Sookie 03 Club Dead (10 page)

None of these people, of course, knew one thing about me. It was wonderful to be among people who had no idea of my background and upbringing, my occupation or my abilities. Determined to enjoy the feeling, I concentrated on not speaking unless I was spoken to, not spilling any food on my beautiful dress, and minding my manners, both table and social. While I was enjoying myself, I figured it would be a pity if I caused Alcide any embarrassment, since I was entering his life so briefly.

Alcide snatched the bill before I could reach it, and scowled at me when I opened my mouth to protest. I finally gave a little bob of my head. After that silent struggle, I was glad to observe that Alcide was a generous tipper. That raised him in my estimation. To tell the truth, he was entirely too high in my estimation already. I was on the alert to pick out something negative about the man. When we got back in Alcide’s pickup-this time he gave me even more help when he boosted me up to the seat, and I was pretty confident he enjoyed the procedure-we were both quiet and thoughtful.

“You didn’t talk much at supper,” he said. “You didn’t have a good time?”

“Oh, sure, I did. I just didn’t think it was a real good time to start broadcasting any opinions.”

“What did you think of Jake O’Malley?” O’Malley, a man in his early sixties with thick steel-colored eyebrows, had stood talking to Alcide for at least five minutes, all the while stealing little sideways glances at my boobs.

“I think he’s planning on screwing you six ways from Sunday.”

It was lucky we hadn’t pulled away from the curb yet. Alcide switched on the overhead light and looked at me. His face was grim. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“He’s going to underbid you on the next job, because he’s bribed one of the women in your office-Thomasina something?-to let him know what you all’s bid is. And then-“

“What?”

I was glad the heater was running full blast. When werewolves got mad, you could feel it in the air around you. I had so hoped I wouldn’t have to explain myself to Alcide. It had been so neat, being unknown.

“You are … what?” he asked, to make sure I understood him.

“Telepath,” I said, kind of mumbling.

A long silence fell, while Alcide digested this.

“Did you hear anything good?” he asked, finally.

“Sure. Mrs. O’Malley wants to jump your bones,” I told him, smiling brightly. I had to remind myself not to pull at my hair.

“That’s good?”

“Comparatively,” I said. “Better to be screwed physically than financially.” Mrs. O’Malley was at least twenty years younger than Mr. O’Malley, and she was the most groomed person I’d ever seen. I was betting she brushed her eyebrows a hundred strokes a night.

He shook his head. I had no clear picture of what he was thinking. “What about me, you read me?”

Aha. “Shape-shifters are not so easy,” I said. “I can’t pick out a clear line of thought, more a general mood, intentions, sort of. I guess if you thought directly at me, I’d get it. You want to try? Think something at me.”

The dishes I use at the apartment have a border of yellow roses.

“I wouldn’t call them roses,” I said doubtfully. “More like zinnias, if you ask me.”

I could feel his withdrawal, his wariness. I sighed. Same old, same old. It sort of hurt, since I liked him. “But just to pick your own thoughts out of your head, that’s a murky area,” I said. “I can’t consistently do that, with Weres and shifters.” (A few Supes were fairly easy to read, but I saw no need to bring that up at this point in time.)

“Thank God.”

“Oh?” I said archly, in an attempt to lighten the mood. “What are you afraid I’ll read?”

Alcide actually grinned at me before he turned off the dome light and we pulled out of our parking space. “Never mind,” he said, almost absently. “Never mind. So what you’re going to be doing tonight is reading minds, to try to pick up clues about your vampire’s whereabouts?”

“That’s right. I can’t read vampires; they don’t seem to put out any brainwaves. That’s just how I put it. I don’t know how I do this, or if there’s a scientific way to phrase it.” I wasn’t exactly lying: Undead minds really were unreadable-except for a little split second’s glimpse every now and then (which hardly counted, and no one could know about). If vampires thought I could read their minds, not even Bill could save me. If he would.

Every time I forgot for a second that our relationship had radically changed, it hurt all over again to be reminded.

“So what’s your plan?”

“I’m aiming for humans dating or serving local vampires. Humans were the actual abductors. He was snatched in daytime. At least, that’s what they told Eric.”

