“Oh,” I said faintly. I’d never shared clothes with a guy. “Well, thank you so much. This is very kind of you.” And it was. He’d brought some sweats (powder blue) and socks, and a silk bathrobe, and even some fresh panties. I didn’t want to think about that too closely.
“You seem better,” the small man said. His eyes were admiring, but not in any real personal way. Maybe I’d overestimated my charms.
“I am very shaky,” I said quietly. “I was up because I was on my way to the bathroom.”
Curly’s brown eyes flared, and I could tell he was looking at Eric over my shoulder. This view definitely was more to his taste, and his smile became frankly inviting. “Leif, would you like to share my coffin today?” he asked, practically batting his eyelashes.
I didn’t dare turn to look at Eric. There was a patch on my back that was still wet. I was suddenly disgusted with myself. I’d had thoughts about Alcide, and more than had thoughts about Eric. I was not pleased with my moral fiber. It was no excuse that I knew Bill had been unfaithful to me, or at least it wasn’t much of an excuse. It was probably also not an excuse that being with Bill had accustomed me to regular, spectacular sex. Or not much of an excuse.
It was time to pull my moral socks up and behave myself. Just deciding that made me feel better.
“I have to run an errand for Sookie,” Eric was telling the curly-haired vamp. “I am not sure I’ll return before daybreak, but if I do, you can be sure I’ll seek you out.” Eric was flirting back. While all this repartee was flying around me, I pulled on the silk robe, which was black and pink and white, all flowers. It was really outstanding. Curly spared me a glance, and seemed more interested than he had when I’d just appeared in my undies.
“Yum,” he said simply.
“Again, thanks,” I said. “Could you tell me where the nearest bathroom is?”
He pointed down the hall to a half-open door.
“Excuse me,” I said to both of them, and reminded myself to walk slowly and carefully, as if I was still in pain, as I made my way down the hall. Past the bathroom, by maybe two doors, I could see the head of the staircase. Okay, I knew the way out now. That was actually a comfort.
The bathroom was just a regular old bathroom. It was full of the stuff that usually clutters bathrooms: hair dryers, hot curlers, deodorant, shampoo, styling gel. Some makeup. Brushes and combs and razors.
Though the counter was clean and orderly, it was apparent several people shared the room. I was willing to bet Russell Edgington’s personal bathroom looked nothing like this one. I found some bobby pins and secured my hair on top of my head, and I took the quickest shower on record. Since my hair had just been washed that morning, which now seemed years ago and took forever to dry besides, I was glad to skip it in favor of scrubbing my skin vigorously with the scented soap in the built-in dish. There were clean towels in the closet, which was a relief.
I was back in the bedroom within fifteen minutes. Curly was gone, Eric was dressed, and Bubba was back.
Eric did not say one word about the embarrassing incident that had taken place between us. He eyed the robe appreciatively but silently.
“Bubba has scoped out the territory, Sookie,” Eric said, clearly quoting.
Bubba was smiling his slightly lopsided smile. He was pleased with himself. “Miss Sookie, I found Bill,” he said triumphantly. “He ain’t in such good shape, but he’s alive.”
I sank into a chair with no forewarning. I was just lucky it was behind me. My back was still straight—but all of a sudden, I was sitting instead of standing. It was one more strange sensation in a night full of them.
When I was able to think of anything else, I noticed vaguely that Eric’s expression was a bewildering blend of things: pleasure, regret, anger, satisfaction. Bubba just looked happy.
“Where is he?” My voice didn’t even sound like my own.
“There’s a big building in back of here, like a four-car garage, but it’s got apartments on top of it and a room to the side.”
Russell liked to keep his help handy.
“Are there other buildings? Could I get confused?”
“There’s a swimming pool, Miss Sookie, and it’s got a little building right by it for people to change into their bathing suits. And there’s a great big toolshed, I think that’s what it’s for, but it’s separate from the garage.”
Eric said, “What part of the garage is he being kept in?”
Bubba said, “The room to the right side. I think maybe the garage used to be stables, and the room is where they kept the saddles and stuff. It isn’t too big.”
