A/N: SVM is owned by Charlaine Harris. Many thanks to FiniteAnarchy, the beta for this story. I think she is quite busy lately, so I doubly appreciate her feedback and you should too! Keep an eye out for the next update of her story Dead Memories.

A couple of things...

Sophie-Anne was not Waldo's maker. He was simply a once-favored companion of QSA's. That is presumably why he was given the saltwater treatment rather than killed outright for his unknown offense (for better or for worse). It's safe to assume his absence will be noted at some point - but his fate would not have been instantly realized.

Thanks so much to those of you who take time to review, put this story on alert, or make it a favorite. In particular, thank you to anonymous reviewers, who I don't have the opportunity to respond to personally. I also wanted to say that I appreciate the constructive criticism, however you choose to leave it.

Chapter 24 – Vampire Touch

Since I'd fallen asleep only minutes before dawn, it was no surprise that I slept until almost two in the afternoon. I was shocked to find myself still wrapped snugly around Eric's chilly corpse in the pitch dark room, however. I gave a start before remembering where I was, and with whom. Even after realizing it, I still found myself scrambling out of the bed. I fumbled with the lamp on the nearest table until I found the switch. All the while, Eric lay there, stiff as a board and undisturbed. His face was smooth and peaceful. He was right; it wasn't the calm of sleep I saw there. The stillness was too profound. Dead indeed. I let him be and made my way to the bathroom.

I was disconcerted to find that despite the late hour, I didn't have any missed calls. Surely Jason would have called when he got up this morning? Or Gran?

I called my brother first, reaching only his voicemail. I left a message demanding that he call me back at once. I put a little Adele Stackhouse into my voice as I did so, hoping that if he was avoiding me for some reason, it would sway him in the opposite direction. I tried to tell myself that it was the middle of the workday. In all likelihood, he just hadn't heard his phone ring. They were running one of those big noisy jackhammers. Or he could have left the phone in his truck, in which case he might not call me back until his shift was up. He could have been just still ticked off at me. As the minutes ticked by while I dressed and got ready for the day without hearing from him, a cold sense of dread settled over me.

It only intensified when I talked to Gran, and she told me that she hadn't seen him since yesterday evening. She didn't sound worried, and for her sake, I too tried to sound as though I could also dismiss it as typical Jason behavior. Gran was being discharged tomorrow, and she was pleased about it. I knew that no matter what, I had to go home tonight. If Octavia Fant couldn't get Eric sorted out, we'd have to make alternative plans for him in the coming nights, and he'd just have to cope on his own. Or, maybe I would take him back with me, and he could have an appointment with Octavia when she and Louis came up to Bon Temps this weekend. He might not be pleased about that, but I had my family to get back to.

I tried to take comfort in the fact that, uncomfortable though she may have been there, Gran being at the hospital this week was probably the safest place for her. Whatever was going on, at least she was somewhere separate from it all. Thoughts of Chip Young filtered in. That won't happen to Gran, I told myself sternly. It just can't.

It had been my intention to spend the afternoon with Gladiola and Diantha, but I just didn't feel up to socializing. I did have to do something about food. I checked the mini-refrigerator to discover that it had been stocked with bottled blood. No microwave in the room, though. That might be something to mention on the comment card I'd found tucked in with the complimentary stationery.

I was in the little anteroom that separated a sleeping Eric from the outside world, and had just checked for a third time that the door behind me was securely locked when my phone rang. Finally, Jason. I fished it out of my pocket and answered right away.

"Hello?"

"Miss Stackhouse?" Okay, not Jason.

"Ms. Fant?" I asked, with uncertainty.

"Yes. I'm calling about out meeting tonight. The shop will still be open to the public just after sunset. For the Sheriff's discretion, perhaps you would consider coming to my home?"

"I hadn't thought of that," I said.

"Yes," she agreed.

I was already letting myself back into the room with Eric so I could take down her address and the directions to her home.

"I'll need to run it by him, but it does seem like a wiser course," I said. "May I call you when he wakes, to confirm?"

"That will be fine. It will likely take you some extra time to travel, regardless. We are prone to flooding."

"Flooding?" I asked.

"From the storm."

"The storm?"

"It's coming down in buckets," she said, and unless I was mistaken, she sounded pleased about that.

