As soon as Bennett was on top of her, Lisa knew there was only one thing to do. Bennett was far too strong and far too crazed, and with the other syringe out of reach, Lisa white-knuckled the dagger and buried it in Bennett’s stomach. The blood was instant, coating Lisa’s hand and clothes as it flowed from around the blade, and as Lisa hoped it would, the Bennett she knew came back to her.

“Bloody hell,” Bennett said, sitting back on her haunches. “You stabbed me.”

“I’ll apologize later.” Lisa tossed the dagger aside and crawled over to open the side door. “But for right now, you need to get out of here before you turn again. Will you make it with that wound?”

“Yes…yes, I’ll make it,” Bennett said, getting out of the van. “But don’t cut these off yet. Go up front. Lock the doors and open the window just far enough for me to get my hands through, and once you cut these ties, you step on the gas. Do you understand me?”

“Trust me. You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

Shortly after three o’clock Saturday morning, Bennett stood in her shower, washing away the dried blood from her knife wound. It had healed, and so had she, the lust for blood long since extinguished by the two souls she’d sent to Heaven. There had been a tinge of remorse, a hint of shame for the act she’d committed, yet in her heart, there was also peace born from mercy. It was an odd combination, but it was one she could live with.

Bennett stepped from the shower, and pulling in a deep breath, she held it for a moment before letting it out. Infused with the power stemming from an Omega feed, it took the twelve-mile run back to the brownstone to temper the intensity flowing through her veins. She had finally gone from feeling like a twelve-cylinder Ferrari to an eight-cylinder Mercedes, but no matter the cylinder count, Bennett was still firing on all of them.

Naked, Bennett padded into her bedroom and opened the bottom drawer of her bureau. She lifted the velvet cloth and viewed the collection below it. They were definitely a perk of living in the twenty-first century, and her eyes traveled down the assortment until one caught her eye. Bennett took her time as she weighed her options. She knew it would help, and she knew it would feel great, but would Ruby think the same?

“Only one way to find out,” Bennett said under her breath, gathering a few items from the drawer.

A few minutes later, wearing only her robe, Bennett climbed the steps and rapped lightly on Ruby’s door. She listened intently, homing in on the sound of Ruby’s heartbeat, and when Bennett heard it gradually speed up, she waited patiently in the dimly lit corridor.