I watched my master and Sookie leave the courtroom hand in hand as if they had just been married. I could see the relief in both their faces. I was greatly relieved as well. When that little prick, Bob, walked out the door, I felt many pairs of undead eyes on me. I knew as Eric's child, it was my right to have first crack at him. I guess I should say second crack, actually. Eric had first rights. But I could see that he wanted to be with Sookie and I seriously doubted if she would be too keen on any kind of plan to kill Bob tonight. Or any night. They most likely would be spending the rest of this night celebrating reintroducing a reasonable male appendage into their lives. Poor Sookie. That Bob was certainly no prize physically.

I nodded my thanks to Victor and the witches and spoke briefly to Amelia before going to find Anthony. I knew that he had been the palace liaison for Eric and Sookie since their visit began and would be the best place to start. He wouldn't be in the position he was in unless he was completely trustworthy—well, as trustworthy as a human can be anyway. He drove me to the graveyard and sat and kept me company while I dug the grave.

When Bob opened the door to his apartment, I could tell that he'd been drinking alcohol and I couldn't really blame him. "Hello, Bob. Do you know who I am?" He nodded. "And have you met my friend, Anthony, here?"

"Hello."

"Now, you and I both know that I can't come in without an invitation, and we also both know that I could glamor one out of you, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to ask politely if I can come in to discuss turning you. The rest is up to you."

He stood and stared, eyes a little glazed from the drinking, but soon his judgment kicked in and he stepped back. "Won't you come in?"

"That's a good boy." And just like that, I was a guest in Bob's lovely home.

We all sat down like civilized adults. Bob started the conversation. "Why did you bring a human?"

"As a gesture of goodwill. It is highly unlikely that I would drain you dry with another human sitting here watching me. It would be poor form. Anthony is here to calm you and make you feel less threatened, since we both know that I could kill you at any instant."

"Right." Then he turned to Anthony. "Thank you for coming."

"Now, let's get down to it. You are a marked man, my friend. Every vamp in New Orleans wants to kill you right now and probably a few witches as well. You fucked up. Now, it's pretty clear that you want to be a vampire. I can't give you a hunky bod like Eric's of course, but I can give you eternal life sucking blood and looking cool. Are you with me so far?" I got a nod. "Good."

"Wait, why would you turn me? You're his child. You must hate me."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? Well, let me tell you a little something about master/child relationships. They're not about roses and chocolates. Yes, Eric is my master, but I hate him. He has made my existence miserable for centuries. I want nothing more than to be free of him. I was hoping that I'd get my chance when I learned about your little stunt."

"So why didn't you just kill him when he was in my human body? It would have been easy."

"I can't. It's forbidden for a vampire to kill his or her maker. That's where my buddy Anthony came in. He was helping me formulate a plan to have an assassin take care of it for me, but, well, then we found you and…well, you know the rest. I missed my golden moment." I sat back and let some of it sink into his pickled little brain. "So, if you were to become my child, you could legally kill Eric. Hell, you'd have to because he's gonna want to kill you for sure. I mean, he will anyway. At least this way, you'd have a chance to kill him first."

"But I'd be weaker than he is. I'll be younger. How can I kill him?"

"I know where he lives. I know his habits. His weaknesses. You getting my drift?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So, take your time. Give it some thought. If you think you can survive for another hour without some vamp sucking the life out of you, then meet me at this address. In one hour." I handed him the slip of paper with the graveyard's address on it. "Don't wear anything you'd like to keep. After we do the deed, you spend three nights in a grave before rising. It ruins good clothes. Oh wait, is your car here or did you leave it in Shreveport?"

"It's here. I took the bus to Shreveport."

"The bus? Yeah, well, stuff like that's about to change. See you in an hour then."

I stood to go and Anthony was right behind me.

We sat in the car by the graveyard for forty-five minutes before Bob drove up. I got out and turned back to Anthony. "Time for you to go."

Bob watched him drive away after getting out of the car. "Why's he leaving?"

"This isn't a pretty little show. We don't want to give him nightmares, now do we?"

When Bob and I arrived beside the open grave, I asked if he was nervous.

"No, I'm ready. I've wanted this for a long time."

I took him in my arms and nuzzled his neck. Just before I bit, I whispered, "This is going to hurt a little, but when you wake up you'll be one of us."

He gasped when my fangs penetrated his flesh. I began to pull and swallow and was lost in the bloodlust. He moaned softly and I stroked his back gently, trying to comfort him and sooth him so he wouldn't flail at the end. When I felt his pulse slow, I slowed my sucking as well. I held him until I felt the last beat of his heart and then licked the wound out of habit even though there was no need.

I stuck my hand into his pocket and retrieved his keys and then lifted him and carried him the few feet to the grave. I tossed him in and began shoveling the dirt into the hole.

I parked his car on the street a couple of miles from the palace, left the keys in the ignition, and got out to walk. It was a beautiful night. When I entered the palace, it was nearing dawn. The courtroom had emptied and I found Anthony in there folding chairs and putting them away. "You're still up?"

"Yeah, I wanted to get this done before going to bed. We had so many extra people here tonight." He stopped folding and looked me in the eye. "Did he know?"

I shook my head and he seemed relieved.

"You're very kind. I wasn't expecting that."

"Well, you met her. She's changed us all."

"Yes, she's very special."

"Yes she is."

I climbed the stairs and got into bed just as the dawn came, satisfied that I had served both my master and my friend to the best of my ability.