Sookie arrives at the bar with the FBI agents in tow. Sookie is devastated to see that the woman is her pregnant sister-in-law, Crystal. She calls Sam as the police begin to gather evidence. A stunned Jason, notified of the death, arrives first, followed shortly thereafter by a grief-stricken Calvin Norris, who is accompanied by Tanya Grissom. Sookie escorts the Hotshot leader back to the scene, where he hopes to get a scent of his niece’s killer. He tries to force his way through to her body but is stopped by the law-enforcement agents present, and Sookie is moved by Sheriff Bud Dearborn’s careful treatment of Calvin, realizing that the old sheriff was aware of the panthers long before the Great Reveal. Jason’s friend Mel Hart arrives and persuades the dazed Jason to go home while Calvin waits for Crystal’s body to be taken down from the cross. Sookie decides to leave when the police tell her that Merlotte’s will remain closed for several more hours at least. When she doesn’t get word that it is okay to reopen by the time darkness falls, Sookie heads to Fangtasia to see Eric.

Sookie is comforted by Eric’s presence and listens quietly when he begins to tell her of his early life and how he was turned by Appius Livius Ocella. She then shares her concern about the FBI’s interest in her and Barry, and her fears that they want her to work for them. Eric explains that he wed her in the vampire way to protect her from King Felipe who, even though he owes her a debt, wants to take her to Las Vegas to use her gift to help him in his business dealings. Sookie wants details about their pledge but is too weary from the day’s events to pursue the conversation and goes home.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14. Andy Bellefleur gives the okay to open the bar, and Sookie is relieved when Sam walks in as she is setting up for the day. His mother is healing, but the situation with his stepfather is very tense. When Sookie reveals her marriage to Eric, Sam’s reaction causes her to leave Merlotte’s in a fury. She turns to her best friend, Tara, for advice, telling her the whole story. Tara says that while Sookie could have been smarter about the situation, only the vampires will know about the pledge and she has time to figure things out. Despite her own bad past with vampires, Tara concedes that there are benefits to Sookie’s relationship with Eric. Tara then shares her own news: She is pregnant, and she is fiercely determined to give her baby the childhood she never had.