The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

by Charlaine Harris

  After the photo shoot, Sookie hurries home to work the evening shift at Merlotte’s, where she speaks briefly with Bill Compton, who asks if he can accompany her to New Orleans when she travels there to wrap up the estate of her late cousin, Hadley. Catholic priest Dan Riordan and Episcopal priest Kempton Littrell are also in the bar for their biweekly dinner, and Sookie is disconcerted when the priests call her away from Bill’s table, telling her that they were concerned that she was consorting with an “imp of hell.” Before leaving the bar, Father Riordan informs her that he has been contacted by the Pelts, who are searching for information about Debbie and want to meet with Sookie. She denies their request.

  TUESDAY, MARCH 15. Quinn walks into Merlotte’s shortly before last call and tells Sookie he’d like to speak with her about both business and pleasure, and she agrees to let him follow her home after closing. He tells her that he’s wanted to see her again and asks her on a date. She happily agrees. He then tells her that the vampire Queen of Louisiana has asked him to request Sookie’s services for her own use at the upcoming vampire regional summit. The queen outranks Eric, who has also requested Sookie’s presence. She unhappily acknowledges to herself that she will have to deliver the bad news to Eric. She and Quinn end their meeting by planning their date for the following Friday.

  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16. Pam calls Sookie at Merlotte’s and informs her that Eric wants to see her on Friday night. Sookie declines, telling Pam that she already has plans. Pam is gleeful that she gets to let Eric know that not only has Sookie refused his summons but she has a date. Andy Bellefleur stops Sookie on her way back from the phone call to ask a favor: He is proposing to his girlfriend, Halleigh Robinson, and wants Sookie to hide the ring box in Halleigh’s food order. Sookie unabashedly eavesdrops as Halleigh finds the box and eagerly accepts Andy’s proposal.

  As Sookie is washing dishes at home after work, she realizes that there is something out in her woods when all the night cries from the insects and frogs come to an abrupt stop. She locks her doors but holds her ground, refusing to panic. Only when the sounds resume outside does she relax enough to sleep.

  THURSDAY, MARCH 17. Sookie leaves the house early to go to the grocery store and to Tara’s Togs to get a new outfit for her date. Once at Tara’s shop, she waits while Portia Bellefleur makes plans with Tara to outfit a double wedding. Not only are Andy and Halleigh getting married; so are Portia and her fiancé, Glen. After an excited Portia leaves with a catalog, Tara happily helps Sookie pick out an outfit. Sookie then heads to the store and back home in time to fix lunch for Jason. Her brother arrives and tells her that Crystal has suffered a miscarriage. Crystal refuses to go to the hospital because she is afraid of the personnel noticing the advanced healing abilities of the shifters. Sookie calls Dr. Ludwig, the physician who treated her for the maenad poisoning and who attended the packmaster contest, and arranges to have the doctor meet with Jason and head over to his house.

  Sookie is dismayed to find Father Riordan waiting for her with the Pelts in Sam’s office when she gets to work. She is once again forced to deny being involved with Debbie’s disappearance. Sam gets a phone call letting him know Holly’s son is missing from his school, and Sookie hurries over to see if she can help with her special ability. She finally locates the injured child in a trash bin, where he was hidden by the custodian after she thought she had accidentally killed him. Returning to the bar, Sookie is suspicious of the new barmaid, Tanya Grissom, whom Sam has called in to cover for Holly.

  Sookie gets another visitor that night in the person of Calvin Norris, Crystal’s uncle and the leader of the Hotshot panthers. They discuss Calvin’s interest in Sookie, and he reluctantly acknowledges that they are not meant to be.

  FRIDAY, MARCH 18. Dressed and ready for her date with Quinn, Sookie is surprised when Eric arrives on her doorstep. He is not pleased to see her looking beautiful for another man, and they are arguing when Quinn arrives. He not only establishes his interest in Sookie but calmly informs Eric that the queen intends for Sookie to be in her retinue at the vampire summit. They leave a fuming Eric and head for the theater in Shreveport. Sookie and Quinn enjoy each other’s company, and Sookie is pleased that she can read only admiration from Quinn, who apparently has no fear of her gift. As they are leaving the theater after the show, two young half-changed werewolves attack them in the parking lot. Sookie is slightly injured as Quinn fights them off. The police arrive. They are questioned by the police, who are somewhat uneasy about the power that Quinn has displayed. After their questioning, Quinn takes Sookie to a werewolf bar, the Hair of the Dog, where he challenges the local pack over the attack on Sookie, who has been named a friend of the pack. As they return to the car, the attraction between them explodes, and Sookie decides that she needs to go more carefully with Quinn.

