Dead Broke
Chapter 4
I couldn't sleep on Thursday night. I needed to find someone to feed Mops while I was away and I'd cut ties with every responsible person I knew. Crap. I couldn't believe I was about to call…
"Hi," I muttered into the phone. I wondered if I sounded like I had my tail tucked between my legs.
"Sookie," Bill Compton answered me. I sighed even more. Oh fuck oh fuck.
"Can you come over? Use the back door. My porch is sagging."
"Certainly." He grunted. I sighed. I set the phone on the hook. A minute later, there was a knock on the back door. I frowned and went to open it.
"I invite you in," I said through clenched teeth. I was so not going to apologize. No way. No how. "I'm sorry about the yelling." Damnit.
"I should not have asked such an obvious question." He stepped into the house.
"Look, I was wondering if you could feed my cat. I'm going away for the weekend." Please don't ask why. Please don't ask why.
"To the meeting in Las Vegas," Bill said. Oh crap. Did Eric call him? Did they do that sort of thing? Did they talk about me?
"Yeah. Look, she just needs dry food in the morning and a can of wet kitten food at night."
"I will watch her. Does she like vampires?" As if Mops had heard the dinner bell, she skittered out of the downstairs bathroom and pounced on Bill's shoe. She amused herself by pawing at his shoelaces. Bill smiled. My heart sank. Mops had betrayed me for the attentions of my ex-boyfriend. Damn cat.
"More than people, I'm pretty sure."
"Sookie," he looked back at me. I sighed. This was where I'd get one of those I'm worried about you talks, kind of like the extended disco version of Eric's yelling fit. I looked at my feet. My hands were cold.
"I'm worried about you being alone with the King. Eric does not trust him. I do not trust him. Please call us if you need anything." Bill squirmed. I knew he wanted to touch me, maybe even hold me, kiss me. Briefly I remembered how good it felt to be in his embrace. Then I remembered why he'd seduced me. I felt sick.
"Right." I said. Wow. I really wanted to throw him out again. "Thanks for taking care of Mops."
"It is my pleasure." Suck up. He turned to leave. I grabbed Mops by the scruff of the neck. She whined at me. I shut the door behind Bill. I felt as though I had swallowed a rock.
I set Mops back down on the floor and went to pack my bag. I tried to be happy. Look Sookie, you're going on vacation and earning money while you do it. You'll have enough to fix the car and the washer and the dryer and the porch! You'll even have enough leftover for future emergencies. You can totally get by without Amelia, with your regular hours at the bar assuming Sam hasn't fired you. It's all going to be okay.
But I had this impending doom feeling.
I reached into the closet and pulled out a couple of dresses I'd bought on super duper sale. I'd bought them assuming Eric would take me out a few times, but we'd both been busy and we spent most of our time together in the old farmhouse. I tucked the dresses into a hanging suitcase and put some shoes into a rolling carryon with cozy nighties, hair accessories, makeup, and toiletries. I put some comfortable but attractive clothes in the hanging bag and carried my things out to the back door. When I'd finished, I wrote a note and taped it to the front door. Wow, the porch was in bad shape. I made the writing big enough to be read from the stairs. Please use back door. Porch is sagging! I mean sure, the backdoor and closed in porch smelled like springtime scented laundry detergent, but at least it wasn't threatening to give way.
I sat down on my bed and stared at the clock. It wasn't too late, only a few minutes past one. I thought about calling Eric. I lifted the phone off the hook and dialed the number for Fangtasia.
"Fangtasia," Pam grunted into the phone. The night was winding down. As far as Pam was concerned, she was off-duty.
"Hi Pam," I said. I knew I sounded sad. Pam tried to be sympathetic.
"He's still angry, Sookie. Did you really tell him you weren't his?" She wasn't succeeding in the sympathy. She sounded like a gossiping school girl.
"He's never once…" I started.
"But you're bound to him, Sookie!"
"I don't even know what that means! I thought being his meant him telling other vamps I'm off limits. And anyway, it's not like the King hired me to screw him six ways from Sunday. I'm just a companion. Arm candy!"
"Eric will never let on, but he is jealous. He is very jealous. He cannot overrule the King. The King knows you are bonded to Eric but because Eric has not come outright and said you are his human, he cannot rightfully do anything."
"So I was right!"
"But at what price, Sookie? Eric is so very, very angry. He won't even talk to me!"
"So how do you know all this then?"
"He yelled at me last night."
"I'm sorry, Pam."
"It happens. Sookie, be careful in Vegas. The King…"
"I've heard it three times now, Pam." I groaned.
"Just watch your back. Don't hesitate to call."
"Do you think he'd even come if I did?" I sighed. I was almost a little scared that she'd say no. Pam hesitated. If she could have held her breath, she might have.
"He would."
I reassured Pam that I'd be safe, and I sat down on the sofa. I turned on the television for background noise. I wondered if there was more to the cryptic warnings than Pam and Bill and Eric had let on. What was it about the King of Louisiana that had them all spooked? I'd met the Queen when she was still around. She was a manipulative and awful woman, and though I appreciated her position, I hadn't liked her very much. Still, I couldn't imagine the King was any worse. After all, he'd already extended his protection to me through Eric and Pam. He'd been kind to me when I'd met him, and though I knew that was just a formality, I figured he couldn't be that bad.
