Previously...

Sookie knew one thing that he obviously didn’t. Eric’s blood was inside of her now, they were connected. He wouldn’t have done that if he planned on being rid of her, but she wasn’t about to let Logan in on that little detail. Instead, she tried to reach out to Eric in hopes that he might be able to sense where she was. Sookie felt that he was in town, and that Bill was with him. That was only because she knew how stubborn her ex-boyfriend could be, and there was no way he would have let Eric come without him. “Why am I really here? I doubt you only wanted to use me to find out who was stealing from you, and you said this wasn’t only about Eric. So, what is it about?”

“Since you asked so nicely, I will tell you. I heard that this town holds an artifact, a gem that makes the wearer invincible. Not only able to go out in the sunlight, but nothing would be able to defeat me. I would be the most powerful vampire around, much more so than Northman. With that gem, no one will be able to stop me from taking what is rightfully mine. And you, my dear, are going to help me find it.”


Chapter 4

Buffy attacked the punching bag after Spike’s departure, not knowing what to think anymore. She had feelings for him, that much was obvious, but she didn’t know what to make of those feelings. Buffy knew what Spike wanted, but she had too much going on right now. The last thing she needed was another complication.

“I think you need more of a challenge.”

She stopped at Eric’s entrance, giving him a pointed look. “And what would that be?”

He grinned. “You need something that can fight back. Perhaps you would like to spar with me.”

Buffy shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I usually spar with Spike, and he’s pretty pissed at me right now. I don’t want to make things worse.”

“That will not be an issue,” Eric continued. “Spike left after your conversation, I don’t see why he has to know. I promise to keep it clean.”

Buffy highly doubted that, but figured there would be no harm in it. She was eager to see his fighting skills. “Okay, but I should warn you, I’m tougher than I look.”

He flashed her a smile. “Of that I have no doubts; you were quite impressive in the cemetery. I have always wanted to take on a Slayer.”

“Pretty sure of yourself, huh? All right, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Eric charged at her, surprised when she blocked his move so easily.

Neither was sure of how much time had passed as they continued to throw blows at each other, both evenly matched.

Eric grew even more impressed by this girl, but she would still never be stronger than him. He swiped out his foot, taking her by surprise when she fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Eric pinned her to the mat, holding her arms above her head. “I believe I win,” he said with a smirk.

Buffy tried to throw him off of her, but it was of no use. “Fine, you win, can you get off me now? You weigh a ton.”

Eric remembered when Sookie told him the same thing, but another voice halted anything else he would have said.

“Well, it’s nice to know that I wasn’t missed.”

That was all it took for Buffy to shove Eric away from her, quickly jumping to her feet. “Spike, when did you get back?”

“Just in time to catch the end of your show,” he commented, a pained expression on his face. “It’s good that you found another sparring partner. With this bloody chip in my head, I can’t really do much.”

“It’s not like that,” she tried to explain, but he wasn’t hearing it.

“We’re fine, Buffy. Don’t worry about it.”

She could tell he was still hurt, but when she tried to comfort him, a commotion from the other blond vampire put that on hold.

Eric was grabbing his head, growling, and with swift reflexes, punched a hole right in the punching bag.

Spike pulled Buffy away from him, wondering what that was about.

Eric calmed down for a moment, then headed back to the front of the store. “Compton!” he yelled.

Bill immediately came alert. “What happened?”

“Sookie is hurt, I can feel her. She was calling to me.”

Buffy spoke up once she rejoined them. “How is that possible?”

Eric turned to her. “It is a blood bond, we are connected now.”

Bill scoffed. “You mean when you forced her to drink your blood? Don’t make it sound like this was her choice. You are the last vampire Sookie would ever want a connection with.”

Eric ignored him to address the others. “Logan has hurt her. I can feel her pain. I don’t much care for it.”

“It must be hard, Eric, dealing with human emotions.”

He growled, his fangs coming forth as he moved to attack Bill, but Buffy stopped him.

“We don’t have time for this. You guys can take your macho pissing contest somewhere else. We have to focus on Sookie now. That’s why you’re here; I figured she would be more important.”

Bill nodded and took a seat, lost in thought. It still hurt thinking of how he lost Sookie’s trust, and possibly her love, but losing her to Eric was the last thing he wanted. The Slayer was right; they could deal with that later.

“Will, how’s the spell coming?” Buffy asked her friend.

“It’s harder than I thought,” Willow responded. “I can’t get a clear location, it’s like he has magical wards up or something. He doesn’t want to be found.”

Buffy expected that. “Keep trying, there has to be something he hasn’t thought of. I wish Giles was here. Of all the times for him to go to England, it had to be now.”

“He’ll be back in two weeks,” Tara claimed.

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, but I have a feeling it’ll be too late by then. With all the Glory stuff, and now this, I could really use him.”

“Well, look on the bright side. At least Glory has been pretty quiet lately,” Xander chimed in.

Buffy groaned. “You just had to jinx it. There’s nothing more we can do tonight. The sun’s almost up; I have to get you two back to the house.”

Eric and Bill agreed, following her out of the shop, Spike in tow, not about to leave her alone with them.

“Where’s Dawn?” Spike wondered after a few seconds of silence.

“She’s staying with a friend for the weekend, one less thing to worry about. You should get back to your crypt, I’ll be fine.”

Spike wanted to argue, but the look on her face had him changing his mind. “Fine, but I’ll be meeting you at the shop later.” He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, then headed for home.

Buffy touched the spot where he kissed her, a smile on her face, which quickly faded at the amused expressions of the other two vampires. “Oh, like you have any room to talk, you’re both in love with the same human,” she told them, hurrying into her house.

Bill stopped Eric from entering; deciding that now was the time to say what he needed to. “You don’t love Sookie. I won’t deny that you may care for her, but this has all been a game to you. All you want is to use her for your own personal gain, that’s why you needed me out of the way. It won’t work, Eric. As soon as we free Sookie, I’m taking her away from all of this.”

Eric raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you think she should be the one to decide that?”

“She’ll see that I only want what is best for her, that I really do love her. The Queen may have first assigned me to Bon Temps to seduce Sookie, but she didn’t make me love her. That was real, and I will prove it to her. Your attempt to break us up didn’t work; all it did was make her hate you even more. And the blood bond, did you really think she would choose to be with you after you forced that on her? Her being there for Godric had nothing to do with you. It was because Godric saved her life. She felt that she owed him that, to not die alone. Sookie is mine, Eric. She always will be. Once this is over with, you are to stay away from her.”