Definitely Dead

"Oh, I had to consider the calories," I said, patting my rear end.

"There's nothing wrong with you, front or back," Qui

"Let the restaurant be my treat," I said.

"With all due respect to your pride, no, I won't." Qui

We'd reached the sidewalk by that time. Surprised at his vehemence, I didn't know how to react. On one level, I was relieved, since I have to be careful with my money. On another level, I knew it was right for me to offer and I would have felt good if he'd said that would be fine.

"You know I'm not trying to insult you, right?" I said.

"I understand that you're being equal."

I looked up at him doubtfully, but he was serious.

Qui

"What if I asked you out?"

He looked grim. "Then I'd have to sit back and let you take care of the evening," he said. He said it reluctantly, but he said it. I looked away and smiled.

Cars were pulling out of the parking lot at a steady pace. Since we'd taken our time leaving the theater, Qui

"Something's wrong," I said.

Without replying, Qui

So of course, we were attacked from behind.

Chapter 8

In a blur or movement that couldn't be broken down into increments my eye could clearly recognize, a beast knocked me into Qui

The creature on top of me was a brand-new fresh half Were, so young he could only have been bitten in the past three weeks. He was in such a frenzy that he had attacked before he had finished with the partial change that a bitten Were can achieve. His face was still elongating into a muzzle, even as he tried to choke me. He would never attain the beautiful wolf form of the full-blooded Were. He was "bitten, not blood," as the Weres put it. He still had arms, he still had legs, he had a body covered with hair, and he had a wolf's head. But he was just as savage as a full-blood.

I clawed at his hands, the hands that were gripping my neck with such ferocity. I wasn't wearing my silver chain tonight. I'd decided it would be tacky, since my date was himself a shifter. Being tacky might have saved my life, I thought in a flash, though it was the last coherent thought I had for a few moments.

The Were was straddling my body, and I brought my knees up sharply, trying to give him a big enough jolt that he'd loosen his hold. There were shrieks of alarm from the few remaining pedestrians, and a higher, more piercing shriek from Qui

Qui

Then Qui

"Sookie," Qui

His face filled my scope of vision, and in the dim light of the corner lamp I could see he was pumped. "I'll kill them if they hurt you," he growled, and just then, that was delightful news.

"Bitten," I wheezed, and he looked horrified, checking me over with hands and eyes for the bite mark. "Not me," I elaborated. "Them. Not born Weres." I sucked in a lot of air. "And maybe on drugs," I said. Awareness dawned in his eyes.

That was the only explanation for such insane behavior.

A heavyset black patrolman hurried up to me. "We need an ambulance at the Strand," he was saying to someone on his shoulder. No, it was a little radio set. I shook my head.

"You need an ambulance, ma'am," he insisted. "Girl over there says the man took you down and tried to choke you."

"I'm okay," I said, my voice raspy and my throat undeniably painful.

"Sir, you with this lady?" the patrolman asked Qui

"Yes, I am."

"You… ah, you got these punks offa her?"

"Yes."

Boling's partner, a Caucasian version of Boling, came up to us then. He looked at Qui

"The one has a broken leg," he told us. "The other is claiming his shoulder's dislocated."

Boling shrugged. "Got what was coming to 'em." It might have been my imagination, but he, too, seemed a bit more cautious when he looked at my date.

"They got more than they expected," his partner said neutrally. "Sir, do you know either of these kids?" He tilted his head toward the teenagers, who were being examined by a patrolman from another car, a younger man with a more athletic build. The boys were leaning against each other, looking stu

"I've never seen them before," Qui

I looked down at my beautiful new outfit. It was really dirty. "How does the back look?" I asked Qui

"No tearing," he reported. "There may be a spot or two where the material got a little scraped across the pavement."

I burst into tears. I probably would have started crying no matter what, because I was feeling a powerful reaction to the adrenaline that had surged through my body when we'd been attacked, but the timing was perfect. The police got more avuncular the more I cried, and as an extra bonus, Qui