A/N: Hello my lovelies! I am so happy you all enjoyed the last chapter! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews and encouragement that I am going in the right direction with this story! So I am on a roll now, I am already half into chapter 11! I hope you enjoy!

EPOV

As soon as she sent her light into Tyryn and he burst into flames I launched myself off the ground wrapped my arms around her and told her to hold before hurtling us into the sky. I curled my body over Sookie as I crashed through the canopy of the forest shielding her.

somehow the authority had become privy to all of my real estate holdings and that pissed me off severely. There were only two people beside myself that had knowledge of the locations of my safe houses and only one of them could be the source of the leak. I knew Pam would meet the true death before she divulged that information which only left my day man Bobby as the leak.

Bobby was efficient and a first rate ass kisser, I should have known something was off when he didn't return my call when I was looking for a mule to take Sookie the package I had made for her. I had to resort to sending Ginger to deliver it and my confidence in her ability to do anything with the ten brain cells she had left had me suffering through the bleeds to make sure that my wishes were carried out.

I had glamoured him to not be able to relay anything about me or my business which means that only a vampire whose age exceeded my own could have broke through and got what they needed from him. My property in the swamps was my fail safe in case of such an event and the sooner we were there the more time I would be able to devote to figuring out exactly what the hell happened in the forest and where we were going to go from here.

It occurred to me that it was probable that since they knew the locations of my properties that they most likely knew Pam's as well. I checked my bond with her and was pleased to find that she was alright and moving south towards Hells Gate.

I started making mental lists of vampires and Were's that were loyal to me as well as anyone who owed me favors. This shit storm that was bearing down on us at an alarming rate was going to take an army to deal with and I just so happen to have the connections and resources to build one.

Russell had a month on as in respects to preparation and the fury of being betrayed my Alcide fucking Heaverux had me grinding my teeth to the point of shattering them. I wasn't at all surprised that he'd sold me down the river but the fact that he had hung Sookie out to dry as well was unconscionable.

Sookie clearly sensed my irritation and pushed back calm and love to me as she snuggled her face against my chest. That one small gestured settled me instantly and I kissed the top of her head holding her tighter to me. I could feel how tired she was this night was taking its toll on her, all the revelations of our past, Niall's bullshit and then our nasty run in with the authority and her using her powers in the capacity she had.

I knew she needed to rest and the dawn was only about two hours away, I picked up the rate of speed I was going insuring we would arrive at the cabin in just under half an hour.

As Sookie began to drift to sleep in my arms I replayed the events of the last half an hour in my mind. Sookie and I were bonded fully now, not the way I had envisioned it but I couldn't be more pleased. I smiled thinking about how fierce she had been in the face of such overwhelming odds, how hearing her claim me ignited something inside me, how proud I was of the way she handled herself and the way she defended me left me with nothing but pride and love for her.

The bonding was nothing like I had expected though, I had heard a great deal about what the experience should feel like. The exchange of blood connecting the two together, the flood of feelings from your bonded , the intense need to connect with each other in every way. All of those things did happen but then there was something else that happened I had never heard mention of before. I felt myself separate from my mind and parts of myself that I didn't know existed flared to life before melding themselves back together and combined with Sookie's essence.

The only explanation I can come up with is the Fae part of myself awakened when it connected with the Fae in Sookie. Considering the fact that she and I have been destined for each other since before we were born it seems likely and I can't help but wonder what kind of effects that will have on me. A Faery! I am part fucking Faery! Unbelievable.

Niall had said that the line of Fae I descend from had a host of abilities that had already manifested in me when I became vampire but he eluded that there were others as well, Abilities all Faeries possessed. I could feel the parts of me that had manifested when Sookie and I bonded growing in strength which leads me to believe that I will likely be able to use some of those abilities.

When Sookie had faced off against the vampires in the wood she appeared to have control of her light, she had tapped into it, focused it and landed her lethal strike with pinpoint accuracy. Pytha said that we would have to learn to control out gifts and I knew that we needed to start exploring what those abilities were and honing them until we had absolute mastery and control of them. I had the distinct impression that it was going to be the Fae abilities that would deal the death blow to Russell.

