chapter forty-

one

                Sky and Rachel walked into Calvin’s house. It was a neat, warm little house. Calvin’s wife had been friendly and showed them to their bedroom.  They would share the guest room but that was okay. She showed them where their bags and purses were. Bill had packed Rachel pajamas and two out outfits and some extra shoes and under clothes and her favorite house shoes and her shower stuff. Eric had done the same. “You two get a shower and I will put you guys some jambalaya and rice together and a couple of beers.”

                “Thanks Tanya we appreciate it,” said Rachel.

                “I can get you an ice pack for your eye,” said Tanya.

                “Thanks,” said Sky.

                “Everything will be okay, you know,” said Tanya.

                “I know,” she said. “I feel better already.”

                Rachel was in the shower and Sky was at the supper table when Calvin came in. “Mrs. Northman, your husband thought you could use this.” Calvin set the little bottle in front of her. “I think it is his blood.” Sky opened the bottle carefully and saw the thick red stuff covering the inside of the bottle.

                “Thank you baby,” she said under her breath. She put the bottle to her lips and drank it. She felt the familiar stinging snap of her cheekbone healing again and she felt the swelling go down almost immediately.

                 “Vampire blood is amazing,” said Calvin. Rachel came out in her pajamas and ladybug house shoes. “Mrs. Compton, how are you?”

                “Better now that we are home, so to speak,” said Rachel. “Thanks for taking us in, I appreciate it.”

                “It’s my pleasure, I never forget a kindness,” said Calvin.

                “This looks really good, Tanya,” said Sky, as her plate of food was set in front of her.

                “Calvin, would you like a plate?” asked Tanya.

                “You bet,” he said. The girls dug in. Rachel looked at Sky.

                “Your cheek is healed,” she said.

                “Eric sent me the cure,” said Sky.

                “I have some folks out at the center keeping watch tonight,” said Calvin. He was just about half way through his plate of food. “After I eat, I will change and go out. Alcide’s people are helping me keep watch tonight. Until you ladies are gone, we will be pulling guard duty.”

                “Sorry to put you and your clan out,” said Rachel.

                “It’s not a problem,” said Calvin.

                “I hate that Jason is dead,” said Rachel.

                “Oh, he ain’t dead,” said Calvin. “His death was faked to bring that vamper out to Bon Temps. Eric and Bill knew that was the only way they would get him was out here on their turf. So we made it all happen and on security video. Bill attacked Jason and Andy made some statements to the press so it would get on the TV. Then that little demon made herself shift into Sookie Stackhouse.”

                “Diantha is a demon?” asked Sky.

                “Not like a hell demon, back in the olden days, before the Christian religion, a demon was like a helper, but yeah, she is a demon,” said Calvin. He sopped up the juice of the jambalaya with a piece of biscuit and ate it neatly and took his plate to the sink. He kissed Tanya and left. Sky was still thinking things over.

                “Well, I never figured on demons,” said Sky.

                “Me either,” said Rachel. “I wonder what Dr. Ludwig is.”

                “She is real different,” said Tanya. “I thought maybe she was some sort of fae, but Calvin said no, she is something else altogether.”

                “Are you a panther?” asked Sky.

                “No, I’m a fox,” said Tanya. Sky nodded.

                “It’s a wild world out there,” said Rachel.

                “Real wild,” she said. There was a sound like a woman screaming and the baying of wolves. “Real wild.”

                “So Jason is okay?” asked Andy. Bill nodded. “And your wives?”

                “They are safe,” said Bill. “And we have the vampire we were after.”

                “And you all will be leaving soon?” asked Andy.

                “We will, we have to take care of this by vampire law,” said Bill.

                “When will Jason and them be able to come back?” asked Andy.

                “After the trial, we will let them rest for a while and enjoy the place we sent them and then they will be free to come back whenever they so desire,” said Bill. “Then you can make your announcement that Jason was cooperating with law enforcement to catch some backward thinking vampires which were given the true death when they would not surrender. This will also clear up the deaths of that professor and Sheriff Dearborn,” Andy nodded. “How is the baby?”

                “Caroline is growing like a weed. She said her first word the other day…momma,” he said, proudly.

                “I hope you don’t mind, but I have set up a college fund for Caroline,” said Bill.

                “That is very generous of you,” said Andy.

                “She is my blood,” said Bill. “In a manner of speaking.”

                “Well, thanks, “said Andy.

                “I will leave you be, it is almost dawn and I have to go to ground,” said Bill.

                “Stay safe,” he said.

