Chapter 1
Fangtasia was packed tonight. The patrons were enjoying themselves. Eric was sitting in his throne, watching Yvetta dancing on the pole. In Dallas, Sookie Stackhouse had managed to get under his skin…and couldn’t get her out his head. He’d tried that by fucking her out his mind with Yvetta; no such luck.
Who was he kidding? After her noble act to save Godric and stay with him when he met the sun, he felt beholden to her. It was that moment when she touched his hand telling him she would stay with Godric in his final moments, that Eric acknowledged his feelings.
Before Dallas, he'd been for some time denying his feelings for the girl. He loved her fire, her southern accent, her sexy curvy body and full delicious lips. He loved the way she stood up to him, no matter what kind of position he held or how more powerful he was; physically speaking. All hours of night and day she invaded his thoughts. He just simply couldn't shake her.
His sense of smell was suddenly washed over by two familiar scents: The Magister and The Queen of Louisiana. He tensed in his seat and quickly looked over at the entrance where they were just entering. He vamped over greeting them with nods.
"Your highness…Magister." He said smoothly.
"Mr. Northman, I haven't seen you since the Bill Compton trial."
"Yes, uh…it's been too long." He glanced over at the queen who had a slight smirk on her face. "May I ask what brings you to Fangtasia?"
"We need to talk. You should probably close up." The queen interjected.
"We can use my office." Eric offered.
"It's bugged." The queen replied.
"How do you know this?" he asked.
"Because I am the one who bugged it." She said smugly. Eric shot a quick menacing glare. "It's how I know I can trust you."
"Alright! Everyone out, now!" The queen shouted in a booming, stern voice. As everyone quickly scattered out the club, the queen walked up the Yvetta who was just about to leave.
"Except…she can stay." The queen purred.
"No, no humans. I need both your full attentions." The magister countered. While the magister had his back turned going to sit on the throne, Eric and the queen shared a glanced with each other, then Sophie Ann went to sit next to the magister. Eric stood in front of them, waiting for the magister to state his business.
"Trouble abounds in your state."
"Tell me." He stood stoically giving nothing away.
"It would seem your little home is competing to become the V capital of the world."
"Can you believe it? I am so embarrassed." The queen said, feigning concern. "Naturally, I told the magister that you were the only vampire in my queendom that could be trusted with this."
"How can I can be of service?" Eric asked.
"The blood is sacred…wasting it on anything other than procreation is blasphemy."
"Madness." The Queen added.
"Desecration." Eric added just as quickly.
"Did you notice an uptake of users in your area, maybe even here in your…club?" he said looking around.
"I haven't, no."
"That's surprising to me. As every other Sheriff who I've spoken to. As amounts are so great, in fact we can only assume a vampire is responsible."
"An act of self-loathing, so shameful, that whoever is responsible should fall on his stake." The queen said glancing at Eric. Glancing at the queen, Eric resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Respectively, magister, I'm not sure I follow your logic." Eric replied.
"If your average, run-of-the-mill drainers were behind this, it would stand to reason said drainers would need vampires to drain. This means there would be missing vampires in your area and plenty of them. How many vampires have gone missing in your area?" Eric swallowed inaudibly.
"None, magister."
"So, now do you follow my logic?"
"I do. And I will look into the matter."
"Good. And I will expect results."
"You will have them." Eric promised, glancing back at the queen. The magister nodded at him.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
She spotted a skinny blonde woman outside the entrance taking a smoke; Ana smiled to herself. She ran over at vampire speed through the door, stopping next to the sheriff's office. She went to the bar area and leaned against the bar as the queen and magister were departing. She waited a moment before speaking.
"Quite the pickle you're in, Mr. Northman." she said nonchalantly. She raised herself sitting on the top of the bar. Eric spun around, and stopped, staring at her then shook his head.
"Who are you and how did you get in here?! Fangtasia's closed for the rest of the night."
"Duly noted. I actually came here to talk to you about an important matter sheriff." She replied ignoring his questions.
"Oh really?"
"The Queen's setting you up. You know, with the V?"
"How do you of this?" he hissed. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Are you really that thick, dude? Don't you find it a little odd the queen ordered you to sell V over a week ago, and suddenly she shows up here with the Magister; who questions you and suspects the V-dealings are in your area. You don't find this suspicious at all?" As soon as the last word left her mouth he sped over wrapping his hand tightly around her neck. He bared his fangs at her.
"How do you know of all this?" Eric hissed angrily.
"Someone hired me to spy and investigate Louisiana. Someone more powerful than the queen." She replied calmly, despite the fact he was close to ripping her head off.
"Who? The Authority?"
"No, more powerful than that."
"Who would be more powerful than the Authority?"
"You know who, Eric." He loosened his grip on her neck, setting her down. She righted herself and went to sit at one of the tables. She continued.
"The Queen is setting you up. She's not pleased that you know of the telepath and gave her some of your blood. Now she's trying to find a way to get rid of you and cover her ass. On top of that, she's forcing you to sell V to pay off her debt with the IRS; which you already knew. Apparently, the telepath and forcing you to sell V was her only options at fixing her problems." She explained.
Fury flared behind his eyes. He wanted to kill something, rip someone to shreds, but right now was not the time. He had a lot to think about.
"And speaking of the telepath, I need you to call her here."
"Why?"
"I need to question her about Bill Compton. And inform her she's in great danger."
