Dead in the Family Book Ten

Dead in the Family Plot summary

In the first week of March, Amelia is going back to New Orleans. Amelia is taking Tray’s death very hard and needs a change of scenery. She expresses concern for Sookie because she seems to be suffering from PTSD after the torture she endured at the hands of a couple of fairies. Sookie is also suffering from some intimacy issues with Eric because of it but she hopes she will get over that and everything will be okay. She is still concerned the blood bond but Amelia offers to look into it. Sookie admits she loves Eric but wishes she was sure of it without the blood bond.

A few days later, Claude shows up. He is very upset about the death of his sister Claudine and he blames Sookie. Sookie can feel his anger and steels herself for his attack. She feels guilty for Claudine death and figures she deserves it. When Claude leaves, Sookie realizes she wants to live.

A day or so later, Sookie is in bed with Eric and she wakes from a frightening dream and Eric comforts her but begins to cry. He tells her he could feel her pain and fear that night and tells her that he was prevented from going to her because of Victor Madden. He said he could not allow him to be involved in a fae war and played at being dense to the King’s promised protection of Sookie. Pam finally got a call in to the king and Eric was released.

Apparently, Victor Madden is becoming too big for his britches. Eric tells her he experienced all her pain and anguish, not simply because they were bonded but because of the love he feels for her. Sookie takes all this to heart and then makes a suggestion that shocks even Eric: “I think we need to kill Victor Madden,”

Later, Sookie is having supper with Jason and his new girl Michele. Jason says he worries that he is putting Michele in danger and wonders if Dermot went back to Fairy. Sookie says she hopes she is back there since Niall had sealed the door to Fairy. Claude had decided to stay in the human world.
At work, Sam suggests Sookie go see Bill. He says that he saw him a few nights ago and that was all he would say.

Sookie goes to see Bill that next night and is shocked to see him. He is still weak and suffering from apathy. The only one who could save him was Lorena, who Sookie killed or a sibling who shares his blood. He has a sibling but he has no desire to reach out to her. Bill asks Sookie if she loves Eric and she says she does. Bill expresses a wish Eric would die. But, Sookie tells him she has lost so much and she doesn’t want Bill to wish bad stuff on Eric.

Sookie tells Bill that she is still so angry there are times when she wishes people dead. The fact she can tell him these things are testimony to the closeness they shared. Bill tells her he loves her and if she had a stray wish to make someone dead, all she would have to do is say the word and he would do it for her.

Sookie tells Bill that though there is some bad history between them, she still holds him in a special place in her heart. Bill kisses her goodbye and tells her that just being that close to her makes him feel better. He tells her that if they could make love, he would be closer to being healed. Sookie turns him down.

After the visit with Bill, Sookie is happy and it transmits itself into a wonderful night with Eric. She had overcome the things that was keeping her from being fulfilled in their love making.

The next morning, Sookie gets a call from Alcide. The Shreveport weres need a place to “howl” for next full moon. Apparently there are some campers on the property where they usually gathered and they did not feel as though they were safe. Sookie gives her approval. The only fly in her ointment is that Eric is having to work more and more. This leads her to believe there is something going on in the Vampire world.

After work, Sookie manages to get home before the wolves come. She meets some new pack members: Basim, Jannalynn and Annabelle, Ham and Patricia. Basim is Alcide’s second.

When dawn came, Basim came to Sookie’s house and told her he smelled a body in her woods and the scent of another creature wondering around. The body is that of Debbie Pelt.

Claude comes to visit her. He tells her that he can’t stand to live alone anymore and he asks if he can come and stay with her. He says he is working hard and making a lot of money but he is starving without contact from other fairies. Sookie asks him if being here with her is making him feel better and he says yes. This reminds her of what Bill said to her. He then presents her with a letter from Niall.

Niall begins his letter by telling Sookie the letter is written on parchment made of the skins of the fairies who killed her parents. Then he goes on to say that when he liquidated his human interests, he spent much of the money seeing to it that the FBI would not trouble her anymore. He also tells her that Claudine left her a gift and that Mr. Cataliades would be sending her a check. She agrees to let Claude stay with her. She then asks if he has been lurking around in her woods and he says no and Sookie begins to wonder who the fairy might be that is watching her place.

Sookie has a lot to think about. Holly and Hoyt are getting married; Tara is moving along in her pregnancy, and Sookie is worried about Claude and the strange fairy in her woods. Finally she decided to call Eric. He tells her that he has a meeting with Victor and would she meet with him at his house.

She says she would and Eric tells her that Pam will come to her house and pick her up. With Claude in mind, Sookie tells Eric to tell Pam not to get too excited about anything in her house.

Sookie goes home to change clothes and Pam arrives and mentions she smells fairy. Sookie tells Pam Claude is staying with her. Pam thinks that is a bad idea, but on the other hand, she agrees that Victor Madden needs to be taken out. She says that says that they think Victor is trying to carve out a niche and move against the king of Nevada and Louisiana.

They arrive at Eric’s house. They greet each other passionately and Sookie tells Eric about the weres howling on her property and how they scented a fairy in her woods. Eric offers the services of Hiedi, a Vampire Tracker.

This leads to a discussion about Victor’s motives in Louisiana. There are two: One is Victor is actually a very zealous worker on Nevada’s behalf and making a move against him would be disastrous. Two is Victor is looking to take over by discrediting Eric. Sookie then tells Eric a body a scented in her woods and Eric asks Pam to leave and she and Eric agree this is probably Debbie Pelt. Suddenly, the scene becomes passionate.

Pam finally takes Sookie home. On the way home, they are stopped by Victor Madden’s second, Bruno Brazell and another Vampire. They are here to kill Sookie and Pam. Pam gives Sookie a silver knife and they get out. Sookie kills Bruno and Pam kills his friend. Pam and Sookie leave the scene. Pam calls Eric and tells him that if he leaves his house to go where he would be expected to go as a part of a normal routine. Pam takes Sookie home.

The next day, Sookie chats with Sam. She finds out that Jannalynn is his girlfriend. Tanya comes in and announces she and Calvin are married. Sookie goes on a friend date with Sam abd catch up on one another’s lives. Sam tells her his deepest wish that he wishes she would find happiness with someone else other than Eric. Pam called Sookie to let her know no one has rasied any alarms about the Vampires they killed.

