The Sookie Stackhouse Companion

and whoever is with him. They pull up in Jannalynn’s car, and Sookie is not surprised to see Sandra Pelt get out of the vehicle with a rifle in her hands. Sookie emerges from the woods and fires, hitting Sandra in the left arm and cheek. Jannalynn takes full advantage of Sandra’s shocked reaction and attacks, taking the other shifter on in hand-to-hand combat. Sookie and Sam circle the battling women, trying to help Jannalynn, and Sam gets a broken nose for his efforts. Sookie is finally able to grab Sandra’s arm and forestall a punch, giving Jannalynn time to get her own punch in. The fierce Were breaks Sandra’s neck with one blow. When she realizes that Sandra isn’t yet dead, Jannalynn finishes the job. They debate calling the sheriff but opt instead to dispose of the body, with Sookie suggesting a place it won’t be found. She helps Sam carry Sandra’s body to the fairy portal, and they squeeze it through, hearing a yapping and snarling from the other side. Convinced that there is nothing left of Sandra Pelt, they make their way back to the house. After Sam washes off Jannalynn’s car and the blood spots on the ground, Jannalynn sets his broken nose, and the two leave, taking Sandra’s gun to toss into the woods on the way back to Sam’s place.
    Sookie muses over recent events and decides to settle back to watch Jeopardy! on TV with a glass of ice tea.

The Secret Dialogues of Bill and Eric
    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected] 05:33 am
     
    This is to inform you that Judith Vardamon is no longer staying in Area Five.
     
    William Compton
    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected] 05:46 am
     
    Lost another one, Bill?
     
    Eric
    To: [email protected]
    From: [email protected] 05:52 am
     
    GFY. Let me know if you need help with that abbreviation, Sheriff.
     
    Bill
    Phone: Bill calling Eric.
    BILL: “I had an interesting discussion with Sookie after you left.”
    ERIC: “She talks to you too much.”
    BILL: “Perhaps you talk to her too little. I assume you’re trying to get out of the contract.”
    ERIC: “Of course I am.”
    BILL: “Be sure to let me know how that goes. Have a good sleep, Eric.”
     
     
     
    Phone: Eric calling Bill.
    ERIC: “Did my wife get safely home?”
    BILL: “Of course. But from what I understand, she may not be your wife for much longer, Consort.”
    ERIC: “Watch yourself, Bill.”
    BILL: “A queen. Bad enough any marriage, but I doubt a queen will release you, Eric. I understand that Pam had to push you into telling her.” (Silence.)
    BILL: “Just as you pushed me. As my human neighbors say, ‘What goes around comes around.’ Now you know how it feels to be forced by a queen to betray Sookie.”
    ERIC: “I did not betray Sookie. This was Ocella’s doing, not mine.”
    BILL: “I actually do understand your loyalty to your maker, Eric. I even respect that you still wish to honor his word. Nonetheless, Sookie will see it as a betrayal. And your treatment of her tonight didn’t help.”
    ERIC: “Don’t think this means you will get her back, Bill.”
    BILL: “Perhaps not. But I do take pleasure in the possibility that you won’t keep her, either.”

The Sookie Short Stories and Related Material
    BY CHARLAINE HARRIS
     
     
     
     
     
     
    W riting short stories is not like writing a very short novel. The pacing is different, the timing is different, and the way you end the story is really different.
    At this moment, there are seven Sookie short stories and one novella. They weren’t published in the order in which they should be read if you’re trying to stick to Sookie’s chronology. I backtracked and filled in a little as ideas came to me. For clarity, I’m discussing them in the order in which they fit chronologically between the books.
    By the way, the first five of these stories can now be found in one volume: A Touch of Dead . Before my publisher put the collection together, you had to buy separate anthologies to read about Sookie’s adventures. I think that’s a good thing, because then you get to sample a lot of outstanding stories by other writers, but there’s no denying it’s convenient to have the one book.
    On to the discussion.
    Though not the first short story I’d ever written, “Fairy Dust” was the first piece of Sookie short fiction I’d attempted, and I learned a lot in the process. The story first appeared in a wonderful anthology, Powers of Detection . In “Fairy Dust,” Sookie is asked to