The way Sookie's body moved in her new dress as they walked to the door fanned Eric's bitterness that the two of them couldn't enjoy this evening alone together. He opened the door and stood aside as Sookie walked past him into the humid summer heat.

"How are the new vamps working out?" she asked him.

He knew that she was trying to make conversation, but he was unable to summon a moment's interest in the subject. "They come in when they're supposed to and put in their bar time."

"What's wrong with them?" She waited as he opened the car door. "You don't seem very excited about the addition to your ranks." After she had situated herself inside, he closed the door and went around to his side.

Even if he had been excited about the new vampires, they were the furthest thing from his thoughts on this night. He folded himself into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Palomino does well enough, but Rubio is stupid, and Parker is weak," he told her.

Sookie pulled out her seatbelt and buckled it, and he shifted the car into gear. From the corner of his eye, he could see that she was looking at him.

"You want to talk to me about the argument between you and Pam?" she asked.

"No."

"All right," Sookie sighed after a long, uncomfortable silence. "Okey dokey. Have it your way." She was looking straight ahead now, her arms folded. "But I think the sex will be a few degrees less spectacular if I'm worried about you and Pam." He turned and glared at her. Telling her to drop it was useless, so he would simply have to wait until she decided to do so on her own. But she was like a kitten batting at a loose thread. "I know that Pam wants to make another vampire… I understand there's a time element involved."

He relaxed somewhat; she was "barking up the wrong tree," as the humans said, and he certainly wasn't going to stop her. "Immanuel shouldn't have talked," was all he said.

"It was nice to have someone actually share information with me," she shot back. "Information directly pertaining to people I care about." Her tone wasn't petulant or bitter, but earnest with a trace of hurt. It was the hurt that suffused the bond between them.

He didn't want to talk about Pam; he felt her pain almost as keenly as she did, and it wasn't the best idea to stir up his anger towards Victor on this of all nights. But, at the very least, he could assure Sookie that he wasn't the one responsible for Pam's suffering. "Sookie, Victor has said I can't give permission for Pam to make a child," he told her. He bit his tongue against the choice words he could have said on the matter.

"Kings have control over reproduction, I guess?"

He nodded, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "Yes, absolute control. But you understand that Pam is giving me hell about this, and so is Victor."

Sookie reached over and laid her hand on his knee. Even through the material of his pants, he could feel the warmth of her. "Victor isn't a king, really, is he?" she asked. "Maybe if you went directly to Felipe…?"

"Every time I bypass Victor, he finds a way to punish me," he said. And Felipe is dead, for all I know.

They sat in tense silence for a while, and then Sookie said brightly, "I've got some antiques dealers coming by tomorrow to look at the stuff we brought down from the attic."

He glanced at her and smiled. "Do you think there is anything valuable?"

"I've really got no idea. I like to watch Antiques Roadshow sometimes, but I can never tell if something is really valuable or just plain junk." She laughed.

"No doubt your grandmother had many hidden treasures." He looked at her again, pleased that she was smiling.

They lapsed into quiet again, but this time it was comfortable. Eric allowed himself to relax his grip on the wheel and to anticipate their time together later, when all the unpleasantness with Victor was behind them. He let himself imagine that his chief concern for the evening was whether he wanted Sookie to keep her dress on or take it off. Of course, there was no reason not to have it both ways. A passionate, heated fuck against the wall – Sookie splendid with that dress hitched up and her legs wrapped around his waist and his mouth pressed to the swell of her breasts – and then he would take his time undressing her, savoring her, loving her. He made a mental note to himself not to rip the dress in his inevitable haste. The thong, obviously. But not the dress. He would want to see her in it again.

"Eric, you don't tell me everything about your business," she said suddenly, and he blinked out of his happy reverie. "Am I right?"

