The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

by Charlaine Harris

  SUNDAY, APRIL 23. Sookie wakens to the smell of cooking and stumbles into the kitchen to share breakfast with Claude. He breaks their comfortable silence to tell her that Dermot came to his club the night before, seeking the company of another fae, and states that the Dermot he used to know would never have done that. Claude doesn’t know why his uncle went crazy. Claude goes up to his room, and Sookie washes up, then decides to try to relax and read for a while. Her heart sinks when she sees two police cars coming down her drive, and she calls up to let Claude know, prompting him to join her as Sheriff Dearborn, accompanied by Andy Bellefleur and Alcee Beck, tells her that they received an anonymous tip about a body buried on her land in the woods, confirming her suspicions that someone is trying to tie her to the murder. Once again, Claude is introduced as a relative born on the wrong side of the blanket. While the men search her woods, Sookie decides to check her e-mail and reads a message from Andy’s pregnant wife, Halleigh, letting Sookie know matriarch Caroline Bellefleur’s health is fading fast and that Caroline is determined to locate the family Bible. Knowing that the Bible is on Bill’s coffee table, Sookie forwards the e-mail to him so that he can decide what to do. The lawmen return to report that nothing was found.

  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26. Bill knocks on Sookie’s door, formally dressed with the Bible in hand. Sookie is pleased to realize that he is finally going to reveal his family connection to the Bellefleurs and agrees to accompany him when he asks.

  Halleigh answers the door, and Sookie explains that Bill has brought the family Bible to give to Miss Caroline. They are ushered upstairs to Caroline’s bedroom. After she and Bill begin to discuss family history, Caroline is amused and delighted to learn that Bill is her great-grandfather and the one who arranged the financial windfall that allowed her to refurbish her home. As she begins to tire, she thanks Bill, and he tells her to rest easy as he and Sookie leave. Andy and Portia follow them from their grandmother’s bedroom, and Bill graciously accepts Portia’s extended hand and then gently chides Andy when he is less accepting. Bill asks them to hold Caroline’s funeral in the evening so that he can attend, and an understanding Portia readily agrees.

  THURSDAY, APRIL 27. Caroline Bellefleur passes away in the early hours of the morning.

  FRIDAY, APRIL 28. Portia keeps her promise, and Caroline’s funeral is held the next evening. Bill sits with the family. Sookie realizes at the funeral how terrible Bill still looks, and she resolves to take action. When he leaves after the funeral to go with the family to Belle Rive, she sneaks into his home and steals a CD of his vampire database, determined to locate the living child of his sire and save his life.

  SATURDAY, APRIL 29. Sookie is able to read the CD and discovers that Lorena’s only other child, Judith Vardamon, lives in Little Rock. An e-mail address is included, and after some soul-searching, Sookie decides that Bill’s illness is more important than other considerations and that the vampire should be given the opportunity to help him if she can. Sookie sends an e-mail explaining Bill’s situation and then leaves to return the CD to Bill’s home. As she is crossing the cemetery, she sees Andy by Miss Caroline’s new grave. When he comments that he hates that the family received charity from Bill, Sookie tells him that it was not charity, that Bill was simply a man who cared for his family and wanted to help them. A bemused Andy then tells her that Miss Caroline has left her famous chocolate cake recipe to the town and that it was received with great excitement at the newspaper office. He visibly brightens at Sookie’s equally thrilled response to the news. Sookie hurries on to Bill’s home to return the borrowed CD.

  As Sookie works the afternoon shift at Merlotte’s, she is stunned when she accidentally reads the thoughts of the cook, Antoine, and discovers that he is a government informant. When he realizes she knows, he begs her to talk to him before she does anything, but Sookie goes directly to Sam. Antoine tells them that he had gotten in trouble with the law over the theft of a car when he was desperate after Katrina and that Agent Weiss came to see him in jail, bringing Agent Lattesta, who offered him a deal. Lattesta already knew that Antoine’s uncle was a Were, and the agent was convinced not only that the shifters would come out, just as the vampires did, but that there were other things out there as well. Not quite certain of Sookie’s nature, Lattesta sent Antoine to Merlotte’s to keep an eye on her. After Lattesta was ordered to leave Sookie alone, he continued to expect Antoine to report the activities of Sam and all the other supes that came into the bar. Antoine tells them he had already decided not to spy anymore and is relieved when Sam believes him and lets him keep his job. When Antoine goes back to the kitchen, Sam and Sookie begin to share their personal troubles, and both agree to go out to dinner again the next night if they don’t hear from their significant others.

