Shimmer Chapter 6

Chapter 6
As I watched Jason and Amelia walk off to find the Enterprise desk, I almost ran after them. I hated pulling them into this. Situations like this are what hospital bills are made of, and for once I actually wished I was the one being charged. I tried to tell myself it will work out, but when you start out this way they never really do. I had to remind myself that Amelia is a formidable witch and think of the ectoplasmic reconstructions, the power it took to pull those off. Then I think of Bob; powerful - yes, perfect - no.
Eric looked down at me and kissed my forehead. “No harm will come to them here, my lover, I promise you they will be protected.” He whispered into my ear so softly I barely made out what he is saying. I don’t ask questions, it is better that I don’t know.
“What time are we being picked up?”
“About midnight.” Eric answered.
It’s only 11:15 and I’m famished. I looked around for a directory of the airport. I noticed that weren’t too far from some delicatessen and I turned to walk back and tell them I was going to get a sandwich, but Eric was right behind me.
“Hungry, my lover?”
“Very, all I’ve eaten since breakfast is a cinnamon pretzel.”
“Did you want to go to that deli your finger was on?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s go then.” Eric motioned for Pam and Bill to follow us and we headed for the deli. While Eric and I ordered my sandwich Pam got three Life Flows - sub par- from the vending machine in the corner. There was a microwave next to the machine and Pam warmed the bottles before passing them out. We got back to the table about the same time.
“Sorry Bill, they only had A.” Pam said as she sat down. He shrugged. I ate my sandwich and didn’t realize how great it was until it was gone. I have to get another on the way back. As I popped the last of my pickle into my mouth someone in a dark suit approached our table. He had a little glow so I knew he was a vampire. I assumed he was our driver, but I was still on alert.
“Mr. Northman.” The vamp said with a nod. Eric returned the gesture and we all stood.
“I am Kristofer, I have been sent by Mr. Crowe to escort you to his estate, are you ready to leave?"
“We are.” Kristofer commandeered our luggage rack and we all followed him. I remembered our trash and looked back at the table, but someone was already bussing it. I felt a little guilty, but oh well. Eric took my hand and soon we were in a limo, headed to the manor of a King. Well, two Kings to be exact.
Indiana’s estate was huge. I have no idea how someone could acquire so much real estate in such a populous city. At first I thought we were just entering a gated community, but when I read the lettering on the gate I realized I was wrong. 'Crowe and Edgington Estate' was displayed prominently in beautiful gold script on the rod iron gate, backlit so its grandeur could be appreciated by nighttime guests. Of course, nighttime was when it really mattered.
“Will Russell be here, too?” I ask no one in particular.
“I am told he is not here tonight, but a visit is planned for this week.” Eric replied. Well, someone told him wrong. As we entered the house, Edgington was waiting for us.
“Miss Stackhouse, how wonderful to see you again.” The King of Mississippi greeted me from an elegant wing back chair in the grand room. He stood up and made his way over to us, just as his husband was entering from the right. I wasn’t expecting to be greeted by a King in the ‘entryway’ (though this particular one was a big as my entire first floor) much less this King in particular.
“Eric, I am so pleased to have you and your party here during my visit.” He said as he nodded at Pam and Bill. Bartlett took Russell by the arm and asked us all to follow them. The grand room had the highest ceiling I have ever seen and there was a spiral staircase on either side leading up to the second floor. We followed the Kings through an archway to the next room, then down a short wide hallway ending in a room with a long table in front of a huge bay window. I had to make a conscious effort to keep my jaw off the floor. The Kings sat with their backs to the window, motioning for us to take our seats as well. Eric and I sat directly across from the two kings, Pam on his left side and Bill on my right.
I rested my hand on the table and Eric placed his over mine and smiled at me. I was surprised at this gesture given the company. Russell took all this in and didn’t make it a secret.
“Miss Stackhouse, every time we meet you have a new paramour. Considering his masquerade in Mississippi, it is understandable that you have taken up with the sheriff.” Russell remarked. I'm not surprised he realized Leif and Eric were one in the same. You don’t stay King for over a century by being unobservant. He must really think I am a supernatural slut: Bill, Alcide, Quinn, Kennedy, and now Eric... well maybe I kinda am.
“Yes sir, I have been fickle in the past, but I believe I have met my match.” Eric beamed at me and I think I caught Bill gritting his teeth.
“Eric, your King said it would be best for you to fill me in on your business in my state.” Indiana stated. I guess he wasn’t interested in my love life. Eric told him everything, and Bart was surprised to hear about Kennedy’s affiliation.
