"Yeah. He does." Max isn't so blind to how things were that he couldn't see how tightly Erik held on to control.

"With vampires, your image and honor are a kind of currency. He was only thirty years into being an Elder and still had a lot to prove. I didn't, um... I didn't ask about his sister ever because..." He swallows hard, and licks his lips before trying again. "...because I killed her. But I know she caused a lot of trouble for him. He had to adopt a lot of her uh... newly turned vampires."