The next morning, Sookie gets a call from Remy Savoy. He has a funeral to go to and asks if Sookie would keep Hunter over night. She agrees. That evening, Heidi the Vampire tracker comes to sniff around her property. Remy arrives and drops off Hunter. While Sookie is cooking supper, Pam arrives with Heidi. Sookie tells Hunter to not let the Vampires know he can read minds.

Heidi does her hunt and tells her there are two dead bodies, an old one and new one and she smells a Vampire, Bill Compton, and a fairy who is not Claude.

The next morning, Hunter wakes Sookie up and tells her that he had a funny dream about tall man with long blonde hair coming in his room and smiling at him then going into Sookie’s closet. Sookie goes to start breakfast and finds a note from Eric.

She sets about making breakfast. Claude joins them. After breakfast, Agent Latesta drops by. He tells her the investigation of her has been called off but if he ever gets a case he trace back to her, he would be after her again. Then Hunter tells Latesta to stop thinking bad things about his Aunt Sookie.

Sookie decides to take Hunter to the park and Claude joins him. She sees Tara and Claude tells her that she is having twins. After the park, Sookie takes Hunter to McDonalds and he reads a lady’s mind and causes a scene and Sookie tersely lectures him about tell everything he hears and about privacy. Remy comes and picks up Hunter.

When Eric wakes, he questions Sookie about Hunter and Claude and then launches into a discussion about how the Vampire Clans in America is set up. Then Sookie and Eric make love for about 45 minutes. Afterwards, they are chatting when Sookie becomes suddenly nervous and tells Eric to get dressed. They discover Eric’s maker has made an appearance.

Eric’s maker is Appius Livius Ocella and he has brought his child Alexei Romanoff. The intensity of so much of Eric’s blood around her caused Sookie’s mind to scramble. Out of courtesy she invites the Vampires in, though they already have invite because Eric has one and they are of the same blood. Sookie realizes that Eric is very much in the sway of his maker. Jason suddenly appears to get a piece of furniture. Jason meets Eric’s maker and his Vampire sibling and Sookie notices how Alexei looks at Jason.

Alexei, Jason and Sookie go into the kitchen. Sookie quizzes Alexei and she learns that Alexei has been ill and finding Eric has been something of a tonic. Alexei seems to have problems with self control. They chat for moment, catching up, and Jason goes to get the furniture and invites Alexei to come and help him.

Sookie asks Ocella if Alexei could be responsible for the fresh corpse on her land. Ocella offers to help dig it up. Eric calls Alcide to come and join the party. They dig it up and discover it is Basim, Alcide’s second. The they learn that Annabelle had been cheating on Alcide with Basim and Jannalynn attacks her.. Sookie notices this gets Alexei excited and Jason is holding him back.

Eric suggests he needs to attend the pack meeting. They decline his offer because he is a Vampire, but allows Sookie and Jason to come, since Jason is Two-Natured. Sookie says she wants the body off her property and Eric flies away with it a puts it were the weres can pick it up later.

Eric takes Ocella and Alexei back to Shreveport and Sookie calls Pam and Bobby Burnham to warn them they are coming and Alexei is not quite right.

The next morning after breakfast, Claude tells Sookie he has seen Dermot. Claude is under the impression Dermot is lonely for other fae like he was. He also thinks a spell may have been used to drive him crazy. After that, Andy Bellefleur and the deputies come to search Sookie’s property because a call they got that said there was a dead body on her property.

While Andy is looking for the body, Sookie goes and checks her email. Halleigh, Andy’s wife, emailed her saying old Miss Bellefleur is dying and she wants to look at the old family Bible and she thought it might be in the possession of the Compton’s and would she ask Bill if he could look for it. She forwards the email to Bill.

Andy the rest come back and say they did not find a body and they would not bother her again.
For three days, Sookie waits to hear from Bill, Alcide, and Eric or Pam. Claude is making himself scarce, so when Bill arrives Sookie is pleased to see him. Bill is still visibly ill but he is all dressed up and has the Bible with him. He asks Sookie to accompany him to the Bellefleurs.

Bill reveals to the Bellefleurs that he is their Great Great Grand Father, and Miss Caroline’s great grandfather. He also reveals that he was the one who set up the windfall so that they could repair Belle Rive. Bill then asks Portia and Andy to have the funeral at night so he can attend. When she died that night, they arrange for night funeral and Bill attends, sitting with the family. Bill is so physically poor he is using a cane. So, while Bill is at the supper after the funeral, Sookie sneaks in his house to steal a copy of the Vampire Data Base so she can find his Vampire sibling.

The next day, still upset she had not heard from Eric, Sookie gets on Bill’s data base and finds his sibling. Judith Vardamon. Sookie emails her and tells her that Bill is sick from silver poisoning and needs her blood. Then she sneaks back to put the disc back.

Sookie goes to work and discovers that Antoine the cook is an informer for the FBI. Antoine tells Sookie he was told to keep an eye on the supes (supernaturals) in the area.Sam tells him he can keep his job so long as he tells them Sam is only running a bar.

When Sookie gets home, she sees Jason at the house when she suddenly realizes it isn’t Jason but Dermot. He begs Sookie to listen to him. He tells that he was fairy glamoured and he warns Sookie there are other fairies in the human world. He also tells her to expect company that night.

She goes in her house and reads the paper and sees a story about two gang members who kill each other. And Alcide has set a date for the pack meeting. At sundown, she calls Eric and he invites her to come to Fangtasia. She goes and she tells Eric about the date set for the pack meeting.

Sookie also sees there is something wrong with Alexei. Alexi tells her that he ate a teenager last night. He reveals himself to be very petulant and dangerous. He then sends Sookie mental pictures of the deaths of his family and the torture he endured. He then says he wants to be free to go his own way. This his Master says cannot happen.

The little meeting is broken up by the appearance of some humans. Sookie and Eric chat. He says his maker may have to put Alexei down and that he killed the gang members Sookie read about in the paper. That is when Sookie puts her concerns on the table. She says that Alexei is a very troubled Vampire, and the fact that Ocella is molesting him does nothing to help him. Eric explains that Ocella comes from a time when there was no consideration for the age of young person to have sex, and then goes on to say that Ocella is not using him that way now, because he is crazy. Then Sookie tells him her biggest fear and that is Ocella will demand sex from Eric. Eric says he has made no such request, but if he did, he would have to comply.

