Sam stood, shocked, unable to move. Grief flooded him. No, not poor Peggy, not like this. Yet there was no doubt in his mind that she was gone. Her eyes were closed, her head lolled to the side, and Santiago clutched her in his arms.

"Margaret!" Eric screamed. "Let me go, you savages! I'll kill you. I will kill ALL OF YOU!"

"Do not let him go," said Sophie-Anne softly. She had barely spared a glance at Sam, Anne Marie and Sookie, still clotted together in the doorway. "Northman, you need to calm down."

"You killed her!" Sam growled at Christopher. Santiago looked over at him in annoyance.

"Stop barking," he sneered.

"It was Kicksy," Simone said miserably. "She stabbed Peggy."

"Margaret gave her life to protect the queen," said the vampire holding on to Pam's arm. "The knife was made of silver."

"Pam, why didn't you stop this?" Eric raged.

"Eric, I'm sorry," Pam said, and she did sound genuinely sorry. She yanked her arm. "Andre, let go of me." Andre glanced at the queen, who nodded slightly, and he released Pam.

"She didn't have the chance," Santiago snapped. "None of us did!"

"No, no…" Anne Marie muttered from behind Sam. "Dis can' be."

"Sam," Sookie said. "Oh, Sam."

"You took her from me, Santiago!" Eric raged.

"What does that mean?" Sam demanded, not of Eric in particular but of the whole group. He looked at Simone, the most likely to answer him.

"Sam," said Simone, "Christopher has made Peggy into a vampire, to save her life."

"So…she's not dead?"

"Oh, she's dead," said Sophie-Anne, "We're all dead, technically."

"You could have let me do it!" Eric snarled. Sam now understood the gravity of the situation, and he was thankful for the two giant vampire guards that were holding the enraged Viking still. "She was MINE!"

"There was no time," Santiago insisted.

"Then it should have been Pam," Eric said bitterly. He seemed to have stopped fighting, but the guards didn't let him go.

"I made the decision," said Sophie-Anne, "And you should thank me for not simply permitting her to die."

"Forgive me if I do not feel very grateful!" Eric snapped.

"I will, but just for a short time," said Sophie-Anne. "Santiago, take her away. Eric, you can see her once she awakens. Tomorrow night, at the ball, I think. Not before."

"No! I want to stay with her—" Eric began struggling again as Santiago rose, holding Peggy in his arms.

"She has to spend this first day with her maker," Andre said calmly. "You know that, Eric."

"Margaret…Oh, my Margaret." Eric's voice came out a broken, desperate croak, and Sam felt a twinge of pity for him.

Santiago headed for the doorway, and Simone followed him. Sam and the girls stepped aside to let them pass.

"You should come with us," Simone said, looking at Anne Marie in particular. Sam was just about to agree when Bill and Marstock came racing up the stairs. Sookie nearly fell into Bill's embrace. Marstock pushed past them onto the balcony. Santiago glared at him hatefully, but said nothing. Sam got the feeling that Christopher would have his revenge.

"Sookie, are you all right?" Bill demanded.

"I'm fine, but Peggy's not," Sookie said.

"Is she dead?"

"Yes, Compton, she is." Santiago rolled his eyes and carried Peggy off down the stairs, Simone following and casting an urgent glance back at Anne Marie.

"Santiago made her a vampire," Sam answered Bill. "And we should go."

But it was too late; the queen was beckoning them over even while she was addressing Marstock.

"Gregory Marstock, you have been accused of stealing Christopher Santiago's work and of using it in my territory without my permission. Also, you seduced away one of his employees, who murdered another one of Santiago's humans, then attempted to kill me."

Marstock looked pale, even for a vampire. He hardly glanced down at Kinkerbelle's pathetic, dead body. No remorse, no sense of loss. Sam suddenly had a new respect for Eric, whose grief for Peggy was palpable. There remained not even a shadow of a doubt that Eric had loved her, still did love her. How would that change now? Not only was Peggy a vampire, but she was a vampire of someone else's blood. Sam wondered if her connection to Eric would be broken. Would Peggy still love Eric?

"It's your fault that she's dead," Eric hissed, and now Marstock looked visibly afraid.

"Now, Sophie-Anne, I was just trying to get ahead in business," Marstock said in a wheedling tone, laying the Southern Gentleman routine on thick. "And you know any business I bring to the city in turn helps you. Santiago and I just had a little friendly competition."

"With friends like you, who needs enemies?" Eric said. Marstock ignored him.

"This is really just an unpleasant understanding," said Marstock, smiling at Sophie-Anne. "As for Kicksy here, why, I certainly had no idea he was going to do anything so rash. The boy was unbalanced, no doubt due to the debauchery he experienced at Santiago's hands."

Sophie-Anne looked disgusted. She didn't even bother to answer Marstock. She just nodded at the two enormous guards, and they let go of Eric. Eric moved too fast for Sam to see. Marstock had only enough time to let out a gurgle before he was lying on the balcony next to Kinkerbelle with an enormous hole in his chest. Eric had ripped out his heart with his bare hand. In Eric's grasp, the heart melted into dust, and soon Marstock's corpse began to do the same. Eric whirled to face Sophie-Anne and Andre.

"Don't do anything rash," Andre said sharply.

Eric glared at them for a long moment, then jumped off of the balcony, disappearing into the night sky. Sophie-Anne shook her head.

"Pam, go find him. Make sure he stays away from Christopher Santiago tonight," said Sophie-Anne.

"Certainly," said Pam.

"And don't jump off the balcony!"

"I wasn't planning on it." Pam turned and sashayed past all of them, down the stairs into the street.

"I should rip his fangs out for that," the queen said casually to Andre. "Doesn't he know how much press I have to buy every time someone does some super-human stunt? We can't let the mortals know the full extent of our powers. It would seriously… freak them out."

Sam's eyes widened at her use of the modern expression, but he said nothing. He was getting the feeling that they really should get the hell out of there, but now the queen turned at last to face them. "Bill! Who are all these…witnesses?"

Sam didn't like the sound of that.

Bill stepped forward. "This is… Sookie Stackhouse."

"I'm Bill's," Sookie added nervously. The queen nodded.

"And this is Sam Merlotte, the shifter. Anne Marie Boudreaux, the sister of Christopher's progeny, Simone."

"Also a shifter, then," said Sophie-Anne. "Very well. I recall that you are all on the guest list for the ball tomorrow. Perhaps I will talk to you then. I've certainly had enough excitement for one night."

She turned and went down the stairs, with Andre and the two bodyguards following close behind.

"I believe we've been dismissed," said Bill, with relief.

"Good," said Sam.

"I suggest we adjoin to the hotel," said Bill.

"I agree," said Sam. "Ladies?"

Sookie and Anne Marie were fairly quiet for once and simply followed.

"Poor Peggy," Anne Marie said.

"Poor Eric," Sookie replied.

Sam felt bad for both of the star-crossed lovers… and a small part of him felt bad for Christopher Santiago as well. He would be lucky if he didn't meet the same fate as Gregory Marstock once Eric caught up with him.