                “You too,” said Bill.

                Eric listened to Palomino. “So they are headed back to Nevada?”

                “All but four,” said Palomino. “So be careful.”

                “What did you say to them?” asked Eric.

                “I told them he had what he wanted and he was traveling by another route and he would join them in two days,” she said.

                “When this is all over, I want to talk to you about some things,” said Eric.

                “Understood. Let’s just make sure we live through this,” said Palomino.

                The next day, the girls chafed under their imposed imprisonment. They wanted to go home and cuddle up next to their sleeping vampires and feel them in their arms and smell their scent. Calvin was gone to work and Tanya was taking the day off.  They took turns on the computer and checked their emails and watched television.

                Rachel made supper and Calvin was delighted. “I bet you girls don’t get to cook big usually,” he said, grabbing another biscuit.

                “Nope,” said Rachel. “Bill being vampire and I just eat light, so there is not much call for me to cook a lot.”

                “Well, Bill is missing out,” said Calvin.  Sky and Rachel’s phone went off simultaneously.  “Speaking of vampires.” The panther smiled as both girls excused themselves.

                “How is your face lover, did Calvin give you my blood?” asked Eric.

                “He did love, are you okay?” she asked.

                “I am much better now you are close,” said Eric. “Pam has been helping me pack your things for the quorum. Bill and I will pick you up tomorrow night to catch our flight.”

                “Can you tell Pam to make sure that bag with all the stuff I put together for you is with you when you pick me up?” she asked.

                “I can,” he said. “I love you.”

                “I love you too,” she said.

                “Sky, did he hurt you in any other way?” asked Eric. “Did he…did he hurt you?”

                “No, he just hit me, a were hit me first, then he hit the same place,” said Sky. “He threatened, but he didn’t hurt me.”

                “Did he hurt Rachel?” asked Eric.

                “No, he never laid a hand on her,” she said. “He said he was going to spare Rachel and Bill and make them move to Nevada because of Bill’s database thing and he said he was going to kill you and then make me a whore in one of his blood brothels. But he only threatened, he didn’t do anything else.”

                “That is a relief,” said Eric. “I could not stand it if…”

                “He didn’t get the chance love,” she said. “I miss you so much.”

                “I know, I miss you too, but at least I can feel you in the bond now,” he said.

                “I missed that too,” she said.

                “Sweetheart,” said Bill. “Are you okay?”

                “I’m fine Bill,” she said. “Lonely for you, but at least I can feel you in the bond now. I was more scared because I could not feel you.”

                “I  know,” he said. “Are you being made comfortable?”

                “We are, Calvin has been so generous, he and his wife,” said Rachel.

                “Good. We will be coming for you tomorrow night to catch our flight. I have packed your things, all the new things you purchased,” he said.

                “Thank you,” she said. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

                “I know,” he said. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

                “I love you,” she said.

                “I love you,” he said. “Try to rest, we will be together tomorrow night.”

                Eric was in his office when Pam and India brought Ayres out of his coffin for blood and a chat. Ayres had a peaked look, even for a vampire. He drank the blood greedily. “Man, am I tired.”

                “Silver drains your energy,” said Eric. “We have De Castro.”

                “So you don’t need me anymore?” asked Ayres.

                “Actually, we do need you,” said Eric. “I want you to tell me everything you know about De Castro’s kingdom and what he had planned against me.”

                “I don’t know a lot about what went on in his kingdom. All I can tell you is he was paying Latesta and Reynolds here to act against vampires in this kingdom. Latesta and the Take Back the Night group were focused on making your life hell. I know he made you Regent to set a trap for you, but once he made you Regent, he realized he had made a mistake because you were strong and you were putting Louisiana on a paying basis. I know Baruch was jealous of you, and he hated that De Castro had made you Regent of Louisiana. He was the one who tried have you killed on the highway before Christmas, he thought that if you were dead, De Castro would move him to Louisiana and he would be able to settle in New Orleans. He has bought a lot of land, abandoned land from the hurricane.”

                Eric nodded, he had figured out that part. “Go on.”

                “And he was obsessed with Sookie Stackhouse. Latesta found some sort of note Sookie wrote you guys, sort of like forgiving you and telling you no matter where she went, she would love you and all that, that was right after the house blew up. Then Latesta had this letter he stole from Jason Stackhouse and it made De Castro think she was still alive and he wanted her,” said Ayres. “I can tell you that Red Rita in Arkansas does not like De Castro. He has had a strangle hold on the kingdom and he has been draining her.”

