After Dead Read online

  Detective MIKE COUGHLIN was shot and killed in the line of duty when the Wendy’s where he was having lunch was robbed. Detective WILLIE CROMWELL was wounded in the same incident, but he recovered. He had to retire because of his injuries.

  ALFRED CUMBERLAND reached the pinnacle of his career when he photographed the marriage of Sheriff Pam to Heidi.

  Barmaid CYNDEE got another job at another vampire bar in Mississippi after being fired from Fangtasia. But she made the same kind of trouble for a vampire who was less in the public eye than Eric, and she went for an unexpected and fatal swim in the Mississippi.

  DEVON DAWN’s appearance on The Best Dressed Vamp made her an overnight celebrity, but her fifteen minutes of fame was over after a couple of months. She gladly went back to obscurity, though she dressed much better.

  BUD and GRETA DEARBORN enjoyed their retirement together in the harmony that marked their marriage. Bud had a stroke at seventy-five and never recovered, and three years later, Greta passed away in her sleep. The town renamed a street in Bud’s honor, and the memorial scholarship started in Greta’s name sent one of Terry Bellefleur’s step-grandchildren to college.

  King FELIPE DE CASTRO reigned over Arkansas, Nevada, and Louisiana for thirty more years. By that time, his kingdom had gotten too complicated and cumbersome for one vampire to run, so he sold Arkansas to his regent, Red Rita, who set up her own kingdom. After an earthquake damaged two of his casinos in Las Vegas, Felipe rebuilt them with the money he got from selling Louisiana . . . to Bill Compton, who makes a great king, though he refuses to move to New Orleans.

  MARK DUFFY was struck on the head with a beer bottle in another barroom fight, and he died after two days of insisting he was fine.

  Tara’s husband JB DU RONE kept his job at the health club in Clarice, rising to assistant manager since everyone helped him out. JB was beloved by his twins, who twisted him around their little fingers, and JB was also loved by strong-minded women, who were likewise able to talk JB into permitting liberties he ought not to have permitted. Tara put up with it as long as she could, but eventually she kicked him out. JB continued to have lady friends his whole life, and he married two or three of them (they insisted), but he never had any more children and he never thought of anyone but Tara as his true wife. Still handsome, he passed away in his nursing home while he was having sex with an aide.

  ROBERT THORNTON DU RONE and SARA SOOKIE DU RONE were read the riot act by their “aunt” Sookie after their second trip to the police station. She described their mother’s childhood in frank terms and told them how remarkably lucky they were to have a mom who had overcome such odds, because she would need all that toughness to survive her twins. It was a wake-up call. Rob graduated from Louisiana Tech and began working for a state senator. Eventually, he became a senator himself. Sara got a full scholarship to Tulane and became a speech therapist.

  TARA THORNTON DU RONE raised her twins to be good citizens. She had to pick them up at the police station twice. After that, they calmed down. Tara remarried once for about ten minutes. She built up Tara’s Togs and did a good amount of Internet business. She moved into the storefront next to hers, and that became Tara’s Bridal and Formal Boutique, which eventually became a destination shop for brides in Louisiana. She arranged JB’s funeral service and cried a lot.

  Vampire DUSTIN finally learned the dos and don’ts of being a modern American vampire, and he writes a monthly column for AVO, the website devoted to American Vampires Online.

  IMMANUEL EARNEST became the favorite hairdresser of a well-known rock band and toured with them until he went back to L.A. to found his own salon, Night Cuts.

  RUSSELL EDGINGTON is still the King of Mississippi. He still likes to be surrounded by comely young men, but then so does his husband, Bartlett Crowe, King of Indiana.

  FotS sympathizer HELEN ELLIS married another FotS member. Since they were bonded together by mutual hatred, they had a bumpy marriage, and they were terrible parents.

  ERIN married Remy Savoy after dating him for a year. She was a loving mother to Hunter and bore Remy a little girl who could never get away with anything, given her half brother’s gift of telepathy.

  OCTAVIA FANT lived with Louis Chambers in a small house in New Orleans until a tree branch, broken by a violent storm, crashed down on the corner of the roof that covered their bedroom. When Octavia’s niece came to clean out the house, she decided to burn all the magic aids and accoutrements that Octavia and Louis had accumulated. Amelia found out too late to rescue it all.

  FARRELL still lives in the Dallas nest and still dresses like a cowboy.

  HOYT FORTENBERRY married Holly Cleary, who became pregnant on their honeymoon. In addition to stepson Cody, the two raised a son, Jason, and a daughter, Moonlight. Jason Fortenberry married Marie Stackhouse.

  MAXINE FORTENBERRY and her silent husband, Ed, lived out their lives happily, taking care of their grandchildren.

  Arlene Fowler’s children, COBY and LISA FOWLER, were adopted by Brock and Chessie Johnson. Coby became an independent filmmaker and shot a movie about his mother’s death, which won awards but caused a lot of unhappiness in the Bon Temps community. Coby had severe emotional issues for his whole short life: He died of an accidental drug overdose at forty-seven. Lisa became a romance writer, and she married three times.

  FREYDA is still the Queen of Oklahoma, and she has never regretted her bargain with Eric.

