Sookie escapes to her bedroom only to find Eric sitting on her bed, his head in his hands. When she sees his face, Sookie believes that the shock on it is because of the takeover, but he tells her he has suddenly remembered everything that happened between them during the time he spent with her when he had amnesia. Overwhelmed by the events of the evening, Sookie tells him they will talk about it another time. Eric agrees but warns there will one day be a reckoning between them.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14. Sookie wakes to find Quinn sitting in her bedroom. Realizing she can never be first in his life because of the needs of his mother and sister, Sookie breaks off their relationship and sends the man she had hoped to love away. She gathers herself and goes to work, buying Crystal lunch when her pregnant sister-in-law comes in with Jason, who is fed up with his wife’s spendthrift ways and now refuses to give her any money. Sookie and Sam later read in the newspaper about several people missing in Shreveport who actually perished in the Were war. Sookie then sees the obituary of Sophie-Anne Leclerq, which lists the cause of death as Sino-AIDS, but Sookie knows the weakened queen was assassinated by order of Felipe de Castro. Sookie arrives home after work to face even more unwelcome visitors: Frannie Quinn and her mother. Frannie is furious with Sookie for her treatment of Quinn, and although Mrs. Quinn is generally confused, she identifies Sookie as the woman her son loved.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15. Copley Carmichael stops by Sookie’s house to ask her to arrange an introduction to members of the new vampire leadership so that he can do business with them. She reluctantly agrees to call Fangtasia to see what she can find out. Sookie leaves the house to run errands—and get away from Copley as he visits with his daughter—and comes across Arlene and Tanya having a conversation in Tanya’s car in the Sonic parking lot. Sookie deliberately tries to tune them in, first picking up Arlene’s thoughts about her new boyfriend’s conviction that the world should be free of vampires. She zeros in on Tanya, discovering that she is still in the pay of Sandra Pelt, who continues to be determined to make Sookie’s life miserable. Sookie decides to consult Amelia and confesses the entire story of Debbie Pelt’s death. They decide to bring in Octavia to try to find a long-term fix without hurting Tanya.
Sookie remembers her promise to Copley, and right before she goes into work she calls Fangtasia to ask Eric whom Copley should contact. During the conversation Eric tells her more of his memories of their time together. Claudine and Claude come into Merlotte’s to bring greetings from Niall, who is concerned about his great-granddaughter. Copley has obviously jumped on the opportunity to ingratiate himself with the new vampires and arrives for a meeting with Sandy Sechrest, Felipe de Castro’s area rep.
Sam and Sookie talk a bit after closing, and he tells her about his family, inviting her to his brother’s upcoming wedding. As they leave the bar, they come across Niall standing in the moonlight, and Sookie introduces him to Sam. Niall is worried that Sookie has been in danger the previous two nights and is not at all happy that she was prevented from calling him for protection during the takeover. He expresses his love for his great-granddaughter and his desire to do something for her, but Sookie tells him she just wants him in her life. After he leaves, she tells Sam that she wants to love Niall but finds him a little frightening.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16. Sookie awakens to find Octavia and Amelia in the kitchen discussing how to deal with Tanya. Much to Sookie’s surprise, she realizes that Amelia has already invited Octavia to move in, based on a casual offer of Sookie’s. The two witches have Sookie ask Calvin Norris, who is currently seeing Tanya, to stop by at lunchtime. The leader of the Hotshot werepanthers immediately knows to whom Sookie is referring when she tells him that they have a problem. When Sookie tells Calvin the whole story of her involvement with the Pelts, he promises to bring Tanya there that night for the witches to work on if they promise that Tanya won’t be harmed. Bob the cat strolls in, and Calvin recognizes straightaway that Amelia’s magic doesn’t always work.
True to his word, Calvin arrives shortly after seven that evening with Tanya carefully trussed up and slung over his shoulder. After the struggling young woman inhales smoke from a potion lit in a bowl, she is placed on a chair surrounded by chalk drawings, and Octavia begins to chant, pulling Tanya out from under Sandra’s sway. When the spell is over, Tanya doesn’t remember why she has been causing the mischief she has and is rid of Sandra’s influence. A relieved Calvin takes Tanya back to Hotshot.