“I knew such groups existed, but I had no idea they had such a stronghold in my state, right under my very nose. You are doing me a great service. If there is anything I can do to return the favor, do not hesitate to ask."
“I assure you I will not, for now your hospitality is all we require. If you have no other plans, my companion is very tired.”
“Of course she is, this young human is strong, but she obviously needs her rest.” Russell remarks. “Bart, I’ll call Libby to take them below.”
Below? What does he mean below? Russell pressed a button on the intercom by the window and soon a female vamp entered. She couldn’t have been turned very long ago, and she looked to be about seventeen. Her hair was cut into a short bob and was electric blue. She had big brown eyes, a sharp nose and her arms were sleeved in tattoos. Her voice was angelic; I’d like to hear her sing. She guided us out of the conference room and into another hallway. We went through a normal doorway into a normal bathroom. She walked over to a floor to ceiling mirror and just stood there. Why on Earth did she drag us all in here to watch her stare at herself?
Just as I completed that thought the mirror slid to the side into the wall and revealed a staircase. She walked down and brought us to a small office to check in with a demon. He took all our pictures with a Polaroid camera and pinned them to a cork board, saying we could come and go unaccompanied now. Demons are hard to read but I caught that we must be in a lot of danger if the King is letting us stay down here.
Libby told us that we were below the lake behind the main house. No one could get here without security manually opening a door. All the rooms have individual keys and are always locked. Only the chief of security has a spare key to any room. Eric was right, this is some serious security. She also said that there are many pumping and backup pumping systems in the unlikely event the lake begins to breach the roof.
Eric and I have a room and Bill and Pam are sharing the one across the hall. Libby gives us our keys and leaves. Eric tells Bill and Pam to get settled and meet in our room in an hour.
The room is beautiful. There is a big bed with a mint green comforter and brown accents. Everything in the room complemented it. Our luggage was sitting between the closet and dresser. I was also pleased to see there was a bathroom.
I looked up at Eric and he attacked me with his mouth. His kiss was deep and urgent. His hands were all over me and before I could protest (not that I wanted to) we were both naked. He held me up and my legs automatically wrapped around his waist. My arms were around his neck and he held me where my butt meets my thigh. Normally he prepares me for his ‘gracious plenty’ so the first plunge was shocking, but the slight pain subsided into pure pleasure almost instantly. My back rubbed against the wall as he moved within me, I arched and my agonizingly hard nipples grazed his chest. I let out a breathy moan and wrapped my legs around his thighs so that my feet met his knees. This allowed him to go even deeper and I could feel my muscles contracting. Never pulling out, he turned and made his way to the bed.
He laid me on my back and let my feet rest on his shoulders, He used both his strong hands to press my thighs together and the increased pressure was amazing. The sensation was so intense I started screaming his name over and over uncontrollably. He began to thrust vigorously and I got louder and louder. He took my right breast into his mouth and I shook all over when he drew blood. As I felt the surge of climax approaching I rolled my head back, “Look at me lover, I need you to watch me!” Eric commanded and we locked eyes. We both peaked at the same time and he yelled just as loud as me, only I did in English. He laid on top me for a moment kissing my collarbone then he slid down my body to clean me with his skillful tongue. I released all over again.
Having sex three times with no shower is where I draw the line. We still had 15 minutes before Bill and Pam would be rapping on our door and I was gonna put them to good use. Of course Eric had to wash me, but he knew that was all we had time for. I dressed and put on my moisturizer and pajamas at record speed and I was brushing my hair when I heard the knock. Eric let them in as I pulled my ponytail tight. Pam had a definite smirk on her face to contrast Bill’s definite scowl. Well, I guess our rooms aren’t sound proof. Poor Bill, he knew as well as I did he could never make me scream like that.
“I see you didn’t get much unpacked.” Pam couldn’t help but point out with a snigger.
“Sookie and I had business to attend to before your visit." Eric said as he positioned himself on the bed. I sat down in front of him and he pulled me between his legs so my back was against his chest, Pam sat down on the bed facing us. Bill stood for a moment and was about to sit in the lone chair across the room but Eric pointed to the empty patch of mattress next to Pam, and Bill reluctantly complied. Who besides me ever finds themselves underground, in a bed, with three vampires?