                “Interesting,” said Eric. “Pam, put Ayres back in his coffin.”

                “Wait, wait, will you ever let me go?” asked Ayres.

                “Perhaps, you have been behaving yourself with Salome, and if you tell the quorum everything you know, perhaps you will be set free to do as you like,” said Eric. “Until then, you will remain my prisoner. Back into the coffin with you.”

                No day seemed to last as long as that day. Sky and Rachel moved around in Calvin’s house like birds in a cage too small to contain them.  When the sun went down, they could barely contain themselves. “Keeping you ladies distracted is like trying to keep two tigers in a chicken house,” said Calvin. “Vampires must be something else to have two ladies like you all up in arms.”

                “Only these vampires,” said Sky, emphatically.

                “No harm meant,” he said. Soon there were lights in the darkened yard. Sky went to the window and saw it was Bill’s Mercedes.

                “Bill,” said Rachel. She flew out the door and Bill had her in his arms. He kissed her face and neck and held her tight. Sky and Calvin stepped out onto his porch.  Another set of lights entered the circular drive. It was a dark colored car.

                “Looks like Eric didn’t want to drive that fancy sports car back up here,” he said with a chuckle. Eric got out of the car one second and had Sky in his arms the next. He plunged his hands in her hair and kissed her. Calvin stood there, slightly amused. When Eric finally disengaged himself from his wife, he looked at Calvin.

                “Calvin thank you very much for taking care of my wife. Should there be anything I can do for you or for Hot Shot, you need only mention it,” said Eric, with his usual dignity.

                “It was my pleasure,” said Calvin, with just as much dignity as the Viking. Eric nodded to him.

                The plane was filled with Louisiana vampires, Diantha, her uncle, and the coffins containing both Ayres and De Castro. There were times they all heard the shouting inside, muffled and enraged.  Rachel shrank back against Bill when she heard him cursing in Spanish and pounding on the coffin lid. Pam looked at it with smug smile.  “Don’t worry, Rachel, that coffin is wooden with a silver lining. He wouldn’t be able to break free if he pounded on it a hundred years.”

                “Will he tire out?” she asked.

                “He will,” said Bill, cuddling her against him.  Eric looked relaxed and unconcerned.  Sky laid her head on his shoulder.

                “Relax, you must be worn out,” said Eric. He lifted Sky’s hand to his cool lips and kissed it.

                “Will the Ancient Pythoness be there when we land?” asked Rachel.

                “She should be there already,” said Eric. “Bill and I must go to see her immediately to tell her about the situation and to bring our formal charges. The others will be there as well, our allies and friends.”

                “Are all the royals on your side?” asked Sky.

                “Not on our side precisely, but they will listen and be fair,” said Eric. “And we have to notify Nevada their king is to stand trial so there will be a night there we will have to wait for them to send a delegation out. Nevada has to be represented, that is the law. Your brother is representing De Castro is he not?” Eric looked at Cataliades.

                “Oh yes, Simon will be his legal counsel,” said Desmond.

                “But isn’t that a conflict of interest?” asked Rachel.

                “In human courts, it would be, but not in vampire cases.  Eric’s case is pretty clear cut. All my brother can do is ask for leniency in the findings.”

                “And what would that entail?” asked Rachel.

                “Well, it could be imprisonment and a loss of his crown for 100 years,” said Desmond. “It could be the true death, or he could be freed altogether and found innocent, and then there would be a trial for Eric.” Eric gave Cataliades an evil look. “Oh dear, I have let the cat out of the bag.”

                “What does he mean Eric?” asked Sky.

                “There is very little chance of that happening,” said Eric.

                “But for the sake of argument, what would that mean, a trial for you?” asked Sky.

                “It means I would be tried for placing false charges on my sovereign and inciting what amounts to a coup d’état against my king,” said Eric.

                “And what might you get?” asked Sky.

                “It won’t happen Sky,” he said, looking at her.

                “What might you get?” asked Sky.

                “The true death would be the only thing I could receive for that charge,” said Eric. “But that will not happen.” Sky looked at Eric and bit the inside of her mouth hard and tried not show her anger and fear. She tamped it down as much as she could but Eric could feel it in her.  

                The plane landed at 2 am and the vampires got off and walked through the Air Anubis gates. There was something about vampire accommodations that were far superior to human flights. They were taken to meet the special transports for both the coffins and the passengers. The city of Boston was dark and the streets were wet with rain. It was cool and Sky was grateful for the leather jacket she was wearing. Rachel pulled her favorite red woolen cape around her more securely and Bill helped her step up into the chartered bus.

