A/N: Thank you chiisai-kitty and Charlaine Harris! You can always tell what my favorite chapters are because they're the ones with the shortest A/Ns. HAH.
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I stopped right in my tracks. Hell, I'd say that I stopped dead in my tracks, but I didn't think the vampire would appreciate it.
Not that he'd notice. He was staring at me so closely you'd think I was holding a gun to his head. Well, maybe if I had a gun with silver bullets.
He was handsome to look at; if I was going to be impolite and stare, I was glad it was at something easy on the eyes. He was smaller than Eric, both in size and height, but he was still big. He had brown eyes that were nothing like Eric's, and short, side-combed brown hair that was nothing like Eric's long blonde locks. In fact, he was nothing like Eric. Yes, he was a vampire, and Eric was a vampire, but that was pretty much it.
Did Eric send this vampire, whoever he was? I hadn't seen him at Fangtasia, even when Pam had all the vampires come in for the supe meeting. Then again, I had been a little distracted that night. Maybe I was right; maybe Eric had wondered where I was, and he sent this vampire out to Bon Temps. But why? Eric seemed to have no problem coming to Bon Temps, especially when I wasn't expecting it. I feel like he would have come out to check up on me himself, not send this … this henchman to do his job.
But evidently, Eric didn't feel that way, since he wasn't here and this vampire was. Wait a second—was I being completely vain in thinking the only reason why this vampire was here was because of me? But Bon Temps had never had a vampire in it that I knew of; technically speaking, Eric would have been the town's first vampire, since he was the one running down that road all those days ago. And I definitely knew about that.
Why else could this vampire be here, then? Just, to be here? Passing through? On his way to Fangtasia, maybe? Bon Temps wasn't a particularly enticing town. Even the people living here didn't want to be here. Why would a vampire?
Well, whatever the reason, he's here. Now. Sitting down, in my section. I had to go serve him. That means I had to talk to him. Should I ask him about Eric? Shit, will he be able to smell Eric's blood? He would, right? Pam did, the night of the witch war—that's how she knew Eric and I had shared blood, because she smelled it. Would he be able to smell Eric on me, period? Surely if a vampire could tell if you had someone's blood, they would also be able to tell if you touched him or her. Right?
By that time Sam had noticed that I was standing still (I also happened to be standing by the bar, as I'd been getting ready to pick up the drink order for the family of four in booth eight) and he wandered over to me.
"You know him?" he asked, nodding in the vampire's direction. The vampire was now lost in thought, staring at the table like he was trying to glamour it into submission.
I shook my head. "Never seen him before."
"You want me to go over there?"
"Nah, I'll be fine," I said airily, picking up my tray. "But that's mighty kind of you to offer, Sam. I appreciate it."
"I'll be here, cher, if you need me."
I nodded and put on the smile I wore that never failed to cover up what I was really feeling.
After disposing of the drinks, I wiped my hands on my little half-apron. This was it. I squared my shoulders and started walking towards the vampire with my head held high.
And just like that, all of a sudden I was over at his booth. I stopped a little farther away than I normally do while waiting tables. What, it's not like he was going to have trouble hearing me or anything like that.
His eyes snapped up to mine, and I was surprised by the deep, rich chocolately color. I could get lost in those eyes, I knew that. The nostrils of his arrow-straight nose flared slightly, and it was then that I knew he was smelling me. And by smelling me, he was also smelling Eric, or maybe, Eric's blood. His intense stare gave it away. He knew. Oh boy, he knew.
"Hi, did Eric send you?" I asked nervously, shifting my weight on my feet. I smiled my crazy smile again.
"Eric Northman?" he asked back, raising his eyebrows. Not one eyebrow, like Eric (and Pam and maybe his other associates), but both. And, he didn't reply directly to me. Answering a question with a question was never a good sign, especially when a vampire was doing the re-questioning.
Fuck.
"Yeah. You know him?" I asked. ...Please say yes. Oh, random-ass vampire, please say yes.
"I do," he said. A bit stiffly, I thought. Maybe I shouldn't have asked him about Eric.