"I haven't been outside," I said. "It's uh, very insulated where we are staying."

"Naturally," came Octavia's voice. "I'll speak to you at dusk."

We said our goodbyes and I made my way out to the vestibule once again. Pulling the heavy outer door open, I was immediately pelted in the face with a spray of rain. As I made my dash to the car, I greatly regretted spending any time at all trying to fix up my hair. Already drenched, I didn't bother waiting in the line at the Burger King drive through, at least twelve cars long. I went inside and was quickly served a chicken sandwich and a little salad. I felt like it had been a few days since I'd eaten a vegetable.

It was barely half an hour before I was back at the hotel, and Eric was just fine. He said I couldn't wake him, but it still felt odd flipping on the lights and television on. I crept into the bathroom and toweled my hair dry, then I set my sneakers on top of the radiator to dry them off. I left the light in the bathroom on, leaving the door open a crack so I could see enough to make it back to the bed. I figured the extra sleep couldn't hurt and rainstorms seem to have something of a soporific power all their own. Now that I knew to listen for it, I could hear the faint sound of the water beating against the shuttered windows.

As I eased in alongside Eric, I imagined I felt him stirring. "Eric?" I asked, creeping closer. Nothing. I snugged up beside him, trying to reclaim the comfortable position I'd fallen asleep in the night before. I felt a little brazen as I hitched my leg up back over his, but he'd put it there himself last night, so I figured he wouldn't mind.

Sometime later I awoke breathless and alarmed. Eric's arms were wrapped around me, squeezing me so tight that I could barely draw breath.

"Eric," I eeked out, "can't breathe."

His arms instantly loosened, and I was grateful. He still cradled me more gently as I drew in a few deep breaths. I glanced at the clock. I don't think he should have been awake yet.

"Good um, evening," I said to him.

"It's raining," he murmured. Nothing wrong with his hearing. His voice sounded far away.

"All afternoon," I agreed. I was whispering.

"The sun hasn't set," he told me.

"Soon," I assured him. He shifted his arms then, running a hand down my back, across my sweater and down to my hip, across my denim-clad thigh. He, of course, was still naked. I felt my head lift slightly on his chest as he drew in a breath, smelling and tasting the air.

"Where have you been today?"

"Just to get some food. Are you properly awake? Because Octavia called, and she wants..."

My voice was cut off as he lifted me effortlessly on top of him, my knees parting across his hips. The hand that had been around my shoulder slid across my back and found my collar, my neck, and then my jaw as he pulled me to him in a kiss. Whatever I'd been about to tell him was forgotten as I pressed against his cool body. He made a low noise of pleasure as his hips bucked up against me. Yeah. Eric was definitely awake.

I knew enough about vampires to know that this was probably more of an imperative for him, the natural urge to sate his hungers. I was about to extricate myself as gently as possible, not wishing to merely be a Ms. Right-Now, when he broke our kiss with another moan.

"Mmm, my Sookie. So warm." He sounded almost wondering. Then he was nuzzling at my neck, seeming to delight in just the feel of me, and my half-hearted resolve was gone with my sweater. Maybe he doesn't wake up like this very often either.

I think he felt my lust. The way he kissed and nipped my neck made me shiver all over and suddenly his hands were at my back, deftly unfastening my bra. I suppose any man worth his salt learns to do that blind. Any man who likes women, anyway. I fumbled at the button on my jeans, managing to get it free before he pulled me down toward him again, my breasts pressing against his chest. I felt my nipples tighten with the combination of contact with his cold skin and my arousal as his hand cupped my butt. Suddenly he flipped me on to my back and together we wriggled me out of my jeans and underwear.

He moved against me, sliding his long body against mine, and it was like being caressed with his whole self. He kept his head bowed, kissing across my breasts, my chest. Last time, Eric had seemed so focused on watching me, on me watching him. It wasn't an option available to us now. Instead he was feeling me. I did my best to respond in the same way, my hands moving quickly across his arms and shoulders, down his back and up his sides. He fingertips traced down my chest and across my belly. Grasping my hip he shifted me slightly and then trace down and up my thigh, nudging my legs farther apart as he did so. I could hardly see in the dim room, but I found myself shutting my own eyes anyway, wanting to be exactly where he was.

