Returning to her own house for lunch, Sookie takes a phone message for Octavia from Louis Chambers. When she hands Octavia the note with Louis’s phone number, it is obvious that the gentleman means a great deal to Octavia, and she promptly returns his call.
Sookie enters Merlotte’s to work her shift that evening to find Sam arguing with Bobby Burnham, who hands her an envelope and tells her that Eric has instructed him to always be at her disposal, much to his humiliation. Sookie enters the dining area and sees agents Weiss and Lattesta at one table and her great-grandfather, Niall, at another. Niall informs Sookie that the agents have been discussing her, and she tells him her fears about being forced to work for the FBI. She asks if he knows about Crystal, and although he has shown no interest in Jason, he tells Sookie that he is always concerned when someone connected to him dies and will look into it. He then makes a vague comment about there being trouble and assures her that he will take care of it, but advises her to be wary of fairies she does not know. She and Sam remain on the outs for the evening.
Louis Chambers has arrived to take Octavia back to New Orleans by the time Sookie gets off work. After they leave, Amelia tells Sookie that he is a sorcerer, and the two agree that the older couple has little to fear in the Big Easy.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15. Andy and Agent Lattesta come by in the morning to discuss Crystal’s death, and after they leave, a slightly chilly Sookie is sunbathing in her yard when she is surprised by a visit from Diantha, who brings a message from Mr. Cataliades. The lawyer has sent his niece to warn Sookie that fairies are moving about in this world and that they will try to hurt her if they can. Sookie learns from Diantha that Niall has many enemies, the most important one being the other fairy prince, his nephew Breandan. When Diantha leaves, Sookie calls her fae cousins Claudine and Claude to meet her for a talk, during which she learns about her fae lineage and why her great-grandfather has enemies. She is told that Breandan hates all humans with fairy blood and believes they should be eliminated because they dilute the fae magic. He wants to close off Faery from the contamination of humans. Claude and Claudine also warn her that her great-uncle Dermot is the spitting image of her brother, Jason, and that she should be very careful because he was involved in her parents’ deaths.
Disturbed by the warnings, a restless Sookie returns home and decides to work off her disquiet by weeding the flower beds. She is busy with her old trowel when she suddenly hears someone say, “I’ll enjoy killing you for my lord,” and she instinctively lunges upward, shoving the trowel into the speaker’s stomach. As he falls to the ground, she retreats into her house, locks the doors, and calls Niall. Her great-grandfather arrives with his son Dillon, the father of Claudine and Claude, and is pleased that she has killed one of his enemies. As the body disintegrates into a fine glittery dust, Niall warns her again and then leaves.
A troubled Sookie is pondering the events of the day when Quinn unexpectedly pulls up. Feeling Eric’s rage at Quinn’s presence through the blood bond, Sookie becomes upset as Quinn questions why she is harder on him than on anyone else and voices his fear that Eric is trying to cut her off from the others who care about her. Alerted by Eric, Bill arrives, and the two men begin to fight. When an angry Quinn throws Bill with all his strength, he cannons into the helpless Sookie, knocking her unconscious. She wakes in her darkened bedroom with Eric. The taste of his blood is on her tongue. The passion between them ignites. After lovemaking, Eric and Sookie talk, and she tells him of the events of the day. Eric invites a stunned Sookie to move in with him but is surprised when she gently declines. They discuss their feelings for each other, and Eric regretfully leaves for his home. As Sookie looks out her kitchen window, she sees Bill silently watching over her from the woods.
MONDAY, JANUARY 16. A forlorn Jason visits, waiting for Sookie out in the backyard. While she believes she will be able to forgive him for his past actions, their relationship remains strained. He asks her to attend Crystal’s funeral and tells her that if she hears who killed his wife, either she can tell the police or she can simply tell him and Calvin, and they will take care of it.
Sookie is surprised to have a message from Arlene asking her to come over to her house to talk. When she learns from Sam that Arlene has tried to get her job back and that he is planning to refuse, Sookie decides to visit her former friend to try making peace with her. She calls Arlene and tells her she will come over, but Sookie senses something is not right and leaves immediately to scope out the situation before she is expected at Arlene’s trailer.
Sookie watches from the burned-out house next to Arlene’s as she sends her children away with a friend and then talks with two men from the Fellowship of the Sun. Sookie is able to discern that they are going to do to her what was done to Crystal. She calls Andy Bellefleur, who is with the FBI agents, and they tell her they will come if she would be willing to go in and try to trap the men in the act. As she is waiting for the law, Sookie sees Arlene leaving and comes out of hiding to confront her. Just as the police arrive, Arlene begins to scream, and the men come out of the trailer with their rifles in their hands. Special Agent Lattesta calls a warning for them to lay down their arms, but one fires at Sookie, who flings herself to the ground. The bullet slightly grazes Arlene but hits Agent Weiss in the upper chest. The men all open fire, and one of the attackers is killed, the other wounded. As a stunned Sookie sits on the ground, she realizes the two men did not kill Crystal but were planning a copycat murder. While the wounded are taken away, Sookie looks over to see a fairy watching from the woods. After she is questioned, Bud Dearborn sends her home.