Originally, Eric had wanted a lodge or bed and breakfast but none were available for the size they needed with conference facilities and none were vampire ready. Sky finally found a hotel that would be appropriate for both the business and the pleasure end of their stay, if there be such an animal on this trip.  The Boston Marriott Burlington had been open and supportive and had worked with Sky to make all the accommodations for the sheriffs and their staffers and the kings and queens and their humans and staffers. The conference room was reserved and she made sure there was a selection of TrueBlood and Royalty and Imperial. The suites were reserved for royalty and regents.  Ordinary rooms were for the staff and other members of the royal’s personal entourage.  Then Eric gave Sky the number of John Quinn.

John Quinn was surprised to hear from Eric, well his wife. She told him what Eric wanted and he said everything would be arranged and she should not worry about it further. Eric told her later that Quinn was a rare weretiger who was sort of like the official sergeant-at-arms for formal legal proceedings like weddings and trials in the supernatural world. There would be a jury to be seated and though the Ancient Pythoness would be the one who would do the final judgment, it would be up to the panel to advise her what she should do and how to handle it. This was not just some nod to democracy; the Pythoness depended on the counsel of the jury. 

They were registered by the prompt reception desk and given their card keys. They went up and Bill and Eric was greeted by sovereigns and their staff and they stopped only briefly. They told them tomorrow night, they would meet with them, they had to meet with the Pythoness just now and they would be able to tell them more about what would be happening then. They came to their suites and they checked everything out. The windows especially had be checked that they were light tight and when they were satisfied they brought the girls into Eric’s and Sky’s suite and sat down with them.

“Bill and I have to go see the Pythoness. We will make the official charge and do the blood oath with her. Well, I will, Bill is just my second,” said Eric. “So Sky, I will smell a little different, because I will have had some of the Pythoness’ blood.” Sky nodded. “This should not take long. Tomorrow, there will be humans who will need to see you. Diantha and her Uncle will be there. They are the day walkers of the sovereigns here and they will want their instructions. I have emailed the both of you instructions for each human who will come to see you. These are all serious minded people. There will be a human here to help you. Her name is Des, Dezzy, and she is the wife of Salome Agrippa, she is very serious and she will help you keep everything straight. Whatever you do though, do not tell anyone we have De Castro under arrest. We don’t want the delegation from Nevada to be tipped off as to his whereabouts. The vampire who helped you escape has been texting them as De Castro and she has them preparing to fly out at a moment’s notice.”

“Okay,” said Rachel. “Do you need someone to take notes for the trial? Will Sky and I be permitted to attend?”

“Yes, you won’t be allowed to speak as far as I know, but you can be there, and you and Sky should take notes and follow the trial closely. I will be taking notes as well,” said Bill. “This will help us as we go through testimony and make final arguments.”

“Stay here, if you are hungry, call some room service,” said Eric. “If the service is no longer working call something in from the outside and have it delivered. Don’t venture out.” The girls nodded in agreement. “Bill, if you are ready?”

Bill leaned over and kissed Rachel on the head, Eric kissed Sky on the cheek, and they stepped out of the suite and headed for the presidential suite where the Ancient Pythoness was being housed. She had flown in yesterday and had been taken care of by her handmaids.  They stopped at the door of the suite and knocked.

There were several human as well as vampire women there, all amazons and they were fierce looking. Bill and Eric walked into the suite and took a knee before the Ancient Pythoness who was sitting in large chair. “Please stand,” said the Pythoness. She was dressed in a cream-colored toga like gown with a purple cloak. Her long white hair was thick and lustrous and her blind eyes were white and fringed with white lashes. She had no teeth; she was very old when she was made. Her feet were encased with heavily embroidered cloth shoes. She was tiny, barely four feet tall. Her hands were very thin and her nails were carefully trimmed and neat. She was whiter than white.

                “So we meet again Eric Northman. Please introduce me to your friend,” she said. Her voice was heavily accented.

                “This is my second in command, William Compton, Pythoness,” he said.

                “I am honored to be in your presence,” said Bill, nodding his head toward her.

                “Please sit down,” she said. “Tell me of your troubles, Eric.”

                “We sent you my case Lady Pythoness,” said Eric.

                “It was read to me, but I want you to tell me, in your own words,” she said.

