Keep It In The Family

Chapter 1

Pets

**

It had already been a long night, but at least I’d had a decent meal to look forward to. While I was settling petty disputes between Vampires that were akin to children fighting over toys in a sandbox, I distracted myself by thinking about how I’d end my evening.

Not only could my new barback offer a phenomenal ride, but her blood was absolutely delicious.

There was just something about her A-negative that made it sweeter than normal… and there was something different about her that I couldn’t put my finger on.

She wasn’t the usually clingy employee who’d only applied to work at Glamour in the hopes of ‘landing’ me. She didn’t proceed to stalk me as soon as I fucked her. She didn’t glare at me when someone else had my attention…

Even though she had my phone number, she didn’t call me for anything except for the one time she left a pair of earrings at the house where we’d fucked. She wasn’t using it as an excuse to meet me again. She just wanted to be sure she hadn’t lost them. She never asked for anything, even though I’d overheard she was saving to buy a car, and I knew she had occasional problems with the schedule that she didn’t bypass her manager to resolve with me. And the one time she approached me to meet after her shift, she complained that she’d fought with her mother and needed to unwind. I was curious enough to accept the invitation, and she hadn’t bothered me with details of her family melodrama. She unwound, showered, and went home.

That was another thing in her favor… She didn’t linger. She didn’t make herself what Pam called an STD. She caught her breath when we were finished fucking, occasionally offered light small talk while she showered, thanked me for a ‘good time’, retrieved the small bag of clothing and toiletries she kept in her aged car, and went home.

She seemed to be one of the increasingly rare females who understood the concept of casual sex.

Even though I was becoming quite spoiled by the sweetness of her blood, and subsequently fed from others as sparingly as possible, I considered myself quite lucky to have found something worth revisiting.

Pam was jealous that I’d spotted Hadley first because she was reaching the patience threshold with her menagerie of pets, while I had a ‘zero-maintenance fuck and feed’ on standby.

**

I’d been enjoying Hadley for three months of weekly rendezvous and, for the last two months, I’d been feeding on nights she worked, and then enjoying the occasional ‘snack’ in my office just so I could get the taste of my donor out of my mouth. Even the uncommon ‘treat’ of AB-negative practically turned my stomach, but I refused to let myself become completely spoiled.

Hadley was in the beginning stage of her departure, just stepping into the shower while I looked for my shoes, when she offered, “I know we’ve been hooking up on Mondays, but I’m… I have stuff going on next week.”

I’d noticed that she wasn’t on next week’s schedule, but I still hadn’t thought of a way to nonchalantly ask if she’d given her notice or if she’d been dismissed for some reason.

Simple enough. “Tuesday’s fine then.”

She paused long enough that I assumed she was fine with rescheduling, but she finally offered, “I’m… I’m probably going to need to skip a couple of weeks. I’m just… I have family stuff going on. Nothing you want to hear about…”

A couple?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“More than your cousin coming to Glamour to check on you?”

She snickered, “Yeah… and nevermind Jason. He used to check on me when I worked at Dairy Queen in high school.”

“There might be a position available as a bouncer.” He’d elbowed a man’s nose for grabbing her ass while she was bussing a table.

She giggled, “Funny you should mention that… I have another cousin I’ve been trying to get to put an application in…”

“Glamour always needs bouncers. Is he as aggressive as Jason?”

“She’s a lot more aggressive than Jas, but I was thinking she’d make good money as a barback. She’s really pretty if you like that Barbie look.”

A female cousin?

If I’d been at Glamour when Jason visited, I would have tasted his blood out of curiosity…

If Hadley’s cousins tasted half as good as she did, I could find myself with a collection. Standing appointments for Mondays and Thursdays.

“Does she have any waitressing experience?”

“Not really… She’s fresh out of high school. She’s been working at a storage place for minimum wage. I just think she could use the extra money.”

I stepped into the doorway of the bathroom and asked, “Is this your subtle way of quitting? Having your cousin fill your position?”

She stared at me through the glass doors, nibbling her lip anxiously for a moment before shaking her head. “No… but… She could use the money. I make more in one night than she does all week… I’m not asking you to hire her. We don’t have the same last name so it would be up to Cheryl if Sookie’s qualified.”

“Her name is Sookie?”

“Yeah… trashy, huh?”

“I don’t think I’ve heard that one before, so I can’t say I have an opinion as to the tenor… but it’s definitely a unique name. Is she trashy?”