Sookie decides she has had enough of the conversation and starts to leave. Eric makes a definite date to be with her and he wanted to know the outcome of the pack meeting.

When Sookie is leaving, Pam tells her that Ocella and Alexei will be Eric’s undoing. Sookie warns Pam let Ocella deal with Alexei. If she interferes, Eric would have to have to kill her at his master’s command.
Sookie comes home, but she is not alone for long. Judith Vardamon. Judith tells her story:

Lorena was made by a Vampire called Solomon who met Lorena when she was a prostitute in New England. The two were sort of ignorant about how to be Vampires and they search out others of their kind to learn how to be Vampires and they are very successful. Finally though, one night they have a falling out and part ways.

Lorena travels down to Bon Temp and observes Bill through the windows of his house and falls in love with him. She lures him out and takes him and makes a Vampire. Bill is miserable. Lorena decides to make a Vampire companion for him who looks like his human wife.

Judith explains that she had been afraid Lorena was still alive and Bill hated her and had been afraid that Sookie had contacted his maker as well. Sookie confesses that she killed Lorena. Judith takes off, happy as a lark, towards Bill’s house.

Sookie then thinks about the fact that she would age and grow old and the pros and cons of being a Vampire. She wakes the next morning to two notes. One was from Mr. Cataliades who has the check from Claudine’s estate which is $150.000 and a note from Bill who tells her that Judith has healed him and he thanks her, saying he never would have contacted Judith himself because he thought Judith hated him. He says she is staying for a week to catch up and would she please come and visit them.

Claude interrupts her reveries and Sookie about Dermot and his visit and the fact he says he was under a spell. Claude admits he knew a strange fairy was lurking around her property.

At work, there is more trouble. Protesters had come out to protest Sam being a business owner because he is two-natured and the police come and disperse the crowd.

That evening was the evening of the pack meeting. When she gets there, Sookie is asked to act as the Shaman and she has to drink a special drink. She attends the meeting and discovers that Ham was the one who had made arrangements for the campers to be on their howling spot. The campers were actually FBI agents sent to spy on the two natured. They also wanted Ham to bribe Basim to be an informant on the pack. Ham had also been in contact with a fairy who wanted to do something to frame Sookie and Ham killed Basim because he saw them together. Patricia was involved as well and she and Annabelle and Ham would have to pay the price. Jason decides to leave and takes Sookie with them.
Sookie gets sick from the drug she took and Jason says he would take her to Eric’s. Suddenly Sookie says they have to get to Eric’s right now.

Sookie gets to Eric’s house and she finds it wide open. She goes in and finds Eric wounded, Bobby Burnham and Felicia dead, and Pam wounded. Alexei had attacked them. Jason gives Pam blood to heal.

Michele calls Jason and tells him that Alexei had come to the house looking for him and she sent him to Sookie’s house because the Vampires were her problem. When they get to the house, they find Claude and a strange fae guarding one another’s backs from Alexei and Ocella is stretched out on the ground, injured. Sookie discovers the strange fae is Colman who was Claudine’s mate and father of her child.
Alexei attacks Colman. While they are distracted, Sookie ran into the house and got the chain she had unwrapped from Bill so long ago when the Rattrays were draining him. She captured Alexei with the chain and Eric staked him

Sookie then grabs the stake Eric used to kill Alexei and stands over the wounded Ocella and says she would love to stake him. Eric stops her. Suddenly, she feels Ocella’s mind in hers telling her to move out of the way. When she does, Colman lunges forward to stab her but stabs Ocella instead, killing him. Eric grabs Colman and drains him. Claude says that Colman had been planning to kill Sookie for getting Claudine killed. He said his determination was such that no one would have ever been able to stop him.

That is when Dermot steps out of the trees and says he would have stopped him. Dermot says he believes Niall actually put the curse on him and Sookie figures out how to break the curse: With a kiss. Claude and Sookie lean forward and kiss him at the same time and the curse is broken.

Eric and Sookie are finally alone and he grieves for his maker but he is also happy he is free. Sookie tells him that she was not going to kill him, but actually bargain with him to kill Victor Madden. Eric promises to come to her soon and they would be together and he flies home.

Sookie goes in her house and showers and comes out to get in bed to find Dermot and Claude waiting for her. They want to share the bed with her. She agrees and gets in bed with them and felt herself surrounded by family and goes to sleep.

Sources: The Sookie Stackhouse Novels and Raki

Dead In The Family
Timeline

THE FIRST WEEK OF MARCH 2006. Grieving the death of her lover, Tray
Dawson, Amelia decides to return to New Orleans and pick up her life there.
Sookie, too, is struggling with the emotional and physical aftermath of the torture
she endured at the hands of the fairies. Amelia questions Sookie about her feelings
for Eric as they pack up the car, and Amelia offers to help Sookie find a way to free
herself of the blood bond. Sookie accepts, and she and Amelia say an emotional
good-bye. As Sookie thinks over the events and losses of the past few months, she
acknowledges that there are people she wants dead for the pain they caused and
wonders if her own life is worth the cost.

THE END OF THAT WEEK. Sookie wakes one morning to find her cousin
Claude sitting on her front porch. He asks how his sister died, and Sookie tells him
that while she didn’t witness Claudine’s death, she believes Breandan was
responsible. Claude sits silently, and Sookie waits for him to strike and kill her. He
finally leaves, walking toward the road. Sookie enters her house and falls to her
knees, trembling; she realizes that she wants to live, after all.

THE SECOND WEEK OF MARCH. Sookie works out with her friend JB du
Rone at the health club in Clarice, where he is a personal trainer, and then she talks
with his wife, her best friend Tara, about the upcoming birth of the couple’s child.
When Tara tells Sookie the baby will call her Aunt Sookie, she begins to plan a
future.

THAT SAME WEEK. Spending the night with Eric, Sookie wakes in a panic, an
event that has been occurring far too often. Eric weeps with her, but as he explains
why he did not come to her aid during her torture, she is at first skeptical. Eric says
that Victor Madden chained him to a wall with silver so that he could not rescue
her. Victor alleged that Eric’s actions would force the vampires into the Fae War.
Although Pam was also held, she was not chained, and vampires loyal to King
Felipe allowed her to call him to remind him of his personal pledge to protect
Sookie. Felipe then demanded that Victor free both Eric and Pam. Hearing the pain
and rage in Eric’s voice, Sookie accepts his explanation but tells a surprised Eric
that Victor must die.