                “My king, Filipe De Castro, has been a ruthless vampire bent on destroying us in Louisiana and other kingdoms. He has been selling the blood, he has allowed vampires to sell the kiss and then not raise the fledglings, as is their sacred duty when they make someone,” said Eric. “He has allowed humans to be slaughtered and he imprisons a pack of Italian weres, royal mastiffs of the ancient breed. He has declared war on his own kind out of greed.”

                “And you killed your wife and sovereign after you were married by ancient rite and arrangement, by your maker. Where is your maker now?” she asked mildly.

                “He has met the true death,” he said.

                “By your hand?” she asked.

                “No, at the hand of a fae Pythoness,” said Eric.

                “What do you wish me to do about this? This seems to be a grudge match between you and your king,” said the Pythoness.

                “It is not simply my fight Pythoness, there are other monarchs who bear grievances against this king. He has done much to undermine the goal of all vampires in this country, perhaps eventually in the rest of the world. He is supporting a human movement called the Deadacrat movement. They are bent on denying us our basic rights. He is also backing a terrorist group bent on killing us, driving us back into the coffin,” said Eric.

                “Tell me about the woman, the telepath, is she with you today?” asked the Pythoness.

                “No, Pythoness, she is not with us,” said Bill.

                “Where is she?” she asked.

                “As good as dead,” said Eric.

                “As good as, but not dead,” said the Pythoness.

                “No, she is not dead, she is not in this world,” said Eric.

                “Where is she?” asked the Pythoness.

                “She was of the old people, the fae,” said Bill. “She has gone home with her people.”

                “And you are married?” she said. “I was told you were married by both human and vampire ritual.”

                “We were and our wives are human, no special abilities. They work for the betterment of supernaturals. Sky, my wife, is a teacher, and Bill’s wife, Rachel, is concerned with the health and well being of all people, supernatural and otherwise. They are aware of this situation and how grave this matter is for us, especially for us personally. Pythoness, tell me what to do, I am your servant, your word is my edict,” said Eric. The Pythoness reached out to Eric and he took her hand.

                “I have lived a very long time Viking, I have seen empires rise and fall and kings and queens die and be crowned. I have wept over people, human and supernatural alike whom I have loved. It never gets easier,” she turned over his hand and ran her fingers over his palm. “I was made an oracle when I was nine years old. Do you know how I was made an oracle?”

                “Honor me with your story Pythoness,” said Eric.

                “I had a dream of a wild hoard coming to destroy my people and I went to the temple of Minerva and told the priestess of my dream. She commanded the guards go out to the perimeter of the city and protect it. They all said I was crazy but they did it. They prevailed and they declared I was an oracle. They taught me to sit in the high stool and breathe the vapors of the crack to the world of the dead. I was something close to eighty when I was made vampire. Alexander let me drink his blood and the blood of his mother,” said the Pythoness. “What you say is true, but I have to tell you Eric, there is no promise of tomorrow. I can see the future, but I know what others know: the future is fluid. One ripple in the scrying bowl and it all changes. I will hear your case, Eric.” She motioned sightlessly to one of her servants who brought her a small knife. She cut her hand and lifted it to Eric’s mouth. He took it and drank the blood that filled his mouth and when her wound healed, he bit into his wrist and stepped forward and offered her his blood. She locked her toothless mouth onto his wrist and sucked hard and drew in his blood. When his wounds healed, there was blood on her mouth and one of her servants handed her a cloth and she wiped her mouth. “I look forward to meeting your wives. You will bring them to me tomorrow night, and I will meet them.”

                “Yes, Pythoness,” said Eric. He slid from his chair and knelt before her. She put her thin white hand on his head.

                “Good luck in all your endeavors Viking,” she said.

                Rachel was curled up in bed when he returned to the suite. Bill undressed quietly and slid in beside her. She turned when she felt his cool skin against hers. “Bill?”

                “Go back to sleep sweetheart,” he whispered. She turned to him and pulled him down to her and kissed him. He kissed her back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He  pulled her against him.

                “I want you Bill, please, make love with me,” she whispered. “Please.” Her voice had a pleading sound to it, desperate. He kissed her harder and she slid her hand down to him and stroked his length and his hand slid between her thighs. He began to kiss her, down her body and he slid between her thighs and kissed her there and then went deeper, making her cry out. He slid back up to her and pushed her onto her back and slid into her. He buried his face in her neck and she pulled on his hips to make him go deeper inside her. “Please Bill, please my darling.” He raised up to look at her and she pulled her hair away from her throat and turned her head to offer him the blood pulsing there. He leaned down and kissed her jugular vein and nipped her skin. She gripped his shoulders and pressed him down to her. She cried out when she felt his fangs open her skin and the force of his mouth as he sucked her blood.

