| TWENTY-THREE |
WHEN FIRE BURNS

Eric returned to Eira that same night. But he was all bloody and she immediately went to him in concern.

"What happened?"

He shook his head, "What matters is that I did as you asked. Your friend is safe and the werewolf is dead."

Then he continued to inform her, "Although, whether she stays safe is up to her. She's going to Jackson tomorrow to look for Bill because the werewolves have a Mississippi accent and before you ask I'm sending someone with her as a precaution because of the care I have for you."

"Now," he started to smile as he stared at her like a pleading puppy. "Can I have my prize?"

"And what would that be?" she couldn't help but smile.

"A kiss," he gave her his most brilliant smile as he started to move towards her but she shook her head as she stared at the blood all over his mouth.

"Oh no," she pointed towards her bathroom. "Shower first. I'm not kissing you with blood all over you."

He made a noise of protest before he relented. He vamp sped into the bathroom. He came out only a moment later in only his jeans with wet hair.

"Does this satisfy you?"

She hummed in acknowledgment as she ogled his bare torso. He smirked as he noticed and basked in the moment because he rather enjoyed her looking at him like that. But then he tilted her chin up as he asked, "So I can kiss you now?"

She nodded a bit in a haze but that was all he needed. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her deeply. His hands moved to her hips before moving up her curves over her shirt. Then he moved them along her back before tangling them in her hair.

                He walked them backwards until they ran into the end of her bed. She only merely climbed on top of it where he hovered over her and continued to kiss her senseless. She moved her hands to caress her fingers down his torso. Eric groaned into her mouth at the feeling of her hands on him which made her smile into the kiss.

           Then she pushed against his chest to get him to stop. He moved his lips away from hers to stare at her in concern. But she only pushed against his chest again to direct him to lay beside her. Then she moved to straddle him.

           "What are you doing?" he stared up at her in exhilaration.

           "You said you wanted a prize," she smiled mischievously. "I plan to reward you."

              She leaned down and started placing kisses all over his chest like she did the other night. He let out a low moan as he spoke in rough, deep voice, "You drive me fucking crazy."

          She only smiled and continued to leave a trail of blazing kisses on his skin. He felt like a warm body with the feeling of her soft lips all over him. And when she was done, he devoured her mouth with his for the rest of the night.

        _____

        When it was daylight, they spent the time outside. They laid on a blanket in her backyard. Eric propped himself up on his side so he could stare down at her eyes and how they glistened in the sun. She was wearing a bathing suit though so she could tan which made him rake his eyes over all the bare skin from time to time.

            She didn't have any neighbors so she didn't have to worry about what she did with Eric. Because sometimes he would kiss her like a starving man and his hands would run along her thighs. If she had neighbors, there would probably be complaints that they were being too graphic. But mostly she just talked with him during the daylight or they wouldn't talk at all as they simply enjoyed a peaceful silence together.

        She ran her fingers lazily up and down the pale skin of his arm while she stared at the way the sun shined on his blond hair making it look golden before she asked, "Do you think you'd be happy if we didn't have the sun?"

            "You think of such hypotheticals," he grinned slightly in amusement.

           "They're interesting," she defended with a pout.

           He chuckled as he brought his fingers up to caress her shoulder where her birthmark of the sun was. He was silent for a moment before he kissed her cheek, "Even if we only had eternal nights, I'd still always want to call you mine..."

Then he smirked, "And I quite like it when I get to remind others of it."

She giggled a bit but she pushed his shoulder playfully, "Of course you do."

"What? And you don't?" he kept his smirk. "I know your heart races when I call you mine."

She blushed before she admitted softly, "Yes. I like it when you call me yours."

He started to smile before leaned down and nipped at her neck playfully before his lips tickled her skin as he said possessively, "All mine."

      Her heart did skip a beat and she knew he was going to tease her. But she quickly turned her head and silenced him with her lips. He placed a hand on the side of her face and his fingers tangled in her hair as he quickly melted into the warmth of her lips.

