"One of you should have called me, written me, something." Despite our current crisis, I couldn't stop myself from expressing my bitterness.

"He couldn't let you know how bad it was. He said he knew you'd try to get him out of it somehow, but there was no way out."

"Well, sure I would have tried to get him out of it," I said. "That's what you do when someone's in trouble."

Bill was silent but I felt his eyes on me. I'd rescued Bill when he'd been in trouble. Sometimes I was sorry I had.

"Your brother, why is he with them now?" Bill asked sharply. "He's given them information. They are vampires. What do they need with him?"

"They're bringing him with them so he can negotiate with the supe community, specifically the Weres," Frannie said, sounding suddenly like Miss Corporate Secretary. I felt sort of sorry for Frannie. As the product of a union between a human and a weretiger, she had no special powers to give her an edge or to provide her with a bargaining chip. Her face was streaked with smeared mascara and her nails were chewed down to the quick. She was a mess.

And this was no time to be worried about Frannie, because the vampires of Vegas were taking over the state.

"What had we better do?" I asked. "Amelia, have you checked the house wards? Do they include our cars?" Amelia nodded briskly. "Bill, you've called Fangtasia and all the other sheriffs?"

Bill nodded. "No answer from Cleo. Arla Yvonne answered, and she had already gotten wind of the attack. She said she was going to ground and would try to work her way up to Shreveport. She has six of her nest with her. Since Gervaise met his end, his vampires have been tending the queen, and Booth Crimmons has been their lieutenant. Booth says he was out tonight and his child, Audrey, who was left with the queen and Sigebert, doesn't answer. Even the deputy that Sophie-Anne sent to Little Rock is not responding."

We were all silent for a moment. The idea that Sophie-Anne might be finally dead was almost unimaginable.

Bill shook himself visibly. "So," he continued, "we might stay here, or we might find another place for you three. When I'm sure you're safe, I have to get to Eric as soon as I can. He'll need every pair of hands tonight if he's to survive."

Some of the other sheriffs were surely dead. Eric might die tonight. The full realization smacked me in the face with the force of a huge gloved hand. I sucked in a jagged breath and fought to stay on my feet. I just couldn't think about that.

"We'll be fine," Amelia said stoutly. "I'm sure you're a great fighter, Bill, but we aren't defenseless."

With all due respect to Amelia's witchcraft ability, we were so defenseless; at least against vampires.

Bill spun away from us and stared down the hall at the back door. He'd heard something that hadn't reached our human ears. But a second later, I heard a familiar voice.

"Bill, let me in. The sooner, the better!"

"It's Eric," Bill said with great satisfaction. Moving so fast he was a blur, he went to the rear of the house. Sure enough, Eric was outside, and something in me relaxed. He was alive. I noticed that he was hardly his usual tidy self. His T-shirt was torn, and he was barefoot.

"I was cut off from the club," he said as he and Bill came up the hall to join us. "My house was no good, not by myself. I couldn't reach anyone else. I got your message, Bill. So, Sookie, I'm here to ask for your hospitality."

"Of course," I said automatically, though I really should have thought about it. "But maybe we should go to—" I was about to suggest we cut across the graveyard and go to Bill's house, which was larger and would have more facilities for vampires, when trouble erupted from another source. We hadn't been paying any attention to Frannie since she'd finished her story, and the slump she'd experienced once her dramatic news had been delivered had allowed her to think of the potential for disaster we faced.

"I gotta get out of here," Frannie said. "Quinn told me to stay here, but you guys are..." Her voice was rising and she was on her feet and every muscle in her neck stood out in sharp relief as her head whipped around in her agitation.

"Frannie," Bill said. He put his white hands on each side of Frannie's face. He looked into the girl's eyes. Frannie fell silent. "You stay here, you stupid girl, and do what Sookie tells you to do."

"Okay," Frannie said in a calm voice.

"Thanks," I said. Amelia was looking at Bill in a shocked kind of way. I guess she'd never seen a vamp use his whammy before. "I'm going to get my shotgun," I said to no one, but before I could move, Eric turned to the closet by the front door. He reached in and extricated the Benelli. He turned to hand it to me with a bemused expression. Our eyes met.

Eric had remembered where I kept the shotgun. He'd learned that when he'd stayed with me while his memory was lost.

When I could look away, I saw Amelia was looking self-consciously thoughtful. Even in my short experience of living with Amelia, I had learned that this was not a look I liked. It meant she was about to make a point, and it was a point I wouldn't care for.

"Are we getting all excited about nothing?" she asked rhetorically. "Maybe we're panicking for no good reason."

Bill looked at Amelia as if she'd turned into a baboon. Frannie looked totally unconcerned.

"After all," Amelia said, wearing a small, superior smile, "why would anyone come afterus at all? Or more specifically you, Sookie. Because I don't suppose vampires would come after me. But that aside, why would they come here? You're not an essential part of the vampire defense system. What would give them a good reason to want to kill or capture you?"

Eric had been making a circuit of the doors and windows. He finished as Amelia was winding up her speech. "What's happened?" he asked.

I said, "Amelia is explaining to me why there's no rational reason the vampires would come after me in their attempt to conquer the state."

"Of course they'll come," Eric said, barely glancing at Amelia. He examined Frannie for a minute, nodded in approval, and then stood to the side of a living room window to look out. "Sookie's got a blood tie to me. And now I am here."

"Yeah," Amelia said heavily. "Thanks a lot, Eric, for making a beeline for this house."

"Amelia. Are you not a witch with much power?"

"Yes, I am," she said cautiously.

"Isn't your father a wealthy man with a lot of influence in the state? Isn't your mentor a great witch?"

Who had been doing some research on the Internet? Eric and Copley Carmichael had something in common.

"Yeah," Amelia said. "Okay, they'd be happy if they could corral us. But still, if Eric hadn't come here, I don't think we'd need to worry about physical injury."

"You're wondering if we're actually in danger?" I said. "Vampires, excited, bloodlust?"

"We won't be any use if we're not alive."

"Accidents happen," I said, and Bill snorted. I'd never heard him make such an ordinary sound, and I looked at him. Bill was enjoying the prospect of a good fight. His fangs were out. Frannie was staring at him, but her expression didn't change. If there'd been the slightest chance she'd stay calm and cooperative, I might have asked Bill to bring her out of the artificial state. I loved having Frannie still and quiet—but I hated her loss of free will.

"Why did Pam leave?" I asked.

"She can be of more value at Fangtasia. The others have gone to the club, and she can tell me if they are sealed in it or not. It was stupid of me to call them all and tell them to gather; I should have told them to scatter." From the way he looked now, it wasn't a mistake Eric would ever make again.

Bill stood close to a window, listening to the sounds of the night. He looked at Eric and shook his head. No one there yet.