And Eric was lucky when he dashed into the bar about thirty minutes later, because Sam didn't have any more stakes handy. As jittery as everyone was, some foolhardy soul would have volunteered to take out Eric: but he wouldn't have come out of it relatively unscathed, as those who'd tackled Charles had.
And Eric was also lucky that the first words out of his mouth were "Sookie, are you all right?" In his anxiety, he grabbed me, one hand on either side of my waist, and I cried out.
"You're hurt," he said, and then realized five or six men had jumped to their feet.
"I'm just sore," I said, making a huge effort to look okay. "Everything's fine. This here's my friend Eric," I said a little loudly. "He's been trying to get in touch with me, and now I know why it was so urgent." I met the eyes of each man, and one by one, they dropped back into their seats.
"Let's us go sit and talk," I said very quietly.
"Where is he? I will stake the bastard myself, no matter what Hot Rain sends against me." Eric was furious.
"It's been taken care of," I hissed. "Will youchill ?"
With Sam's permission, we went to his office, the only place in the building that offered both chairs and privacy. Sam was back behind the bar, perched on a high stool with his leg on a lower stool, managing the bartending himself.
"Bill searched his database," Eric said proudly. "The bastard told me he came from Mississippi , so I wrote him down as one of Russell's discarded pretty boys. I had even called Russell, to ask him if Twining had worked well for him. Russell said he had so many new vampires in themansion, he had only the vaguest recollection of Twining. But Russell, as I observed at Josephine's Bar, is not the kind of manager I am."
I managed a smile. That was definitely true.
"So when I found myself wondering, I asked Bill to go to work, and Bill traced Twining from his birth as a vampire to his pledge to Hot Rain."
"This Hot Rain was the one who made him a vampire?"
"No, no," Eric said impatiently. "Hot Rain made the pirate's sire a vampire. And when Charles's sire was killed during the French and Indian War, Charles pledged himself to Hot Rain. When Hot Rain was dissatisfied with Long Shadow's death, he sent Charles to exact payment for the debt he felt was owed."
"Why would killing me cancel the debt?"
"Because he decided after listening to gossip and much reconnoitering that you were important tome, and that your death would wound me the way Long Shadow's had him."
"Ah." I could not think of one thing to say. Not one thing.
At last I asked, "So Hot Rain and Long Shadow were doing the deed, once upon a time?"
Eric said, "Yes, but it wasn't the sexual connection, it wasthe . . . the affection. That was the valuable part of the bond."
"So because this Hot Rain decided the fine you paid him for Long Shadow's death just didn't give him closure, he sent Charles to do something equally painful to you."
"Yes."
"And Charles got to Shreveport , kept his ears open, found out about me, decided my death would fill the bill."
"Apparently."
"So he heard about the shootings, knew Sam is a shifter, and shot Sam so there'd be a good reason for him to come to Bon Temps."
"Yes."
"That's real, real complicated. Why didn't Charles just jump me some night?"
"Because he wanted it to look like an accident.He didn't want blame attached to a vampire at all, because not only did he not want to get caught, he didn't want Hot Rain to incur any penalty."
I closed my eyes. "He set fire to my house," I said. "Not that poor Marriot guy. I bet Charles killed him before the bar even closed that night and brought him back to my house so he'd take the blame. After all, the guy was a stranger to Bon Temps. No one would miss him. Oh my God! Charles borrowed my keys! I bet the man was in my trunk! Not dead, but hypnotized. Charles planted that card in the guy's pocket. The poor fella wasn't a member of the Fellowship of the Sun anymore than I am."
"It must have been frustrating for Charles, when he found you were surrounded by friends," Eric said a little coldly, since a couple of those "friends" had just clomped by noisily, using a trip to the john as a pretext to keep an eye on him.
"Yes, must have been." I smiled.
"You seem better than I expected," Eric said a little hesitantly."Less traumatized, as they say now."
"Eric, I'm a lucky woman," I said. "Today I've seen more bad stuff than you can imagine. All I can think is,I escaped. By the way, Shreveport now has a new packmaster, and he's a lying, cheating bastard."
"Then I take it Jackson Herveaux lost his bid for the job."
"Lost more than that."
Eric's eyes widened. "So the contest was today. I'd heard Quinn was in town. Usually, he keeps transgressions to a minimum."
"It wasn't his choice," I said. "A vote went against Jackson ; it should have helped him, butit . . . didn't."
"Why were you there? Was that blasted Alcide trying to use you for some purpose in the contest?"
"You should talk about using."
"Yes, but I'm straightforward about it," Eric said, his blue eyes wide and guileless.
I had to laugh. I hadn't expected to laugh for days, or weeks, and yet here I was, laughing. "True," I admitted.
"So, I'm to understand that Charles Twining is no more?" Eric asked quite soberly.
"That's correct."
"Well, well. The people here are unexpectedly enterprising. What damage have you suffered?"
"Broken rib."
"A broken rib is not much when a vampire is fighting for his life."
"Correct, again."
"When Bubba got back and I found he hadn't exactly delivered his message, I rushed here gallantly to rescue you. I had tried calling the bar tonight to tell you to beware, but Charles answered the phone every time."
"It was gallant of you, in the extreme," I admitted."But, as it turns out, unnecessary."
"Well,then . . . I'll go back to my own bar and look at my own bar patrons from my own office. We're expanding our Fangtasia product line."
"Oh?"
"Yes. What would you think of a nude calendar? 'Fangtasia's Vampire Hunks' is what Pam thinks it should be called."
"Are you gonna be in it?"
"Oh, of course.Mr. January."
"Well, put me down for three. I'll give one to Arlene and one to Tara. And I'll put one up on my own wall."
"If you promise to keep it open to my picture, I'll give you one for free," Eric promised.
"You got a deal."
He stood up. "One more thing, before I go."
I stood, too, but much more slowly.
"I may need to hire you in early March."
"I'll check my calendar. What's up?"
"There's going to be a little summit.A meeting of the kings and queens of some of the southern states. The location hasn't been settled, but when it is, I wonder if you can get time off from your job here to accompany me and my people."
"I can't think that far ahead just at the moment, Eric," I said. I winced as I began to walk out of the office.
"Wait one moment," he said suddenly, and justlikethat he was in front of me.
I looked up, feeling massively tired.
He bent and kissed me on my mouth, as softly as a butterfly's fluttering.
"You said I told you you were the best I'd ever had," he said. "But did you respond in kind?"
"Don't you wish you knew?" I said, and went back to work.