Dead in the Family

evenings together were good, Eric was still spending a lot of time on vampire business. I was getting a little tired of it. Well, not a little. If you’re the boss, you should be able to get some time off, right? That’s one of the perks of being a boss.
    But something was up with the vampires; I was unhappily familiar with the signs. By now, the new regime should have been firmly in place, and Eric should have thoroughly established his new role in the scheme of things. Victor Madden should have been fully occupied down in New Orleans with the running of the kingdom, since he was Felipe’s representative in Louisiana. Eric should have been left to run Area Five in his own efficient way.
    But Eric’s blue eyes got all glittery and steely when Victor’s name came up. Mine probably did, too. As things stood now, Victor had power over Eric, and there wasn’t much we could do about that.
    I’d asked Eric if he thought Victor might claim dissatisfaction with Eric’s performance in Area Five, a terrifying possibility.
    “I’m keeping paperwork to prove differently,” Eric said. “And I’m keeping it in several places.” The lives of all Eric’s people, and maybe my life, depended on Eric planting his feet firmly in the new regime. I knew so much rested on Eric’s making his position impregnable, and I knew I shouldn’t whine. It’s not always easy to make yourself feel the way you ought to feel.
    All in all, some howling around the house would be a nice change. At least it would be something new and different.
    When I went to work that day, I told Sam about Alcide’s phone call. True shapeshifters are rare. Since there aren’t any others in this area, Sam occasionally spends time with others who have two forms. “Hey, why don’t you come out to the house, too?” I suggested. “You could turn into a wolf, right, since you’re a pure shifter? And then you’d blend right in.”
    Sam leaned back in his old swivel chair, glad to have an excuse to stop filling in forms. Sam, who is thirty, is three years older than me.
    “I’ve been dating someone in the pack, so it might be fun,” he said, considering the idea. But he shook his head after a moment. “That would be like going to an NAACP meeting in blackface. Being an imitation in front of the real thing. That’s why I’ve never gone out with the panthers, though Calvin’s told me I’d be welcome.”
    “Oh,” I said, feeling embarrassed. “I didn’t think of that. I’m sorry.” I did wonder who he was dating, but there again, not my business.
    “Ah, don’t worry about it.”
    “I’ve known you for years, and I should know more about you,” I said. “Your culture, that is.”
    “My own family is still learning. You know more than they do.”
    Sam had come out when the Weres had. His mother had come out the same night. His family had had a rough time handling the revelation. In fact, Sam’s stepfather had shot Sam’s mother, and now they were getting divorced—no big surprise there.
    “Is your brother’s wedding back on?” I said.
    “Craig and Deidra are going to counseling. Her parents were pretty upset that she was marrying into a family with people like me and Mom in it. They don’t understand that any kids Craig and Deidra have simply can’t turn into animals. It’s only the firstborn of a pure shifter couple.” He shrugged. “I think they’ll pull through, though. I’m just waiting for them to set a new date. You still willing to go with me?”
    “Sure,” I said, though I had an uneasy twitch when I pictured myself telling Eric I was going out of state with another man. At the time I’d promised Sam I’d go, the situation between Eric and me hadn’t gelled into a relationship. “You’re assuming taking a Were as your date would be offensive to Deidra’s family?”
    “Truth be told,” Sam said, “the Great Reveal in Wright didn’t go over as well for the two-natured as it did in Bon Temps.”
    I knew from the local news that Bon Temps had been lucky. Its citizens had simply blinked when the Weres and the other two-natured announced their existence, taking a page from the vampire book. “Just let me know what happens,” I said. “And come out to my place tomorrow if you change your mind about having a run with the pack.”
    “Packmaster didn’t invite me,” Sam said, smiling.
    “Landowner did.”
    We didn’t talk about it any more the rest of my shift, so I figured Sam would find something else to