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Apparently, Appius Livius was so used to Alexei’s draining him that he accepted it as part of his existence. Maybe—possibly—the Roman felt responsible for the trouble Alexei caused, since he’d brought him over. If that was Appius Livius’s conviction, I thought he was absolutely correct. I was sure that bringing Alexei to Eric, thinking the presence of another “child” would soothe Alexei’s psychosis, was a last-ditch effort to cure the boy. And Eric, my lover, was caught in the middle of all this along with all the problems he was staving off involving Victor.
I felt less and less like a good person every day. As we walked from the driveway to Alcide’s front door, I admitted to myself that since my visit to Fangtasia, I found myself wishing that all of them would die—Appius Livius, Alexei, Victor.
I had to shove all that into a mental corner, because I had to be on my game to enter a house full of Weres. Jason put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a half hug. “Sometime you’ll have to explain to me how come we’re doing this,” he said. “Because I think I kind of forgot.”
I laughed, which was what he’d wanted. I put up a hand to ring the bell, but the door swung open before my fingertip made contact. Ja
“Getting into the new job?” Jason asked her, stepping forward. Ja
“I was born for this job,” the young Were said.
I had to agree. Ja
“I manage the Hair of the Dog. The ownership passed to Alcide, and he felt I could handle the job. I have some help,” she said, which was a confession that surprised me.
Ham, his arm around a pretty brunette in a sundress, was waiting across the foyer by the opened doors to the living room. He patted my shoulder and introduced his companion as Patricia Crimmins. I recognized her as one of the women who’d joined the Long Tooth pack in surrender after the Were war, and I tried to focus on her. But my attention kept straying. Patricia laughed and said, “It’s quite a place, isn’t it?”
I nodded in silent agreement. I’d never been in the house before, and my eyes were drawn to the French doors on the other side of the big room. There were lights out in the large backyard, which not only was enclosed by a fence that had to be seven feet tall, but was also lined outside with those quick-growing cypresses that shoot up like spears. In the middle of the patio was a fountain, which would make getting a drink easy if you’d turned into a wolf. There was a lot of wrought iron furniture set around on the flagstones, too. Wow. I’d known the Herveauxes were well-to-do, but this was impressive.
The living room itself was very “men’s club,” all glossy dark leather and paneling, and the fireplace was as big as fireplaces got in this day and age. There were animal heads mounted on the walls, which I thought was kind of amusing. Everyone seemed to have a drink in hand, and I located the bar at the center of the thickest cluster of Weres. I didn’t spot Alcide, who because of his height and his presence was usually a standout in any crowd.
I spotted A
“Don’t approach,” Ham said quietly as I took a step forward. I stopped in my tracks.
“You can talk to her later, probably,” Patricia whispered. It was the “probably” that bothered me. But this was pack business, and I was on pack land.
“I’m getting me a beer,” Jason said after he’d had a good look at A
“You need to go upstairs,” Ja
I found Alcide in a study at the head of the stairs. He was looking out the window. There was a glass of cloudy yellow liquid sitting on the desk blotter.
“What?” I said. I was getting an even worse feeling about this evening than I’d already had.
He turned to face me. His black hair was still in a tumble, and he could have used a shave, but grooming had nothing to do with the charisma that surrounded him like a cocoon. I didn’t know if the role had enhanced the man, or if the man had grown into the role, but Alcide had come far from the charming, friendly guy I’d met two winters ago.
“We don’t have a shaman anymore,” he said with no preamble. “We haven’t had one for four years. It’s hard to find a Were who’s willing to take the position, and you have to have the talent for it to even consider it anyway.”
“Okay,” I said, waiting to see where he was going.
“You’re the closest we’ve got.”
If there’d been drums in the background, they would’ve started an ominous roll. “I’m not a shaman,” I said. “In fact, I don’t know what a shaman is. And you don’t have me.”
“That’s a term we use for a medicine man or woman,” Alcide said. “One with a gift for interpreting and applying magic. It sounded better to us than ‘witch.’ And this way, we know who we’re talking about. If we had a pack shaman, that shaman would drink the stuff in this glass and be able to help us determine the truth of what happened to Basim, and the degree of guilt of everyone involved. Then the pack would decide on proportionate justice.”
“What is it?” I asked, pointing at the liquid.
“It’s what was left over in the last shaman’s stash.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a drug,” he said. “But before you walk out, let me tell you that the last shaman took it several times without any lasting ill effect.”
“Lasting.”
“Well, he had stomach cramps the next day. But he was able to go back to work the day after that.”
“Of course, he was a Were, and he’d be able to eat things I can’t eat anyway. What does it do to you? Or rather, what would it do to me?”
“It gives you a different perception of reality. That’s what the guy told me. And since I clearly wasn’t shaman material, that’s all he told me.”
“Why would I take an unknown drug?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Because otherwise we’ll never get to the bottom of this,” Alcide said. “Right now, the only guilty person I can see is A
I knew that was true.
“They’ll put her to death,” he said, harping on the point that would have the most effect on me.
I was almost tough enough to shrug. Almost.
“Can’t I try to do this my way?” I said. “Laying my hands on them?”
“You’ve told me yourself it’s hard to get a clear thought from Weres.” Alcide said it almost sadly. “Sookie, I’d hoped we’d be a couple one day. Now that I’m packmaster and you’re in love with that cold ass Eric, I guess that’ll never happen. I thought we might have a chance because you couldn’t read my thoughts that clearly. Since I know that, I don’t think I can rely on you laying on your hands and getting an accurate reading.”