“Thanks,” I said numbly, the words not sinking in at al . “So you knew Appius?”
“We met. He was a stinking Roman asshole.”
“True.”
“I was glad when he died. Out in your front yard, wasn’t it?”
“Ah. Yes.”
“The ground around your house has become soaked with blood. It wil add to its magic and fertility.”
“What happens now?” I said, because I simply couldn’t think of what else to say.
He lifted me and carried me out of the bedroom like I was a baby. It didn’t feel like the times when Eric had carried me, which had had a definitely carnal edge. This was incredibly tender and (like a lot of things about my great-grandfather) incredibly creepy.
He put me on the couch as careful y as if I were an egg. “This is what happens next,” he told me. He turned to the other fae, stil on their knees.
Claude had stopped thrashing and was looking up at Nial with resignation. For the moment, Nial ignored his grandson.
“Do you al want to go home?” he asked the others.
“Yes, Prince,” said Dirk. “Please, with our kindred waiting at Claude’s club? If we may? If you wil .”
Dermot said, “With your blessing, I’l stay here, Father.”
For a moment they al looked at Dermot incredulously, as if he’d just announced he was going to birth a kangaroo.
Nial folded Dermot to him. I could see Dermot’s face, and it was ecstatic, frightened, everything I had felt in Nial ’s embrace. Nial said, “You won’t be a fairy anymore. The American fae are al leaving. Choose.”
The conflict on Dermot’s face was painful to see. “Sookie,” he said, “who can finish your upstairs work?”
“I’l hire Terry Bel efleur,” I said. “He won’t be as good as you, Dermot.”
“No television,” Dermot said. “I’l miss HGTV.” Then he smiled. “But I can’t live without my essence, and I am your son, Nial .”
Nial beamed down at Dermot, which was what Dermot had wanted his whole life.
I got up because I couldn’t stand to have him leave without a hug. I even started crying, which I hadn’t expected. They al kissed me, even Bel enos, though I felt his teeth scrape lightly on my cheek, and I felt his chest move in a silent chuckle.
Nial made some mysterious signs over my head and closed his eyes, just like a priest giving a blessing. I felt something change in the house, the land.
And then they were gone. Even Claude.
I was stupefied. I was wil ing to bet that over at Hooligans, the bar stood empty, the doors locked.
The fae were gone from America. Their departure point? Bon Temps, Louisiana. The woods behind my house.
Chapter 16
I hadn’t slept al night, and the traumas had just kept on coming.
But after I showered and straightened up the living room, which had suffered a bit during the fight, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table trying to absorb everything: last night, this morning.
It was taking a lot of energy to do that. About halfway through setting my mental house in order, I had to think about something else. Luckily, there was something right in front of me that would serve.
Among the presents I’d tossed to the table last night was Pam’s little box, Bil ’s box, and Sam’s envelope, which I’d never examined. Pam had given me perfume, and I liked the smel of it very much. Bil had given me a necklace with a cameo pendant. The likeness on it was my gran’s. “Oh, Bil ,” I said, “you did great!” Nothing could top such a gift, I thought, as I reached for Sam’s envelope. I figured he’d picked a fancy birthday card—
with, maybe, a gift certificate enclosed.
Sam had official y made me a partner in the bar. I legal y owned a third of Merlotte’s.
I put my head on the table and swore. In a happy way.
This past twenty-four hours had been my personal trail of tears. No more!
I picked myself up out of that chair, slapped on about a ton of makeup and a sundress, and put a smile on my face. It was time to rejoin the land of the living, the everyday world. I didn’t want to learn one more secret or suffer one more betrayal.
I was due to meet Kennedy for breakfast at LaLaurie’s, which (she’d told me) served a great Sunday brunch. I didn’t think I’d ever eaten a meal and cal ed it “brunch.” Today I did, and it was real y excel ent. White tablecloths and cloth napkins, too! Kennedy was wearing a pretty sundress, too, and her hair was in ful pageant mode. The hickey on her neck was not quite covered by her makeup.
Kennedy was in an excel ent mood, and she confided in me way more than I wanted to know about the wonderfulness that now lay between Danny and her. Danny was even now running errands for Bil Compton since he didn’t have to work at the lumberyard, which was closed on Sunday.
It was going to work out. He’d be making a living wage. When their finances stabilized, maybe they would move in together. “Maybe,” she emphasized, but I wasn’t fooled. Their cohabitation was a done deal.
