Deadlocked: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel

head and closed his eyes, just like a priest giving a blessing. I felt something change in the house, the land.
    And then they were gone. Even Claude.
    I was stupefied. I was willing to bet that over at Hooligans, the bar stood empty, the doors locked.
    The fae were gone from America. Their departure point? Bon Temps, Louisiana. The woods behind my house.

Chapter 16
    As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy to go on and have a normal day after that.
    I hadn’t slept all night, and the traumas had just kept on coming.
    But after I showered and straightened up the living room, which had suffered a bit during the fight, I found myself sitting at the kitchen table trying to absorb everything: last night, this morning.
    It was taking a lot of energy to do that. About halfway through setting my mental house in order, I had to think about something else. Luckily, there was something right in front of me that would serve.
    Among the presents I’d tossed to the table last night was Pam’s little box, Bill’s box, and Sam’s envelope, which I’d never examined. Pam had given me perfume, and I liked the smell of it very much. Billhad given me a necklace with a cameo pendant. The likeness on it was my gran’s. “Oh, Bill,” I said, “you did great!” Nothing could top such a gift, I thought, as I reached for Sam’s envelope. I figured he’d picked a fancy birthday card—with, maybe, a gift certificate enclosed.
    Sam had officially made me a partner in the bar. I legally owned a third of Merlotte’s.
    I put my head on the table and swore. In a happy way.
    This past twenty-four hours had been my personal trail of tears. No more!
    I picked myself up out of that chair, slapped on about a ton of makeup and a sundress, and put a smile on my face. It was time to rejoin the land of the living, the everyday world. I didn’t want to learn one more secret or suffer one more betrayal.
    I was due to meet Kennedy for breakfast at LaLaurie’s, which (she’d told me) served a great Sunday brunch. I didn’t think I’d ever eaten a meal and called it “brunch.” Today I did, and it was really excellent. White tablecloths and cloth napkins, too! Kennedy was wearing a pretty sundress, too, and her hair was in full pageant mode. The hickey on her neck was not quite covered by her makeup.
    Kennedy was in an excellent mood, and she confided in me way more than I wanted to know about the wonderfulness that now lay between Danny and her. Danny was even now running errands for Bill Compton since he didn’t have to work at the lumberyard, which was closed on Sunday. It was going to work out. He’d be making a living wage. When their finances stabilized, maybe they would move in together. “Maybe,” she emphasized, but I wasn’t fooled. Their cohabitation was a done deal.
    I thought of my happy fantasies of the night before; had it really just been the night before? I tried to remember all the happy endingsI’d imagined for everyone, and I tried to recollect if I’d included Danny and Kennedy in the roundup.
    After I left LaLaurie’s, full and happy, I knew I couldn’t wait any longer to thank Sam for his amazing gift. His truck was parked in front of his trailer. His carefully watered hedge and yard were flourishing despite the heat. Not many men would try to keep a yard around their double-wide if it was parked behind a bar. I’d always tried to let Sam’s house be his house. I could count on my fingers the times I’d knocked on his door.
    Today was one of them.
    When he answered the door, my smile faded away. I could tell something was mighty wrong.
    Then I realized that he knew what Jannalynn had done.
    He looked at me bleakly. “I don’t know what to say to you,” he said. “This is the second time I’ve been with a woman who tried to do you harm.”
    It actually took me a second to remember who the other one had been. “Callisto? Oh, Sam, that was a while ago, and she was hardly a woman. She didn’t mean any of it personal. Jannalynn, well, she definitely did. But she’s an ambitious young woman; she’s trying …” My voice trailed off. She’s trying to take over the pack from her packmaster, to whom she swore loyalty. She’s trying to make sure my boyfriend gets arrested for murder. She conspired with a fairy to pay Kym Rowe to go to her death. She kidnapped Warren. She left him to die. She was trying to kill me, one way or another.
    “Okay,” I said, conceding defeat. “You fucked up with