                Bill put his arms around her and lifted the both of them up and snugged her tightly against him as he settled Rachel on his thighs. He pressed her head against his neck and she kissed Bill’s honey spot, the place that made him shiver when she bit him.  His hand cradled her head against him as the other moved her back and forth, rocking her against him. “Now sweetheart, now,” he urged her and she bit hard and he felt her climaxing at the same time and he came as he felt the suction of her mouth as she sucked on his skin and took in his blood. When his skin healed she raised up and he kissed her hard. They could taste one another’s blood on their mouths and he held her tight, his arms around her and he continued rocking her. Life just would not be worth living without this little dark haired woman in his life. “I love you so much Rachel.” His voice had a choked sound to it and Rachel raised up and saw tears there. Bill had never cried in front of her. She stroked his face and leaned forward and kissed the tears.  She kissed his mouth.

                “Again Bill, again,” she whispered.

                Sky was waiting for Eric when he let himself back into the suite. She got up and went to him and began to undress him. “I have been without you too long,” she said. “I make love with you nearly every night and I have become addicted to you, everything about you. I need my fix.” She was practically tearing off his clothes. Eric pulled her short sleeping shift off her and pulled her against his naked body. She was burning hot, as if she was on fire. She kissed him hungrily, her mouth searing and her tongue tasting his mouth.  He pushed her gently to the bed and she slid back on it when she felt the bed hit the back of her legs. He followed her, extending his fangs. She slid around and got on her knees and pushed him onto the bed, so he was lying on his back. Sky leaned down and kissed his chest, nipping and biting him. He hissed in pleasure, feeling the sharpness of her mouth. She kissed her way down him and put her mouth on him and sucked hard on him. He arched his back and moaned, his hand going into her red hair. The pressure she put on him was magnificent and he let her go like for that some time.

                Eric looked at Sky’s pale and perfect body and noticed she was turned in a very convenient way to him and he turned slowly and opened her thighs to the fiery flower of her and he lowered his face to her and began to take her as ferociously as she was having him. She came hard and he could taste her flesh in his mouth, and his cool tongue was buried deep inside her and her hips rocked toward him. Eric filled his hands with her bottom as he made her come again.  When she had come, he sat up and pulled her to him. He kissed her and she could taste the honey of her pleasure on his mouth.

                Sky lay down and she pulled Eric down on top of her. He felt her reach for him and rub him against her and he plunged into her. He was not gentle with her, but she was not gentle with him either. She was thrusting upwards towards him, meeting him stroke for stroke. There were times the Viking held her still for a moment to gather himself back up and stop his inevitable spiraling down of his orgasm. Then he would start again. He lost his English and spoke in the long forgotten dialect of his people and Sky growled, urging him on. He felt as he did when he would lie on top of Aude before a great battle and he would claim her one more desperate time and she would push and pull on him, urging him to have her, to spend himself inside her.  Sky pulled him down and just when he was about to come with her she bit down on him and took his blood. He screamed hoarsely and bit down her and took her blood simultaneously. He let go and came painfully inside her as she milked him to completion with her own orgasm.

                Afterwards, he lay exhausted on top of her, licking her wounds and she licking the place where she had bit though it was long healed. He finally slid away from her and pulled her close to him. He sighed and squeezed her against his body. She rested one of her thighs on his hip and brushed his long hair away from his face. 

                “Are you okay?” he said finally.

                “Uh huh, are you?” she asked.  He held her tighter against him.

                “I love you, Sky,” he said. “I love you so much.”

                “I love you too,” she said. Her voice was soft, tired.

                “Sleep min Valkyrie,” he said.

                The next morning, Rachel slid out of bed and went to the bathroom. She was a little sore but satisfied. All of that anxiety had loosened its grip on her as she made love with Bill. She fell asleep in his arms and she woke still snugged against him. When she slid out of the bed, she put her pillow in her place and pulled the blankets up around Bill. She ran a bath and took her time, soaking in the hot water and using the expensive courtesy soaps and shampoos. When the water began to cool down, she got out and dried off and went into the living room part of the suite and turned on the TV and looked at the room service. It was eight in the morning and she was hoping she would have the chance to eat and have her coffee before she and Sky had to deal with strangers. There was a pecking at the adjoining door and she went and opened it and there was Sky.

                “Morning,” said Sky. She was freshly bathed as well and she had her hair wrapped up in t towel and had on jeans and a Fangtasia tee shirt. “Coffee?”

