“The best way you can do that right now is to continue to make her life miserable,” Napoleon said, keeping his voice low. “I’m the son of Etienne, and she’s nothing but a mutation. She’s not permitted to kill me or any member of my coven, and once the council finds out what that bitch has done, they’ll put her on a very short leash which will enable us to grow our army even faster.”

***

Max looked up as Bennett sauntered into his study. “You’ve been a busy beaver, haven’t you?”

“Whatever do mean?”

“Well, let’s see,” Max said, steepling his fingers. “Threatening Napoleon on Tuesday, beheading two of his men on Wednesday, delivering their heads to him early Thursday morning, and now here you are for Friday night dinner. Whenever do you have time to rest?”

“I plan to do that this weekend,” Bennett said, dropping into a chair opposite the desk.

“I’m not sure flippancy is appropriate at the moment. You went against my wishes.”

“I didn’t kill him.”

Max took a slow, deep breath, and then he took another. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to be livid, but his heart wouldn’t let him. “Damn it all to hell, Bennett. You’re going to be the death of me yet.”

“Does that mean you’ll not report this to the council?”

“You know full well I would have had to, except Napoleon beat me to it. It seems he was quite the tattletale.”

“Of course, he was,” Bennett said, crossing her ankle over her raised knee. “So, I suppose I’m going to face their wrath.”

“Actually, I faced it for most of the afternoon,” Max said, frowning. “And I must say I sometimes miss the old days when it would take weeks or even months for us to gather to discuss a problem. Zoom does not permit that level of avoidance.”

“So, what did they say? Another forced sleep for stepping out of my bounds?”

“No. We took a vote, and the majority sided with you.”

“What?” Bennett said, pitching forward in her chair. “Why?

“I would think you’d be happy.”

“I am, except I don’t understand what’s changed. Napoleon’s been an arse for centuries. Why would the council suddenly see it my way?”

Max tapped his finger against his lips for a moment, pondering the question as he gazed at Bennett. “That’s unimportant.”

“It’s very important.”

“No, it’s not,” Max said, rocking forward in his chair. “All you need to know is that after we finished with our call, they were going to ring up Napoleon and tell him of the vote.”

“Which was?”

“Yannick, Aldrich, Garrick, Hector, and I agree Napoleon has put us all in danger too many times for our liking.”

“And Simeon and Concepcion?”