"Come in," Sookie called out, her mind more on ensuring she had everything she needed for Rhodes. She would hate to have to call Claudine or, worse, Claude to grab something for her. Despite the circumstances being vastly different, she still didn't trust Claude. He had, after all, still cursed Dermot. Sookie hadn't revealed her knowledge of that information to anyone yet. Until Claude gave her reason, she was keeping that to herself.
"Miss Brigant, I have the finished contract for Oklahoma," Hugo mumbled as he shuffled into the office.
"Just in time." Sookie finally looked up at him. "Take a seat." She pointed to the couch. Sookie bit her lip to keep from smiling at how uncomfortable he looked. "How are you?" The question clearly surprised him.
"I am good… great, really. I love the work and working here. The apartment is excellent, truly Miss Brigant, I have no complaints."
"Good to hear," Sookie said with a nod. "There is every likelihood that Stan and Isabelle will be at Rhodes." Sookie focused on Hugo as she imparted that piece of information.
"I was not expecting that, which, in hindsight, was rather naive of me. That being said, I already had Lafayette remove her blood from my system." Sookie's eyes had widened before he finished his sentence, having heard it from his thoughts. It must have happened in the last couple of weeks; she had last read Hugo before going away with Eric.
"When was this?"
"Two weeks ago. I would have done it sooner, but Lafayette said I might feel out of it for a few days, so I waited until I had the time."
"That is the kind of initiative I can fully get behind. Well done, Hugo." Sookie praised.
"Thank you, Miss Brigant. I am determined to make the most of this opportunity." Sookie smiled, having picked up from his thoughts that he was enjoying playing the field far more than being a vampire's pet.
"Excellent. Now, I will want you in the room with me during the meeting with Oklahoma. I know Andrew Woods rather well, so that gives us an advantage. We both know they will want to make changes to the contract, but they're changes we can expect." Sookie murmured.
"Seriously, how rich are you?" Pam stared at the private Anubis jet as they loaded their travel coffins onboard. Pam didn't think they needed it, but Sookie had insisted.
"This has got nothing to do with me. The A.P. provided the ride." Sookie smiled.
"Is that our food?" Pam's eyes lit up at the sight of Of Mael and Zoe carrying two crates of Jesus' continued experiment.
"Nope, those are gifts perfectly mixed for certain individuals. I'm afraid you are not on that list." Jason's braying laughter thoroughly derailed Sookie's attempt to stifle her grin.
"I'm beginning to reevaluate our friendship," Pam grumbled.
"Don't be like that. I need to cement some vital relationships and hopefully get some new allies. We are going to need all of Amun onside here. In my nightmares, it was Sophie-Anne going on trial, and that was mostly down to some members of Amun desperate to wrestle Louisiana out of Sophie-Anne's grip. Her killing of Threadgill was justified, and they all knew it. Fortunately for us, not that it lasted much longer, I foiled that plan with my testimony." Sookie's words brought the gravity of what the next few days entailed.
"I'm still not down with you helping the bitch that set Compton loose on you." Jason groused.
"Unfortunately, the likes of Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, and Indiana don't want Louisiana, and they are the only ones I would happily help takeover. The rest would bleed the state dry and watch it rot."
"Even with the hurricane, there is wealth in Louisiana. The likes of Russell, Bartlett, and Isaiah don't need any more money and couldn't care less about Louisiana's wealth. The rest, I can see why they'd want Sophie-Anne out of the way." Eric reiterated Sookie's point.
"So why did Threadgill go after Oklahoma If they are all in cahoots?" Zoe asked.
"Oklahoma is a lone wolf. They don't like Freyda, and she has made little effort to endear herself to them. The rich ones don't care what she does, but the others are furious she got Oklahoma. She told me she rose to the rank of queen quickly."
"This was your nightmare, right?" Pam asked.
"Yep, she came to check out Eric's human wife. I also believe she was tempted to physically attack me, that is, until I rescinded her invitation. I can understand her actions where Eric is concerned. The respect most people have for Louisiana isn't down to Sophie-Anne; it's down to…"
"Eric," Jason said.
"I was going to say my favorite Viking, but Eric works too." Sookie quipped, earning a few giggles and eye rolls for her effort. "It is what Freyda wants; she wants what Eric brings to the table." Sookie's fingers intertwined with Eric's, almost as if she needed to remind herself he was still there. "Anyway, Tray, the floor is yours," Sookie murmured.
"Porter, you will shadow Jason. Jason, for your own safety, do as instructed." Trey asked.
"You ain't getting any complaints from me." Jason intoned firmly.
"Barry and Justin, you have Aisha and Bakari as always. Lafayette and Jesus, you have Patrick and Luna. Luna will be meeting us there. I believe she will be done with her undercover work by the time we land." Sookie nodded in agreement. "Hugo, you have Nana and Mael; he was getting a vampire for obvious reasons. Holly and Zoe, you have Tomáš.
And even though the boss will say she doesn't need it, she has Eric and me, whether she likes it or not." Sookie rolled her eyes but did not object. She'd been asked to show off, and walking around with security when you didn't need it was showing off. "Silk and Victor will also meet us at the hotel. They checked in this morning, and everything is going according to plan. Stephanie, they will shadow you." The accountant gave a firm nod, never once lifting her head from her laptop.
"What about Camille and Gavril?" Pam asked. She certainly wouldn't mind shadowing Camille.
"They don't need it," Sookie said with a smirk.
"I understand the need for security, but one glamour…"
"We can't be glamoured," Tray murmured, interrupting Eric's train of thought. "You can try it." He challenged.