"You're right, but that's for many reasons, Sookie," he said, wondering what she was thinking. She already knew that there were things related to his position, related to his business, and related to other vampires that he could never tell her. She had known this for a very long time. Why the question? "Most important is that some of it you could only worry about, and the rest of it might put you in danger. Knowledge isn't always power." Sookie didn't reply. "There's also the fact that I'm not used to sharing my daily concerns with a human, and it's hard to break the habit after a thousand years." It's hard to break the habit of assuming no one really cares. "But you tell me everything, my lover, don't you?" he asked. He turned to her and winked, but she wasn't smiling. He had meant to tease her… to remind her that no couple told each other everything. But her expression seemed to suggest that there were important things she kept from him. "You don't?" He took a moment to absorb this, to wonder what he didn't know. "That's an unexpected twist. And yet, we say we love each other."

"We say we do, and I do love you," she said. "But I'm beginning to see that being in love doesn't mean sharing as much as I thought we would." He didn't know how to answer that, so he didn't. They passed the exit for Victor's new diner, and Sookie muttered, "Crap. There sits all of Merlotte's business. What do they have that we haven't got?"

Eric shrugged. "Entertainment. The novelty of being the new place. Waitresses in hot pants and halter tops."

"Oh, stop." She sighed, and he could see her twisting her hands in her lap. "What with the trouble about Sam being a shapeshifter and all other other stuff, I don't know how much longer Merlotte's can hold out."

He couldn't help smiling. "Oh, then you would have no job. You could work for me at Fangtasia."

Before he could turn to grin at her, she snapped, "No, thank you." He frowned at the road ahead. "I would hate to see the fangbangers come in night after night, always wanting what they shouldn't have. It's just sad and bad."

"That's how I make my money, Sookie," he said, looking at her briefly before turning back to the road. "On the perverse dreams and fantasies of humans. Most of those humans are tourists who visit Fangtasia once or twice and then go back to Minden or Emerson and tell their neighbors about their walk on the wild side. Or they're people from the Air Force base who like to show how tough they are by drinking at a vampire bar."

In his opinion, most of Fangtasia's customers visited for the same reason they would visit an amusement park or even the zoo. He doubted whether Sookie would think it "sad and bad" to visit either of those places. And she couldn't possibly object to it being a bar when she herself worked at a bar. Her revulsion both baffled and irritated him.

She sighed. "I understand that, and I know if fangbangers don't come to Fangtasia, they'll go somewhere else they can hang around with vampires." Like Victor's new bar, Eric thought bitterly. "But I don't think I'd like the ambience on a day-to-day basis."

The ambience. That, at least, he could partly understand. Fangtasia was darkly lit with dark music and dark people. He remembered the way Sookie had stood out on her first visit, a candle in a coal mine. No, he couldn't picture Sookie wearing costumes such as Pam's, titillating the clientele, both human and vampire.

"What would you do, then, if Merlotte's closed?" he asked her.

"I'd try to get another waitressing job… maybe at the Crawdad Diner. The tips wouldn't be as good as at a bar, but the aggravation would be less." She paused, and Eric started to ask her why she sold herself so short – why she didn't consider putting her intelligence and talents to better use. "And…" she continued thoughtfully, slowly, "maybe I'd try to take some online classes and get some kind of degree." He glanced at her and saw the curve of a smile on her face. "That would be nice, to have more education."

This pleased him, and he wondered what had held her back for so long. Money, no doubt. "You didn't mention contacting your great-grandfather," he pointed out. "He could make sure you never wanted for anything." He chose not to add: So could I. He knew she would find it unacceptable.

"I'm not sure I could – contact him, that is," she mused. "I guess Claude would know how. In fact, I'm sure he would. But Niall made it pretty clear he thought staying in touch wouldn't be a good idea." Eric couldn't disagree on that point. "Eric, do you think Claude has an ulterior motive for coming to live with me?"

Her question was earnest, and Eric fought back a smile. "Of course he does. Dermot, too. I only wonder that you need to ask."

This silenced her for a few minutes. Her sweetness and her faith in people were admirable qualities, but not when dealing with supernatural creatures who had no compunction about using her or – worse – harming her. He himself had used her. He was using her tonight. Such reflections did little to help his mood.

He bore right onto the exit for Vampire's Kiss and turned onto the frontage road. The bar was brightly lit, and Eric could already see that the parking lot was full. He realized that he would break the steering wheel if he gripped it any tighter, and he loosened his hold.

Sookie was looking out of her window. "Aren't you afraid that people who would have driven on into Shreveport to go to Fangtasia are just going to pull off when they see this club?"

