Pre Edit Count – 2,560 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol

Previously:

He sighs, remembering he has three errands to run before he can make his way home. He calls out, “Now that you know what I needed Lafayette for, come forward so we can talk.”

Sam walks forward, wary of the vampire in front of him. “Are you done taking my staff from me?”

Godric just stares him down. “If you take too much of my time, another of your staff will be murdered tonight. So feel free to take up more of my time, shifter.” He cocks an eyebrow up as he waits for the shifter to comment.

Now:

The sounds of the swamp around them rings out in the silence as Sam stands there with his mouth literally open. After a few minutes, he finally gathers his wits together and asks the vampire in front of him, “Why are you here then, not doing whatever you are going to do to save her life?”

Godric just chuckles, then tells him, “If I didn’t have the time right this minute, I wouldn’t be here. I have many things to accomplish tonight before I get home to my Mate. When I leave, I want this small town protected for her sake, not for my own.”

Sam just shakes his head. “What are you doing to her?”

Godric raises an eyebrow. “Doing to her? Besides loving her, caring for her, letting her make her own mind up? Not much. A lot of it is because of her Mating Eric and acknowledging the Mating with me. You were told to talk to your own Guardian to find out more. It’s done and irreversible.”

Sam growls and starts pacing, running his hands through his hair. “She is a good girl! She don’t need to be in the mess you guys always seem to be in. Why couldn’t you just leave her alone?”

Shaking his head, Godric asks him, “Do you not listen to her when she tells you stuff? The entire Area 5 heard her when she told you it was already too late by the time we came for her. Her cousin blabbed about her months ago to the Old Queen. Compton has been all over here, glamouring away the information that he needed to get close to her, including you. Yes, even you gave her up to the man who raped her brother, fed from him and her Gran just to see if the unique taste was from her. So how are we the bad guys in this?”

Shaking his head in denial, Sam tells him, “I would never betray Sookie. There is no way. Shifters are hard to glamour.” He kept coming up with excuses, one after another.

Godric watches him as he tries to convince himself, and finally tells him, “Enough. You did, Compton told us all the people he had maneuvered into this sick game of his. Thankfully we took him, and much got delayed. And unless Jason comes out of his house, things will go differently tonight. What I need from you is an assurance that if I need to have your help to get rid of the Maenad that is here for you, I will have it. I am already going to see if I can deal with her, before she tries to hunt down Sookie as a warning to Eric and you.”

Sam just shakes his head. It is spinning with the fact that Sookie is going to be further and further from him each day. “How the hell did you guys find her anyways?”

Godric just smiles. “She fell in love with Eric after meeting him walking down the road. I came at Eric’s request to meet her, neither of us expecting our Mates to be the same person. Either way, it doesn’t matter. She is not yours, nor would she have been. You could have dated her for the years until we came if you had admitted that you cared for her. Telling her in your mind is not acceptable. She deserves the words out loud.”

Sam growls at him, but Godric shrugs it off as he looks around. “I need your word, shifter, since you brought the Maenad to my kingdom. Are you going to help?”

Sam shakes his head. “You said you were protecting Sookie from the Maenad for Eric and I. What do you mean that I brought her?”

Godric sighs, looking up at the moon. “We have received information that she is coming for you, she goes after Sookie as a warning to Eric. You never received a warning, so I think she couldn’t find anyone else to warn after she had done it to Sookie. Either way, I will not allow my Mate to be hurt because you had an affair with the Maenad. So again, will you be available if I need you to kill her?” He barely covers their foreknowledge and allows it to be hinted that they were told.

Looking off into the woods, Sam thinks through it all, including that the King of Louisiana is asking him to help. And what the ramifications could be if he doesn’t help. Finally he shakes his head and tells the King, “Putting me in between a hard place and a rock, but yes, I will help if you need me too.”

Godric nods. “I will let you know after I hold court with her.”

Sam snorts. “You really think she is going to come to court?”

Godric gives him an odd look. “If I was in place, she would. You have no idea what the logistics, traditions and so on are for the truly ancient beings of this world.” With that he takes off. He is smiling. He got the agreement he had looked for, and though it may be petty, he had rubbed in Sookie’s new Matings to him. He is only 19, he’s allowed to act his physical age once in a while.

His next stop is the Bon Temps’ Police department. He looks over the staff in the room as he waits for them to acknowledge him. This is part of the reason he doesn’t often dress in his preferred clothing of hoodies and jeans.

Finally when the humans stop ignoring him, he raises an eyebrow, as if asking if they are ready for him. It makes them look at each other, then Kevin walks up. “Hey kid, how can we help you?”

With a mental sigh, Godric asks them, “Did you get the memo about the change of representatives for the state of Louisiana for the Vampires?”

Kenya nods. Then her eyes widen as she connects the dots. “You are Godric Nervii?”

He inclines his head to her, telling them, “I am here about the murderer who is attacking what is normally called Fangbangers. I will be happy to lead you to the evidence that will convict him, or even give you his next victim. Which would you rather do? If neither, let me know and I will make sure his killing spree is ended one way or the other.”

Andy’s voice echoes as he demands, “Are you threatening us, Mr. Nervii?”

Godric calmly looks up and says, “I take it you are Detective Andy Bellefluer…” With this he nods. “I am not threatening you, I am merely stating that if you are unwilling to take a murderer off the streets, I will be happy to let Shreveport or Baton Rouge know where he is since he has murdered in their areas also. No threats at all.”’

Andy glowers at the young man in front of him. Then Kenya tells him, “He is the new representative for the state, Andy.”

