Definitely Dead

attendants, the beheading was a pretty decisive act.
    The queen and Andre were standing back to back in the middle of the floor. Andre was holding a gun in one hand and a long knife in the other, and the queen had acquired a carving knife from the buffet. There was a circle of white coats surrounding them, and when one fell, another would take its place. This was like Custer’s last stand, with the queen standing in for Custer. Sigebert was equally besieged on the bandstand, and the orchestra, part Were or shifter and part vampire, had separated into its various components. Some were joining in the combat, while others were trying to flee. Those who were doing their best to get the hell out of there were clogging the door leading to the long corridor. The effect was a logjam.
    The king was under attack from my three friends Rasul, Chester, and Melanie. I was sure I’d find Jade Flower at his back, but she was having her own problems, I was glad to see. Mr. Cataliades was doing his best to—well, it looked like he was just trying to touch her. She was parrying his attempts with her whacking big sword, the sword that had sliced Gladiola in two, but neither of them looked like they were giving up any time soon.
    Just then I was knocked flat to the floor, losing my breath for a minute. I struck out, only to have my hand trapped. I was smushed under a big body. “I’ve got you,” Eric said.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    “Protecting you,” he said. He was smiling with the joy of battle, and his blue eyes were glittering like sapphires. Eric loved a brawl.
    “I don’t see anybody coming after me,” I said. “It seems to me like the queen needs you more than I do. But I appreciate it.”
    Carried away on a wave of excitement, Eric kissed me long and hard and then scooped up Wybert’s head. “Bowling for vampires,” he said happily, and flung the disgusting object at the black vampire with an accuracy and force that knocked the sword out of the vampire’s hand. Eric was on it with a great leap, and the sword swung on its owner with deadly force. With a war cry that had not been heard in a thousand years, Eric attacked the circle around the queen and Andre with a savagery and abandon that was almost beautiful in its way.
    A shifter trying to find another way out of the room knocked against me with enough force to dislodge me from behind my comparatively secure position. Suddenly, there were too many people between me and the pillar, and the way back was blocked. Damn! I could see the door Wybert and his brother had been guarding. The door was across the room, but it was the only empty passage. Any way out of this room was a good way. I began sidling around the walls to reach it, so I wouldn’t have to cross the dangerous open spaces.
    One of the whitecoats leaped in front of me.
    “We’re supposed to find you!” he bellowed. He was a young vampire; there were clues, even at such a moment. This vamp had known the amenities of modern life. He had all the signs—superstraight teeth that had known braces, a husky build from modern nutrition, and he was big-boned and tall.
    “Look!” I said, and pulled one side of my bodice away. He did, God bless him, and I kicked him in the balls so hard I thought they’d come out through his mouth. That’s gonna get a man on the floor, no matter what their nature is. This vampire was no exception. I hurried around him and reached the east wall, the one with the door.
    I had maybe a yard to go when someone grabbed my foot, and down I went. I slipped in a pool of blood and landed on my knees in it. It was vamp blood, I could tell by the color.
    “Bitch,” said Jade Flower. “Whore.” I didn’t think I’d ever heard her talk before. I could have done without it now. She began dragging me, hand over hand, toward her extended fangs. She wasn’t getting up to kill me, because one of her legs was missing. I almost threw up but became more concerned with getting away than with ralphing. My hands scrabbled at the smooth wood floor, and my knees tried to get purchase so I could pull away from the vampire. I didn’t know if Jade Flower would die of this terrible wound or not. Vampires could survive so many things that would kill a human, which of course was a big part of the attraction . . . Snap to, Sookie! I told myself fiercely.
    The shock must be getting to me.
    I threw out my hand and managed to get a grip on the door frame. I pulled and pulled, but I