Turnings (Southern Vampire Mysteries)

Chapter 23 - The Line

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Within twenty minutes, Eric regretted his offer to answer the boy's questions. When he sat down, the Viking felt warmly toward the youth. 'My son', he thought. That didn't last long.

Eric anticipated Rick's questions would be mostly about Eric Northman. That's what most humans asked. They wanted to know about his age and they usually asked if he'd been present at various historic events. Those who knew him longer asked about his role in vampire hierarchy.

That was not what Rick asked.

"So, where are you taking my Mom?" the boy demanded. The shamed expression that Rick wore in the house was gone now. The boy's chin was up and his lips were pursed.

"I am taking your Mother back to the Palace in New Orleans," Eric replied. Eric wasn't sure why Rick asked. Pam had already shared this plan with the boy, but Rick seemed intent on verifying the information he'd been given. Rick's eyes lowered and he looked away. Eric nodded. It was good. The boy was satisfied, and Eric found himself thinking of what lay ahead.

Eric thought about the large tub in the royal suite back at the Palace. It would be lined with blankets and bubble wrap to protect and cushion Sookie's body. Eric would spend the next seventy-two hours tending her as she transformed. The blankets would be changed frequently, and Eric would wash her, so she stayed clean. Eric knew what he faced, the smells and the fluids. Eric had joined Pam in the ground during her transformation. By the time he made Pam, he knew that leaving one's progeny alone wasn't the only option open to a Maker. When he'd made Karin, he had only Appius' example to follow and he wondered if some part of Karin's hard nature came from that experience.

Facilitating a turning where dirt wasn't there to absorb the inevitable was not something many Makers did, but Eric couldn't stand the idea of his Sookie, whom he knew struggled with being in darkness, waking up under the ground. He was sure that his staying with her wouldn't be pleasant, but Eric wanted to do this. It was more than the love he felt for her. Eric felt an obligation to Sookie Stackhouse. Had he not ordered the takeover, had he not allowed two nights of score-settling, perhaps Sookie wouldn't have ended up in Compton's hands.

"So, what then? Can I stay with her there?" The questions caught Eric by surprise. The Viking had assumed the boy was done with his questions, but he could see now that wasn't the case. The boy wasn't looking thoughtful. He was looking angry. There was no particular awe or respect in his attitude nor his tone.

"No," Eric answered, and even to his own ears he could hear how short his answer sounded. As soon as the word came out, the King saw Rick's protest forming, so he tried to get ahead of it by adding, "Your Mother will not be conscious. Her body will be changing and she..."

"Will be pretty gross, yeah! I get it!" Rick cut the Viking off. Rick's eyes were hard and his voice got louder. "But why can't I help her? I'm her son. You're..."

"She is mine!" It slipped out. Rick stopped talking, and Eric almost retracted it, seeing the shock on the boy's face, but then he didn't. Eric wasn't sorry he said it. Just hearing the words out loud, how right they sounded, brought a smile to his face. It wasn't for Rick that he added, "And she is mine to care for now."

Rick's look shifted again. If he'd been a cat, his ears would have been laid back. The boy leaned toward Eric and he poked the air with his finger, punctuating his words. "Listen, Buster!" he hissed. "I don't know who you think you are, but where have you been the past twelve years? I'll tell you where! Nowhere! You never came to find us! You never came looking for her! And now you're just going to step in and take over? I don't think so!" The boy was standing, and even his hair seemed to bristle.