  LUNA GARZA became the face of Latina two-natureds, and she lobbied for the rights of Animal Americans until she was well into her sixties, when she retired to a ranch in New Mexico to paint landscapes.

  DANIELLE GRAY lived with a couple of guys but never quite made it to the altar again. Her daughter, Ashley, scored really well on her ACT and got a full ride at a community college. From there, she financed the rest of her college tuition by dancing at a gentlemen’s club, and she earned enough to become a nurse. Danielle’s son, Mark Robert, worked for Wal-Mart his whole life.

  GINJER HART continued to pass bad checks until she spent five years in jail. After that, she reformed her ways. She lectured to high schools and Sunday school classes for a modest fee, and she worked at a thrift store.

  Even after HEIDI’s addicted son, Charlie, died in an alley within two years of her moving to Louisiana, Heidi stayed in Shreveport. She married Pam. They swap clothes, and every now and then they go hunting for drug dealers. Heidi developed such a good reputation as a tracker that she occasionally helps the police search for missing people and fugitives.

  CATFISH HENNESSY continued to be content with watching sports on television, managing the road crews, and going square dancing with his wife.

  RUBIO HERMOSA died in a freak construction accident in Baton Rouge, where he’d drifted after his nest broke up.

  ALCIDE HERVEAUX finally stopped being foolish and impulsive where women were concerned. When his rogue werewolf lady turned out to be a poor match, he became interested in a surveyor who worked for one of his business rivals, a werelynx named Callie Brown. Callie, a short, compact, no-nonsense kind of woman, kept Alcide in order for the rest of his life. She had five children with Alcide, and she went to work at Herveaux and Son, which after a period of time became Herveaux and Sons when the three boys started work there. Of their two daughters, one became a beauty pageant contestant and eventually Miss Louisiana, and the other became a social worker. Alcide and Callie had fifteen grandchildren. They both passed away at advanced ages.

  BRENDA HESTERMAN sold antiques in Shreveport even after the mysterious disappearance of her partner, Donald Callaway. She eventually retired to Florida.

  The goblin MR. HOB still works at Josephine’s (Club Dead) in Jackson, Mississippi.

  BARRY (HOROWITZ) BELLBOY spent three weeks with Sam’s mom. He never went out after dark. When he was well enough, he got Bernadette to drive him to the airport (DFW), where he rented a car and started driving. He ended up in Seattle. He lay low there for a year or two. We may hear more about the res
t of his life.

  INDIRA eventually moved to New York to become part of the large Indian American vampire group there. She joined an Indian dance troupe, and they perform at state fairs and Indian weddings.

  ISAIAH is still the King of Kentucky.

  After splitting up with Amelia, BOB JESSUP continued to work at the coven’s magic shop. The coven put him in charge after five years, and he did a good job. He had a live-in companion for a long time (fellow witch Terencia Rodriguez, who helped Amelia at the ectoplasmic reconstruction), until she died of breast cancer. He was very involved in the life of his son, Felix, and while he admired Amelia’s developing business acumen, Bob did not envy her. Bob had a witch funeral arranged by the coven, and it was incredible.

  BROCK and CHESSIE JOHNSON adopted Coby and Lisa Fowler and raised them with a lot of love and a lot of financial struggle.

  KENYA JONES and KEVIN PRYOR went to church with wedding rings on one Sunday. Kevin’s mother collapsed and said she couldn’t breathe, but she recovered when Kenya offered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After a year or two, Mrs. Pryor and Kenya learned to tolerate each other, much to Kevin’s relief. The couple never had children, but one of Kenya’s nephews lived with them until he went to college. They always referred to him as their son.

  KENNEDY KEYES cohabited with Danny Prideaux for two years, after which their differences drove them apart. Kennedy, no longer as controversial a figure as she had been when she first walked into Merlotte’s, found a job at the casino in Shreveport, tending bar in a very abbreviated outfit. She married a businessman twenty years older than her, outlived him easily, and began raising and breeding bulldogs. She married her gardener when she was sixty.

  MUSTAPHA KHAN joined the Long Tooth pack and was a member in good standing for forty years. He took a job as Pam Ravenscroft’s daytime man, and he also earned a little extra money as a bouncer at the casino. He and Warren stayed together until Mustapha’s fatal motorcycle accident on an icy highway.

  FBI Special Agent TOM LATTESTA had the misfortune to be visiting the BVA in Washington when the FotS made one of its last terroristic statements by bombing the building. He did not survive the explosion.

  ANTOINE LEBRUN cooked at Merlotte’s for five more years, saving his money carefully. He opened a hamburger place close to the high school and called it the Hawks’ Nest. It was instantly successful, because Antoine made the best milkshakes in Bon Temps. He married one of Kenya’s sisters.

  MAXWELL LEE became the face of vampires in Shreveport, since Pam tended to say exactly what she was thinking, with poor public relations results. The suave Maxwell gradually assumed more and more responsibilities after Bill Compton became king, until he became almost synonymous with Louisiana vampirism. He loves every minute of it, though he’ll never admit it.

