No sooner has Sookie caught her breath from the Were war than another war literally lands on her doorstep. Knowing that Sophie-Anne Leclerq was injured in the summit bombing, the Nevada vamps launch a takeover and follow Eric to Sookie’s house, where he has fled after being cut off from Fangtasia. Quinn sends his sister, Frannie, to warn them. She tells Sookie that Quinn has been forced to work with the Nevada vamps. When the King of Nevada’s second shows up in Sookie’s front yard with his crew, Quinn accompanies them. He is waiting for Sookie when she wakes in the morning, and she breaks up with him because she feels that his responsibility to his mentally ill mother and younger sister will always stand in the way of a relationship with her.
After finding out that Jason and his new wife, Crystal, are having problems and that Sandra Pelt, Debbie’s younger sister, is manipulating Tanya Grissom to cause trouble, Sookie asks Calvin, who has been seeing Tanya, to bring her to Amelia and her mentor, Octavia, to be unspelled. They are able to clear Tanya of Sandra’s influence, but even pregnant, Crystal is trouble all on her own. Jason sets up Sookie and Calvin to catch his wife cheating, and Sookie is forced to inflict punishment on Calvin, breaking his fingers with a brick, because she and Calvin stood for Jason and Crystal at their wedding. Sookie is so disgusted with her brother for making her take his place that she vows to never forgive him.
When Eric and King Felipe de Castro are attacked in the Merlotte’s parking lot (along with innocent bystander Sam), Sookie runs over Sigebert, Sophie-Anne’s child and bodyguard, to save them, a gesture that earns her the promise of protection from the king. Great-grandfather Niall visits, asking Sookie if there is anything he can do for her, and she asks him to find her late cousin Hadley’s ex-husband, since she’s discovered Hadley left a child. He sends her the address and she visits them in Red Ditch, discovering that the child, Hunter, is a fellow telepath. She offers to help in any way she can.
At work at Merlotte’s on the night the shifters come out live on TV, Sookie also sees action in the bar as Sam and Tray Dawson both shift in front of the patrons. Sookie is happy that it seems to go well, but Sam gets the news that his stepfather shot his mother when she shifted in front of him. Sam immediately heads out for Texas, leaving Sookie in charge of the bar. A few days later, Eric’s daytime guy, Bobby Burnham, brings her a wrapped package and tells her to present it to Eric in front of Victor Madden, King Felipe de Castro’s second-in-command. Doing so, she finds that she has inadvertently married Eric by vampire law, a strategy that Eric swears is for her own protection. She leaves Fangtasia angry at herself and Eric. The next morning she is visited by two FBI agents who want to discover exactly how she and her unidentified companion (Barry) helped save people at the summit. When Sookie is called to Merlotte’s by a report of a body in the parking lot, the agents follow, and they find that Crystal Norris Stackhouse has been crucified behind the bar. While the police and the FBI investigate the crime scene, Sookie heads back to Fangtasia at dark to speak with Eric, and he tells her about his past. Merlotte’s is allowed to open the next day, and Niall comes to visit, letting Sookie know that there is trouble among the fairies and that she should be careful. Mr. Cataliades also sends Diantha with a warning that fairies are indeed moving about in this world. Sookie calls Claude to get more information. She meets Claude and Claudine for lunch, and they explain Niall’s family tree, his position as the fairy prince, and the issues with his nephew Breandan, who despises humans, especially the offspring that have come from human and fairy couplings. Breandan wants to close off Faery so there will be no further contact with humanity. After Sookie returns home, she is attacked by a fairy in her yard but is able to kill him. Quinn arrives to speak with her and is accosted by Bill, sent by Eric, who has banned Quinn from Area Five. Sookie is injured during their brawl and is given blood by Eric when he arrives. They rekindle their relationship, spending the night together.