“No… That’s kind of the other reason I wanted her to apply. She’s kind of a wallflower. She’s always got her nose in a book. She’s so smart she’s annoying, but she keeps to herself. I was thinking Glamour might be good for her. She really needs to loosen up.”

“A bookworm with that ‘Barbie look’?”

Hadley raised an eyebrow at me. “And more aggressive than Jason, remember? If she doesn’t work out as a barback, she could work the door with Hank.”

I chuckled, “Sookie what?”

“Sookie Stackhouse.”

My fangs were tingling as I nodded. “Fill out an application as her proxy. Leave it on my desk. I’ll call her for an interview.” There was at least part of me that was aware I should consider Sookie for Pam, but lucky for me, Pam had misled me by complaining about the multitude of pets she was preparing to put out to pasture.

“I wasn’t… I really wasn’t asking for a favor or anything.”

“Pretty servers bring in customers who drink thousands of dollars’ worth of liquid courage. I’m not doing a favor for you.”

She shrugged and nodded. “Okay… I’ll fill it out when I get to the bar tomorrow night.”

As per the usual routine, Hadley left the house Pam and I kept for take-out just a couple of hours before dawn, hoping she’d sneak into her house without rousing her mother or ‘the boyfriend’…

And I went home to shower and read for cerebral stimulation. It wasn’t that Hadley was stupid, but I wasn’t interested in fixing what wasn’t broken by trying to find out how intelligent she was… Intellect wasn’t vital for barbacks or donors.

Technically, Hadley was perfect as far as my needs were concerned.

**

When I arrived at Glamour the next night, Sookie’s application was waiting on my desk as promised.

While the phone rang, I scanned the scrawled form to see that she’d just turned 19 a month earlier. And it seemed like Hadley padded Sookie’s job history with volunteer work at the Bon Temps Library and the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, because she’d only held two jobs. One of them was cleaning house part-time, and the other was ‘lot attendant’ at Belanger Move & Store for $5.15 per hour without tips.

A female voice answered the phone panting, “Hello, Stackhouse residence.”

“I’m calling for Sookie Stackhouse, please.”

“You got her. Who’s this?”

“Sookie, my name is Erik. I’m calling in regards to your application to work as a server at Glamour.”

After a long pause that I wasn’t surprised by, she sighed, “Oh really? So, what can I do for you, Erik?”

Give me a sample of your blood so I could save my time?

“I’m calling to schedule an interview.”

“I’m… I already have a job, Erik. Thanks for the call though.”

She hung up.

She hung up?

I redialed and waited, and waited… And thanks to the limited description Hadley had given me, I imagined an actual Barbie staring at a ringing phone.

She finally answered, huffing, “Hello?”

“Why would you fill out an application when you aren’t interested in employment? Are you milking unemployment benefits?”

I needed a legitimate excuse to have called her again, and I was almost proud of myself for thinking of a plausible reason.

“I didn’t fill out the application. My cousin must have. She works there already. She’s been trying to convince me to get a job there too, but I’m not interested…”

“Do you mind if I ask why?”

“You mean other than the fact that I already have a job?”

“The application says you earn minimum wage. Glamour’s barbacks take home hundreds every night in tips.”

“And the fact that Shreveport is forty-five minutes away from where I live?”

“You could carpool with your cousin, I imagine.”

She already made a great case to not work at Glamour.

“And how many books does she get to read during a shift? I read The Dain Curse and The Maltese Falcon at work yesterday.”

I chuckled, “I read those recently myself, but you’re right to assume that there isn’t much time to read during business hours.”

“I wouldn’t guess there would be with all the noise at a night club… The noise is another problem. I like peace and quiet.”

“You aren’t a Vampire, are you?”

Sookie scoffed, “I’m going to kill her, and you’re going to be looking for more than just one barback… What did Hadley say about me? I’m a goody-two-shoes? I’m a freak? I read too much?”

“I’m looking at your application. It doesn’t say any of those things.”

“Yeah, and the application just mysteriously worked its way onto your desk while you’re sleeping with my cousin, right? Seriously, what did she say to make you want to hire me?”

Hadley told her cousin she was fucking me.

“She said you look like a Barbie and you’re smart enough to bus tables. I didn’t tell her I’d hire you. I told her I’d interview you.”

“There’s a hole in your carpooling theory… How am I supposed to get home on Monday nights? Do you have any other employees I can catch a ride to Bon Temps with?”

Hadley told her cousin she was fucking me on Monday nights.

It just kept getting better.

