Deadlocked

“He must have known she was coming. Sookie, I know you like the man in some measure, but he knew about this in advance. Maybe he didn’t know why she was coming to the house—but he knew if he let her in unchal enged, everyone in the house would assume she’d been invited. And he knew the girl wasn’t there to scrub toilets or sing for the company. She was there to get Eric to drink from her. Since Mustapha was the one who cal ed you and told you to come later, his purpose must have been to make sure you were not there to prevent Eric from being interested in her.”

“But the only result was that I got mad at Eric. Bil , who cares that much about my love life?” Bil gave me a very direct look, and I could feel myself turning red.

But instead of making a personal reference, Bil said, “You had a visitor last night who cares very deeply.”

I tried not to flinch too obviously. “You know she came to the house?”

“We al know about her presence in Area Five, Sookie. Al of us who are sworn to Eric. It’s hard to cover up the visit of a queen, especial y one as wel -known as Freyda. It’s even harder to remain ignorant of exactly where she is. She went to the casino to confer with Felipe directly after she left your house, and Felipe summoned Eric there. He took Thalia with him—not Pam. Thalia said it was a very tense meeting.”

That explained the delay in Eric’s cal ing me … but it didn’t make me feel any better. “What makes Freyda so wel -known?” I bypassed al the obvious conversational openings that Bil ’s little speech presented to lock in on what was most interesting to me. I was al too aware that Bil could see how desperate I was to know more about her, and I just didn’t care.

Bil kindly looked down at his hands as he told me, “She’s beautiful, of course. Ambitious. Young. She’s not content to sit on her throne and let things hum along. By the way, she had to fight for that throne. She kil ed her predecessor, and he didn’t make it easy. Freyda has worked hard to extend the business dealings of Oklahoma. The only thing slowing her progress is her lack of a strong and loyal second. If she acquires the strong vampire she needs to serve as her right hand, she’l always have to watch her back against that vampire’s ambition. If she marries this right hand, he can’t succeed her. His loyalty wil be assured, because his fate is bound to hers.”

I pondered this for a few minutes, while Bil sat in silence. Vampires are great at that. I caught his eyes on my face. I got the impression that Bil felt sorry for me. A worm of panic twisted in my stomach.

“Freyda’s strong, active, and determined,” I said. “Like Eric. And you say she needs a good fighter, a good second. Like Eric.”

“Yes, like Eric,” he said deliberately. “Freyda would be a great match for him. Practical y speaking, he’d escape from the political situation created by his murder of Victor. The king’s going to have to do something to Eric. Felipe real y can’t afford to be perceived as ignoring Victor’s death.”

“Why not?”

He looked at me blankly.

“Felipe let Victor get away with whatever the hel Victor wanted to do,” I said. “Why shouldn’t he be perceived that way?”

“He doesn’t want to lose the loyalty of the vampires who serve him,” Bil said.

“That’s ridiculous!” I thought steam would come out of my ears. “You can’t have it al different ways!”

“But he’l try. I don’t think you’re real y angry about Felipe. You’re real y angry about the hard practicality of Eric marrying Freyda.” I winced, but Bil continued ruthlessly. “You have to admit that her character is much like Eric’s and that they’d make a good team.”

“Eric’s my team,” I said. “He loves me. He wants to stay here.” I realized that I was, so to speak, batting with another hand now. I’d been just as sure the night before that Eric would leave, that he loved power more than he loved me.

“But … Sookie, you must see … staying might be the death of him.”

I could read a mixture of pity and tough love in Bil ’s attitude. “Bil , are you sure you’re able to judge that?”

“I hope that I have your best interests in my heart, Sookie.” He paused, as if considering whether he should go on. “I know you’l suspect everything I say about this situation—because I love you, and I don’t love Eric. But truly, I want your happiness, above almost everything else.”

Almost everything else. I found myself wondering what came ahead of that. His own survival?

I heard the screen door bang, and Dermot hurried out to his car.

“Got to get to the club,” he cal ed.

“Drive careful,” I cal ed back. He was gone before I could say anything more. I turned back to Bil , who was staring at the spot where Dermot had stood, a wistful expression on his face. No wonder Dermot had hurried; he’d surely known a vampire was in the backyard and that his scent would be attractive. “Let’s get back to the Kym Rowe issue,” I said, to get Bil ’s attention. “What can I do to help you find out who kil ed her?”

“The first person we’d want to talk to is Mustapha, and he’s vanished. Tel me exactly what he said when he was here.”

“Which time? When he was here before the night of the party, or when he was here after the party?”

“Tel me about both visits.”

I related the first conversation to Bil , though there was surprisingly little to tel . Mustapha’d been here. He’d relayed Pam’s warning, which I hadn’t understood until I’d met Freyda. He’d warned me about Jannalynn. The second time he was here, he’d been worried about Warren.

“You’ve told Eric this?” he asked.

I snorted. “We’re not exactly having lengthy heart-to-hearts these days. My conversation with Freyda was longer than any talk I’ve had with Eric.”

Wisely, Bil didn’t comment. He recapped. “So Mustapha comes to your house, though he’s been missing ever since the girl died. He tel s you that he wants to talk to Alcide, but he’s afraid to cal him or approach him directly