Dead as a doornail - By Charlaine Harris Page 0,87

in their lovemaking.

“Of course not,” she said, shocked. The horror in her voice took me aback. I’d had vampire blood when I’d needed it. The first time, I’d have died without it.

“Then you have to go to the hospital.” I was really concerned that Tara might have internal injuries. “I’m scared for you to move,” I protested, when she tried to push herself to a seated position. Mr. Super Strength didn’t help, which irritated me, since he could have shifted her easily.

But at last Tara managed to sit with her back against the wall, the empty window allowing the chilly wind to gust in and blow the curtains to and fro. The rain had abated until only a drop or two was coming in. The linoleum in front of the window was wet with water and blood, and the glass lay in glittering sharp fragments, some stuck to Tara’s damp clothes and skin.

“Tara, listen to me,” Eric said. She looked up at him. Since he was close to the fluorescent light, she had to squint. I thought she looked pitiful, but Eric didn’t seem to see the same person I was seeing. “Your greed and selfishness put my—my friend Sookie in danger. You say you’re her friend, too, but you don’t act like it.”

Hadn’t Tara loaned me a suit when I needed one? Hadn’t she loaned me her car when mine burned? Hadn’t she helped me on other occasions when I needed it? “Eric, this isn’t any of your business,” I said.

“You called me and asked me for my help. That makes it my business. I called Salome and told her what her child was doing, and she’s taken him away and to punish him for it. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Yes,” I said, and I’m ashamed to say I sounded sullen.

“Then I’m going to make my point with Tara.” He looked back down at her. “Do you understand me?”

Tara nodded painfully. The bruises on her face and throat seemed to be darkening more every minute.

“I’m getting some ice for your throat,” I told her, and ran into the kitchen to dump ice from the plastic trays into a Ziploc bag. I didn’t want to listen to Eric scold her; she seemed so pitiful.

When I came back less than a minute later, Eric had finished whatever he was going to say to Tara. She was touching her neck gingerly, and she took the bag from me and held it to her throat. While I was leaning over her, anxious and scared, Eric was back on his cell phone.

I twitched with worry. “You need a doctor,” I urged her.

“No,” she said.

I looked up at Eric, who was just finishing his phone call. He was the injury expert.

“She’ll heal without going to the hospital,” he said briefly. His indifference made a chill run down my spine. Just when I thought I was used to them, vampires would show me their true face, and I would have to remind myself all over again that they were a different race. Or maybe it was centuries of conditioning that made the difference; decades of disposing of people as they chose, taking what they wanted, enduring the dichotomy of being the most powerful beings on earth in the darkness, and yet completely helpless and vulnerable during the hours of light.

“But will she have some permanent damage? Something doctors could fix if she got to them quick?”

“I’m fairly certain that her throat is only badly bruised. She has some broken ribs from the beating, possibly some loose teeth. Mickey could have broken her jaw and her neck very easily, you know. He probably wanted her to be able to talk to you when he brought her here, so he held back a little. He counted on you panicking and letting him in. He didn’t think you could gather your thoughts so quickly. If I’d been him, my first move would have been to damage your mouth or neck so you couldn’t rescind my entrance.”

That possibility hadn’t occurred to me, and I blanched.

“When he backhanded you, I think that was what he was aiming for,” Eric continued dispassionately.

I’d heard enough. I thrust a broom and dustpan into his hands. He looked at them as if they were ancient artifacts and he could not fathom their use.

“Sweep up,” I said, using a wet washcloth to clean the blood and dirt off my friend. I didn’t know how much of this conversation Tara was absorbing, but her eyes were open