  Sookie is surprised to see her brother waiting for her on her front porch after work. She calls out a greeting before realizing that the man is actually Dermot. A terrified Sookie wonders if he has finally come to kill her. Dermot tells her not to be afraid and that he only wants to get to know her and Jason better. He claims he had nothing to do with the death of her parents and that Breandan had lied to him and told him that Niall had killed his brother. As they converse, Sookie realizes that her uncle is desperately trying to warn her of something but has somehow been bespelled, so he is confused and crazed. He is able to tell her of another fairy who wishes her ill and that he will be looking over her, and then he vanishes. She calls Jason, letting him know to be especially vigilant.

  Going through the past few daily newspapers while her dinner is cooking, Sookie realizes that there is still a great deal of tension about the shifters. She also reads about two especially brutal gang killings in Shreveport. She receives a message from Alcide with the time and date of the pack meeting and calls Jason again to give him the information. Finally giving in to the desire to contact Eric, from whom she has not heard a word in several days, she telephones him about the upcoming pack meeting, and he asks her to come see him.

  Arriving at Fangtasia, Sookie is shocked by how few customers are in the vampire bar. She finds Eric sitting with Alexei and Appius. Alexei begins to speak of his human family, taking Sookie’s hand and showing her his memories of all that was done to him and his family in order to justify his current sense of entitlement and desire to be allowed to go his own way. Sickened, Sookie tells him he still has a responsibility to live the right way. Pam interrupts them with the unwelcome news that the new area BVA representative has arrived in the bar, and Eric asks Appius and Alexei to go to his office so that he can greet her. Although it is obvious that Eric’s business is down, the rep is pleasant and too polite to comment.

  Once they are alone, Eric tells Sookie that Alexei is insane and that Appius has brought him to Eric in the hopes that he could help the boy. Alexei escaped somehow from their supervision and is responsible for the two supposedly gang-related deaths. Sookie is not happy that Eric is only concerned about the interests of vampires, especially his own, and is ignoring the deaths of the two young men. As they part, Eric wearily reiterates his love for her and promises to come to her house the night after her meeting with Alcide. As Sookie walks to her car, she is joined by Pam, who tells her that Alexei will ruin Eric if he stays much longer. Sookie warns Pam to let Appius handle the situation because Eric will have to let him kill her if she takes out Alexei. Pam is touched that Sookie cares and calls her a friend.

  Sookie returns home exhausted and is ready to go to bed when the doorbell rings. She doesn’t recognize the vampire female on her doorstep but, curious, opens the door, knowing the vampire can’t enter the house without an invitation. When Sookie’s unexpected visitor identifies herself as Judith Vardamon, Sookie invites her in, much to the vampire’s surprise. As they talk, Judith tells Sookie the story of Lorena and her maker, Solomon Brunswick, and about how she changed Bill because she’d fallen in love with him after seeing him through the window of his home with his family. Bill hated her and was miserable with her, but Loren
a remained obsessed with him. After thirty years together, Lorena tried to make him happier by turning Judith because she resembled his wife. Lorena believed that if Bill had a companion, he would be content to stay with her. When Judith confesses her fear of Lorena, Sookie tells her of Lorena’s final death. An overjoyed Judith demands to know where to find Bill and delightedly exclaims that they are finally free to be together without Lorena’s influence. As she hurries away to find Bill, a stunned Sookie tries to come to terms with her mixed feelings and ponders the fact that she will grow old while the vampires will go on living.

