A/N: This is the end of the road for this story, folks. There may, in time, be sequels - but this is the final chapter for this one. Thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, and favouriting. I hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as I did!

Trust

I glanced up at Eric; remarkably, he was smiling. It wasn't the genial smile I'd become used to seeing when he was with me, but the hard, calculating smile of a predator whose prey is about to walk straight into a trap. His fangs were fully down, and his eyes were glittering. It brought home to me just how dangerous Eric could be.

"Don't kill him," I whispered. "We need a confession to get Jason off the hook." I had a funny sort of feeling that no other reason would hold any weight with him at all, but he would grasp the necessity of that, I hoped.

He nodded to show he understood, then gestured to me to go towards the window. Moonlight was spilling in; I'd be silhouetted against it. I gave him a doubtful look. "Trust me," he murmured in my ear.

I edged over to the window, and he eased back into the shadows. I realised, suddenly, what his game was: the intruder would see me, come towards me to attack thinking he had me trapped, and wouldn't be able to see Eric. He'd be able to take the intruder by surprise before he could even lay a finger on me.

As plans went, it was simple, but effective.

It seemed like an eternity that I waited there by the window, my shallow breathing seeming loud in the quiet house, as I heard the intruder searching the rest of the upstairs. Even though I knew Eric was there with me in the shadows – could even see him glowing faintly, reassuringly, like my very own vampire nightlight – I couldn't help but gulp with fear as the door opened.

"Who's there?" I asked tensely, reaching out with my mind, and finding a dark tangle of red-black hate. There was no reply, but I could hear him coming closer. Fear gripped me. "Why are you doing this?" I whispered, and saw images in his mind, Dawn, Maudette, Amy, and a girl I didn't know. My Grandmother, angry, struggling, fighting for her life. I felt sick, near to fainting.

Before he could touch me, though, there was a glowing blur moving across the room towards him, and Eric knocked him to the ground as easily as if he'd been a fly. I shivered a little at the reminder of Eric's power, but slumped gratefully back against the wall under the window, letting myself slide down it. The moonlight spilled onto the two figures on the floor, and I could just about make out Eric binding the man's hands with a cord that I guess had been intended as a ligature. He pulled the unconscious man up into a sitting position, and I gasped.

It was Rene. Rene Lenier, who I'd thought of as a friend.

"The man with the children," Eric said with mild interest as he regarded him. Of course, I thought, he'd met Rene a few nights back, when I'd been babysitting Lisa and Coby. I wondered, with a sinking feeling, what Arlene would make of all of this.

I rubbed my clammy palms on my shorts. "What do we do now?"

He stood up and flicked the light on. "We wait until he comes round, I explain to him the error of his ways, and we call the police," he said calmly. "In the meantime, I must call Pam to see if she has found Karin yet."

I listened to the rise and fall of his voice (he wasn't speaking in English, so I didn't understand the conversation), and looked up at him when he rang off. He didn't look especially happy, but not as grim as I'd feared. "Are they okay?" I asked tentatively.

"They will be," he answered. "Karin was captured in a silver net, then injected with a silver compound, but this man was unaware how old and how strong she is – she managed to fight her way out of the net and text me before she passed out from the silver poisoning. Pam has given her some of her own blood, and is bringing her here so that I can also give her some of mine. Only the blood of one of your own line, whether sibling, maker, or child, can negate the effects of silver poisoning," he explained. "She is awake and walking now, but is still weak." He picked Rene up, and slung him casually over his shoulder, taking him downstairs, with me trotting behind.

"She'll be all right though, won't she?" I asked anxiously. "I mean, there won't be any long-term effects?" I hated to think that anyone might have to suffer for my sake, least of all someone as dear to Eric as one of his own vampire children.

He shook his head, dumping Rene unceremoniously on the kitchen floor as if he was a bag of groceries. It occurred to me in passing that, to Eric at least, that was probably pretty much what he was. Luckily, I'm not squeamish. "No, once she has had some of my blood to top off what Pam has already given her, she will make a full recovery. There is no need to fear for her."

A hammering on the door made me jump, but Eric just smiled, going to the door. "May we come in, Sookie?" I heard a familiar voice call out.

"Pam, Karin, please come in," I called back. Eric was carrying Karin when he re-entered the kitchen; she looked grey, and her eyes were dimmer than normal. Pam trotted in behind them, after a few moments, looking worried.

