Sookie Stackhouse Boxed Set (Books 1-8) - Charlaine Harris [939]
I gave up on the damn chains and got the big knife and cut Sam free so he could help. The knife came close enough to his skin to make him yelp a time or two, but I was really doing the best I could, and he didn’t bleed. To give him credit, he made it over to Castro in record time and began freeing him while I ran back to Eric, laying the knife on the ground beside us as I worked. Now that I had at least one ally who had the use of his hands and legs, I was able to concentrate, and I got Eric’s legs unbound (at least now he could run away—I guess that was my thinking) and then, more slowly, his arms and hands. The silver had been wound around him many times, and Sigebert had made sure it touched Eric’s hands. They looked ghastly. Castro had suffered even more from the chains because Sigebert had divested him of his beautiful cape and most of his shirt.
I was unwinding the last strand when Eric shoved me as hard as he could, grabbed the knife, and leaped to his feet so swiftly I saw only a blur. Then he was on Sigebert, who had actually lifted the car to release his own trapped legs. He’d begun dragging himself out from under, and in another minute he would have been ambulatory.
Did I mention it was a big knife? And it must have been sharp, too, because Eric landed by Sigebert, said, “Go to your maker,” and cut off the warrior vampire’s head.
“Oh,” I said shakily, and sat down abruptly on the cold parking lot gravel. “Oh, wow.” We all remained where we were, panting, for a good five minutes. Then Sam straightened up from the side of Felipe de Castro and offered him a hand. The vampire took it, and when he was upright, he introduced himself to Sam, who automatically introduced himself right back.
“Miss Stackhouse,” the king said, “I am in your debt.”
Damn straight.
“It’s okay,” I said in a voice that wasn’t nearly as level as it should be.
“Thank you,” he said. “If your car is too damaged to repair, I will be very glad to buy you another one.”
“Oh, thanks,” I said with absolute sincerity, as I stood up. “I’ll try to drive it home tonight. I don’t know how I can explain the damage. Do you think the body shop would believe I ran over an alligator?” That did happen occasionally. Was it weird that I was worried about the car insurance?
“Dawson would look at it for you,” Sam said. His voice was as odd as mine. He, too, had thought he was going to die. “I know he’s a motorcycle repairman, but I bet he could fix your car. He works on his own all the time.”
“Do what is necessary,” said Castro grandly. “I will pay. Eric, would you care to explain what just happened?” His voice was considerably more acerbic.
“You should ask your crew to explain,” Eric retorted, with some justification. “Didn’t they tell you Sigebert, the queen’s bodyguard, was dead? Yet here he is.”
“An excellent point.” Castro looked down at the crumbling body. “So that was the legendary Sigebert. He’s gone to join his brother, Wybert.” He sounded quite pleased.
I hadn’t known the brothers were famous among the vampires, but they’d certainly been unique. Their mountainous physiques, their broken and primitive English, their utter devotion to the woman who’d turned them centuries before—sure, any right-minded vampire would love that story. I sagged where I stood, and Eric, moving faster than I could see, picked me up. It was a very Scarlett and Rhett moment, spoiled only by the fact that there were two other guys there, we were in a humdrum parking lot, and I was unhappy about the damage to my car. Plus not a little shocked.
“How’d he get the jump on three strong guys like you-all?” I asked. I didn’t worry about Eric holding me. It made me feel tiny, not a feeling I got to enjoy all that often.
There was a moment of general embarrassment.
“I was standing with my back to the woods,” Castro explained. “He had