  SATURDAY, MARCH 19. Sookie doesn’t hear from Quinn the next day but does read in the newspaper that two juveniles were found strangled in the Shreveport holding cells—Sookie and Quinn’s attackers had been silenced. A lovely female vampire comes into Merlotte’s that night and introduces herself as Felicia, the new bartender at Fangtasia. She informs Sookie that Pam has told her to beg for her mercy, as Fangtasia bartenders don’t last long around Sookie.

  SUNDAY, MARCH 20. Sookie is suspicious and displeased when Tanya Grissom arrives at her house uninvited and makes obvious overtures of friendship. Sookie’s inhospitable attitude soon sends the shifter away, but her negative feelings are soothed when Quinn calls and they set up another date for the following night. Much to her surprise, Mr. Cataliades soon arrives, expecting her to be ready to accompany him back to New Orleans to settle her late cousin Hadley’s estate. He is equally surprised that his niece Gladiola did not deliver his message and sets out with his other niece, Diantha, to find Glad’s body, knowing that only death would have kept her from her task. Diantha locates Gladiola, cloven in two, at the edge of the woods, and Diantha and her uncle burn the body in Sookie’s driveway. Sookie goes to Sam’s trailer to arrange the time off and leaves the two supes to their solemn pyre. Remembering that Bill has asked if he can join her when she travels to New Orleans, Sookie calls him to let him know they will be leaving soon. As they travel, Sookie tells her companions about the Were attack in Shreveport and about the visit she and Quinn paid to Hair of the Dog. Bill is unhappy because it’s clear Quinn is becoming a part of Sookie’s life. When Sookie asks Mr. Cataliades’s opinion, he suggests that Quinn knows that the Shreveport pack may already be planning a challenge to the new packmaster.

  Arriving at Hadley’s apartment in New Orleans, Bill again offers to help. Exhausted, Sookie just wants to be left alone to rest.

  MONDAY, MARCH 21. The landlady and apartment owner, Amelia Broadway, who is also a practicing witch, startles Sookie awake. She assures Sookie that wards and a stasis spell (which has kept the place just as it was on the day Hadley died) have protected the apartment. After Amelia returns to her own apartment downstairs, Sookie begins to explore and is disturbed when she finds bloodstained towels in the bathroom hamper. She opens the hall closet and discovers a man’s body. Realizing the body must have been there since Hadley died, she goes in search of Amelia to tell her they have a problem. They have just decided that the stasis spell has kept the body from decomposing when Sookie notices the man’s fingers moving. She realizes they have a rising vampire to deal with. Amelia just has time to call for help before they are attacked and must fight for their lives against the hungry new vampire, Jake Purifoy, a Were. Both are seriously wounded before they are rescued by the vampire police.

  While she is awaiting treatment at the hospital, Sookie is surprised by Eric’s arrival. She accuses him of following her. He reminds her of the bond that exists between them because he has given her his blood. He also tells her that he has met with the queen to negotiate for Sookie’s services at the vampire summit. As they are talking, Bill suddenly appears, much to Eric’s displeasure. When Bill accuses Eric of tiring Sookie and asks him to leave, an
angry Eric retaliates by forcing Bill to disclose what Eric discovered when he met with Sophie-Anne. Bill confesses that he was sent to Bon Temps by the queen to attract Sookie’s notice and even to seduce her in an effort to gain the use of her gift. Her heart broken by Bill’s betrayal, a physically and emotionally devastated Sookie stumbles back to the apartment.

  TUESDAY, MARCH 22. Claudine and Amelia are at Sookie’s bedside when she awakes in deep emotional pain. Claudine reveals that she is Sookie’s fairy godmother, sworn to protect her, and tells Amelia the reason for Sookie’s unhappiness. They decide they need to determine how Jake was killed and turned, so Amelia suggests an ectoplasmic reconstruction of the events on the day of Hadley’s death. Amelia leaves to make preparations, and Claudine explains to Sookie that she must keep her appointment with the queen that evening. They leave to shop for the perfect dress and accessories.

