The other vampire seemed peeved, to say the least, at Vladimir's arrival. She declined Eloise's offer to heal her eye (instead, the eye re-grew on its own), and began snapping at the hybrid.

Eloise stayed silent, unsure of what to make of the situation. Was Vladimir loyal enough to the Covenant that he would be angry that the hunters were dead? Would he accept Hank and the other vampire's explanation, or would he sense that everything they said was bullshit? Most of all, what would Vladimir say about-as the parasol-twirling vampire said it-Eloise being 'freed'?

Speaking of which, Eloise was not sure how she was supposed to feel. On one hand, this ancient vampire was talking about freeing her from the Covenant...and nobody had ever done that before. Nobody had ever [i]cared[/i] that much about Eloise, and it...it meant a lot. Sarah, her best friend before she was turned, hadn't even cared that much. [i]She was too scared to do anything,[/i] thought Eloise with a touch of sadness. [i]And what could she have done, anyway? Mistress would have killed her in an instant.[/i]

On the other hand, Eloise wasn't even sure that she remembered what anything besides blood tasted like, much less how to /make/ something-but hopefully, with some time, she would be able to recall the recipes that she and John had created. Nowadays, random flashes of the past came and went, so with a bit of luck, she would remember. Eloise really, really, [i]really[/i] hoped that she would eventually remember. Would her rescuer be angry if she didn't, and treat her the way that her sire and the Covenant had?

Eloise forced herself to stop thinking about it.

Eloise looked on with surprise as the other vampire lifted up her skirt and pulled out two knives. Faster than she could blink, the zip ties that bound her wrists together tightly slipped down to the ground, and there was another blade piercing the tracker-cuff on her ankle. There was a slight hissing noise as the batteries were rendered useless.

The ancient vampire ordered Hank to start the "car-wain" (Eloise wasn't really sure what the vehicle Hank was headed towards was [i]truly[/i] called-she had never seen one before, confined as she was in the Covenant's London headquarters before being flown to America), and she held out her hand for Eloise to take-which she did so, gladly. She stumbled forward, wincing, and Eloise did her best to support her weight as the other vampire began pulling Eloise to the "car-wain". Eloise quickly followed along. She wanted to be out of there as fast as possible-who knew, Vladimir might decide that he should act in the Covenant's best interests and attempt to return Eloise to them.

This belief was reinforced with the arrival of another vampire. This one was black-haired and golden-eyed, and he smelled pretty old (though not as old as Eloise's unlikely ally). He seemed to be addressing Hank.

Eloise lowered her eyes meekly and quickened her pace.