All Together Dead

night,” Andre said smoothly, and Donati tensed, since he knew quite well he’d been dismissed.
    “Of course, Mr. Andre,” the security chief said. “I hope all of you sleep well this day, and I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He rose to his feet with a lot more effort than it should have taken, and he suppressed a flinch at the pain. “Miss Stackhouse, I hope you get over your bad experience real soon.”
    “Thank you,” I said, and Sigebert opened the door for Donati to leave.
    “If you’ll excuse me,” I said the minute he was gone, “I’ll just go to my room now.”
    The queen gave me a sharp look. “Are you unhappy about something, Sookie?” she said, though she sounded like she didn’t really want to hear my answer.
    “Oh, why would I be unhappy? I love having things done to me without my will,” I said. The pressure had built up and up, and the words came out like lava erupting from a volcano, even though my more intelligent self kept telling me to put a plug in it. “And then,” I said very loudly, not listening to myself one little bit, “I like hanging around the ones responsible. That’s even better !” I was losing coherence and gaining momentum.
    There was no telling what I would have said next if Sophie-Anne hadn’t held up one little white hand. She seemed a weensy bit perturbed, as my grandmother would have put it.
    “You are assuming I know what you are talking about, and that I want to hear a human yelling at me,” Sophie-Anne said.
    Eric’s eyes were glowing as if a candle burned behind them, and he was so lovely I could have drowned in him. God help me. I made myself look at Andre, who was examining me as if he was deciding where the best cut of meat was. Gervaise and Cleo just looked interested.
    “Excuse me,” I said, returning to the world of reality with a thud. It was so late, and I was so tired, and the night had been filled with so many incidents that I thought for a split second that I might actually faint. But the Stackhouses don’t produce fainters, and neither do the fairies, I guess. It was time I gave a nod to that little percentage of my heritage. “I’m very tired.” I had no fight left in me all of a sudden. I really wanted to go to bed. Not a word was spoken as I trudged to the door, which was almost a miracle. Though, as I closed it behind me, I heard the queen say, “Explain, Andre.”
    Quinn was waiting by the door to my room. I didn’t know if I even had the energy to be glad or sad to see him. I got out the plastic rectangle and opened the door, and after I’d scanned the interior and seen that my roommate was gone (though I wondered where, since Gervaise had been by himself ), I jerked my head to tell Quinn he could come in.
    “I have an idea,” he said quietly.
    I raised my eyebrows, too exhausted to speak.
    “Let’s just climb in the bed and sleep.”
    I finally managed to smile at him. “That’s the best offer I’ve had all day,” I said. At that second, I saw how I could come to love Quinn. While he visited the bathroom, I pulled off my clothes, folded them, and slipped into my pajamas, short and pink and silky to the touch.
    Quinn came out of the bathroom in his briefs, but I was just too worn out to appreciate the view. He got into the bed while I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I slid in beside him. He turned on his side and his arms opened, and I just kept on sliding right into them. We hadn’t showered, but he smelled good to me: he smelled alive and vital.
    “Good ceremony tonight,” I remembered to say after I’d switched off the bedside lamp.
    “Thanks.”
    “Got any more coming up?”
    “Yeah, if your queen goes on trial. Now that Cater was killed, who knows if that’s still on. And tomorrow night is the ball, after the trial.”
    “Oh, I get to wear my pretty dress.” A little pleasure stirred in me at the prospect. “You got to work?”
    “No, the ball’s being run by the hotel,” he said. “You gonna dance with me or the blond vampire?”
    “Oh, hell,” I said, wishing Quinn hadn’t reminded me.
    And right on cue, he said, “Forget it now, babe. We’re here, now, in bed together like we ought to be.”
    Like we ought to be. That sounded good.
    “You heard about me tonight, right?” he asked.
    The night had contained so many incidents it took me a moment to remember that I’d learned about the things he’d had to do to survive.
    And that he had a half sister. A troublesome, nutty,