Chapter 24

XXXXXXX

Heller rarely indulged in watching the sunrise. It tended to be a busy time for him in his current occupation, allowing little opportunity for enjoying the view. Today was different. He was making a final sweep through their rooms to make certain nothing was left behind. The room Shana and Karen shared had an east facing balcony. He stepped out to have a look around and was captivated by what he saw.

Seeing a sunrise from ground level in a city, even a small city like Shreveport was nothing like this. From this height there were no buildings blocking out sections of sky, nothing to mar the surrounding panorama. He looked out into an uninterrupted vista of streaks of pale pink and orange chasing away the night.

As the first rays of morning warmed his face he thought of his vampires and for the briefest of moments, he was sorry for them.

He wasn't sure if he'd been standing there for minutes or only seconds when Genevieve came into the room and brought him back to the project at hand.

"They're here," she called before retreating to the royal suite where she'd been instructed to gather with the other ladies and wait for him.

He closed the balcony door and took a quick peek into the hall to make certain it was free of hotel staff, before grabbing the packed suitcases in the center of the room and going to join the others. Three men were in the small entry area of the royal suite. Heller pushed past them and put Shana and Karen's cases down near his and Genevieve's, both of which had been brought in just a few minutes before.

"The Queen of Romania and Italy sends her regards," said the tallest of the three men as Heller returned to them.

It was the greeting Eric said to expect. Heller gave the assigned response. "The King and Queen of Arkansas, Louisiana and Nevada are in her debt."

"Very well," the tall man said, apparently satisfied all was well. He made no introductions, but came straight to the point. "As we speak, the hotel is being informed we are here. They are being told my Queen will be visiting your Monarchs this evening and, in preparation for her visit, we will be moving furnishings into this suite which are more to her liking. This is commonly done by us and should rouse no suspicion.

We will have exclusive use of the main service elevator to this floor for the next hour. Everything you are taking must be out before then. Within the next few minutes the first furniture crates should arrive. We will unpack them and arrange the furniture. You and your people will pack your things into the crates as quickly as possible and my people will carry them back out and put them into our truck.

Once the crates are packed, I suggest your ladies go downstairs and exit the front of the building as if they were going out for a day of shopping. They should then make their way to the rear of the building where a car is waiting. You will leave with the last of the crates and ride either with them or with the ladies.

Any questions?"

"No," Heller answered.

As it turned out, an hour was excessive. The entire exchange was made in just over half that time. No sooner had Heller answered than men carrying three large wooden crates containing only about a fourth of their capacity arrived. Two heavily cushioned chairs and two small round tables were unpacked. The crates were then repacked with luggage taken back down the service elevator, and loaded into the waiting truck.

The process was repeated with four crates carrying drapes and artwork, which also just happened to be an ideal size to conceal travel coffins. Heller accompanied the coffins. When they were safely loaded, he checked the car with the ladies. He offered them smiles and assurances to show everything was all right before returning to the truck. The luggage was one thing, but he would not leave the coffins to the hands of strangers without his oversight.

Heller had no idea what caused the need for them to flee Italy. Eric called him aside last night and told him to make everyone pack everything up, and be ready to go home. He said the Queen of Romania's men would come to help them move and take them the 30 miles to Orio al Serio airport, where private travel arrangements would be pre-arranged. Life with vampires was many things, but hardly ever boring.

Well before noon they were in the air, having been taken to a private hangar and loaded onto the Queen's private jet. Holding Genevieve's hand and staring past her at the clouds, it suddenly occurred to him he hadn't even asked where this plane was taking them.

Adding to the oddity was the fact their party were the only people in the cabin. He knew there were a man and a woman flying the jet. He saw them when they boarded and the man closed the door behind them and told them to buckle up for take off once they were all aboard. Otherwise, they were on their own. The thought of the situation was so ridiculous it made him laugh out loud.

"What is it?" Genevieve asked, her voice betraying her alarm.

"I don't even know where we're going," Heller answered, giving her hand a squeeze.

"I was afraid to ask," she replied and once she began to speak, the questions seemed to spill out of her. "With the sneaky way we left, do you suppose we'll be followed? Are people chasing us? Are we in danger?"

"I don't know anything for sure," he said, keeping his voice as firm and steady as possible so he didn't frighten her any further. "We're traveling under the protection, or at least with the help of the Queen of Romania. I know that much." He pointed out the window. "We're heading east, into the sun and Romania is east of Italy, so it's probably a good guess that we're going to Romania, as a first stop anyway.

