(4) An Invitation
Sookie woke up around eleven. Tony walked around the woods until he was certain that she had dressed and eaten. Surveillance was boring so he decided to take a different approach. He walked up to her front door and said that he was stopping by to see if she needed anything. Her brother's car was still in the driveway so Sookie was without transportation. Sookie thanked him for the offer. She didn't need to go shopping and though she had library books to return, she still had a couple of days before they were due.
He turned and looked out to the woods. "Does your brother come by often to hunt?"
"Rarely. Jason lives in our parent's old home. It's set on a large piece of property." Sookie regarded him for a moment. "If you'd like to hunt here you're welcome to it... You might run into a vampire or two while roaming the woods at night."
He smiled at that and thanked her. "I might take you up on the offer. The grounds near the Herveaux house are not good for running." He secretly had hoped it would work out that way. "Would you like me to call sometime before coming as a wolf so you'll know it's me?"
"I'd appreciate that."
Tony didn't want to leave Sookie alone during the day but their conversation had waned. He tried to think of something that could keep him from having to hide from her in the woods. Nothing came to mind. He resigned himself to an afternoon in nature and told Sookie to have a good day. Sookie followed him outside. She was going to pull out weeds.
As they came down the porch, Tony looked at the pile of firewood. Very little wood had been split; there was much left to do. He told Sookie, "It's awfully nice of you to allow me hunting privileges in your woods, how 'bout if I split some of the wood as a thank you?"
Sookie replied, "Oh you don't need to do that. My brother can take care of it."
He glanced at the pile of wood, and raised a brow. Sookie looked over at the pile too, and then agreed to let him split her wood telling Tony "that your log splitting payment includes a lunch too."
That couldn't have worked out better. He could stay and protect her if needed. And he did not have to sit on his ass hiding in the trees to do so.
A while later, Sookie brought in the day's mail and made lunch while Tony poured drinks and set the table. Sookie made sandwiches for lunch. She asked him about work and Tony replied that the business was waiting for some paper work to clear and he basically had time off until the paperwork went through. He commented on the quality of work in the new section of her house; the kitchen and back porch had been destroyed in a fire. The new section was very well done. After they finished eating Sookie grabbed another beer for Tony and looked through the stack of mail. One item had Fangtasia's return address. It was an elegant envelope. Just like a vampire to spend a hoard of money to send a note. She opened the envelope and found a fancy card inside. She looked at it funny. Tony asked, "Is something wrong?"
"I thought Eric was coming to here tonight." She stared at the card for a moment.
"Maybe he has a surprise planned."
She looked up at him briefly and back at the card. "No. Eric has sent me things before. This isn't his handwriting, or his signature."
He thought for a minute, "Maybe Eric had someone send you the card on his behalf. Like a secretary or personal assistant."
"No. Not with the message that is written on the card.... it says that my presence is, uh, desired at sundown. He wants to meet me at a Ritz Carlton Hotel...It's a good distance from here too."
"You sure it's a forgery of some kind? 'Cause if Eric wants you to do something that you don't want to do, I'll be happy to intercede."
"That isn't a problem. My problem is that the note is not signed with Eric's typical closing for me and the hand written message doesn't fit with something Eric would say."
She didn't want to show Tony the contents of the card; it was probably something horribly suggestive. As they contemplated the note, Tony got up to clear the table. He started with the dishes in front of Sookie so he could get close enough to the card for a good sniff. Sookie told him not to worry about cleaning up; she'd take care of it.
Daylight was waning. Jason's car was gone; it was towed to a garage while the two worked outside in the yard. Sookie had a lot of split wood by the time Tony put her ax back in the tool shed. She thanked him again saying that her brother would have gotten around to it eventually... even if it was next year. Tony smelled Sam but didn't say anything until Sookie spotted him and yelled hello. He asked if Sam had hunting rights and Sookie said he could hunt if he wanted to, but she didn't know if Sam hunted in his animal form. It seemed so odd to think of a collie hunting animals. Before leaving, Tony told her, "If a guy really wants to take a lady to a hotel he ought to at least pick her up."
She smiled and told him "Eric is a gentleman... Yes I will tell him about the note." Noticing his unease she added, "Eric will meet me here as planned, I am certain of that."
Tony nodded. "Thank you again for lunch and hunting rights."
"Thank you for offering to help with errands and for splitting so much wood." Then she chided, "Supes are some the nicest and nosiest friends I have ever had."
He left as Sookie went back inside.
Tony was back at the Herveaux house, freshly showered. He wore a t-shirt, jeans and boots. It was just past sundown.