“I don’t really give a fuck about how you choose to commute. I’m interviewing you, not adopting you.”

“Oh!” She sounded surprised rather than insulted. “Alright… So… if you’re really not just giving your girlfriend’s charity-case cousin an equal-opportunity job, I guess I should come out there and see if I can even stand being there.”

Girlfriend?

“Are you choosy about night clubs?”

“It’s a noise and chaos thing. Nothing against you or your club, I’m just not used to big crowds. I’ve never been much for parties like Hadley.”

“How soon can you arrive?”

She hummed, “Ummmmmm, I can be dressed in a few minutes, but I need a little while to talk myself into going out there… Give me an hour- hour and a half. Is that okay?”

“Should I watch the door for a Barbie?”

She snorted, “Hadley must’ve been in a good mood when she called me that. She usually calls me ‘Barbie’s pudgy kid sister’… I know what you look like. I’ll find you.”

“You know what I look like?”

“Pretty much. I’ll see you in a bit… and tell Hadley I’m going to kick her ass when I get there.”

“I’ll leave your name at the door. Wear something suitable for working at a night club.”

When I hung up, I called Hank at the front door to inform him of the applicant he should let in… and tried to decide how annoying it was that Hadley had described me to her cousin so thoroughly that she thought she could pick me out of a crowd…

There had to have been something wrong with Hadley. In the grand scheme of things, I was sure the fact that Hadley had confided in her cousin about her personal life wasn’t the worst thing she could do. As far as I knew, Sookie only knew that Hadley had been fucking a tall blond named Erik on Mondays, and nothing more.

It wasn’t rational to assume Hadley had been keeping notes or was guilty of being anything but female.

**

When I left my office to test how well-described I’d been, I found my brilliant bouncer flirting at the bar instead of watching for the new applicant.

He was looming over a petite blonde in a little black dress… and she was completely fuckable. She was gorgeous… not emaciated, dirty or strung out… Of course, her blood would probably taste wretched, because Hadley’s flavor had become my new craving, but I’d fed last night. I had Hadley, and possibly her cousin, to feed from, so the petite blonde could be Dae for all I cared.

For once, Hank’s inadequate attention span would serve a purpose.

The dullard was so fucking preoccupied by the blonde that he didn’t notice my presence until I tapped his shoulder… and he was growling territorially when he turned around.

“Working hard, I see.”

The look on his face was priceless. “Yeah- Yes sir… I’m… I was just…”

I finished, “Returning to your post.”

He looked at the blonde and cringed like it pained him to leave her at the bar. He mumbled, “Yes sir,” as he trudged towards the door.

There were better vantage points for me to use as I was watching for someone, but I couldn’t think of a better place to be than the barstool next to the blonde in the incredibly flattering LBD.

“Hank has a tendency to be lethargic, bordering on cretinous. When he isn’t drooling over attractive customers, he still needs a bib…” When she giggled, I offered my hand. “Erik Nordmann.”

She glanced at my hand, but didn’t move to shake it.

She shouted, “Nice to meet you,” over the noise.

“Have you been to Glamour before?”

She shook her head as she scanned the crowd of nearly three hundred. “No.”

“Are you waiting for someone?”

“Not really.”

There wasn’t anything unfriendly about her, but her succinct answers and distracted behavior were confusing… and there wasn’t any alcohol in the drink in front of her.

It wasn’t until Hadley walked behind the bar and mouthed, “Be nice,” to the blonde that it finally occurred to me that I was fucked.

I’d called in Hadley’s cousin in the hopes of establishing a second standing dinner-date… and I wanted to fuck her before I knew who she was.

I hadn’t ever been attracted to Hadley… Honestly, she was thinner than anything I’d normally consider good-looking. It had been her scent that initially caught my attention.

Sookie wasn’t ‘pudgy’… she just wasn’t as gaunt as her cousin. Softer…

Fuck.

“Sookie Stackhouse?”

She grinned. “In the flesh.”

The incredibly well-tanned… supple-

Fuck.

“Who are you looking for?”

When she shrugged, her cleavage bounced with her shoulder. “No one. I was just checking out the crowd… Are you going to interview me here?”

Fuck. The interview.

I shook my head and offered my hand as I stood up, but she didn’t take it.

“My office is quieter.”

She stared up at me with bright blue eyes as though she was waiting for me to lead the way… even in the high-heeled Mary Janes she was wearing, she didn’t come up to my chin…

Waiting with her eyebrows raised and a flirtatious little smirk that needed to be wrapped around my cock…

**

She didn’t wait for an invitation to sit in the chair opposite my desk, or for me to close my door for that matter.

