The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

New Orleans, where Sookie and Amelia, Hadley’s landlord, are attacked by a vampire whom no one realizes Hadley has created. A Were who has been missing for several months, Jake has lain hidden in Hadley’s closet, held in stasis by a spell Amelia cast. Bill and Eric both come to the hospital where Sookie waits for treatment, and Eric forces Bill to admit that his pursuit of Sookie began as an assignment from the queen. Devastated, she leaves the hospital and wanders back to the apartment. The next night, Sookie, Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq, and her bodyguards watch an ectoplasmic reconstruction arranged by Amelia to determine why Hadley, the queen’s favorite, turned the Were. Quinn arrives to break the tension, having come to New Orleans to look for the missing Were, Jake, one of his employees. Sookie welcomes him the next day to help her pack, but they are attacked again and kidnapped by Weres, who drive them toward the swamps. They escape, track their attackers to a cabin in the woods, and discover that the family of Debbie Pelt is behind their troubles. Sookie decides to tell the family the story of Debbie’s death. They believe that it was self-defense, and Debbie’s parents promise that they will not seek vengeance. Sookie and Quinn attend the queen’s spring ball, where a battle breaks out between the Louisiana vamps and the Arkansas vamps of the queen’s new husband. Sookie escapes with Quinn and is happy to finish her business and leave New Orleans the next day.
    Although initially asked by Eric, Sookie attends a summit of vampires in the city of Rhodes as part of the queen’s entourage. She and Quinn have become serious, and she hopes to spend time with him at the summit, which he is overseeing for his company. Sookie is the only witness to the death of Peter Threadgill, Sophie-Anne’s husband, and expects to be called to testify on the queen’s behalf. The queen’s second, Andre Paul, believes Sookie can be of more use to the queen if she is connected to him by a blood bond. Eric interrupts as Sookie tries to resist. He suggests that Andre allow him to forge the blood bond with Sookie instead, since they have already had each other’s blood. Andre allows this, and Sookie unwillingly gives and receives blood with Eric. Quinn bursts onto the scene, furious that the vampires have forced Sookie into such a situation. Sookie tries to walk away with her head held high but breaks down in a stairwell.
    Barry, the telepath she met while in Dallas, is in service to Stan Davis, who is now King of Texas. They both sense that something is wrong at the summit, and Barry awakens Sookie on the final morning in a panic. They discover that there are bombs planted throughout the hotel and frantically try to save both the humans and the vampires with the help of Mr. Cataliades, his niece Diantha, and a human named Cecile, who is also in service to Stan. Sookie alerts Quinn to get out of the hotel, Cecile pulls the fire alarm to evacuate the humans, and they rush to get their vampires to safety. Sookie manages to rouse Eric long enough to stuff Pam into her traveling coffin and get them all out of a window, while Mr. Cataliades is able to save Sophie-Anne. Working to rescue both humans and vampires, Sookie spies an injured Quinn in the rubble, with his sister and Andre lying nearby. Although badly hurt, Quinn insists that Sookie leave to help others, and she walks away knowing that he is going to stake Andre to protect her from his influence. After Sookie and Barry combine their talents to save people from the wreckage, they finally make their way to a motel in exhaustion. Although Mr. Cataliades has arranged a flight the next afternoon, Sookie decides to see Quinn instead and then makes her own way home.
    Sookie is back in Bon Temps waiting to hear from Quinn when Eric calls and asks her to dinner on behalf of someone who wishes to meet her. He takes her to a restaurant in Shreveport, where she is surprised to be introduced to a fairy who explains that he is her great-grandfather. His half-human son Fintan had an affair with Gran, fathering both Sookie’s father and his sister, Linda. On the way home, Sookie and Eric are stopped by a Were pretending to be a policeman, who takes a shot at Sookie. The next day she discovers that Maria-Star Cooper, Alcide Herveaux’s girlfriend, has been murdered, and that Alcide suspects the packmaster is behind it. Sookie arranges a meeting between the two Weres, acting as a