She didn't know yet about his serious business problems, and it would be easy enough to brush aside her concern. But it was no use hiding the truth from her.

"Yes," he said frankly.

He circled the parking lot a few times until a cramped space opened up several rows back from the entrance. Slamming the gear shift into park, he killed the engine and opened his door. The lot was relatively quiet as he stepped out and shut his door. He cast his eyes over the lot as he walked around to help Sookie out.

"Who's in the parking lot, lover?" he murmured as she turned in her seat and unfolded her legs.

She took the hand he offered and stood. She closed her eyes as she listened, while he closed her door and locked the car. Bracing his hand against the car, he waited. After a few more moments, she opened her eyes and looked up at him, laying her hand over his. Naturally, she could feel his tension.

"A couple having sex in a car two rows away… a man throwing up behind the black pickup on the other side of the parking lot… two couples just pulling in, in an Escalade… one vampire by the door to the club…" Her fingers squeezed his hand. "Another vampire, closing fast."

He bared his fangs and spun around, but the vampire joining them was Pam.

"Master," she said, bowing her head slightly. "I came ahead as you bid me."

The wind was strong, and as it blew Pam's long, thick hair back from her face, he could see that she had been in a fight.

Sookie, who had been peering around his arm, said, "Pam, step into the light."

Pam's expression was stony as she moved into the circle of the light under which Eric had parked. Eric felt Sookie's fingers tighten on his arm. In the light, he could see that she hadn't merely been in a fight; she had been badly beaten.

After taking a second to measure his voice, he said, "What happened to you?"

"I told the door guards that I needed to come in to make sure Victor knew you were arriving," she said, holding her chin high as if the bruises were a badge of honor. "An excuse to make sure that the interior was secure."

"They prevented you," he said, equally stoic.

"Yes."

The wind gusted again as they looked at each other. What he wanted to do was storm up to the door and beat the shit out of anyone who stood in his way. Pam obviously felt the same way. But humble acceptance was the only option they had, and it was a galling one.

"We have to go in, or they'll send someone after us," he said.

He stood aside to let Sookie walk past, and he took her hand as they followed Pam to the door. "Not mine," Pam said darkly as they passed a worker cleaning blood from the gravel.

"Sheriff Eric, I am Ana Lyudmila," said the vampire at the door. "I welcome you to Vampire's Kiss."

Eric did not respond, giving Ana a significant look that clearly implied he was waiting for her to acknowledge his companions. She obviously knew who they were.

Sookie, who had never been one to tolerate rudeness, took a step forward and said in a bright voice – the sort of bright voice which a Southern woman uses to say Fuck you politely – "Hi, I'm Sookie. I'm married to Eric. I guess you didn't know that? And this is Pam, Eric's child and his strong right arm. I guess you didn't know that, either? 'Cause otherwise, not greeting us appropriately is just plain rude."

The expression on Ana's face was almost enough to coax a smile from Eric in spite of his mood. Almost. She forced a smile. "Welcome, human wife of Eric and revered fighter Pam. I apologize for failing to offer you a suitable greeting."

Pam did not look at all pacified, but Sookie lightly punched her shoulder and replied, "We're cool, Ana Lyudmila. It's all good here."

At this point, Pam seemed ready to kill both Ana and Sookie, and Sookie looked up at Eric as if to say, "A little help here?"

Eric set his shoulders and eyed Ana with the regard he might give to a slug. "I think your master is waiting for us."

"Y-yes, of course," she said, laughing awkwardly. She called over her shoulder for two vampires named Luis and Antonio, who appeared at her side in an instant.

The larger one nodded at Eric, Pam, and Sookie in turn and said, "Follow us, please."

Eric walked straight at the door, forcing Ana to jump out of his way or be shoved aside. The bar was even more crowded than the parking lot suggested. This evening was to be a performance, and he summoned all his inner resources to play his part. I am happy to be here. He winked at one of the waitresses. I am happy – no, delighted – to be here. Not concerned with the amount of business. Not worried about seeing Victor. Happy, delighted.

"How are your three friends, the ones who prevented me from entering?" he heard Pam ask behind him. He didn't listen to the reply.

