MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. Mr. Cataliades arrives at the hotel with the news that a plane will be leaving in three hours, stopping first in Dallas and then in Shreveport, and that if they want a ride home, they need to be at the terminal. As they part, Sookie discovers that Quinn has been taken to a nearby hospital. She elects to visit him rather than catch the plane. Sookie finds Quinn unconscious with a weary, hungry, filthy Frannie at his bedside. She gives the younger girl money for a change of clothes and a meal, and Frannie offers Sookie the use of her car to drive home, since she will have to take Quinn home in his van.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. After two days of driving, a relieved Sookie returns home to an ecstatic welcome by Amelia. Tara soon arrives with the news that she and JB du Rone have gotten married. Sookie tries to be happy for her friends and tells herself that if she just stays away from vampires and Weres for a while, she’ll be okay.
The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric
TO: WILLIAM COMPTON
BY THE ORDER OF OUR QUEEN, YOU ARE SUMMONED TO A MEETING WITH ANDRE PAUL TOMORROW NIGHT AT FANGTASIA.
ERIC NORTHMAN,
SHERIFF OF AREA FIVE
Phone: Eric calling Bill.
ERIC: “Bill.”
BILL: “Eric.”
ERIC: “Quinn is in town.”
BILL: “Yes.”
ERIC: “Is he with Sookie?”
BILL: “Is that any of your business, Eric?”
ERIC: “I like to know who my employees are associating with.”
BILL: “Your employee? I believe that Sookie is in the employ of the queen, not you. If Sophie-Anne calls to ask me who Sookie is spending time with, then I’ll see what I can find out. Not until then.”
ERIC : “As if you don’t already know.” (Silence.)
ERIC : “Need I remind you that you are still a resident in my territory?” BILL: “I remember that quite well, Eric. I am also in the employment of the queen and am too busy performing my duties in preparation for the summit to spy for you. And as you well know, Sophie-Anne trumps you every time.”
Phone: Eric calling Bill.
ERIC : “Bill, did you go upstairs? What has happened?”
BILL : “There has been trouble on Jennifer Cater’s floor. I believe the Arkansas vampires are all dead, except perhaps one.”
ERIC : “Well. That’s certainly convenient.” BILL : “My thoughts exactly.”
Phone: Eric calling Bill.
ERIC : “The trial is going forward. Meet us in the exhibit room where the wedding was held.”
BILL : “Has Sookie been contacted?”
ERIC : “Yes, Andre sent her a message. He’ll wait for her and escort her in. We will kneel before our queen to show our support.”
In person:
ERIC : “Please get a picture of Kyle Perkins to Sookie. Tomorrow she will be looking for the place where Kyle learned to throw the arrows with such accuracy.”
BILL : “I’ll provide the locations of the local archery ranges as well.” ERIC: “Good thinking. You can leave them for her at the front desk.”
In person:
ERIC : “Sookie and Barry found the archery range, but the employees have been killed and the security tapes destroyed.”
BILL : “Who else knew you were sending Sookie out to look?”
ERIC : “That’s the question, isn’t it?”
BILL : “I’m a judge for the first judicial sessions, so I must go. Think this over carefully, Eric: Who is the enemy here?”
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2005. While working at the Bellefleur double wedding with Sam, Sookie is surprised when she is asked by a tearful Halleigh to be a fill-in bridesmaid after one of the original bridesmaids has an appendicitis attack. Sookie participates in the ceremony and requisite pictures, then changes back into her work clothes to tend bar. Portia’s new husband, Glen, has invited several of his vampire clients and honors them with a bottle of Royalty Blended, a premium mixture of real and synthetic blood, so that they can toast the happy newlyweds. Jonathan, a Nevada vampire, introduces himself as he gets another drink at the bar, and Sookie is a little concerned at his interest in her. She notices a tall, slim man observing the proceedings from a distance, a man whom the vampires all acknowledge with nods of respect.
Jonathan startles her as she is getting into her car and claims to have spoken to Pam about her, but Sookie knows he is lying. As they speak, she again sees the slender stranger watching them.
Sookie returns home and recounts her extraordinary evening to her roommate, Amelia. Amelia has her own news. Her father, Copley Carmichael, a wealthy building contractor from New Orleans, is visiting the next evening.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9. Sookie attends church in the morning, stopping at the grocery store before heading home to help Amelia, who has been on a cleaning spree. Her father arrives. He is a clear broadcaster like Amelia. Since Sookie has no trouble picking thoughts out of his head, she is able to control her reaction when Copley deliberately brings up Sookie’s cousin Hadley. He tells Sookie that he knows Hadley’s ex-husband and child. Copley also tells Amelia that a woman named Octavia Fant has called his house, looking for her. After he leaves, Amelia reveals to Sookie that Octavia is her mentor and the head of her coven. Octavia is the reason she left New Orleans after her magical mishap with Bob, convinced there would be a terrible punishment for turning her lover into a cat. Resigned, Amelia knows that she will soon have to deal with Octavia. She also confesses that Eric called the previous evening but that she had forgotten to tell Sookie. Anxious to ask him about the strange incident with Jonathan, Sookie calls Eric at Fangtasia. To her surprise, Eric invites her out to dinner and informs her that he will be introducing her to someone who has asked to meet her. Intrigued, she agrees to go to dinner with him in Shreveport the next evening.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10. When Sookie and Eric arrive at Les Deux Poissons restaurant, she discovers that the man she is to meet is the beautiful stranger she saw at the wedding. He shows her his ears, and she realizes he is a member of the fae. Eric introduces the man as Niall Brigant, then leaves after reassuring Sookie that he will be nearby if she needs him. To her astonishment, Niall tells her he is her great-grandfather. As the evening progresses, Sookie learns the story of her grandmother Adele’s involvement with Niall’s son Fintan, who is revealed as her true grandfather. She shares part of her own life. By the time they part, she is pleased, albeit disconcerted, to have found a loving new member of her family. Eric and Sookie are speeding back toward Bon Temps when they are pulled over by a police car. As the officer approaches, Sookie realizes something is wrong and that the man is a Were just as he reaches the open window with gun drawn. When he tries to shoot Sookie, Eric takes the bullet but is still able to disarm the Were by breaking his arm. As a bleeding Eric gets caught in bloodlust and begins to pull the assassin in through the window, Sookie gets out of the suddenly crowded Corvette and checks the attacker’s car to see if she can discover who sent him and why. Eric’s car is empty when she returns, but Eric appears beside her and kisses her, still caught up in the lust of feeding. They quickly get back on the road, and Sookie doesn’t question what Eric has done with the body. When she arrives home, Amelia tells her that Alcide called.