THE THIRD WEEK OF MARCH. Jason invites Sookie over to enjoy a barbecue
with him and Michele, and she is happy to see that not only is he recovering from
the losses he has suffered but he seems to be maturing as well. Jason admits that he
hasn’t come out as a werepanther yet and still wants to keep his status private, but
he has told Michele, who accepts him as he is, including his fairy heritage.

THE FOURTH WEEK OF MARCH. Watching Sookie at work, Sam lets her
know that he is pleased to see her smile again. They talk, and he asks if she has seen
Bill. When she admits that she believes Bill has been avoiding her, Sam encourages
her to visit her former lover.

THE END OF THAT WEEK. Sookie goes over to see Bill and is alarmed when
she sees his condition. Although he has been taking blood from his fellow
vampires, he still has not recovered from the silver poisoning he suffered during
the Fae War, and he admits that he no longer has any interest in his computer or in
anything else. When Sookie asks what will help him, he tells her that he would
have completely healed already if he could have taken blood from his maker,
Lorena. Sookie asks if Lorena had created other children, and Bill tells her that
Lorena turned a woman but he cannot reach out to his only sibling for help. Sookie
leaves, determined to find a way to help her friend.

Having seen Bill and decided to help him, Sookie finds a level of peace and is
able to sleep through the following nights. She finally relaxes enough to fully enjoy
making love with Eric again.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12. Alcide calls, asking if the Long Tooth pack can use
Sookie’s land for their full-moon run the next night. She agrees, telling him to also
contact Bill, whose land shares a property line with hers. She is curious about why
Alcide can’t use his own land as usual. He tells her that fishermen who claim that
his late father allowed them to camp on the land are staying there. Both Alcide and
Sookie are a bit uneasy at the sudden arrival of strangers on the Herveaux land so
close to the full moon. When she gets to work, Sookie tells Sam about Alcide’s call
and suggests that he join the Weres for the evening. Sam casually mentions that he
is dating someone from the pack and that while it might be fun, since he could shift
into a wolf if he chose, he ultimately feels that it wouldn’t be right. He confirms
that Sookie will still attend his brother’s wedding with him when it is rescheduled,
admitting that he doesn’t think that he should take a shifter to the event.

THURSDAY, APRIL 13. The Weres arrive for their run, and Sookie meets
Alcide’s new girlfriend, Annabelle Bannister, and his new second, Basim al Saud.
She recognizes Alcide’s friend Hamilton Bond as well as the slender young woman
she met at the Hair of the Dog and two women from Priscilla Hebert’s pack who
surrendered to Alcide after the Were war. Sookie settles into her home for the
evening with the doors locked and curtains drawn as the pack leaves for the hunt.
FRIDAY, APRIL 14. Basim comes to the door as the Weres are leaving to report
to her that they have discovered signs of a vampire and at least one fairy on her
land as well as a buried body. Sookie immediately realizes that the body must be
that of Debbie Pelt and thanks him, considering the implications as the last of the
Weres drive away.

Hearing a knock at the back door, Sookie is surprised to find Claude standing
on her doorstep, a large tote bag in hand. He confesses that he is lonely in the house
he once shared with his sisters and asks if he can stay with her for a while. He feels
as if he is starving without the company of his own kind, and Sookie has enough
fae blood to help him. Claude also delivers a letter from her great-grandfather,
Niall Brigant, written on the skin of the water sprites that murdered her parents.

The letter informs her that before leaving the human realm, Niall used profits from
the sale of his pharmaceutical company to ensure that the FBI would no longer
bother her. Niall’s letter also states that Claudine had left Sookie all the money in
her personal bank accounts and that Mr. Cataliades, who is handling the estate, will
be sending Sookie a check. She calls Amelia to see if she plans to return to Bon
Temps, and when her friend tells her she must stay in New Orleans, Sookie tells
Claude he can have the room upstairs. She asks Claude if he had been in her woods
recently, and when he denies visiting, she tells him of the scent of fairy that the
Weres reported. After asking him why the news doesn’t make him want to rush out
to find whomever of his kind has remained on this side, Claude tells her that he
fears it is her great-uncle Dermot and that Dermot would not be happy to see him.
Sookie comes to the conclusion that Claude is realizing that he needs others,
especially family, after the loss of both his sisters.

At work at Merlotte’s, Sookie is thrilled when Holly shows off her new ring and
announces her engagement to Hoyt Fortenberry. Sookie continues thinking about
matrimony, and Tara, her pregnancy showing, comes in to satisfy one of her
cravings. Sookie later decides that since Eric is her boyfriend—she is resolutely
determined not to use the word “spouse”—she will seek his advice about the
events of late.

Eric sends Pam to pick up Sookie after Merlotte’s closes, and Pam immediately
scents fairy in Sookie’s house. Sookie explains that Claude has come to stay with
her, but Pam doesn’t buy Claude’s loneliness and offends Sookie by telling her that
she is foolish to be taken in by the fairy. They discuss Victor Madden on the drive
to Shreveport, a discussion that continues at Eric’s house. Sookie informs them that
the Weres used her land and tells Eric that not only is there an unidentified fairy
but there is a body buried on her property. Eric asks Pam to leave and then verifies
that the body is Debbie’s. They enjoy some passionate sex before Sookie leaves. As
Pam is driving Sookie home, Pam reminds Sookie that she didn’t tell Eric that
Claude is living with her. She also expresses her reservations about Sookie and
Eric’s relationship, telling Sookie that in his position in Felipe’s new regime, Eric
cannot afford to be distracted by anything or anyone. Pam sees a car on the side of
the interstate and identifies Bruno Brazell, Victor’s second, standing beside it in the
rain, waving them down. Realizing that Bruno has another vampire, Corinna, with
him and that the obvious intention is to kill Eric’s second and his lover, Pam hands
Sookie a silver dagger, telling her that she cannot take them both on, so Sookie will
have to help fight for their lives. Pam slips out the driver’s side door, and Sookie
steps out to approach Bruno. Corinna is standing to Bruno’s right, looking around
warily for Pam. Bruno admits that Victor has someone watching Eric’s house, and
the decision was made to attack Pam and Sookie when they were spotted leaving
together. Sookie wonders aloud why Victor cannot simply enjoy having Eric on the
payroll, but Bruno tells her that Victor fears Eric’s power and his access to Sookie’s
ability. Bruno suddenly grabs Sookie by the neck. She is able to pull the knife out as
she and Bruno struggle, falling and rolling down the embankment, and she stabs
him up under his ribs, killing him. Pam makes her move at the same time, sending
Corinna to her final sleep as well.