As the crowd parted for them, he could see Victor. He reached behind for Sookie's hand, and she threaded her warm fingers through his. He pulled her up to walk beside him, draping his arm across her shoulders. He wanted her as close as possible in case Victor had anything planned.

One of Victor's human playthings moved aside, and Eric saw Miriam, who looked ill and frightened. He bit his tongue, but he heard Pam whisper Miriam's name. This cruelty on Victor's part angered him more than anything else had. Eric had never seen Pam beg until the last night they had gone to Victor; on that night she had knelt at Victor's feet to plead for Miriam's life, and the debasement of his proud, beautiful child, along with her intense misery, had been almost impossible to bear. Only Sookie's suffering at the hands of the fairies had affected him more deeply in his thousand years. For Victor to display Miriam in such a way tonight was nothing less than sadistic. Eric felt his carefully maintained nonchalance crumbling away, and he fought to keep it.

"Eric!" Victor pronounced with a broad grin. "How good to see you in my new enterprise! Do you like the décor?" He swept his arm out before reaching for his drink.

Apart from noticing tacky cut-outs of Bubba, Eric hadn't paid much attention to the decorations. He had been too busy cataloging vampires, exits, and potential weapons. "I'm amazed," he replied. It wouldn't have convinced the most oblivious child, but Victor didn't seem to care.

"Pardon my bad manners," Victor said, setting his drink aside again. "Please have a seat. My companions are…" He looked at the young woman simpering at his side. "Your name, sweetness?"

"I'm Mindy Simpson. This is my husband, Mark Simpson."

Eric would be surprised if Victor had absorbed either of those two names. The regent was eyeing Sookie as they took their places. "I see you have your dear wife with you," he said. Victor was oozing charm the way a wound oozed pus, and it was just as distasteful.

"Yeah, I'm here," Sookie sighed.

Unfazed by Sookie's obvious lack of enthusiasm, Victor added, "And your famous second, Pam Ravenscroft."

For a moment, the group sat in uncomfortable silence. Pam looked close to tears, and Eric berated himself for his inability to summon any of his usual composure. That had been happening far too often for his liking since the blood bond.

He felt Sookie's hand tighten in his. "How long has Vampire's Kiss been open?" she asked. She had shifted into church picnic mode, playing Victor's little game right along with him, and Eric hoped she could feel his gratitude.

"You didn't see all my advance publicity?" Victor replied, looking bored. "Only three weeks, but so far it's been quite the success."

"Do you spend a lot of time here?" she pressed. "I'm surprised they don't need you in New Orleans more often." Eric glanced at Sookie, but she was smiling as innocently as an angel.

Victor was unperturbed. "Sophie-Anne saw fit to remain permanently based in New Orleans, but I see my rule as more of a floating government." Floating wherever you can best disturb me, Eric thought. "I like to keep a firm hand on all that goes on in Louisiana, especially since I find I am simply a regent, holding the state for Felipe, my dear king."

Never averse to pricking an already open wound, Eric said mildly, "My felicitations on becoming regent."

"You're very welcome," Victor said, as if Eric had thanked him for something. Eric couldn't imagine what he had to thank Victor for. "Yes, Felipe has decreed I should style myself 'regent.' It's so unusual for a king to have amassed as many territories as Felipe has, and he's taken his time deciding what to do. He has decided to keep all the titles for himself."

"And will you be regent of Arkansas, too?" Pam asked.

Victor scowled. "No. Red Rita has been given that honor."

"She's a great fighter, a strong vampire," Eric said to Sookie, as much for her benefit as to needle Victor. "She's a good choice to rebuild Arkansas."

"Yes, of course," Victor said. His fake, bitter smile pleased Eric; in spite of everything, they seemed to be getting an upper hand by playing on his insecurities. "While she's settling in next door, I thought it would be appropriate to build up the area of Louisiana that abuts her territory. I opened the human place and this one."

"You own Vic's Redneck Roadhouse," Sookie said, sounding miserable. Eric had assumed that she'd put two and two together before now.

"Yes. You've been by?"

Sookie shrugged. "Nope. Too busy."