                “I was just about to order some,” said Rachel. “Want some breakfast too?”

                “I better, Eric got a nip and sip from me last night so I better eat something so I won’t fall out later,” she said. She sat down and took off her towel and began to squeeze her hair out.

                “I am going to have the Irish Breakfast,” said Rachel.

                “And what is in an Irish Breakfast?” asked Sky.

                “Eggs, pork sausage, blood sausage, bacon, English muffin, jam and jelly and butter, fruit cup and either tomato juice or orange juice and a pot of either tea or coffee,” said Rachel.

                “Ummm…do they have a breakfast cake?” asked Sky. Rachel looked on down at the menu.

                “Yeah, a gigantic cinnamon roll and some sort of cream cheese pastry/Danish thing,” she said.

                “The Irish breakfast and add the Danish,” she said.

                “I think I will have the same. Coffee or tea?”

                “Coffee,” said Sky. Rachel picked up the house phone and dialed the room service and ordered the breakfasts. Sky went back into her suite and came back with her hair treatment. She squirted some in her hand and rubbed her palms together and began to rub it into her hair.

                “You ever straighten you hair?” asked Rachel.

                “No, it would never be permanent. Besides, Eric has a regular little fetish for it,” said Sky, methodically treating her hair. She watched TV as she did. “Ugh…Snow…”

                “Oh, I kind of like it,” said Rachel. “I bet Eric would like it.”

                “Probably,” she said. “You know, I used to smoke…I didn’t smoke all the time, but I used to smoke. I could use a cigarette now.”

                “Nah, don’t do that,” said Rachel. “I used to sell clove cigarettes, and then I realized, cloves had just as many if not more carcinogens when burned.”

                “Yeah, there is no such thing as a safe cigarette, I guess,” she said. “Eric detests it anyway. He always heads straight for the shower after working at Fangtasia.”

                “Yeah, that is when I know Bill has either been at Merlotte’s or Fangtasia. He smells like smoke,” said Rachel.

                “Do you know much about his maker?” asked Sky.

                “Some things,” she said.  “He told me how she saw him and wanted him instantly and she planned his death and took him away from his family and how there were these wars in the west, like range wars, among the vampires.”

Bill had been with his maker through many of those hard years for the vampires and they traveled alone. They settled in Washington State for many years until it was impossible to hide the fact they never changed and they were only seen at night. That is when Bill and Lorena had the last fight when she finally released him and they parted ways. It took a couple of decades before Bill felt detached from her. Because just as vampires fed during sex with humans, vampires fed from fellow vampires during sex. This created bonds between the vampires and this caused built in interior power struggles. He and Lorena would gorge on the blood of their human victims and then fuck like wantons, banging away at each other and then bite down hard and drink from each other. Filtering out the years of feeding from her took a long time.

                For a long time he traveled on his own, putting himself in the service of a sheriff here, a king or queen there, and he nested sometimes. Bill was a social creature and he liked the society of his own kind for short periods. He did not tell Rachel about the nights he and a new nest sister would go out and team hunt in the streets of bustling turn of the 20^th century cities like New York and Chicago and St. Louis and sported himself in the fancy parlors of crime bosses and in whore houses. When Bill had embraced the second awakening of his humanity, he was ashamed of his ways and the way he and his maker were together. Bill often wondered if Lorena had a better maker would he have been a better vampire, less willing to sink to viciousness and cruelty. He had never broken the rules about drinking children, even before he understand such rules were in place for their kind, mainly because he had living children back in Bon Temps. Lorena often did. Like the vampire Godric, her favorite victims were the hapless little urchins she would take into her arms and cuddle and then drain dry. She laughed at Bill for never having developed a taste for children’s blood.

                In one of their chattier moments, some sixty years ago, Bill met up with Eric Northman. There were not that many vampires in America then. Truly, the population of vampires had tripled in the last few years since coming out of the coffin. However, in the years before, there were only a couple of hundred thousand vampires and everyone tended to know of vampires like Eric. By then Eric was getting ready to go to Shreveport to work for the then king of Louisiana. Eric was old and relaxed around humans though he really didn’t pass much for human. He was too old a vampire to ever really pass for human. Vampires were like that when they were old, made during a time long since past. Perhaps it was because he really didn’t look like a modern man. Rachel had giggled at that, because Sky had said as much. Eric was beautiful, but there was something about his face, his body, his carriage that screamed ancient. Perhaps it was the cold way he prowled. That was it, he didn’t simply walk into a space, he prowled it. That and the fact Sky  thought Eric’s features were too heavy and his bones far denser than a modern man’s bones and her observations  made him laugh at her and say, “Does that mean I am hard headed?” he asked, teasingly and she had smiled and nodded. Then Eric proceeded to show her what else was hard on him.

