Look Before You Leap [True Blood]

36: Things Fall Apart

LPOV

My phone rang waking me from my deathlike all day nap. I had to check caller ID twice, I was so surprised to see the name pop up. "Pam?"

"I found him," she said.

For a moment I was too shocked to say anything. "After all this time?"

"Yeah, he didn't make it easy. He was laying up in the French countryside, having a relaxing holiday."

"Why France?"

She laughed, softly. "Let's just say your sister wasn't the first human girl that Eric loved." She was quiet for a moment. "Well? Do you want to talk to him or not?"

"Oh," I said surprised. "Does he want to talk to me?"

"Eric doesn't really want to talk to anyone. I'm asking you because you're the one that sent him packing."

"Yeah, okay." In the months since I'd last seen Eric I had calmed down significantly. We'd all been desperate. These were desperate times we were living in.

"Lily," Eric said. He sounded different, but at first I didn't realize why. "It's been a while."

"You missed Rachel's wedding." It was the first thing that came to mind and I just blurted it out.

"She married the werewolf? Good for her. I bet it was beautiful, she wouldn't have had it any other way." He laughed and it turned into a cough. That was when I knew.

"You're sick, aren't you?" I asked it as a question, not because I needed confirmation, but because I didn't want to be right.

"Yes, Lily, I am."

If I had still been harboring any negative feelings towards him they were washed away by the resignation in his voice. "How long?"

"About a month. Vampires are living longer with the disease now, unfortunately." I remembered how quickly Nora had progressed. My phone buzzed with a text message, but I ignored it.

"That's not a bad thing," I argued.

"You wouldn't say that if you were the one with the disease."

"Maybe they'll find a cure before..." I trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.

"There isn't going to be a cure, Lily."

"You don't know that," I protested. My phone buzzed again. "You're Eric Northman, you don't just roll over and let life fuck you in the ass. Where are you? I'm on my way."

"Don't bother, Lily."

"Give the phone back to, Pam."

"We're flying into Baton Rouge," he told me. "Sarah Newlin is still alive. We're going to find her, and then we're going to make sure the job finally gets done correctly."

"I'm coming with you."

"I had a feeling you might say that."

There was a shuffling as the phone changed hands. "I'll text you when we land," Pam said hanging up. I looked at my phone to see I had received three text messages and a phone call from Jason.

I called back. "What is it?" I asked.

"Have you talked to Sookie?" He asked.

"Not since we got back from Saint Alice, why?"

"I've been trying to call her for an hour, I drove over to her place and she isn't here. It's dark out, the Hep V vamps could have gotten her."

"Have you called everyone else?" I asked.