  SUNDAY, APRIL 30. Sookie finds two envelopes that were shoved under her front door in the night. The first, from Mr. Cataliades, is her inheritance from Claudine. A stunned Sookie finds a check made out to her for $150,000. The second note is from Bill, who tells her that Judith’s blood is already healing him and that she will be staying for a week to catch up on old times. Sookie is again pondering her feelings when Claude joins her on the porch. She tells him of Dermot’s visit and of her suspicion that he has been bespelled. She confronts Claude about whether he knows anything about the other fairies still on this side, but he tells her he doesn’t want to be killed and leaves. Sookie goes to church for comfort, and she is surprised and pleased to see Sam there. She joins her friends Tara and JB for lunch and then spends the afternoon doing laundry. Jason calls, and they decide to ride together to the Shreveport pack meeting the following evening.

  MONDAY, MAY 1. Sam is away at a final tax meeting with his accountant when Sookie arrives at work. An anti-shifter protester enters the bar, and Sookie tells Kennedy to call the police and then notify Sam. Sookie and the bartender persuade the protester to leave, but to their dismay, there are about thirty other protesters in the parking lot. Police officers Kevin Pryor and Kenya Jones manage to disperse the crowd without incident, and Sam, having parked elsewhere and come in the back, arrives to thank them for their help. Sookie tries to be helpful by suggesting that Sam arrange to talk to the church the protesters attend, but Sam furiously refuses to have to explain who and what he is.

  Sookie stops at the grocery store on her way home from work and is aware of the silence that greets her as she shops, knowing that word of the protest at Merlotte’s has already gotten around town. She is disturbed to realize that some of the townspeople support the pending legislation that would restrict the rights of shifters.

  Jason picks up Sookie on time for the drive to Shreveport, and they discuss the various suspects in the killing of Basim on their way to Alcide’s house. Jannalynn greets them at the door and escorts them into the living room, where Annabelle is on her knees all alone in the center of the floor. Jannalynn instructs Sookie to go upstairs to Alcide. She finds him in the study waiting for her, and he bluntly tells her that a pack shaman would be able to determine what had happened to Basim. They haven’t had one in four years; she is the closest they’ve got. By drinking a shaman’s potion, she should be able to discern who was involved and their degree of guilt. When she tells him that a year ago he wouldn’t have asked her to do this, he replies that a year ago she wouldn’t have hesitated. Sookie drinks the potion.

  As Alcide helps an increasingly unstable Sookie downstairs, she realizes with a sense of relief that she is becoming unable to feel the vampires through her bond. Sookie views the pack through the effect of the drug, and as she concentrates, she realizes she can see them as colors and knows immediately what colors to look for. She accuses Hamilton Bond of betraying the pack by inviting government people to camp on Alcide’s land, even knowing that they were looking for dirt on the Louisiana packs to use to push through anti-shifter legislation. She gets him to admit that he was jealous of Basim, and he finally confesses that he saw Basim meeting with a fairy and heard their plan to implicate Sookie in a murder by burying a body on her property. Ham decided to kill Basim and bury him instead, and then collect the reward promised by the fairy himself. Ham tells them that he was supposed to meet the fairy on Sookie’s property after the meeting that evening. Sookie names Patricia Crimmins, originally from the St. Catherine Parish pack, as Ham’s accomplice. Patricia tries to throw herself on the mercy of the pack, as she did after the Were war, claiming that her only crime has been loving the wrong man, but Ham declares that her motive was purely retaliation for not being chosen by Alcide as his lover. Annabelle is guilty only of being unfaithful to Alcide. Jason and Sookie leave as the Weres are deciding on the punishment, and Sookie is confident that enforcer and second Jannalynn will successfully argue for the deaths of Ham and Patricia.

  The drug is already wearing off as they exit the house, and Sookie is sick in the yard before she and Jason reach the truck. As her mind clears, Sookie suddenly begins to feel Eric through the bond again and becomes aware of his unhappiness and physical pain. She urges Jason to get her to Eric’s house as quickly as possible, and she fears the worst until they enter the home and Eric answers her call. They find him horribly wounded, and Bobby Burnham and his vampire girlfriend, Felicia, have been murdered. Eric tells them that Alexei finally snapped, killing the two when Appius left him alone to speak to Eric and then fleeing. Appius has gone after Alexei. Sookie orders her brother to push Eric’s broken ribs back in so that he can heal, and after doing so, Jason goes to the bathroom to wash off the blood. Sookie confronts the defeated Eric and taunts him until he reacts. When Jason staggers back into the room, he reports finding a severely injured Pam and that he has given her blood. Jason’s cell phone rings, and his girlfriend tells him that Alexei has been to his house looking for him, that Appius arrived soon after, and that she has sent them both to Sookie’s house. Sookie immediately calls Claude and warns him to get out, since the vampires can enter her house. She and a recovering Eric leave Jason with Pam and rush to Sookie’s house.

