peace, I only had time to think of the vampire’s dark eyes, and then I fell into the deep sleep of exhaustion.

BY LUNCHTIME THE next day I was in my folding aluminum chaise out in the front yard, getting browner by the second. I was in my favorite white strapless two-piece, and it was a little roomier than last summer, so I was pleased as punch.

Then I heard a vehicle coming down the drive, and Jason’s black truck with its pink and aqua blazons pulled up to within a yard of my feet.

Jason climbed down—did I mention the truck sports those high tires?—to stalk toward me. He was wearing his usual work clothes, a khaki shirt and pants, and he had his sheathed knife clipped to his belt, like most of the county road workers did. Just by the way he walked, I knew he was in a huff.

I put my dark glasses on.

“Why didn’t you tell me you beat up the Rattrays last night?” My brother threw himself into the aluminum yard chair by my chaise. “Where’s Gran?” he asked belatedly.

“Hanging out the laundry,” I said. Gran used the dryer in a pinch, but she really liked hanging the wet clothes out in the sun. Of course the clothesline was in the backyard, where clotheslines should be. “She’s fixing country-fried steak and sweet potatoes and green beans she put up last year, for lunch,” I added, knowing that would distract Jason a little bit. I hoped Gran stayed out back. I didn’t want her to hear this conversation. “Keep your voice low,” I reminded him.

“Rene Lenier couldn’t wait till I got to work this morning to tell me all about it. He was over to the Rattrays’ trailer last night to buy him some weed, and Denise drove up like she wanted to kill someone. Rene said he liked to have gotten killed, she was so mad. It took both Rene and Denise to get Mack into the trailer, and then they took him to the hospital in Monroe.” Jason glared at me accusingly.

“Did Rene tell you that Mack came after me with a knife?” I asked, deciding attacking was the best way of handling this. I could tell Jason’s pique was due in large part to the fact that he had heard about this from someone else.

“If Denise told Rene, he didn’t mention it to me,” Jason said slowly, and I saw his handsome face darken with rage. “He came after you with a knife?”

“So I had to defend myself,” I said, as if it were matter-of-fact. “And he took your chain.” This was all true, if a little skewed.

“I came in to tell you,” I continued, “but by the time I got back in the bar, you were gone with DeeAnne, and since I was fine, it just didn’t seem worth tracking you down. I knew you’d feel obliged to go after him if I told you about the knife,” I added diplomatically. There was a lot more truth in that, since Jason dearly loves a fight.

“What the hell were you doing out there anyway?” he asked, but he had relaxed, and I knew he was accepting this.

“Did you know that, in addition to selling drugs, the Rats are vampire drainers?”

Now he was fascinated. “No . . . so?”

“Well, one of my customers last night was a vampire, and they were draining him out in Merlotte’s parking lot! I couldn’t have that.”

“There’s a vampire here in Bon Temps?”

“Yep. Even if you don’t want a vampire for your best friend, you can’t let trash like the Rats drain them. It’s not like siphoning gas out of a car. And they would have left him out in the woods to die.” Though the Rats hadn’t told me their intentions, that was my bet. Even if they’d put him under cover so he could survive the day, a drained vampire took at least twenty years to recover, at least that’s what one had said on Oprah. And that’s if another vampire took care of him.

“The vampire was in the bar when I was there?” Jason asked, dazzled.

“Uh-huh. The dark-haired guy sitting with the Rats.”

Jason grinned at my epithet for the Rattrays. But he hadn’t let go of the night before, yet. “How’d you know he was a vampire?” he asked, but when he looked at me, I could tell he was wishing he had bitten his tongue.

“I just knew,” I said in my flattest voice.

“Right.” And we shared a whole