Club Dead

I knew I would heal better and quicker with his saliva anyway, so I held quite still, though to tell the truth, it was like letting someone feel me up in public. Despite my discomfort, I smiled, though I know it can’t have been a comfortable smile. Alcide held my hand, which was reassuring.
    “Sorry I didn’t come out quicker,” he said.
    “Not something you can predict.” Lick, lick, lick. Oh, come on, I had to have stopped bleeding by now.
    The vampire straightened, ran his tongue over his lips, and smiled at me. “That was quite an experience. May I introduce myself? I’m Russell Edgington.”
    Russell Edgington, the king of Mississippi; from the reaction of the bikers, I had suspected as much. “Pleased to meet you,” I said politely, wondering if I should curtsey. But he hadn’t introduced himself by his title. “I’m Sookie Stackhouse, and this is my friend Alcide Herveaux.”
    “I’ve known the Herveaux family for years,” the king of Mississippi said. “Good to see you, Alcide. How’s that father of yours?” We might have been standing in the Sunday sunlight outside the First Presbyterian Church, rather than in a vampire bar at midnight.
    “Fine, thank you,” Alcide said, somewhat stiffly. “We’re sorry there was trouble.”
    “Not your fault,” the vampire said graciously. “Men sometimes have to leave their ladies alone, and ladies are not responsible for the bad manners of fools.” Edgington actually bowed to me. I had no idea what to do in response, but an even deeper head-inclination seemed safe. “You’re like a rose blooming in an untended garden, my dear.”
    And you’re full of bull hockey . “Thank you, Mr. Edgington,” I said, casting my eyes down lest he read the skepticism in them. Maybe I should have called him “Your Highness”? “Alcide, I’m afraid I need to call it a night,” I said, trying to sound soft and gentle and shaken. It was a little too easy.
    “Of course, darlin’,” he said instantly. “Let me get your wrap and purse.” He began making his way to our table immediately, God bless him.
    “Now, Miss Stackhouse, we want you to come back tomorrow night,” Russell Edgington said. His human friend stood behind Edgington, his hands resting on Edgington’s shoulders. The small vampire reached up and patted one of those hands. “We don’t want you scared off by the bad manners of one individual.”
    “Thanks, I’ll mention that to Alcide,” I said, not letting any enthusiasm leak into my voice. I hoped I appeared subservient to Alcide without being spineless. Spineless people didn’t last long around vampires. Russell Edgington believed he was projecting the appearance of an old-style Southern gentleman, and if that was his thing, I might as well feed it.
    Alcide returned, and his face was grim. “I’m afraid your wrap had an accident,” he said, and I realized he was furious. “Debbie, I guess.”
    My beautiful silk shawl had a big hole burned in it. I tried to keep my face impassive, but I didn’t manage very well. Tears actually welled up in my eyes, I suppose because the incident with the biker had shaken me already.
    Edgington, of course, was soaking this all in.
    “Better the shawl than me,” I said, attempting a shrug. I made the corners of my mouth turn up. At least my little purse appeared intact, though I hadn’t had any more in it than a compact and a lipstick, and enough cash to pay for supper. To my intense embarrassment, Alcide shrugged out of his suit coat and held it for me to slide into. I began to protest, but the look on his face said he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
    “Good night, Miss Stackhouse,” the vampire said. “Herveaux, see you tomorrow night? Does your business keep you in Jackson?”
    “Yes, it does,” Alcide said pleasantly. “It was good to talk to you, Russell.”
     
     
    T HE TRUCK WAS outside the club when we emerged. The sidewalk seemed no less full of menace than it had when we arrived. I wondered how all these effects were achieved, but I was too depressed to question my escort.
    “You shouldn’t have given me your coat, you must be freezing,” I said, after we’d driven a couple of blocks.
    “I have on more clothes than you,” Alcide said.
    He wasn’t shivering like I was, even without his coat. I huddled in it, enjoying the silk lining, and the warmth, and his smell.
    “I should never have left you by yourself with those jerks in the club.”
    “Everyone has to