From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8)(67)
Author: Charlaine Harris

"Lasso," Sam said.

"Ah, lasso. The first one, he threw around me, and of course, the shock was great. Before Eric could land on him, he had Eric as well. The pain from the silver… very quickly we were bound. When this one" – he nodded toward Sam – "came to our aid, Sigebert knocked him unconscious and got rope from the back of Sam’s truck and tied him up."

"We were too involved in our discussion to be wary," Eric said. He sounded pretty grim, and I didn’t blame him. But I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"Ironic, eh, that we needed a human girl to rescue us," the king said blithely, the very idea that I’d decided not to voice.

"Yes, very amusing," Eric said in a dreadfully unamused voice. "Why did you return, Sookie?"

"I felt your, ah, anger at being attacked." For "anger" read "despair."

The new king looked very interested. "A blood bond. How interesting."

"No, not really," I said. "Sam, I wonder if you’d mind driving me home. I don’t know where you gentlemen left your cars, or if you flew. I do wonder how Sigebert knew where to find you."

Felipe de Castro and Eric shared almost identical expressions of deep thought.

"We’ll find out," Eric said, and set me down. "And then heads are going to roll." Eric was good at setting heads to rolling. It was one of his favorite things. I was willing to put my money on Castro sharing that predilection, because the king was looking positively gleeful in anticipation.

Sam fished his keys out of his pocket without a word, and I climbed into the truck with him. We left the two vampires involved in a deep conversation. Sigebert’s corpse, still partially under my poor car, was almost gone, leaving a dark greasy residue on the gravel of the parking lot. The good thing about vampires – no corpse disposal.

"I’ll call Dawson tonight," Sam said unexpectedly.

"Oh, Sam, thank you," I said. "I’m so glad you were there."

"It’s the parking lot of my bar," he said, and it might have been my own guilty reaction, but I thought I detected some reproach. I suddenly came to the full realization that Sam had walked into a situation in his own backyard, a situation he had no stake or interest in, and that he’d almost died as a result. And why had Eric been in the parking lot back of Merlotte’s? To talk to me. And then Felipe de Castro had followed to talk to Eric… though I wasn’t sure why. But the point was, them being there at all was my fault.

"Oh, Sam," I said, almost in tears, "I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Eric would wait for me, and I sure didn’t know the king would follow him. I still don’t know why he was there. I’m so sorry," I said again. I would say it a hundred times if it would take that tone out of Sam’s voice.

"It’s not your fault," he said. "I asked Eric to come here in the first place. It’s their fault. I don’t know how we can pry you loose from them."

"This was bad, but somehow you’re not taking it like I thought you would."

"I just want to be left in peace," he said unexpectedly. "I don’t want to get involved in supernatural politics. I don’t want to have to take sides in Were shit. I’m not a Were. I’m a shapeshifter, and shifters don’t organize. We’re too different. I hate vampire politics even more than Were politics."

"You’re mad at me."

"No!" He seemed to be struggling with what he wanted to say. "I don’t want that for you, either! Weren’t you happier before?"

"You mean before I knew any vampires; before I knew about the rest of the world that lies outside the boundaries?"

Sam nodded.

"In some ways. It was nice to have a clear path before me," I said. "I do get really sick of the politics and the battles. But my life wasn’t any prize, Sam. Every day was a struggle just to act like I was a regular human, like I didn’t know all the things I know about other humans. The cheating and infidelity, the little acts of dishonesty, the unkindness. The really severe judgments people pass on each other. Their lack of charity. When you know all that, it’s hard to keep going sometimes. Knowing about the supernatural world puts all that in a different perspective. I don’t know why. People aren’t any better or worse than the supernaturals, but they’re not all there is, either."

"I guess I understand," Sam said, though he sounded a little doubtful.

"Plus," I said very quietly, "it’s nice to be valued for the very thing that makes regular people think I’m just a crazy girl."

"Definitely understand that," Sam said. "But there’s a price."

"Oh, no doubt about it."

"You willing to pay?"

"So far."

We chugged up my driveway. No lights on. The witchy duo had gone to bed, or else they were out partying or casting spells.

"In the morning, I’ll call Dawson," Sam said. "He’ll check out your car, make sure you can drive it, or he’ll get it towed to his place. Think you can get a ride to work?"

"I’m sure I can," I said. "Amelia can bring me in."

Sam walked me to the back door like he was bringing me home from a date. The porch light was on, which was thoughtful of Amelia. Sam put his arms around me, which was a surprise, and then he just snugged his head in close to mine, and we stood there enjoying each other’s warmth for a long moment.

"We survived the Were war," he said. "You made it through the vampire coup. Now we lived through the attack of the berserk bodyguard. I hope we keep up our record."

"Now you’re scaring me," I said as I remembered all the other things I’d survived. I should be dead, no doubt about it.

His warm lips brushed my cheek. "Maybe that’s a good thing," he said, and turned to go back to his truck.

I watched him climb in and reverse, and then I unlocked the back door and went to my room. After all the adrenaline and the fear and the accelerated pace of life (and death) in the parking lot of Merlotte’s, my own room seemed very quiet and clean and secure. I’d done my best to kill someone tonight. It was only by chance Sigebert had survived my attempt at vehicular homicide. Twice. I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t feeling remorseful. This was surely a flaw, but at the moment I just didn’t care. There were definitely parts of my character I didn’t approve of, and maybe from time to time I had moments when I didn’t like myself much. But I got through each day as it came to me, and so far I’d survived everything life had thrown at me. I could only hope that the survival was worth the price I’d paid.

Chapter 20

To my relief, I woke up in an empty house. Neither Amelia’s nor Octavia’s throbbing heads were under my roof. I lay in bed and reveled in the knowledge. Maybe the next time I had a whole day off, I could spend it completely alone. That didn’t seem a likely occurrence, but a girl can dream. After I planned my day (call Sam to find out about my car, pay some bills, go to work), I got into the shower and really scrubbed. I used as much hot water as I wanted. I painted my toenails and my fingernails, and I pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt and went in to make some coffee. The kitchen was spanking clean; God bless Amelia.