Pam beat him to it. "Jason, you want to feed me."
"No, I don't." His every word was emphasized.
"How?" Eric asked.
"Combination between Sookie, Mael, and Camille," Trey answered. "It was something Camille thought we should look into after Vivian blackmailed Jason to steal Sookie's client's list."
"Brilliant thinking, too," Sookie murmured.
"And topped off with a little magic just to be on the safe side." Jesus answered. Pam noted Lafayette was strangely quiet but quickly realized he was asleep. "He's barely slept the last two days finalizing the spell for our floor. If it works, our floor will work like a vampire needing an invite into a home and on everyone else with negative intentions." Jesus explained. "Actually, it's more him getting the perfect ensemble ready." He added with a fond eye roll.
"Of course, he was." Porter mumbled.
"We were told to show off, and I intend to show off." His sleep-heavy voice did not curtail his sass one iota.
"Lord help us." Sookie could just imagine the disco ball that was Lafayette. Right now he was in the same black shirt and trousers as the other guys, absent tie and suit jacket.
A comfortable quiet had descended in the last hour, Jason had shrugged his jacket off and had fallen asleep. Everyone else was either busy watching the in-flight entertainment or reading. Pam, though, was doing a poor job of reading her magazine and surreptitiously staring at Camille. "You've clearly got a question." Camille had managed to surprise the vampire.
"You were not doing that a good a job of staring," Eric mumbled.
"I thought sirens were creatures of the sea, and only abandoned males." Her question had everyone paying attention to Camille, even though most were pretending not to.
"I'm half, and we are considered freaks, abominations and outcasts by the full blooded. It is unfortunately common among the Fae." Sookie knew this all too well. My father used to drunkenly rant about it, none of it made sense until Mr. Cataliades explained my heritage to me.
"My mother fell in love with a human, and knowing if she kept me, I would be killed, she gave me to my father. He never recovered from losing my mother; she couldn't stay with us. It would have killed her. He drunk himself to death by the time I was twelve, and I ended up in foster care. The first year was… let's just say looking like I did, I got the kind of attention no twelve-year-old wanted or needed. That first night I realized what was likely to happen if I slept in that home, I run and lived on the streets.
I was thirteen when a group of boys cornered me, I didn't stand a chance; there was no way I could fight them off, but I gave it my best shot. I screamed at them to stop, and they all seemed to freeze. I didn't stick around to find out why I just ran. The next few months proved to be interesting; I realized what I could do when it came to men and boys, at least. I survived using my gift." Camille went back to her book.
"How did you end up draining vampires for V?" Of course, that question would come up.
"Gerrit caught me using my gift, he was going to turn me, but one taste of my blood, and he realized I wasn't human, not entirely anyway. He wasn't sure if I could be turned. It wasn't a chance he could take. I had no interest at first; I hated him because I was his prisoner doing his bidding. With his blood in me, I was stuck.
He bought me an apartment and a car and lavished me with gifts; the shiner, the better. In the end, I grew to love the glided cage." Eric did not respond; his features remained impassive as he went back to watching whatever movie he was watching.
"With everything you went through, doesn't what you do bother you?" Jason asked, having woken up at some point during the story.
Camille laughed. "You sound just like your sister. I don't have sex with anyone I don't want to. I'm rarely ever needed in that capacity. With men, it's the idea that sex with me is possible. It's enough for them to drop their guard and tell me what I want to know anyway. Hell, the first time we met, within five minutes, you'd offered to give me a tour of your workshop." Jason cringed.
"Yeah, don't remind me."
"Why can't anyone go to your workshop?" Pam asked.
"Apart from the fact that the heat might kill you," Sookie grumbled.
"The heat won't kill you, it might be uncomfortable. The fire in my forge never goes out; it was lit by Jago, my mentor, and it can only be extinguished by him or his kind. Even Uncle Desmond can't put it out, and he is half demon. Above all else, it is rather obvious it aint a regular fire, what with the colors and all. I keep everyone out, can't have folks asking questions."
"Seriously, Jason, none of us can survive that heat, not for any real length of time," Mael argued.
"I'm special." He said with a level of haughtiness Sookie didn't think him capable of.
"Of course you are." Pam snarked. Sookie burst out laughing, much to Jason's irritation.
Lafayette did not disappoint. "This is how a brother stands out…" He paused for effect. "in a sea of black." His lapel was gold, and the jacket was covered in crystals. His tie was gold to match the lapel, with a diamond tie pin.
"Jesus, how much did that cost you?" Jason asked.
"I work for my money." He said, snapping his fingers to boot.
"Clearly, I'm paying you too much," Sookie muttered under her breath, earning a chuckle from Eric.
"Laissez les bons temps rouler." Sookie murmured to herself as the jet rolled into the hanger.
"Let's hope so." Eric's grip on her hand got a little tighter, and Sookie found it comforting.
In the hangar were six SUVs, Luna, Silk, and Victor. "Well, aren't you three a sight for sore eyes." Sookie smiled at the three.
"Hey, boss." The three parroted, knowing how much she hated the term.
"So…"
"It's happening as we speak," Luna said. Sookie's face lit up in a smile.
"Thank you, guys." Sookie's sincerity was evident.
"No worries, it wasn't too bad. Above all else, the Fellowship of the Sun is finished, if not pretty close to it." Silk intoned, leaning against the SUV.
"That's one less thing to worry about," Tray mumbled. It was apparent everyone in the hangar felt the same. "Okay, everyone into the SUV, the boss has an appointment to keep." Everyone quickly got moved to an SUV, and within minutes, the convoy was making its way to the Pyramid of Giza Hotel.