Pam immediately calls a panicked Eric to tell him that they are all right and that
he is not to come to them in case Victor still has him under surveillance. She and
Sookie decide to move Bruno’s car to a location far away from the two
disintegrating vampire bodies. When Pam and an exhausted Sookie finally reach
her home, Sookie is surprised when her vampire friend hugs her and tells her she
did well.

SATURDAY, APRIL 15. Sam notices that Sookie looks tired when she gets to
work in the morning. When he asks about the Were run, she tells him that it
seemed to go okay, leaving out the news of trespassers and the buried body. Sam
reveals that he is dating Jannalynn Hopper, the young woman Sookie first met at
the Hair of the Dog and who later participated in the Were war, dispatching the
wounded enemy Weres with great efficiency. Their discussion is interrupted by
Tanya Grissom, who announces that she and Calvin got married, so she needs to
change her paperwork at Merlotte’s to reflect her new last name. Claude comes in
to tell Sookie that her water heater isn’t working, and Terry Bellefleur, overhearing
Claude’s complaint, offers to take a look at it. Claude flirts with Terry, who bluntly
states that he isn’t gay. Sookie takes Claude aside before they leave and warns him
that Terry is fragile because of his wartime experiences. She is relieved when Terry
returns an hour later, seemingly none the worse for his time with Claude. She pays
him for the part he needed, but he lets her know that Claude took care of the labor.
Kennedy Keyes, Merlotte’s new bartender, arrives for her evening shift.
Worried that someone will take advantage of Kennedy or see her as a challenge
because she served time for manslaughter, Sam has also hired former serviceman
Danny Prideaux to watch the bar when Kennedy works if Sam is not there.
After work, Sam and Sookie go to dinner at the Crawdad Diner to catch each
other up on their lives. As they leave the restaurant, Pam calls to let Sookie know
that Bruno and Corinna have not shown up for work in New Orleans, but no one
suspects Pam and Sookie. As she closes her phone, Sookie finds a troubled Sam
standing behind her. He tells her to remember that he is always there for her if she
needs help and, touched, she promises him the same.

FRIDAY, APRIL 21. Sookie is startled when a nude Claude hands her a towel
and the phone as she steps out of the shower. Remy Savoy is calling to ask Sookie if
she can babysit his son, Hunter, overnight while Remy attends a family funeral,
feeling that the grief-filled situation would be hard for the telepathic five-year-old
to manage. Sookie agrees, and they set a time for Remy to drop Hunter off. When
the two arrive that evening, she is delighted when Hunter remembers her. Remy is
nonplussed that his son, whom he’s never left for so long before, seems totally
unconcerned as he leaves. As Sookie and Hunter communicate, Hunter reveals his
worry that he will never be a regular man like his dad and the other men he
admires, and Sookie is able to reassure him that she knows another telepathic man
who has been able to make his telepathy work for him. As they are talking, Heidi, a
vampire tracker sent by Eric, arrives to check out Sookie’s woods. Hunter is
fascinated by the vampire, who tells Sookie that she was turned when her son was
the same age as Hunter and that her son is now a drug addict. As Heidi leaves to
scout through the woods, Sookie reflects on the heartbreaking story.
After dinner, Sookie and Hunter talk about their telepathy a bit, and she tries to
explain to the little boy why most people will not understand his gift and how he
must learn to be respectful of the privacy of others. She soon realizes that not only
is Hunter very adept at picking up thoughts but he can also feel when she is
listening to him.

Heidi returns to report that two fae have recently been in her woods and that
neither of them is the fairy she smells in Sookie’s house. Heidi also identifies the
vampire who wanders the woods at night as Bill Compton. She confirms that there
is an old grave back in the woods but startles Sookie with news of a brand-new
grave in a clearing near the stream.

SATURDAY, APRIL 22. Hunter wakes Sookie early, telling her of his dream of
a tall man with yellow hair who came into his room, smiled at him, and then
walked into the closet. Her suspicion that Eric is in the house is confirmed when
she finds a note from him on the coffeepot, telling her he will see her that evening.
Claude joins Sookie and Hunter as they are preparing pancakes and bacon, and
Sookie is surprised that he seems to genuinely enjoy being with the child.
Their pleasant morning is disturbed by Agent Tom Lattesta, who is in town for
a hearing on the shootings in January. He informs Sookie that the FBI is no longer
investigating her. Lattesta is resentful that someone pulled strings for Sookie, and
he vows to restart the investigation if he gets any new information on her.
Sookie, Hunter, and Claude decide to go to Magnolia Creek Park. When Tara
stops by, Sookie introduces Hunter and Claude and is dismayed when Claude asks
Tara if she would like to know the sex of her child. Tara agrees that she would like
to know, so Claude informs her that she is carrying twins and will have a boy and a
girl. Tara tells him her doctor has reported only one heartbeat, and Claude
cheerfully insists she is carrying two healthy babies. As Hunter and Claude wander
off to play ball, Sookie tells her stunned friend that Hunter is Hadley’s son and that
Claude is a cousin from the wrong side of the blanket. They enjoy a visit until Tara
has to leave for work, and Sookie goes in search of Claude and her charge. Claude
also has to leave to open his club in Monroe, so Sookie and Hunter go to
McDonald’s for a Happy Meal. When Hunter reads the mind of a playmate’s weary
mother at the restaurant, Sookie tries to use the unfortunate incident as a teaching
moment, then she takes the tired and overexcited child home for a nap.
Remy arrives shortly after Hunter wakes, and father and son greet each other
ecstatically. Hunter tells his attentive dad all about his visit, and as the child leaves
to gather his possessions, Sookie tells Remy that all has gone well. As they leave,
Sookie is pleased when Hunter unexpectedly gives her a hug. Eric rises as the sun
sets, and before she can tell him about the second body Heidi scented on her land,
he begins to explain the vampire hierarchy to her. Not pleased by her initial lack of
interest, he insists that there are things she needs to know to ensure her safety.
Afterward, they make love, but Sookie suddenly begins to feel strange and chatters
randomly while braiding Eric’s hair, finally sinking to the floor, certain that
someone with Eric’s blood is near.

