A/N Sorry for the long delay between stories. Real life got in the way. Hope that you all will like the first chapter. As usual I have no beta and would love feedback. Unlike my other stories, I'm not sure yet where I'll take this one so any input would be much appreciated!
The Rediscovered Ally
Chapter 1
"You need an appointment to see the Sheriff" Pam said sternly to the short, dark haired vampire who stood in the back hallway of Fangtasia.
"I've already explained to you that it's imperative that I speak to the Sheriff Northman immediately" the shorter vampire replied calmly.
"This is the way this works. You call. You make an appointment. THEN you have an audience with the Sheriff" Pam explained with great exasperation.
"That isn't going to work for me" the unknown vampire said who in less than a blink of the eye threw Pam through the employee entrance and onto her ass on the pavement outside.
The dark haired vampire strode confidently into the office unconcerned with Pam.
"Eric" she called as she approached the tall blond vampire who was seated at his desk.
Eric's eyes locked with hers and then flashed behind her. The dark haired stranger quickly shifted to the side sensing the blond female behind her but Eric called her off before she could regain her equilibrium.
"Enough Pam" he ordered as he slowly rose to greet the new comer.
She glanced around the room noting the presence of a male vampire and a human woman who were both seated and looking on with interest but appeared not to be a threat.
"Is it true Eric?" she asked in old Norse.
Eric remained silent as he looked into her eyes trying to understand her question.
"I went to Dallas as soon as I returned to the States and the house was gone, burnt to the ground, destroyed" she continued in Norse.
Eric lowered his eyes to the ground suddenly realizing she was asking about Godric.
"I don't feel him any more but the rumors cannot be true. Please Eric, tell me they aren't true!" she begged fighting to keep her composure.
Eric took a step closer and gathered her into his arms. "It is true sister".
The dark hair vampire sank to her knees, threw her head back and let out a blood curdling wail.
Eric sank to the ground himself and gathered the now sobbing vampire into his arms. "Why?" she demanded continuing in their native tongue.
"I did not understand then nor do I understand now Nora" Eric whispered as he tried to soothe his vampire sister. "Did you not feel the bond cease?"
"No, I was in Europe on business for over two months and he usually kept the bond closed between us" she rasped. "We were so far apart that I felt no change".
Suddenly Nora pulled herself away and gazed at Eric with concern. "And you, how are you brother?"
Eric's eyes filled with blood tears in reply and Nora leaned in and kissed his forehead lovingly.
"I am so sorry that I was not with you" she said softly finally switching to English.
"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Pam finally said in annoyance unaffected by the emotions of the scene before her.
Eric glanced up at his child who sported a torn halter top but showed no further evidence of being flung by a 900 year old vampire.
He looked to Nora who nodded and they both rose fluidly trying to table their emotions to discuss later.
"This is my sister Nora" Eric said in way of introduction. "She has just returned to the United States and learned of Godric's fate".
"Oh" Pam said.
"I am sorry niece that I was forced to remove you forcibly" Nora offered in apology.
Pam nodded stiffly but said nothing further.
"Ahem, Eric?" the blond human interrupted.
"Nora, this is Sookie Stackhouse and William Comptom" Eric said quickly dispensing with the introductions.
Nora nodded at each as they were introduced.
"I apologize for interrupting your meeting. I will go and make arrangements for my accommodations" Nora said as she wiped the blood tears off her face with a silk handkerchief that Eric had silently handed to her.
"You will do no such thing. You will stay with me" Eric replied.
"I do not want to imposed Eric" Nora protested.
"It will be no imposition" Eric said seductively in Norse as he bent down and brushed Nora's lips with his own.
Nora smiled in response and returned the kiss which became instantly more heated.
Compton interrupted the reunion with a fake cough.
Nora made a mental note to ask Eric about the human female and why she looked so uncomfortable.
Eric sighed as he pulled away. "I'm keeping you from your work. I will wait outside" Nora offered as she moved towards the door.
"You will stay" Eric ordered as he pointed to the empty spot on the couch next to Pam.
"Eric, I am not comfortable discussing this with additional vampires" Compton protested.
"This is not an 'additional vampire'" Eric growled suddenly inches from the shorter man's face. "This is my sister, my blood. What you say to me, you say to her".
Sookie and Compton exchanged worried glances but Sookie shrugged and Compton sunk back into the metal chair in which he had been previously seated.
"Compton and I ended Nan Flannigan" Eric said suddenly filling Nora in on the subject of the meeting.
"Did you now brother?" Nora asked playfully. "Ding dong the bitch is dead" she added with a smile.
"We are going to have the AVL on our backs soon as we were the last people to see her and her guards" Eric explained further.
