“Not about the bond, so he doesn’t know yet. He would have been on the phone instantly.” Eric leaned his head against the back of the couch, his blue eyes at half mast. Postcoital relaxation.

That was a relief. “How’s Miriam? Did she recover?”

“She recovered from the drugs Victor gave her, but she’s sicker in body. Pam is as close to despair as I’ve ever seen her.”

“Did their relationship come on kind of slowly? Because I didn’t have a clue until Immanuel told me about it.”

“Pam doesn’t often care for anyone as much she cares about Miriam,” he said. His head turned slowly, and his eyes met mine. “I only found out when she asked for some time off from the club to visit Miriam in the hospital. And she gave the girl blood, too, which is the only reason Miriam’s lasted this long.”

“Vampire blood can’t cure her?”

“Our blood is good for healing open wounds,” Eric said. “For illnesses, it can offer relief, but seldom a cure.”

“I wonder why?”

Eric shrugged. “I’m sure one of your scientists would have a theory, but I don’t. And since some people go crazy when they take our blood, the risk is considerable. I was happier when the properties of our blood were secret, but I suppose that couldn’t be kept quiet for long. Victor certainly isn’t concerned about Miriam’s survival or the fact that Pam has never asked to create a child before. After all these years of service, Pam deserves to be granted the right.”

“Victor’s not letting Pam have Miriam out of sheer cussedness?”

Eric nodded. “He has a bullshit excuse about there being enough vampires in my sheriffdom, when actually my numbers are low. The truth is that Victor will block us any way he can for as long as he can, in the hope that I’ll do something injudicious enough to warrant being removed as sheriff, or killed.”

“Surely Felipe wouldn’t let that happen.”

Eric hoisted me onto his lap and held me to his cool chest. His shirt was still open. “Felipe would judge in Pam’s favor if he were on the spot, but I’m sure he wants to stay out of the situation if he can. It’s what I’d do. He’s setting up Red Rita in Arkansas and she’s never ruled, he knows Victor is sulking about being appointed regent rather than king in Louisiana, and he is busy himself in Las Vegas, which he’s running on a skeleton crew since he’s sent people out to both his new states. Consolidating this big an empire hasn’t been done in hundreds of years—and the last time it was done, the population was only a fraction of what it is today.”

“So Felipe’s still in complete control of Nevada?”

“Yes. For now.”