“I should have asked you about this earlier,” he said, mostly to himself. “Just in case I hear something the regular way-through my ears-maybe you should tell me the circumstances.”

As we drove by what Alcide said was the old train station, I gave him a quick summary. I caught a glimpse of a street sign reading “Amite” as we pulled up to an awning that stretched over a deserted length of sidewalk in the outskirts of downtown Jackson. The area directly under the awning was lit with a brilliant and cold light. Somehow that length of sidewalk seemed creepily ominous, especially since the rest of the street was dark. Uneasiness crawled down my back. I felt a deep reluctance to stop at that bit of sidewalk.

It was a stupid feeling, I told myself. It was just a stretch of cement. No beasts were in sight. After the businesses closed at five, downtown Jackson was not exactly teeming, even under ordinary circumstances. I was willing to bet that most of the sidewalks in the whole state of Mississippi were bare on this cold December night.

But there was something ominous in the air, a watchfulness laced with a charge of malice. The eyes observing us were invisible; but they were observing us, nonetheless. When Alcide climbed out of the truck and came around to help me down, I noticed that he left the keys in the ignition. I swung my legs outward and put my hands on his shoulders, my long silk stole wound firmly around me and trailing behind, fringe trembling in a gust of chilled air. I pushed off as he lifted, and then I was on the sidewalk.

The truck drove away.

I looked at Alcide sideways, to see if this was startling to him, but he looked quite matter-of-fact. “Vehicles parked in front would attract attention from the general public,” he told me, his voice hushed in the vast silence of that coldly lit bit of pavement.

“They can come in? Regular people?” I asked, nodding toward the single metal door. It looked as uninviting as a door can look. There was no name anywhere on it, or on the building, for that matter. No Christmas decorations, either. (Of course, vampires don’t observe holidays, except for Halloween. It’s the ancient festival of Samhain dressed up in trappings that the vamps find delightful. So Halloween’s a great favorite, and it’s celebrated worldwide in the vamp community.)

“Sure, if they want to pay a twenty-dollar cover charge to drink the worst drinks in five states. Served by the rudest waiters. Very slowly.”

I tried to smother my smile. This was not a smiley kind of place. “And if they stick that out?”

“There’s no floor show, no one speaks to them, and if they last much longer, they find themselves out on the sidewalk getting into their car with no memory of how they got there.”

He grasped the handle of the door and pulled it open. The dread that soaked the air did not seem to affect Alcide.

We stepped into a tiny hall that was blocked by another door after about four feet. There, again, I knew we were being watched, though I couldn’t see a camera or a peephole anywhere.

“What’s the name of this place?” I whispered.

“The vamp that owns it calls it Josephine’s,” he said, just as quietly. “But Weres call it Club Dead.”

I thought about laughing, but the inner door opened just then.

The doorman was a goblin.

I had never seen one before, but the word “goblin” popped into my mind as if I had a supernatural dictionary printed on the inside of my eyeballs. He was very short and very cranky-looking, with a knobby face and broad hands. His eyes were full of fire and malignance. He glared up at us as if customers were the last things he needed.

Why any ordinary person would walk into Josephine’s after the cumulative effect of the haunted sidewalk, the vanishing vehicle, and the goblin at the door … well, some people are just born asking to be killed, I guess.

“Mr. Herveaux,” the goblin said slowly, in a deep, growly voice. “Good to have you back. Your companion is … ?”

“Miss Stackhouse,” Alcide said. “Sookie, this is Mr. Hob.” The goblin examined me with glowing eyes. He looked faintly troubled, as if he couldn’t quite fit me into a slot; but after a second, he stood aside to let us pass.

Josephine’s was not very crowded. Of course, it was somewhat early for its patrons. After the eerie build-up, the large room looked almost disappointingly like any other bar. The serving area itself was in the middle of the room, a large square bar with a lift-up panel for the staff to go to and fro. I wondered if the owner had been watching reruns of Cheers. The glasses hung down, suspended on racks, and there were artificial plants and low music and dim lighting. There were polished bar stools set evenly all around the square. To the left of the bar was a small dance floor, and even farther left was a tiny stage for a band or a disc jockey. On the other three sides of the square were the usual small tables, about half of which were in use.