Arlene—Sookie’s co-worker and onetime friend, who quit over the shifters coming out—calls, claiming she wants to make amends. Sookie is suspicious and stealthily approaches Arlene’s trailer. She is horrified to learn that Arlene’s friends from the Fellowship of the Sun are planning on crucifying her, although she realizes that they were not the ones who killed Crystal. She is able to call Andy Bellefleur, and police and FBI agents soon arrive, but a shoot-out ensues, killing one of the Fellowship of the Sun members and injuring one of the agents. Hearing that there has been trouble, Alcide sends Tray to guard Sookie. She asks for the protection promised by Felipe, but only Bubba comes to her aid. Both he and Tray are sickened by enemy fairies. Sookie is forced to tell Jason about their fairy heritage when he is confronted in his house by their great-uncle Dermot, who is trying to tell him that his friend and fellow werepanther Mel Hart killed Crystal. Mel admits having been goaded by Crystal and striking her but denies crucifying her. Sookie leaves as Jason, Calvin, Crystal’s sister, and their cousin exact justice for Crystal. When Sookie is unable to get an answer from either Tray or Amelia, who have been dating, she calls Bill for help. He enters Tray’s house to find blood, not all of it the Were’s, and follows Sookie back to her house. She loses him at a light. Sookie decides to run from her car into her house, knowing Amelia is waiting, but she is seized by two of Breandan’s fairies, Lochlan and Neave. They take her to a deserted house in Arkansas to torture her, hoping her abduction will induce Niall to cede his right to the fairy throne. She is rescued along with Tray by Niall and Bill, who is badly injured by Neave and her silver-tipped teeth. Taken to Dr. Ludwig’s hospital, Sookie is given blood by Eric to heal, since they are sure the fairies are going to attack soon. Breandan and his forces arrive, determined to wipe out the opposition. A pregnant Claudine dies, along with Eric’s henchman Clancy, and Tray. The severely wounded Bill kills Breandan as he goes for Sookie. Sookie sadly surveys the carnage as Niall arrives, having defeated Breandan’s forces on every front. Sookie is home trying to recover when Niall visits and meets Jason for the first time. He tells them that he will seal off Faery because the fairies are too dangerous to humankind, and kisses his great-grandchildren good-bye.
Sookie and Eric continue to strengthen their relationship as Sookie tries to restore her physical and mental health. She reestablishes her connection with Jason as well, happy to see him seemingly settled in a good relationship. She allows the Weres to have their full-moon run on her property. They tell her that fairies have been in her woods and that there is a body buried there. Realizing that the body must be Debbie Pelt’s, Sookie tells Eric when she visits him in Shreveport; but she forgets to tell him that Claude has moved in, seeking the company of family and fairy. As Pam is driving Sookie home, they are stopped by Bruno Brazell, Victor’s second, and a female vampire named Corinna. Pam tells Sookie that Victor’s vampires are going to try to kill them. Sookie and Pam manage to turn the tables.
Feeling safe from any threat for the moment, Sookie agrees to watch Hunter overnight while Remy attends a family funeral. Sookie tries to help Hunter cope with his ability and works with him to control it—and what he says about it. After Remy picks him up the next day, Eric awakens in the hidey-hole and they spend the evening together until Eric’s maker, Appius Livius Ocella, and his child Alexei arrive. Since Sookie was told earlier that a second body lies in her woods, Eric is convinced it has been planted there by the Weres. He contacts Alcide, who soon arrives with a small coterie. The whole party troops out to the woods, where the remains of Alcide’s second, Basim al Saud, are discovered.
Bill decides to deliver the family Bible to Caroline Bellefleur when he is told she has inquired about it, and he asks Sookie to accompany him as he reveals his family connection to the dying Caroline. Sookie is worried at his inability to recover from the silver poisoning. Upon discovering that his maker’s blood would have helped him, she uses his database to seek out his sibling, Judith, hoping her blood will serve the same purpose. When Judith arrives, Sookie tells her of the death of her maker, and the vampire happily heads off to h
elp Bill. The following evening, Sookie and Jason attend the Were meeting, where Sookie acts as shaman and identifies the murderers of Basim. Afterward, she feels that something is wrong with Eric, and they rush to his house to find both Eric and Pam badly injured, and Bobby Burnham and vampire bartender Felicia dead—all at the hands of Alexei, who has descended into madness. Sookie drives Eric to her house, where they find Ocella, his back broken by Alexei, lying helpless as Alexei teasingly attacks Claude and an unknown fairy in her yard. Sookie is able to subdue Alexei with a silver chain so Eric can stake him. As she approaches Ocella, considering killing him, she decides instead to ask him to kill Victor Madden in return for sparing his life. While leaning over him, she is attacked by the second fairy, Colman, the father of the late Claudine’s unborn child. Ocella mentally urges her to move out of the way and takes Colman’s sword thrust himself. Colman is stunned by his deed and by the knife suddenly lodged in his back, and Eric is able to seize him and drain him. Sookie’s great-uncle Dermot emerges from the woods, having thrown the knife to save her, and she realizes that he has been bespelled. She and Claude are able to break the spell. After Eric leaves, the fairies climb into bed with her and she relaxes, surrounded by family.