"TrueBlood?" I asked her, and she nodded her assent. I popped a bottle in the microwave for her.

"Pam, stop worrying," murmured Karin. "I'm already feeling better."

"Nonetheless, you will take my blood," said Eric briskly, sitting at the kitchen table with her on his lap.

"I'm fine," she growled.

He raised an eyebrow. "Must I use my maker's command on you, Karin?" he asked, holding his wrist up to her mouth. "Drink." She gave him a look, but her fangs ran out, and she bit into his wrist. He grinned at me. "First aid for vamps," he said, his eyes twinkling.

I couldn't help but laugh, and the tension in the room seemed to ease. "I guess you all would like TrueBloods?" I asked, as I poured Pam's into a glass for her.

Eric nodded. "Probably wise."

I heated him a bottle, by which time Karin had pulled back from Eric's wrist, her fangs retracting. "Thank you," she murmured, laying her head briefly on his shoulder. She looked a lot better, but still accepted a bottle of TrueBlood graciously. She seemed steady on her feet as she slid off his lap, and took another chair, next to Pam. "You caught him, then," she said, nodding to the still-prone Rene on the floor.

"Yes," grinned Eric fangily. "I will call the authorities once I have had a short… chat… with him."

"You weren't hurt?" she asked me.

I shook my head. "Scared half to death, but no worse than that. Might have been different if you hadn't managed to text Eric, though."

"Why was he doing it, do you know?" asked Pam curiously.

I shook my head again. "Until he wakes up, I guess we won't know. I knew he didn't like vampires, because his sister Cindy was seeing a vampire for a while, and he worried for her, but I don't see how that would make him want to kill women who'd been with vampires."

She shrugged. "Humans do all sorts of fucked-up shit."

I guess she had a point.

I made myself a hot chocolate, and we sat around the table with our respective drinks, until Rene began to move, groaning. He probably wondered what had hit him (a couple of hundred pounds of irate Viking vampire, as I could have told him), and tried to sit up. It was only then that he realised that his hands were bound behind his back (pretty tightly), and that he wasn't alone. "What the fuck happened?" he muttered.

"You made the mistake of trying to hurt someone I care about, and actually hurting another," said Eric in a silky-smooth voice. It was a calm, quiet statement – and it was scary as hell.

Rene seemed to agree with me on that point. He started sweating, his eyes closed as if he were praying. Somehow, I don't think that'll do you much good, I found myself thinking. I couldn't find any compassion inside me for him, the man who'd murdered those poor girls, my Gran, my little Tina; the man who'd intended to make me his next victim.

Eric sat Rene up so that he was leaning against the cupboards, and moved his chair to face him. He lounged back in the chair, for a long time simply regarding the petrified human in front of him. "Can you hear his thoughts?" he asked casually. I nodded. He took a knife from his pocket, and idly flicked it open and shut again. Eric was plenty dangerous without a pocket knife, so I knew he was using it as an unspoken threat. His eyes never left Rene. "Perhaps he doesn't need his tongue, then," he said calmly.

Rene gave a shriek, his eyes widening in terror. "Don't let him hurt me!" he begged me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You murdered my Gran, and my cat, and you tried to murder me," I said to him. "Why should I do anything for you?" I didn't think Eric had any intention of carrying out his threat, and had to trust my instincts on that score. Besides which, how would I have stopped three vampires? I couldn't even out-match Pam, as the youngest, let alone the entire Northman line in one go.

"You… they… you're human, I'm human…"

Pam sneered. "You, a human? Simply a blood bag. A blood bag who harmed my sister, and tried to harm my friend."

"Pam." Eric's voice held a warning tone. "Be silent." She subsided immediately.

"Eric," said Karin pleasantly, "even if Sookie can read his mind to give us the answers we require, he will need his tongue to speak with the police."

Eric looked thoughtful. "You may be right." Rene seemed to relax slightly. "Unless, of course, he writes his confession," he mused aloud.

An 'Eep!' of alarm escaped Rene. He shook his head frantically.

"It would make a terrible mess of our hostess's kitchen," said Karin reasonably, and I began to tumble to what they were doing. Good cop, bad cop. "She has already had to clean this kitchen up once as a result of this man's actions."

