Eva sat in a booth at Fangtasia, playing with her hair absentmindedly. Nights were passing quickly since the rough and tumble, and they'd all fallen into a neutral state of affairs in Shreveport. Neither Eric nor Eva had brought up what had happened, and while their relationship was strained at times, it was functional and rather interesting. Pam was teasing Eva one early morning, while they stood outside Fangtasia carding people, that the pressure sometimes felt between them was nothing more than sexual tension. Eva had scoffed, as she tried to judge whether the driver's license in her hand was fake or not.

"More like I feel guilty and awkward and he doesn't know what to do with me," she answered, as she handed the card back to the nervous looking boy. He seemed rigid with excitement yet anxiety, and Eva realised her fangs had made an appearance. Vexed, she tried to coax them back, and then gave up. She was still a novice at executing control over her fangs, especially when something had rattled her, but she had plenty of chances to practice around the bar.

"You forget, I am also a creation of that handsome man," Pam commented with a grin, waving a young girl in latex on in.

"I thought men, however handsome, weren't your style?" Eva laughed, baring her long fangs at Pam accidentally.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she hissed playfully, passing her own tongue over her fangs at Eva and raising her eyebrows suggestively. Eva looked at the floor with a grin to shrug off Pam's lewd jokes. "I was young and inexperienced though," she continued more seriously, "so my point is, I've been through that early stage and I mean real early. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife – and me and Eric were having sex anyway."

Eva stared at Pam hard, she was so open and casual about her sex life, and Eva wondered if that was a point you reach or just a lack of modesty. Eva had never been naïve or shy, but she'd never laid her experiences or fantasies out on the table for discussion. This world where almost anything goes was pretty new to her.

"So, aside from your pointless refrains from rolling around with Eric, tell me something interesting?"

"Like what?" Eva sighed. She sometimes thought how lucky she was to have Pam, who was more on the chatty girly side than other vamps. Other times she thought she'd decided she could occupy the quiet points in her long life with gossip.

"Oh I don't know - anyone else caught your fancy?" her voice was almost dripping with sarcasm, and Eva knew what she was getting at but rather watch Pam get irritable.

"Heavens, no!"

Pam gave her a cold hard glare, and eventually Eva laughed and shook her head.

"Look, I haven't seen him since that night. I know I'll see him soon seeing as there all swanning about enforcing the new regime on us. I'm surprised they've not been in already to be honest. When I see him I'll see him, really he should come try and talk to me…" Eva found herself babbling, and Pam was starting to look bored.

"Seems to me," she drawled, stepping aside to let a tall Asian vampire leave Fangtasia with a blonde boy on his arm. "That you are denying yourself all things fun in vampiric life."

Eva gave her a questioning look.

"You mean the blood?"

"The blood, the sex, the wild violence and anarchy you can rein with your bare hands…or teeth…" Pam was practically drooling from her fangs describing her idea of a fun time. Eva shook her head again.

"You know, when I was human I looked forward to being able to buy my own house, have my own garden…children…"

"Forget it," Pam snapped simply, knocking Eva out her slide to depression. "Have some fun, when I was turned it was all quiet and secretive. What I'd have given to bare my fangs at someone in the street…have people know what I am…"

"I imagine you we're on the edge of your seat the day you all came out…"

"Oh, you have no idea…"

That was the only time her stunted relationships had been brought up, and Eva was glad of it. They depressed her somewhat, and sometimes she wondered if Pam was right, that she did just deny herself everything fun. Was she subconsciously punishing herself or something strange and similarly physcologically complex?

She was pondering this as men and woman in ridiculous costumes or skimpy latex wonders gawked at her. She had offered to barmaid but Eric had stared at her as if she were mad and told her to sit out there and look pretty and indifferent. Not too sure how to look indifferent, or purposely pretty for that matter without pouting at all the clientele, she just sat back and thought her problems through. On the scale of things though, her problems at that point in time weren't too substantial. Not compared to what had become the norm for her anyway, hate bomb attacks, crazy bloodthirsty vampires ready to jump her bones or drink her blood, vampire royalty planning to use her for blackmail, and the like.

It was ironically the moment she'd decide her life was pretty damn alright for the moment that Victor Madden walked in the bar. He attracted the usual wave of looks and whisperings as he entered, as most vampires do. His hair was slicked back neatly tonight, and he wore a pinstripe suit. Eva couldn't help thinking he looked like he'd stepped out the nineteen-twenties. All he needed was a cigar and some jazz music for ambience.