Then I spotted the list of ambiguous rules on the wall, rules designed to be understood by the regular habitues, but not by the occasional tourist. “No Changing on the Premises,” one said sternly. (Weres and shifters could not switch from animal to human when they were at the bar; well, I could understand that.) “No Biting of Any Kind,” said another. “No Live Snacks,” read a third. Ick.

The vampires were scattered throughout the bar, some with others of their own kind, some with humans. There was a raucous party of shifters in the southeast corner, where several tables had been drawn together to accommodate the size of the party. The center of this group appeared to be a tall young woman with gleaming short black hair, an athletic build, and a long, narrow face. She was draped over a square man of her own age, which I guessed to be about twenty-eight. He had round eyes and a flat nose and the softest looking hair I’d ever seen-it was almost baby fine, and so light a blond, it was nearly white. I wondered if this were the engagement party, and I wondered if Alcide had known it was to take place. His attention was definitely focused on that group.

Naturally, I immediately checked out what the other women in the bar were wearing. The female vampires and the women with male vampires were dressed about at my level. The shifter females tended to dress down a bit more. The black-haired woman I’d pegged for Debbie was wearing a gold silk blouse and skintight brown leather pants, with boots. She laughed at some comment of the blond man’s, and I felt Alcide’s arm grow rigid under my fingers. Yep, this must be the ex-girlfriend, Debbie. Her good time had certainly escalated since she’d glimpsed Alcide’s entrance.

Phony bitch, I decided in the time it takes to snap your fingers, and I made up my mind to behave accordingly. The goblin Hob led the way to an empty table within view of the happy party, and held out a chair for me. I nodded to him politely, and unwound my wrap, folding it and tossing it onto an empty chair. Alcide sat in the chair to my right, so he could put his back to the corner where the shifters were having such a raucous good time.

A bone-thin vampire came to take our order. Alcide asked my pleasure with an inclination of his head. “A champagne cocktail,” I said, having no idea what one tasted like. I’d never gone to the trouble to mix myself one at Merlotte’s, but now that I was in someone else’s bar, I thought I’d give it a shot. Alcide ordered a Heineken. Debbie was casting many glances our way, so I leaned forward and smoothed back a lock of Alcide’s curly black hair. He looked surprised, though of course Debbie couldn’t see that.

“Sookie?” he said, rather doubtfully.

I smiled at him, not my nervous smile-because I wasn’t, for once. Thanks to Bill, I now had a little confidence about my own physical attractiveness. “Hey, I’m your date, remember? I’m acting date-like,” I told him.

The thin vampire brought our drinks just then, and I clinked my glass against his bottle. “To our joint venture,” I said, and his eyes lit up. We sipped.

I loved champagne cocktails.

“Tell me more about your family,” I said, because I enjoyed listening to his nimbly voice. I would have to wait until there were more humans in the bar before I began listening in to others’ thoughts.

Alcide obligingly began telling me about how poor his dad had been when he started his surveying business, and how long it had taken for him to prosper. He was just beginning to tell me about his mother when Debbie sashayed up.

It had only been a matter of time.

“Hello, Alcide,” she purred. Since he hadn’t been able to see her coming, his strong face quivered. “Who’s your new friend? Did you borrow her for the evening?”

“Oh, longer than that,” I said clearly, and smiled at Debbie, a smile that matched her own for sincerity.

“Really?” If her eyebrows had crawled any higher, they’d have been in heaven.

“Sookie is a good friend,” Alcide said impassively.

“Oh?” Debbie doubted his word. “It wasn’t too long ago you told me you’d never have another ‘friend’ if you couldn’t have … Well.” She smirked.

I covered Alcide’s huge hand with my own and gave her a look that implied much.

“Tell me,” Debbie said, her lips curling in a skeptical way, “how do you like that birthmark of Alcide’s?”

Who could have predicted she was willing to be a bitch so openly? Most women try to hide it, at least from strangers.

It’s on my right butt cheek. It’s shaped like a rabbit. Well, how nice. Alcide had remembered what I’d said, and he’d thought directly at me.

“I love bunnies,” I said, still smiling, my hand drifting down Alcide’s back to caress, very lightly, the top of his right buttock.