Eric looked over at me. "This is true." Rene gave a sigh of relief. "I will not cut out his tongue." His eyes flicked back to Rene. "If we allow him to keep his tongue, he will not need to write his confession, is this correct? I could, perhaps, break his fingers instead."

Karin cleared her throat delicately. "I believe they have to sign documents," she said apologetically.

Eric frowned moodily. "He can sign one-handed. Human, are you right or left handed?"

Rene shook his head, sending me a pleading look.

"He does not seem inclined to talk, Master," said Pam in a bored voice, and I realised she was in on the act as well (the bratty, rookie cop?) – she would never normally call Eric 'master' except as part of the Great Big Vampire Act. Frightening the bejeesus out of your enemy seemed to be the favourite family game of the Northman clan. I guessed 'charades' got boring after a couple of centuries. "Why do you not just drain the fucker?"

He waved a lazy hand. "He framed Sookie's brother, Jason, for his crimes. His confession is required to ensure the charges against Mr Stackhouse are dropped."

Pam huffed, and sat moodily back in her chair. "This is turning out to be no fun at all," she grumbled. "Can I not simply break his legs?"

"Pamela, desist," said Eric sternly. I raised my hand nervously, as if I were still at school. Eric turned his eyes to me. "Yes, my darling?" he purred.

"I think he's ready to talk now," I said, astonished at how easily I slid into my part in this sinister charade of theirs.

"Really? How delightful," he drawled, smiling. "Let's hear what he has to say, then, shall we?" He leant forward, resting his forearms on his knees, his hands clasped, and stared intently at Rene. "Begin," he commanded. "Why did you murder these women?"

Eric's face remained impassive as he listened to Rene talk, telling of his sister Cindy and her vampire lover, how he'd tried to get her to leave him, how she'd refused to give him up. He told how he'd murdered her, strangled her with the strings of her work apron as she'd got ready to go out to her job. A soft sound of horror escaped me as I saw something in his mind that made me want to hurl; Eric looked up at me sharply. "You murdered her, then had sex with her when she was dead?" I exclaimed, revolted beyond measure. "Your own sister, too!"

Pam's nose wrinkled, and Karin gave a soft moue of distaste. Even Eric looked vaguely disgusted, though he tried hard to hide it. "And what of the other women?" he asked, his voice cold and sharp, but level.

Rene sat silently. "He did it to excuse what he'd done to his sister," I said, my voice quavering, upset. "In his mind, they all deserved it, for going with vampires. They'd sunk so low that they deserved to be murdered, would have sex with anyone, if they'd go with a vampire."

Eric's look was positively lethal. "Here's what you will do," he said quietly to Rene, looking him in the eyes. I could feel the force of his glamour, and shivered slightly. "I will call the police, and you will tell them everything: about how you murdered your sister and these other women, all the things you did to them. You will leave nothing out. You will tell them how you framed Jason Stackhouse for the murder of Amy Burley. You will tell them how you killed Mrs Stackhouse whilst lying in wait for Sookie. You will tell them how you murdered Sookie's cat, Tina. You will tell them how you attempted to break into Sookie's house last night, but were disturbed. You will tell them how you broke in this evening, and happened upon Sookie and attacked her, finding her alone in the house. You will tell them how I came upon you, having called round to see Sookie, and knocked you unconscious. You will not tell them that we spoke about these matters, or that I threatened you, or that Pam and Karin were here." The two women were getting up to leave; Karin rinsed the bottles out, and put them in the recycling tub. "When you came round, I was already calling the police."

Rene nodded dumbly, his eyes slightly glazed. I dipped into his head briefly, and he honestly believed that to be what had happened. I stood, and went to see Pam and Karin out. When I returned, Eric was hanging up the phone, and Rene was staring sullenly at him, now released from the glamour. "You've called the police?" I checked.

He nodded. "They will be here shortly."

"I guess now we just sit and wait, then," I said. I went to the old coat closet by the front door, reaching my hand in to fetch out the rifle my Gran had always kept in there, the one that had belonged to my dad. She'd mainly used it for shooting snakes, and though I hated the thought of actually using it, I thought it might be a deterrent, just in case Rene decided to try anything really stupid while we waited for the police to arrive.

It wasn't there.

