priceless advantage over other humans. I’d received this birth present because I was the granddaughter of Mr. Cataliades’s great friend Fintan and Fintan’s, well, his girlfriend—my grandmother, Adele Stackhouse. Not only was I a descendant of a fairy, I possessed the “essential spark.” Whatever that was. And that was why I’d been lucky enough to manifest the telepathy.
Mr. Cataliades wrote:
Dearest Sookie, I am back in New Orleans, having settled my issues with the local supernatural community and done some essential detective work. I hope to visit you very soon to verify your well-being and to give you some information. I hear rumors of what is happening in your life, and those rumors disturb me.
Me, too, Mr. C. Me, too. I responded by telling him that I was doing okay and that I’d be glad to see him. I wasn’t sure if any of that was true, but it sounded good.
Michele, Jason’s fiancée, had e-mailed me two days ago from her job at the car dealership.
Hi Sookie! Let’s get a pedicure together tomorrow! I have the morning off. What about nine o’clock at Rumpty?
I’d had only one pedicure before, but I’d enjoyed it, and I liked Michele fine; but we didn’t necessarily have the same idea about what constituted a good time. However, she was going to be my sister-in-law soon, and I sent back an abject apology for not checking my e-mail sooner.
Tara had sent me a message.
Hey girlfriend, I really enjoyed our road trip. I’m wearing the shorts right now, lol. We have to do something about the babies’ room, I can hardly get my fat ass in there. I thought it was big enuf before I had twins! I’m hiring a babysitter so I can get back to work part time. Here are some more pictures of the babies.
They didn’t look much different from the way they had in the pictures she had yesterday. Nonetheless, I sent her an admiring message. I know what a friend should do. I wondered how Tara and JB could increase the size of the babies’ little room. Sam was pretty handy with carpentry. Maybe they’d rope him in, too.
I’d gotten a text from Jason. “U working 2morrow?” I assured him I was. He probably needed to drop in to talk about some detail of the wedding, which was going to be about as casual as a wedding could be.
I thought of turning on the television, but it was summer, so there wasn’t much point. I’d read instead. I got the top book off the library stack on my bedside table and was pleased to discover it was the latest Dana Stabenow. It’s really a treat to read about Alaska when it’s a summer day that peaked at 104 degrees. I hoped that maybe someday I’d get up there. I wanted to see a grizzly bear, and I wanted to see a glacier, and I wanted to eat fresh salmon.
I found I was holding the book in both hands and imagining. Since I couldn’t concentrate on the page, I might as well throw supper together. It was getting late. While I made a salad with cherry tomatoes and dried cranberries and chopped chicken, I tried to picture how big a grizzly might be. I’d never seen any kind of bear in the wild, though twice I’d found prints in the woods I was pretty sure were a black bear’s.
I was in a better mood altogether as I ate and read, two of my favorite activities.
It had been a long day, what with one thing and another, and by the time I crawled into my bed, I was ready to sleep. A peaceful night with no dreams; that was what I wanted. And for a while, I got it.
“Sookie.”
“Mmmh?”
“Wake up, Sookie. I need to talk to you.”
My bedroom was quite dark. Even the little night-light I left on in the bathroom was out. But I knew, even before I caught his familiar scent, that Eric was in my room.
“I’m awake,” I said, still struggling to clear the sleep out of my head. The jolt of fear I’d gotten had gone far toward that end. “Why are you sneaking in like this? I gave you a key for emergencies, not for surprise night visits.”
“Sookie, listen to me.”
“I’m listening.” Not happy about this approach to conversation, though.
“I had to be curt on the phone. There are ears all around me. No matter what happens in public—no matter what—don’t doubt that I love you and care about