As I settled across from her, she sighed, “So what do you want to know?”

Her blood type?

“Your job history doesn’t seem to have anything listed as far as applicable experience or training. You can start with that.”

Sookie raised an eyebrow as she offered, “Alright… got me. I don’t have any experience waitressing unless you count volunteering at concession stands.”

“You really don’t want to work here, do you?”

She shook her head. “If I had designs to work here, you would have had my application a long time ago.”

“Do you think you’re above waiting tables?”

“No. In fact I put an application in at a place in Bon Temps when Hadley told me I could waitress or barback as long as I’m over 18, but I don’t have to drive forty-five minutes in a car that was on its last leg fifty thousand miles ago for that… and I already know a few of my possible co-workers there and don’t have any bad blood with them.”

If Hank ruined my chances of hiring Sookie, he was going to get a Columbian necktie.

“Hank?”

“My cousin, Erik… I’m not sure what you were hoping for with all this, but Hadley and I aren’t close, so if you’re fishing for help with a surprise or something, Jason’s the man for that job… or, you know, Hadley’s mom.”

I chuckled, “You’re assuming I called you here to pump you for information about my ‘girlfriend’.”

She shrugged. “It’s not the stupidest thing someone’s ever done, but seriously… Jason’s your best bet as far as that goes… If you call Aunt Linda, she’ll crawl up your butt and take samples.”

I chuckled, “Nevermind that Hadley’s been trying to encourage you to seek employment at Glamour?”

“Guilty conscience, I guess. She took the job to replace my grandmother’s car after she stole and wrecked it… Congrats on seizing the opportunity to get me in here… Where’s your accent from?”

“Sweden… She stole her grandmother’s car?”

Sookie nodded. “Yeah… You’ve been in America for a while though. It’s really faint…”

“A long time…”

“But you haven’t picked up the southern accent.”

“I learned to speak English from a Welshman and an Irishman. I lived in Los Angeles for a while before coming to- You’re pumping me for information.”

She shrugged again. “Tit for tat… I figure someone should get something out of my visit. My aunt will take anything she can get. Hadley won’t tell her anything about you… after months.”

“But she told you about me… even though you allegedly aren’t close enough for you to be able to help me plan a surprise.”

Sookie rolled her eyes and sighed as she leaned back and crossed her legs. “Her favorite color is yellow. She isn’t locked in to a preferred genre when it comes to entertainment. She’s OCD as hell about cleaning everything except for her bedroom, and that’s a pigsty… So… what? Are you trying to think of a birthday present or something?”

“Is her birthday coming up?”

She snickered, “Cute… So… what are you willing to tell me about you so I can pacify my aunt?”

“Not much.”

She scoffed, “Come on. I’ll play. Ask me something specific if you want info.”

“If I say nothing, what will you tell your aunt?”

“That you’re good-looking, and maybe even charming, but you won’t last long.”

“Why do you assume I won’t last long?”

She snorted, “Because you’ve practically been in my dress with me since you introduced yourself. That’s not exactly indicative of commitment.”

I laughed, “Really? What if I told you Hadley and I aren’t suffering from exclusivity?”

“Then why bother going through the motions of surprising her? It’ll just confuse things.”

“Perhaps I just wanted an excuse to meet the bookworm Barbie.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Now that you’ve met me, what?”

“I don’t have any plans to pick your brain about Hadley. I know everything I need to know about her. I really called you for an interview because she mentioned that you could find a use for the increased income.”

“And she’s already planning to quit… so you’re-”

“She told you she’s quitting?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “No.”

“Then why did you mention it?”

“Because she doesn’t work anywhere for long. She got this job to replace Gran’s car. Hadley bought her a Bonneville last month, and Jason just put the new engine in her Sentra. Mission accomplished. She can quit and coast for a while until she needs another job…”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

She snickered, “Didn’t you just say you know everything you need to know about her?”

I was wrong.

“How many times has she done that? Does she have an actual track record or are you guessing?”

“Didn’t you look at her application? I think the longest she ever worked anywhere was Dairy Queen. March to October.”

“No, I didn’t look at her application. I didn’t hire her. The manager did…”

“She was sleeping with a co-worker there too.”

No.

Fuck.

