Club Dead

that night with the tall blond she saw tonight, wearing glasses and a suit and with his hair pulled back strictly into a braid.
    “Please help Sookie,” she said to him directly, as Franklin Mott almost yanked her to her feet.
    “This young man will be glad to help your friend,” Mott said. He gave Eric a sharp look that told Eric he damn well better agree.
    “Of course. I’m a good friend of Alcide’s,” Eric said, lying without a blink.
    He took Tara’s place by my side, and I could tell after he was on his knees that he caught the smell of my blood. His face went even whiter, and his bones stood out starkly under his skin. His eyes blazed.
    “You don’t know how hard it is,” he whispered to me, “not to bend over and lick.”
    “If you do, everyone else will,” I said. “And they won’t just lick, they’ll bite.” There was a German shepherd staring at me with luminous yellow eyes, just past my feet.
    “That’s the only thing stopping me.”
    “Who are you?” asked Russell Edgington. He was giving Eric a careful once-over. Russell was standing to my other side, and he bent over both of us. I had been loomed over enough, I can tell you that, but I was in no position to do a damn thing about it.
    “I’m a friend of Alcide’s,” Eric repeated. “He invited me here tonight to meet his new girlfriend. My name is Leif.”
    Russell could look down at Eric, since Eric was kneeling, and his golden brown eyes bored into Eric’s blue ones. “Alcide doesn’t hang with many vampires,” Russell said.
    “I’m one of the few.”
    “We have to get this young lady out of here,” Russell said.
    The snarling a few feet away increased in intensity. There appeared to be a knot of animals gathered around something on the floor.
    “Take that out of here!” roared Mr. Hob. “Out the back door! You know the rules!”
    Two of the vampires lifted the corpse, for that was what the Weres and shifters were squabbling over, and carried it out the back door, followed by all the animals. So much for the black-haired fanatic.
    Just this afternoon Alcide and I had disposed of a corpse. We’d never thought of just bringing it down to the club, laying it in the alley. Of course, this one was fresh.
    “. . . maybe has nicked a kidney,” Eric was saying. I had been unconscious, or at least somewhere else, for a few moments.
    I was sweating heavily, and the pain was excruciating. I felt a flash of chagrin when I realized I was sweating all over my dress. But possibly the big bloody hole had already ruined the dress anyway, huh?
    “We’ll take her to my place,” Russell said, and if I hadn’t been sure I was very badly hurt, I might have laughed. “The limo’s on its way. I’m sure a familiar face would make her more comfortable, don’t you agree?”
    What I thought was, Russell didn’t want to get his suit nasty picking me up. And Talbot probably couldn’t lug me. Though the small vampire with curly black hair was still there, and still smiling, I would be awful bulky for him . . .
    And I lost some more time.
    “Alcide turned into a wolf and chased after the assassin’s companion,” Eric was telling me, though I didn’t remember asking. I started to tell Eric who the companion was, and then I realized that I’d better not. “Leif,” I muttered, trying to commit the name to memory. “Leif. I guess my garters are showing. Does that mean . . . ?”
    “Yes, Sookie?”
    . . . and I was out again. Then I was aware I was moving, and I realized that Eric was carrying me. Nothing had ever hurt so badly in my life, and I reflected, not for the first time, that I’d never even been in a hospital until I’d met Bill, and now I seemed to spend half my time battered or recovering from being battered. This was very significant and important.
    A lynx padded out of the bar beside us. I looked down into the golden eyes. What a night this was turning out to be for Jackson. I hoped all the good people had decided to stay home tonight.
    And then we were in the limo. My head was resting on Eric’s thigh, and in the seat across from us sat Talbot, Russell, and the small curly-haired vampire. As we stopped at a light, a bison lumbered by.
    “Lucky no one’s out in downtown Jackson on a weekend night in December,” Talbot was remarking, and Eric laughed.
    We drove for what seemed like some time. Eric smoothed my skirt over my legs, and brushed my hair out of my face. I looked up at him, and . . .
    “. . . did