            _____

          When the sun started to set, they were back inside her house. He was gearing to leave and he pulled her into his embrace as he kissed the top of her head.

          "I don't want you to come to Fangtasia anymore," he said carefully. "There are things going on with the Magister and the Queen that until they blow over it's better if you stay away."

           "Okay," she nuzzled her head against his chest as she agreed but then she questioned. "But you're going to be okay, right?"

           "I'll be fine," he promised. "I'll come see you tomorrow night."

           "Alright," she sighed sadly.

         Waiting to see him until the next night seemed so long. It was a whole day apart. And she hardly ever wanted to be parted from him anymore. Maybe it was clingy but she didn't see anything wrong with always wanting to be with the person she loved the most.

            Eric held her for a moment before he pulled away. He gave her a quick kiss and then he was gone as disappeared with vamp speed.

            ______

          Eira read a whole book in his absence. She watched three movies and then she went to Merlotte's because she felt tired of being cooped up in the house.

            She ate there at the bar and she saw Lafayette. He informed her that Eric had gotten an urgent phone call and then left quickly.

            "What business do you have with Eric?" she wondered.

           "Baby girl, he didn't tell you?" Lafayette questioned.

          She shook her head and then he got a look of fear, "If he didn't tell you it's because he don't want you to know. I ain't gonna be the one to tell neither."

           "Lafayette," she urged.

           "No," he shook his head. "Sorry, baby girl, but I ain't getting involved in that shit. He's fucking scary when it comes to you."

         And that was all she got out of Lafayette. But Eira kind of pieced the puzzle pieces together. Eira knew that Eric had some type of business with the Queen even if he didn't tell her outright and Lafayette had been a seller of V so she assumed Eric was having him sell again.

She didn't quite understand how much trouble this put Eric in as she didn't know their laws. All she knew is that Eric did not come on the night he told her he would.

Another night passed and he still hadn't come. It had been three nights since she had last seen him. She was getting so worried that she was pacing her floors all day and wondering if she should go to Fangtasia when night fell again.

And her worry won out.

On the fourth night, she went to Fangtasia. It seemed closed when she arrived and when she went inside there was no one in the building. But then she heard a scream coming from the basement.

She immediately ran down there to find Pam lying on a table with silver chains on her. It looked like she'd just been stabbed with the silver tip on the cane the man in the room held.

He was balding and he wore an expensive suit. With the way he held himself, he seemed to be some type of vampire authority. She was guessing the Magister. He had a cold look in his eyes as he turned his head to her while she froze on the stairs. He frowned in disgust, "A human."

"But..." he sniffed the air before he grinned wickedly like he was going to have fun with her. "Delicious."

"Eira, run," Pam commanded and her voice still shook from the pain but she knew Eric wouldn't want anything to happen to Eira. "You run right now."

"No," Eira stood her ground as her eyes blazed with fury. "You let her go."

"Apparently, a stupid human," the Magister chuckled before he questioned in amusement. "And what could you do to me, girl?"

"I could kill you," she said quietly and she remembered the warning her mother always told her: don't ever attempt to kill a vampire. But that warning faded away because she wasn't going to let Pam be tortured. "But I'll let her do that."

The Magister furrowed his eyebrows before she raised her hand and with a simple thought of him meeting the sun, he started to burn without any flame. And she didn't know but her birthmark started to glow a bright white as steam started to rise from his skin.

"What is happening?" the Magister questioned in alarm as his skin started to blister and char.

Then he started to scream before he fell to his knees. His whole body became like a lump of charcoal in seconds with steam still rising up before he fell over completely. She lowered her hand once he did so. He wasn't dead but he so obviously wasn't a threat like that.

She leaned against the wall in fatigue for a short moment as what she did felt like it stole her energy like a vortex swirling away her essence. She didn't understand why she was feeling like this and why she breathing so heavily.

Then Eira quickly moved as she ignored the tiredness. She went to Pam and removed the silver chains. The vampire sat up in exhaustion before looking at the Magister in shock, "Well, fuck me."