"So, what brings you to Reno?" Talbot asked amicably, as they strolled away from the bar.

Eva was trying not fall into a false sense of security, but it was hard not to trust Talbot a bit. Anyway, she'd asked every other vampire in Nevada of the King and his party.

"I'm looking for the King; I need to speak to him."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I have unfinished business with him…" she half lied.

"From the vampire summit?"

"…Yes."

"Terrible business, I was there…oh," Talbot suddenly interrupted himself. "Stay with me while you're in the area, I'm staying in the Corello hotel, it bodes well for out-of-towners to stick together."

Hearing this was more appealing an offer than Eva had heard in months; some mature non-sexually harassing company would be amazing after the month of stunted contact with others. She nodded all too eagerly and followed him to his car.

"Of course it feels a little uneasy in vampire hotels, but you can't let one incident halt your whole life," he carried on as they slid into the shiny modern and undoubtedly expensive car.

"I agree completely, I refuse to bury myself in the woods for the night."

"Hmm, unthinkable." He drove fast and smooth, navigating through the dark with ease.

"So what brings you to Reno yourself?"

There was a long quiet pause.

"I'm looking for someone."

"Ah, loose them during the chaos of the summit?"

"Actually," Talbot answered, "A close one did."

"Ah, very helpful of you to look for him."

"Well, he's indisposed. He came away from Lake Michigan in a bad way."

"Oh…I hope he's better soon."

"A naïve girl like you would hope that, bless you."

When Talbot spoke he sounded practiced and refined, but sounded like he aimed to elicit so response from Eva, or realisation. Eva got a sly undertone from him suddenly and felt mildly uncomfortable.

"I got married at the summit," he informed her sadly.

"Congratulations!"

"Oh yes, we'd been together for a grand seven-hundred years, we planned the most beautiful honeymoon. It was all supposed to be exquisite, but now it's all on hold."

"When he's better you can have one surely?"

"Yes, but all that planning for nothing…"

"I am sorry," Eva replied absentmindedly. In her head she was trying to recall the vampires that got married at the convention. She would have known if she wasn't dragged into everything, she would have served at their weddings. When she got sucked into all the drama she wasn't really aware what else happened at the hotel. She suddenly felt a little guilty for not educating herself a little bit while she had the chance; inside she thought she could slide around in her own little bubble and stay as safe as she could. There were other types of ignorance than ignorance to immoral incidents, and Eva herself had been one guilty of ignorance. She had been ignorant to the events in a world she was so clearly being dragged into. She decided to try and not live in denial anymore. Of course, in her current state there was no way she could.

"So you owe your alliance to Louisiana?"

"For now," Eva sighed. Talbot gave her a sideways look.

"Do you know something I don't?"

"What?" Eva laughed, "No, I know bloody nothing right now."

"Let me educate you a bit," Talbot purred, his voice holding a dark cutting edge. Eva felt like the vulnerable little girl again slightly. "In our world, allegiance is a strong part of who you are."

"Surely you don't believe that, isn't that somewhat stereotypical?"

"Stereotypical?"

"Too judge one on what state there from…I made a judgement on you, despite knowing what state you're from…" Eva was dropping a bit of a hint, she was beginning to realise how important origins and state boundaries were. It was something a maker would normally convey to a progeny, but Eva was learning through experience right now.

"Maybe that was your mistake then," Talbot answered darkly, ignoring Eva's subtle question.

Eva took a long thoughtful look at Talbot, and suddenly saw her constant pattern of being much, much too trusting. She felt a danger looming and began counting her options quickly.

Her options slimmed drastically when the roof of the car was torn off.

"Jesus Christ!" Eva screamed. There was a flash of dark hair, pale skin and the car swerved. She scrabbled for the handle but tugging at it she realised the car was locked, and there was a leg over the lock button. Eva remembered she had super human strength and skin tough as nails (she was somewhat forgetful) and covering her eyes, thrust her elbow through the window. The glass smashed, and Eva attempted to scramble out to safety, but there was a hand in her hair and she was pulled back into the car.

"These are suspicious times, and we don't take kindly to strangers coming into our state and causing trouble," an almost familiar voice growled. Eva gasped and tried to unknot the fingers from her hair.

Talbot was retaliating with great strength, but the intruder was had easily overpowered him and held him by the neck on the driver's seat from behind. Perched on the backseat, one hand round Talbot's throat and another in Eva's hair, his face was unseen, until Eva glanced into the wing mirror. It confirmed her suspicions and Eva would have happily bowed to the sky and thanked God for her incredible luck. In fact, despite being restrained in a car with the roof ripped off, she could have cried for joy.

"Now listen closely, here in Nevada…"

"Victor…" Eva gasped, clawing at his fingers desperately. The minute he heard her voice, he dropped his grip and leaned forward to gaze at her in awe. Talbot took this slight drop in stance as his opportunity and whacked Victor viciously. Eva yelped.

Suddenly her alliances slid into place.

She ripped the clutch from the cars wiring and dealt a hefty blow at Talbot, who was still attempting to drive the car, and now it was missing a clutch, drastically failing. Talbot abandoned the steering wheel and lunged at Eva, but Victor restrained him easily. It was hard to have a tussle in a crashing car, but if anyone could, three vampires could.

Before the car spiralled off the wide fortunately empty road, Talbot leapt to safety through the gaping hole in the roof. Victor Madden looped one arm round Eva's torso, and threw the pair of them out after Talbot. The car crashed into the trees with an impressive explosion, but the vampires we're lying clear of range.

"Leave my state," Victor snarled, reeling to his feet immediately standing in front of a dazed Eva who hadn't quite composed herself yet.

Talbot wasn't a suicidal idiot, and literally disappeared before Eva's own eyes, and Eva suddenly felt her speed was a little pathetic. Though, coherent sensible thoughts weren't forming yet. She later marvelled at Victor's age, to make Talbot admit defeat so easily. Victor Madden turned to her with an incredulous expression.

"I get a call from George, a well-known vampire and bartender, claiming two foreign state vampires are causing trouble in his bar. Being a higher authority at this suspicious high-stake, no pun intended, time, it's my job to step in. Here I find you, you little trouble maker."

Eva stared at him; she was sure her guardian angels somewhere were bragging about this moment, this chance meeting.

"Well, I'm glad I'm a trouble maker, or I'd be wandering around this state for god knows how many more months."

"You are incredible, you realise that," Victor laughed gently, dusting his expensive suit off.

"Oh, I don't know about that, I'd say I'm just lucky."