Deadlocked

radiated the same warmth I felt when I was close to Nial … the same warmth times a hundred.

I was so tempted to put it in my purse. My hand hovered over it.

I took it out of the drawer and turned it over and over in my hands. As I held the smooth object, feeling intense pleasure in its nearness, I weighed the value of taking it with me against the risk.

In the end, I put it back in the drawer with a powder puff on top of it.

The phone rang.

Pam said, “Our meeting is at Eric’s house at nine o’clock.”

“I thought I’d be coming to Fangtasia,” I said, a little surprised. “Okay, I’l be on my way in a jiffy.”

Without answering, Pam hung up. Vampires are not experts on phone manners. I leaned over to look in the mirror while I applied my lipstick.

In two minutes, the phone rang again.

“Hel o?”

“Sookie,” said Mustapha’s gruff voice. “You don’t need to be here til ten.”

“Oh? Wel … okay.” That would give me a more reasonable amount of time; I wouldn’t have to risk getting a ticket, and there were a few more little things I’d wanted to do before I left.

I said a prayer, and I turned down my bed as a sign of faith that I would return home to sleep in it. I watered my plants, just in case. I quickly checked my e-mail, found nothing of interest. After looking at myself one more time in the ful -length mirror on the bathroom door, I decided to leave.

I had a comfortable amount of time.

I listened to dance music on the way over to Shreveport, and I sang along with songs from Saturday Night Fever. I loved to watch the young John Travolta dance, and that was something I was good at. I could sing only when I was by myself. I belted out “Stayin’ Alive,” aware that might be my own theme song. By the time I stopped at the guardhouse at the entrance to Eric’s gated community, I was a fraction less worried about the evening.

I wondered where Dan Shel ey was. The new night guard, a muscular human whose nametag read “Vince,” waved me through without getting up.

“Enjoy the party,” he cal ed.

A little surprised, I smiled and waved back at him. I’d thought I was going to a serious council, but evidently this visit by the Grand Poobah was starting off on a social note.

Though Eric’s fancy neighbors on the circle raised their eyebrows at cars parked on the street, I did just that because I didn’t want to be blocked in. The broad driveway to the left of the yard, running slightly uphil to Eric’s garage, was packed solid. I’d never seen so many cars there. I could hear music coming from the house, though it was faint. Vampires didn’t need to turn the volume up like humans did; they could hear al too wel .

I turned off the motor and sat behind the wheel, trying to get my head together before walking into the lion’s den. Why hadn’t I just said no when Mustapha told me to come? Until this moment, I literal y hadn’t considered the option of staying home. Was I here because I loved Eric? Or because I was in so deep in the vampire world that it hadn’t occurred to me to refuse?

Maybe a little of both.

I turned to open the Malibu door, and Bil was standing right there. I gave a little yip of shock. “You know better than to do that!” I snarled, glad to vent some of my fear in the guise of anger. I shot out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door behind me.

“Turn around and go back to Bon Temps, sweetheart,” Bil said. In the harsh streetlight, my first vampire lover looked horribly white except for his eyes, which were shadowed pits. His dark thick hair and his dark clothing provided even more contrast, so much so that he looked as though he were enameled with luminescent paint, like a house sign.

“I’ve been sitting in my car thinking about it,” I admitted. “But it’s too late.”

“You should go.” He meant it.

“Ah … that would be kind of leaving Eric in the lurch,” I said, and there might have been a bit of a question in my voice.

“He can manage without you tonight. Please, go home.” Bil ’s cool hand took mine, and he applied very gentle pressure.

“You’d better tel me what’s happening.”

“Felipe has brought some of his vampires with him. They swept through a bar or two to pick up some humans to drink with—and from. Their behavior is … wel , you remember how much Diane, Liam, and Malcolm disgusted you?”

The three vampires, now final y dead, had not had any qualms about having sex with humans in front of me, and it hadn’t ended there.

“Yes, I remember.”

“Felipe’s ordinarily more discreet than that, but he’s in a party mood tonight.”

I swal owed. “I told Eric I’d come,” I said. “Felipe might take it bad if I’m not here, since I’m Eric’s human wife.” Eric had coerced me into the title because it gave me a certain amount of protection.

“Eric wil survive your absence,” Bil said. If he’d extended that sentence, I was pretty sure the ending would have been, “But you may not survive your presence.” He continued, “I’m stuck out here on guard duty. I’m not al owed inside. I can’t protect you.”

Leaving the cluviel dor at home had been a mistake.