Eric got out his prepaid cell phone and called Jason. He made sure they were ok and had everything they needed. He asked them to call me as soon as they set up the meeting. Everything seemed to be taken care of so he hung up. They never exchanged names. Eric then told us he had gotten Alcide to contact the local packmaster about Kennedy. He was sickened by the group’s behavior and was more than happy to provide Jason and Amelia with much needed day time protection. The Were had tried to run them out of town several other times, but had been unsuccessful. He was grateful for our help as well. Eric wasn’t asking for any favors in kind. Peculiar. Eric told Bill to gather as much information about vamps known to have been killed by Kennedy and his cohorts as possible. He reminded Pam that she must stay inside until the meeting is over with, and told her to help Bill. She looked even more bored than usual.
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Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckin’ shit. How in the hell did I get roped into this? I am gonna be skinned alive by a goddamn bear in an apartment above the fuckin Mason Dixon. Geez. Sook, you better be right about this lil’ ol’ gal. She sure don’ look like much trouble to me, but she is packin’ a whole bag full a’ shit. I guess I was right, if a woman’s gotta carry a purse that big, ain’t nothing but trouble in it. If she ain’t got her shit together then we are S-C-R-E-W-E-D. I can’t change whenever I fuckin’ feel like it, and evens if I could, I doubt I could take on two bears. I musta lost my everlovin’ mind. Why did I agree to this, probably that fuckin’ vamp Sookie’s got in her bed now. She kept her knees shut twenty-five fuckin’ years just to fuck a bunch of vamps. He probably hypnotized me and this girl here just to get us killed so he can have her all to his ownself. SHIT! Don’t look cocky, don’t fuckin smile. Get it togther Stackho…
“Hello Sir, my name is Jason Stackhouse. This is Amelia Broadway. May we come in? I’m ‘fraid we got something to talk about.” Gran. I hope I’m doin’ ya proud, lord knows I’m tryin’.
“Alright, but like I said on the phone, we ain’t got all day now, son.” Shit he’s big, I bet when he shifts he is huge, what is he a goddamn polar bear? Oh fuck, she ain’t small neither. We are up the creek without a fuckin' canoe!
Well at least Amelia is keepin’ her trap shut, I like her alright, but her mouth could sure make this go from bad to dead. “Thank you for having us on such short notice-why is the furniture covered in plastic? - I am sorry to say so, but we come bearing some bad news."
“All right, Mr. Stackhouse, please tell us what you have to say.” Her voice is higher than I thought it’d be. She sounds kinda shook up too. Maybe they don’t know.
“Well ma’am, like I told your husband on the phone, I am a supervisor on a road crew down in Renard Parish, Louisiana. You son Kennedy, well Ken, he worked for me see.”
They both nod at me to go on. “Well Kennedy hadn’t shown up for work in a couple days and well there ain’t no bears to speak of round our parts, so I knew him outside a work too. Well he hadn’t shown up for that neither. I got real worried, so I checked to see if he’d been arrested or hospitalized, and when nobody heard of him, some of our group went out to trackin.’ We found him and some others in a house in Monroe, and I dunno what all went down in there, but nobody we saw was livin’. –aw shit his momma’s cryin’ they didn’t know they better be right about this shit- Well anyways I’m real sorry. I, uh, I thought you might like this.” I hand the box and my handkerchief to his momma, she needs it more that his daddy.
“Thank you, Mr. Stackhouse. Thank you so much. This is a real nice gesture. The police down in Monroe called us after they found the bodies, but we appreciate you coming all this way to do this yourself. That speaks volumes.” His daddy said to me.
“Well Sir, Ken wasn’t just on my crew or with my pack, he was my friend.”
“It’s nice to know he wasn’t alone. We worried about him being so far from his kind.” His momma sobbed at me. Amelia’s lookin’ a little green over there...
“May I use your restroom please?” Amelia spit out quickly.
“Honey, I hate to rush you off but we really gotta get ready for work, and with Mindy all shook up like this. Well there’s one right below us in the laundromat.” Daddy replies.
“I dunno if I can make it.” She says cupping her mouth.
“All right honey, past the kitchen, to your left.” Momma replies quickly. I guess she don’t want no chunks on the plastic.
Aw fuck, I can smell whatever she is doin’ in there and OH SHIT ! They are fuckin shiftin’ shit shit She’s got the fuckin’ guns what am I gonna do? FUCK!! Oh no fuckin’ way, they are frozen. They are frozen mid fuckin shift. Kodiak bears. Wow.
“Amelia! Amelia! It worked! Get your behind out here before they unfreeze or whatever!”
“Of course it worked, and they won’t unfreeze until I unfreeze them. Jason, what the hell?”
“What, yea I know they are fuckin’ huge, what are we gonna tie them to?”
