Amelia was such a clear broadcaster. She stared across the room at Diantha, lost in thought. While we were clearing the table, I had to listen to her reassessing Diantha’s abilities and cleverness. She was really impressed with the part-demon girl. Amelia was thinking about Diantha’s amazing elasticity. She wondered if Diantha was transforming her actual flesh or if she was casting an illusion. Diantha’s success made Amelia feel she hadn’t done her share of the detecting.
“Of course,” Amelia said abruptly, “Bob and I couldn’t cast the spell we wanted to cast, since we haven’t found the two men yet. But after Barry came back to get us in his snazzy rental”—this was a joke; Barry had come back in a battered Ford Focus—“we did go to all the apartment and house rental places in Bon Temps, including answering the newspaper ads. We were ready to insist on seeing any unrented apartments or houses we’d seen an ad for, because we thought the owner would say, ‘Oh, sorry, we just rented that place to two guys from wherever.’ Then we could go check them out. But we didn’t get a lead.”
“Well, that’s good information to have,” I said. “They’re too smart to stay locally.” I could tell Amelia was steamed that she and Bob hadn’t tracked down the two guys and handed them over to us.
“However,” Bob said, “we did verify why your flowers and tomatoes are growing so well.”
“Ahhhhh . . . great. Why?”
“Fairy magic,” he said. “Someone has charged all the Stackhouse land with fairy magic.”
I didn’t tell them I’d already figured that out, because I wanted them to feel good. I remembered my great-grandfather’s good-bye embrace, when I’d felt a jolt of power. I’d thought it was the finality of his farewell . . . but he’d been, for want of a better term, blessing me and my house. “Awww,” I said softly. “That’s so sweet.”
“He would have done better to put in a giant ring of protection,” Amelia said darkly. She’d been outmagicked on several fronts, and while normally she was a practical person, she was also proud. “How did Arlene get past your old wards?”
“Alcide thought she had a charm,” I offered. “I’m assuming someone gave her magic.”
Amelia flushed. “If she did have a charm, another witch is involved in this, and I want to know who. I’ll take care of that.”
“Gran would have loved seeing the yard like this,” I said, to change the subject. I smiled at the thought of the pleasure my grandmother would have felt. She’d loved her yard and worked in it tirelessly. The flowers would bloom and flourish, the bulbs would spread, the grass . . . well, it was growing like wildfire. I was going to have to mow it tomorrow, and frequently thereafter.
That was fairies for you. Always some blowback.
“Niall did more for you than that,” Mr. Cataliades said, distracting me from my unwelcome thoughts.
“What are you talking about?” I said, and that didn’t sound as civil as I meant it. “I’m sorry. You must know something I don’t.” I managed a more cordial tone.
“Yes,” he said with a smile. “I do know many things you don’t, and I’m about to tell you one of them. I would have come to Bon Temps without your being charged with murder, because I have business with you as your great-grandfather’s lawyer.”
“He’s not dead,” I said immediately.
“No, but he doesn’t plan on returning here. And he wanted you to have something to remember him kindly.”
“He’s my family. I don’t need anything else,” I said. Which was crazy, I knew it the moment I said it, but I have a little pride, too.
“I would say you do need a few things, Miss Stackhouse,” said Mr. Cataliades mildly. “Right now, you need a defense fund. Thanks to Niall, you have one. Not only will you be receiving a monthly income from the sale of Claudine’s house, your great-grandfather deeded the club to you, the one called Hooligans, and I have sold it.”
“What? But that belonged to Claude, Claudine, and Claudette, the triplets who were his fae grandchildren.”
“Though I don’t know the story, I understood from Niall that Claude did not buy the club, but was given it because he threatened the true owner.”
“Yes,” I said, after I thought about it a bit. “That’s true. Claudette was dead by then.”
“That’s a story I’d like to hear another time. Be that as it may, when Claude plotted treason against Niall and became his prisoner, he forfeited all his possessions to his ruler. Niall gave me instructions to sell the properties and give the proceeds to you in the ways I’ve described.”
“Who—? To me? You already sold the business and the house?” And
Claude was a prisoner.
