Jean-Claude wields the long blade he had produced from down the back of his jacket -- an old trick he had learned from a vampire hunter long ago -- and snarls in the face of the first vampire to try and mount the stage after he has let Raymond's body drop to the ground before running them clean through as well. There are other vampires who would let their people do the rest of the fighting for them. But Jean-Claude has no such opinion of himself. He just has to be careful that he doesn't get himself killed so soon after winning the city for himself.

It is only once the smoke has cleared, as they say, and Jean-Claude stands breathing heavily on the stage of the dance hall, covered in Raymond Harris' blood and that of his followers, sporting few new cuts and bruises that will heal in time but otherwise none the worse for wear, that he can finally take stock of the situation. And he tilts back his head and laughs.

"Ah, mon amie," he says, addressing Evie directly. "Remind me never to find myself on your bad side."