Sookie is working the evening a Molotov cocktail is thrown through the window at Merlotte’s, and she suffers singed hair and skin as she helps put out the flames. Business at the bar has been sparse lately, due to a rival establishment opening nearby, and she, Sam, and the other employees worry that Merlotte’s clientele will dwindle even more when word of the firebombing gets around. Eric arrives, having felt her panic through their blood bond, and sends for Pam and a hairdresser. As Sookie showers after getting her hair trimmed, she comes to the conclusion that the thoughts she picked up from outside just before the bomb was thrown did not come from a human. She is stunned when Eric and Pam come to blows in her kitchen, and then angry at the damage they are doing. When the vampires calm down, she sends them both home.
After cleaning out her attic with Dermot and Claude, Sookie rides with Sam to a Shreveport antiques store to arrange an appraisal. They stop by Hooligans on the way back and find the club full of assorted fae. Sookie questions her great-uncle and cousin about her fae heritage but receives only a promise to talk later; however, neither fairy returns home that night. The following night, Eric takes Sookie to Victor’s new dance club, Vampire’s Kiss, where she finds out that Victor also owns Vic’s Redneck Roadhouse, the bar that is drawing customers from Merlotte’s. She meets Pam’s lover, Miriam, who is dying of leukemia and whom Victor has forbidden Pam to turn. On the ride home, Sookie is shocked again when Eric physically stops Pam from speaking after she brings up a mysterious letter. Sookie spends another night alone. When Dermot and Claude finally show up for their promised talk, Sookie learns more about her great-grandfather Niall and discovers that he had been getting information about her for some time from Eric. She also realizes that her fae blood is accentuated by her contact with Dermot and Claude. The appraisers arrive as scheduled, and Sookie sells them several items, including her grandfather Mitchell’s desk. Before taking it away, one of the appraisers searches the desk and finds a hidden compartment, which contains an old dress-pattern envelope and a small velvet bag. Sookie recognizes Gran’s handwriting on a letter in the envelope and puts the letter and bag away until she has some time alone to examine them. Jack and Lily Leeds, the detectives who were investigating Debbie Pelt’s disappearance, come into the bar that night. The couple tells Sookie that they have been sent by Mr. Cataliades to warn her about Sandra Pelt’s continuing vendetta against her. Four thugs, high on vampire blood, come into the bar while the Leedses are there. After making threats and pulling weapons, the toughs are subdued and arrested, and no one (except Sookie) realizes she was the target. Sookie calls Amelia the next day to ask if the wards around the house are still strong and if she can find Sandra, and Amelia decides to visit. Sookie reads Gran’s letter and learns even more about her fairy grandfather, including the fact that Mr. Cataliades was his trusted friend and was asked to act as the family sponsor, which explains the demon lawyer’s interest in Sookie. The item in the bag is a cluviel dor, a powerful fairy love token that can grant one wish, a wish capable of changing lives.
Sandra storms into the bar two days later, pulling a gun on Sookie, but is disabled by Terry Bellefleur wielding a baseball bat. Terry’s bad memories come to the fore, and he requires mild sedation from the paramedics who are there to treat Sandra. In his stupor, Terry reveals that he has been visited by Eric and Niall, and given instructions to watch over Sookie. Amelia arrives at Sookie’s house with Bob in tow, and Bill stops by later as well. When Bud Dearborn calls to tell Sookie that Sandra escaped, Bill promises her that he will guard her house that night. Sookie spends the next afternoon with Hunter and Remy at Hunter’s kindergarten orientation and returns home to find Amelia renewing the wards. Amelia informs Sookie that there is a way to break the blood bond, and Sookie decides to do it without telling Eric, who calls her in a panic when suddenly he can no longer feel her through the bond. He comes over the next night and they reaffirm their love. They decide to drive out to Vampire’s Kiss to waylay one of the waiters, Colton, who mentally warned Sookie that there was fairy blood on the glasses the night she, Eric, and Pam went to the club. Colton has no love for Victor, since Victor murdered his mother, and agrees to a meeting to plan Victor’s assassination.
