All Together Dead

brain of the clerk, who was feeling delighted at doing me a bad turn.
    Here comes trouble, Barry warned me.
    I swung around to see a vampire advancing on me with not a very pleasant expression on her face. She had hot hazel eyes and straight light brown hair, and she was lean and mean.
    “Finally, one of the Louisiana party. Are the rest of you in hiding? Tell your bitch whore of a mistress that I’ll nail her hide to the wall! She won’t get away with murdering my king! I’ll see her staked and exposed to the sun on the roof of this hotel!”
    I said the first thing that came into my head, unfortunately. “Save the drama for your mama,” I told her, just like an eleven-year-old. “And by the way, who the heck are you?”
    Of course, this had to be Jennifer Cater. I started to tell her that her king’s character had been really substandard, but I liked my head right where it sat on my shoulders, and it wouldn’t take much to tip this gal over the edge.
    She gave good glare, I’d say that for her.
    “I’ll drain you dry,” she said, harshly. We were attracting a certain amount of attention by then.
    “Ooooo,” I said, exasperated beyond wisdom. “I’m so scared. Wouldn’t the court love to hear you say that? Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t vampires prevented by—oh, yes—the law from threatening humans with death, or did I just read that wrong?”
    “As if I give a snap of my fingers for human law,” Jennifer Cater said, but the fire was dying down in her eyes as she realized that the whole lobby was listening to our exchange, including many humans and possibly some vampires who’d love to see her out of the way.
    “Sophie-Anne Leclerq will be tried by the laws of our people,” Jennifer said as a parting shot. “And she will be found guilty. I’ll hold Arkansas, and I’ll make it great.”
    “That’ll be a first,” I said with some justification. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi were three poor states huddled together, much to our mutual mortification. We were all grateful for each other, because we got to take turns being at the bottom of almost every list in the United States: poverty level, teen pregnancy, cancer death, illiteracy…. We prettymuch rotated the honors.
    Jennifer marched off, not wanting to try a comeback. She was determined, and she was vicious, but I thought Sophie-Anne could outmaneuver Jennifer any day. If I were a betting woman, I’d put money on the French nag.
    Barry and I gave each other a shrug. Incident over. We joined hands again.
    More trouble, Barry said, sounding resigned.
    I focused my brain where his was going. I heard a weretiger heading our way in a big, big hurry.
    I dropped Barry’s hand and turned, my arms out already and my whole face smiling. “Quinn!” I said, and after a moment where he looked very uncertain, Quinn swung me up in his arms.
    I hugged him as hard as I could, and he returned the hug so emphatically that my ribs creaked. Then he kissed me, and it took all my strength of character to keep the kiss within social boundaries.
    When we parted to breathe, I realized Barry was standing awkwardly a few feet away, not sure what to do.
    “Quinn, this is Barry Bellboy,” I said, trying not to feel embarrassed. “He’s the only other telepath I know. He works for Stan Davis, the King of Texas.”
    Quinn extended a hand to Barry, who I now realized was standing awkwardly for a reason. We’d transmitted a bit too graphically. I felt a tide of red sweep over my cheeks. The best thing to do was pretend I hadn’t noticed, of course, and that’s what I did. But I could feel a little smile twitching the corners of my mouth, and Barry looked more amused than angry.
    “Good to meet you, Barry,” Quinn rumbled.
    “You’re in charge of the ceremony arrangements?” Barry asked.
    “Yep, that’s me.”
    “I’ve heard of you,” Barry said. “The great fighter. You’ve got quite a rep among the vamps, man.”
    I cocked my head. Something I wasn’t getting here. “Great fighter?” I said.
    “I’ll tell you about it later,” Quinn said, and his mouth set in a hard line.
    Barry looked from me to Quinn. His own face did some hardening, and I was surprised to see that much toughness in Barry. “He hasn’t told you?” he asked, and then read the answer right from my head. “Hey, man, that’s not right,” he said to Quinn. “She should know.”
    Quinn almost snarled. “I’ll tell her about it soon.”
    “Soon?”