Double fuck.
"Huh." I smiled nervously. I was so over my head.
The vampire didn't say anything. He just looked blankly at me. He wasn't trying to glamour me, because I couldn't feel that familiar tingling sensation that occurred whenever someone turned their glamour eyes to me. But his eyes didn't leave my face, not even when I cleared my throat.
"Um, so what can I get you?" I asked, hands shaking as I reached down in my mini-apron to take out a mini-notebook and a regular-sized pen.
"Do you have that synthetic blood?" he drawled in a low voice.
I shook my head. "No, and I'm so sorry. Sam just put an order in, though. I think he said it would be in next week." Even though I didn't say much, I felt like I was rambling.
"Then red wine, please," he replied, his eyes traveling up the length of my body to finally meet up with mine.
I laughed out loud. "A vampire comes into a bar and orders a glass of red wine? That sounds like the beginning of a bad joke."
"Maybe it is," the vampire conceded with a small smile. Well, that shut me up.
"Don't mind Crazy Sookie none, mister. She's always like that."
A familiar voice came from the booth next to the one I was standing in front of. It was coming from Mack Rattray, who was here with his equally rude and white-trash wife, Denise. In my head, I always referred to them as the Rat Couple, because that's what they were: rats. I always made it a point to stay out of people's minds, and that definitely came true for the Rattrays. Mack was always thinking these nasty, dirty thoughts about me, all the while sitting next to his wife, and Denise thought I was pathetic. I was pretty kumbaya when it came to people, but I hated the Rattrays. They always seemed to sit in my section, and they always seemed to catch me on an off night. Tonight was no exception.
"Right. Well, let me go get you that red wine," I said to the vampire, much more cheerfully than I felt.
He dipped his head a bit, and I scurried off to the bar as quickly as I could without seeming too conspicuous. I could feel his gaze from the back, and Sam's from the front, and I didn't like either one of them.
"Sam, Eric didn't send him! At least, I don't think he did," I hissed as soon as I made it behind the bar. "He wants a glass of red wine, by the way."
I snuck a glance at the vampire while I waited for the wine; he was only mildly interested in what Mack was saying. Mack had climbed out of the booth and was now standing where I used to be standing, only now the vampire wasn't looking at him like he had been at me. In fact, he wasn't even looking at Mack; he had reverted to staring at the table.
"Here ya go," Sam said, sliding the wine glass towards me. I realized there wasn't as much wine in that as there should be, but I didn't say anything to Sam. It's not like the vampire was going to drink it, right?
I smiled gratefully and placed it on my tray, getting ready to walk back to the vampire's booth.
"Hold up a minute, Sookie. Talk to me. So, Eric didn't send him, is that what you said?" Sam asked.
I nodded. "Well, he knows who Eric is, but he didn't directly reply. I don't know if I should ask him again, though."
"If Eric sent him, then I'm sure he'll find a way to mention it in a conversation or something," Sam said reasonably. I nodded. That made sense.
Feeling somewhat better, I walked back to the vampire's booth. Mack didn't move when I approached, and I had to politely excuse myself to be able to set the red wine down on a coaster in front of the vampire.
"We're gonna need another pitcher of beer here," Mack drawled lazily, turning his head to look at me.
He was my height, which at 5'5" wasn't saying much for him. He had a round head with closely shaved hair, and he was wearing a stained white tee shirt, ripped jeans, and dirty work boots. His wife Denise hadn't fared much better, dressed to the nines in a pair of black short shorts and a flashy orange-red-and-yellow halter top. She wasn't really pretty, but she was so flashy it kind of distracted you from figuring that out right away. She was lounging in the Rat's booth, checking her makeup in a pocket mirror.
There was so much I wanted to say to the vampire, but I couldn't do anything about it now that Mack was here. Instead, I nodded and turned sharply on my heel to go over to the bar again.
Sam was in the same spot he had been last time, but now Arlene was leaning against the bar with him.
"Would ya look at that?" I said, siding up next to Arlene so all three of us could watch Mack sit down across from the vampire, and Denise stroll over to sit next to vampire.