"But I heard business at Merlotte's has fallen off?" Victor asked, raising an eyebrow. He shot a glance at Eric before adding, "If you need a job, Sookie, I'll put in a good word with my manager at the Redneck Roadhouse. Unless you'd prefer to work here?" He grinned. "Wouldn't that be fun?"

If he hadn't felt the soothing calm that Sookie was trying to convey to him, he might have said or done something regrettable. He forced himself to sound dismissive, unaffected. "Sookie is well-suited where she works now, Victor. If she were not, she would come to live with me and perhaps work at Fangtasia." Both of which she should do anyway, he thought, not without a tinge of bitterness. "She is a modern American woman and used to supporting herself." It was time to turn the tables back on Victor and regain the upper hand in this conversation. "While I'm discussing my female associates, Pam tells me that you disciplined her. It's not customary to discipline a sheriff's second. Surely that should be left for her master to do."

"You weren't here, and she showed my doormen great disrespect by insisting she should come inside before you did for a security check," Victor replied without a hint of apology or concern. "As if we would permit anything in our club to threaten our most powerful sheriff!"

Eric actually wished that Pam had not tried to perform a security check; it sent the message that they were worried about this evening – a message he did not want to send. But he could hardly blame her. They knew too well that Victor wanted him dead, the sooner the better.

"Did you have business you wanted to discuss?" he asked. Surely they had had the booming business and poor Miriam shoved in their faces long enough to satisfy Victor. Eric's only consolation of the evening was the thought of spending the rest of it with Sookie in his arms. "Not that it isn't wonderful seeing what you've done here, however…" He let his voice trail off, giving Victor a pointed look.

"Of course! Thanks for reminding me." Victor reached for his drink again. "I'm sorry I haven't offered you a drink yet. Some blood for you, Eric? Pam?"

Pam refused the offer with a slight motion of her head. She looked even more miserable than Eric felt, which was understandable. Eric tried to imagine seeing Sookie, ill and dying, on display for Victor's amusement. Just the thought of it pained him.

He raised one hand. "Thank you for the offer, Victor, but-"

"I know you'll raise a glass with me," Victor interrupted, and Eric could see that they weren't being given a choice. "The law prevents me from offering you a drink from Mindy or Mark, since they're not registered donors, and I'm all about being law-abiding." His white teeth almost glowed in the bar's lighting. "Sookie, what will you have?"

"Oh, I'm not thirsty," she said. "I had a coke on the way up here."

In under a minute, a tray was set before them with the requested bottles of True Blood and a pair of glasses. Noticing Eric's eyes on the glasses, Victor said, "I'm sure the bottles don't appeal to your aesthetic sense. They offend me."

The idea of "aesthetic sense" from someone whose bar was decorated with cut-outs of Bubba was laughable, but Eric didn't reply. He opened his bottle and was about to pour some of the blood into a glass when his own blood flared with caution. It was coming from Sookie. Without hesitating or glancing at her, he pretended that he had simply been studying the bottle.

He shrugged and gave Victor an easy smile. "I have nothing against American packaging as you do." Then he drank from his bottle. The expression on Victor's face, however fleeting, cheered him.

Sookie's relief was palpable only to him, coursing through his veins. Thank you, dear one, he thought. When they finally left this place and returned home, he would repay her with pleasure.

Victor draped his arm over the back of the banquette and tried to look bored. He failed miserably. "Have you seen your great-grandfather recently, Sookie?" he asked her.

Stiffening, Eric tightened his grip on the True Blood bottle.

"Not in the past couple of weeks," she replied.

Once again, Victor's teeth flashed under the lights as he smiled. "But you have two of your kind living in your house."

It was Sookie's turn to look bored, and unlike Victor, she rather succeeded – partly because Eric sent her strength through the bond. She waved her hand in dismissal. "Yes, my cousin and my great-uncle are staying with me for a while."

"I wondered if you might be able to give me some insight into the state of fairy politics," Victor said. He reached to sip from his blood.

Sookie laughed. "Not me! I stay away from politics."

"Truly?" Victor raised his eyebrows. "Even after your ordeal?"

Eric bit his tongue and tasted blood. Underneath Sookie's composure, he could feel her pain.

"Yep, even after my ordeal. I'm just not a political animal," she said.