"You did away with the guards as well I assume?" Nora inquired.
Eric nodded.
"So there are no direct witnesses?"
"Correct" Eric replied.
"What is your story?"
"That she and her guards came to speak to the King and that she left. We are keeping the explanation simple".
"Where is the king?" Nora inquired.
"I am currently King of Louisiana" Bill answered for himself.
"My apologies your Grace for not addressing you properly" Nora said with an abundance of decorum.
Bill nodded in acknowledgement of her unintended faux pas.
"What was Nan coming to discuss with you?" Nora pried further.
"Me" Sookie answered.
Nora turned in her direction and waited for the human to continue. "She found out that I'm part fairy and a telepath".
"Sookie!" the King roared.
"What? Eric said we could trust her" Sookie answered in annoyance.
"And you just blindly trust Eric now" Bill spat.
"We can trust Nora" Eric assured them again but internally happy that Sookie continued to trust him.
"I assume from your reaction that you did not want her talents revealed your Grace?" Nora asked Bill.
"Correct".
"So you killed her and her guards to keep the secret?" Nora probed.
Everyone in the room save Nora nodded in response.
"We have our work cut out for us if Nan told anyone in the AVL her suspicions in advance. If not, they have no evidence of wrong doing" Nora summarized.
"We have already learned that they are coming after us" Eric stated.
"Then we make ourselves scarce while we can come up with proof of your innocence" Nora answered as she got up from the couch.
"There is more" Eric said regretfully. "Russell Edgington escaped".
"Shit" Nora said in Norse.
"You do not have to endanger yourself for us Nora. This is our mess" Eric said softly.
"With my connections?" Nora said with a chuckle. "You won't get out of this without me and I'm happy to help".
"What do you do?" Sookie asked.
"I'm the AVL liaison to Europe".
"You work for the AVL?" Bill asked incredulously as his eyes bulged out in fear.
"My loyalties are with my family" Nora assured him but it was clear that Bill and the others were not convinced.
"Your place of business is well known Eric. If the AVL is being dispatched to locate you we don't have much time" Nora said. "We should continue this discussion elsewhere".
Eric paused to inventory his safe homes but before he could make a recommendation Nora interrupted his thoughts.
"We will go to one of my safe homes" Nora announced. "No one in the AVL knows of our connection Eric and certainly will not look for you there".
"How do they not know?" Sookie asked.
"I primarily reside in Europe and I was not asked to disclose my ties so I did not" Nora answered.
Nora watched the uneasy glances between pass between the king and the human. "You are all welcomed to take refuge in my home".
"I'm not going" Sookie said.
"You have to come with us" Bill insisted.
"I already told you Bill, I'm done with vampires. Thanks for helping me with that Debbie situation but I need to go back to Bon Temps to help Lafayette bury Tara. I can't let him go through that alone" she said with shutter.
"We will not be able to protect you Sookie" Bill said as he reached for her hand.
"I'll ask Jason to stay with me".
"Call the wolf" Eric said speaking up. "He will protect you as a friend of the pack".
"I can't do that Eric!" Sookie yelled. "Not after what happened with Debbie".
"Stick to what we discussed and remember that you did not do anything wrong" Eric reminded her. "Self defense is acceptable in even human courts".
Nora shot Eric a questioning look and he responded in Norse that this was a separate issue of no consequence to their issues with the AVL.
"We should go soon" Nora reminded the other vampires.
"Call Alcide now Sookie" Bill urged conceding that Eric was right in this matter. "Have him pick you up here".
Sookie took her cell phone out of her purse and placed the call without further argument. The vampires could hear Alcide pick up and Bill sighed with relief when he quickly agreed to help Sookie again.
"I would prefer to wait until Sookie is with Alcide" Bill said.
"I agree" Eric quickly added.
"I do not believe that is prudent Eric" Nora interjected.
"I agree with Nora" Pam said. "We need to get out of here, like yesterday".
"I'll be fine" Sookie said. "The AVL isn't looking for me".
"We don't think so but we don't know for certain what Nan may have told her superiors" Bill warned.
Eric exited the bar with vamp speed leaving the others gaping at the open office door. In a moment he was back with Thalia at his side. "Thalia will ensure the Sookie will safely be transferred to Alcide".
"That is acceptable" Bill said with a nod of thanks in the direction of the petite but fierce vampire.
"I'm not an asset to be 'transferred' Eric" Sookie snarked in annoyance.
Eric rolled his eyes at the blond but it was Thalia that added "she will be safe, you have my word Sheriff".
"Take care of yourself Sookie" Bill said as he moved to take her hand but she pulled away and just nodded.
