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
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, andAAACKK! 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.
Pam was just a wild hair, and Im sure she felt the same way about me. I really like Tray, Amelia was saying. He doesnt seem to care about Daddys money, and hes not worried about me being a witch. And he can rock my world in the bedroom. So were getting along great. Amelia gave me a cat-eating-the-canary grin. She might look like a well-toned soccer momshort, gleaming hair, beautiful white smile, clear eyesbut she was very interested in sex and (by my standards) diverse in those interests.
Hes a good guy, I said. Have you seen him as a wolf yet?
Nope. But Im looking forward to it.
I picked up something from Amelias transparent head that startled me. Its soon? The revelation?
Would you not do that? Amelia was normally matter-of-fact about my mind-reading ability, but not today. Ive got to keep other peoples secrets, you know!
Sorry, I said. And I was, but at the same time I was mildly aggrieved. Youd think that I could relax in my own house and loosen the tight wrappings I tried to keep on my ability. After all, I had to struggle every single day at work.
Amelia said instantly, Im sorry, too. Listen, Ive got to go get ready. See you later. She went lightly up the stairs to the second floor, which had been largely unused until shed come back from New Orleans with me a few months before. Shed missed Katrina, unlike poor Octavia.
Good-bye, Octavia. Have a good time! I called, and went out the back door to my car.
