The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

and the two men begin to fight. When an angry Quinn throws Bill with all his strength, he cannons into the helpless Sookie, knocking her unconscious. She wakes in her darkened bedroom with Eric. The taste of his blood is on her tongue. The passion between them ignites. After lovemaking, Eric and Sookie talk, and she tells him of the events of the day. Eric invites a stunned Sookie to move in with him but is surprised when she gently declines. They discuss their feelings for each other, and Eric regretfully leaves for his home. As Sookie looks out her kitchen window, she sees Bill silently watching over her from the woods.
    MONDAY, JANUARY 16. A forlorn Jason visits, waiting for Sookie out in the backyard. While she believes she will be able to forgive him for his past actions, their relationship remains strained. He asks her to attend Crystal’s funeral and tells her that if she hears who killed his wife, either she can tell the police or she can simply tell him and Calvin, and they will take care of it.
    Sookie is surprised to have a message from Arlene asking her to come over to her house to talk. When she learns from Sam that Arlene has tried to get her job back and that he is planning to refuse, Sookie decides to visit her former friend to try making peace with her. She calls Arlene and tells her she will come over, but Sookie senses something is not right and leaves immediately to scope out the situation before she is expected at Arlene’s trailer.
    Sookie watches from the burned-out house next to Arlene’s as she sends her children away with a friend and then talks with two men from the Fellowship of the Sun. Sookie is able to discern that they are going to do to her what was done to Crystal. She calls Andy Bellefleur, who is with the FBI agents, and they tell her they will come if she would be willing to go in and try to trap the men in the act. As she is waiting for the law, Sookie sees Arlene leaving and comes out of hiding to confront her. Just as the police arrive, Arlene begins to scream, and the men come out of the trailer with their rifles in their hands. Special Agent Lattesta calls a warning for them to lay down their arms, but one fires at Sookie, who flings herself to the ground. The bullet slightly grazes Arlene but hits Agent Weiss in the upper chest. The men all open fire, and one of the attackers is killed, the other wounded. As a stunned Sookie sits on the ground, she realizes the two men did not kill Crystal but were planning a copycat murder. While the wounded are taken away, Sookie looks over to see a fairy watching from the woods. After she is questioned, Bud Dearborn sends her home.
    Sookie goes into work and is relieved when nothing else happens and she is able to go about her shift just like any other waitress at Merlotte’s.
    TUESDAY, JANUARY 17. Amelia tells Sookie of a hot new guy named Drake who has been asking her and Tray about Sookie, but Sookie passes on the opportunity to meet him. Remy Savoy calls with a request for Sookie’s help with Hunter, who will be starting kindergarten soon, but she has to put him off. Because of the threat of the fairies, she is unwilling to possibly jeopardize the little boy or his father. She promises to contact him when things have settled down, hoping that she survives whatever it is that is coming. While Amelia gets ready for a date with Tray, she again mentions Drake and his desire to meet Sookie. When Amelia says that the man looks a lot like Jason, a panicked Sookie warns her friend to stay away from him. Sookie calls Eric to ask for the protection of the vampires, and he tells her he will present her request to Victor, who is there at Fangtasia. Once at work, Sookie struggles to function normally while trying to listen for information about Crystal’s murder, but Sookie hears little but the usual mundane thoughts of the people surrounding her. She gets one text message from Eric, assuring her that the protection she requested is coming, and another from Alcide, who has learned of her problems from Tray and offers pack protection as well. Before leaving Merlotte’s, Sookie fills two water pistols with pure lemon juice as a defense against the fairies.
    She finds Bubba waiting beside her car in the parking lot as the protection promised by Eric, and when she arrives home, Tray is at her house as the protection from the Weres.
    WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18. Sookie awakens to hear Tray being desperately ill. He tells her of meeting a woman in the