Eric turns to the window and sees his maker, Appius Livius Ocella. Struggling
to maintain cordiality, Eric asks his sire what is wrong with Sookie, and Appius
informs him that he has another of his children with him and that the proximity of
so many with his blood is confusing Sookie’s thoughts and feelings. Sookie regains
her senses and invites the two vampires to enter her home, even though she
guesses correctly that her invitation is not necessary since Eric has permission and
they are of the same blood. She is disturbed that Appius’s other child is barely a
teenager and then appalled when he is introduced as Alexei Romanov, a member
of the Russian royal family.

Jason meets Appius and Alexei when he drops by to pick up an unused end
table he wants. After some conversation about the past, Sookie asks if the
newcomers are responsible for the fresh body on her land. She explains Heidi’s
discovery to Eric, who immediately blames the Weres who had been hunting and
calls Alcide for a meeting. Fortunately, Alcide is nearby and soon arrives with
Annabelle and Jannalynn. When Alcide denies any wrongdoing, the decision is
made to identify the body. They all troop through the woods to the spot, and
Alcide and Jason start digging. To the horror of the Weres, the body is that of
Alcide’s second, Basim. As they are trying to determine what could have befallen
the werewolf, Annabelle admits to being with him the day after the hunt and
reveals that he received a call from someone who was paying him, a call he didn’t
want her to hear. When Basim made an excuse to get her out of his apartment and
then left, she followed him but lost him before she could find out where he was
going. Jannalynn strikes Annabelle for her betrayal of Alcide and the pack,
knocking her to the ground. Alcide names Jannalynn his new second and states
that the pack will call a meeting to deal with the situation. As the Weres turn to
leave, Sookie questions why the body was left on her land and demands that it be
moved, fearing that the murderer is trying to get her involved. Eric says that he and
Sookie should attend the meeting. Alcide tells Eric that vampires are not allowed
but that Sookie can bring Jason. Jannalynn assures her that someone will come for
the body that night as Alcide, his now former lover, and new second take their
leave. Sookie wants the corpse off her land now, so Eric flies the wrapped body of
Basim to the woods across the road. She, Jason, and Alexei then fill in the grave,
disguising it to blend into the surrounding area.

As soon as the vampires depart for Eric’s house in Shreveport, Sookie calls
Pam, who is stunned at the arrival of her grand-sire. She then reluctantly notifies
Bobby Burnham, warning him to be extra careful when he goes for his nightly
briefing with Eric.

SUNDAY, APRIL 23. Sookie wakens to the smell of cooking and stumbles into
the kitchen to share breakfast with Claude. He breaks their comfortable silence to
tell her that Dermot came to his club the night before, seeking the company of
another fae, and states that the Dermot he used to know would never have done
that. Claude doesn’t know why his uncle went crazy. Claude goes up to his room,
and Sookie washes up, then decides to try to relax and read for a while. Her heart
sinks when she sees two police cars coming down her drive, and she calls up to let
Claude know, prompting him to join her as Sheriff Dearborn, accompanied by
Andy Bellefleur and Alcee Beck, tells her that they received an anonymous tip
about a body buried on her land in the woods, confirming her suspicions that
someone is trying to tie her to the murder. Once again, Claude is introduced as a
relative born on the wrong side of the blanket. While the men search her woods,
Sookie decides to check her e-mail and reads a message from Andy’s pregnant
wife, Halleigh, letting Sookie know matriarch Caroline Bellefleur’s health is fading
fast and that Caroline is determined to locate the family Bible. Knowing that the
Bible is on Bill’s coffee table, Sookie forwards the e-mail to him so that he can
decide what to do. The lawmen return to report that nothing was found.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26. Bill knocks on Sookie’s door, formally dressed with
the Bible in hand. Sookie is pleased to realize that he is finally going to reveal his
family connection to the Bellefleurs and agrees to accompany him when he asks.
Halleigh answers the door, and Sookie explains that Bill has brought the family
Bible to give to Miss Caroline. They are ushered upstairs to Caroline’s bedroom.
After she and Bill begin to discuss family history, Caroline is amused and delighted
to learn that Bill is her great-grandfather and the one who arranged the financial
windfall that allowed her to refurbish her home. As she begins to tire, she thanks
Bill, and he tells her to rest easy as he and Sookie leave. Andy and Portia follow
them from their grandmother’s bedroom, and Bill graciously accepts Portia’s
extended hand and then gently chides Andy when he is less accepting. Bill asks
them to hold Caroline’s funeral in the evening so that he can attend, and an
understanding Portia readily agrees.

THURSDAY, APRIL 27. Caroline Bellefleur passes away in the early hours of
the morning.

FRIDAY, APRIL 28. Portia keeps her promise, and Caroline’s funeral is held
the next evening. Bill sits with the family. Sookie realizes at the funeral how terrible
Bill still looks, and she resolves to take action. When he leaves after the funeral to
go with the family to Belle Rive, she sneaks into his home and steals a CD of his
vampire database, determined to locate the living child of his sire and save his life.

SATURDAY, APRIL 29. Sookie is able to read the CD and discovers that
Lorena’s only other child, Judith Vardamon, lives in Little Rock. An e-mail address
is included, and after some soul-searching, Sookie decides that Bill’s illness is more
important than other considerations and that the vampire should be given the
opportunity to help him if she can. Sookie sends an e-mail explaining Bill’s
situation and then leaves to return the CD to Bill’s home. As she is crossing the
cemetery, she sees Andy by Miss Caroline’s new grave. When he comments that he
hates that the family received charity from Bill, Sookie tells him that it was not
charity, that Bill was simply a man who cared for his family and wanted to help
them. A bemused Andy then tells her that Miss Caroline has left her famous
chocolate cake recipe to the town and that it was received with great excitement at
the newspaper office. He visibly brightens at Sookie’s equally thrilled response to
the news. Sookie hurries on to Bill’s home to return the borrowed CD.