For a fleeting moment I wished I could feel everything from him that he must be feeling in me; acceptance, desire, anticipation, pleasure. And perhaps there would be darker things; esurience, thirst, instinct. I let myself free in the enveloping silence of his mind and simply felt his body. We murmured our mutual admiration, sounding our enjoyment, both loving the sensation of his hard length sliding through the slickness between my legs. When I was trembling, already so near that golden edge, he pushed inside and I fell immediately, crying out.

My heels dug in to the backs of his legs and I clenched my fingers in his hair, holding him to my breast. I felt him bite and draw deeply in a way that kept me shuddering beneath him. He began to move faster. His energy was palpable and when he finally joined me on the far side of bliss, it was with a deep, throaty groan before he let his weight fall against me.

His stillness seemed so sudden, but once again it felt wonderful to have him all around me. I let my fingers brush across his neck and his cheek as he calmed down until finally he rolled away from me, though he clutched me to him, even as he did so. I loved that he was like this, afterward; wanting to stay close. I dozed for several moments, feeling peaceful for...probably for the first time all week, since the last time we'd done this.

"You're wonderful for distraction," I told him drowsily, and instantly wished that I'd said nothing to break the dreamlike afterglow of the wonderful sex. He was nuzzling at my breast, which felt tender but was soothed by his cool tongue. I realized he was sealing the wounds he'd left. Reality crept back in as he finished tending to me. Gran. Hadley. Jason. Fairies in Bon Temps. Eric's spell. Witches in Shreveport. One less vampire in New Orleans. I felt the panic rise up in me at the same time Eric pulled me close to him, hushing me before I could really get started.

Eric agreed when I explained that meeting Octavia at her home rather than at the magic shop during business hours was a good idea. I was glad he seemed to be more willing to accept her help.

"What else is going through that head of yours?" he asked. I glanced over at the clock. We weren't really on borrowed time anymore. We needed to be up and going. The sooner we got Eric sorted, the sooner we could go home.

"I'm worried about my family," I told him, extricating myself and heading for the bathroom. "Call Pam. I'll call Octavia." I closed the door behind me and phoned the witch, letting her know we'd be on our way soon.

I had to dress in the same clothes I'd just peeled off, but that was fine. I didn't bother packing up the room. We'd be returning here one way or another tonight. Eric expressed a desire to glamour Eloise, the innkeeper, before we left for home. It was something he couldn't do without his sight.

"We will remove your credit card receipt as well," he said. I immediately wanted to object but he continued, "I will leave cash for the room."

"I wish you didn't have to," I frowned. "She was so happy to have her first vampire guest. Couldn't you just... I don't know. Make her remember a different couple? People who don't look like us?"

He had no response to that beyond a shrug, and then he simply stood near the bed, ready to go. He had missed the sticker tags on his new shirt and jeans so I removed them before we left. The storm was still raging, but somehow that made the drive less nerve-wracking tonight as I was forced to focus only on what was in front of me.

Octavia's neighborhood was not a nice one. Most of New Orleans isn't like the French Quarter and the Garden District; all historic and well maintained with wrought-iron charm. Most of the city's population consists of people who just manage to get by. Actually, most of the entire state of Louisiana is that way. It was the way I was raised, too.

I had the impression that as the senior witch in these parts, Octavia owned the Genuine Magic Shop. Even if that were correct, I suppose a magic shop, when practitioners are so few on the ground, is not a boon industry.

Like the other houses on her street, Octavia's was tiny; even smaller than mine, I thought. She hadn't been kidding about the flooding, either. Water ran down the roads in rivulets almost as high as the curbs, pooling at intersections with nowhere to drain. Even in the downpour, there were a few people outside, both walking around or huddled on their porches. These were cramped quarters, and I supposed the rain didn't stop some people from needing a reprieve from the confines of indoor spaces. I could never live in a place like this. I did my best to ignore the mental cacophony while I tried to navigate.

I parked across the road and one house up from Octavia. She was inside alone, and I was grateful that Eric was willing to come in with me right away, rather than force me to make multiple trips back to the car. She greeted and invited us inside. The door opened immediately into the living room, which looked straight through to the kitchen. The delicious smell of whatever she'd had for dinner was thick in the air. There was a dining table between the two rooms, separating the space. That was where she had set up her magical accoutrement, at least for the purposes of tending to Eric.