"I don't know much about vampires, but this one musn't be very smart if he's hanging out with trash like the Rats," Arlene said comfortingly. Even though she didn't really know about my telepathy and how that was kind of the reason why I hated that couple, she knew I couldn't stand the Rats. "But, look now, Denise is giving him quite the show."
Indeed she was. Denise had put her brown poofy hair into a poofier ponytail; all the better to show off her neck to the vampire, I guess. Even now she was stroking her neck, like she had an itch there or something. What a bitch. I knew better, even if maybe the vampire didn't. He seemed more interested in that neck than what Mack was saying.
Since Sam seemed too busy studying the vampire, I went behind the bar and filled up a pitcher of beer. I walked back to the vampire's booth again and just set it down on the table. I didn't bother to bring over the glasses from the Rattray's old booth; there was no way in hell I was going to do that. It's not like the Rattrays were good tippers to begin with.
"That'll be all," Denise said, looking at the vampire. She was thinking that maybe she ought to try moving her neck some more, to get him to notice her. And Mack, Mack was thinking about what sex with me would be like if I was a vampire. Ick.
"Right. Just holler if you need anything," I said, looking at the vampire. He stared up into my eyes, or at least he did until he broke it off to take a look at the hand Denise had just put on his brown suede coat.
One of my customers at the table a couple ways over had called out to me, so I excused myself and went over to attend to him. Then the night started picking up, and there were so many plates to bring and ketchups to get and people to serve that I barely had time to think straight, let alone think about the vampire and the Rattrays.
All that stopped when I happened to have a free moment at the bar, as I waited for Lafayette to finish cooking an order, and I turned my attention to that booth. I saw Mack staring at the vampire so avidly I thought he was the one with the glamouring skills. What was this? I took a peek in his mind.
The Rattrays had been in jail once—for vampire draining.
The Rats were vampire drainers. And they were at a booth now with a vampire. Shit.
There was supposed to be a huge market for vampire blood. It was supposed to be better than Viagra, for anyone who took it. It was the most popular drug of our time, and as I'd just found out from looking in Mack's mind, there was a lot of money to be made from pure, undiluted vampire blood. In the past, the Rats had been able to sell it for $200 an ounce.
They'd killed vampires before, the Rats. You'd kind of have to, I'd expect, because the vampire would be very pissed afterwards. Drainers, and the Rats included, would stake or dump the vampire out in the open, so they'd be outside when the sun came out.
I blinked and turned to look for Sam, at the other end of the bar. Sam would know what to do. I could always count on him. But he wasn't there. I looked back at the booth, and they were gone. The vampire, Denise, Mack … gone. I looked and saw the front door closing. They must have just left.
I took a final look around for Sam, who was still nowhere to be found. Fine, it'd just be up to me now.
I sprinted out the employee entrance, so I'd be in the back of the parking lot, closest to Sam's trailer. I saw a random chain on the ground in front of it, so I ran over and picked that up. Sure, it'd be a lot easier if he had a gun or a sword or, hell, even a bow and arrow lying around instead of a chain, but beggar's can't be choosers.
With the chain feeling unfamiliar and scary in my hand, I quietly, but quickly, tiptoed through the parking lot, keeping an eye out for any sudden movements. I saw the Rattray's dented red sports car, so I knew they were still here. I fished for any nearby thoughts, and I found them then; both Mack and Denise were busy thinking about how much money they were going to earn from this vampire's blood.
In fact, they were so busy that they didn't hear me creep up behind them. The vampire was lying on the ground on the spot where the parking lot met the surrounding woods; his back was on the ground, and there were silver chains across his neck and around his ankles and wrists. His face was contorted in agony, but he wasn't screaming. There were already two plastic containers of blood lying by Denise's feet as she crouched next to the vampire. She tightened the crude makeshift tourniquet she had fixed around his arm.
Their backs were to me, and the vampire hadn't seen me yet, so I tried to uncoil the chain as quietly as I could while I figured out my next move. Both Denise and Mack were squatting next to the vampire, but Mack was closest to me. I guess he would be the first for me to go for.