Eric was silent as he took another glance towards Sookie and just nodded in her direction before following Nora out the door.
"Kill the rear surveillance camera Pam" Eric ordered as he stopped Nora from exiting the employee exit not wanting any evidence of them leaving together.
"Let me leave alone Eric. My car is out front and you can fly Pam to meet me somewhere and I'll pick you up there. The King can fly with you or just run on foot" Nora said.
"Good thought sister. Meet us at the shopping mall that is half a mile due south of here".
"I passed it on the way here. I will meet you near the main entrance by that gaudy fountain. I'm driving a black Audi A6".
When Pam returned, Nora and Bill flashed to the front of the club and exited the way they had come in. Eric picked Pam up bridal style and shot up into the night the moment they stepped over the rear door threshold. In moments they were all in Nora's plush sedan hurling down the highway towards New Orleans where Nora had a residence. Thankfully there were plenty of hours left in the night to arrive safely before dawn especially since a lead foot seemed to run in the family.
"I will put out discrete feelers with those I trust tomorrow evening to gauge if Nan shared the news of Sookie's heritage and abilities with anyone in the AVL" Nora said. "It's imperative that we know if there are others who know of Sookie".
"The others we are aware of are all dead" Eric replied.
"Let's hope Nan was hoping to make a grand reveal with her Fairy hybrid and kept her mouth shut. That would be more her style than going through proper channels and alerting her superiors to what she was doing in advance" Nora offered.
"I hope you are right" Bill said stiffly from the back seat.
"If the AVL is in the dark about Sookie this will be very easy. If not, we're going to have to come up with a plan not only for her safety but yours" Nora pointed out in summary.
Nora pulled her car into an above ground secure garage in the French Quarter. It was highly unusual for a home in this part of the city to have a garage but it was clear that Nora had converted a carriage house to accommodate her vehicles.
The garage was connect to the home by an enclose arched passageway but from the road it looked like it was just a garden pathway with ever green shrubs and climbing sweet William trained over a trellis.
Nora took them through two sets of encrypted security doors before leading them into the main house which was a typical French Quarter mansion from the exterior. While most had been divided up into apartments, Nora's home was a single residence that was decorated in the style of the late 19th century when the home was constructed. The lower level housed a large formal entry with marble floors and a winding stairwell in polished wood leading to the upper floors. The rooms all opened up from the entry with the formal parlor on one side and the large dining room on the other. The back of the house held maids' quarters, the kitchen and another room which is currently being used as a study.
All the sleeping chambers were upstairs since it was impossible to dig out a basement in the Big Easy but they were all reinforced with steel and iron, impermeable to fire and light tight shutters were hidden behind the more typical plantation shutters that were visible from the street. The two upper levels contained five bedroom suites each all with a sleeping room, a sitting room, walk in closet and huge bathrooms befitting vampires. Each room was decorated with different antiques and varying color schemes but they all fit the character of the mansion.
Nora quickly took the vampires upstairs, told them to take their pick of rooms and she disappeared with Eric into her own suite which was similar to the others but quite a bit larger.
"You will rest with me Eric?" Nora asked coyly.
Eric responded by simply undressing feeling the question rhetorical.
He divested himself of his clothing quickly and discarded the garments on the floor. Nora quickly shed her own and climbed into the large soft bed that Eric had already made himself comfortable in.
Nora curled up next to the tall Viking that was sprawled out in all his glory in the middle of her bed and allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace. There was no time to enjoy his body but instead she rested her head on his chest. When she felt his arm tighten around her body she was once again overcome with sorrow and she let the tears fall again for their maker as the sun pulled them to their daytime rest.
Nora rose for the night to the feel of Eric's talented tongue between her legs. She chuckled at his libido and that even in the most dire of circumstances he was always in the mood for sex first and foremost.
Eric lifted his head from her mound and gave her a wicked smile before latching onto her clit and sucking forcefully while simultaneously plunging two fingers deep into her. Nora moaned in response and bucked her hips. As she felt her orgasm mounting, she flipped Eric onto his back and impaled herself on his engorged member. The two did not linger and moved with vampire speed to reach completion. When Nora's orgasm overtook her she collapsed on Eric's chest and kissed his neck.
"I needed that" she whispered.
"As did I" Eric replied in agreement as he stroked her dark long hair.
"I wish we didn't have to get up just yet but there is much to bed done" Nora said as she rolled herself off him and moved to the bathroom.
Eric followed her at human speed into the enormous bathroom. The floor was done in a marble checker board pattern in dark grey and white tiles. There was a claw foot tub that could easily fit two, his and her vanities on opposite sides of the large space and a marble shower that could have fit 10 complete with body jets and a waterfall shower head. A bidet and toilet were housed in a small ante room.