I also knew that he has a history of hiding behind his minions and his pack of wolves so I would have to work with Sookie to teach her how to handle weapons as well as close quarter combat and defense. The amount of things we had to due to be prepared for this last stand against Russell was overwhelming and we had only a month to accomplish it.

Then there was still another oddity I experienced and was at a loss to explain, the strange whispering I had heard in my mind .It was muddled and undecipherable and I got the express feeling that it was not meant for me ,it was like it echoed through the bond from Sookie to me and I would be asking her about that once we arrived at our destination.

Speaking of our destination the mouth of the Atchafalaya River that lead to my cabin was coming into view. I began our descent into the bayou from here it was only about a five minute flight until we would be in the middle of the largest and most desolate swamp in the nation. The fact that it was sparsely populated, inaccessible by road and the stench of bog was so powerful it would cover any scents making it impossible to track me were the reasons I had chosen this location for my fail safe property.

"We are here." I said to Sookie as I touched down on the dock that lead to the cabin. There was no light what so ever and it was black as pitch so I carried her until we were on the front porch. "Where is here exactly Eric and what is that smell?" Sookie asked disgust tingeing her voice. She pinched her nose closed and glared in my general direction "It reeks! Can we please go inside." She said desperately.

I couldn't stop from laughing as I took in her scrunched up face, the smell here was particularly horrid. It had flooded quite severely earlier in the year and the smell of rot and muck was very potent, I had stopped breathing to avoid the stench since I started up river. " The Atchafalaya River Basin swamps. The smell is the rot of plants, stagnant water and mud churned up from the bottom of the bayou from the floods earlier in the year." I answered as I enter my codes into the keypad so we could get inside where the air was filtered.

From the outside this place looked like a ramshackle dump, the windows were boarded ,the glass was painted black to prevent any light from getting in or out giving it the appearance of being abandoned, the paint was peeling and the roof looked like it was on the verge of collapse but it was just clever camouflage.

I had built a fortress beneath the exterior, the roof, floors, walls and doors were 10 inches of solid steel laced with silver, the glass was designed to withstand a bomb blast as well as having silver particles all throughout it making it vampire proof as well, a state of the art security system monitored all 20 acres of my property and there were more than 2000 traps all over that 20 acres that would effectively kill or maim a vampire or were.

The interior was a different story, it had every modern convenience and comfort I have come to enjoy and as the lock bolts of the door disengaged I pushed the heavy steel door open and led her inside.

SPOV

The entire flight to Eric's safe house I had spent reveling in the fact that soon we would have a nice, safe comfortable place to rest after all we'd endured tonight. Now standing on the front porch I wasn't holding out much hope for nice or comfortable.

The stench was unbearable, how Eric could stand it was a mystery to me with him having such an acute sense of smell and all. Then it dawned on me, he wasn't smelling anything, he didn't have to breath and the glare on my face intensified when I heard him snickering after I whined for him to hurry up and let us in so I could escape the stench.

From what little I could make out of the house it looked like it was about to fall in on its self. Safe house indeed. Delivered from the fangs of vampires only to be sucked dry by mosquitoes! The quiet sound of steel moving against steel pulled me from my thoughts and piqued my curiosity. Eric took my hand and pulled me inside the shack but once inside and the lights flickered on I was stunned.

The interior was beautiful and looked just like Eric's house in Shreveport only on a smaller scale, the floor plan was open with a living room that had two huge couches with thick furs slung over the back, heavy wood tables piled with books and a fireplace with swords hung above the mantle and a soft furry rug in front of it.

There was a small kitchen that had a two burner stove , a microwave , a refrigerator and a small dinette set. The bedroom area was separated from the rest of the place but I could see into the two rooms each had a large bed, dresser and night tables and a third door which had a bathroom in it but honestly the best thing was once he closed the door the god awful smell of swamp was trapped outside!