I could try to convince myself that I would have eventually become bored with her flavor like I had with all the others, but it wouldn’t have worked. As pathetic as it was, I actually considered ‘taking the next step in our relationship’ just to keep her (blood) available.

“She isn’t scheduled to work next week.”

Sookie actually cringed. “Sorry Erik, but it… well, it seems like she’s bored with you.”

Hadley? Bored with me?

“You’re joking. I’ve been set up.”

Pam. She could have orchestrated the simple ruse at the drop of a hat. There hadn’t been any investment. All she would have needed to do was glamour Hadley and Sookie. Two glamours were child’s play.

She pouted her lip and shook her head. “How did you get to that conclusion?”

“Last night she was showering and out of the blue mentioned she wouldn’t be available next Monday… then she mentioned that she’d been encouraging you to apply to work here… we don’t usually talk…”

She snorted, “Sounds romantic. I can see why you’ll miss her.”

Smart ass.

I might have complained about her sarcasm if it hadn’t made me realize it was completely possible for Hadley to be replaced.

It was completely ridiculous for me to sulk over losing Hadley if Sookie shared the sweetness that made me consider keeping a pet.

Her eyes were already on mine as I stood from my chair and moved around my desk slowly… it was as though she’d wanted me to take control, but she showed some surprise when I braced myself on the arms of her chair…

Bending to take her in…

Underneath the irksome traces of Hank, Sookie’s scent was so fucking phenomenal my eyes crossed.

And when I inhaled to ask, “What is that smell?” my fangs ran down.

She stared into my mouth and breathed, “I don’t know.”

She was going to be glamoured regardless. There wasn’t any point in trying to control myself.

“Soap and…”

“I… I had a cherry Coke…”

I shook my head. “Before. What were you doing when I called you?”

“I was… When I got home from work, I cut the grass… took a shower… ate supper… took a blanket out to the yard and started reading… The Thin Man…”

Fresh-cut grass… hints of lemon… and sunlight…

She was the personification of summer.

It made me wonder what I’d been missing by meeting Hadley so late in the evening.

“Did you skip The Glass Key?”

She was focused on my fangs, mere inches from her face, and she smirked slightly. “I finished that at work.”

“Why aren’t you screaming?”

“Here? Would anyone hear me?”

No.

I lowered my face, being greedy enough to push my nose against her neck and into her hair.

More.

So much more intense.

And licking her neck, as depraved as it was…

With her pulse hammering just under her skin…

She lifted her hands to my shoulders, pushing gently, whimpering as I prepared her neck…

I vaguely remember that she tried to remind me of Hadley, but I was too far gone.

“Please stop; you’re scaring me,” was the only thing she said to make me consider taking my mouth away from her skin…

And that was only enough to growl, “I don’t have any intention of harming you,” before pushing into her carotid.

That flavor…

Whatever the fuck it was about Hadley’s blood that made her pet material, was that much more concentrated in Sookie.

Dropping to my knees at her feet, pulling her to the edge of her chair… basking in her warmth enough to cling to her.

What was meant to be ‘just a taste’ was a joke while I struggled to count how many times I’d swallowed, taking a full feeding even though I’d fed the night before.

When digging her nails into my shoulders didn’t stop me, she made the mistake of trying to use my hair to pull me away…

I pulled my fangs out, but continued stroking away the little pulses of arterial confection. “You’ll be fine.”

She released my hair to punch my arms with both hands and whined, “A freaking Vampire just bit me, jackass. I will not be ‘fine’.”

I chuckled at her… not only was she remarkably more attractive than her cousin, and addictively better flavored, but she was cheeky enough to strike a Vampire.

“What the hell’s so funny?”

I licked her wound again, and answered, “When Hadley mentioned having her cousin work here, I assumed she meant a male cousin as a bouncer… When she clarified, she suggested you were aggressive enough to work the door with Hank if being a barback didn’t work out.”

She groaned, “Would you let go of me and explain what the hell just happened?”

Only because I was going to glamour her anyway… I was still enjoying her scent too much to leave her, but I straightened, and watched her wound weep another droplet for a moment.

“A freaking Vampire just bit you, jackass.”

She closed her eyes and pinched her lips together. “You’re not funny.”

“Then why are you so close to laughing?”

She cleared her throat and growled, “Seriously.”

I took a moment to lick her wound again and was slapped as I leaned away… Something about the way she scowled at me…

Not discouraged… not at all.

“You smell incredible.”

“Oh goody. I’ll call VO5 and let them know you approve.”