I had no clue what I was doing as I jumped out from behind the pickup truck I had taken cover behind; I swung the chain in a way that hopefully made it seem like I knew what I was doing, like I had attacked vampire drainers loads of times before and it was no big deal. The chain thwacked the back of Mack's head with a loud satisfactory thud, and he immediately put a hand on the already-red spot where I hit him.
He screamed and jumped up; Denise took a glance and went back to working on getting the needle in the vampire again. She thought Mack would be able to take care of me in no time.
With that encouraging thought, I geared up, ready to take another lucky swing at Mack. But his hand went to his boot and he came up with a pocket knife.
I couldn't help it. I said, "Uh-oh."
"You crazy bitch!" he screamed, taking a step towards me with the knife. I was too involved to keep my shields up, and I could see what he was planning on doing to me. With that in mind, I was able to dodge his swipe and somehow managed to swing the chain around his neck at the same time. Mack instantly dropped the knife and brought his hands up to his neck, pawing frantically at the chain wrapped around it. I didn't know what I did, but somehow that chain got coiled around his neck so tightly I could tell it wouldn't be coming off for a while, no matter how hard Mack clawed at it.
Shit, there goes Sam's chain. But then I swooped down to pick up the knife, and I'm lucky I did it at the time I did because all of a sudden Denise was right there. I held it up like I knew what I was doing with it, like I was going to stab her at any time, and she stopped walking.
She swore at me, calling me all sorts of names that I would never, ever call anybody. I waited until she was done to growl, "Leave. Now."
Denise stared at me for a second before she made a move to pick up the containers of blood.
"Oh, no, you don't," I hissed, shaking my head. "You're leaving those here."
She threw an angry glance my way and then walked over to Mack, pulling him to his feet and directing her hate and frustration towards him. He was still wheezing and gasping for air in these awful gurgling sounds, but she seemed more concerned with getting him to their car than making sure he was okay.
Once they were out of the way I scurried over to the vampire to inspect the damage the Rats had done. They had taken a long, silver chain, or many chains by the looks of it, and seemed to have wrapped it around any available skin they could find, except for the vampire's face, which was still contorted in pain but now had shock added to it.
Then I heard a car roar to life, and I realized that the Rats now had a new weapon, one that could do more damage than Mack's knife. I rushed behind the vampire and hoisted him up with my arms as I yelled, "Push with your feet!" We were still kind of on the road, but we were so close to the protection that the trees and woods would provide. The vampire caught on, and I was able to drag him into the woods, and not a moment too soon; the Rats' car zoomed by, and Denise had missed us by a matter of feet before she had to swerve to not hit a pine. I was worried that the car would then go in reverse, to try to get us a second time, but instead it just went full-speed ahead.
The vampire managed to prop himself up against a tree, and I crouched down awkwardly next to him. I didn't know what to do, but I did know that I hadn't yet taken off the silver chains around him, so I got to work on that. Even though it wasn't my skin that was smoking as soon as the silver was taken off, I winced, especially when I heard the little hissing noise the action made. I met his eyes, and he was looking as intently at me as I was at him.
He didn't say anything, but merely watched as I removed all of the silver. I wondered how the Rats had been able to put this much silver on him so quickly, but I blushed when I came to the conclusion. He hugged his knees to his chest as I worked on getting rid of the silver wrapped around his ankles, under his jeans legs. His coat was off in the dirt nearby, and he was now wearing a plain off-white long-sleeved waffle shirt, with two undone buttons at the collar.
"I am so sorry I didn't get here sooner," I said, gamely trying to break the silence that was blanketing us. He just looked at me. "Um, you'll be fine in like a minute or two, right? You're going to be able to heal yourself?"
He nodded but didn't actually say anything.
"Um, do you want me to leave?" I stuttered.
That got him to talk. In a gruffer voice, he answered, "No. They might come back, and I haven't yet healed properly."
Oh. Well then.