Victor's lip curled up on one side. "But an animal."

Fortunately, Eric had set down his bottle of blood. He would have crushed it in his hand otherwise. A soothing calm washed over him, and he knew it was from Sookie. It most certainly was not his own.

Sookie gave Victor an easy smile, as if the insult meant nothing to her. "That's me. Hot-blooded, breathing… I could even lactate. The whole mammal package."

Victor's face twisted in disgust, and that pacified Eric more than anything else. Sookie had bested him.

Pam set her own bottle of blood back on the tray. It looked like she had taken only a sip or two, if that. "Did we have anything further to discuss, Regent?" she asked. Eric liked the subtle emphasis she placed on that last word. "I'll be glad to stay as late as you want, or as long as my words please you, but I am due to work at Fangtasia tonight, and my master Eric has a meeting to attend." Yes, a meeting in Sookie's bedroom, where they would erase this foul memory from each other's minds. "And apparently, my friend Miriam is the worse for wear tonight, and I'll take her home with me to sleep it off."

It was more than Pam had said all evening, and Eric got the distinct impression that she had been storing up the poise and mental clarity to say it as lightly as she did.

"Oh, do you know her?" Victor asked, glancing at Miriam. "Yes, I believe someone mentioned that. Eric, is this the woman you told me Pam wanted to bring over?" You know full well it is, you fucking son of a bitch. "I'm so sorry I had to say no, since by my reckoning she may not have too long to live." He paused, but if he was waiting for some response from Eric or Pam, he didn't get the satisfaction. He waved his hand. "You may go, since I've given you the news about my regency, and you've seen my beautiful club." Just as they made to stand up, he continued, "Oh! I'm thinking of opening a tattoo establishment – and maybe a lawyer's office, though my man for that post has to study modern law. He received his law degree in Paris in the 1800s." Victor gave a shallow, brief laugh, and then his face hardened as his eyes locked on Eric's. "You know that as regent, I have the right to open a business in anyone's sheriffdom. All the money from the new clubs will come directly to me. I hope your revenues don't suffer too much, Eric."

"Not at all. We're all a part of your turf, Master." The words sounded defeated and hollow, but he was concentrating solely on getting the hell out.

Sookie's hand slid into his, and he clasped it tightly as they stood to leave. He and Sookie waited to the side of Victor's platform as Pam went to retrieve her Miriam, who looked frailer than Eric had ever seen her.

The four of them followed Luis and Antonio back into the heavy, humid air of the summer night. But once they reached the parking lot and headed for their cars, Eric realized that the bouncers were now following them. Holding Sookie partly behind him, Eric stopped and turned.

"Do you two have something to say to me?"

Off to the side, Miriam wept. Sookie's fingers tightened on Eric's arm.

"It wasn't our idea, sheriff."

"We're loyal to Felipe, our true king," the other added. "But Victor is not easy to serve."

They continued on in this vein, insisting that they didn't like serving Victor, that he was a bad leader, even that they hated their leather costumes. Eric listened in unimpressed silence until they finished.

"If you're trying to lure me into betraying my new master," he said at last, speaking slowly, "you've picked the wrong vampire."

There was a brief silence; the two fools looked stunned that their ruse had failed.

"Leather shorts are attractive compared to the black synthetics I have to wear," Pam added for good measure.

The bouncers sneered at that. "You were supposed to be so fierce," Antonio hissed at her. "And you," he said, turning his scorn on Eric, "were supposed to be so bold."

With that, the two returned to the club. Eric gave a quick nod to Pam, who scooped Miriam into her arms, and they all hurried to Eric's car. He would send one of the day people for Pam's car in the morning. Once everyone was inside and the car was speeding along the frontage road, Eric gave in to his euphoric relief. Pam did, too, it seemed, for she laughed. Eric met her eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. As miserable as the visit had been, they had gotten the better of Victor at every turn.

"Victor just can't restrain himself, making the show of my poor Miriam," Pam said.

"And then the priceless offer from the leather twins!"

"Did you see Antonio's face?" she asked with a derisive laugh. "Honestly! I haven't had so much fun since I flashed my fangs at that old woman who complained about the color I painted my house." To be fair to the old woman, Pam had chosen a hideous shade of pink.

