Club Dead - By Charlaine Harris Page 0,38

and ladies are not responsible for the bad manners of fools.” Edgington actually bowed to me. I had no idea what to do in response, but an even deeper head-inclination seemed safe. “You’re like a rose blooming in an untended garden, my dear.”

And you’re full of bull hockey. “Thank you, Mr. Edgington,” I said, casting my eyes down lest he read the skepticism in them. Maybe I should have called him “Your Highness”? “Alcide, I’m afraid I need to call it a night,” I said, trying to sound soft and gentle and shaken. It was a little too easy.

“Of course, darlin’,” he said instantly. “Let me get your wrap and purse.” He began making his way to our table immediately, God bless him.

“Now, Miss Stackhouse, we want you to come back tomorrow night,” Russell Edgington said. His human friend stood behind Edgington, his hands resting on Edgington’s shoulders. The small vampire reached up and patted one of those hands. “We don’t want you scared off by the bad manners of one individual.”

“Thanks, I’ll mention that to Alcide,” I said, not letting any enthusiasm leak into my voice. I hoped I appeared subservient to Alcide without being spineless. Spineless people didn’t last long around vampires. Russell Edgington believed he was projecting the appearance of an old-style Southern gentleman, and if that was his thing, I might as well feed it.

Alcide returned, and his face was grim. “I’m afraid your wrap had an accident,” he said, and I realized he was furious. “Debbie, I guess.”

My beautiful silk shawl had a big hole burned in it. I tried to keep my face impassive, but I didn’t manage very well. Tears actually welled up in my eyes, I suppose because the incident with the biker had shaken me already.

Edgington, of course, was soaking this all in.

“Better the shawl than me,” I said, attempting a shrug. I made the corners of my mouth turn up. At least my little purse appeared intact, though I hadn’t had any more in it than a compact and a lipstick, and enough cash to pay for supper. To my intense embarrassment, Alcide shrugged out of his suit coat and held it for me to slide into. I began to protest, but the look on his face said he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Good night, Miss Stackhouse,” the vampire said. “Herveaux, see you tomorrow night? Does your business keep you in Jackson?”

“Yes, it does,” Alcide said pleasantly. “It was good to talk to you, Russell.”

THE TRUCK WASoutside the club when we emerged. The sidewalk seemed no less full of menace than it had when we arrived. I wondered how all these effects were achieved, but I was too depressed to question my escort.

“You shouldn’t have given me your coat, you must be freezing,” I said, after we’d driven a couple of blocks.

“I have on more clothes than you,” Alcide said.

He wasn’t shivering like I was, even without his coat. I huddled in it, enjoying the silk lining, and the warmth, and his smell.

“I should never have left you by yourself with those jerks in the club.”

“Everyone has to go to the bathroom,” I said mildly.

“I should have asked someone else to sit with you.”

“I’m a big girl. I don’t need a perpetual guard. I handle little incidents like that all the time at the bar.” If I sounded weary of it, I was. You just don’t get to see the best side of men when you’re a barmaid; even at a place like Merlotte’s, where the owner watches out for his servers and almost all the clientele is local.

“Then you shouldn’t be working there.” Alcide sounded very definite.

“Okay, marry me and take me away from all this,” I said, deadpan, and got a frightened look in return. I grinned at him. “I have to make my living, Alcide. And mostly, I like my job.”

He looked unconvinced and thoughtful. It was time to change the subject.

“They’ve got Bill,” I said.

“You know for sure.”

“Yeah.”

“Why? What does he know that Edgington would want to know so badly, badly enough to risk a war?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“But you do know?”

To tell him would be to say I trusted him. I was in the same kind of danger as Bill if it was known that I knew what he knew. And I’d break a lot faster.

“Yes,” I said. “I know.”

Chapter Six

WE WERE SILENTin the elevator. As Alcide unlocked his apartment, I leaned against the wall. I was a mess: tired, conflicted, and