"Rachel!" Bill scolded.

"I mean it" I said stubbornly. "My maker's dead, so kicking her boyfriend's ass is the next best thing. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in this mess."

"You will do no such thing, Rachel."

"Touch Stu and I'll stake you, you undead bitch!" the woman shrieked.

"ENOUGH" Eric said. "Nobody is killing anyone… yet. In fact, it's of paramount importance that Stu be found. Or the vampires this Galen was staying with. Can you take us there?"

The woman nodded slowly, looking terrified.

We piled into two separate vehicles. Eric stuffed me into the back of his car alongside Pam and had the woman ride up front next to him. Pam shoved a couple of bottles of True Blood at me. "Drink these up and behave", she hissed.

"Yes, ma'am" I muttered.

She pinched me. Hard. "And do NOT call me ma'am!"

I rubbed my arm. It hurt like hell—enough to make my eyes sting, but I was damned if I'd cry. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction. Not to mention the fact that it would make a big mess; when you're dead, you cry blood, not tears.

We drove out beyond Bon Temps into this real whistle-stop little place called Shade Tree. The woman directed us to this falling-down old house. As we approached, white faces appeared at the windows and the door opened before Eric even had a chance to knock.

"Sheriff Northman! What brings you here?" A thin man with sandy hair and glasses stepped onto the porch. Behind him were three girls, two vampire and one not.

"Do you recognize this woman, Tobias?" Eric pulled the woman from Charlegmange's forward.

Tobias nodded, his eyebrows raised. "She comes here often with her companion. What has she done?"

Pam pushed me from behind so I stumbled into Eric's back. He pulled me forward with his other hand. "The woman has done nothing that we know of, but one of the vampires here, Galen, created this fledgling and then abandoned her. We found him staked in an alley tonight."

Tobias stared at me, his gaze piercing. "Are you sure the fledgling is telling the truth?"

"When we found her, she was glamoured" Eric said. He gripped my hand and I knew to keep my mouth shut. "I tested the remains. Rachel is Galen's child. Clearly, he did not plan to acknowledge her."

Tobias nodded. Turning back into the house, he shouted, "Tatiana! Scarlet! Come here."

Two more vampire girls appeared. One of them I knew immediately. She knew me, too. Her eyes got wide and she spun away, but Tobias' hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder. "You know something about this, Tatiana?"

"Her name's Tonya" I said. "Tonya Allen."

Pam came up behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders. "You used to date Rachel's brother?" she asked. Like Eric had done, she gave me a warning squeeze.

"For a while" Tonya said. Her voice was the same as I remembered—shrill and twangy. Tatiana, my ass.

"You left him for Galen?"

"Yeah. A year ago."

"And you haven't seen him since?"

"No."

"She's lying" Sookie said unnecessarily. I could have told them that. Tonya was standing there looking at me and although I could tell she was afraid of Tobias and Eric, a vindictive little smile was lurking around the corners of her mouth.

"Come inside" Tobias said quietly. "And we will settle this. If you would, Sheriff?"

Eric and Pam promptly flanked Tonya on each side and kind of frog-marched her into the house. Sookie, Bill and I followed. Tobias led us into the kitchen and told the vampire girls that we were to be left strictly alone.

Eric and Pam shoved Tonya into a chair. "I suggest you begin telling the truth" Eric said. "Galen is dead. We found him staked in the alley behind Charlemagne's."

Tonya's white skin turned even whiter. Despite her own vampiric transformation, she still maintained a bad bleach job. That's what kind of girl she was.

"No!" she whispered. "No, it's not true!"

"I'm afraid it is. This woman…what's your name, by the way?" He turned to the woman from the alley.

"Kayla".

"Kayla saw the body as well." The woman nodded. She was starting to look green. "Where is Stu?" she croaked hoarsely.

"Dead, honey!" Tonya grinned viciously. "Toby took care of him. Fucking Vee-dealing scum."

Eric turned to Toby, who nodded. "Stuart Avery was a drifter. There shouldn't be any problem with any of the authorities. He came here looking for Galen, but none of us had seen him in several weeks. When Scarlet told him that Galen wasn't there, he threatened her. We found him carrying a draining kit." Tobias opened a cupboard under the sink and took out a black backpack. He dumped it out onto the kitchen table. There were all kinds of chains and locks and handcuffs in there, all made (if what Bill had told me about drainers was true), of silver. There were also hypodermic needles, little bottles like insulin bottles, a mallet, and a supply of stakes. Kayla took one look and began to cry.

"Scarlet is my woman" Tobias went on, his thick drawl as cold as ice. "I could not allow her to be harmed. And you know what the penalty for draining is."

Eric nodded, looking bored. "I am not concerned with Stuart Avery. Kayla tells us that Galen sold his blood freely. Were you aware of this, Tobias?"

Tobias took a deep breath; his face was like stone. "If I had, I would have done away with him myself. Based on their behavior when they were together, I assumed that Avery and his woman were Galen's and Tatiana's pets."

I glanced at Sookie. She was studying Tobias intently, but she didn't speak.

"There were parties". Tobias went on. "The young ones of my nest like to entertain, and as long as they are within the law, I do not interfere. Galen and Tatiana often brought humans here. Tatiana…" he turned to Tonya. "Did Galen say anything to you about making a new fledgling?"

Tonya smiled a little. An I've-got-a-secret smile. "No, he never said anything to me about it."

"Was it your idea?" that was Sookie.

"I don't have to answer anything you say, mortal!"

Jesus Christ on rollerskates! You'd think the bitch had been dead for a hundred years! It was so hammy I rolled my eyes; I couldn't help it.

"But you do have to answer me" Eric leaned forward. "And I suggest you do so truthfully. There are penalties for abandoning a fledgling as well as for selling blood, and it is my right to decide those penalties. Was it your idea to turn Rachel?"

"No" said Tonya, laughing. "But I liked the idea."

I saw Eric look at Sookie. Almost imperceptibly, she shook her head.

Eric nodded briskly. "Everyone leave except Tobias. Pam and Bill, take Sookie and Rachel back to Shreveport."

I didn't want to go. I wanted to hear Tonya try to talk herself out of this mess and fail. I wanted to see Eric or Tobias punish her. I was so angry that if Pam hadn't been hanging onto me, I think I would have broken her neck myself!

Pam had to pull me out of my chair. "Come on, darlin'" she hissed into my ear. "Believe me…you don't want to see this."

"Yes, I do."

"Then let me re-phrase: Get into that car right now. That's an order."

"Come on, Rachel" Sookie said gently. "You can ride with us. Pam's right; this is probably gonna get really nasty. Vampire punishments are horrible."

"Good!" I said furiously. But Bill shook his head. "Rachel, if she confesses, the least thing that will happen is that her fangs will be ripped out for five years. That's the least thing."

"What's the worst thing?"

"That she'll be made your guardian." Pam's voice was cool.

"What?!" I shrieked. I could not believe my ears!

"She was the closest to your maker. And if turning you was her idea…" Pam gave a deliberate little shrug. "I could even recommend it, as your present caretaker. So I suggest you get in one of the cars before I decide that's the best idea."

I felt cold all over. I hadn't really given much thought to the power Pam had over me. She rarely exercised it; she treated me, in fact, like a mildly amusing nuisance, sometime flirting with me, other times ignoring me, but never paying me more than a teaspoonful of attention at a time. But looking into her smooth face and calm, cold eyes, I knew she could do it. Would do it.

I got in behind Sookie.