Sookie takes a break outside while the witches clean up. She sits in a lawn chair out in the chill night air. Bill soon steps from the woods and sits with her. After a few moments of silence, Bill tells Sookie that Selah Pumphrey has moved to Little Rock to work for a firm that specializes in vampire properties and that he always knew that Selah was more interested in him as a vampire than as a man. After telling Sookie that there have been many like Selah, he informs Sookie that there is only one her and leaves.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 17. After the turmoil of the previous week, Sookie enjoys a quiet and peaceful day off.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18. Sookie works the day shift, serving lunch to Jason and several of his co-workers. Jason tells her that he needs to ride over to Clarice to pick up some fencing after work and asks her to check on Crystal after her shift. Sookie stops by his house, calling out to Crystal as she opens the front door. She hears a muffled moan and, worried that Crystal is miscarrying again, rushes into the bedroom, only to find her pregnant sister-in-law having sex with one of Jason’s co-workers. As Sookie marches out of the house, furious and disgusted, Calvin pulls up, having also been asked by Jason to check in on Crystal. Jason knew that both Calvin and Sookie would catch his wife being unfaithful. Calvin shares Sookie’s anger and disgust, informing her that they will need to have the ceremony to punish Crystal. Sookie remembers that at the couple’s wedding, she agreed to stand in for Jason just as Calvin agreed to stand in for Crystal under certain circumstances. Calvin calls Sookie later that evening to tell her to come to Hotshot the following night.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19. Sookie drives out to Hotshot alone after work, determined to face whatever may come. As Calvin stood for Crystal at her wedding, promising to take the punishment for her actions should she violate the covenant and be unable to face the penalty herself, Jason declares that Sookie will administer the punishment to Calvin in his stead as well. The sentence for the breaking of the wedding vows is the breaking of the symbolic panther claw, and Sookie is forced to break Calvin’s fingers with a brick.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20–FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. Sookie struggles with her actions as she tries to go about her life. She knows that she was only following the laws of Hotshot, but she feels guilty for hurting a man she respects and considers a friend. Unwilling to even speak to Jason, she turns her back on him when he comes into the bar. She hears through the grapevine that Calvin has passed his injury off as the result of an accident that occurred while he was working on his truck.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22. Sam finally calls Eric in to speak to Sookie, hoping to find out what is wrong. She is angered by Eric’s lack of compassion and stomps out of Sam’s office, but she eventually manages to shake her black mood. When she leaves work, she finds Eric waiting for her in the parking lot. She asks him about the visiting Nevada king, Felipe de Castro, and they are both startled when Castro suddenly appears to talk with Eric. After introducing herself to the dramatic King of Nevada, Louisiana, and Arkansas, Sookie gets in her car to go home, but she has to pull over when she suffers a panic attack caused by her worry over Eric. She heads back to Merlotte’s, parking in the front lot and sneaking around to the back, uncertain of what she will find. To her shock, she sees that Sigebert, Sophie-Anne’s loyal bodyguard, didn’t die with his queen and has come seeking vengeance. Both Eric and Felipe are bound with silver chains, obviously having already suffered at Sigebert’s hands. Sam, an innocent bystander, is tied to the bumper of his own truck. Sookie decides that her best weapon is her car, and she creeps back to it, trying to figure out the best way to charge Sigebert without hitting anyone else. Pulling around to the back, she accelerates and is able to hit him from the front and then back over him. She jumps from the car to free Eric but is unable to unwrap the chains. She frees Sam first so he can help. The moment Eric is able he leaps on Sigebert and decapitates him, sending him to join his beloved maker. Felipe proclaims himself in Sookie’s debt, but he and Eric both wonder how it is Sigebert survived the takeover. Sam takes Sookie home, questioning her about whether the price she has paid to know more about the supernatural world has been worth it.