The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

suddenly figures out a simple way to help Sam through his financial hardship and takes him a check to pull the bar through until it can get back on its feet. Sam reluctantly accepts her offer but insists that they draw up legal paperwork for the loan.
    Afraid Sookie wouldn’t accept her call, Amelia asks Sam to tell Sookie to check her e-mail, which Sookie often forgets to do. Sookie has not only an e-mail from Amelia but also one from Mr. Cataliades. He advises her to think hard before using the cluviel dor and also warns her about Sandra Pelt. Amelia apologizes in her e-mail and tells Sookie that a cluviel dor is a fairy love token that contains a wish for the bearer, a wish so powerful that it can drastically change a life. When Sookie leaves for the Kill Victor party, she takes the cluviel dor with her.
    Once at Fangtasia, Sookie waits in Eric’s office for the bar to close. Pam is silent, and Sookie realizes that Miriam has passed away, another victim of Victor, who denied Pam permission to turn her sick lover. After closing, a few vampires loyal to Eric casually spread themselves around the bar as they help the human staff clean up and set the stage for the show. Bubba is going to sing. Colton and Audrina remain, ostensibly as potential donors. Immanuel and Mustafa Khan stay as well. Victor and his entourage, including his new second, Akiro, arrive and settle in for the spectacle. Bubba is breathtaking during his ballads, easily holding the visiting audience’s attention, but the faster rock numbers aren’t as riveting. Eric makes his move, swinging a stake at Victor’s heart. Unfortunately, he is thwarted by Akiro, and the battle begins.
    Sookie is able to send Bubba to the relative safety of the back hall, and he is led away by Bill. Pam is taken down by Victor. Seeing Sookie with Akiro’s sword in her hands, Pam orders Sookie to kill Victor. She wavers, afraid that she will swing too hard and kill Pam as well, but is able to bring the sword down hard enough to incapacitate him, giving Pam the opportunity to get up, grab the sword, and do it herself. A badly wounded Akiro refuses to yield to Eric, who ends the other vampire’s suffering. When the blood and ash settle, all of Victor’s loyal minions are dead. Audrina has been killed as well, and Colton weeps over her body. Thalia struggles to reattach her severed arm, a procedure only old vampires can accomplish. Although Sookie is unable to respond physically to Eric when he kisses her, she still offers him her neck to help him heal his wounds. He strikes carelessly, angered by her conflicted emotions. She finally pinches his ear to get him to stop and pulls away, flinching when he tries to kiss her good night. Bill drives her home, and he calmly reminds her that she knew there would be death and blood, and that they only did what they needed to do to survive. Sookie knows he is right but is still disheartened by the carnage. She changes the subject, asking Bill about the Queen of Oklahoma and telling him Freyda is the bride Eric’s maker arranged for him. Bill is surprised by the prospective bride’s identity, and he tells Sookie that Eric will have to put her aside if he marries Freyda. Sookie admits that she broke the blood bond, and Bill gives her advice as a friend to let Eric make up his own mind. Sookie goes into her home, cleans herself up, and gets into bed, both relieved and disquieted that she thinks she’ll be able to sleep.
    SATURDAY, JUNE 3. Mr. Cataliades knocks on Sookie’s back door during Tara’s baby shower, which is a rousing success. He waits in the kitchen until the shower winds down and the guests depart. Sookie questions him about his history with her family, both fae and human, and discovers that Fintan had his good friend Desmond Cataliades give a gift to Fintan’s progeny, a gift they could only accept if they had the essential spark. As their sponsor, Mr. Cataliades gave the family the gift of telepathy, a gift that he believed would give Fintan’s descendants an advantage over most of the rest of humanity. Mr. Cataliades then tells Sookie that he is being pursued by some of his enemies and must leave.
    Sam calls to let her know that someone dropped off a package for her at the bar, and Sookie can tell by his tone that there is something amiss. She asks him to bring her the package instead, and after a muffled consultation with another person, he agrees. Sookie grabs her shotgun and hides in the woods to wait for Sam