And no, I don't think we're in danger. I think we might have been if we stayed in Italy, but I don't know why. Whatever it was, it must be something that came up unexpectedly."

Genevieve seemed to relax a bit. Heller leaned in and kissed her lightly to reinforce his words. "Eric and Sookie are on this plane too. He wouldn't send us into danger, not if he could possibly help it."

"I wonder how many stops we'll have to make?" she asked. "I hate the takeoffs and landings. They make me feel like my stomach is going to fall out."

"We'll have to wait and see, I guess, but I'll be with you for all of them."

They watched the clouds roll by, falling back into silence until the male pilot came through the cockpit door.

He stopped in the aisle with four pairs of eyes staring anxiously at him. "My apologies for leaving you alone for so long. We were told not to involve any other crew with this flight and speed was more important than comfort. I am Beryx, your co-pilot. If you are hungry or thirsty, please feel free to help yourselves to anything in the galley at the rear of the cabin."

"Thank you," Karen murmured and the others nodded in agreement.

Beryx smiled and nodded. "It is a short flight to Cluj-Napoca, but you have time to have something to eat and take care of your personal needs," he gestured toward the rest room midsentence, "before we begin our descent. You will have a small layover at the airport while we wait for the charter from is to arrive."

"How long will we wait? Do you know?" Heller asked.

"I do not, but Anubis is known to be very efficient. They will make every effort to have you on your way as quickly as possible. They do not maintain a hangar at Cluj-Napoca, so they are bringing in a plane from somewhere else, likely Belgrade. It should not take long."

"Good," Heller replied. "I won't be able to rest until we are on the flight home."

"Your party is safe, I assure you," Beryx promised. "We will be met by a contingent of Her Majesty's personal guard and I will remain with you until you are on your way, to serve as interpreter. Anubis will bring their plane into our hangar to retrieve you, so you will never be in sight of the public or the uninvited."

"Thank you," Heller said.

When his passengers did not pose more questions, Beryx headed to the galley, grabbed two bottles of water and returned to the cockpit.

XXXXXXX

The waiting lounge in the Queen's private hangar was a very comfortably furnished room, clearly appointed to impress the lavish tastes of visiting vampire dignitaries. The ladies were napping on sofas, but Heller could not rest, not yet. He sat near the door, listening as Beryx told him about the beauty and rich history of the local countryside.

"If you were looking outside as we landed, I'm sure you noticed the mountains. They are the Apuseni, the Western Carpathians. Our Queen makes her home near the village of Huedin. It is accessible by train or helicopter, but not plane," Beryx explained.

"I'm surprised she chooses to live in a place so remote," Heller said, trying to sound polite, if not interested.

"My mistress is much more discreet than her history might have you believe."

"I didn't mean any insult to your mistress. I am very grateful for her generosity, on behalf of everyone in my party," Heller's sincerity was clear in his tone.

Beryx released a light, scoffing laugh. "Are you familiar with the history my Queen shares with your King?"

"No," Heller confessed. "I know he comes from where Sweden is now and those who have known him the longest call him The Norseman. I don't know much else from before he came to America. Just a few things from my former mistress, his first progeny, Pam."

"Of course I have no first hand accounts and I was not alive then, but the stories and rumors say he did not yet have progeny when first he met my mistress.

The daughters of kings are raised with unquestioning belief in the power of their position. Lucrezia Borgia was raised the daughter of the King of all Christendom, the voice of God made flesh on Earth. She believed herself invincible and not to be denied. Her confidence in her beauty and desirability knew no bounds, until she met him.

He was fond of hunting within the royal courts and, being the progeny of an Italian Maker, he was well known to many in Rome. They met at a reception for the King of France, hosted by her father in The Vatican.

They had a passionate affair and after two weeks, unbeknownst to anyone in her family, he brought her here to Romania. They spent a week of nights in a cave in what is now the Apuseni Nature Park. They call it The Scarisoara Ice Cave. It is a well-known tourist attraction to this day. He told her he came from a land of ice and snow and the cave reminded him of home.

On the eighth night, word came they were being followed and her brother Cesare was coming to kill The Norseman. She insisted the only way to avoid her brother's wrath was for them to marry, but her lover refused. Of course, unlike most human men alive at the time, he had no fear of Cesare or his army.

She pleaded with him through the night, consummating their affair again in her effort to persuade him, but it was to no avail. He made her sleep and left her there, where Cesare found her the following day, alone and half frozen.