I woke up on the sofa with Mops in my lap at a little past nine. I peeked out the window but the car hadn't arrived yet. In fact, I didn't really know when it was coming. I set the cat on the floor and rushed around the house. The shower wasn't even hot before I was jumping out and drying off. The blow dryer echoed in my ears while I brushed my teeth and applied my makeup. I made myself look decent despite the three or four hours of sleep I'd managed to get. Shivering in the cold house, I threw on a pair of black leggings and a cable knit sweater dress. It was probably warm in the desert, but in Bon Temps it was barely above forty degrees. I slid my legs into a pair of black leather boots, styled my hair in a loose ponytail, and checked myself in the mirror. Not bad. Not bad at all. There was a knock at the back door.
"Miss Stackhouse," the driver confirmed as he glanced down at his clipboard. "May I take your bags?" I pointed him to my things and went to make sure Mops had food and water. I scribbled a note to Bill and taped it to the fridge. There were a few bottles of blood in there, along with some milk for Mops (Only a little, I'd said in the note. Sometimes it makes her sick.). I reminded him about the dry cat food (in a box under the sink), and the wet cat food (in the cabinet over the counter with the soup), and to give her a clean bowl every day. I double checked that the oven was off and the table was clean and the dishes were put away.
"Okay," I said, mostly to myself. "Nevada, here I come." I wanted to sound more excited, but I didn't.
I sat in the back of a spacious limousine. The driver had bought me a cup of premium drip coffee from the only Starbucks (brand new!) in Bon Temps. I sipped it while I skimmed a travel book about Las Vegas that he'd placed on the seat. Okay, so now I was a little excited. I'd never been farther west than Rhodes, and that trip hadn't turned out so well. Now I was going to Las Vegas. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, I thought with a giggle. I felt a pang of regret about the fight with Eric. Boy wouldn't I love to have a few dirty memories with him in Vegas. I thought about calling him. Then I decided not to after all. I would call him when I got back, show him that the King wasn't a bad guy. We'd make up. We'd have that make up sex they always talk about on Friends. It'd be nice.
In the travel book, I read about bedrooms with fantasy themes, including one where you could sleep on a round bed covered in fur and animal skin. I thought about being pillaged by my very own Viking.
Oh man.
After a forty five minute drive, the car stopped. I couldn't make out much through the tinted window but it looked like we'd arrived at the airport. I figured I'd be flying Anubis Airlines, the only service that catered to vampires. The driver opened my door and I got out, taking the book and the coffee with me. I was definitely at an airport, but the only plane was a private jet with small round windows. I raised an eyebrow.
"Miss Stackhouse, this is Mr. de Castro's personal jet. Mr. de Castro is already in the city as he had some matters to attend to last night. I will load your belongings. Please allow me to escort you to the stairs."
Okay. Color me impressed.
I took the outstretched elbow of the driver and he walked with me to the stairs. I walked up and was greeted by a handsome young steward wearing a navy blue vest and matching pants. His clean white shirt was buttoned up to his Adam's apple. Yep, I was definitely impressed.
"Please have a seat Miss Stackhouse. I will bring you a breakfast menu as soon as we are in the air. Would you like a glass of orange juice? Or another cup of coffee?"
"Orange juice would be great," I said, trying to sound like I got this kind of treatment a lot.
"Right away, Miss Stackhouse."
Within five minutes, the stairs folded up. The steward, James, returned with my juice and a selection of films about Las Vegas. I chose Ocean's Eleven, mostly because I liked Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and George Clooney. Yum. The plane had a huge flat panel television screen. I watched the film while we rose in altitude.
"Miss Stackhouse," It was James again. I was loving this. "I apologize for our limited selection of breakfasts. I hope that we have something that interests you. Today we are serving a mozzarella and mushroom quiche with a half croissant, sliced pineapple and cantaloupe, and an applewood sausage," I blinked, but he wasn't done. "We also have a short stack of fresh banana nut pancakes with maple syrup and creamy butter, served with a side of smoked pepper bacon, and sliced Granny Smith apples; and finally, we have a plate of eggs sunny side up, served with a small breakfast steak, and a slice of hot crumble coffee cake, and a few slices of honeydew melon."
I was sure my mouth was watering. I wasn't sure I could decide.
"Um, I think I'll have the pancakes," I mumbled. Wow. So very very good.
"Certainly, Miss Stackhouse. I will be right back with your breakfast."
I don't have to tell you how amazing it tasted. I wouldn't even know where to begin.
I fell asleep for awhile after my breakfast. When I woke up, the credits were rolling. I'd seen the film before and I wasn't too disappointed. James got up to change the film. He skipped the terrible second film in the trilogy, and stuck in the third. I really liked that movie. More Brad and Matt and George. I wondered what time it was, and where we were. When I scooted over to look out the window, I saw that James had eaten one of the breakfast dishes I had declined. Thank goodness they weren't going to waste.
"Do you know where we are?" I asked, still pressing my nose to the window.
"I believe we're over the Texas panhandle," James answered me. He smiled. I kept my guard up. Whatever he was thinking behind that pretty face, I didn't want to know.
"Oh," Texas. I'd sucked a bullet out of Eric's chest in Texas.
I tried not to think about that fantasy room in the desert, but it bubbled up in front of my eyes, complete with buck naked Viking wearing an intricate braid in his beautiful white blond hair. I closed my eyes again. Oh man, oh man.