Baile Siochanta (Southern Vampire Mysteries)

Untitled Part 37 - Crows Come Home

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They'd been back in Ballytyne for three weeks.

Upon their return from Boston, they landed at the airport and raced the sun home. Dawn was just peeping over the horizon when they laid down in Eric's chamber under the stairs. 'Home!' Sookie thought, and then she thought no more. She hadn't been able to sleep on the plane. She was too keyed up.

Eric was keyed up, too, which wasn't helping. They barely spoke, but it wasn't awkward. They sat quietly at each other's side, holding hands or leaning, always touching. Sookie half-expected to see Pam at the airport, waiting to meet them, but instead it was another professional driver with another black sedan.

Sookie figured she wasn't subtle about craning around, looking, because Eric had chuckled, gathering her against him, saying, "Tomorrow, Sookie. We'll see her tomorrow."

Eric had a new Dayman. Technically, he was Sookie's Dayman, too. His name was Ian. He was Irish. Eric explained that it was easier having someone who was local. For what this job entailed, it was logical to find a person who had connections through family and friends. It made the obtaining of services or goods that Eric needed go through without unnecessary questions. "Fewer complications," Eric explained, emphasizing his words with a wink.

Ian was nice enough. He was young, only a little older than Sookie. He had grown up a few towns over. His sister had introduced him to this world. She had been in a relationship with a vampire from Sophie-Anne's court. It ended amicably enough that Ian, who had been a sharp-eyed teenager at the time, wasn't deterred from seeking a way to continue interacting with the Fae. "I grew up with these stories," he explained to Sookie, the lilt in his speech curling around the syllables. "I can't think of anything better than being a part of them."

Sookie hadn't spent much more than a few hours with Bobby Burnham, Eric's previous Dayman, but it was enough to know that Ian was a vast improvement.

There was a sound from the room next door. With any luck, the final work would be completed today, and the upstairs bedroom would be light-tight enough to pass Eric's inspection. The windows had been taken out and replaced with new ones. They were a special double-pane construction that had blinds encased between them. When the blinds were lowered, they were day-safe. 'Bullet-proof,' the sales brochure proclaimed. The idea that bullet-proof was a selling point for Eric gave Sookie pause.

There had been a lot that gave Sookie pause since their return from America, and it re-started the conversation between her and Eric about learning more about her skills. Eric was certain she had more power than she knew, and that those skills she did know could be used defensively. Sookie wasn't so sure. True, her scope had expanded. She could do more than pull light. She could move things and construct walls. She could hear the birds more easily; she could even mimic household magics. There were moments she seemed limited only by her imagination, but with each accomplishment, she became more unsettled. The rabbit hole she once imagined was part of stepping into this world where supernatural and normal slid past and over each other was becoming a gaping hole, and Sookie was beginning to believe it would be better to turn away from it and not look back. It's not that it was too frightening, more that it was too tempting.

One thing she and Eric did agree about: They would keep the full bag of tricks she could do from Niall, Claudine, and the rest of Sookie's Seelie relatives. For Eric, it was about being cautious until they understood the nature of Sookie's gifts. For Sookie, it was about trust. "I know I should be grateful," Sookie confessed, "but my gut is telling me that no good would come from telling them and I think I should listen to it."