It was while Eva was making these imaginative observations that he turned, and nodded to her quickly. She smiled back, trying not to look too interested in his arrival. He walked on towards her and when he was about a metre away he dipped down so his face was close to hers. Eva instinct reaction was to move back, but she reminded herself she was a 'fierce female vamp' and didn't scurry away from men's dominating gestures. She had recently began asking herself, what would Pam do, when it came to situations she wasn't familiar with, and had found that mental stance had served her well.

"Where's Eric?" he asked in a low voice.

"In the back unless he's flown off somewhere out the window."

Standing erect and nodding, Victor turned and slouched off to the back offices. Eva went back to giving hopeful fangbangers hard stares. She decided she couldn't tolerate them approaching her and talking to as if she were Queen of the British Empire. One actually fell to his knees and bowed – Eva would have gagged with disgust if she still had a gag reflex.

She found herself glaring momentarily though, for Vincent marched back out with his usual smug grin on. Eva slid out of the booth seat and followed his brisk pace out the front door.

"Everything going swimmingly then?" she asked loudly as they were outside to attract his attention.

"Oh yes," he leered, spinning energetically to face her. "Louisiana seems to be prospering greatly under Nevada rule…"

"I wasn't aware it was failing under the previous Queen's rule," she snapped. She was sick of this hoity-toity attitude the new authority took with them. She'd heard the old Queen was lavish and conceited at times, but these people could be smug to the core. But she stopped to remind herself they weren't always like that; Victor had been sweet to her. Well, he'd been alright, she wasn't sure you could classify the vamps actions as sweet. He'd saved her life numerous times, but for his protégé the first time and for motives the most recent of times. She suspected their victory over Louisiana had also made them feel superior.

"As if you'd know," Victor commented. "You did run away to my den after a week of this place, was it really that bad?"

Eva growled, attracting the attention of patrons stood outside the entrance of the bar having a smoke.

"Or was Eric Northman's sexual advances too much to bear?" he continued.

Eva's fangs made an appearance, but Victor simply laughed and turned on his heels.

"By the way, Lucio will be calling in the near future. I do ask you be gentle on the boy…" he called as he slunk away.

"Course, because you've really buttered me up…" Eva retorted, turning herself.

"I have found new joy in winding you up."

That was the last thing she heard from him before he disappeared to the shadows in the wonderful way vampires could. Eva decided she needed to learn that trick. Glaring at the distant darkness, she turned and stomped back in.

The night crawled onwards slowly until Eric's second visitor arrived. In a attractive brightly coloured dress and with blonde hair pulled back into a sweeping ponytail that accentuated her high cheekbones and square jaw, the young girl walked with purpose to the back.

You wouldn't enter a vampire business office unless expected, so Eva regarded her with interest. Pam was sat in what was normally Eric's chair, high backed and stupidly royal looking, set on a platform slightly apart from the tables and booths. Eva picked her way towards Pam and perched on the large arm of what could only be referred to as a throne.

"A lot of visitors tonight," she murmured, and Pam nodded.

"Yes, Felipe de Castro arrived a short while ago in case you didn't notice," Eva hadn't. "Seems everyone's visiting but you're beau."

"Please stop referring to him as that," she snarled. Pam laughed and patted her upper thigh. Eva stood up, Pam's mock-lesbian pursuit was beginning to worry her. "And the blonde girl?" she asked to change the subject.

"You haven't met Sookie yet?"

Eva's skin almost tingled with the name, as if it were to be prominent to her in the near future. She had a bad feeling.

"No," she replied quietly.

"I trust Eric will introduce you eventually."

Pam got up and walked onto the dance floor to flaunt her unnaturally good moves. Eva was about to pursue her and ask her what the girls significance was, then decided against it. She didn't want to appear obsessed so she simply sank into the throne and watched Pam dance with amusement.

Several minutes later, Sookie stomped back out and across Fangtasia. Eva tuned in and thanked whoever was looking down for her superhuman hearing.

Pam stopped dancing as Sookie stormed near her, and looked at her with an inquisitive smile.

Time seamed to pause as Eva leaned forward in her chair to hear Sookie's cutting words.

"I'm pledged to Eric…I'm a vampire wife…and. You. Knew."

Sookie hissed the words through gritted teeth, and Pam just laughed and carried on dancing. Sookie flounced past her to walk out, but Eva's insides were bubbling.

All she could see was red. A big haze of bloody red.

I don't love Eric of course; she told herself grimly and too an objective listener unconvincing, that would be stupid. I just want her blonde head on a plate.