The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

several of his co-workers. Jason tells her that he needs to ride over to Clarice to pick up some fencing after work and asks her to check on Crystal after her shift. Sookie stops by his house, calling out to Crystal as she opens the front door. She hears a muffled moan and, worried that Crystal is miscarrying again, rushes into the bedroom, only to find her pregnant sister-in-law having sex with one of Jason’s co-workers. As Sookie marches out of the house, furious and disgusted, Calvin pulls up, having also been asked by Jason to check in on Crystal. Jason knew that both Calvin and Sookie would catch his wife being unfaithful. Calvin shares Sookie’s anger and disgust, informing her that they will need to have the ceremony to punish Crystal. Sookie remembers that at the couple’s wedding, she agreed to stand in for Jason just as Calvin agreed to stand in for Crystal under certain circumstances. Calvin calls Sookie later that evening to tell her to come to Hotshot the following night.
    WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19. Sookie drives out to Hotshot alone after work, determined to face whatever may come. As Calvin stood for Crystal at her wedding, promising to take the punishment for her actions should she violate the covenant and be unable to face the penalty herself, Jason declares that Sookie will administer the punishment to Calvin in his stead as well. The sentence for the breaking of the wedding vows is the breaking of the symbolic panther claw, and Sookie is forced to break Calvin’s fingers with a brick.
    THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20–FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. Sookie struggles with her actions as she tries to go about her life. She knows that she was only following the laws of Hotshot, but she feels guilty for hurting a man she respects and considers a friend. Unwilling to even speak to Jason, she turns her back on him when he comes into the bar. She hears through the grapevine that Calvin has passed his injury off as the result of an accident that occurred while he was working on his truck.
    SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22. Sam finally calls Eric in to speak to Sookie, hoping to find out what is wrong. She is angered by Eric’s lack of compassion and stomps out of Sam’s office, but she eventually manages to shake her black mood. When she leaves work, she finds Eric waiting for her in the parking lot. She asks him about the visiting Nevada king, Felipe de Castro, and they are both startled when Castro suddenly appears to talk with Eric. After introducing herself to the dramatic King of Nevada, Louisiana, and Arkansas, Sookie gets in her car to go home, but she has to pull over when she suffers a panic attack caused by her worry over Eric. She heads back to Merlotte’s, parking in the front lot and sneaking around to the back, uncertain of what she will find. To her shock, she sees that Sigebert, Sophie-Anne’s loyal bodyguard, didn’t die with his queen and has come seeking vengeance. Both Eric and Felipe are bound with silver chains, obviously having already suffered at Sigebert’s hands. Sam, an innocent bystander, is tied to the bumper of his own truck. Sookie decides that her best weapon is her car, and she creeps back to it, trying to figure out the best way to charge Sigebert without hitting anyone else. Pulling around to the back, she accelerates and is able to hit him from the front and then back over him. She jumps from the car to free Eric but is unable to unwrap the chains. She frees Sam first so he can help. The moment Eric is able he leaps on Sigebert and decapitates him, sending him to join his beloved maker. Felipe proclaims himself in Sookie’s debt, but he and Eric both wonder how it is Sigebert survived the takeover. Sam takes Sookie home, questioning her about whether the price she has paid to know more about the supernatural world has been worth it.
    SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23. Having been contacted by Felipe, Tray Dawson has repaired Sookie’s car and returns it to her in the morning before she is due for her shift at Merlotte’s. The big Were asks her to put in a good word for him with Amelia.
    MONDAY, OCTOBER 24. Running errands in town, Sookie sees Alcide, who thanks her for her help. When she returns home, Amelia and Octavia are working in the yard, and as they talk, Bob strolls over. Octavia proves her power by turning Bob back into his human form, later admitting that she faked her initial failure so that Amelia and Sookie would need her. Bob’s initial anger turns to devastation as he learns about Hurricane