                At any rate, the sullen and jaded Eric Northman had shook his head at Bill’s quandary. He remembered when he was a young vampire he was hungry all the time but after a couple a years he learned to be a connoisseur.  He did not like to go in and rip and gouge and terrorize every meal. It simply was not necessary. He said there was something to be said to select certain people for that particular pleasure. He enjoyed stalking pimps and thieves and other criminals and terrorizing them, sometimes to the point of smelling acidic urine fill the air, tickling his nostrils. But then there was the blood of seduction and sex and orgasm and that was far sweeter to the taste. It could be said Eric had a bit of a sweet tooth. Even in those seconds when his host realized they were with a creature of legend, they succumbed to him and let him work his will over them. He was the beautiful demon their priests and parents warned them of, monsters who would fill their bellies with them after he had filled their bodies with him. After he told him this little secret to his success and his complete detachment about who and what he was, he looked at the younger vampire and shrugged.   “Bill,” he said, “time for you to grow the fuck up.”

                “So Eric and Bill knew each other from before?” asked Sky.

                “Yeah, I mean that is what Bill said, that Eric told him to grow up and stop with his emotional immaturity,” said Rachel. “Do you know much about Eric and his maker.”

                “Eric’s maker was a Roman soldier. He told me about him when I asked him once if he loved his maker.”

Eric was sitting astride Sky. She was on her stomach and Eric was massaging her back. He carefully worked her muscles, gently squeezing her and releasing. “So a fairy killed your maker?”

                “Yes,” said Eric. “He was already severely wounded.”

                “How long had you been away from him?” asked Sky. She turned on her back and Eric remained astride her.

                “He released me when I was almost 300 years old,” he said. “The last time I had seen him before he died was 100 years ago.”

                “Did you love your maker?” she asked.

                “I owed everything I was to him. He was a warrior and he was intelligent. He educated me, taught me to read and write and he gave me his gifts of language and flight,” said Eric.

                “But you don’t say love,” said Sky.

                “It’s very complicated with me and my maker,” said Eric. Sky turned over.

                “Why?” she asked.

                “I will tell you this, but I want you to understand something. My maker was looking for a man who would be his companion and a fellow fighter. I was in many ways his son, but I was also his lover. I prefer women always, but I have been with men. Vampires are not necessarily turned off by sexualities that are not their own and even if the sex is not their taste, they will indulge and even enjoy the sex because they are also feeding,” said Eric.

                “I knew that was the way it worked for vampires,” said Sky. “So you did not love your maker?”

                “I loved my maker or a came to love my maker because he taught me everything but I was happy to be free of him,” said Eric. “He was very old fashioned, even for that time.”

                “He was backward thinking?” she asked. “So he would not approve of me and our marriage.”

                “No, not particularly. I want you to do something for me,” he said.

                “What?” she said.

                “I want to make love with you but I also want you to promise that if I tell you to run, during this quorum, you will run and not try to stay with me. I will need to be free to fight without looking after you. Bill and I both have given instructions to our trusted people to see to it you are taken to safety. We know where you will be, and we will come to you, but do not try to help me. You would only get killed and perhaps endanger my life and Bill’s life. Do you promise?” he asked.

                “Eric…” she said.

                “I know you are brave and I know you are strong, but you could never help me, or Bill, so you have to promise, please, promise me,” he said. He kissed her and pressed her to him. “Promise me.”

                “I promise,” she said.

                Breakfast finally came and the girls ate everything. Sky was not familiar with the little blood sausages but Rachel pointed out they were full of iron and it would strengthen their blood. They slurped down both orange juice and tomato juice and then chugged a cup of TrueBlood apiece. They took away the blood taste in their mouths by drinking the coffee and eating the breakfast cakes.

                “Man I am stuffed,” said Rachel, rubbing her belly.

                “But we have been short on meals recently. I hardly ate anything when we were away from the boys,” said Sky.

                “True enough,” said Rachel.  She picked up the room and pushed the room service cart out in the hall way and she and Sky wrangled the table from hers and Eric’s suite into Rachel’s sitting room and set up their lap tops and prepped their impromptu work stations and waited for Des and any other helpful human to come.