Sookie goes into work and is relieved when nothing else happens and she is able to go about her shift just like any other waitress at Merlotte’s.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 17. Amelia tells Sookie of a hot new guy named Drake who has been asking her and Tray about Sookie, but Sookie passes on the opportunity to meet him. Remy Savoy calls with a request for Sookie’s help with Hunter, who will be starting kindergarten soon, but she has to put him off. Because of the threat of the fairies, she is unwilling to possibly jeopardize the little boy or his father. She promises to contact him when things have settled down, hoping that she survives whatever it is that is coming. While Amelia gets ready for a date with Tray, she again mentions Drake and his desire to meet Sookie. When Amelia says that the man looks a lot like Jason, a panicked Sookie warns her friend to stay away from him. Sookie calls Eric to ask for the protection of the vampires, and he tells her he will present her request to Victor, who is there at Fangtasia. Once at work, Sookie struggles to function normally while trying to listen for information about Crystal’s murder, but Sookie hears little but the usual mundane thoughts of the people surrounding her. She gets one text message from Eric, assuring her that the protection she requested is coming, and another from Alcide, who has learned of her problems from Tray and offers pack protection as well. Before leaving Merlotte’s, Sookie fills two water pistols with pure lemon juice as a defense against the fairies.
She finds Bubba waiting beside her car in the parking lot as the protection promised by Eric, and when she arrives home, Tray is at her house as the protection from the Weres.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18. Sookie awakens to hear Tray being desperately ill. He tells her of meeting a woman in the woods who compelled him to drink poisoned vampire blood. A worried Sookie sends him home, promising to contact Jason to guard her. Niall appears in her living room, looking as if he has been in a battle, to let her know that Breandan has retaliated for the death of his follower. Niall warns her to be even more careful. Sookie calls Jason to come protect her and is horrified to hear that he has had a visit from Dermot, who attacked Jason’s friend Mel. Mel accompanies Jason but briefly leaves to get an ice bag for his injured shoulder, and Sookie tells Jason of their family fairy connection, warning him of the danger they face from Dermot. Jason tells Sookie that he wants to go home for his rifle and that she should come pick him up there so he can be with her for the day, and he
and Mel leave. As she drives to her brother’s house, she begins to think of some things she has learned and starts to suspect that she knows who killed Crystal, so she calls Calvin.
When she arrives, she finds Jason and Mel sighting Jason’s rifle behind his house. She begins to question Mel, and when her brother realizes what the questions mean, he holds Mel as she examines his thoughts. Sookie tells her horrified brother that his friend killed Crystal, just as Calvin arrives with two of Crystal’s other relatives. Mel confesses that he is gay and in love with Jason and that he hated Crystal for her treatment of him. Crystal knew of Mel’s love for Jason, taunting him when she saw him alone at Jason’s house one day, and he struck her down in anger. Mel tells them that he did not crucify her but left the body in the back of his truck, from where it was stolen. Sookie leaves as the werepanthers administer their justice.
Sookie manages to get through her shift at the bar, but she remembers on the drive home that she promised to meet Amelia at Tray’s house to check on him. When she arrives, she is alarmed when no one answers the door and there is no sign of her roommate. Fearing the worst, she calls Bill to come and check the house for her. As she waits outside, she is relieved when Amelia calls to tell her that she was unable to get an answer at Tray’s, so she went home. Bill returns from the house with the unwelcome news that there has obviously been a fight and that Tray is gone. Frightened and worried that the fairies have done something to Bubba as well, Sookie heads home in her car with Bill following. As she walks to her door, Sookie is abducted.
Sookie awakens in what appears to be an abandoned house, a captive of two fairies, Lochlan and his sister Neave. She learns that they are the ones who crucified Crystal and that Breandan has given them permission to do what they want with Sookie, short of killing her. As the two gleefully torture her, Sookie soon realizes that they will not be able to control themselves and simply waits for death. Barely conscious, she believes she is hallucinating when she sees Bill and Niall stealing up behind her tormentors. She manages a smile as Niall beheads Lochlan and Bill tears out Neave’s throat. Finally, Sookie succumbs to the unbearable pain and slips into darkness.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 19. Coming to, Sookie finds herself clean and bandaged in a strange bed, with Dr. Ludwig and Claudine by her side. Dr. Ludwig tells Sookie that her kidnappers are dead but that Bill was badly injured during the rescue. Claudine informs Sookie that the war has begun between Niall and Breandan and that Claudine’s own disheveled appearance is due to being ambushed. She is knitting and shares that she is pregnant by a fae lover. Eric arrives and begins examining Sookie’s wounds, giving her his blood to strengthen her for the coming battle with the fae. As Sookie begins to weep, Eric comforts her, praising her for remaining strong and intact under the terrible torture. She pulls her makeshift weapons from her bag before Eric carries her to the room where Bill and Tray lie. Bill is gravely ill from silver poisoning, and Tray’s wounds will be mortal. As Clancy gives Bill blood, he explains to Sookie that he saw her taken but knew he could not defeat the twins alone, so he called Eric to notify Niall. Bill and Niall were then able to track Sookie and her captors through the fae and human worlds to where she was held captive.
