Dead to the World

about his new knowledge, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. “Listen, did you see Hoyt’s date last night? After they left the bar, Hoyt got stuck in a ditch over to Arcadia, and they had to walk two miles to get to a phone because he’d let his cell run down.”
    “He did not!” I exclaimed, in a comforting and gossipy way. “And her in those heels.” Jason’s equilibrium was restored. He told me the town gossip for a few minutes, he accepted my offer of a Coke, and he asked me if I needed anything from town.
    “Yes, I do.” I’d been thinking while he was talking. Most of his news I’d heard from other brains the nights before, in unguarded moments.
    “Ah-oh,” he said, looking mock-frightened. “What am I in for now?”
    “I need ten bottles of synthetic blood and clothes for a big man,” I said, and I’d startled him again. Poor Jason, he deserved a silly vixen of a sister who bore nieces and nephews who called him Uncle Jase and held on to his legs. Instead, he got me.
    “How big is the man, and where is he?”
    “He’s about six foot four or five, and he’s asleep,” I said. “I’d guess a thirty-four waist, and he’s got long legs and broad shoulders.” I reminded myself to check the size label on Eric’s jeans, which were still in the dryer out on the back porch.
    “What kind of clothes?”
    “Work clothes.”
    “Anybody I know?”
    “Me,” said a much deeper voice.
    Jason whipped around as if he was expecting an attack, which shows his instincts aren’t so bad, after all. But Eric looked as unthreatening as a vampire his size can look. And he’d obligingly put on the brown velour bathrobe that I’d left in the second bedroom. It was one I’d kept here for Bill, and it gave me a pang to see it on someone else. But I had to be practical; Eric couldn’t wander around in red bikini underwear—at least, not with Jason in the house.
    Jason goggled at Eric and cast a shocked glance at me. “This is your newest man, Sookie? You didn’t let any grass grow under your feet.” He didn’t know whether to sound admiring or indignant. Jason still didn’t realize Eric was dead. It’s amazing to me that lots of people can’t tell for a few minutes. “And I need to get him clothes?”
    “Yes. His shirt got torn last night, and his blue jeans are still dirty.”
    “You going to introduce me?”
    I took a deep breath. It would have been so much better if Jason hadn’t seen Eric. “Better not,” I said.
    They both took that badly. Jason looked wounded, and the vampire looked offended.
    “Eric,” he said, and stuck out a hand to Jason.
    “Jason Stackhouse, this rude lady’s brother,” Jason said.
    They shook, and I felt like wringing both their necks.
    “I’m assuming there’s a reason why you two can’t go out to buy him more clothes,” Jason said.
    “There’s a good reason,” I said. “And there’s about twenty good reasons you should forget you ever saw this guy.”
    “Are you in danger?” Jason asked me directly.
    “Not yet,” I said.
    “If you do something that gets my sister hurt, you’ll be in a world of trouble,” Jason told Eric the vampire.
    “I would expect nothing less,” Eric said. “But since you are being blunt with me, I’ll be blunt with you. I think you should support her and take her into your household, so she would be better protected.”
    Jason’s mouth fell open again, and I had to cover my own so I wouldn’t laugh out loud. This was even better than I’d imagined.
    “Ten bottles of blood and a change of clothes?” Jason asked me, and I knew by the change in his voice that he’d finally cottoned on to Eric’s state.
    “Right. Liquor store’ll have the blood. You can get the clothes at Wal-Mart.” Eric had mostly been a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy, which was all I could afford, anyway. “Oh, he needs some shoes, too.”
    Jason went to stand by Eric and put his foot parallel to the vampire’s. He whistled, which made Eric jump.
    “Big feet,” Jason commented, and flashed me a look. “Is the old saying true?”
    I smiled at him. He was trying to lighten the atmosphere. “You may not believe me, but I don’t know.”
    “Kind of hard to swallow . . . no joke intended. Well, I’m gone,” Jason said, nodding to Eric. In a few seconds, I heard his truck speeding around the curves in the driveway, through the dark woods. Night had fallen completely.
    “I’m sorry I came out while he was here,” Eric said