden for them a hundred fold.

Instead I am forced to play the decoy as my wife and brother perform reconnaissance. Admittedly, Jason blends in far easier than I do. His glamouring skills have also come along nicely. I think it is the fairy in him that makes the magic flow so smoothly. Perhaps his months of being unable to glamour was the time it took his magics to align and cooperate with one another.

This is, of course, only speculation; one that I consider to distract my mind from the conversation I must engage in with Steve Newlin.

“Oh!” Steve grins wide as a perky blonde approaches us. “Here is my wife! Sarah, this is Elijah and Sandra Daniels.”

“So nice to meet you!” Sarah shakes Sookie’s hand and then mine. I purposefully brush my fingertips against the inside of her wrist and laugh internally at the response such a little flirt brings. There are few things more entertaining than making the “righteous” consider lustful musings. However, my entertainment is quickly ended when I feel my wife’s anger in the Bond. It is the quickest, tiniest flare of jealousy, but very new to me. I do not believe I have drawn jealousy from her ever before.

As quickly as it came, Sookie’s mood settles, and she takes my hand once more. We continue our tour with the Newlins, and I do believe we have seen a fair majority of the grounds. Finally, we are back in the receptionist’s area, and Jason is waiting patiently for us. I thank my stars that he has completed his mission and we do not need to dwell here any longer.

On to Chapter Fifty!