Sookie is attacked by Hod and Kelvin in her driveway as she comes home from work. She seeks refuge at Bill’s, waiting with him in one of his daytime sleeping places until he awakes. They return to her house to find Dermot injured and unconscious on the attic floor. Dermot recovers with the help of another fae and leaves for the evening. Eric and Pam arrive, and again there is tension between them. Sending Pam outside, Eric finally reveals that his maker, Ocella, arranged a marriage for him with the Queen of Oklahoma, and that he has been unable to get out of the contract. He tells Sookie that he will have to set her aside as his wife to marry the queen, news that does not go over well with Sookie, but she puts away her feelings in order to make plans to kill Victor. Sookie spends the next day preparing for the baby shower she is throwing for Tara, but she takes the time to hand-deliver a sizable check to Sam to help get Merlotte’s through the hard times. She tells him it is a loan that he can pay back. The plan works, and Victor and his crew are lured to Fangtasia the next night by the promise of a performance by Bubba. They are set upon and killed.
Sookie is surprised when Mr. Cataliades visits during the baby shower. He stays in the kitchen until the guests depart, at which point he explains a bit more about his involvement with Fintan and Gran but tells Sookie that he is on the run and must leave abruptly. Sam calls and asks her to come to his trailer to pick up a package, but she senses something is amiss and requests that he come to her house instead. She lies in wait in the woods and sees Sam and Jannalynn arrive, held at gunpoint by Sandra. Sookie shoots Sandra, providing an opportunity for Jannalynn to act, and after a pitched battle, the little Were is able to kill Sandra. Sookie and Sam stuff the body through the fairy portal in her woods, and Sam and Jannalynn take Sandra’s gun to dispose of on the way back to Sam’s trailer. Sookie relaxes with a glass of ice tea while she watches Jeopardy!
Sookie and Sam are enlisted to help out when friends Tara and JB want to renovate their house to accommodate their new twins. While knocking down a wall, Sam uncovers an old hammer hidden inside. Sookie, Tara, and JB tell Sam the tale of the 1930s murder of Isaiah Wechsler, who was beaten to death in his bed next door, in what is now Andy and Halleigh’s house. Tara’s house belonged to the Summerlins at the time, and their oldest son was suspected of the crime but never charged, and the murder remained unsolved. Unearthing the murder weapon disturbs the spirit of the killer, bringing a powerful negative energy to the little home. Quiana Wong, the twins’ nanny, proves to be a psychic and is briefly possessed when she tries to get a read on the house. She tells them that uneasy spir
its tend to stay in places where trauma took place. Sam shifts to a bloodhound and begins to search for bones, which he finds buried in the yard. Quiana is again briefly possessed by the spirit, so she and Sookie decide closer contact may allow Sookie to read Quiana’s mind to determine what the spirit wants. Sookie is able to see through the murderer’s eyes and identifies him as the Summerlins’ youngest son, who committed suicide after the murder and was secretly buried by his family to protect what was left of their good name. They take the bones to the cemetery and bury them in Sookie’s family plot, putting the spirit to rest. (All)
Stans, Jay: Police officer Jay Stans interviews Sookie along with his partner, Curlew, when she brings Maria-Star to the hospital in Clarice. (DTTW)
Stonebrook, Mark (wolf/witch): Mark and Marnie are sibling Were witches who drink vampire blood for increased power. They bring their coven to Shreveport with plans to take a large cut of Eric’s businesses, and send a representative to meet with Eric, Pam, and Chow to give the vampires their terms. Angered by the witches’ threats and Eric’s unwillingness to personally negotiate, Chow grabs the witch, activating a spell that abruptly takes Eric from his office and deposits him, minus shirt, shoes, and memory, on the road leading to Sookie’s house. The coven then sets its sights on the Shreveport Weres, killing their second-in-command. All the while, they continue the search for Eric, plastering Bon Temps with flyers with his face and their contact number. The Weres and the vampires decide to join together, enlisting their own witches to help counteract the coven, and attack the Stonebrooks’ headquarters. Despite plans to take Mark alive, he is killed during what becomes known as the Witch War. (Dies DTTW)