I hadn’t missed that part of the speech. Though he richly deserved to be imprisoned after attempting a coup that would have ended with Niall dead, I would always have some sympathy for anyone in a cell. If that was how they locked up people in Faery. Maybe they stowed them in giant pea pods.
“Yes, the properties have already been sold. The proceeds have been put in an annuity. You’ll be getting a check every month. After we fill out the papers, it can be direct-deposited to your checking account. I’ll bring them down after we dine, along with the check for the business. Though part of the proceeds from that went into your annuity.”
“But Claudine already left me a huge chunk of money. There were some whistles blown on the estate bank, and everything froze. A week ago, the paper said the inspectors hadn’t found anything.” I should call my bank again.
“That was from Claudine’s personal estate,” the lawyer said. “She was a frugal fairy for many decades.”
I couldn’t comprehend my good fortune. “It’s a huge relief to have the money to defend myself. But I still hope that someone will confess and spare me the trial,” I murmured.
“We all hope that, Sookie,” Barry said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Amelia said, “After supper, while it’s still light, Bob and I are going to cast a circle of aggressive protection around the house.”
“I’m grateful,” I said, taking care to make eye contact and parcel out some sincerity to both of them. It was lucky that Barry could read minds, but not Amelia. While I knew Amelia was anxious to do something to contribute, and I knew she was powerful, sometimes things went wrong when she cast important spells. But I couldn’t see a way to turn down her offer that would sound polite. “I guess Niall was concentrating on making the land fertile, and that’s a really wonderful thing. But some protection would be great.”
“There’s an elvish warding spell in place,” Amelia admitted. “But since it’s not human in origin, it may not be totally effective in protecting against human attackers or vampires.”
That made sense, at least to me. Bellenos the elf had scoffed at Amelia’s spells and added his own, and there wasn’t anything human about Bellenos.
I felt guilty at doubting her. It was time for me to act happy. “Having defense money calls for some ice cream with that cake. How about it, you all? I’ve got Rocky Road and Dulce de Leche.” I smiled all around the kitchen. While I was dishing up the ice cream (everyone wanted some), I was keeping my fingers crossed that Amelia and Bob would cast a good spell.
After dessert, as the two witches went outside to work and Barry covered the remains of the cake while I put away the ice cream, Diantha said she was going upstairs to sleep. She still looked exhausted. Mr. Cataliades went up with her and came down with the papers about the monthly payment and a check for the property sale. It was attached to the legal documents with a paper clip in the shape of a heart.
I rinsed my hands and dried them on a dish towel before I took the documents from him. I glanced down at the check, with no idea what to expect. The amount made my head swim, and the letter clipped to it said I would be getting three thousand dollars a month. “This year?” I asked, to be sure I understood. “Three thousand a month? Wow. That’s amazing.” A whole year of luxury!
“Not this year. For the rest of your life,” Mr. Cataliades said.
I had to sit down very quickly.
“Sookie, you okay?” Barry asked, bending over.
Bad news or good news?
he asked.
I can pay for my legal defense
, I told him.
And I can get the house sprayed for bugs.
At midnight the alarms went off.
I hadn’t known there were alarms and I hadn’t known it was midnight, but when the chiming started, I glanced at the clock. I’d been having the best sleep I’d had in days, and I experienced a moment of vicious disappointment before I launched myself out of bed.
From across the hall, Amelia shouted, “It
worked
!” I flung open my bedroom door and stumbled out. Amelia and Bob, in a nightgown and sleep shorts respectively, were hurrying through their doorway and heading to the back door. I heard Mr. Cataliades bellow something. Diantha shrieked back. They were pounding down the stairs completely dressed in their day clothes. Barry staggered down after them in LSU sleep pants and shirtless.
We all crowded onto the back porch, staring outside. There was one big security light in the back, but we could also see that a ring of blue light had sprung up around the yard and house. A body lay on the ground outside the ring. “Oh, no!” I said, and put my hand on the porch door.
“Sookie, don’t go out!” Amelia said, grabbing my shoulder and yanking me backward. “That’s someone who tried to sneak up on the house.”
“But what if it’s Bill and he was only coming to see if everything was okay?”
“Our defensive circle recognizes enmity,” Bob said with simple pride.
“Diantha, do you have your cell phone?” Mr. Cataliades asked.