“How many are in there with him?” Eric was asking some good questions. I could not get over Bubba’s assurance that Bill was still alive and that I was very close to him.
“They got three in there right now, Mr. Eric, two men and one woman. All three are vamps. She’s the one with the knife.”
I shrank inside myself. “Knife,” I said.
“Yes’m, she’s cut him up pretty bad.”
This was no time to falter. I’d been priding myself on my lack of squeamishness earlier. This was the moment to prove I’d been telling the truth to myself.
“He’s held out this long,” I said.
“He has,” Eric agreed. “Sookie, I will go to get a car. I’ll try to park it back there by the stables.”
“Do you think they’ll let you back in?”
“If I take Bernard with me.”
“Bernard?”
“The little one.” Eric smiled at me, and his own smile was a little lopsided.
“You mean . . . Oh, if you take Curly with you, they’ll let you back in because he lives here?”
“Yes. But I may have to stay here. With him.”
“You couldn’t, ah, get out of it?”
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t want to be caught here, rising, when they discover Bill is gone, and you with him.”
“Miss Sookie, they’ll put werewolves to guarding him during the day.”
We both looked at Bubba simultaneously.
“Those werewolves that have been on your trail? They’ll be guarding Bill when the vamps go to sleep.”
“But tonight is the full moon,” I said. “They’ll be worn out when it’s their turn to take over. If they show up at all.”
Eric looked at me with some surprise. “You’re right, Sookie. This is the best opportunity we’re going to get.”
We talked it over some more; perhaps I could act very weak and hole up in the house, waiting for a human ally of Eric’s to arrive from Shreveport. Eric said he would call the minute he got out of the immediate area, on his cell phone.
Eric said, “Maybe Alcide could lend a hand tomorrow morning.”
I have to admit, I was tempted by the idea of calling him in again. Alcide was big and tough and competent, and something hidden and weak in me suggested that surely Alcide would be able to manage everything better than I would. But my conscience gave an enormous twinge. Alcide, I argued, could not be involved further. He’d done his job. He had to deal with these people in a business way, and it would ruin him if Russell figured out his part in the escape of Bill Compton.
We couldn’t spend any more time in discussion, because it lacked only two hours until dawn. With a lot of details still loose, Eric went to find Curly—Bernard—and coyly request his company on an errand to obtain a car I assumed he intended to rent, and what car rental place would be open at this hour was a mystery to me, but Eric didn’t seem to anticipate any trouble. I tried to dismiss my doubts from my mind. Bubba agreed to go over Russell’s wall again, as he’d entered, and find a place to go to ground for the day. Only the fact that this was the night of the full moon had saved Bubba’s life, Eric said, and I was willing to believe it. The vampire guarding the gate might be good, but he couldn’t be everywhere.
My job was to play weak until day, when the vampires would retire, and then somehow get Bill out of the stable and into the trunk of the car Eric would provide. They’d have no reason to stop me from leaving.
“This is maybe the worst plan I have ever heard,” Eric said.
“You got that right, but it’s all we have.”
“You’ll do great, Miss Sookie,” Bubba told me encouragingly.
That’s what I needed, a positive attitude. “Thank you, Bubba,” I said, trying to sound as grateful as I felt. I was energized by Eric’s blood. I felt like my eyes were shooting sparks and my hair was floating around my head in a electric halo.
“Don’t get too carried away,” Eric advised. He reminded me that this was a common problem with people who ingested black-market vampire blood. They attempted crazy things since they felt so strong, so invincible, and sometimes they just weren’t up to the attempted feat—like the guy who tried to fight a whole gang at once, or the woman who took on an oncoming train. I took a deep breath, trying to impress his warning on my brain. What I wanted to do was lean out the window and see if I could crawl up the wall to the roof. Wow, Eric’s blood was
awesome
. That was a word I’d never used before, but it was accurate. I’d never realized what a difference there would be between taking Bill’s blood and taking Eric’s.
There was a knock at the door, and we all looked at it as if we could see through it.
In an amazingly short time, Bubba was out the window, Eric was sitting in the chair by the bed, and I was in the bed trying to look weak and shaky.