The various knickknacks and objets d'art that adorned her home were all similarly themed. I wondered if she even knew what all of them were, as I spotted several trinkets that were clearly supernatural in origin. Brenda would have a field day in here. When we'd first spoken over the phone I'd guessed that Octavia was some kind of voodooienne, and that was very clearly a component of her general interest. If I'm being honest, I was a little surprised that there wasn't a live chicken clucking around the place, just waiting to have its head severed for some sort of ritual. That would probably get messy. Maybe she keeps the cockerel out back.

It was with that thought fresh in my mind that she offered me a sweet tea. Because whatever else Octavia Fant may be, she was also a Southern woman welcoming guests into her home. I accepted with a courteous smile.

Eric was hovering close to me in the unfamiliar space. We were standing next to the table and I watched him reaching out tentatively around him, getting his bearings. Suddenly he jolted away from me with a sharp hiss. I turned abruptly to see that his fangs were out and he had his hand clenched at his chest. My eyes darted around and I realized what had happened. I glanced at the table and spotted a silver knife alongside several other tools for the spell work. He must have brushed it without meaning to.

I tried to press my hand over Eric's chest to soothe him, but that was to no avail. He jerked away from me again, though I was patient with him and he did eventually let me take his hand. Whatever mark the silver had made was already healed. I guess his type-Sookie dinner had sat well with him. And here I'd been worrying that we should have stopped somewhere for a synthetic.

"Let's get on with it," he said harshly.

"I'll just finish setting up," Octavia said. I was grateful she chose to ignore his tone.

"Where is Louis tonight?" I asked, attempting small talk as a means to clear the air.

"Home," Octavia answered, scooping up the silver knife and moving it out of the way to a kitchen counter.

"Not at the magic shop?"

"No. We thought it best that neither of us be there in case they come looking for that Waldo."

Oh.

"He was going to..." I began, but she interrupted.

"I'm sure it's not my concern. The loss of his business isn't going to keep food off anyone's table. Besides, some of the girls don't like him. They say he is 'creepy,'" she quoted, not bothering to hide her disgust. "He sure wasn't pretty but he's hardly the ugliest thing they'll come across if they continue in the craft."

I thought briefly of Mr. Hob before mentally conceding her point.

"I'm not pleased that had to be done in my alley," Octavia continued, adopting a scolding tone. "But the rain should take care of that. And if they come asking, well, no one who knows is there to answer."

"Thank goodness for the rain then," I said weakly. We hadn't even considered what would happen to Louis and Octavia if the remains of one of the Queen's vampires were found outside the shop. At least I hadn't thought of that. Had Eric? It certainly seemed the vampire thing to do, disregarding the troubles they left for the humans in their wakes.

"Thank me for the rain," she continued, sounding satisfied.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really," she confirmed, allowing herself a smile. "Came on quite suddenly, this storm. Weathermen were all predicting clear skies this morning."

I didn't bother to conceal how impressed I was as I murmured, "Wow."

Octavia, dressed tonight in a white buttoned shirt and a skirt of riotous color, rolled up her sleeves, giving me a nod in acknowledgment. There may have been a smidgen of theatricality in the gesture as she clapped her hands and declared it was time to get to work, but I figured she was more than entitled. Eric, who'd been silent throughout our brief conversation, was seized by the arms and shifted into place. I retreated back a few steps, giving them room.

The witch did not explain what she was doing as she worked, but I vaguely recognized the beginnings of her sanctifying the space. She lit bundles of fragrant herbs and went through her paces, reciting words in a foreign language that had no meaning to me. At one point she anointed Eric with something, smearing some kind of paste across his eyelids and then she began to chant in earnest.

Her voice was rich and sonorous as it filled the air and all at once, the magic was all around us. It was as if the air was super charged with electricity, like the house had just been struck by lightning. I found myself smoothing my hand across my head to be certain my hair wasn't standing on end. There was a low buzzing sound that seemed to grow sharper as she spoke certain words, the atmosphere humming along with her in harmony. Shivers ran through me as I felt the power shift inwards, towards the two of them. Suddenly I could see it, blurring the space surrounding Eric. His glow was brighter than it had ever been. Octavia began to shift her arms, molding the currents around him.

