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“Isn’t it a little dangerous for you to be on Edgington’s turf, unannounced?” Alcide asked. He was doing his leaning-against-the-wall thing again. He and Eric were both big men and the room really seemed crowded all of a sudden. Maybe their egos were using up all the oxygen.

“Oh, yes,” Eric said. “Very dangerous.” He smiled radiantly.

I wondered if they’d notice if I went back to bed. I yawned. Two pairs of eyes swung to focus on me. “Anything else you need, Eric?” I asked.

“Do you have anything else to report?”

“Yes, they’ve tortured him.”

“Then they won’t let him go.”

Of course not. You wouldn’t let loose a vampire you’d tortured. You’d be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life. I hadn’t thought that through, but I could see its truth.

“You’re going to attack?” I wanted to be nowhere around Jackson when that happened.

“Let me think on it,” Eric said. “You are going back to the bar tomorrow night?”

“Yes, Russell invited us specifically.”

“Sookie attracted his attention tonight,” Alcide said.

“But that’s perfect!” Eric said. “Tomorrow night, sit with the Edgington crew and pick their brains, Sookie.”

“Well, that would never have occurred to me, Eric,” I said, wonderingly. “Gosh, I’m glad you woke me up tonight to explain that to me.”

“No problem,” Eric said. “Anytime you want me to wake you up, Sookie, you have only to say.”

I sighed. “Go away, Eric. Good night again, Alcide.”

Alcide straightened, waiting for Eric to go back out the window. Eric waited for Alcide to leave.

“I rescind your invitation into my apartment,” Alcide said, and abruptly Eric walked to the window, reopened it, and launched himself out. He was scowling. Once outside, he regained his composure and smiled at us, waving as he vanished downward.

Alcide slammed the window shut and let the blinds back down.

“No, there are lots of men who don’t like me at all,” I told him. He’d been easy to read that time, all right.

He gave me an odd look. “Is that so?”

“Yes, it is.”

“If you say so.”

“Most people, regular people, that is . . . they think I’m nuts.”

“Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right! And it makes them very nervous to have me serve them.”

He began laughing, a reaction that was so far from what I had intended that I had no idea what to say next.

He left the room, still more or less chuckling to himself.

Well, that had been weird. I turned out the lamp and took off the robe, tossing it across the foot of the bed. I snuggled between the sheets again, the blanket and spread pulled up to my chin. It was cold and bleak outside, but here I was, finally, warm and safe and alone.

Really, really alone.

THE NEXT MORNING, Alcide was already gone when I got up. Construction and surveying people get going early, naturally, and I was used to sleeping late because of my job at the bar and because I hung around with a vampire. If I wanted to spend time with Bill, it had to be at night, obviously.

There was a note propped up on the coffeepot. I had a slight headache since I am not used to alcohol and I’d had two drinks the night before—the headache was not quite a hangover, but I wasn’t my normal cheerful self, either. I squinted at the tiny printing.

“Running errands. Make yourself at home. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

For a minute I felt disappointed and deflated. Then I got a hold of myself. It wasn’t like he’d called me up and scheduled this as a romantic weekend, or like we really knew each other. Alcide had had my company foisted on him. I shrugged, and poured myself a cup of coffee. I made some toast and turned on the news. After I’d watched one cycle of CNN headlines, I decided to shower. I took my time. What else was there to do?

I was in danger of experiencing an almost unknown state—boredom.

At home, there was always something to do, though it might not be something I particularly enjoyed. If you have a house, there’s always some little job waiting for your attention. And when I was in Bon Temps, there was the library to go to, or the dollar store, or the grocery. Since I’d taken up with Bill, I