I remembered I’d bought them some bottled blood, and I went to the kitchen to heat it up with the two vampires trailing behind. While I was taking care of the hospitality portion of the evening, I gave them the Reader’s Digest version of my adventure.

Someone knocked on the back door.

The air turned electric. Pam glided over to the door onto the porch, unlocked it, went out to the back door. “Yes?” I heard her say.

There was a muffled answer in a deep voice. Bellenos.

“Sookie, you’re wanted!” Pam sang out. She seemed very amused by something.

I was curious as I stepped out on the porch, Eric right behind me.

“Oh, she’ll be so impressed,” Pam was saying, sounding as pleased as I did when someone brought me some fresh produce from his garden. “How very thoughtful.” She stepped aside so I could appreciate my presents.

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea.

My great-uncle Dermot and Bellenos were standing in the dripping rain, each holding a severed head.

Let me just say here that normally I have quite a strong stomach, but the rain wasn’t the only thing that was dripping, and the heads were face forward so I got a good look at each face. The sight overcame me in a very drastic way. I turned and dashed for my bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I retched and ralphed and panted until I’d recovered a bit of my equilibrium. Naturally, I needed to brush my teeth and wash my face and comb my hair after losing everything in my stomach . . . though it hadn’t been much, because I simply couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d eaten. I’d had the biscuit for breakfast. . . . Oh. No wonder I’d been sick. I hadn’t eaten anything since then. I’m a girl who likes her meals, so it hadn’t been a weight-loss tactic. I’d just been too busy bumping from crisis to crisis. Go on the Sookie Stackhouse Narrow Avoidance of Death Diet! Run for your life, and miss meals, too! Exercise plus starvation.

Pam and Eric were waiting in the kitchen.

“They left,” Pam said, holding up a bottle of blood in a toast. “They were sorry it was too much for your human sensibility. I’m assuming you didn’t want to keep the trophies?”

I felt a need to defend myself, but I bit it back. I refused to be ashamed of getting sick after seeing something so horrible. I’d seen a detached vampire head, but it hadn’t had the ghastly touches. I took a deep breath. “No, I didn’t want to keep the heads. Kelvin and Hod, rest in peace.”

“Those were their names? That’ll help in finding out who hired them,” Pam said, looking pleased.

“Um. Where are they?” I asked, trying not to look too anxious.