Charlaine Harris - Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series #9)

Table of Contents

Ace Books by Charlaine Harris

The Sookie Stackhouse Novels

DEAD UNTIL DARK
LIVING DEAD IN DALLAS
CLUB DEAD
DEAD TO THE WORLD
DEAD AS A DOORNAIL

DEFINITELY DEAD
ALL TOGETHER DEAD
FROM DEAD TO WORSE
DEAD AND GONE

MANY BLOODY RETURNS
edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE
edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner

Berkley Prime Crime Books by Charlaine Harris

SWEET AND DEADLY
A SECRET RAGE

The Harper Connelly Mysteries
GRAVE SIGHT
GRAVE SURPRISE
AN ICE COLD GRAVE

The Lily Bard Mysteries
SHAKESPEARES LANDLORD
SHAKESPEARES CHAMPION
SHAKESPEARES CHRISTMAS
SHAKESPEARES TROLLOP
SHAKESPEARES COUNSELOR

The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries
REAL MURDERS
A BONE TO PICK
THREE BEDROOMS, ONE CORPSE
THE JULIUS HOUSE
DEAD OVER HEELS
A FOOL AND HIS HONEY
LAST SCENE ALIVE

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

This is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

Copyright 2009 by Charlaine Harris, Inc.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

ACE and the A design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

eISBN : 978-1-101-04762-0

1. VampiresFiction. 2. WerewolvesFiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A6427D4 2009
813.54dc22
2009001834

http://us.penguingroup.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are lots of people whove helped me along the way, and that help has put me where I am today. I want to give thanks to just a few. The current moderators of my website (Katie, Michele, MariCarmen, Victoria, and Kerri) make my life so much easier, and the moderators emeriti (Beverly and Debi) deserve a tip of the hat, too. The readers who visit www.charlaineharris.com to offer their comments, theories, and pats on the back are always a source of encouragement.

Backed by a cast of thousandsokay, fourToni Kelner and Dana Cameron are a constant source of support, encouragement, commiseration, and enthusiasm. I wouldnt know what to do without them.

Chapter 1

Caucasian vampires should never wear white, the television announcer intoned. Weve been secretly filming Devon Dawn, whos been a vampire for only a decade, as she gets dressed for a night on the town. Look at that outfit! Its all wrong for her!

What was she thinking? said an acidic female voice. Talk about stuck in the nineties! Look at that blouse, if thats what you call it. Her skin just cries out for contrasting color, and what is she putting on? Ivory! It makes her skin look like a Hefty bag.

I paused in the act of tying my shoe to watch what happened next as the two vampire fashionistas burst in on the hapless victimoh, excuse me, the lucky vampirewho was about to get an unsolicited makeover. Shed have the additional pleasure of realizing her friends had turned her in to the fashion police.

I dont think this is going to end well, Octavia Fant said. Though my housemate Amelia Broadway had sort of slid Octavia into my housebased on a casual invitation Id issued in a weak momentthe arrangement was working out okay.

Devon Dawn, heres Bev Leveto from The Best Dressed Vamp , and Im Todd Seabrook. Your friend Tessa called to tell us you needed fashion help! Weve been secretly filming you for the past two nights, and AAACKK! A white hand flashed at Todds throat, which vanished, leaving a gaping reddish hole. The camera lingered, fascinated, as Todd crumpled to the floor, before it rose to follow the fight between Devon Dawn and Bev.

Gosh, said Amelia. Looks like Bevs gonna win.

Better strategic sense, I said. Did you notice she let Todd go through the door first?

Ive got her pinned, Bev said triumphantly on the screen. Devon Dawn, while Todd recovers his speech, were going to go through your closet. A girl whos going to live for eternity cant afford to be tacky. Vampires cant get stuck in their pasts. Weve got to be fashion forward!

Devon Dawn whimpered, But I like my clothes! Theyre part of who I am! Youve broken my arm.

Itll heal. Listen, you dont want to be known as the little vampire who couldnt, do you? You dont want to have your head stuck in the past!

Well, I guess not...

Good! Ill let you up now. And I can tell from the coughing that Todds feeling better.

I switched off the television and tied my other shoe, shaking my head at Americas new addiction to vampire reality shows. I got my red coat out of the closet. The sight of it reminded me that I myself had some absolutely real problems with a vampire; in the two and a half months since the takeover of the Louisiana vampire kingdom by the vampires of Nevada, Eric Northman had been fully occupied with consolidating his position within the new regime and evaluating what was left of the old.

We were way overdue for a chitchat about Erics newly recovered memories of our strange and intense time together when hed temporarily misplaced his memory due to a spell.

What are you going to do tonight while Im at work? I asked Amelia and Octavia, since I didnt need to go another round of imaginary conversations. I pulled on the coat. Northern Louisiana doesnt get the horrific temperatures of the real north, but it was in the forties tonight and would be colder when I got off work.

My niece and her kids are taking me out to dinner, Octavia said.

Amelia and I gave each other surprised looks while the older womans head was bent over the blouse she was mending. It was the first time Octavia had seen her niece since shed moved from the nieces house to mine.

I think Tray and I are coming to the bar tonight, Amelia said hastily, to cover the little pause.

So Ill see you at Merlottes. Id been a barmaid there for years.

Octavia said, Oh, Ive got the wrong color thread, and went down the hall to her room.

I guess you arent seeing Pam anymore? I asked Amelia. You and Tray are getting to be a regular thing. I tucked my white T-shirt into my black pants more securely. I glanced in the old mirror over the mantel. My hair was pulled up into its usual ponytail for work. I spotted a stray long blond hair against the red of the coat, and I plucked it off.