I hadn't even realized that her chanting had ceased. The steady melodic thrum of the magic had persisted, until she commanded in with orotund clarity, "See, vampire. See all around you," and even I could feel it working. I could practically see the energy in the air coruscating around Eric for a single moment and Octavia punctuated the entire process with a final triumphant order for him to, "See!"

He flinched, blinked, and then his eyes shot right to mine. I couldn't help but smile. He remained still and impassive as Octavia worked, much more quickly, to dismiss the powers she had summoned to her aid. With a final dash of her foot, she broke a circle of salt around first herself and then around Eric which I hadn't noticed she had laid. For another moment he was still, and then, he bowed to her. Though she responded with only an imperious nod, I could hear her pleasure at her success bubbling in her brain. She was far more jovial inside than she was showing. Coming to herself a bit more, she shot me a look, and I merely beamed at her until finally she cracked a smile.

We had not discussed the subject of payment for this little procedure, and she was probably due a bonus for conjuring the evidence-obscuring thunderstorm. I wasn't sure how it worked, but if the payment rendered was measured by gratitude, he really ought to be emptying his wallet. Her phone rang then, and my attention was drawn to the old-style telephone hanging on the wall in her kitchen, with its long, much-stretched cord raveled around itself. I smiled. Gran has the same setup.

"Pardon me," Octavia excused, and I took the opportunity to quietly remind Eric that he should give her money. He nodded and took a handful of bills from his wallet and left them on top of a dish on the table that very much resembled an offering plate, even before it was adorned with the short stack of hundreds. I rolled my eyes. Who walks around with that much cash on them, let alone in a neighborhood like this? Eric, apparently. He was like the five-hundred pound gorilla in the old joke. What does a thousand year old Viking vampire do? Anything he wants to.

"So, back to 20/20?" I asked him. He gave me a blank look. "Your vision, it's completely better?"

"Yes," he said, eyes darting around. "Perhaps even slightly improved."

"It's probably really tricky," I observed. "Undoing magic from a creature who is...essentially magic. Just imagine if she'd pulled the wrong string, hm?" I chuckled lightly to myself. It wasn't really funny of course, not at all actually, but a combination of my relief and his expression spurred me on. Suddenly he looked stricken; horrified and a little ill. It was such a strange thing to see on his usually stoic face that I broke out into full-fledged laughter for a moment. Just a moment, though.

"Sorry," I told him. "I'm just happy you're well. We should probably get going as soon as she's off the phone."

"I am off the phone," Octavia interrupted. "And the two of you need to get going now." All the pleasure she'd had with her own magical accomplishment had evaporated and her face was once again stern and perhaps worried.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

"There are two vampires at the shop inquiring after Waldo. I need to get there."

"What do they know?" Eric asked. His voice was not panicked, but rather back to its hard authority.

"Only that he intended to arrive."

"Then you will tell him that he did, and that he departed."

"Yes," Octavia agreed. "That is all I know."

She and Eric shared a long look and I wondered if he would attempt to glamour her into forgetting what else she knew, but he did not. Whatever had been communicated or assured silently between them seemed to satisfy both.

Eric turned away quickly and seized me by the arm. "Come Sookie, we need to get out of the city."

He let me pull away from him long enough for me to face Octavia for myself. I took her hand in both of mine and thanked her sincerely for all of her help. "Please tell Louis as well, and I'll call tomorrow about the wards."

She nodded at me, managing to get out a somewhat flustered, "You're welcome, child," before Eric interrupted both of us.

"Sookie," he said firmly, and I turned to follow him out the door.

I shoved my keys into Eric's hand as we quickly crossed the street to my car. He took them without question and was very quick making adjustments to the seat and the mirrors. Even in an unfamiliar vehicle, his reactions and response times would be better than mine. We splashed through the narrow streets until we made it back to the highway, moving at speeds that would have made me feel unsafe even outside of the weather.

Once we reached the more open road, he was on the phone with Pam again. Their conversation was brief and once they hung up, there was only silence and the intermittent swish of the windshield wipers.

"It will be fine," he told me. "They won't know, and the witches won't tell them."

I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince me, or himself.

At the guest house, Eric sent me to check the room and pack while he tended to glamouring Eloise and removing the evidence of our stay. I worked quickly, double and triple checking that we'd left nothing behind. Apart from a few items in the bathroom, there was little to collect. I had the bag loaded into the car before he was done. He emerged from the office and took the room keys, insisting on doing a final check of his own. We left them in a little drop-box before departing.