  Sookie, correctly clad, arrives at Sophie-Anne’s headquarters and is admitted to the queen’s presence by her twin bodyguards, Sigebert and Wybert. The queen introduces her new husband, the King of Arkansas, Peter Threadgill. His personal bodyguard, Jade Flower, stands guard behind her king with a long sword strapped to her back. Sophie-Anne’s personal bodyguard, Andre Paul, armed with a saber and a gun, stands guard behind his queen as well. As Sookie and the queen discuss the conversion of Jake Purifoy, Sookie tells Sophie-Anne about the planned ectoplasmic reconstruction. The queen agrees to pay the expenses of the ritual and declares that she wishes to witness it. She inquires briefly after Bill, and Sookie rather sharply informs her that they are no longer a couple. As they ready themselves to go, the king insists that Jade Flower accompany Sookie and Sophie-Anne.

  Amelia is waiting at the apartment with three other witches, who will help her with the ectoplasmic reconstruction. The spectators watch in amazement as the ghostly events of the day Hadley died appear before them. They see the attack on Jake but are not able to identify the attacker. They do, however, witness Hadley’s desperate attempt to save him by making him a vampire. It is apparent that someone wanted Hadley accused of his death, and the atmosphere is getting tense when Quinn suddenly arrives. When alone in Hadley’s apartment with Sookie and Andre, Sophie-Anne tells Sookie that a jealous Hadley stole a valuable bracelet, a gift to the queen from her new husband. The queen will face political and personal disaster if the bracelet is not restored to her before the ball scheduled in two days’ time. Sophie-Anne tells Sookie that they must pretend that she and Andre had sex as Sophie-Anne watched, to justify this private meeting to Jade Flower. As they exchange an uncomfortable embrace to add evidence to the illusion, Andre reveals to Sookie that she has a trace of fairy blood. Although Sophie-Anne has instructed Sookie not to reveal any details, Sookie carefully tells Quinn that she did not have sex with Andre, and they have a romantic moment together.

  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23. Sookie begins to pack up Hadley’s possessions and is delighted when Quinn reappears to help. They make love that afternoon, but while they are relaxing afterward, Sookie suddenly senses danger. They are attacked and kidnapped by a group of werewolves who subdue the powerful Quinn with a stun gun.

  The kidnappers force Sookie and Quinn into a van but do not seem to consider her a threat. She is able to locate Quinn’s cell phone and call for help. The kidnappers quickly pull over and search them, binding Quinn’s legs before starting off again. Because Quinn has undergone a partial change during the fight, Sookie encourages him to bite through the duct tape binding her wrists. She is able to get free and to unbind his hands and feet. As Sookie stabs the Were in the passenger seat with a screwdriver, Quinn opens the door of the van, and they escape into the swamp. They only stop to rest when they are certain they have lost their kidnappers. Sookie suddenly realizes who is behind the abduction and explains to Quinn, who shifts fully into his tiger persona and leads her through the swamp to a house where they find the kidnappers’ van. Looking through the window, Sookie realizes that her feelings were correct when she sees the Pelt family. Sookie and Quinn attack the house and are soon joined by Eric and the queen’s guard, Rasul. Sookie confronts the furious family and tells them the truth about the death of their daughter Debbie. Reluctantly recognizing that Sookie was acting in self-defense, Gordon and Barbara Pelt, much to their daughter Sandra’s dismay, promise not to harass Sookie further. Sookie also learns from them that Tanya Grissom is a relative who was sent to spy on her and find out more about Debbie’s death.

  THURSDAY, MARCH 24. Mr. Cataliades accompanies Sookie to Hadley’s bank to receive the contents of her cousin’s safe-deposit box, but the missing bracelet is not there, as he obviously hoped. Sookie returns to the apartment to find a message on the answering machine: The queen expects to see Sookie that night at the spring ball. She debates whether or not she should go. Continuing to pack, she hears a strange noise when she shakes a can of coffee and realizes she has found the queen’s bracelet. Sookie knows she must attend the ball after all and goes down to Amelia’s to borrow a dress and shoes.

