Bennett narrowed her eyes. “Get out, and if you ever speak of this, if you ever utter a word about it, I will end your life without giving it another thought.”

There was no doubt in Ruby’s mind that Bennett Archer would make good on that promise, but the puddle of blood by the sofa was getting larger by the second. “I won’t say a word. I promise, and if I did, nobody would believe me anyway, but I can't leave you like this. You’re bleeding really badly.”

“I’ll be fine, so unless you want a repeat of what I just did to you, with a very different ending, you’d best do as I say.”

“If you wanted to kill me, you would have,” Ruby said, taking a step closer to the sofa. “So, what can I do to help?”

Bennett had little strength remaining. She knew she had enough left to follow through on her promise and choke the life out of Ruby, or better yet, drain the woman dry and heal within minutes, but Bennett didn’t murder innocents. In her current state, she also knew if she sunk her teeth into Ruby, hoping to take enough to stop her own blood loss, there was an excellent chance she’d be unable to stop herself until Ruby was dead in her arms. “You can help by getting the hell out of here.”

Bennett’s demand fell on Ruby’s deaf ears, for she was preoccupied with helping the woman, whether she liked it or not. Noticing some empty units of blood on the coffee table, Ruby said, “Do you have any more of those?”

Bennett’s window of clarity was rapidly closing, and it took a few moments before she understood Ruby’s question. “Yes.”

“Where are they?” Ruby saw Bennett struggling to sit up, and Ruby held up her hands. “Look, I’m not your enemy. All right? And I’m not going to tell anyone about you or…or about this. I’m just trying to help, and since you can’t even sit up at the moment, why don’t you tell me where your fucking supply is, and then I can leave, and you can do…you can do whatever the fuck it is you do. Okay?”

“You've got quite a mouth on you.”

“Look who's talking,” Ruby said, planting her hands onto her hips. “So are you going to tell me where it is or just keep wheezing like a three-pack-a-day smoker?”