“Yeah, I see that,” Landon said, resting back in his chair. “And you’re right, Miss Archer. It wouldn’t be instant, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Napoleon. He ordered me to replicate the disease. His plans are to infect mortals with it, and once those who survive have children, he’ll turn them into vampires, or rather daywalkers, which is why I’m here. The man’s insane, and I don’t want any part in helping him with this. Like I told Max, I would have been here sooner, but I had to make sure I wasn’t being watched while I destroyed all the data they had on you. Every single drop of your blood Izzo had stored away is also gone. And before I left last night, I poured acid on the rubble they’d collected from the building, so it’s been eradicated as well.”

“But Napoleon still knows about it, and so does this Izzo bloke—right?” Bennett said, eyeing Landon.

“Izzo’s dead. Napoleon killed him when Izzo called Napoleon insane.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Bennett said, looking to Max. “But that still leaves Napoleon. What’s to stop him from pursuing this even without my blood? All he needs is the marker and a few good scientists. For that matter, what’s to prevent him from telling this to the council? I mean, most would give anything to see the sun again.”

“Greed will prevent Napoleon from telling the council anything. He can’t very well share what he knows without lessening his own chances to be the king of the kingdom,” Max said. “And as far as a few good scientists, to recreate a disease that killed upward of two hundred million people, he would not only have to find some excellent scientists trained in duplicating the deadliest of diseases, he’d also have to find some with the same mindset. I doubt there are many who would want to annihilate the masses simply to give someone the ability to apply sunscreen.”

Bennett processed every syllable Landon and Max had spoken. “Not that I want to take this insanity any further, but knowing Napoleon like we do, there’s still a way he could get his hands on people with the same marker. DNA reports are all the rage today. What’s preventing him from somehow getting into a database and searching for it? Once he finds someone, all he has to do is turn them, and he has a daywalker.”