"You may shower with me if you behave" Nora smirked at him and Eric followed her into the giant enclosure but stood on the opposite side knowing that they did not have time to explore each other's bodies any further.
The both washed with vampire speed and in moments were dried, dressed and ready to go. The younger vampires were already in the main parlor waiting for their hostess and Eric.
Nora detoured into the white and stainless kitchen to warm bloods before joining the others. She brought the heated bottles into the parlor on a metal serving platter, clearly not silver and set them down on a marble topped table.
"I'm going to make a few discrete inquiries" Nora announced. "We need to determine if anyone else in the AVL knows of Sookie".
Eric nodded in agreement and Nora excused herself to make the call. The AVL staff should be up and running for the evening and Nora strategized who would be most likely to spill the news.
Nora walked into her small office that had once been a secondary parlor. She sat at a Queen Anne style mahogany desk and decided that her first call would be to her AVL superior.
"Allen, it's Nora" she said not bothering with any greeting when the younger but senior AVL member answered her call. "I am back in the States and wanting to arrange a time for me to make my report".
"Now isn't a good time Nora" Allen responded curtly.
"What's going on?" Nora asked praying that he would provide some detail.
"The AVL is seeking the King of Louisiana and one of his sheriffs to question them in the disappearance of Nan Flannagan".
"You're kidding!" Nora exclaimed.
"They were the last to see Nan before she and her whole entourage disappeared".
"What does the King have against Nan?" Nora asked in an attempt to prod further.
"Not a clue but it seems really suspicious that they would up and leave if they had nothing to hide".
"Leave where?" Nora questioned.
"The King and the sheriff were seen last night at the sheriff's club but neither returned to their primary residences".
"Perhaps there was a pressing matter for them to attend to?" Nora suggested. "Have you tried leaving a voice mail for them?"
"Like they would return our calls" Allen snorted.
"Why wouldn't they?"
Allen didn't respond but seemed to be considering the idea.
"I will call you when I'm free to meet for your report" Allen suddenly said and abruptly disconnected the call.
Nora smiled to herself and walked back into the parlor to let the others know that it didn't appear that the AVL knew about Sookie.
Bill's cell phone rang while they were talking and he let it go to voice mail.
"If I know Allen, he just called you. It would be in our best interest to return his call and be infuriated that no one bothered to tell you yesterday of Nan's disappearance in your own kingdom" Nora instructed.
Eric smiled seeing how the tables could easily be turned on the AVL.
"Give him a few minutes to stew before you call him back but we should figure out a story as to why both of you aren't in Shreveport and Bon Temps".
"I do have a trial that I was supposed to preside over in New Orleans. We can easily move up the hearing to tonight and establish an alibi. The vampire in question resides in Area 5 and was caught illegally feeding in Fangtasia on multiple occasions so Eric's presence would be warranted as well" Bill stated as he allowed himself to relax a tad.
"Make the calls to set that in motion and then call Allen back" Nora said.
"We still need to consider the threat from Russell" Pam interjected.
"One thing at a time niece" Nora cautioned.
Pam nodded but clearly was still edgy. Eric reached for his progeny's hand and pulled her down beside him.
They all sat and listened while Bill made arrangement to expedite the trial and then called Allen.
Bill acted his part beautifully and was in full out king mode as he verbally blasted Allen for not informing him of Nan's disappearance. The other vampires could hear Allen stammering and back pedaling in deference. Nora smiled as she knew that the AVL had no leg to stand on. Allen did ask to meet the King at his Bon Temps residence but Bill smoothly informed him that he and Eric were in New Orleans for a trial and made arrangements to meet Allen the following evening in Bon Temps. The mansion had already been meticulously cleaned of any traces of wrong doing so there would be nothing to find.
They would need to glamour the staff at the royal residence so they would believe the king was in residence the night before but that would be easy to accomplish. They needed to make sure their alibi would be light tight, no pun intended.
When the call was disconnected Nora quickly instructed the others to move to the royal palace immediately, glamour the staff and prepare for the trial. Nora relayed that there was a tunnel under the garage that led out into the cemetery around the corner. The trio was instructed to exit through the cemetery if there were no life signs and to take care in sneaking back into the palace.
The plan was to feign that the group went for an evening stroll and since the King was accompanied by his sheriff and deputy there was no need for further security. While not typical, it would also not be questioned.
When Eric, Pam and Bill disappeared into the tunnel Nora did turn her attention to their other problem. Russell was older than all of them combined and would not be easy to defeat if he came after them. The AVL was child's play compared to him.