  Quinn and Sookie arrive at the queen’s party house, a former monastery. Both are immediately uneasy as they observe the extreme security and the unusual outfits of the king’s guards. As Sookie and Quinn greet Mr. Cataliades, she tells him she has heard that someone with a long sword was seen on her way to Bon Temps, letting him draw his own conclusions about who killed his niece Gladiola. Sookie is able to secretly pass the missing bracelet to the queen, much to her relief. As Sophie-Anne joins her new husband in a dance, he notices the bracelet and is obviously furious. Sookie learns from Quinn that the bracelet had been a part of the king’s marriage gift to the queen. If he’d been able to prove she’d given it toto a lover, he could have taken her kingdom and everything in it for his own.

  Thwarted, Peter Threadgill and his people resort to violence. Sookie and Quinn are enjoying a dance when a severed head flies by them. Violent chaos erupts, and Sookie and Quinn become separated during the melee. As she struggles to flee the room, Sookie is forced to fight for her life when she is attacked by an enraged Jade Flower, mysteriously missing one leg. Sookie is rescued by Bill, who beheads the Asian vampire. Fleeing through the queen’s bedroom, Sookie flips on the lights and sees a seriously injured Sophie-Anne lying on the bed, with Andre and Peter facing each other across it. Andre immediately shoots Peter twice in the face and then receives permission from his queen to finish the job. Sookie continues out the door before seeing how he does the deed. Once she is out on the lawn, Quinn joins her in tiger form, and they escape over the wall of the monastery. Andre follows them, carrying the injured queen, and they all pile into the queen’s limo.

  The queen expresses her gratitude to Sookie for the return of the bracelet. The limo drops Sookie and Quinn off at Hadley’s apartment, where Amelia waits with a large black-and-white cat. She sheepishly admits that she and Bob, one of the witches who helped with the reconstruction, got a little carried away during sex and that he is now the cat. She needs to get away from New Orleans for a time.

  An exhausted Sookie has just finished her shower, and Quinn is taking his turn, when there is a soft knock at the door. Bill is there and asks to talk with her. Sookie listens as he explains that although the queen sent him, when he came to know Sookie he began to truly love her. However, she no longer feels she can trust Bill and tells him that just saying the words will not restore her feelings for him. She leaves him to return to Quinn, and as they lie in bed together, she puts her head on his chest as he sleeps and listens to his heart beating.

  FRIDAY, MARCH 25. Quinn departs early the next morning for his next job, leaving behind a spicy note. Sookie and Amelia pack up for Bon Temps, and as she heads home, Sookie is optimistic about the future.

  The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric

  Phone: Eric calling Bill.

  ERIC : “Bill, is Sookie going to New Orleans to see about her cousin’s estate?” BILL : “Why don’t you ask her yourself ?”

  ERIC : “Since you are such a good neighbor and ke
ep such a close eye on her, I thought you might know.”

  BILL : “I don’t.”

  Phone: Eric calling Bill.

  ERIC : “I thought you’d want to know that Sookie finally arrived back at Hadley’s apartment safely.”

  BILL : “I am aware, although safely is a relative term. Why have you done this, Eric?”

  ERIC : “She deserved to know.”

  BILL: “So you told her the moment you found out. If you wanted to destroy whatever chance I had with Sookie, couldn’t you have at least waited until she was not bleeding in a hospital?”

  ERIC : “I did not do it to—”

  BILL : “Bullshit. You did it to make her hate me so that you could proceed with her without my interference. Unfortunately for you, there is already another man interested in Sookie, one who is not constrained by vampire politics as I am.”

  ERIC : “Quinn.”

  BILL : “Yes, Quinn. He should give you a run for your money, and at this moment, I can only wish him well.”

  Phone: Eric calling Bill.

  ERIC : “Bill, you may be interested in knowing that an ectoplasmic reconstruction was performed at Hadley’s apartment last night to try to discover who turned the Were, Jake Purifoy.”

  BILL: “I know.”

  ERIC : “You seem to know a lot, Bill.”

  BILL : “Does that bother you, Eric?”

  ERIC : “It bothers me that you entered my territory on an assignment from the queen that I was not made aware of.”

  BILL: “You’ll have to take that up with Sophie-Anne.”