Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Books 1-8) - Charlaine Harris [387]
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll remember you said that.”
“I heard about you,” he said. “Shifters and Weres, they talk to each other. I hear you’re different.”
“I am.” Regular men might have found my outer package attractive, but my inner package repelled them. If I ever began to get a swelled head, after the attention paid me by Eric, or Bill, or even Alcide, all I had to do was listen to the brains of some bar patrons to have my ego deflated. I clutched my old blue coat more closely around me. Like most of the two-natured, Calvin had a system that didn’t feel cold as intensely as my completely human metabolism did. “But my difference doesn’t lie in being two-natured, though I appreciate your, ah, kindness.” This was as close as I could come to asking him why he was so interested.
“I know that.” He nodded in acknowledgment of my delicacy. “Actually, that makes you more . . . The thing is, here in Hotshot, we’ve inbred too much. You heard Crystal. She can only change at the moon, and frankly, even then she’s not full-powered.” He pointed at his own face. “My eyes can hardly pass for human. We need an infusion of new blood, new genes. You’re not two-natured, but you’re not exactly an ordinary woman. Ordinary women don’t last long here.”
Well, that was an ominous and ambiguous way to put it. But I was sympathetic, and I tried to look understanding. Actually, I did understand, and I could appreciate his concern. Calvin Norris was clearly the leader of this unusual settlement, and its future was his responsibility.
He was frowning as he looked down the road at the house where I’d seen the man. But he turned to me to finish telling me what he wanted me to know. “I think you would like the people here, and you would be a good breeder. I can tell by looking.”
That was a real unusual compliment. I couldn’t quite think how to acknowledge it in an appropriate manner.
“I’m flattered that you think so, and I appreciate your offer. I’ll remember what you said.” I paused to gather my thoughts. “You know, the police will find out that Crystal was with Jason, if they haven’t already. They’ll come out here, too.”
“They won’t find nothing,” Calvin Norris said. His golden green eyes met mine with faint amusement. “They’ve been out here at other times; they’ll be out here again. They never learn a thing. I hope you find your brother. You need help, you let me know. I got a job at Norcross. I’m a steady man.”
“Thank you,” I said, and got into my car with a feeling of relief. I gave Calvin a serious nod as I backed out of Crystal’s driveway. So he worked at Norcross, the lumber processing plant. Norcross had good benefits, and they promoted from within. I’d had worse offers; that was for sure.
As I drove to work, I wondered if Crystal had been trying to get pregnant during her nights with Jason. It hadn’t seemed to bother Calvin at all to hear that his niece had had sex with a strange man. Alcide had told me that Were had to breed with Were to produce a baby that had the same trait, so the inhabitants of this little community were trying to diversify, apparently. Maybe these lesser Weres were trying to breed out; that is, have children by regular humans. That would be better than having a generation of Weres whose powers were so weak they couldn’t function successfully in their second nature, but who also couldn’t be content as regular people.
Getting to Merlotte’s was like driving from one century into another. I wondered how long the people of Hotshot had been clustered around the crossroads, what significance it had originally held for them. Though I couldn’t help but be a little curious, I found it was