Fangtasia was packed tonight. The patrons were enjoying themselves. Eric was sitting in his throne, watching Yvetta dancing on the pole. In Dallas, Sookie Stackhouse had managed to get under his skin…and couldn’t get her out his head. He’d tried that by fucking her out his mind with Yvetta; no such luck.
Who was he kidding? After her noble act to save Godric and stay with him when he met the sun, he felt beholden to her. It was that moment when she touched his hand telling him she would stay with Godric in his final moments, that Eric acknowledged his feelings.
Before Dallas, he'd been for some time denying his feelings for the girl. He loved her fire, her southern accent, her sexy curvy body and full delicious lips. He loved the way she stood up to him, no matter what kind of position he held or how more powerful he was; physically speaking. All hours of night and day she invaded his thoughts. He just simply couldn't shake her.
His sense of smell was suddenly washed over by two familiar scents: The Magister and The Queen of Louisiana. He tensed in his seat and quickly looked over at the entrance where they were just entering. He vamped over greeting them with nods.
"Your highness…Magister." He said smoothly.
"Mr. Northman, I haven't seen you since the Bill Compton trial."
"Yes, uh…it's been too long." He glanced over at the queen who had a slight smirk on her face. "May I ask what brings you to Fangtasia?"
"We need to talk. You should probably close up." The queen interjected.
"We can use my office." Eric offered.
"It's bugged." The queen replied.
"How do you know this?" he asked.
"Because I am the one who bugged it." She said smugly. Eric shot a quick menacing glare. "It's how I know I can trust you."
"Alright! Everyone out, now!" The queen shouted in a booming, stern voice. As everyone quickly scattered out the club, the queen walked up the Yvetta who was just about to leave.
"Except…she can stay." The queen purred.
"No, no humans. I need both your full attentions." The magister countered. While the magister had his back turned going to sit on the throne, Eric and the queen shared a glanced with each other, then Sophie Ann went to sit next to the magister. Eric stood in front of them, waiting for the magister to state his business.
"Trouble abounds in your state."
"Tell me." He stood stoically giving nothing away.
"It would seem your little home is competing to become the V capital of the world."
"Can you believe it? I am so embarrassed." The queen said, feigning concern. "Naturally, I told the magister that you were the only vampire in my queendom that could be trusted with this."
"How can I can be of service?" Eric asked.
"The blood is sacred…wasting it on anything other than procreation is blasphemy."
"Madness." The Queen added.
"Desecration." Eric added just as quickly.
"Did you notice an uptake of users in your area, maybe even here in your…club?" he said looking around.
"I haven't, no."
"That's surprising to me. As every other Sheriff who I've spoken to. As amounts are so great, in fact we can only assume a vampire is responsible."
"An act of self-loathing, so shameful, that whoever is responsible should fall on his stake." The queen said glancing at Eric. Glancing at the queen, Eric resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Respectively, magister, I'm not sure I follow your logic." Eric replied.
"If your average, run-of-the-mill drainers were behind this, it would stand to reason said drainers would need vampires to drain. This means there would be missing vampires in your area and plenty of them. How many vampires have gone missing in your area?" Eric swallowed inaudibly.
"None, magister."
"So, now do you follow my logic?"
"I do. And I will look into the matter."
"Good. And I will expect results."
"You will have them." Eric promised, glancing back at the queen. The magister nodded at him.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
She spotted a skinny blonde woman outside the entrance taking a smoke; Ana smiled to herself. She ran over at vampire speed through the door, stopping next to the sheriff's office. She went to the bar area and leaned against the bar as the queen and magister were departing. She waited a moment before speaking.
"Quite the pickle you're in, Mr. Northman." she said nonchalantly. She raised herself sitting on the top of the bar. Eric spun around, and stopped, staring at her then shook his head.
"Who are you and how did you get in here?! Fangtasia's closed for the rest of the night."
"Duly noted. I actually came here to talk to you about an important matter sheriff." She replied ignoring his questions.
"Oh really?"
"The Queen's setting you up. You know, with the V?"
"How do you of this?" he hissed. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Are you really that thick, dude? Don't you find it a little odd the queen ordered you to sell V over a week ago, and suddenly she shows up here with the Magister; who questions you and suspects the V-dealings are in your area. You don't find this suspicious at all?" As soon as the last word left her mouth he sped over wrapping his hand tightly around her neck. He bared his fangs at her.
"How do you know of all this?" Eric hissed angrily.
"Someone hired me to spy and investigate Louisiana. Someone more powerful than the queen." She replied calmly, despite the fact he was close to ripping her head off.
"Who? The Authority?"
"No, more powerful than that."
"Who would be more powerful than the Authority?"
"You know who, Eric." He loosened his grip on her neck, setting her down. She righted herself and went to sit at one of the tables. She continued.
"The Queen is setting you up. She's not pleased that you know of the telepath and gave her some of your blood. Now she's trying to find a way to get rid of you and cover her ass. On top of that, she's forcing you to sell V to pay off her debt with the IRS; which you already knew. Apparently, the telepath and forcing you to sell V was her only options at fixing her problems." She explained.
Fury flared behind his eyes. He wanted to kill something, rip someone to shreds, but right now was not the time. He had a lot to think about.
"And speaking of the telepath, I need you to call her here."
"Why?"
"I need to question her about Bill Compton. And inform her she's in great danger."