After her father's death she learned of the existence of vampires. She charmed her way to the court of King Petrus of Romania. He had long wanted Italy and with her name, connections and wealth, she offered him what he needed to take it. In return, he gave her immortality, safety from her enemies and dominion over the land where her most cherished memories were held."

"And that's how a Romanian rules in Italy, while an Italian rules in Romania," Heller said.

"So the stories say," Beryx answered with a big smile.

"Should I be worried she might still want to take some form of revenge against any or all of us?" Heller trusted Eric completely, but even though Eric apparently trusted Lucrezia, Heller found himself developing concerns about her.

Beryx let loose a loud chuckle. "You may be confident in your security, my friend. If the time was nearer the wound, you might be wise to worry, but as most vampires do, my mistress settled all her debts of vengeance in the first century following her transition. She has come to realize the flirtation they shared could never have been what it was in her imaginings. At the time she did not know what he was. It would not have been possible for him to be what she wanted him to be."

The men had their attention redirected by Beryx's cell phone. He took a quick call, and was wearing a big smile when he hung up.

"Anubis is here. Wake your ladies and I will guide them in."

With quiet efficiency, the hangar team had the Anubis jet refueled and loaded and ready for passengers to board in minutes. By the time they were cleared for takeoff and in the air it wasn't yet an hour past noon. When the Italian vampires woke to discover they were gone, they would be over the Atlantic Ocean, closer to New York than Europe.

Heller could rest now.

XXXXXXX

"Hey, Mr. Northman," Danny said casually, as he opened the door and stepped back for Eric to pass. His words were calm, but his actions betrayed his nervousness. He peered out and looked to either side before closing and relocking the door. They were alone.

Until now, their only contact had been when Eric called to ask him to examine two DNA samples and offer his analysis. He didn't sound dangerous on the phone, Dannythought as he looked at the imposing Viking standing in the small blood bank reception area. He just sounded curious.

Why the hell didn't I bring the file out here with me, so I could've just handed it to him through the door? The answer was simple. Because his wife pays really well for my help keeping them well supplied with clean donors and for putting together fancy vampire gift baskets for her to give away. He figured doing this favor for the husband was key to keeping his business with the wife. Who knows? It might even open up new opportunities.

For now though, he just needed to give this guy what he wanted without letting his jitters show too badly. "I have everything you asked for in the lab," Danny said. "Right through here," he added, gesturing to the door leading into the lab. He sidestepped Eric and headed off. "Follow me, please." He was glad to hear his voice had evened out considerably.

"I assume the samples provided to you yielded adequate material for comparisons and analysis to be done?" Eric asked as he followed the young man down the narrow hall.

"Yes sir," Danny answered without turning around or slowing his pace. "The sample from the hospital was perfect. The stains on the nightgown had started to degrade, but I was able to get plenty of usable DNA."

They passed through a small lab, immaculate but for a desk on the far side. They arrived at the desk and Danny took an unmarked file from the top of a pile. "It's all in here," he said, turning and handing the folder to Eric. "I included hard copies of all the readouts and results. They're pretty technical. I wasn't sure how much medical terminology you were familiar with, so there's a summary page attached to each one, in addition to my analysis report, written in plain English."

"Thank you, Danny. I appreciate your thoroughness," Eric said softly, as he took the file. "I see why my Queen is so fond of you."

"Th-thank you, sir," Danny stammered. His jitters were returning. Of course it was ridiculous to think Eric could possibly be jealous of him in any way, but who knew what might make a vampire King jealous? Or how he might react?

"Not at all," Eric replied with a charming smile he hoped would help calm the guy's nerves. Humans tended to give incomplete information when they were ill at ease. "As we discussed on the phone, it is important to me for this matter to be handled with utmost discretion. Do copies of any of the information contained here exist outside this file folder?"

"Not hard copies, no sir. You're holding the only one. Of course, I have everything on my computer, but the minute you've had a chance to go over everything, just give me the word and I'll go in and erase it all off my hard drive."

"This computer?" Eric asked, gesturing to the Mac on the desk.

"Y-yes, s-sir, but I'll delete it all, I swear." Danny leaned over his keyboard and started hitting keys. "I can do it right now if you want me to."

"Not necessary," Eric assured him. "Is there a back up?"

Danny whipped back around and smiled for the first time since Eric arrived. "It's not part of the back up. None of this is actually in our system at all. It's on its very own external hard drive." He pointed to a small, flat object a little bigger than a cell phone. "I blank that baby, and it's gone forever."