I stood up and took a couple steps back. Knowing how unpleasant it feels to have someone staring at you when you're vulnerable, I busied myself with wrapping the silver around my neck, and walking over to the edge of the clearing to watch the parking lot.
After a few moments, I heard the unmistakable rustle of someone moving in the woods. I looked to my left, and there he was, standing a little too close for comfort. He didn't say anything at first, just looked at me with those big brown eyes. His skin had stopped smoking, which I'm sure was a good sign.
"Thank you," he said, after a while. He didn't sound particularly thankful, but more like he was saying thank you because he knew he was supposed to. I reckoned he wasn't too happy about being rescued by a woman. Typical guy.
I nodded my head. "You're welcome. But like I said earlier, I'm sorry it kind of took me a while to come out here to help you."
"That's quite alright; after all you did come out here, all alone, to rescue me. It was very brave," he said in a low seductive voice.
"Now you cut that out right now, mister," I said quickly, putting an end to that. It's not likeI need another vampire to know I can't be glamored.
He had the gall to look surprised, almost as surprised as he did when he saw me take down Mack, but then he wiped his face clean. "Aren't you afraid to be out here alone in the dark with a hungry vampire?"
"Not really," I said, playing with the silver chains around my neck. "I was more afraid of Mack, to be honest."
He looked astonished by that statement, but he tried to cover it by replying, "Are you assuming that because you saved me that you are safe, that I still harbor an ounce of feeling and good-will after all these years as a vampire? Vampires often turn on those who trust them."
Oh, don't worry. I know ALL about that.
"Yeah, well, humans often turn on those who trust them too," I said tartly. "And besides, I have some insurance. Silver insurance." I tapped the chains again, bringing them to cover my arms now.
He looked me up and down and finally came up with, "There is a juicy artery in the groin that I am fond of."
That settled it. He couldn't have been sent by Eric. No sirree. Going from Eric's jealous streak, which had made itself very apparent after the whole Adam thing, I was pretty sure he wouldn't want this vampire to be speaking to me like that.
"Don't you talk dirty to me, mister. I won't stand for it," I said tartly.
We were stuck in silence again, with me silently working up the courage to ask this vampire, whoever he was, if he was sent by Eric. You'd think that after taking out two vampire drainers and rescuing a vampire, asking if we had a mutual acquaintance would be a piece of cake. Well, turns out, it wasn't. Not at all.
All of a sudden he spoke up. "Would you like to drink the blood they collected? It would be a way for me to show my gratitude to you."
I shook my head immediately. "Nuh-uh. No thank you." I didn't want anyone's blood but Eric's. And I was pretty sure he didn't want me to take anyone's blood but his. Even though we hadn't had this talk yet, I was sure of both of these things.
He gestured to the vials of blood, which were still lying on the ground. "My blood would improve your health. And your sex life."
"Well, I'm as healthy as a horse. And I don't need any help with my sex life, so to speak." I raised my eyes to meet his. He was regarding me coolly. "It's your blood. You do what you want with it."
He was thoughtful for a moment. "You could sell it." Man, he really wasn't letting go of this, was he?
"Nope. Like I said, it's all yours. I don't want anything to do with it."
"You're different," he said unexpectedly. "What are you?" He seemed to be going through a list of possibilities in his head. I tried to peek in, but I got nothing, as I expected. It seemed as though there wasn't an on-off switch with vampire minds, like there was with human minds.
"Well, I'm Sookie Stackhouse. And I'm a waitress," I said honestly. "Who are you?"
"Bill."
I bit back a laugh. Bill? Bill? What is with these vampires having decidedly un-vampire like names? Bill? Eric? Pam? Thank God for Chow and Longshadow.
Instead, I asked, "So Bill, you never answered my question. Did Eric send you?"
"Why do you think he did?"
Holy shit, I save this guy's undead life, and he's still answering my questions with questions. What a douche.
I decided to step it up a notch. "Because this is the second time I've asked you and you still haven't given me a straight response." I arched an eyebrow, feeling as sassy as Pam.