He called Pam. He told Pam about the bogus invitation; that Sookie said she was not going because she knew it was a fake. She didn't show him what was written, but he got the impression that it was an invitation to a booty call. Tony explained what a booty call was and Pam laughed, mortals can come up with funny expressions. Sam was roaming her woods when he left for the day. Pam said that Eric hadn't left for Bon Temps yet; she had better get off the phone before he left so she could let him know what was going on.
Next, he called Tray Dawson's garage. His Harley was still there and the garage was close to 'Moon Walk', a Were bar that he wanted to go to. Todd Dawson answered. Todd would be there for another two hours if Tony wanted to come get the bike. Tony was there within an hour.
A big, thick, muscular, tall, dark hair brute of a man met Tony in front of Dawson's bike repair garage. Tray's cousin had taken over the business. They loaded the bike into the bed of the truck, careful to protect it from scratches. They hadn't seen each other since the funeral. Tony was a close friend of Tray's and it hurt when he was killed. Tony mentioned that he was headed over to Moon Walk and asked if Todd wanted to join. That made Todd happy. The three of them had been the best of friends since they were pups and lately it had felt like he had lost two "brothers" rather than one.
The men sat at a table in the bar, a beer in hand. The bar looked normal. No vampires were present, but there was a theme. Pictures and portraits of wolves and night scenes hung on the walls. One wall had a mural with a moon and a howling pack. Some nights, the bar was magicked to prevent humans from entering. Not tonight though. The bar was owned by Weres, but located in an area with a very small pack. The local pack was a sept of the Shreveport pack. Shreveport wolves had bars in their own city. Moon Walk got most of it business from normal human beings. The humans used to think that it was just a regular bar with a theme. They were shocked to learn, on the night of the Second Revelation, that Moon Walk was a bar owned by werewolves. Business picked up once word got out. The humans around these parts welcomed their Were neighbors. Mostly.
The two men talked about the Great Revelation, the recent one. They marveled at the changes. Some they lamented, but others were embraced. It didn't seem to bother people as much to have a living supernatural neighbor as it did to have a dead one. There were some trouble makers, of course. The Fellowship of the Sun had proved itself to be an equal opportunity hate group. Not like us? Die evil minions of Satan!
Todd said, "There is a rumor going around about some Yankee vampires. They moved to Renard Parish and bought a house only minutes away from a Fellowship building." He half laughed at the thought of it. "Maybe the real estate agent didn't realize the clients were dead."
"Maybe he didn't care... The vampires are stupid if they think the Fellowship Followers will be too scared to be a threat."
As the men talked, Ula, a forty-something tall brunette Were with short hair and a curvy body refilled their drinks. She mentioned that she heard the vamps were here from New Jersey. "Their queen has a long standing rivalry with King Felipe de Castro. Word has it that she plans to tear him down."
The queen had been trying to get at Castro for some time now. Castro's position in Nevada was well cemented and his subjects loyal but he hadn't ruled over Arkansas and Louisiana for long. Now would be a good time to seek out information and abscond with valuables.
It confused Ula. "What might the King have of value in Renard Parish? Shreveport, certainly. New Orleans, maybe.... Damn vampires are always betraying someone."
Ula left and the two friends changed the subject to football.
Out in the parking lot Tony asked Todd if he was up for a little adventure. Todd was game. Tony said they were going back to Renard Parish to scout the area near the fellowship building.
Realization dawned on Todd, "They're after Sookie. That's why Alcide sent you to Bon Temps? To protect his girl?"
Tony glared at him, "She is a Friend of the Pack. Make sure you mention nothing to anyone outside our pack." That was fine by Todd.
Tony said that they would do a quick search of the area. He wanted to get their scent that was all. The wolf would need to turn back into a man and get some sleep. He had to be someplace by six the next morning. They'd check out the area at a distance, if it smelled like someone was home Todd would distract them. Todd would catch their attention as he ran through the woods, while Tony poked around the house and picked up as many scents as he could.
They parked far from the fellowship building, near a small lake. The strip of road was deserted so the two quickly stripped of their clothes and changed form. They raised their noses and caught a whiff of vampire. The vampire scent led them to an upscale ranch house with a well manicured lawn. The canines sniffed the air. The vampires were away for the night. Tony distinguished at least two different vampire scents. One scent caught his attention; he smelled it on the card that Sookie had received. He had the information he wanted; the vampire's location and scent confirmation. The two wolves ran in several different directions and marked territory in some spots so as to confuse the vampires. Before going back to the truck, they both swam in the lake. Tony hadn't had so much fun sniffing around since Tray was around, but tonight was fun. They got in the truck and left for a warm place to sleep.
