Pam clenched her hands together in her lap in an effort to keep from fidgeting as she sat next to Bill at the Festival of Tolerance the next evening.

Bill had convinced her to come under the pretext of her being a well-known vampire, but she suspected that he really just wanted to make sure she didn't do anything about Eric.

But, to use his words, he was merely delaying the inevitable: she would find some way to save him.

She tried not to roll her eyes as Nan introduced Bill and he stepped up to the podium.

"Smile," Nan hissed as she took Bill's seat next to her.

Pam was about to say something in response when she suddenly froze, "Eric," she murmured.

Nan looked at her in concern as Sookie suddenly rushed through the crowd, calling out a warning for Bill and all hell broke loose.

Pam barely heard her as she was too busy searching the room for her Maker; she caught sight of him on a second storey balcony before he began moving at vampire speed towards the stage.

"Eric!" she cried, moving towards him.

She wasn't entirely sure what her motivation was for coming towards him when she did, but he obviously perceived her as a threat because he stopped short and hurled the silver stake he held in his hand.

As usual he struck with deadly accuracy.

He paused just long enough to ascertain that Pam was no longer a threat before he continued to close in on Bill.

Bill stood his ground and the two were soon at each other's throats, literally.

Sookie made it through the crowd just in time to see Eric gain the upper hand over Bill, she glanced around at the destruction that he had already caused and snapped.

"Enough!" she yelled, engulfing Eric in a flash of light.

He stumbled back a couple of paces as the light receded, blinking in confusion as he looked around him.

Bill was the first to recover from the shock of Sookie using her powers and leapt to his feet, a makeshift stake in his hand.

"Bill! Wait!"

The urgent tone in Sookie's voice stopped Bill in his tracks and he turned to look at her, a question in his eyes.

"I think the curse has been broken," she explained.

Bill and Sookie both turned to look at Eric, who still looked a little dazed. His eyes found Sookie's and he opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly stopped short, glancing to the side.

"Pam," he whispered.