Free Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

lap, the closest thing to a shield she could find between her and the crazy person on the other end of the couch.
    “Metal shutters,” Miranda muttered, looking over at the window. “They block out the sun.”
    “The windows are also coated with UV-blocking film. The shutters are a safeguard and for comfort—we have trouble sleeping unless the room is pitch black.”
    She put her hands over her face. “This is just . . .”
    “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”
    “Hold on . . . if you drink blood, why was the Prime guy buying ice cream?”
    Faith smiled. “We can digest human food in small amounts once we’ve built up a tolerance. It helps us pass for human. Naturally we have an easier time with liquids. Some of us have things we still love—a sweet tooth is most common.”
    “But it doesn’t do you any good nutritionally, right?”
    A male voice spoke up from the doorway. “Not unless Ben and Jerry start making Mocha Plasma Chip.”
    Miranda looked up to see the Prime had arrived, silently opening the door between the bedrooms. He seemed to fill the entire room with his presence, as before, but tonight he looked a little worn around the edges, like he’d seen something horrible.
    His blue eyes lit on her, and he smiled. “How are you feeling this evening, Miss Grey?”
    “I don’t think that’s a fair question, Sire,” Faith replied for her.
    “I’m fucked up on Vicodin,” Miranda told him, keeping the hysteria out of her voice by inches. “Otherwise there’d be a girl-shaped hole in that door.”
    He leaned sideways against the door frame, still smiling. “I understand.”
    “All right, screw this. Show me your teeth.”
    His eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry?”
    “If you’re really a vampire, you must have fangs, right? Show me.”
    He nodded and came over to the sofa. Faith jumped up, bowed, and moved aside so there was room for him to sit. Miranda started to say something about it, thinking it unfair that she had to get up just because he was in the room, but then she remembered who she was talking to.
    The Prime opened his mouth, reached up, and ran a fingertip over one of his canines. Miranda watched with her heart ripping its way into her throat as the tooth stretched lazily down half an inch, extending like a cat’s claw, dangerously sharp. A few seconds later it withdrew, and she saw that even retracted it was visibly more pointed than it should have been.
    Miranda glanced over at Faith, who was grinning a bit wickedly. The guard did the same as the Prime had, showing her teeth.
    “Holy shit. Holy shit.”
    “Don’t be afraid,” David said softly. “You’re safe here, perhaps safer than you’ve ever been in your life.”
    “But . . . but you eat people.”
    He chuckled at the phrasing. “In a manner of speaking. But we have laws against killing our prey.”
    “Prey . . . oh God.” She shrank back as far into the corner of the couch as she could, causing her ribs to stab sharply, and gasped at the pain. Tears gathered in her eyes. “I don’t think I can take this.”
    “Would you like us to leave you alone?” he asked.
    “Please,” she whispered. Sobs were building in her chest. Distantly she heard the Prime tell Faith he needed to speak to her privately. Miranda curled around the cushion, burying her face in it, and listened as the door opened and shut.
    When she glanced up, David was still there, but standing, halfway between the couch and the door.
    “If you need anything, I’ll be nearby,” he said. “Just knock on the door, or call with your com.”
    She nodded, unable to speak. He didn’t look like he wanted to leave, but he did so, closing the door behind him.
    Miranda lowered her head back to the cushion and waited for the tears to come, but they didn’t. Instead she felt deadened on the inside, too overwhelmed for any one emotion to take precedence. Listening to Faith had kept the demons at bay for a while, just as it had distracted her from her injuries,