As Sookie works the afternoon shift at Merlotte’s, she is stunned when she
accidentally reads the thoughts of the cook, Antoine, and discovers that he is a
government informant. When he realizes she knows, he begs her to talk to him
before she does anything, but Sookie goes directly to Sam. Antoine tells them that
he had gotten in trouble with the law over the theft of a car when he was desperate
after Katrina and that Agent Weiss came to see him in jail, bringing Agent Lattesta,
who offered him a deal. Lattesta already knew that Antoine’s uncle was a Were,
and the agent was convinced not only that the shifters would come out, just as the
vampires did, but that there were other things out there as well. Not quite certain of
Sookie’s nature, Lattesta sent Antoine to Merlotte’s to keep an eye on her. After
Lattesta was ordered to leave Sookie alone, he continued to expect Antoine to
report the activities of Sam and all the other supes that came into the bar. Antoine
tells them he had already decided not to spy anymore and is relieved when Sam
believes him and lets him keep his job. When Antoine goes back to the kitchen, Sam
and Sookie begin to share their personal troubles, and both agree to go out to
dinner again the next night if they don’t hear from their significant others.

Sookie is surprised to see her brother waiting for her on her front porch after
work. She calls out a greeting before realizing that the man is actually Dermot. A
terrified Sookie wonders if he has finally come to kill her. Dermot tells her not to be
afraid and that he only wants to get to know her and Jason better. He claims he had
nothing to do with the death of her parents and that Breandan had lied to him and
told him that Niall had killed his brother. As they converse, Sookie realizes that her
uncle is desperately trying to warn her of something but has somehow been
bespelled, so he is confused and crazed. He is able to tell her of another fairy who
wishes her ill and that he will be looking over her, and then he vanishes. She calls
Jason, letting him know to be especially vigilant.

Going through the past few daily newspapers while her dinner is cooking,
Sookie realizes that there is still a great deal of tension about the shifters. She also
reads about two especially brutal gang killings in Shreveport. She receives a
message from Alcide with the time and date of the pack meeting and calls Jason
again to give him the information. Finally giving in to the desire to contact Eric,
from whom she has not heard a word in several days, she telephones him about the
upcoming pack meeting, and he asks her to come see him.

Arriving at Fangtasia, Sookie is shocked by how few customers are in the
vampire bar. She finds Eric sitting with Alexei and Appius. Alexei begins to speak
of his human family, taking Sookie’s hand and showing her his memories of all that
was done to him and his family in order to justify his current sense of entitlement
and desire to be allowed to go his own way. Sickened, Sookie tells him he still has a
responsibility to live the right way. Pam interrupts them with the unwelcome news
that the new area BVA representative has arrived in the bar, and Eric asks Appius
and Alexei to go to his office so that he can greet her. Although it is obvious that
Eric’s business is down, the rep is pleasant and too polite to comment.

Once they are alone, Eric tells Sookie that Alexei is insane and that Appius has
brought him to Eric in the hopes that he could help the boy. Alexei escaped
somehow from their supervision and is responsible for the two supposedly gangrelated
deaths. Sookie is not happy that Eric is only concerned about the interests of
vampires, especially his own, and is ignoring the deaths of the two young men. As
they part, Eric wearily reiterates his love for her and promises to come to her house
the night after her meeting with Alcide. As Sookie walks to her car, she is joined by
Pam, who tells her that Alexei will ruin Eric if he stays much longer. Sookie warns
Pam to let Appius handle the situation because Eric will have to let him kill her if
she takes out Alexei. Pam is touched that Sookie cares and calls her a friend.

Sookie returns home exhausted and is ready to go to bed when the doorbell
rings. She doesn’t recognize the vampire female on her doorstep but, curious,
opens the door, knowing the vampire can’t enter the house without an invitation.
When Sookie’s unexpected visitor identifies herself as Judith Vardamon, Sookie
invites her in, much to the vampire’s surprise. As they talk, Judith tells Sookie the
story of Lorena and her maker, Solomon Brunswick, and about how she changed
Bill because she’d fallen in love with him after seeing him through the window of
his home with his family. Bill hated her and was miserable with her, but Lorena
remained obsessed with him. After thirty years together, Lorena tried to make him
happier by turning Judith because she resembled his wife. Lorena believed that if
Bill had a companion, he would be content to stay with her. When Judith confesses
her fear of Lorena, Sookie tells her of Lorena’s final death. An overjoyed Judith
demands to know where to find Bill and delightedly exclaims that they are finally
free to be together without Lorena’s influence. As she hurries away to find Bill, a
stunned Sookie tries to come to terms with her mixed feelings and ponders the fact
that she will grow old while the vampires will go on living.

SUNDAY, APRIL 30. Sookie finds two envelopes that were shoved under her
front door in the night. The first, from Mr. Cataliades, is her inheritance from
Claudine. A stunned Sookie finds a check made out to her for $150,000. The second
note is from Bill, who tells her that Judith’s blood is already healing him and that
she will be staying for a week to catch up on old times. Sookie is again pondering
her feelings when Claude joins her on the porch. She tells him of Dermot’s visit and
of her suspicion that he has been bespelled. She confronts Claude about whether he
knows anything about the other fairies still on this side, but he tells her he doesn’t
want to be killed and leaves. Sookie goes to church for comfort, and she is
surprised and pleased to see Sam there. She joins her friends Tara and JB for lunch
and then spends the afternoon doing laundry. Jason calls, and they decide to ride
together to the Shreveport pack meeting the following evening.

MONDAY, MAY 1. Sam is away at a final tax meeting with his accountant
when Sookie arrives at work. An anti-shifter protester enters the bar, and Sookie
tells Kennedy to call the police and then notify Sam. Sookie and the bartender
persuade the protester to leave, but to their dismay, there are about thirty other
protesters in the parking lot. Police officers Kevin Pryor and Kenya Jones manage
to disperse the crowd without incident, and Sam, having parked elsewhere and
come in the back, arrives to thank them for their help. Sookie tries to be helpful by
suggesting that Sam arrange to talk to the church the protesters attend, but Sam
furiously refuses to have to explain who and what he is.

Sookie stops at the grocery store on her way home from work and is aware of
the silence that greets her as she shops, knowing that word of the protest at
Merlotte’s has already gotten around town. She is disturbed to realize that some of
the townspeople support the pending legislation that would restrict the rights of
shifters.

