state of Louisiana, put in place by King Felipe of Nevada, and we had helped to kil Victor and his entourage. What was more, I was pretty sure Felipe de Castro suspected al this with a high degree of certainty.
“First thing, from Pam.”
Blond and sardonic, Eric’s child Pam was as close to a friend as I had among the vamps. I nodded, signaling Mustapha to deliver the message.
“She says, ‘Tel Sookie that this is the hard time that wil show what she is made of.’”
I cocked my head. “No advice other than that? Not too helpful. I figured as much.” I’d pretty much assumed Felipe’s post-Victor visit would be a very touchy one. But that Pam would warn me … seemed a bit odd.
“Harder than you know,” Mustapha said intently.
I stared at him, waiting for more.
Maddeningly, he did not elaborate. I knew better than to ask him to. “The other thing is from me,” he continued.
Only the fact that I’d had to control my face al my life kept me from giving him major Doubtful. Mustapha? Giving me advice?
“I’m a lone wolf,” he said, by way of preamble.
I nodded. He hadn’t affiliated with the Shreveport werewolves, al members of the Long Tooth pack.
“When I first blew into Shreveport, I looked into joining. I even went to a pack gathering,” Mustapha said.
It was the first chink I’d seen in his “I’m badass and I don’t need anyone” armor. I was startled that he’d even tried. Alcide Herveaux, the packleader in Shreveport, would have been glad to gain a strong wolf like Mustapha.
“The reason I didn’t even consider it is because of Jannalynn,” he said. Jannalynn Hopper was Alcide’s enforcer. She was about as big as a wasp, and she had the same nature.
“Because Jannalynn’s real y tough and she would chal enge someone as alpha as you?” I said.
He inclined his head. “She wouldn’t leave me standing. She would push and push until we fought.”
“You think she could win? Over you.” I made it not quite a question. With Mustapha’s size advantage and his greater experience, I could not fathom why Mustapha had a doubt he would be the victor.
He inclined his head again. “I do. Her spirit is big.”
“She likes to feel in charge? She has to be the baddest bitch in the fight?”
“I was in Hair of the Dog yesterday, early evening. Just to spend some time with the other Weres after I got through working for the vamps, get the smel of Eric’s house out of my nose … though we got a deader hanging around at the Hair, lately. Anyway, Jannalynn was talking to Alcide while she was serving him a drink. She knows you loaned Merlotte some money to keep his bar afloat.”
I shifted in my chair, suddenly uneasy. “I’m a little surprised Sam told her, but I didn’t ask him to keep it a secret.”
“I’m not so sure he did tel her. Jannalynn’s not above snooping when she thinks she ought to know something, and she doesn’t even think of it as snooping. She thinks of it as fact-gathering. Here’s the bottom line: Don’t cross that bitch. You’re on the borderline with her.”
“Because I helped Sam? That doesn’t make any sense.” Though my sinking heart told me it did.
“Doesn’t need to. You helped him when she couldn’t. And that gal s her. You ever seen her when she’s got a mad on?”
“I’ve seen her in action.” Sam always liked such chal enging women. I could only conclude that she saved her softer, gentler side for him.
“Then you know how she treats people she sees as a threat.”
“I wonder why Alcide hasn’t picked Jannalynn as his first lady, or whatever the term is,” I said, just to veer away from the subject for a moment. “He made her pack enforcer, but I would have thought he would pick the strongest female wolf as his mate.”
“She’d love that,” Mustapha said. “I can smel that on her. He can smel that on her. But she don’t love Alcide, and he don’t love her. She’s not the kind of woman he likes. He likes women his own age, women with a little curve to ’em. Women like you.”
“But she told Alcide …” I had to stop, because I was hopelessly confused. “A few weeks ago, she advised Alcide he should try to seduce me,” I said awkwardly. “She thought I would be an asset to the pack.”
“If you’re confused, think how Jannalynn’s feeling.” Mustapha’s face might have been carved in stone. “She’s got a relationship with Sam, but you were able to save him when she wasn’t. She halfway wants Alcide, but she knows he wanted you, too. She’s big in the pack, and she knows you have pack protection. You know what she can do to people who don’t.”
I shuddered. “She does enjoy the enforcement,” I said. “I’ve watched her. Thanks for the heads-up, Mustapha. If you’d like a drink or something to eat, the offer stil stands.”
“I’l take a glass of water,” he said, and I got it in short order. I could hear one of Dermot’s rented power tools going above our heads in the attic, and though Mustapha cocked an eye toward the ceiling, he didn’t comment until he’d finished his drink. “Too bad he can’t come with you to Shreveport,” he said then. “Fairies are good fighters.” Mustapha handed me his empty glass. “Thanks,” he said. And then he was out the door.
I mounted the stairs to the second floor as the motorcycle roared its way back to Hummingbird Road. I stood in the attic doorway. Dermot was shaving the bottom off one of the doors. He knew I was there, but he kept on working, casting a quick smile over his shoulder to acknowledge my presence. I considered tel ing him what Mustapha had just told me, simply to share my worries.