“Come in,” Eric called in a hushed voice, as befitted the companion of someone recuperating from a terrible wound.
It was Curly—that is, Bernard. Bernard was wearing jeans and a dark red sweater, and he looked good enough to eat. I closed my eyes and gave myself a stern lecture. The blood infusion had made me very lively.
“How is she doing?” Bernard asked, almost whispering. “Her color is better.”
“Still in pain, but healing, thanks to the generosity of your king.”
“He was glad to do it,” Bernard said courteously. “But he will be, ah, best pleased if she can leave on her own tomorrow morning. He is sure by then her boyfriend will be back at his apartment after he has enjoyed the moon tonight. I hope this doesn’t seem too brusque?”
“No, I can understand his concern,” Eric said, being polite right back.
Apparently, Russell was afraid that I would stay for several days, cashing in on my act of heroism. Russell, unused to having human female houseguests, wanted me to go back to Alcide, when he was sure Alcide would be able to see after me. Russell was a little uneasy about an unknown woman wandering around his compound during the day, when he and all his retinue would be in their deep sleep.
Russell was quite right to worry about this.
“Then I’ll go get her a car and park it in the area to the rear of the house, and she can drive herself out tomorrow. If you can arrange that she’ll have safe passage through the front gates—I assume they are guarded during the day?—I will have fulfilled my obligation to my friend Alcide.”
“That sounds very reasonable,” Bernard said, giving me a fraction of the smile he was aiming at Eric. I didn’t return it. I closed my eyes wearily. “I’ll leave word at the gate when we go. My car okay? It’s just a little old egg-beater, but it’ll get us to . . . where did you want to go?”
“I’ll tell you when we’re on the road. It’s close to the home of a friend of mine. He knows a man who’ll loan me the car for a day or two.”
Well, he’d found a way to obtain a car without a paper trail. Good.
I felt movement to my left. Eric bent over me. I knew it was Eric, because his blood inside me informed me so. This was really scary, and this was why Bill had warned me against taking blood from any vampire other than him. Too late. Rock and a hard place.
He kissed my cheek in a chaste, friend-of-the-boyfriend way. “Sookie,” he said very quietly. “Can you hear me?”
I nodded just a trifle.
“Good. Listen, I am going to get you a car. I’ll leave the keys up here by the bed when I get back. In the morning, you need to drive out of here and back to Alcide’s. Do you understand?”
I nodded again. “Bye,” I said, trying to make my voice drowsy. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he said, and I heard the edge in his voice. With an effort, I kept my face straight.
It’s hard to credit, but I actually fell asleep after they left. Bubba had evidently obeyed, and gone over the fence to arrange shelter for the day. The mansion became very quiet as the night’s revelries drew to a close. I supposed the werewolves were off having their last howl somewhere. As I was drifting off, I wondered how the other shape-shifters had fared. What did they do with their clothes? Tonight’s drama at Club Dead had been a fluke; I was sure they had a normal procedure. I wondered where Alcide was. Maybe he had caught that son of a bitch Newlin.
I woke up when I heard the chink of keys.
“I’m back,” Eric said. His voice was very quiet, and I had to open my eyes a little to make sure he was actually there. “It’s a white Lincoln. I parked out by the garage; there wasn’t room inside, which is a real pity. They wouldn’t let me get any closer to confirm what Bubba said. Are you hearing me?”
I nodded.
“Good luck.” Eric hesitated. “If I can disentangle myself, I’ll meet you in the parking garage at first dark tonight. If you aren’t there, I’ll go back to Shreveport.”
I opened my eyes. The room was dark, still; I could see Eric’s skin glowing. Mine was, too. That scared the tar out of me. I had just stopped glowing from taking Bill’s blood (in an emergency situation), when here came another crisis, and now I was shining like a disco ball. Life around vampires was just one continuous emergency, I decided.
“We’ll talk later,” Eric said ominously.
“Thanks for the car,” I said.
Eric looked down at me. He seemed to have a hickey on his neck. I opened my mouth, and then shut it again. Better not to comment.
“I don’t like having feelings,” Eric said coldly, and he left.
That was a tough exit line to top.