Eric receives a call that Breandan’s forces have arrived and the attack is imminent. Eric, Bill, and Clancy, armed with iron swords and long knives, face the door as it splinters under the force of the attacking fae. Clancy decapitates the first fae as he enters, and Bill steps in front of Sookie, throwing his knife into the throat of the second fairy and then reaching back to take Sookie’s trowel. Breandan enters, already bloodied and with a knitting needle protruding from his shoulder, followed by a female swinging a mace. Eric is able to avoid it, but Clancy is hit and then beheaded by Breandan as he moves to confront Bill. Tray, knowing he is dying, makes a superhuman effort to distract Breandan, gripping the enemy fairy’s shirt. As Breandan plunges his sword into Tray, Bill stabs the fairy under the arm with Sookie’s trowel, and he falls. The female fairy moves in on an unsteady Bill and Sookie, who squirts the fairy with her lemon juice–filled squirt gun. The fairy screams in pain, and Eric has the chance to kill her. Niall arrives to find all his enemies dead. Niall takes his great-granddaughter into his arms, and Sookie weeps for her fallen friends but is able to smile when she realizes that at least Bill survived—though Claudine did not. Eric calls Pam to come pick up the living and the dead.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20–SATURDAY, JANUARY 21. Amelia mourns Tray, whose death is attributed to a case of mistaken identity. Sookie publicly explains her own injuries as a pedestrian hit-and-run but tells Sam the entire truth when he comes to visit.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22. Niall comes to tell Sookie that he has decided to close all the portals to the fae world to protect humans, but that they have not located Dermot and that the rest of the fae who have lived in the human world will have to choose whether to stay or return to Faery permanently. Jason arrives, startling Niall, who for a moment believes he is Dermot. Jason expresses hurt and resentment that his great-grandfather didn’t deem him worthy of attention or acknowledgment, and tells Niall that he hopes the fairies are gone for good.
When Niall kisses his great-granddaughter on the cheek, Sookie senses his power and immediately feels a bit better. She watches Jason’s tension relax as Niall kisses his great-grandson on the forehead before leaving.
The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:15 am
Bill,
I’ve gotten word that the shifters will reveal live on TV in three nights while local shifters simultaneously change at several public venues. I will be sending as many vampires as I can to keep an eye on the situation and lend aid if needed. I will personally watch as Alcide Herveaux shifts at the Shamrock Casino. I’ll send Clancy to you to watch over Merlotte’s as Sam and Tray Dawson shift.
Eric
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:35 am
Eric,
So we are going with the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” philosophy? Allying ourselves not so much as with the shifters as possibly against the humans? I do see the reasoning behind it, and I’ll be at Merlotte’s with Clancy watching the reveal.
BTW, glad to see you’ve finally moved communication into the twenty-first century.
Bill
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:40 am
Pam insisted I start using e-mail. What the hell is BTW?
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:42 am
By The Way.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:44 am
So why don’t you just type “by the way”?
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:47 am
It’s faster to abbreviate.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:48 am
Obviously not, if one has to ask what the meanings are.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:50 am
Get a list of them from Pam.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
02:51 am
I hate computers.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
06:01 pm
Bill,
I assume by now you’ve heard that Merlotte’s mother was injured by her husband when she revealed her second self. He has gone to her, leaving Sookie to mind the bar, and now her brother’s wife, Christy, has been found nailed to a cross in the parking lot. I don’t know what to make of all this, but, needless to say, keep your eyes and ears open.
Eric
To: [email protected]
From: WCompton@vma
il.com
06:13 pm
Her name was Crystal. I will keep watch over Sookie.
Bill
Phone: Eric calling Bill.
ERIC: “Bill, get to Sookie’s immediately. Quinn has entered the area without permission, and you are to make certain he does not harass Sookie in any way. Keep him from her if you can.”
BILL: “I’m on my way to her house.”
Phone: Bill calling Eric.
BILL: “Eric, Sookie has been taken by fairies. I believe it was the ones called Lochlan and Neave. You must contact Niall, tell him to come to her house so we can track her. Now, Eric, NOW.”
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion Page 20