Eric locked eyes with her, another short battle of wills. He didn't want to argue with her, and Sookie was as stubborn as humans came. She was possibly as stubborn as he could be. "No, but I was not going to put the lives of everyone in my area in your hands. I could not do that." He had been willing to die for that, but to let the entire plan hinge on the blonde's acting skills? Absolutely not.

"Why would I trap myself in a mansion? That other people here, some of them are not from our time or even our universe. I room with a man from outer space," he said, his eyes narrowing. "I have a bar to manage and an entire area to run. Believe me, I don't want to be here either." His words were laced with frustration, not towards her, but the situation in general.

"I am not sure," he answered honestly. "Rose, one of the people here, said that there are those here who hunt vampires. I can not think of any humans foolish enough to make a living out of that, but apparently they exist somewhere." He looked absolutely annoyed at the thought. Eric didn't honestly think that she would run to them. She had just saved his life not long ago. That would be mildly counter-productive.

He watched her as her eyes held his, not daring to break her gaze. "I am not Bill," he said slowly, enunciating each word. "I gave him plenty of opportunity to tell you the truth himself, which is what should have happened. He refused, and responded by trying to end me, which I could not allow. If you want the truth, fine. What do you want to know?" He would prove it to her if he had to. He didn't need lies to get what he wanted - anything gained through falsehoods was a lie in itself.