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THE DRIVE BACK to Bon Temps was pleasant Vampires don&039;t smell like hu towith a va alone, except, of course, for the blood-sucking possibilities

Charles Twining asked a few questions about the work for which he&039;d been hired and about the bar My driving seeh possibly his unease was due to si in a car Some of the pre¨CIndustrial Revolution vamps loathe modern transportation His eye patch was on his left eye, onI was invisible

I&039;d run hi so he could gather a few things He had a sports bag with hih to hold maybe three days&039; worth of clothes He&039;d just moved into Shreveport, he told me, and hadn&039;t had time to decide where he would settle

After we&039;d been on our way for about forty minutes, the vampire said, "And you, Miss Sookie? Do you live with your father and one since I was seven," I said Out of the corner ofme to continue "There was a whole lot of rain in a real short ti, and e that had water already over it They got swept away"

I glanced toPeople died, sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly, and sometimes for very little reason A vareith randmother," I said "She died last year My brother has randmother&039;s"

"Lucky to have a place to live," he coant otten larger, while he had stayed the saot a job, I&039;ve got ot friends And I&039;m healthy"

He turned to look ata battered Ford pickup, so I couldn&039;t return his gaze "That&039;s interesting Forgive me, but I was under the impression from Pam that you have some kind of disability"

"Oh, well, yeah"

"And that would be? You look very, ah, robust"

"I&039;m a telepath"

He mulled that over "And that would mean?"

"I can read other humans&039; ood"

"Yes, I think so" If I could read vao Vampires value their privacy

"Did you kno?" he asked

"Yes" It wasShadow?"

"Yes"

"As the newest bartender at Fangtasia, I have a definite interest in their deaths"

Understandable, but I had no idea how to respond "Okay," I said cautiously

"Were you there when Chow died again?" This was the way some va Shadow?"

"Well yes"

"I would be interested in hearing what you had to say"

"Chow died in what they&039;re calling the Witch War Long Shadoas trying to kill "

"You&039;re sure that&039;s why Eric staked hihta know End of subject"

"I suppose your life has been complicated," Charles said after a pause

"Yes"

"Where will I be spending the sunlight hours?"

"My boss has a place for you"

"There is a lot of trouble at this bar?"

"Not until recently" I hesitated

"Your regular bouncer can&039;t handle shifters?"

"Our regular bouncer is the owner, Saht now, he&039;s a shifter with a broken leg He got shot And he&039;s not the only one"

This didn&039;t seem to astonish the vampire "How many?"

"Three that I know of A werepanther named Calvin Norris, asn&039;t irl named Heather Kinman, who&039;s dead She was shot at the Sonic Do you knohat Sonic is?" Vampires didn&039;t always pay attention to fast-food restaurants, because they didn&039;t eat (Hey, how many blood banks can you locate off the top of your head?)

Charles nodded, his curly chestnut hair bouncing on his shoulders "That&039;s the one where you eat in your car?"

"Yes, right," I said "Heather had been in a friend&039;s car, talking, and she got out to walk back to her car a few slots down The shot came from across the street She had achocolate ice cream had blended with blood on the pavement I&039;d seen it in Andy Bellefleur&039;s ht, and all the businesses on the other side of the street had been closed for hours So the shooter got away"

"All three shootings were at night?"

"Yes"

"I wonder if that&039;s significant"

"Could be; but maybe it&039;s just that there&039;s better concealot hurt, there&039;s been a lot of anxiety a the shifters because it&039;s hard to believe three shootings could be a coincidence And regular humans are worried because in their view three people have been shot at rando in common and few enehts in the bar"

"I&039;ve never been a bouncer before," Charles said conversationally "I was the youngest son of a minor baronet, so I&039;ve had to s I&039;ve worked as a bartender before, and o I was shill for a whorehouse Stood outside, trumpeted the wares of the strumpets - that&039;s a neat phrase, isn&039;t it? - threw out h with the whores I suppose that&039;s the sa a bouncer"

I was speechless at this unexpected confidence

"Of course, that was after I lost my eye, but before I became a vampire," the vampire said

"Of course," I echoed weakly

"Which hile I was a pirate," he continued He was slance

"What did you, um, pirate?" I didn&039;t know if that was a verb or not, but he gotclearly

"Oh, we&039;d try to catch almost anyone unawares," he said blithely "Off and on I lived on the coast of America, down close to New Orleans, where we&039;d take so ships and the like I sailed aboard a se or well defended a ship But e caught up with so the happiness of whacking at people with a sword, I guess

"And what happened to you?" I asked politely,how did he come to depart his wonderful warhter for the va, we boarded a galleon that had no living crew," he said I noticed that his hands had curled into fists His voice chilled "We had sailed to the Tortugas It was dusk I was first ot me first"

After that little tale, we fell silent byroom of his trailer Sale to the back of the bar That way, at least he opened his front door to a view of the parking lot, which was better than looking at the back of the bar, with its large garbage bin between the kitchen door and the employees&039; entrance

"Well, there you are," Sa still Now that his leg was in a cast, he was fretting fro the next full e? If he changed, ould happen to the cast? I&039;d known other injured shape-shifters before, but I hadn&039;t been around for their recuperation, so this was new territory for otten lost on the way back" Sam&039;s voice returned e

" &039;Gee, thanks, Sookie, I see you returned with a bouncer,&039; " I said " &039;I&039; experience of asking Eric for a favor on my behalf&039; " At that moment, I didn&039;t care if he was reed, then," he said He nodded at the pirate

"Charles Twining, at your service," said the vampire

Sam&039;s eyes widened "Okay I&039; to help us out here"

"I was ordered to do so," the vampire said coolly

"So the deal you struck was room, board, and favor," Sam said to me "I owe Eric a favor" This was said in a tone that a kind person would describe as grudging

"Yes" I was mad now "You sent me to make a deal I checked the terms with you! That&039;s the deal I ets a favor in return No matter what you told yourself, that&039;s what it boils down to"

Saed , here, should stay with you"

"And ould you think that?"

"The closet looked a little craht?"

"You didn&039;t askto do it?"

"Yes! I&039;m not the vampire hotel keeper!"

"But you work for me, and he works for me"

"Uh-huh And would you ask Arlene or Holly to put him up?"