He looked me straight in the eye as he said, "No, Eric Northman did not send me. And now you can answer my question. Why did you think he did?"
"Um," I said, stalling. Now that I knew this vampire wasn't affiliated with Eric, I didn't know how to move on from here. What could I do? What could I say? I decided to play dumb.
"Like, I went to Fangtasia last night, and, um, kinda hung out with him, you know," I said lamely, twisting a strand of hair in my ponytail while reverting back to Jason's cover-up phrase. Maybe it was like a bro-thing or something, and Bill would just understand and quit talking about this topic.
"I see," Bill said stiffly, leaving it at that. I blushed and looked away.
And THANK FUCK he didn't comment on smelling Eric's blood. Pam had, but maybe that's because it was the night that happened? Maybe it had been too long since I drank Eric's blood? I know he definitely smelled Eric on me; I had figured that out in the bar, when his nostrils had flared. And now that I didn't smell like a virgin anymore, he probably thought I was just a fangbanger. Which was okay, oddly enough, in this case. It was preferable, even.
I looked up from the ground that I had been studying, and I turned to look at Bill … but he wasn't there. What? I turned around in a circle but he was gone. Everything was gone—his jacket, the blood. I had no idea where he went. I had no idea about why he was here, or if he'd come back, or what his last name even was.
But I had an idea of who would know. Eric.
I went back inside to Merlotte's, the back way, and immediately headed right towards the phone. Luckily I had taken the time to memorize the number for Fangtasia earlier today, so I dialed that.
"Fangtasia, the bar with the bite," Pam answered.
"Pam, it's Sookie. I need Eric. Now."
"You didn't ask me how I was, so it must be urgent."
"PAM!"
"Relax. I'm walking to his office now. And here he is."
"This is Eric," he said. "And this is Sookie?"
"Yes," I said hurriedly. "Eric, a vampire just came to Merlotte's. You didn't send him, did you?"
He waited a moment before answering, "No, I did not send any vampire, much less a male one. Did he give you a name?"
"Yes. Bill. Just Bill. He has brown hair, brown eyes, and a Southern accent. Maybe 5'10" give or take?"
"Bill Compton," Eric said flatly. "I know him. I didn't know he was in my area, though. Last time I saw him was over eighty years ago, in Seattle. Did he give a reason for his being in Bon Temps?"
"No. I didn't ask. At least, I don't think I did. Eric, I had to save Bill from being drained tonight."
"You did?" Eric said, beaming. "Really? But Sookie, that is excellent!" He sounded like a proud doting father right now. He even chuckled.
Once he calmed down he added, "Were you injured? Explain how this happened."
I told him the story of how Bill was attacked, and also what I told Bill about Eric. "Eric, would he be able to smell your blood in me?"
"No, he would not," Eric said firmly.
"Um, is that a good thing?"
"Strategically speaking, yes."
"I think he smelled you on me though. Is that even possible? I mean, I showered this morning."
"I am glad to hear that you practice healthy human hygiene, Sookie," Eric said. I could hear his smile.
And I could hear mine when I said, "Oh, you hush now! You know what I mean."
"Yes. He would have smelled me on you. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though. How did you explain it?"
"I said I went to Fangtasia last night and hung out with you. Which is the truth, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is. That was good, Sookie. You did everything right tonight."
I didn't call Eric to earn his praise, but it was nice to hear it all the same.
"When did this happen, this thwarted draining attempt?" he asked.
"Um, well, Bill left like two minutes ago. He just disappeared and took his blood and his coat with him."
"Sookie, you are still at work?"
"Uh, yeah."
"I hope the shifter gives you get a bonus for this," Eric muttered darkly. "So this happened say, ten minutes ago? And the shifter didn't help you? Did he even know this was happening?"
"I haven't told him about it yet. You were the first one I called."
"Interesting." He paused to let that sink in. Then, "What time do you get off of work?"
"At one. What time is it now?"
"Quarter to midnight."
"Oh. Thanks."
"It is nothing. I need to speak with the shifter. Can you put him on?"
"Yeah, hold on a sec, I'll go get him."