  They have almost reached the house when Eric doubles over with pain that is not his own. They arrive in her yard to find the security light on and Claude and a fairy Sookie has never seen before standing back to back, armed with knives and a sword, while Alexei circles them, occasionally darting in to strike. Appius lies nearby, head bloodied, and Eric asks him if he still lives. Appius replies that his spinal cord is severed and that he cannot move until he heals. As Sookie pleads with Alexei not to kill the fairies, she learns that the stranger is Colman, the father of Claudine’s baby, and that he blames Sookie for the death of his mate and child. Alexei dashes forward between the fairy blades to punch Colman and is wounded by Claude.

  Sookie realizes that Alexei is beginning to tire and runs into the house to retrieve the silver chain that the Drainers had used to restrain Bill so long ago. Returning to the yard, she edges cautiously toward the whirling Alexei, and when he comes near, she throws it over his head and pulls it tightly around his neck. The boy falls screaming to the ground, and Eric sends his sibling to his final death using a broken tree branch. While Eric stands guard over the two fae, Sookie takes advantage of his distraction to take the stake from a disintegrating Alexei and crawl toward the helpless Appius. She tells him she wants to kill him, but he answers that if she was going to do it, she would not have spoken. He predicts that she won’t keep Eric. Eric pleads with her not to kill his maker, so she comes up with a better idea. She hears a shout from Eric as Appius’s eyes look past her, and she feels Appius tell her to move. She throws herself away from the vampire just as a fairy blade slashes past her and into Appius’s body. Colman stands, stunned, looking down at his unintended victim, and then he begins to sway, a dagger protruding between his shoulder blades. Sookie turns to see who threw the blade but sees only Claude, who is looking at both of the knives still in his hands. Eric begins draining the wounded Colman.

  Claude and Sookie sit side by side on the grass, and Claude explains that he had tried to persuade Colman to return to Faery and had moved in with Sookie to protect her. Dermot steps out of the woods and tells them he threw the dagger into Colman to protect Sookie. He is able to indicate to Claude and Sookie that the spell th
at is on him was put there long ago, and Sookie realizes that it must have been placed by Niall. She tells Claude that spells are broken by a kiss in human fairy tales, and they both lean forward to kiss Dermot. He shudders all over and intelligence begins to fill his eyes as he weeps. Claude takes Dermot into the house, and Eric and Sookie are left alone. Eric asks Sookie why she was going to spare Appius and what she was going to say to him, and she replies that she was going to make a deal to let him live if he would kill Victor. A startled Eric admits it was a good idea.

  Sookie watches as the fairy blood he took finally begins to energize Eric, and he realizes that he is free forever from his maker. Telling Sookie that she is his dearest, Eric promises to return to her when he has checked on Pam and dealt with the things he must do now that Appius has died. Sookie watches him launch into the air to return to Shreveport. She wearily showers and prepares for bed, grimly satisfied that her enemies have perished and she has again survived. As she opens the door to her bedroom, she is surprised to find Dermot and Claude, who want to share the bed with her. Too exhausted to argue, she climbs into the bed with her fae kin on either side, and to her astonishment, she feels relaxed and comforted. She falls asleep surrounded by family.

  The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric

  Phone: Eric calling Bill.

  ERIC: “Bill, how are you feeling?”

  BILL: “Not well.”

  ERIC: “Victor is expecting a sales report for the database.”

  BILL: “There are orders. They need to be packaged.”

  ERIC: “Do you need help?”

  BILL: “Yes.”

  ERIC: “I’ll send Felicia over to your house several times a week to assist you. She can also give you blood while she is there. Perhaps that will help you heal.”