I chuckled, “I fed from you… You’re delicious.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And… penny dreadfuls? Paul Féval? Bram Stoker? Stephen King? Anne Rice? What the hell?”

“None of the above, all of the above… They all picked and chose which details to observe, fabricate or embellish.”

“That’s so freaking helpful. Thanks. Really…” She sneered, “Put those away and let me loose.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. In a moment you’ll begin your transformation, and if I’m not holding you, you could harm yourself.”

Without warning, her little fist rammed into my chin and the taste of my blood was ruining what was left of hers.

“You son of a bitch!”

While she kicked and punched, I caught her wrists and pinned her to the floor… And laughed.

“I was joking, Sookie…”

She was still struggling to inflict as much damage as she could before she transformed and I was laughing like I’d lost my mind. I’d clearly been wasting my time on the wrong branch of the family tree.

“Calm down. You’re fine. You’ll leave Glamour as you arrived.”

She stopped struggling and bit her lip. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I’ve been feeding from Hadley for months. She’s clearly in good Human health.”

“And sleeping with her.”

I shrugged as much as possible without releasing her. “It’s her blood I enjoy. Fucking her is just… killing two birds with one stone.”

She stared up at me for a moment before gasping, “You called her cousin for an interview, hoping she’s some kind of bleeding bed-buddy!”

What a fucking waste… she was clever too. The fact that Sookie seemed to enjoy reading, and I’d overheard Hadley discussing Moesha and The Simpsons with her co-workers should have been a clue though.

I leaned over to enjoy one last taste from her wound and then released one of her wrists so I could prick my thumb to heal her marking. She’d been watching me so intently, it seemed too easy to take over…

“You’ll accept the job offer and begin training tomorrow night. Whether Hadley moves on or not, I don’t care. I’ll very much enjoy pursuing you.”

Rather than answering me with an autonomous nod or ‘yes sir’, she snorted, “You’re high.”

Resistant too?

I pushed, “There isn’t any such thing as Vampires. I didn’t feed from you…”

“HA! You think I’m stupid like Hadley too! Kiss… My… Ass…” She started struggling to free herself again, and I was shocked enough that she couldn’t be glamoured that I released her…

At least I thought to keep her from leaving my office.

She was so adamant about leaving, she practically pinned me to the door when I blocked her path.

“Why the fuck didn’t that work?”

She shouted, “Let me leave!”

“No.”

Fuck.

I’d just exposed Vampires to a fucking Human.

At my fucking age.

“You just said I’d leave like I was when I got here.”

“Then don’t make a liar of me.”

“Puuuuuh-leeez! You were a liar before I hung up the phone! Don’t you dare tell me my cousin, in all of her infinite open-mindedness, knows what the hell you are!”

“Is she closed-minded? I told you we don’t talk. We fuck. I feed. She leaves.”

She rolled her eyes and took a step back, huffing, “And she’s such an obtuse twit she doesn’t notice you’re biting her?”

“No.”

She narrowed her eyes and ordered, “Move. Let me leave.”

“I’m not sure I can do that. What’s to say you won’t leave Glamour and drive directly to the news?”

“Nothing, but I promise not to…” She stopped to take a deep breath and turned away.

She was just sitting in my chair when there was a light knock on the door to my office.

Sookie scoffed, “Hadley… I owe her an ass-kicking anyway.”

How the fuck did Sookie know that?

When I opened the door, Hadley cringed and mewled, “Is she being difficult?”

Sookie scoffed, “As a matter of fact, I am,” before I could answer. “What the hell was wrong with just being his ho? Why bring me into your booty-call drama?”

Hadley stared through the gap in the door at my feet without a word… and glancing back at Sookie made me wish I hadn’t.

Something about Hadley’s silence made the color drain from Sookie’s face… and she stared at the blotter on my desk blankly.

Sookie finally moved, walking towards me briskly and shoving the door shut in Hadley’s face, and pointing her finger. “I’ll keep my mouth shut about what you are because you’re going to stop feeding from my cousin.”

“You’re proposing a contract?”

“No. There won’t be any haggling. That’s it.”

“I’ll stop feeding from Hadley, and start feeding from you.”

She scowled at me and repeated, “I’ll keep my mouth shut about what you are because you’re going to stop feeding from my cousin.”

I finished, “And I’ll enjoy pursuing you.”

She punched my shoulder once more for good measure and stormed out, calling back, “Good luck with that. My brother’s constantly getting after me about shooting… being pursued, that can be killing two birds with one stone.”