"She will wake tomorrow to find that her vampire guests checked out in the night and left their payment in cash."

"Good," I agreed.

He drove on the journey home. He had calls to make though he kept them as brief as guarded as possible, despite the fact that I wasn't really listening. Eric had hit the ground running. No more relying on the human. That was fine. I had my own problems. I just wish I had any clue how I was going to deal with them. I called my brother and there was still no answer. I called Tray and asked him if he'd meet me in the morning. He said he would.

"Where are you staying tonight?" I asked Eric. We'd hardly spoken to each other at all since getting in the car. "Can you go home?"

"Pam has not been able to check my house. She is still moving around quite a bit, though since the ambush, the witches are far more cautious in approaching her. I will be fine. I will stay with another vampire, or I will go to ground. It is clear at this point that they are not tracking me, or else they would have shown up at your house, or in New Orleans."

"Right," I agreed.

"You do not have proper accommodation at your home, and there is no sense further endangering you, if they should track me by more conventional means."

"A closet in a warded home isn't a better option than the ground?" He was looking at me. "Eyes on the road, mister," I snapped.

"You are feeling many different things," he observed, turning back to the highway.

"Sure am."

"Explain."

I rolled my eyes, but then I figured I might as well. "You just said you would rather sleep in the dirt than at my house. That hurts my feelings."

"Because I would not endanger you, you are angry with me?"

"You already have endangered me, first of all. These people have seen me with you twice now. Second, that's my decision to make, not yours. Thirdly, I'm not just some emergency vampire hider, to be ignored now you don't need me. I expect you to keep me in the loop until these guys are banished from the city. You don't want to stay with me anymore, that's fine, but you at least owe me that."

"You care for me," he stated after a long moment.

"Duh."

I didn't have anything else to add to my little rant, and he shut up too. After we made our pit stop for gas, I tried to let myself get a little sleep. I wasn't very tired, but it was peaceful in the car, with his quiet. I was awake again as we got to Shreveport, and I watched the familiar streets roll past without the warm feeling that usually accompanies a homecoming.

As expected, we'd made excellent time. He still had a couple of hours before the dawn, and it was clear he intended to make use of them, now that he was back in his full faculties. When he parked in my driveway and got out, I simply came around the car and took my keys from him. I wasn't sure what to say in parting.

"I'm glad you're well again. Good luck with... whatever you're going to do. Please keep me posted."

"You will have Tray tomorrow?"

"I will," I agreed.

"I must go."

"Go on then," I nodded.

He closed the distance between us then, and I let my arms wrap around him as he enveloped me.

"Be safe," he told the top of my head.

"You too," I said, pulling away.

He nudged me in the direction of the house, wishing to see me inside before he took his leave. I went, giving him a little wave and watching him take off into the sky before I closed the door.

"Thank god you're back."

I screamed, hurling my suitcase forward towards the sound of the voice and dropping into a crouch.

"Ow. Fuck! What? Sookie! It's me! It's Hadley!"

I fumbled for the light, blinked in the sudden brightness, then looked down to find my cousin scrambling to her feet from beneath my traveling bag. She seemed to be wearing one of my shirts and a pair of my pajama pants.

"Where the hell have you been?" I didn't bother to conceal the fact that I was furious.

"Houston...Sookie, I don't know what is going on."

"Houst..." I trailed off with an exasperated sigh. "Hadley why were you in Houston? Why didn't you tell anyone you were leaving?"

"Because I can't handle this! Gran's house almost burns down and then some guy shows up and you kill him because he's a fairy, and we're fairies too? And I can't say anything to Jason or Gran..."

I knew where she was going.

"Did you tell Camille? Your girlfriend? Hadley what did you tell her?" I asked frantically.

"She..." my cousin choked out. "She wouldn't see me."

Great. Now she was crying.

"She slammed the door in my face. She threatened to call the police if I didn't leave."

I strode past her, picking my bag up and lugging it behind me down the hall towards my bedroom. Flipping on that light, I had to temper my anger as I had a little Goldilocks moment. Someone's been sleeping in my bed. I heard her footfalls coming down the hall and I rounded and met her at the door.

