Back In Time

Chapter 20: In Which Patience Is A Virtue

EPOV

Three nights.

Three fucking nights I wait to see her and for what?

Nothing.

No. Less than nothing. The opposite of nothing. Worse than nothing.

I sped away from the fortress, nearly putting my foot through the floor of the rental car. My jaw was clenched so tight, it's a wonder my teeth weren't ground to powder. I won't miss her for long, she'd said. I won't remember being without her, she'd said.

The fuck I won't.

I roared in frustration as the car clung to the bends in the road, speeding through the night. Any joviality I'd felt prior to the meeting had completely evaporated. I'd had the thought that once I had spoken to the Pythoness, I would be able to retrieve Sookie and return the world to rights. Realizing that wasn't going to happen had thrown me into a rage.

Luckily, I'd been numb as I left. Destroying the inner sanctum of the fortress occupied by the Ancient Pythoness was not something I would have relished. After all, she was simply an instrument. It was none of her doing that Sookie was gone. I'd even sensed sympathy from her. Compassion. Which was nearly as unsettling as the fate she'd meted out. I was much more accustomed to her biting wit and condescension. It was almost as if she bated me to spar with her on the many occasions I'd met with her in the past.

But not this time.

I realized I was compressing the steering wheel with my grip and forced myself to ease off of it. I exhaled sharply through my nose, needing to get a grip on the childish tantrum I was perilously close to throwing. I pulled onto the shoulder of the road and parked the vehicle, placing my forehead against the steering wheel and closing my eyes.

I had a sudden flash of Sookie reverently opening a massive book, excitement barely concealed on her face. She beamed up at me, pointing to the page. In my mind's eye, I stepped toward her to see what she was indicating. My eyes focused on the page.

A
DICTIONARY
of the
English Language:
in which
The WORDS are deduced from their ORIGINALS,
and
ILLUSTRATED in their DIFFERENT SIGNIFICATIONS
by
EXAMPLES from the best WRITERS.
To which are prefixed,
A HISTORY of the LANGUAGE,
and AN ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
By SAMUEL JOHNSON, A.M.
In TWO Volumes
VOL. I

"It's a dictionary, Eric! And guess what we're gonna use it for," she swivelled her face up to mine and her blue eyes sharpened their focus. "Word Of The Night."

"Word of the night?" I asked, confused. She nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yes," she confirmed verbally. She hefted the volume open, reverently flipping the pages with care. "We'll select a new word each night and then use it in a sentence throughout the course of that night. It will help our vocabulary," she said, face lighting up as she settled on a page.

"Sookie, I have a perfectly acceptable grasp of the English language," I told her, though it was hard not smile at her exuberance. She cut her eyes up to mine, clearly wanting to roll them.

"That is debatable. As evidenced by this," she pointed at the page. "Your first word of the night," there was laughter bubbling below her voice as I focused on the word. Now it was my turn to cut my eyes at her.

"Come then, what is it?" Godric asked from across the table. I glanced up at him, not having heard him enter the room. He had a mischievous smirk on his face as he adjusted his wig, clearly in on the joke. I raised my eyebrow as I glanced back down at the page and struggled to keep from chuckling as I read aloud.

"Patience. The suffering of afflictions, pain, toil, calamity, provocation or other evil, with a calm, unruffled temper," I recited in an extremely sarcastic voice. Sookie's little elbow nudged my middle. I sighed and read on, her head nodding with the cadence of my words. 'The quality of bearing offenses and injuries without anger or revenge."

Godric laughed out loud at the expression on my face and I joined in.

"There! Now, remember to use that in a sentence tonight," Sookie said, gathering the huge book together, sounding very pleased with herself.

"Understanding the word does not mean that it is a trait I possess," I told her in a teasing tone. She walked to a desk in the corner of the room, depositing the book carefully before turning to speak.

"I'm still working on that part of it," she smiled. "Don't worry, I'll come up with something." Godric chuckled again as he buttoned his overcoat.

"I must away," he said, turning to face Sookie. "Have I got this on properly?"

She smiled and stepped toward him. "I still don't have any idea how you two got along without me," she said under her breath as she adjusted his cravat. Her fingers brushed the hair of his wig back a bit and he caught her wrist, kissing her palm gently before he let it go.

"Neither do I," he answered. Sookie smiled at me over his shoulder and I felt a smile form on my own face in response.

I shuddered as I came back to the present, thoroughly unsettled. I recognized that room. It was the parlor of the home Godric and I had shared in Glasgow.

In the mid-1700s.

Centuries before Sookie was born.

My stomach lurched as the truth took hold. The Pythoness was right. It was folly to believe otherwise; she was always right. However, knowing that she was right and seeing that she was right were two very different things and the unease settling in my body was proof.

Sookie was not coming back to me in this time because she was already with me. My mind raced as it tried to process this information. If she was with me, then where was I? How was I here, in between existences? Could it be true that Godric was still alive? Had we nested, the three of us? It was not unheard of for a female vampire to take two mates and, wonder of wonders, I was more than okay with her being with Godric. Even thinking it felt right. I tried to hold back the insane hope that rose in my chest at the thought of Godric living, not meeting the true death, spending eternity with us.

My body felt suspended, as though I were floating. The strange joy I had imagining it, trying to integrate it with my previous reality, had my head spinning and I felt disconnected from everything and everyone.

One thought stopped all the elation and my body ran cold as it struck me. I slowly pulled the phone out of the pocket in my jacket. I felt like time had stopped as I prayed like I hadn't prayed in centuries. I dialled the number automatically, almost afraid to put the phone to my ear.

Fear isn't an emotion I feel often, but I felt it then.

I was afraid Pam wouldn't be there to answer my call.

Two rings later, my fears were assuaged.

"What did she say?" Pam's voice was concerned. My body relaxed considerably at the sound of her voice. I chided myself for entertaining the idea that Pam wouldn't be around. Sookie would never have let me miss her.

As I filled Pam in on the meeting and my grim news, I tried to recall if I'd ever told Sookie when and where exactly I'd met Pam. I realized I never had but wasn't overly concerned. Obviously, she'd found her. We'd found her.

I wondered briefly if my early relationship with Pam would have been the same. Had we been romantically involved now that Sookie had been there? Would I have wanted to be?

I shook my head slightly and focused back on Pam's words.

Apparently, I'd have to be patient until my memories came together.