"And Sookie?"
"Yes, Eric?"
"You did everything right tonight … saving Bill, taking care of the drainers, calling me. I am glad that you told me this. Not many humans would be able to save a vampire from a drainer, and live. But I am glad that you did."
"Me too. Thanks, Eric. I'm going to go get Sam now, 'kay?"
"I will be here."
I put the phone down and walked briskly to the bar, where Sam was just walking from. His eyes widened when he saw me, and he purposefully looked at me and then walked determinedly back into the employee area. I followed quickly after him.
As soon as we were away from prying eyes and trying ears, Sam turned around and exploded. "Jesus H. Christ, Sookie, where were you? You leave, the vampire leaves, and you smell like him?"
"Now you shut your judgemental mouth Sam! For your information, I just saved Bill's undead life from being drained by the fucking Rattrays! And I have Eric on the phone and he wants to talk to you, so could you take a minute out of your busy pissing-off-Sookie schedule and talk to him? Thanks."
Sam gaped for a moment before I pushed him toward the direction of the phone, and although he stumbled on his first step, he marched over to the phone and picked it up. "Merlotte."
Eric said something, and I wished for a second that I had vampire hearing, or even shifter hearing.
"Yeah, she just told me." Sam sounded very annoyed and he was only like, eight seconds into the conversation.
He paused to listen, and then all of a sudden he exploded with "I didn't even know, damnit! She didn't even tell me about it!"
Eric said something that made Sam square his shoulders and say "Now you listen to me, I—" and then Sam stopped talking and his mouth got very narrow and his eyes narrowed and he looked over at me and now I wasn't so sure I wanted vampire or shifter hearing.
There was a long pause on Sam's side of the conversation. That wasn't good.
"Fine," Sam said sullenly, like a child who didn't get his way. He thrust the phone at me and stalked off without a backwards glance.
So of course the first thing I said to Eric was, "Eric, what the hell did you say to Sam?"
"I was just giving him some advice, bar-owner to bar-owner, on why he is responsible for the safety of his employees."
Yeah. I bet. I grinned despite myself, and I was glad that Eric couldn't see me. I waited until the smile passed and then I replied, "Eric, I don't know if anyone every told you, but advice is like, 'maybe you should wear the blue jeans instead of the white ones,' or something. Not, 'I'm going to rip your shifter balls off because you let Sookie fight vampire drainers.'"
Eric laughed. "Sookie, don't be ridiculous. I would never say that."
"Oh yeah? What'd you say then?
"I said I would rip his shifter head off because he let you fight vampire drainers."
I burst out laughing. Eric laughed again, only this time with me.
"Right. 'Cause you're a vampire," I said once I was back to normal.
"Right. I prefer necks to balls, thank you very much. And I've never worn white jeans, so no one's ever had to give me advice like that."
"Really? No white jeans in a thousand years?"
"Not even during the '80s." He sounded oddly proud of that.
I snorted. Loudly. "Wait, so what else did you say to Sam? Why would he need to say 'Fine' to you all annoyed and stuff?
"He's giving you the rest of night off, and tomorrow as well, since you not only saved the vampire but you also saved him the legal trouble he would have to deal with if it was found out that there was illegal vampire draining occurring on his premises with two of his regular paying customers. As soon as this call ends I am going to go to Merlotte's and take you home for protection, in case the drainers come back for revenge."
"Oh, really? You'd think they do that? I don't know, I mean, they're probably going to be too busy figuring out how to get that chain off of Mack's neck than to worry about little old me."
"I don't want to risk that, Sookie, and frankly you shouldn't either."
I was quiet for a while after that, and Eric was too. At least, he was until he said, "I'm making preparations to leave now. I will be there as soon as possible."
"Okay. Thank you. You don't have to do this, you know."
"I know. I want to."
"I'm glad you want to."
Long pause. I added, "Okay, see you soon."
"Yes." And then he hung up.
I put the phone back in the receiver and then placed my hands on the back of my head as let out a long breath.
Well, you could definitely say things were always more interesting with Eric Northman in the mix.