"Hadley, I need... five minutes, okay? Just five minutes, and I'll meet you in the kitchen." I had to change my clothes. I had to brush my hair and wash my face. I had to calm down to the point where I wouldn't strangle my cousin.

"Okay," she sniveled. At least she seemed to be trying to get a hold on herself. "Okay. But Sookie?"

"Yes, Hadley?" I gritted out.

"I think they might have got Jason."

I felt the air rush out of me. My legs crumpled beneath me and I stared, unseeing, at the wall until I heard Hadley retreating down the hall. I thought I'd prepared myself for the possibility, but I had been wrong. It was just too much. I spent a long time there on the floor until finally the shock wore off, replaced by questions.

Hadley was sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of my hot chocolate. She had a mug and a packet out for me as well, but I ignored it in favor of starting a pot of coffee. My cousin very wisely said nothing until I sat down with her.

"Start at the beginning," I bid her.

She'd gotten a ride into Shreveport from a man she met at the bar in Bon Temps. I didn't bother scolding her about what had happened the last time she'd taken a ride from man she hardly knew. What would be the point? From Shreveport she'd gotten the bus to Houston, and there, like she'd said, Camille refused to see her.

"Why didn't you tell us you were leaving Hadley? People were worried about you."

"I...didn't think..." That was obvious. And it was obvious too, from a look inside her mind, that if Camille had taken her back, she would simply have stayed away.

"Hadley, you cannot keep doing this! Either stay here, be here completely, or go away and stay gone. You can't do this to Gran. She can't handle it. Do you understand? Even apart from the heart attack, she's lost so much. This past week... I don't think I have seen her so truly happy in years. You mean the world to her. Do you get that Hadley?" I stared her down. This was not a rhetorical question.

"I get it," she answered, finally. Quietly.

I breathed out another sigh. I know I should have gotten up then, and embraced her, but I didn't. We had some miles to go, Hadley and I.

After that, I got the rest of her story. After Camille's rejection she'd gone back to their local bar to drown her sorrows. She'd run into the corseted home-wrecker again. I chided myself for the thought as I had it. It wasn't this woman's fault that Hadley had a girlfriend when they'd slept together. This time, they'd only talked. I monitored the memories as she recalled them very carefully to be certain that my cousin had not revealed more than she ought to have. Though a little hazy from her alcohol consumption, it didn't seem she had. The woman, Liset, I was finally told, had encouraged her to come back home to Bon Temps. There, see. She wasn't all bad.

"So I got the bus back this morning...yesterday morning, I guess," Hadley said, looking toward the window. The sky was lightening by now. I hoped Eric was safely ensconced somewhere.

"And you came right here?" I asked. How had she gotten inside, anyway? I don't keep a key hidden.

"No, I got a ride to Jason's, only he wasn't there. He... the place was half-trashed, Sookie. Like there'd been a fight. It was open, and his truck was there... his keys were right by the door..."

I sucked in a breath, but she continued. "I...took the keys and his truck and I came here. I thought maybe the fairies got him. I don't know..."

"Where's his truck?" I asked. It certainly wasn't in the driveway. I wouldn't have been scared half to death if I'd had an inkling someone was in the house.

"I didn't want to come right here," she said, sounding nervous. "I was freaked out, you know? So I parked it at the shopping center and went in the stores a bit, to make sure I wasn't being followed. And I uh, bought a hat, and then I walked here."

"And no one followed you?"

She was shaking her head. "I'm sure no one followed me."

"Okay," I said. "Did you get any sleep?"

"A little. Some."

"Good. Go get a shower and find some clothes. Tray's going to be here at dawn. We're going to Bon Temps, and the first thing we're going to do is figure out what happened to Jason."

"How are we going to do that?"

"Tray is a werewolf. We'll start by seeing what he can find."

"Alright. Sookie? Who is Tray?"

"Oh. He's a guard. He works with me at Splendide. He's acting as my, uh, bodyguard. While this stuff is going on. Yours too now, I guess. We'll be safe with him, okay?"

"You have a bodyguard?"

"Yes. Eric's idea. But it's a good one," I finished quickly. "He's a nice guy, Tray."

"Eric's the vampire boyfriend?"

"Er. No. Maybe. Sort of. I wouldn't call him that, but he's...we're... that's my vampire. Yes."

She smirked, but very wisely said nothing as she left to take her shower.