Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Books 1-8) - Charlaine Harris [403]
“The Stonebrooks went back to Shreveport when they left Bill’s?” I asked.
“We assume so. We had to change back very quickly—no easy matter—and then get to our cars. A few of us went one way, a few another, but we caught no glimpse of them.”
“And now we’re here. Why?” Alcide’s voice was harsh.
“We’re here for several reasons,” the packmaster said. “First, we wanted to know about Maria-Star. Also, we wanted to recover for a bit before we drive back to Shreveport ourselves.”
The Weres, who seemed to have pulled their clothes on pretty hastily, did look a little ragged. The dark-moon transformation and the rapid change back to two-legged form had taken a toll on all of them.
“And why are you here?” I asked Pam.
“We have something to report, too,” she said. “Evidently, we have the same goals as the Weres—on this matter, anyway.” She tore her gaze away from Claudine with an effort. She and Gerald exchanged glances, and as one, they turned to Eric, who looked back at them blankly. Pam sighed, and Gerald looked down at his booted feet.
“Our nest mate Clancy didn’t return to us last night,” Pam said. Hard on this startling announcement, she focused once again on the fairy. Claudine seemed to have some overwhelming allure for the vampires.
Most of the Weres looked like they were thinking that one less vampire was a step in the right direction. But Alcide said, “What do you think has happened?”
“We got a note,” Gerald said, one of the few times I’d ever heard him speak out loud. He had a faint English accent. “The note said that the witches plan to drain one of our vampires for each day they have to search for Eric.”
All eyes went to Eric, who looked stunned. “But why?” he asked. “I can’t understand what makes me such a prize.”
One of the Were girls, a tan blonde in her late twenties, took silent issue with that. She rolled her eyes toward me, and I could only grin back. But no matter how good Eric looked, and what ideas interested parties might have about the fun to be had with him in bed (and on top of that, the control he had over various vampire enterprises in Shreveport), this single-minded pursuit of Eric rang the “Excessive” alarm. Even if Hallow had sex with Eric, and then drained him dry and consumed all his blood—Wait, there was an idea.
“How much blood can be got from one of you?” I asked Pam.
She stared at me, as close to surprised as I’d ever seen her. “Let me see,” she said. She stared into space, and her fingers wiggled. It looked like Pam was translating from one unit of measurement to another. “Six quarts,” she said at last.
“And how much blood do they sell in those little vials?”
“That’s . . .” She did some more figuring. “Well, that would be less than a fourth of a cup.” She anticipated where I was heading. “So Eric contains over ninety-six salable units of blood.”
“How much you reckon they could charge for that?”
“Well, on the street, the price has reached $225 for regular vampire blood,” Pam said, her eyes as cold as winter frost. “For Eric’s blood . . . He is so old. . . .”
“Maybe $425 a vial?”
“Conservatively.”
“So, on the hoof, Eric’s worth . . .”
“Over forty thousand dollars.”
The whole crowd stared at Eric with heightened interest—except for Pam and Gerald, who along with Eric had resumed their contemplation of Claudine. They appeared to have inched closer to the fairy.
“So, do you think that’s enough motivation?” I asked. “Eric spurned her. She wants him, she wants his stuff, and she wants to sell his blood.”
“That’s a lot of motivation,” agreed a Were woman, a pretty brunette in her late forties.
“Plus, Hallow’s nuts,” Claudine said cheerfully.
I didn’t think the fairy had stopped smiling since she’d appeared in my car. “How do you know that, Claudine?” I asked.
“I’ve been to her headquarters,” she said.
We all regarded her in silence for a long moment, but not as raptly as the three vampires did.
“Claudine, have