“SureIgotit,” she said, and I spared a moment to be relieved that she was back to normal.
“Go take a picture of the person who is lying on the ground, but from well within the circle,” he directed.
Before we could think to stop her or argue with the procedure, Diantha was out of the house and running across the backyard at an incredible speed. The phone was out in her hand, and as she reached the perimeter of the protective circle, she paused and took a picture. Then, before we could be more frightened for her, she was back.
Mr. Cataliades turned the little screen toward me. “Do you recognize this vampire?” he asked.
I peered at it. “Yes, I do. That’s Horst Friedman, Felipe de Castro’s right-hand man.”
“I thought as much. Amelia, Bob, I congratulate you on your power and your perspicacity.”
I didn’t know what “perspicacity” was, but Amelia did, and she beamed with delight. Even the dour Bob looked proud.
“Yes, thanks,” I said with extra enthusiasm, hoping it wasn’t too belated. “I don’t know what he wanted, and I don’t want to know, at least right now. Do you have to recharge the circle, or something like that?”
“We should retest it,” Bob suggested, and Amelia nodded.
I saw Barry’s gaze encompass the nightgown and Amelia in it, and he looked away resolutely. I
really
didn’t want to hear his thoughts about my witch friend. I said
lalalalala
inside my head for a moment so the lust could abate.
“Sookie!” The call came from outside, from the dark woods.
“Who’s there?” I called in reply.
“Bill,” he said. “What has happened here?”
“I guess Horst tried to sneak up on the house, and Bob and Amelia’s witch spell zapped him,” I yelled. I opened the back door and took two steps down. I figured if I was still standing on the steps, I could jump back inside.
Bill emerged from the tree line. “I felt the magic from my house,” he said. He looked down at Horst’s limp body. I wondered if the vampire was finally dead, but his body seemed intact. “What shall I do with him?” Bill asked me.
“That’s up to you,” I called, wishing that I could walk out to the blue ring and lower my voice. I was afraid to, though. “You gotta keep the peace with the king, I guess.” Otherwise, I might be tempted to ask Bill to use a little persuasion on Horst when the vampire woke up, so we could discover what Horst and his boss had had in mind for me.
“I’ll take him to my place and call the king,” Bill said, and he hoisted the unconscious vampire to his shoulder as if Horst weighed nothing. In a moment, Bill and his burden were out of sight.
“That was exciting,” I said, trying to sound calm and casual. I stepped back onto the porch. “I guess I’ll go back to bed. Thanks, you two, for putting that protection around. Diantha, I appreciate your help. You all okay? Anybody need anything?”
“We’ll be right back in as soon as we test the spell,” Bob said, and turned to Amelia. “You up to it, babe?”
“We should check its strength now that it’s reacted,” she said, nodding, and they went down to the yard in their bare feet. Without any consultation, they each took the other’s hands and began to chant. A strong scent wafted across the back porch, and I knew it was the scent of their magic. It was musky and heavy, like sandalwood.
It wasn’t easy to get back to sleep after such a rude awakening, but somehow I managed it. For all I knew, the sudden drop into deep sleep was part of the spell my friends were casting in my yard. When I next opened my eyes, the room was full of light and I could hear my guests moving around the house.
Though I knew I was being a bad hostess, I checked my cell phone for messages before I went out to the kitchen. I had one, a voice message from Bill.
“I called Eric and told him I had the kings friend at my house,” he said. “Eric asked what had happened, and I told him about the witches’ circle. I told him that you had many friends staying with you and they were prepared to defend you. He asked if Sam Merlotte was among them, and when I said I hadn’t seen him, he laughed. He told me he would tell the king where Horst was. Afterward, Felipe sent his woman, Angie, to collect Horst, who was only beginning to recover consciousness by the time she got here. Angie seemed quite angry at Horst, so I suspect he was on an unauthorized mission. Your witch friends did a good job.” Then he hung up. Older vampires are not into phone etiquette.
It wasn’t pretty, the picture of Eric laughing at Sam’s absence. It made me think furiously.
“Sookie, do you have any more milk?” Barry called. Of course, he would know that I was up.
“I’m coming,” I yelled back, and pulled on my clothes.