"That'll give them something to think about." Eric turned to Sookie, who was sitting quietly. "That was a good moment. I can't believe he thought we'd fall for that."

Her flushed cheek and the anxiety in her blood told him that she had believed them. "What if Antonio and Luis were sincere? What if Victor had taken Miriam's blood or brought her over himself?"

"He couldn't," Pam answered her. "He had her in a public place, she has lots of human relatives, and he has to know I'd kill him if he did that."

"Not if you were dead first," Sookie said darkly. "And why are you both so sure that Antonio and Luis were making all that up just to see how you'd react?"

He assured her that if they had been serious, they would try again. "Tell me, lover, what was the problem with the drinks?" he asked her.

"The problem was that he'd rubbed the inside of the glasses with fairy blood. The human server, the guy with the gray eyes, gave me the tip-off."

The attempted poisoning wasn't the only troubling aspect of that explanation; how had the server known that he could communicate with Sookie?

"I don't think that amount could have caused us to behave in an uncontrollable way," Pam mused from the back seat.

"It was a cautious experiment," Eric said. "We might have attached anyone in the club, or we might have gone for Sookie, since she has that interesting streak of fairy." Perhaps that was why Victor had insisted on Sookie's presence? "We would have made public fools of ourselves in any case. We might have been arrested." He took his eyes briefly from the road again to look at Sookie. "It was an excellent thing that you stopped us, Sookie."

She shrugged. "I have my uses."

"And you're Eric's wife," Pam murmured in a tone which Eric did not like.

He shot her a warning glance.

"I-Is there something you want to tell me?" Sookie asked, looking first at Eric and then over her shoulder at Pam.

Pam leaned forward. "Eric got a letter-"

Before another word could escape her, Eric's hand was at her throat, crushing her voicebox. The car swerved with his sudden, violent movement, and Sookie cried out.

"Eyes ahead, Eric!" she said loudly, tugging on his arm to no avail. "Not with the fighting again. Look, just go on and tell me."

Only for the sake of Sookie's frail, mortal body did Eric pull onto the shoulder and shift the car into park. To their left, vehicles raced past, shaking the car. He turned in his seat.

"Pam, don't speak. That's an order." It was the first time in many years that he had used his ability to command her. Her eyes darkened until their blue rims were barely visible. There was no help for it; he could not have her driving Sookie away when the two of them needed each other more than ever. "Sookie," he said, unsuccessfully trying to dull the edge in his voice, "leave this be."

For once, she did as he asked.

An eighteen-wheeler rumbled past as they sat in wordless inertia. Eric could feel Sookie's fear, and it grieved him that the thing she feared was himself. If he did tell her about Oklahoma, would she listen? Would she understand how he had tried to fight – was still trying to fight?

She shivered and held her arms at the elbows, staring straight ahead at the highway. He saw her throat move as she swallowed. "Take me home," she said.

"Take me home," Miriam repeated from the back seat, her voice barely audible.

Eric slowly released his hold on Pam's throat. She touched her bruised skin with her fingertips, looking at him with undisguised fury. In her eyes he could see all the things she wanted to say to him, but she would have to wait until Sookie was safely home. He did not rescind his order for her to keep quiet.

No one spoke over the remaining miles. Occasionally, a sigh or sniffle would come from Miriam, but there was no other sound. In the rearview mirror, he saw Pam's angry, hurt eyes. To his right he felt Sookie's fear and anxiety. He focused on the road.

It was safe to say that his and Sookie's much-anticipated evening was now over. He imagined her stepping out of her new dress and hanging it in the closet. He imagined her taking off that little thong, which he had been looking forward to tearing off, but which would live to see another night. He tried not to picture her curling up in bed and closing her eyes. Those eyes should have been filled with happiness and pleasure, looking up at him – or down at him – as they loved each other.

He parked behind her house and watched as she stepped out of the car. She leaned down and said quietly, "Good night, Pam… Miriam." She glanced at him, but her eyes fell away. She shut the door. He waited until she had unlocked her door and gone inside her house before he pulled away.

"You may speak, Pam," he said.

"I have nothing to say to you," she replied.