Look Before You Leap [True Blood]

37: Reunion

LPOV

Later that day Sookie stopped by to tell us that Holly had remembered where she had been for the last couple of days, Fangtasia. A plan was put into place to rescue Nicole and Arlene at sundown. I was going to go with them and then head to Baton Rouge as soon as the infected vampires were dealt with.

That night everyone met up at Bill's to prepare for the attack. Unfortunately hardly anyone showed up. "How many of these vampires are we up against?" Violet asked.

"Fifteen, maybe more," Sookie said.

"And this is all the help we have?" I asked looking around the room. "Seven vampires, a shifter, two telepaths, and a human?"

"We called every uninfected vampire we know, and the only ones that responded were Michael and Keith," Bill explained.

"Keith's my drummer," James said. "Bass and guitar bailed."

"I still haven't heard back from Willa," Jessica added. I fought back an eye roll. Leave it to Willa to flake out when we needed her most.

"This is our group," Bill said.

There was a knock at the door and I reached out with my mind, I knew immediately who it was and Rachel and I shared a look. Bill went to the door. I followed him. Bill opened it and I got my first glimpse at Eric in six months. My eyes landed on the black veins that peeked out from the top of his shirt, inching towards his neck. I met his eyes and stepped towards him. "I thought I was meeting you in Baton Rouge."

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

I looked away, afraid that if I didn't I'd finally break down completely. As if he knew, he stepped through the doorway and hugged me. I didn't need to hear the apology, but with my guard down I heard the words flicker through his mind. "I'm sorry, too," I whispered.

I didn't want to let go of him, but I knew there were more important things at hand. Sookie and Rachel had both joined us in the foyer. Rachel made a very pointed effort to not look at his black veins, but Sookie gasped when she saw them. "How far along are you?"

"A month, but I'm still in stage one," he told her.

Pam sighed. "What about Willa? We came here for Willa."

"Of course." He closed his eyes, obviously summoning her.

"The rest of us will get ready to go," Bill told me. "We're ready when you are." He motioned for the others to follow him outside, only Rachel and Sookie stayed behind.

"You knew he was dying?" Sookie asked me.

"She only just told me," Rachel said. "She found out right before Alcide..."

Eric looked at her concerned. "What happened?"

Rachel shrugged, but I could see her eyes were brimming with tears. "He died last night." In a surprising gesture, Eric hugged Rachel. She let out a single sob but then stopped.

"Too strong for your own good," he murmured, too quiet for Sookie to hear, but my vampire hearing picked it up. Rachel stepped back and wiped her eyes. Sookie put a hand on her arm.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten yourselves into?" He asked us.

"A pack of infected vampires have been attacking town," Sookie told him.

The doors flung open and a very pissed off Willa stood in the doorway. "What do you want?" Before he could answer, she continued. "You know I wasn't even two weeks old when you left me?"

As much as I disliked her, she did have a reason to be upset with him. "Yes, I know, and we will talk about that later."

"If you want my help, we are going to talk about this right now!"