Ten thousand dollars, Lafayette's freedom, and Bill's company was all it took to get Sookie to agree to fly out to Dallas the following evening. The human was getting cocky, but she had spunk, and Eira had to commend her for that… all things considered.

Now with that out of the way, Eira had to deal with the fact that she was going back to Dallas that very same evening without so much as a whisper of information on Godric other than the morbidly vague text she received from an unknown sender. She had someone working on it of course, Eira was not going to ignore such a thing, but the longer she waited for her contact to trace the text message, the more she wanted to keep ignorant, scared of the outcome.

Once Eira got a name, it was going to be the end of whomever texted her, and with a name, she had the ability to virtually find out everything in regards to Godric if she played her cards right.

But of course, if you kill everyone, then you're fucked, a voice whispered in her mind, and Eira had to agree… however much it pained her. She couldn't just go off killing people, but then again she had been provoked—she had a reason to kill.

Still, that doesn't justify killing someone—Eira sighed. She was getting sick of her conscience telling her what was right and what was wrong. Right and wrong are just words! They don't matter—what matters is what you do!

Nevertheless, her conscience disagreed.

"Pam, will you be coming with us?" asked Eira from her seated position at the foot of her bed, watching as Pam packed up her wardrobe for her.

"As appealing as a vacation sounds right about now," said Pam over her shoulder, pausing for dramatic effect, "no."

"You have to run Fangtasia while Eric's away, right?"

"Exactly, Princess," replied Pam, walking over to the vanity to begin packing up Eira's minimal cosmetics, and random trinkets.

"Why can't Chow do it?"

At this, Pam paused in her work, turning to look at Eira and asking, "Why the sudden urge to be my girlfriend?"

Eira smiled bashfully, shrugging her shoulders as she said, "You've grown on me."

"I highly doubt that," deadpanned Pam, but the usual bored look in her eyes softened just the slightest at hearing Eira's words. They were said with such sincerity that there was no doubt in Pam's mind about Eira's admission being true.

It almost made her smile.

Almost.

Pam was going to miss Eira greatly, but she'd never admit it—she had the image of a coldhearted bitch to keep up, after all. If she allowed herself to be soft, she'd get no respect, and she couldn't allow for the wrong people to see that she had a weakness. Eric had taught her well to keep her emotions in check, lest someone decides to use them against her, and that would not do.

"I'm nearly done here. How about you go up to your car and I'll bring your bags up in two wags of a lamb's tail."

Eira made a face, saying, "I've always hated that saying," before she disappeared from the room and reappeared outside, arriving in front of her car. She could have sworn that she had heard Pam laughing as she left the bedroom… nah.

Eric was leaning casually against the hood of Eira's car, waiting for her. Begrudgingly he stood up straight, walking up to his sister and taking her hands in his. No words were said as he simply stared down at her, committing her face to memory. They were only going to be separated for a few short hours, but it would feel like an eternity for Eric. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her, relearning all her little quirks, listening to her and Pam bicker about which shoes went with what dress, or listening to her sing quietly to herself in Danish when she thought no one was paying her any attention. He wanted to keep Eira by his side, to be able to talk casually with her about nothing and everything, to reminisce about their human lives, to spend the next 1,000 years getting to know her all over again.

Eric never realize how much it hurt to have his sister ripped away from him—he was not going to take her for granted anymore, not in this lifetime. He'd made his mistakes as a human, but now he had all of eternity to make it up to Eira—to be the brother he never was.

"This is yours," he said quietly, letting go of Eira's hands, and handing her a plane ticket he'd had in his back pocket. "I've already programmed your GPS to guide you straight to the airport. Once there, I've arranged for someone to drive your car back to Dallas. It should arrive in the morning, ready for you to use tomorrow evening."

"How long will it take me to get to Dallas?" asked Eira, looking down at the first class plane ticket in her hand. "Oh, and will I need a travel-coffin? I hate those things."

"No travel-coffin needed," said Eric with a chuckle. "You'll get there in an hour or so."

"Beats the five hours I wasted driving up here," shrugged Eira. "You know, I thought about just flying my way, it would only take me about thirty minutes, but flying with a duffle bag didn't really seem all that appealing to me. Then I thought about running—an hour or two tops, but again, running with a duffle bag just kind of killed it for me. Driving seemed like that better option, because it would give me some time to think, however, losing five hours in a drive just—"

"You're rambling," said Eric, placing a hand on Eira's cheek tenderly.

Eira smiled ruefully, saying softly, "I just don't want to leave yet. Why can't you come with me? Why wait until tomorrow?"

Eric sighed, not liking the puppy-dog eyes Eira was giving him. "I have a couple of loose ends to tie up here that will take the better part of the evening, but then I'll drop in before you know it."

"You have to make sure Lafayette doesn't do anything stupid, huh?" asked Eira with a knowing smirk.

"Among other things," said Eric vaguely.

"Well, can I at least take Pam? You can make Chow run Fangtasia."

Eric furrowed his eyebrows in question, asking, "Why the sudden urge to be close to Pam? I had thought that you didn't like her."

"I do like Pam, it's just… I don't want to leave," admitted Eira, sounding desperate as she said, "If I leave, then everything becomes real, and I can't stand the thought of going home and not having Godric there waiting for me. I just… I don't think I can do this anymore. I'm scared, Eric. If the Fellowship of the Sun really has him then—"

Eric immediately pulled his sister into his arms, hugging her tightly and kissing her temple. He did not know what words to tell her to offer her comfort, so he simply held her, pressing her up against his chest and letting his body silently tell her that he was there for her—that he'd always be there for her should she ever need him.

Sighing, Eira leaned into her brother's embrace, clinging to him desperately. Softly she said, "I love you, Eric."

"And I love you, Eir," admitted Eric quietly, burying his face in Eira's hair.

The Northmans stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a moment longer before separating. Eira looked up at Eric with teary eyes, and Eric looked down at Eira with a small smile.

"I don't like it when you cry," Eric told his sister sincerely, before smirking mischievously and saying, "Pam would kill you if you got blood on your dress."

"Yes, I would," said the voice of Pam as she appeared before the Northmans, carrying Eira's things.

"Don't worry, I won't cry," promised Eira, laughing softly as she turned to face Pam.

Pam nodded, setting down Eira's things before she walked up to Eira, standing so close that Eira could see all the little details that went into Pam's makeup. Pam stared at Eira for a moment, her face devoid of emotions, before she quickly leaned down and placed a kiss on Eira's cheek, hugging her tightly before disappearing back into the house.

It was Pam's own way of saying goodbye, and it left Eira stunned.

"She likes you," mused Eric with a knowing smile.

"How do you figure?" asked Eira inquisitively, blinking owlishly.

"You remind her of one of her girls," said Eric simply.

"Her girls?" repeated Eira curiously.

"In her human life, Pam used to be the owner of a brothel," Eric told Eira, "she cared greatly for her girls, took care of them, gave them everything—was their mother, in a sense. Your presence these past few days reminded her of what it felt liking having someone depend on her again."

Eira said nothing, however, a small smile settled on her lips, and a warm feeling settled deep within her chest.

She was Pam's girl it seemed, and she was fine with that.