“A mace trap? You simpleminded, fucking fool,” Napoleon brayed. He flew across the room and had Friedrich by the throat before the man could utter a word. “I said it has to look like an accident, you ignoramus, not a billboard pointing back to me!”

“Napoleon, please,” Ivan said, touching Napoleon on the arm. “Just let Friedrich explain. He did what you asked. I promise.”

“Fine,” Napoleon said, releasing his grip on the thimble-shaped Friedrich. “But it better be good, or you’ll be someone’s dinner.”

“Y-yes, m’lord,” Friedrich said as sweat formed on his upper lip. “Um…well, there’s a…there’s an old building they’re rehabbing near her gallery. It’s gutted except for a pile of scrap on the second floor.”

“Get to the point.”

“The contractor ran into some money problems, so they put a stop to the work until they get things sorted. Since the building is vacant, I built a trap using the scrap. It’s nothing but a bunch of wood and a few steel bars, but me and my boys sharpened up the ends of the wood real good. Once she trips the trap, it’s gonna be raining spears. All you need to do is get her there. The trap will do the rest.”

“Wait. Are you saying it’s set right now?” Ivan said, clamping his bearlike hand around Friedrich’s bicep. “You are a stupid fool.”

“No,” Napoleon said, waving off Ivan. “It’s all right, my friend. Friedrich here has done exactly what I’ve asked. Getting Archer there tonight won’t be a problem. She patrols the streets like clockwork, and once that bitch thinks she needs to save another of her precious mortals, she’ll walk right into our trap.”

***

“How’s your fish?” Bennett said, setting her knife on the edge of her plate.

“It’s good,” Lisa said, raising her eyes. “How’s your flesh?”

Laugh lines appeared on Bennett’s face, and stabbing her fork into one of the last pieces of the rare New York strip, she popped it into her mouth. “It’s delicious.”

“I have a question.”

“Do tell?”

“Have you always eaten your meat like that? I mean…I mean before—”

“Before I was what I am now? Is that what you’re asking?”

“Yes.”

“Peasants rarely, if ever, ate meat. We mostly survived on bread, barley, oats, and vegetables, turning them into soups or porridge. We occasionally had rabbit if one wandered close enough to our homes, but the landowners prohibited hunting and fishing. It was their land, not ours, so it was their food…not ours.”

“Oh,” Lisa said before taking another bite of her dinner.

“And I eat steak this way because I prefer something that melts in my mouth rather than chewing on a piece of leather.”

“So it has nothing to do with the blood?”