I was still brooding over my gullibility when we took an exit ramp in the middle of nowhere. You could see the shine of the lights of Vampire’s Kiss, which of course was the point.
“Aren’t you afraid that people who would have driven on into Shreveport to go to Fangtasia are just going to pull off when they see this club?” I said.
“Yes.”
I’d asked a dumb question, so I gave him some slack for being short with me. Eric must have been brooding over his financial downturn ever since Victor had bought the building. But I wasn’t prepared to give Eric any more free passes. We were a couple, and he should either share his life completely with me or let me worry about my own concerns. It wasn’t easy, being yoked to Eric. I glanced over at him, realizing how stupid that would sound to one of the Fangtasia fangbangers. Eric was certainly one of the handsomest males I’d ever seen. He was strong, intelligent, and fantastic in bed.
Right now, there lay a frosty silence between that strong, intelligent, lusty man and me, and that silence lasted until we parked. It was hard to find a spot, which made Eric even more pissed off. That wasn’t hard to tell.
Since Eric had been summoned, it would have been polite to have reserved him a parking spot by the front door . . . or given him the green light to come in by the back entrance. There was also the unavoidable lesson in pictures that Vampire’s Kiss was so busy it was hard to find a parking spot.
Ouch.
I struggled to push aside my own worries. I needed to concentrate on the troubles we were about to face. Victor didn’t like or trust Eric, and the feeling was mutual. Since Victor had been put in charge of Louisiana, Eric’s position as the only holdover from the Sophie-Anne era had become increasingly precarious. I was pretty sure I’d gotten to continue my life unmolested only because Eric had hoodwinked me into marrying him in the eyes of the vampires.
Eric, his mouth pressed into a thin line, came around to open my door. I could tell he was using the maneuver as a way to scan the parking lot for danger. He stood in such a way that his body was between me and the club, and as I swung my legs out of the Town Car, he asked, “Who’s in the parking lot, lover?”
I stood, slowly and carefully, my eyes closed to concentrate. I put my hand over his where it rested on the door frame. In the warm night, with a light wind gently riffling my hair, I sent my extra sense out. “A couple having sex in a car two rows away,” I whispered. “A man throwing up behind the black pickup on the other side of the parking lot. Two couples just pulling in, in an Escalade. One vampire by the door to the club. Another vampire closing fast.”
When vamps go on alert, there’s no mistaking it. Eric’s fangs ran out, his body tensed, and he whirled to look outward.
Pam said, “Master.” She stepped out of the shadow of a big SUV. Eric relaxed; and so, gradually, did I. Whatever had made the two fight at my house, it had been put aside for the evening.
“I came ahead as you bid me,” she murmured, the night wind picking up her voice and tossing it. Her face looked oddly dark.
“Pam, step into the light,” I said.
She did, though certainly she was not obliged to obey me.
The darkness under Pam’s white skin was the result of a beating. Vampires don’t bruise exactly like we do, and they heal quickly — but when they’ve been hit hard, you can tell it for a little while. “What happened to you?” Eric asked. His voice was completely empty, which I knew was an awfully bad thing.
“I told the door guards that I needed to come in to make sure Victor knew you were arriving. An excuse to make sure that the interior was secure.”
“They prevented you.”
“Yes.”
A little breeze had sprung up, dancing the night air across the smelly parking lot. The breeze picked up my hair and blew it around my face. Eric had his tied at the nape of his neck, but Pam reached up to hold hers back. Eric had wished Victor dead for months, and I was sorry to say I felt the same. It wasn’t only Eric’s worry and anger that I was channeling; I myself understood how much better life would be for us if Victor was gone.
I’d come so far from what I’d been. At moments like this I was both sad and relieved that I could think about Victor’s death not only without qualms, but with positive zeal. My determination to survive, and to ensure the survival of those I loved, was stronger than the religion I’d always held so dear.
“We have to go in, or they’ll send someone after us,” Eric said finally, and we walked to the main door in silence. All we needed was a badass theme song playing in the background: something ominous and cool, with a lot of drums, to indicate “The Visiting Vampires and Their Human Sidekick Walk into a Trap.” However, the club’s music was out of synch with our little drama — “Hips Don’t Lie” was not exactly badass music.
We passed a bearded man hosing down the gravel close to the door. I could still spot dark patches of blood. Pam snorted. “Not mine,” she muttered.
The vampire on duty at the door was a sturdy brunette wearing a studded leather collar and a leather bustier, with a tutu (I swear to God) and motorcycle boots. Only the frilly skirt looked out of character.
“Sheriff Eric,” she said in heavily accented English. “I am Ana Lyudmila. I welcome you to Vampire’s Kiss.” She didn’t even glance at Pam, much less me. I pretty much expected her to ignore me, but her disregard of Pam was an insult, especially since Pam had already had an encounter with the club personnel. This behavior was the kind of trigger that could send Pam over the edge, which I figured might be the plan. If Pam went ballistic, the new vamps would have a legitimate reason to kill her. The target on Eric’s back would assume large proportions.
Naturally, I wouldn’t even be a factor in their thinking, because they couldn’t imagine what a human could do against their vampire strength and speed. And since I wasn’t Superwoman, they might be right. I wasn’t sure how many of the vampires knew I wasn’t wholly human, or how much they’d care even if they knew I was a fraction fairy. It wasn’t like I’d ever exhibited any fairy powers. My value lay in my telepathic talent and my connection to Niall. Since Niall had left this world for the world of the fae, I had expected that value to decrease accordingly. But Niall might choose to return to the human world any moment, and I was Eric’s wife by vampire rite. So Niall would side with Eric in an open conflict. At least that was my best bet. With fairies, who knew? It was time to assert myself.
I laid my hand on Pam’s shoulder and patted her. It was like patting a rock. I smiled at Ana Lyudmila. “Hi,” I said, perky as a cheerleader on uppers. “I’m Sookie. I’m married to Eric. I guess you didn’t know that? And this is Pam, Eric’s child and his strong right arm. I guess you didn’t know that, either? Cause otherwise, not greeting us appropriately is just plain rude.” I beamed at her.
Looking as though I were forcing her to swallow a live frog, Ana Lyudmila said, “Welcome, human wife of Eric and revered fighter Pam. I apologize for failing to offer you a suitable greeting.”
Pam was staring at Ana Lyudmila as if she were wondering how long it would take to pull Ana’s eyelashes out one by one. I bumped Pam’s shoulder with my fist, buddy-buddy. “We’re cool, Ana Lyudmila,” I said. “It’s all good here.” Pam switched her stare to me, and it was all I could do not to flinch. To add to the tension, Eric was doing a good imitation of a big white rock. I gave him a very laden look.
Ana Lyudmila couldn’t have beaten Pam up. She didn’t have the juice. Besides, she looked okay, and I was completely sure that if someone had laid a hand on Pam, that vampire would show the aftereffect.
After a second, Eric said, “I think your master is waiting for us.” His tone was one of gentle chiding. He made sure his massive self-control was evident.