What with the bombs, and the explosions, and all.

“To our west is Zeus, from the Roman system, and a thunderbolt is their symbol, of course.”

Sure. I nodded in profound agreement. Eric may have sensed that I was not exactly on board, by then. He gave me a stern look. “Sookie, this is important. As my wife, you must know this.”

I wasn’t even going to get into that tonight. “Okay, go ahead,” I said.

“The fourth clan, the West Coast division, is called Narayana, from early Hinduism, and its symbol is an eye, because Narayana created the sun and moon from his eyes.”

I thought of things I’d like to ask, like “Who the hell sat around and picked the stupid names?” But when I ran my questions through my inner censor, each one sounded snarkier than the last. I said, “But there were some vampires at the summit in Rhodes—the Amun Clan summit—that should be in Zeus, right?”

“Yes, good! There are visitors at the summits, if they have some vested interest in a topic under discussion. Or if they are engaged in a lawsuit against someone in that division. Or if they’re going to marry someone in the division whose time it is to have a summit.” His eyes crinkled at the corners with his smile of approval. Narayana created the sun from his eyes, I thought. I smiled back.

“I understand,” I said. “So, how come Felipe conquered Louisiana, since we’re Amun and he’s. Ah, is Nevada in Narayana or Zeus?”

“Narayana. He took Louisiana because he wasn’t as frightened of Sophie-Anne as everyone else. He planned, and executed quickly and with precision after the governing. board. of Narayana Clan approved his plan.”

“He had to present a plan before he moved on us?”

“That’s the way it’s done. The kings and queens of Narayana wouldn’t want their territory weakened if Felipe failed and Sophie-Anne managed to take Nevada. So he had to outline his plan.”

“They didn’t think we might want to say something about that plan?”

“Not their concern. If we’re weak enough to be taken, then we are fair game. Sophie-Anne was a good leader, and much respected. With her incapacitation, Felipe judged we were weak enough to attack. Stan’s lieutenant in Texas has struggled these past few months since Stan was injured in Rhodes, and it’s been hard for him to hold on to Texas.”

“How would they know how hurt Sophie-Anne was? How hurt Stan is?”

“Spies. We all spy on each other.” Eric shrugged. (Big deal. Spies.)

“What if one of the rulers in Narayana had owed some favor to Sophie-Anne and decided to tip her off to the takeover?”

“I’m sure some of them considered it. But with Sophie-Anne so severely wounded, I suppose they decided that the odds lay with Felipe.”

This was appalling. “How do you trust anyone?”

“I don’t. There are two exceptions. You, and Pam.”

“Oh,” I said. I tried to imagine feeling like that. “That’s awful, Eric.”

I thought he’d shrug that off. But instead, he regarded me soberly. “Yes. It’s not good.”

“Do you know who the spies in Area Five are?”

“Felicia, of course. She is weak, and it’s not much of a secret that she must be in the pay of someone; probably Stan in Texas, or Freyda in Oklahoma.”

“I don’t know Freyda.” I’d met Stan. “Is Texas in Zeus or Amun?”

Eric beamed at me. I was his star pupil. “Zeus,” he said. “But Stan had to be at the summit because he was proposing to go in with Mississippi on a resort development.”

“He sure paid for that,” I said. “If they have spies, we have spies, too, right?”

“Of course.”

“Who? I’m not missing anyone?”

“You met Rasul in New Orleans, I believe.”

I nodded. Rasul had been of Middle Eastern stock, and he’d had quite a sense of humor. “He survived the takeover.”

“Yes, because he agreed to become a spy for Victor, and therefore for Felipe. They sent him to Michigan.”

“Michigan?”

“There is a very large Arab enclave there, and Rasul fits in well. He tells them he fled the takeover.” Eric paused. “You know, his life will be ended if you tell anyone this.”

“Oh, duh. I’m not telling anyone any of this. For one thing, the fact that you-all named your little slices of America after gods is just. ” I shook my head. Really something. I wasn’t sure what. Proud? Stupid? Bizarre? “For another thing, I like Rasul.” And I thought it was pretty damn smart of him to take the chance to get out from under Victor’s thumb, no matter what he’d agreed to do. “Why are you telling me all this, all of a sudden?”

“I think you need to know what’s going on around you, my lover.” Eric had never looked more serious. “Last night, while I was working, I found myself distracted by the idea that you might suffer for your ignorance. Pam agreed. She’s wanted to give you the background of our hierarchy for some weeks. But I thought the knowledge would burden you, and you had enough problems to handle. Pam reminded me that ignorance could get you killed. I value you too much to let yours continue.”

My initial thought was that I’d really enjoyed that ignorance, and it would have been okay with me if I’d retained it. Then I had to hop all over myself. Eric was really trying to include me in his life and its ins and outs. And he was trying to help me acclimatize to his world because he considered me a part of it. I tried to feel warm and fuzzy about that.

Finally, I said, “Thanks.” I tried to think of intelligent questions to ask. “Um, okay. So the kings and queens of each state in a particular division get together to make decisions and bond—what, every two years?”

Eric was eyeing me cautiously. He could tell not all was well in Sookieville. “Yes,” he said. “Unless there’s some crisis that calls for an extra meeting. Each state is not a separate kingdom. For instance, there’s a ruler of New York City and a ruler of the rest of the state. Florida is also divided.”

“Why?” That took me aback. Until I considered. “Oh, lots of tourists. Easy prey. High vampire population.”

Eric nodded. “California is in thirds—California Sacramento, California San Jose, and California Los Angeles. On the other hand, North and South Dakota have become one kingdom, since the population is so thin.”

I was getting the hang of looking at things through vampire eyes. There’d be more lions where the gazelles crowded around the watering hole. Fewer prey animals, fewer predators. “How does the business of—well, of Amun, say—get conducted between those biennial meetings?” There had to be stuff that came up.

“Message boards, mostly. If we have to have a face-to-face, committees of sheriffs meet, depending on the situation. If I had an argument with the vampire of another sheriff, I’d call that sheriff, and if he wasn’t ready to give me satisfaction, his lieutenant would meet with my lieutenant.”

“And if that didn’t work?”

“We’d kick the dispute up the ladder, to the summit. In between meeting years, there’s an informal gathering, with no ceremony or celebration.”

I could think of a lot of questions, but they were all of the “what if” variety, and there wasn’t any immediate need for me to know the answers.

“Okeydokey,” I said. “Well, that was real interesting.”

“You don’t sound interested. You sound irritated.”

“This isn’t what I expected when I found out you were sleeping in the house.”

“What did you expect?”

“I expected you’d come over here because you couldn’t wait an extra minute to have fabulous, mind-blowing sex with me.” And to hell with the corpse, for the moment.

“I’ve told you things for your own good,” Eric said soberly. “However, now that that’s done, I am as ready as ever to have sex with you, and I can certainly make it mind-blowing.”

“Then cut to the chase, honey.”

With a movement too fast for me to follow, Eric’s shirt was off, and while I was admiring the view, his other clothes followed.