Free Sookie 08 From Dead To Worse by Charlaine Harris Page A

by all this information, and I was struggling to get to my emotional feet. I wasn't having a very successful time doing it.
    "She shouldn't have told you that," Niall said. He debated with himself for a second or two before continuing. "Shifters are humans with a genetic twist, vampires are dead humans transformed into something different, but the fae have only a basic shape in common with humans. There are many kinds of fae—from the grotesque, like goblins, to the beautiful, like us." He said this quite unself-consciously.
    "Are there angels?"
    "Angels are yet another form, and one which has undergone an almost complete transformation, physical and moral. It can take hundreds of years to become an angel."
    Poor Claudine.
    "But enough about this," Niall said. "I want to know about you. My son kept me from your father and your aunt, and then from their children. His death came too late for me to know your cousin Hadley. But now I can see you and touch you." Which, incidentally, Niall was doing in a way that wasn't exactly human: if his hand wasn't holding mine, it was placed flat against my shoulder, or my back. This wasn't exactly the way humans related, but it wasn't hurting me. I wasn't as freaked out as I might have been, since I'd noticed Claudine was very touchy-feely, too. Since I couldn't get telepathic vibes from fairies, this much contact was tolerable. With a regular human being, I'd be bombarded with thoughts, since touch increased my sensitivity to telepathic contact.
    "Did Fintan have any other children or grandchildren?" I asked. It would be nice to have more family.
    "We'll talk of that later," Niall said, which sent up an immediate red flag. "Now that you know me a little," he said, "please tell me what I can do for you."
    "Why should you do anything for me?" I said. We'd had the genie conversation. I wasn't going to revisit that.
    "I can tell that your life has been hard. Now that I am allowed to see you, let me help you in some way."
    "You sent me Claudine. She's been a big help," I repeated. Without the crutch of my sixth sense, I was having trouble understanding my great-grandfather's emotional and mental set. Was he grieving for his son? What had their relationship really been? Had Fintan thought he was doing us all a good deed in keeping his dad away from the Stackhouses all these years? Was Niall evil, or did he have bad intentions toward me? He could have done something awful to me from afar without going to the trouble of meeting me and paying for an expensive dinner.
    "You wouldn't want to explain any more, huh?"
    Niall shook his head, his hair brushing his shoulders like strands of gold and silver spun out to incredible fineness.
    I had an idea. "Can you find my boyfriend?" I asked hopefully.
    "You have a man? Besides the vampire?"
    "Eric is not my man, but since I've had his blood a few times, and he's had mine ..."
    "That's why I approached you through him. You have a tie to him."
    "Yes."
    "I have known Eric Northman for a long time. I thought you would come if he asked you to. Did I do wrong?"
    I was startled at this appeal. "No, sir," I said. "I don't think I'd have come if he hadn't told me it was okay. He wouldn't have brought me if he hadn't trusted you.... At least, I don't think so."
    "Do you want me to kill him? End the tie?"
    "No!" I said, getting kind of excited in a bad way. "No!"
    A few people actually glanced at us for the first time, hearing my agitation despite my great-grandfather's
don't-look
influence.
    "The other boyfriend," Niall said, and took another bite of his salmon. "Who is he and when did he vanish?"
    "Quinn the weretiger," I said. "He's been gone since the explosion in Rhodes. He was hurt, but I saw him afterward."
    "I heard about the Pyramid," Niall said. "You were there?"
    I told him about it, and my newly discovered great-grandfather listened with a refreshing lack of judgment. He was neither horrified nor appalled, and he didn't feel sorry for me. I really liked