“No, not that, you…you have paws and you’re kinda furry.”
“You musta left your marbles in that bathroom woman, I can’t change unless it’s a full moon.”
“Well somebody better tell your hands that because they are confused.”
“Oh shit! You’re right.” She just rolled her eyes at me.
“Well I guess I’m gonna do the pad locks then, do you think you can manage the chains?” She said.
“Well I can try.” I replied as I walked over to her. I managed alright but she did have to do the locks. Well, I guess if I am scared to the point of shitting my pants I can shift. Good to know.
We got them tied up to the staircase in their apartment. If they wanted to they could break out, but Amelia anticipated that and had a HUGE needle full of some kinda tranquilizer. She shot them both up.
“Well they might be groggy, but they should stay put for at least a bit.” She smiled.
“You got them guns?” She tossed one to me, sure enough sawed off shot gun with silver bullets. She sat down Indian Style and pulled some little bottles out, lit a candle. Started chanting and then that smell came again. She blew out the candle chanted something else. Oh fuck.
“What is the meaning of this!! You come to tell me my son is dead and then you tie me up?” Daddy growled through fuzzy lips. Mom don’t look so lively, and well Daddy’s starting to fade now. I guess that tranq is working. I’m sure glad Amelia’s on my side.
“What do you want with Sookie Stackhouse?” Amelia asked with authority. That girl has balls of steel.
“We want her to go to hell strapped to a vampire, and not the one she is fucking either.” Mom said, wow she don’t sound so grief stricken now.
“Why the hell do you want that?” Amelia growled at her. If I didn’t know better I would think she could shift.
“She is heathen scum. She parades her sinful ways, and shows no remorse. She destroyed our prophet’s base, interfered in his righteous plans and has forced him into hiding. She undermined our attempts to save the souls in the Pyramid thus sentencing them to eternal damnation. We will not let her continue to corrupt souls.”
Alright, there is a lot I don’t know about my sister, but I doubt she is sending people to hell. None of this makes any fuckin’ sense.
“None of this makes any fuckin’ sense Amelia, are they high?”
“Nope just crazy. It’s almost dark. I’m calling.” She said. Sook and I have a lot to talk about tonight.
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The phone was ringing. Eric was sleeping. My great-grandfather and fairy godmother were sitting with me on my bed in the home of a vampire King, right alongside my daytime-dead vampire boyfriend. If this bed could talk, I would have to buy it off.
Claudine handed me the phone, since she was closest to it.
“Hello.” I say trying not to sound worried, but I really hope it is Jason or Amelia that talks back.
“Girl, you are not gonna believe this, but these jackasses are in the Fellowship of the Sun.” Amelia says.
“Like Were spies for the Fellowship?”
“No, they were there for the kool-aid.”
“No way.” She was right, I don’t believe it. Eric started waking up. Claudine looked nervous, Niall didn't.
“Eric is waking up, are they under control?”
“Oh yea, I tranqed their asses. I didn’t do another stasis because I want to search the place.”
“Good thinking.”
“What is who thinking?” Eric asks, seeing our company and looking utterly confused. I put my hand over the phone so Amelia doesn’t think I’m talking to her.
“Amelia and Jason have Kennedy’s parents chained up and tranquilized. They are in the Fellowship of the Sun.” His eyes get wide.
“Hang up. Tell them to maintain the situation and we will arrive within the hour.”
“Keep up the good work; we’ll be there in the next hour.” I relay to Amelia.
“See you then.” She hung up.
“My lover, why am I in a bed full of fae?” He didn't sound entirely upset about it.
“Well, they sensed my concern and here they are.” I smiled.
“What have you done?” Eric asks my grandfather.
“Jason was not the best choice for this mission. He nearly lost control while the witch was casting the spell, and if it were not for her speed and my intervention, he would have lost his life.” The Prince of Fairies replied, looking less than thrilled with Eric.
“Jason was our only choice if wanted any hope of a covert operation. How did you intervene?”
“I gave him the power to change if his life is in danger. He also would have changed into a true panther. This will not last. It will fade by the next full moon. I will need you to glamour him for me.” My great-grandfather tells my naked lover. This is weird.
“Thank you, Niall. We appreciate your assistance. Of course I will glamour him for you.”
Poor Jason. His head is going to be a black hole by the time we get home.
“Northman, I know that you love this woman- that’s more than I knew-. I know that you would give your own life to save hers. I have not met another vampire I can say the same for. I would not have selected this for her, but she has selected you for herself. Do not disappoint me.”
And then they disappeared.
TBC