From Dead to Worse

Sookie— you so impressed Felipe de Castro that he has given us permission to offer you our formal protection. This is a decision only made by the king, you understand, and it’s a binding contract. You rendered him such service that he felt this was the only way to repay you.”
    “So, this is a big deal?”
    “Yes, my lover, it is a very big deal. That means when you call us for help, we are obliged to come and risk our lives for yours. This is not a promise vampires make very often, since we grow more and more jealous of our lives the longer we live. You’d think it would be the other way around.”
    “Every now and then you’ll find someone who wants to meet the sun after a long life,” Pam said, as if she wanted to set the record straight.
    “Yes,” Eric said, frowning. “Every now and then. But he offers you a real honor, Sookie.”
    “I’m real obliged to you for bringing the news, Eric, Pam.”
    “Of course, I’d hoped your beautiful roommate would come in,” Pam said. She leered at me. So maybe her hanging around Amelia hadn’t been entirely Eric’s idea.
    I laughed out loud. “Well, she’s got a lot to think about tonight,” I said.
    I’d been thinking so hard about the vampire protection that I hadn’t noticed the approach of the shorter of the FotS adherants. Now he pushed past me in such a way that he rammed my shoulder, deliberately knocking me to the side. I staggered before I managed to regain my balance. Not everyone noticed, but a few of the bar patrons did. Sam had started around the bar and Eric was already on his feet when I turned and brought my tray down on the asshole’s head with all the strength I could muster.
    He did a little bit of staggering himself.
    Those that had noticed the bit of aggravation began applauding. “Good for you, Sookie,” Catfish called. “Hey, jerkoff, leave the waitresses alone.”
    Arlene was flushed and angry, and she almost exploded then and there. Sam stepped up to her and murmured something in her ear. She flushed even redder and glared at him, but she kept her mouth shut. The taller FotS guy came to his pal’s aid and they left the bar. Neither of them spoke (I wasn’t sure Shorty could speak), but they might as well have had “You haven’t seen the last of us” tattooed on their foreheads.
    I could see where the vampires’ protection and my friend of the pack status might come in handy.
    Eric and Pam finished their drinks and sat long enough to prove they weren’t skedaddling because they felt unwelcome and weren’t leaving in pursuit of the Fellowship fans. Eric tipped me a twenty and blew me a kiss as he went out the door—so did Pam—earning me an extra-special glare from my former BFF Arlene.
    I worked too hard the rest of the night to think about any of the interesting things that had happened that day. After the patrons all left, even Jane Bodehouse (her son came to get her), we put out the Halloween decorations. Sam had gotten a little pumpkin for each table and painted a face on each one. I was filled with admiration, because the faces were really clever, and some of them looked like bar patrons. In fact, one looked a lot like my dear brother.
    “I had no idea you could do this,” I said, and he looked pleased.
    “It was fun,” he said, and hung a long strand of fall leaves— of course, they were actually made of cloth—around the bar mirror and among some of the bottles. I tacked up a life-size cardboard skeleton with little rivets at the joints so it could be positioned. I arranged this one so it was clearly dancing. We couldn’t have any depressing skeletons at the bar. We had to have happy ones.
    Even Arlene unbent a little because this was something different and fun to do, though we had to stay a bit later to do it.
    I was ready to go home and go to bed when I said good night to Sam and Arlene. Arlene didn’t answer, but she didn’t throw me the look of disgust she usually awarded me, either.
    Naturally, my day wasn’t over.
    My great-grandfather was sitting on my front porch when I got to the house. It was very strange to see him in the front porch swing, in the odd combination of night and light that the security lamp and the dark hour combined to create. I wished for one moment that I was as beautiful as he was, and then I had to smile at myself.
    I parked my car in the front and got out. Tried to walk quietly going up the steps so I wouldn’t wake Amelia, whose bedroom overlooked the front. The