Jason picks up Sookie on time for the drive to Shreveport, and they discuss the
various suspects in the killing of Basim on their way to Alcide’s house. Jannalynn
greets them at the door and escorts them into the living room, where Annabelle is
on her knees all alone in the center of the floor. Jannalynn instructs Sookie to go
upstairs to Alcide. She finds him in the study waiting for her, and he bluntly tells
her that a pack shaman would be able to determine what had happened to Basim.
They haven’t had one in four years; she is the closest they’ve got. By drinking a
shaman’s potion, she should be able to discern who was involved and their degree
of guilt. When she tells him that a year ago he wouldn’t have asked her to do this,
he replies that a year ago she wouldn’t have hesitated. Sookie drinks the potion.

As Alcide helps an increasingly unstable Sookie downstairs, she realizes with a
sense of relief that she is becoming unable to feel the vampires through her bond.
Sookie views the pack through the effect of the drug, and as she concentrates, she
realizes she can see them as colors and knows immediately what colors to look for.
She accuses Hamilton Bond of betraying the pack by inviting government people to
camp on Alcide’s land, even knowing that they were looking for dirt on the
Louisiana packs to use to push through anti-shifter legislation. She gets him to
admit that he was jealous of Basim, and he finally confesses that he saw Basim
meeting with a fairy and heard their plan to implicate Sookie in a murder by
burying a body on her property. Ham decided to kill Basim and bury him instead,
and then collect the reward promised by the fairy himself. Ham tells them that he
was supposed to meet the fairy on Sookie’s property after the meeting that evening.
Sookie names Patricia Crimmins, originally from the St. Catherine Parish pack, as
Ham’s accomplice. Patricia tries to throw herself on the mercy of the pack, as she
did after the Were war, claiming that her only crime has been loving the wrong
man, but Ham declares that her motive was purely retaliation for not being chosen
by Alcide as his lover. Annabelle is guilty only of being unfaithful to Alcide. Jason
and Sookie leave as the Weres are deciding on the punishment, and Sookie is
confident that enforcer and second Jannalynn will successfully argue for the deaths
of Ham and Patricia.

The drug is already wearing off as they exit the house, and Sookie is sick in the
yard before she and Jason reach the truck. As her mind clears, Sookie suddenly
begins to feel Eric through the bond again and becomes aware of his unhappiness
and physical pain. She urges Jason to get her to Eric’s house as quickly as possible,
and she fears the worst until they enter the home and Eric answers her call. They
find him horribly wounded, and Bobby Burnham and his vampire girlfriend,
Felicia, have been murdered. Eric tells them that Alexei finally snapped, killing the
two when Appius left him alone to speak to Eric and then fleeing. Appius has gone
after Alexei. Sookie orders her brother to push Eric’s broken ribs back in so that he
can heal, and after doing so, Jason goes to the bathroom to wash off the blood.
Sookie confronts the defeated Eric and taunts him until he reacts. When Jason
staggers back into the room, he reports finding a severely injured Pam and that he
has given her blood. Jason’s cell phone rings, and his girlfriend tells him that Alexei
has been to his house looking for him, that Appius arrived soon after, and that she
has sent them both to Sookie’s house. Sookie immediately calls Claude and warns
him to get out, since the vampires can enter her house. She and a recovering Eric
leave Jason with Pam and rush to Sookie’s house.

They have almost reached the house when Eric doubles over with pain that is
not his own. They arrive in her yard to find the security light on and Claude and a
fairy Sookie has never seen before standing back to back, armed with knives and a
sword, while Alexei circles them, occasionally darting in to strike. Appius lies
nearby, head bloodied, and Eric asks him if he still lives. Appius replies that his
spinal cord is severed and that he cannot move until he heals. As Sookie pleads
with Alexei not to kill the fairies, she learns that the stranger is Colman, the father
of Claudine’s baby, and that he blames Sookie for the death of his mate and child.
Alexei dashes forward between the fairy blades to punch Colman and is wounded
by Claude.

Sookie realizes that Alexei is beginning to tire and runs into the house to
retrieve the silver chain that the Drainers had used to restrain Bill so long ago.
Returning to the yard, she edges cautiously toward the whirling Alexei, and when
he comes near, she throws it over his head and pulls it tightly around his neck. The
boy falls screaming to the ground, and Eric sends his sibling to his final death using
a broken tree branch. While Eric stands guard over the two fae, Sookie takes
advantage of his distraction to take the stake from a disintegrating Alexei and crawl
toward the helpless Appius. She tells him she wants to kill him, but he answers that
if she was going to do it, she would not have spoken. He predicts that she won’t
keep Eric. Eric pleads with her not to kill his maker, so she comes up with a better
idea. She hears a shout from Eric as Appius’s eyes look past her, and she feels
Appius tell her to move. She throws herself away from the vampire just as a fairy
blade slashes past her and into Appius’s body. Colman stands, stunned, looking
down at his unintended victim, and then he begins to sway, a dagger protruding
between his shoulder blades. Sookie turns to see who threw the blade but sees only
Claude, who is looking at both of the knives still in his hands. Eric begins draining
the wounded Colman.

Claude and Sookie sit side by side on the grass, and Claude explains that he
had tried to persuade Colman to return to Faery and had moved in with Sookie to
protect her. Dermot steps out of the woods and tells them he threw the dagger into
Colman to protect Sookie. He is able to indicate to Claude and Sookie that the spell
that is on him was put there long ago, and Sookie realizes that it must have been
placed by Niall. She tells Claude that spells are broken by a kiss in human fairy
tales, and they both lean forward to kiss Dermot. He shudders all over and
intelligence begins to fill his eyes as he weeps. Claude takes Dermot into the house,
and Eric and Sookie are left alone. Eric asks Sookie why she was going to spare
Appius and what she was going to say to him, and she replies that she was going to
make a deal to let him live if he would kill Victor. A startled Eric admits it was a
good idea.

Sookie watches as the fairy blood he took finally begins to energize Eric, and he
realizes that he is free forever from his maker. Telling Sookie that she is his dearest,
Eric promises to return to her when he has checked on Pam and dealt with the
things he must do now that Appius has died. Sookie watches him launch into the
air to return to Shreveport. She wearily showers and prepares for bed, grimly
satisfied that her enemies have perished and she has again survived. As she opens
the door to her bedroom, she is surprised to find Dermot and Claude, who want to
share the bed with her. Too exhausted to argue, she climbs into the bed with her fae
kin on either side, and to her astonishment, she feels relaxed and comforted. She
falls asleep surrounded by family.