  LAYLA LARUE LEMAY and her maker and lover, Sean, have so far been able to stay together, though child and maker usually can’t. They still dance together. They’ve been invited to work on the vampire version of Dancing with the Stars.

  BEV LEVETO was cohost of The Best Dressed Vamp until its cancellation, when she began to host America’s Top Vampire Model.

  The LISLE family remained based in Wright, Texas. Angie, Deidra’s younger sister, was so impressed by the power of prayer at Deidra’s wedding that she became a Methodist minister. Jared, Deidra’s older brother, survived Afghanistan to become career army. Mr. and Mrs. Lisle became friends with Bernie Merlotte and set an example for the community by making it clear she was welcome in their home. Mr. and Mrs. Lisle had several grandchildren. They urged all of them to elope.

  DR. AMY LUDWIG went public with her clinic for the treatment of supernaturals. She has a huge problem with addicts breaking in to steal the exotic drugs they’re sure she keeps around. She’s hired the twin Weres Dixie and Dixon Mayhew to guard the clinic at night. Sometimes they’re in wolf form when they’re on the job. Problem solved.

  DAHLIA LYNLEY-CHIVERS still lives in Rhodes and continues to have her own adventures.

  MCKENNA took over the everyday wear shop, Tara’s Togs, when Tara du Rone opened the wedding boutique next door. McKenna eventually married a cousin of Glen Vick’s.

  SISTER MENDOZA married her patrol partner, Tony Gonzales. They remained in Wright, and they always got together with Sam and Sookie when they visited Sam’s mom.

  BERNADETTE MERLOTTE, Sam’s mother, remarried eighteen months after the end of Dead Ever After. Her husband, a coyote shifter named Fred, was respectful of Bernie and loved to go on runs with her at the full moon. They had a very good time together.

  CRAIG and DEIDRA LISLE MERLOTTE became the subject of a television special about the difficulties of marrying into a family containing the shapeshifter gene (When Mom’s a Dog). Their marriage barely survived the experience, but after Deidra graduated from nursing school and Craig advanced in the tech- support department of a huge accounting firm, things calmed down. They presented Bernie with a granddaughter three years later, and after that they had triplet boys.

  SAM MERLOTTE emerged from his death-to-life experience a stronger and more focused man, and he worked hard at not only his marriage to Sookie Stackhouse but also his business. When he and Sookie were ready to retire, they sold the bar and took a grand vacation to Thailand.

  FRANKLIN MOTT, despite being old and crafty, was hunted down in his daytime hiding place by a human woman he’d dumped. She succeeded in killing him, and by the time his friends rose that night, his house had been stripped of everything of value.

  SARAH NEWLIN was the only remaining voice of the FotS while she was in jail, but the interviews became few and far between. When she was finally released, only two FotS diehards in their late sixties came to the prison to pick her up. She had contracted lupus while she was in prison, and eventually (her worsening symptoms going untreated) she perished. The FotS presence at her funeral would hardly crowd a phone booth.

  Werepanther leader CALVIN NORRIS and TANYA GRISSOM NORRIS remained married until Tanya made the mistake of yelling at a teen panther who’d knocked down their mailbox. Under the stress, the boy changed unexpectedly and killed Tanya with one blow, though he went a little crazy after that. The coroner didn’t know what to make of the body’s condition, and no one was ever charged. The teen panther was shipped to another community, way out in Montana. Calvin was taken care of by the entire female population of Hotshot after that, in every possible way. He died with a houseful of people around him, and he was content.

  Calvin’s daughter, TERRY NORRIS, backed by her mother, Maryelizabeth, succeeded Calvin as the leader of the Hotshot panthers. She was the first of a line of female leaders.

  ERIC NORTHMAN threw himself into his role as Freyda’s consort. He was surprised to see that Quinn was planning the ceremony, but he played his part with great attention to detail. If his heart was not in the joining, no one knew it. Or expected it, for that matter. After a couple of years, Eric became genuinely attached to Freyda, who showed herself to be strong but fair. When Pam called Eric to tell him about a wedding in Bon Temps, Eric sat without speaking for a few minutes before asking Pam to send him a picture of the bride. When the picture arrived, Eric looked at it for half an hour, then tore it up and burned it. After that, Freyda never questioned his loyalty. Eric’s pride and his own survival depended on his protecting his vampire wife’s back and furthering her interests. Freyda came to rely on him more and more, and gradually Eric lost any inclination to pine for the past. After twenty years, he uncovered a plot against Freyda and demolished the conspirators in a bloodbath that was spoken of with awe by vampires everywhere. He seemed happier after that. To celebrate their fiftieth anniversary, Freyda offered to release him from his second century of marriage, but Eric refused without an instant’s pause. He did ask for the boon of creating another child. When Freyda graciously agreed, she was wise enough not to put any conditions on her gift, and in return Eric was wise enough not to change a woman. But the lucky young man was a blue-eyed blond.


  TOGO OLYMPIO continued to roam the Southwest. For years he dropped in to visit Trish and stayed with her for a few happy days . . . or weeks. As Trish got older, Togo’s visits became longer, until one morning he woke to find she had passed. Togo left a note with her nearest neighbor and returned to his wanderings.