Ten years later...

Less than pleased about the meeting with the King, Pam entered Bill Compton's office. She was surprised to find that he wasn't alone. Usually when she was ordered to show up to discuss Eric's whereabouts, it was just the two of them. Tonight, however, Isabel Beaumont was also present in the room. Pam's eyes slowly travelled down Isabel's lean, lithe figure, admiring the Queen of Mississippi in all her sensuous glory. But her body wasn't the only thing Pam was interested in – she was also lusting after the vintage diamond necklace around Isabel's graceful neck.

"Pam, I assume you know Queen Isabel?" Bill asked in his usual insufferable tone of voice.

"Not as intimately as I'd like," Pam replied, casting a flirtatious smile at the other woman. Isabel's beautifully shaped eyebrow arched up, but she didn't respond.

"We're here on business," Bill reminded her, waving her to take a seat.

"And here I thought this was a tea party," Pam snarked, sitting down in front of Bill. Isabel followed suit.

"Where is Eric?" Bill asked.

"Out of town," Pam responded coldly.

"Did you not communicate my instructions to him?" Bill asked.

"I did."

"But he has yet to return to Louisiana?"

Pam shrugged her shoulders. "He's taking care of business."

"Business?" Isabel finally chose that moment to speak up. "He's chasing after unsubstantiated rumors when he should be taking care of his actual responsibilities."

Pam cursed the royal bitch internally, wishing she had just kept her mouth shut. Even if Isabel iwas/i right, Pam would never admit it publicly, especially in front of that jackass Bill. "I thought finding Russell Edgington as quickly as possible is business; it's something we should all be concerned with," she argued.

"And what makes you think Eric will succeed where the authority has failed?" Bill fired back. "Do you have any idea how much of our resources have been spent trying to locate Russell?"

"No," Pam replied, her voice clipped. "And I'm really not interested."

"Do not disrespect your King unless you're prepared to face the consequences," Isabel threatened.

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell them to fuck off, but Pam recognised that pissing off her superiors wasn't exactly going to help her cause. "No offense intended," Pam said, feigning a polite smile, "but how exactly is this Mississippi's concern?"

"I asked Isabel to join me here. We need to find a suitable replacement for Eric if he continues to shirk his responsibilities."

"Eric hasn't shirked anything. Area Five is running smoothly as it always has. Just because you don't like the idea of Eric finding Sookie first-"

"Enough!" Bill raged. "That is all. You are to inform your maker if he doesn't return to Shreveport within two days, he will be removed of his title and all that it entails."

Forcing herself to keep her mouth shut, Pam stood up. She nodded her head in Bill's direction before leaving.

Pam was seething when she returned to Fangtasia, angry at both Eric and that pompous ass Bill. She hated to admit it, but that little prick did have a point. Eric's first and foremost loyalty was supposed to be to Area five. Instead, he'd been mainly focused on finding Russell Edgington and chasing after Sookie – even though there was a very good chance the bitch was already dead. Anytime rumors of Russell sightings came back to her maker, Eric took off, leaving her to deal with the day-to-day responsibilities of running Fangtasia. Of course if there were any problems within the area that needed his involvement, he returned immediately to handle them. Even then, it was obvious to everyone that Area Five was no longer Eric's first priority.

Sensing Eric's presence nearby, Pam rushed to his office. Opening the door, she found him sitting in his chair with a tiny blonde on his lap, feeding from her neck. He glanced up at Pam. "That'll be all," he said to the human, removing her from his lap.

The girl walked away; Pam shut the door, and levelled her maker with a cold glance. "You need to speak to Compton."

"Do I now?" Eric replied disinterestedly, focusing his attention on the paperwork in front of him.

"He's threatened to remove you as Sheriff if you don't do as he says."

Eric cocked his eyebrow. "I'd like to see him try."

"Don't be an idiot, Eric. He has every right to do as he sees fit, especially when you're not even here half the time," Pam bit out, and instantly regretted the words when Eric pierced her with a glacial look.

For years now – ever since the whole business with that bitch Marnie and Sookie happened - her relationship with Eric had been strained. In the beginning she had tried everything she could think of to rectify the situation but eventually Pam realised it was hopeless; he wasn't interested in fixing things – or anything that didn't involve finding his goddamn precious fairy – and Pam was sick of trying to appease him. "Did you at least find anything this time?"

"Nothing," he said coldly without looking up. "They left the city shortly before I arrived."

It would have been easy to miss the hint of disappointment on Eric's face but it didn't escape her notice. After all he was her maker, she understood him better than anyone else, and although he may not have wanted to share his pain with her, she still sensed the horrible depth of heartbreak and despair he'd fallen into ever since Sookie was taken by Russell Edgington.

But of course they never discussed it.

"How long are you sticking around this time?" she asked.

"Once it becomes necessary for you to know, I'll inform you."

"You're kidding me, right?" she huffed. Of course her feelings of discontent were of no importance to him because he simply ignored her.

"Shut the door when you leave and don't disturb me for the rest of the evening."

"Yes, Master," Pam bit out sarcastically before slamming the door behind her.

Sookie woke up with a start, once again plagued by the same nightmares that have continuously haunted her. She closed her eyes to calm herself but her senses were assaulted by the inane chatter of human guards that were scattered all over the mansion. She wondered if they had any idea what precarious positions they were in. One hint of betrayal whispered amongst them and she would instantly tear them to pieces, with no one to hold her back. Sometimes she even wished that would happen, just so she can appease this growing potent rage inside her.

As every night passed, she was more and more consumed by the need to obliterate the vampire who had used her mercilessly while she was alive and discarded her so callously when she was no longer of any use to him, who had betrayed her maker in the most tragic of ways. But she knew she had to be patient and bide her time because she wasn't ready yet.

As Russell often reminded her, she only had one shot in destroying the extremely treacherous Eric Northman, and she had to be at her absolute strongest when that moment came.