I sighed, and headed back into the kitchen. "I don't suppose you know anything about my rifle being missing, do you?" I asked Rene pleasantly. I saw in his mind that he'd taken it the night he'd murdered Gran, but not what he did with it; I wondered if, through his crazed hate, he could even remember.

Eric smiled faintly. "You have no need of a rifle with me here," he said, amused.

"You never know when you might need a rifle, you're not always here, and besides, that's not the point," I said, glaring at Rene as I replied to Eric. "That rifle was one of the few things I had that belonged to my dad," I added, my voice getting a little choked.

He stood, and came towards me, wrapping his arms around me. "Perhaps the police will find it," he said quietly.

I took a deep breath, and nodded, leaning against him briefly for support. I felt pretty shaky after the evening's events, but was glad that the murderer had been caught and that the police were on their way. Maybe life could go back to normal, now – or at least, as normal as you can get under the circumstances, I thought ruefully.

Andy Bellefleur arrived a few minutes later, and we gave our statements to him, sitting in the living room, once he'd handed Rene over to Kevin and Kenya to be taken in for questioning. After speaking to me, he turned to Eric.

"How did you come to be here, Mr Northman?" he asked neutrally.

"Sookie is going to be working for me," he replied smoothly. "I came round this evening to bring her copy of the contract, and her cell phone, as I had finished charging it and programming the relevant numbers that she will need into it. When I arrived here, I saw the front door was open, and was concerned, knowing that her grandmother had been murdered recently. I came in to see what had happened."

"You didn't think to call the police at that point?" he asked.

"I heard a scream, and didn't think," he lied, sounding apologetic.

"And you had an invitation into the house already?" he asked curiously.

"Yes," said Eric. "I came round a few nights ago with Sookie's contract for her to sign. In fact, I met this man that very evening, when he picked up the children Sookie was looking after."

"Can I see the phone? And the contract?" he asked suspiciously.

Eric waved his hand towards the coffee table; sure enough there was a box with a new phone in it. It certainly hadn't been there before I'd let Eric in through the upstairs window. I schooled my features to hide my surprise, guessing that Pam must have dropped them off at Eric's request when she came by earlier. My copy of the contract was sitting on top of the little box – Eric had 'forgotten' to give it to me the night I'd gone to Fangtasia to hear Dead Beat, I strongly suspected so that he would have an excuse to come by to see me again. Then again, I'd 'forgotten' to take the t-shirt he'd lent me back to him, too, for the same reason. "They are both there," he said.

Andy flicked his eyes over the contract. "Human Liaison Assistant?" he queried.

"Sounds more official than 'Telepath', apparently," I said ruefully.

He gave a tense, uncomfortable smile; Andy knew about my little quirk, and found it hard to stomach. "All above board with the IRS?" he asked.

I nodded. "I've notified them." Boy, was I glad I'd thought to do that already.

He handed the contract back to me. "All seems in order. Part time work, still working at Merlotte's?" he asked.

"I will not necessarily have much work for Sookie to do, so I proposed treating her as an on-call consultant," Eric explained. "Understandably, she did not want to give up her job at Merlotte's when I could not guarantee to match her salary. This seemed the best compromise."

"Fair enough. I don't have any further questions for either of you, for the moment. Mr Northman, is there some way I can contact you if necessary?"

Eric inclined his golden head, and took a Fangtasia business card from his wallet, writing his cell phone number on the back, as he had done with mine. "I can generally be reached at the bar, but otherwise on my cell phone," he said cordially.

I stood to let Andy out. "You, ah… you'll be okay on your own with him?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh, sure," I smiled. Right now, being on my own with Eric was top of my to-do list. "Thanks for coming by so quickly, Andy."

"Just glad to get this whole thing wrapped up," he said. "Well, good night, Sookie. I guess we'll see what Rene has to say for himself. I'll be in touch to let you know how it goes."

I nodded my thanks, and shut the front door behind him, wondering how Rene had managed to open it. "You need a better lock," murmured Eric, coming up behind me. "That one's too easy to pick." He wrapped his arms around my waist, and held me tightly, nuzzling my neck.

"I probably do," I agreed.

"Are you angry?" he asked softly.

"Angry?"

"That I threatened Rene, and glamoured him," he clarified.

I thought about that. "I didn't think you'd actually hurt him," I said quietly.

"Had he hurt you, I would probably have done all I threatened, and more," he said honestly. "I will not hide who, or what, I am from you." He eased me round so that I faced him. "Is this a problem?" he asked.

