“Oh.”

Bennett glanced at her watch. “You have three minutes to decide before my asparagus goes limp.”

Ruby’s chortle was all Bennett had to hear, and she pushed the door open. “Get in there, woman.”

***

“This is delicious,” Ruby said before taking the last bite of her dinner. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“That’s because your interrogations have revolved around the finer aspects of my life rather than the pedestrian ones.”

“My bad.”

Bennett smiled. “That’s all right. I can see how cooking, scooping Xi’s litter box, and grocery shopping wouldn’t carry the same weight as supernatural abilities, bloodlust, and immortality.”

“To say the least,” Ruby said, reaching for her wine. “And speaking of immortality, can I ask what happened to you that night when I found you all bleeding and ripped apart? Because from what little I did see, those injuries didn’t come from a car crash or a fight.”

“You’re right. They didn’t. I inadvertently walked into a trap and had a pile of rubbish dropped on me. It was a jumble of spikes and rods meant to pierce my heart.”

“Oh, my God. Are you saying there are vampire hunters?”

“No. One of my own orchestrated the trap. A piggish little prick by the name of Napoleon.”

Ruby paused to take a taste of her wine. “I’m assuming you’re not talking about the short little dude who ruled France way back when, or is he living as a vampire now, too?”

“No, that Napoleon is very much dead. This one’s last name is Durant.”

“Oh,” Ruby said, putting her glass on the table. “So, why did this guy try to kill you?”

“Because I possess things he cannot have,” Bennett said, resting back in her chair. “Like most species, vampires have a hierarchy, a social order, if you will. At the top of ours is what we call the council. It’s composed of the elders, the firsts of our kind, and Napoleon’s father was one of them. When he was killed, Napoleon thought he’d inherit his father’s chair, but the council wouldn’t give it to him.”

“Why?” Ruby said, stifling a yawn.

“Because, like I said, he’s a piggish little prick who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He has no sense of order or sense of decency. All he wants to do is rule with an iron fist and become dictator of the world.”

“He sounds like one of our past presidents.”

Bennett chuckled. “That he does.”

“So, I’m guessing you had a say in him not getting his father’s chair?”