"I see," Eric said almost absently. He looked down and began leafing through the pages in the folder. "Will I find anything interesting when I read through this?"

Danny looked confused for a minute. "I don't know. You never said what you were looking for, sir. You just said to run a comparative analysis."

Eric met Danny's eye. "I am looking for anything interesting," he said with a disarming grin. "I shall rephrase my question. Is there anything about your comparative analysis, you found particularly interesting or of note?"

Danny's smile broadened. He loved being asked his opinion by anyone he considered important. This was his opportunity to shine. He may only run a small blood bank in Shreveport, but he was damned good at his job. He was a good scientist; a good technician and he knew blood inside and out. As he'd done this analysis, he'd gotten the distinct impression it was some sort of test, like maybe the vampire King was going to need a lot of blood work done soon, and he was looking for just the right guy to do it. Danny wanted to be that guy.

"Both samples are white females. Of course, one is a vampire, but when she was human, she was very closely related to the source of the other sample. I believe they were most likely twins, I'm guessing identical."

"Why do you say the samples likely come from twins," Eric asked, closing the file and giving Danny his full attention. "Rather than from the same source, from before and after her turning?"

Danny resisted the urge to take on an imperious tone. It would probably not be wise to insult Eric's intelligence. Clearly Eric thought he'd offered up a riddle Danny couldn't solve with this little test. "As you are aware, making the transition from human to vampire causes numerous changes to the blood. The vampire sample I was sent, the stained nightgown, had all the attributes common to vampire blood; changes in viscosity, saline and a wide assortment of protein anomalies. These anomalies are most likely the source of your superior strength, speed and healing abilities."

He paused and pointed to the file in Eric's hand. "The human sample I got was completely normal, boringly so. It was healthy type O positive blood with no exceptional properties. The vampire who stained that gown was once a human whose blood matched the human sample almost completely, but with one major difference, a factor 8 deficiency."

Clearly this was not quite the bombshell news Danny intended it to be. Eric simply continued staring at him. He didn't understand.

Danny explained further. "When the vampire was human, she was a hemophiliac."

The friendly smile previously fixed on Eric's face disappeared.

"Is that a p-problem?" Danny asked, his nervous stammer returning as quickly as it had gone.

"A problem?" Eric asked, somewhat distractedly. His mind was spinning. "No, not a problem, merely unexpected." Eric took a moment to gather his thoughts, during which time Danny remained silent. "This deficiency would have been present when the woman was human, you say? Yet it is not present in the human sample you were provided?"

"If the samples were both human, they would be practically identical, except for the factor 8 deficiency," Danny answered. He'd thought a lot about this issue, and his stammer dissipated as he spoke on the familiar topic. "My theory is the hemophilia was cured for all practical purposes when the woman was turned, but the blood marker is still there."

"So this vampire is not a hemophiliac?"

Despite trying, Danny couldn't stifle his chuckle. "A hemophiliac vampire, that would be ironic, wouldn't it? But no, I don't think so. If she was human, she'd be a carrier, but as a vampire she just has an unusual blood attribute."

"A carrier," Eric whispered.

It wasn't a question, but Danny answered as if it were. "If she was human, she'd have to worry about having babies with hemophilia, especially sons. Vampires don't have babies though, so I don't see it as any big deal, except it might make silver somewhat less toxic."

"Indeed?" Eric replied. "And precisely why would that be so?"

"Human strength comes from proteins in the muscle. Vampire strength comes from proteins in the blood. The factor 8 gene is responsible for producing two transcripts; both are proteins. One encourages circulation of plasma, and the other allows clotting." Danny was on his home turf now. He was great with the technical stuff.

"Silver has been used medically for centuries in various healing compounds. One of the reasons it works well is the silver ions bind to the proteins in the human body. In blood, it binds specifically to the factor 8 proteins. In a human, it then circulates and works its magic all over and it is delivered directly to injury sites by way of the clotting process."

The pieces were coming together quickly in Eric's head. "With a factor 8 deficiency, the silver cannot bind, thus it is not carried throughout the body."

"Basically, yeah," Danny confirmed. "Though I imagine the point of impact would still hurt like hell."

"Pain, yes, but limited damage." Eric was thinking out loud now, not really speaking to Danny at all. "If you could tolerate the pain, you could still continue to fight. You would not be weakened. She is only a carrier, but her progeny."