I looked up at him, and considered. His eyes were soft and gentle as they regarded me, waiting for me to speak, giving me time to think. I swallowed hard, coming to a decision, and shook my head. "No," I whispered. "Not a problem."

Slowly, deliberately, he lowered his mouth to mine. There was no hesitation in my response; I slid my hands up onto his big, powerful shoulders, and kissed him right back, for all I was worth.

"Worth waiting for," he murmured when I pulled back for air, echoing my own thoughts on the matter.

"Mm," I agreed, snuggling closer to him in contentment.

"Are you tired?" he asked, a teasing note lilting in his voice.

My whole body seemed to react. "Not especially," I said breathlessly.

He nipped lightly at my ear. "You will be," he promised, tugging a little at my earlobe with his teeth.

I shivered pleasantly. "Take me to bed?" I whispered.

"Thought you'd never ask," he replied, swinging me up into his arms, and carrying me through to my room.

I ended up very, very tired, and very, very satisfied.

"You know the room upstairs, the one that Rene found us in?" I asked in comfortable drowsiness, lying in Eric's arms a lot later.

"What about it?" he murmured, playing idly with my hair. It seemed to fascinate him that it was almost exactly the same shade as his own.

"How easy would it be to make it light-tight?" I asked.

"Dormitory for visiting vampires?" he teased.

I smiled, dropping a kiss on his bare chest. "I just thought… it would be nice for you to have somewhere you could stay, so you didn't have to leave early to avoid the dawn," I explained, tilting my head to look at him. He raised an eyebrow. "Okay, so it would be nice for me, too, if you could stay longer," I conceded.

He chuckled. "It would be easy enough, but probably expensive."

"Hmph." I didn't have vast riches, and if it was expensive, that put paid to that idea.

"I can make enquiries. The Herveaux family owes me," he said thoughtfully. "I will ask Alcide to give me an estimate. We may be able to come to an arrangement." I looked at him curiously. "Alcide's father has a gambling addiction," he explained. "I'm forever paying off his debts. This might even things up a little – he might be all too happy to do it for a lower price."

"You'll let me know?" I said.

"Of course."

A companionable silence fell for a while. "Did you really bring a phone round?"

There was a soft sound of amusement. "I have many talents, my darling, but creating things magically is not one of them."

"I know that, but…"

"It was in my car," he said. "Pam brought it in and left it in the living room when she brought Karin; it was one of the things we spoke about on the phone once your friend was dealt with."

So I was right on that score, I thought. "I meant, why did you think I'd need a phone?"

"In case someone cuts your landline, maybe?" he said smugly. I sighed. "In case I need to contact you urgently for whatever reason – a hastily arranged or cancelled meeting, for example," he said, more seriously. "In addition to which, I had an additional handset on the Area plan; you may as well make use of it. And it would ease my mind to know that you have recourse to it, in case you ever find yourself in danger again."

"You're very… protective," I commented. Unlike Bill, I thought to myself, who was simply possessive.

"You are mine," he said soberly. "And what I have, I keep, and keep safely."

Strangely, it didn't annoy me in the way Bill's possessiveness did; rather, it made me feel safe and secure. I nestled into the arms of my vampire lover, and relaxed completely. "It's all over," I marvelled, my eyes closed. "The murders are solved, Jason will be let off the hook, Bill's plans to whisk me off to New Orleans have been scotched, and your embezzler's been dealt with. Maybe everything can go back to normal, now."

Eric chuckled. "It's been quite a roller-coaster, these last few weeks, hasn't it? But things have come off well for both of us… a new job and a new relationship for you; a new staff member and a new relationship for me."

"Definitely good things," I agreed. "I wouldn't have thought any of those things would have happened, if you'd asked me a week or so ago."

"You were scared of me," he said, and I could tell he was smiling. "I think you have conquered that now?"

I laughed softly. "It would certainly seem so," I replied. "This Little Red Riding Hood knows you're the Woodsman, not the Wolf."

I could feel his chest move as he laughed. "Ironic," he chuckled.

"What is?"

"Alcide Herveaux, who I mentioned earlier, as possibly giving us an estimate?"

"What about him?"

"He's a Werewolf," he said, and I laughed.

Maybe 'normal' could wait for another day.

Finis