"Do you approve?" Eric asked behind me and I could hear the smile in his voice. "I do. It's like a tiny version of your Shreveport house." I answered him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I melted into his embrace suddenly feeling very tired. I knew we had a lot to talk about I could even feel the questions he had bubbling around in our newly formed bond as well as his weariness.

"What?" I asked suddenly, his curiosity was making me twitchy. I felt his surprise, then amusement and a healthy dose of pride. He turned me in his arms and looked down at me "Already you have learned to read my mood and feelings, very impressive Sookie." He said placing a kiss on my forehead before he led me over to the couches.

" I have many questions and we have much to discuss but we have little time until dawn. I want to ask you about the strange whispering I heard in my mind. It was muffled and I couldn't make out the words, it was like an echo and it felt like it was coming from you." He said still trying to puzzle out that mystery.

Now it was my turn to be surprised he had heard the voice that had been speaking to me in my mind. "Pytha spoke to me in mind. Telling me to complete our bond that we must become one. As soon as we completed the bond that's when my powers flared to life everything after that was instinct. then after we bonded and I realized that what I had seen in my vision had changed she told me that my visions were a guide not something written in stone." I answered him still shocked that he heard it even if he couldn't understand it.

I was freaking out though I had always heard other people's minds but I had never had anyone hear what was going on in my mind. I was afraid that now that my powers were waking up and getting stronger that my telepathy would grow to include vampires. I was sure that if that was the case it would no doubt be helpful but it also made me sad that I would lose the peaceful silence I had come to enjoy around them.

"Interesting that Pytha can connect with your mind when other vampires cannot. I have tried sending you thoughts for the last few minutes. I only heard the voice after we bonded so it stands to reason it is a product of our connection. What do you mean that your powers flared to life?" He asked and again the curiosity was rolling off him in waves.

"As soon as we completed our bond I felt a surge of power like when I have used my light in the past only like a thousand times stronger and the strength of that power is continuing to grow stronger. I am now able to sense where it is inside me and tap into it, tonight was the first time I have ever been in control of it. When our bond completed everything I had been taught in my past life with you and while my soul was suspended all the knowledge carried by Niall's spark came to me in dreams and basically taught me everything he knows about the abilities we share. Since I know how to command and control all of my abilities when they threatened you instinct took over and I focused my light with the intent to kill. I am sure you noticed the difference in the light, it was gold instead of white and my hands were literally started to heat up. Eric he went up in flames like that because I essentially shot him with sunlight." I tried to explain as best I could.

He sat there just rolling the information around in his mind, his feeling were changing so damn quickly I couldn't keep up with them. I was nervous how he would react knowing I was now a lethal weapon against vampires, I was afraid that I would inadvertently kill him. The Fae draw our power from the sunlight so we can use it as a weapon against our natural enemy, vampires.

"It is good that you have mastery of all your abilities and I look forward to a demonstration of them. It is good that you have such a lethal weapon to use against vampires but we need to see how many times you can use it before you exhaust yourself, if you have limitations we should know about it. I can feel a new power within myself and it is also growing stronger I am eager to see if I gain any new talents." He said plainly which did nothing to relax me.

"Aren't you worried I might accidentally kill you? I am, I would never want to but what if I accidentally did trying to protect you like tonight... I couldn't stand it if I hurt or killed you." I said sadly. He smiled at me and pulled me into his lap "You have nothing to fear in that respect Sookie. Our blood bond prevents us from killing each other I couldn't drain you even if I want to nor could you do anything to kill me." He said and I felt all my anxiety melt away and snuggled into his chest.

"Lover it is nearly sunrise and I can feel how tired you are we should go to our rest. Pam will arrive tomorrow night and we have much training and planning to do for what we are going to have to face." He said.

I nodded my agreement I was honestly too tired to answer. since I was already starting to drift off to sleep he scooped me up and carried me to our bed. He stripped off my ruined dress before shucking his own clothes and lowered us both onto the bed pulling the covers over us as he curled around me.

"I love you Eric." I whispered and with the last of my energy pushed my love to him through our bond. "As I love you my Sookie." he answered back just a sleep pulled me under.