Look Before You Leap [True Blood]

25: Prisoners Without Chains

"Nora, shut up and listen to him," I snapped.

"Look at what you are doing to the world you live in. This is not right," Godric told her.

"Save her, she's lost," Eric said.

"No, I belong to Lilith!" She said. Her tone was beginning to border on hysteria. Another red light appeared and out of it stepped Lilith. Lilith walked up behind Godric and wrapped her arms around him.

"No, stop!" I yelled at her.

"I am not the one who must fight her," Godric said right before Lilith ripped his throat out. Nora and Eric screamed and I just stared as their maker was reduced to a pile of goo.

I looked straight into the security camera where I knew Bill would be watching. "You are as dead to me as he is to them," I said calmly.

OoOoO

Nora brought fresh clothes by my room, which I had been allowed to return to. "They want to see you and Eric."

"Alright," I said. I expected her to leave but instead she sat down on my bed. "Is there something else, Nora?"

"I was wrong. This is my fault."

"I don't blame you," I told her.

She looked at me. "But you hate me."

"I don't hate you; I just don't particularly like you very much. You're Eric's sister, so in a way I guess that sort of makes you my aunt. Family isn't supposed to get along, right?"

She smiled a tiny bit. "I guess that is true."

I put my hand on top of hers. "It doesn't matter what happened before, all that matters is what we do now." She nodded.

"Get changed, we should meet the others soon."

OoOoO

Eric and Bill met us outside the doors to the main chamber. I didn't look at Bill and he didn't say anything to me either. Eric and I walked through the doors with Bill and Nora following directly behind us.

"How are our prisoners?" Kibwe asked.

"No longer prisoners," Nora answered.

"We had a breakthrough with Northman," Bill said. I noticed that he left me off the list but he didn't call me out either. He was still trying to protect me. I still didn't understand what he was trying to accomplish here. Everyone had mental guards up now; Bill must have given them a lesson in shielding their minds from me while I was locked up. It made me feel blind and I hated it. I tried to look casual and not betray my unease. I was already distrusted and I had a very strong feeling that I wouldn't be given another chance if I messed up again.

Eric stepped forward and addressed the other vampires. "Lilith came to us and destroyed my maker. It is clear to me that I have been refusing to acknowledge what is right in front of me. I ask for the forgiveness of the Authority."

"And you Lily?" Salome prompted.

"I saw the same thing Eric did," I said, avoiding what she actually wanted me to say. Salome stared at me, waiting for me to continue. "Forgive me for-" I paused racking my brain for anything I could say that wouldn't be an outright lie. "Forgive me," I said. Ambiguous enough.

"Lily, there's someone here you might want to see," Bill said without really looking at me.

I wanted to refuse to go anywhere with him but I figured it would probably look suspicious so I nodded. We went out the doors into the lobby and stood in front of the elevator. Neither of us said a thing as we waited for it to descend to our level. When the doors finally slid open Jessica was inside flanked by two guards. "Bill what the fuck is going on?" She asked stepping out.