Andy just grunts. “A vampire then? One of those ones that took Ms. Stackhouse?”

Godric smiles. “Ms. Stackhouse is presently the other representative of the state, and she is married to the representative of Texas. So I guess you can say we took her. Either way, it doesn’t matter, that is more of a matter for her and her family. They are fine with it. I wish to know if I can trust you to apprehend this man before another woman is killed.”

He stares at the man, giving no indication of his own thoughts, but letting the man know in front of him that he will be making Godric’s decision for him. That Godric will be reacting to him and his decision, and the fate of others will be in his hands.

Andy stared back at the vampire in front of him and finds himself feeling some respect for him. He finally asks, “What proof you have? And what is the man’s name?”

Godric smiles inwardly and starts teaching them how to do their job. “His name here is Rene Latnier…”

Walking away from the police station, Godric sighs as he looks up at the moon. He can hear the people inside calling their sheriff and getting the information he provided them from their other sources. He knows that if anything more happens, it will be on their heads. He has protected all the ones he cares about and done what he can to make sure his Mate will not suffer any guilt.

Now he heads into the air and frowns. He knows that the Maenad is around, he can smell her in town, but she has managed not to infect them yet. He knows Tara will be among her infected, and that from Maryann she will meet a young man named Benedict who is one of the thralls of the Maenad, one that Tara loved deeply.

So he goes up and looks for the house that Sookie had gotten from Tara when it all went down. In this instance, it was beneficial for him to have access to his Mate’s mind. He searches and is soon landing in the backyard of the house. He stands there, his hands behind him, as he waits for her to come out.

Then she is in front of him. He inclines his head to her. “Evening.”

She looks him over and then inclines her head to him. “Evening. What is the pleasure of this visit?”

Godric looks her over and tells her politely, “I have been named King of this state, and I heard you were in town. Now, since this is close to my Mate’s home and where I am planning to set up shop, I wanted to see what you are planning.”

She walks around him, her finger in her mouth. “Mate huh? But I am thinking that she is not fully Mated yet to you. There is another?”

He smiles. “My Child. We are both Mated to the same lovely woman. My Child is fully Mated and Bonded to her, and I have started the process. As you know, once we start there is no way for us to be with another. But, I am interested in your habitation and what you are doing here.”

She laughs as she comes back around him. “I am called Maryann at this time, but you may have heard of me as Callisto.”

He bows his head to her. “Godric Nervii at your service. Now, your intentions, madam.”

She just laughs delightedly. “Oh my, you are a fun one.” She blurs slightly, wanting him as hers, but she frowns as it doesn’t work.

He chuckles. “Mated. Your influence won’t work on me or my Child because of it. Allow me to tell you what I know. My Mate and my Child both already lived through a timeline and got sent back to now. My Mate is one of the ones who kills you. You invaded her home, infected her best friend, and at the time, she was suffering from intense pain she had no idea about. She had not fully come into her birthright, but she managed to end a Maenad. Now you tell me what species can end you.”

Her eyes widen, and she whispers, “Seraphim.”

Godric’s smile gets bigger. “And what do you know of seraphim and their powers, along with the fact that she is Mated to what are considered ancient vampires, who happen to be Maker and Child?”

She is shaking as she steps back.

He raises an eyebrow as he also tells her, “What if I tell you that she also hates you because you attacked her to send a message to her Mate. Who is also the King of legend? What is your decision then?”

Maryann looks frantically around. “I was told that if I came and sacrificed the shifter, my God will come again.”

He shakes his head. “It was a death sentence. Who told you this?”

She murmurs, “Ocella.”

Godric’s eyes harden and he demands of her, “How long ago?”

She whimpers and tells him, “Two centuries ago. I didn’t know I had a shifter in my hands and then he stole from me. I have chased after him until I was given a message to inspect Bon Temps a month ago. I got here only days ago.”

He nods, looking up at the moon. “Now what are your intentions?”

She kneels before him. “I wish to live. Tell me what I can do to insure this. I am the last and tasked with bringing my God and Master back. To die will not allow me accomplish this.”

Godric looks down at the woman who had been so confident just a few minutes ago. He sighs. “I will contact you. Will you agree to abide by my rule and not cause any trouble?”

She nods. “I will swear fealty to you as my lord, and to your Mate and Child. I will never go against the fated trio.”

He nods as he looks at her. “Warlow is coming…”

Her head rises and a fierce snarl is on her face. “He killed my sisters on a fucking whim. He wanted to know if he could.”

Godric studies her, then says, “He is trying to take the seraphim, and has put into action moves to accomplish this. I don’t need to tell you what would happen if he gets his hands on her. I will take your pledge and allow you to live peacefully under me if you agree to come when called to fight against him. I will not waste a life.”

She looks back at him and studies him. She finally nods. “I agree.”

With that, he tells her, “I will get back to you. And leave Tara out of your killings. I know you already have her in your sights, and before you killed her town and the man she loved, she was happy. Keep her this way. She is the one my Mate called best friend until she betrayed her too many times. Her life has been one of misery.”

Maryann nods. “I will collect her. I will not use her for my blood play. My thanks, my lord.”

He nods, then can’t help the grin. “Callisto. I am looking forward to working with you. I may not allow you to kill, but I can and will allow you to party. You can gain what you need to survive from them. Will this be to your liking?”

She grins and nods. Then with his acceptance, she heads to her home, making plans to override the ones that would have lead to her death.

Godric smiles and, happy he is done with his list, takes to the sky, sending his love to the two that are awaiting him.

Final Count: 2,601 words

Fairfarren ~