"Sorry," Danny said. "I didn't catch that last."

"Nothing of consequence," Eric said, refocusing his attention at Danny. He put the file folder back down on the desk and reached into his inside jacket pocket. "You did well. My wife's confidence in your ability is not misplaced. The value of your work far exceeds the agreed upon fee."

"Feel free to up the ante," Danny said with a grin.

"Yes," Eric answered, removing the 9mm Glock from his pocket and emptying two bullets into Danny's brain. "I will."

In less time than it would take a human to inhale, Eric grabbed the file, the external hard drive, and just to safe, Danny's computer tower. He opened a window and disappeared into the night, dropping the gun over an alley a few blocks away.

He flew through the cold night air with determined purpose. He arrived on the roof of the Asgard within minutes and hurried down his private entry to his office. He put the file and the computer components in the safe before taking a seat at his desk to reflect on the events of the evening.

He wasn't proud of Danny's death, but it had to be done. No human could be trusted with such information, even if he didn't fully comprehend its significance. Glamouring wouldn't have been enough. Almost all vampires had the ability to glamour humans, but there were a few vampires who were gifted with the skill to glamour in reverse; to restore erased memories. He couldn't risk Danny remembering what he saw when he examined Mina's blood, ever.

As for his cause of death, it had to appear as if a human killed him. Sookie liked him. If he'd suffered death by vampire, she would demand an investigation. She would have questions, questions he preferred not to answer for now. She would not easily forgive Danny's death if she found out what happened to him. She was fond of him and he was an innocent.

A wry smile came to his lips as he thought of the Pythoness. She let me leave with Mina. She let me take her right out from under all their noses and bring her back to America, where I can secretly surround her with a battalion of Britlingens to keep her safe.

Who among them is it she doesn't trust? He wondered. She should have told me, so I too would mistrust them. Probably Petrus or someone in his court. Cerino Polce? He was certainly more intelligent than the King he served.

Lucrezia told him he had something Petrus wanted. She would have been specific if she'd known what it was. If she'd known, she wouldn't have helped them leave, because she would have wanted it as well and if Petrus knew, she would have known. So Petrus didn't know about Mina.

With no specific instructions to guide him, he would do as he had always done, as she knew he would do. He would trust no one, at least for now. For now, trust was not his directive. The only trust at issue was the trust the Pythoness had in him.

The ancient Oracle saw something coming; something dangerous to their kind; something only Mina could stop. It had to be connected to the Ukraine deaths.

Someone must have figured out an efficient way to kill vampires. The deaths must have been from silver poisoning of their blood. Mina could produce an army capable of resisting this new threat.

An army of her progeny would answer to her alone. Mina, the frightened rabbit of a human girl so desperate to please and belong, whose loyalty to Sookie was unquestionable, she could be the single most powerful and potentially dangerous vampire in existence.

"Protect her well, Eric. She is our future."

XXXXXXX

The walk back to the Valhalla penthouse was longer and slower than usual. Of course the reason was he was making no effort to hurry the process. He didn't like the risk of trying to keep things from Sookie. With their Maker's bond a two way street now, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep information from her when it occupied so many of his thoughts. She would sense his distractedness. All it would take is a single demand and he would have no choice but to tell her.

He ignored the welcome back greetings from staff as he strode across the lobby and to the elevators. Reaching the top floor he realized he'd have to choose now. He could go to the penthouse and put his resolve to the test, or he could return to his office.

Choosing cowardice was not an option. Home it would be. Approaching the door he heard the music he would be facing. Metallica. The irony made him wonder for a moment if he might be going mad. If he was, Sookie would see everything the moment she looked at him. The thought made a wide smile stretch across his face.

He opened the door and there they were, his family. Dancing a sweeping waltz in the center of the room were the two most important vampires on the planet, Sookie and Mina. Forming a circle of admiring onlookers around them, the assortment of humans and vampires who made up their household. Oliver, Heller, Genevieve, Shana and Karen, even Ausra and Saule had become important parts of their lives, important to Sookie and therefore important to him.

To varying degrees, he needed everyone in this room, and he would defend them to his death if need be. As this new realization settled on his shoulders, Metallica blared all around him as confirmation.

~~ forever trust in who we are ~~

~~ and nothing else matters ~~

AN/ Thank you for reading Enduring Need. I hope you enjoyed it. I must take this opportunity to once again give credit to my marvelous Beta, NorthmanMaille. Her tireless efforts to keep me straight have been a priceless contribution to this story.