vampire was about his.
Rogue vampires were the backward-looking undead; they hadn't wanted to be made known to humans any more than the humans wanted to know about them. Rogues refused to drink the synthetic blood that was the mainstay of most vampires' diets these days. Rogues believed the only future for vampires lay in a return to secrecy and invisibility. Rogue vampires would slaughter humans for the fun of it, now, because they actually welcomed a return of persecution of their own kind. Rogues saw it as a means of persuading mainstream vampires that secrecy was best for the future of their kind; and then, too, persecution was a form of population control.
Now I learned from Bill that there were vampires who became afflicted with terrible remorse, or perhaps ennui, after a long life. These renouncers planned to 'meet the sun,' the vampire term for committing suicide by staying out past daybreak.
Once again, my choice of boyfriend had led me down paths I never would have trod otherwise. I wouldn't have needed to know any of this, would never have even dreamed of dating someone definitely deceased, if I hadn't been born with the disability of telepathy. I was kind of a pariah to human guys. You can imagine how impossible it is to date someone whose mind you can read. When I met Bill, I began the happiest time of my life. But I'd undoubtedly encountered more trouble in the months I'd known him than I had in my entire twenty-five years previously. 'So, you're thinking Farrell is already dead?' I asked, forcing myself to focus on the current crisis. I hated to ask, but I needed to know.
'Maybe,' Stan said after a long pause.
'Possibly they're keeping him somewhere,' said Bill. 'You know how they invite the press to these … ceremonies,'
Stan stared into space for a long moment. Then he stood. 'The same man was in the bar and at the airport,' he said, almost to himself. Stan, the geeky head vampire of Dallas, was pacing now, up and down the room. It was making me nuts, though saying so was out of the question. This was Stan's house, and his 'brother' was missing. But I'm not one for long, brooding silences. I was tired, and I wanted to go to bed.
'So,' I said, doing my best to sound brisk, 'how'd they know I was going to be there?'
If there's anything worse than having a vampire stare at you, it's having two vampires stare at you.
'To know you were coming ahead of time … there is a traitor,' Stan said. The air in the room began to tremble and crackle with the tension he was producing.
But I had a less dramatic idea. I picked up a notepad lying on the table and wrote, 'MAYBE YOU'RE BUGGED.' They both glared at me as if I'd offered them a Big Mac. Vampires, who individually have incredible and various powers, are sometimes oblivious to the fact that humans have developed some powers of their own. The two men gave each other a look of speculation, but neither of them offered any practical suggestion.
Well, to heck with them. I'd only seen this done in movies, but I figured if someone had planted a bug in this room, they'd done it in a hurry and they'd been scared to death. So the bug would be close and not well hidden. I shrugged off the gray jacket and kicked off my shoes. Since I was a human and had no dignity to lose in Stan's eyes, I dropped below the table and began crawling down its length, pushing the rolling chairs away as I went. For about the millionth time, I wished I'd worn slacks.
I'd gotten about two yards from Stan's legs when I saw something odd. There was a dark bump adhering to the underside of the blond wood of the table. I looked at it as closely as I could without a flashlight. It was not old gum.
Having found the little mechanical device, I didn't know what to do. I crawled out, somewhat dustier for the experience, and found myself right at Stan's feet. He held out his hand and I took it reluctantly. Stan pulled gently, or it seemed gently, but suddenly I was on my feet facing him. He wasn't very tall, and I looked more into his eyes than I really wanted. I held up my finger in front of my face to be sure he was paying attention. I pointed under the table.
Bill left the room in a flash. Stan's face grew even whiter, and his eyes blazed. I looked anywhere but directly at him. I didn't want to be the sight filling his eyes while he digested the fact that someone had planted a bug in his audience chamber. He had indeed been betrayed, just not in the fashion he'd expected.
I cast around in my mind for something to do that would help. I beamed at Stan. Reaching up automatically to straighten my ponytail, I realized my hair was still in its roll on the back of my head, though considerably less neat. Fiddling with it gave me a good excuse to look down.
I was considerably relieved when Bill reappeared with Isabel and the dishwashing man, who was carrying a bowl of water. 'I'm sorry, Stan,' Bill said. 'I'm afraid Farrell is already dead, if you go by what we have discovered this evening. Sookie and I will return to Louisiana tomorrow, unless you need us further.' Isabel pointed to the table, and the man set the bowl down.
'You might as well,' Stan replied, in a voice as cold as ice. 'Send me your bill. Your master, Eric, was quite adamant about that. I will have to meet him someday.' His tone indicated the meeting would not be pleasant for Eric.
Isabel said abruptly, 'You stupid human! You've spilled my drink!' Bill reached past me to snatch the bug from under the table and drop it in the water, and Isabel, walking even more smoothly to keep the water from slopping over the sides of the bowl, left the room. Her companion remained behind.
That had been disposed of simply enough. And it was at least possible that whoever had been listening in had been fooled by that little bit of dialogue. We all relaxed, now that the bug was gone. Even Stan looked a little less frightening.
'Isabel says you have reason to think Farrell might have been abducted by the Fellowship,' the man said. 'Maybe this young lady and I could go to the Fellowship Center tomorrow, and try to find out if there're plans for any kind of ceremony soon.'
Bill and Stan regarded him thoughtfully.
'That's a good idea,' Stan said. 'A couple would seem less noticeable.'
'Sookie?' Bill asked.
'Certainly none of you can go,' I said. 'I think maybe we could at least get the layout of the place. If you think there's really a chance Farrell's being held there.' If I could find out more about the situation at the Fellowship Center, maybe I could keep the vampires from attacking. They sure weren't going to go down to the police station to file a missing persons report to prod the police into searching the Center. No matter how much the Dallas vampires wanted to remain within the boundaries of human law so they could successfully reap the benefits of mainstreaming, I knew that if a Dallas vampire was being held captive in the Center, humans would die right, left, and sideways. I could maybe prevent that from happening, and locate the missing Farrell, too.
'If this tattooed vampire is a renouncer and plans to meet the sun, taking Farrell with him, and if this is being arranged through the Fellowship, then this pretend priest who tried to grab you at the airport must work for them. They know you now,' Bill pointed out. 'You would have to wear your wig.' He smiled with gratification. The wig had been his idea.
A wig in this heat. Oh, hell. I tried not to look petulant. After all, it would be better to have an itchy head than to be identified as a woman who associated with vampires, while I was visiting a Fellowship of the Sun Center. 'It would be better if there were another human with me,' I admitted, sorry as I was to involve anyone else in danger.
'This is Isabel's current man,' Stan said. He was silent for a minute, and I guessed he was 'beaming' at her, or however he contacted his underlings.
Sure enough, Isabel glided in. It must be handy, being able to summon people like that. You wouldn't need an intercom, or a telephone. I wondered how far away other vamps could be and still receive his message. I was kind of glad Bill couldn't signal me without words, because I'd feel too much like his slave girl. Could Stan summon humans the way he called his vamps? Maybe I didn't really want to know.
The man reacted to Isabel's presence the way a bird dog does when he senses quail. Or maybe it was more like a hungry man who gets served a big steak, and then has to wait for grace. You could almost see his mouth water. I hoped I didn't look like that when I was around Bill.
'Isabel, your man has volunteered to go with Sookie to the Fellowship of the Sun Center. Can he be convincing as a potential convert?'
'Yes, I think he can,' Isabel said, staring into the man's eyes.
'Before you go—are there visitors this evening?'
