“I had left Cologne and was on my way to Bonn when the skies opened up. It was a storm like I’d never seen before, and it was all I could do to control my horse. I knew I would never make it to Bonn before sunrise, so when I came upon an abandoned barn, I took shelter inside. Luckily, the roof in the furthest corner was still sound, so knowing I was safe from the sun, I fell asleep. What I didn’t realize or…or what I was too stupid to consider was that the boards on the walls were far from sound. Early the next morning, the warmth of the sun on my face woke me up, and when I opened my eyes, sunlight was streaming through the cracks like a laser burglar alarm in a museum. After that, there was no stopping me. Once I realized the sun didn’t affect me, I knew I could easily blend with mortals. So, instead of concentrating on finding Napoleon, I returned to seeking out the other covens. I figured eventually I’d find my way to him, and since the servants I’d worked with in those homes had long since died, I was pretty sure no one else would recognize me. After all, other than Concepcion and Diego, no one else had ever paid me any mind.”

“How could you have possibly hidden your true self from other vampires? Between the blood and the lust—”

“You said it yourself. It’s called control. I was a woman on a mission, and nothing was going to stand in my way. I fed at dawn when the others were in their rooms, and as for the lust, like you, I took matters into my own hands or found a prostitute who would do it for me. I fucked up a lot early on and ended up killing to keep my secret, but things got a lot easier once I learned about compelling. And once the twentieth century came along, there was no stopping me.”

“The twentieth century?”

Ruby reached into her coat pocket and handed Bennett a small plastic flip-top container. Bennett didn’t need to open it to know what it held. “Contacts.”

“Yes, and those cost me a pretty penny. They’re darker than anything on the market. I have them custom-made.”

Bennett stared at the container for a few more seconds before dropping it into one of the cup holders between the seats. “So why me? How did you even know about me?”

“Believe it or not, when I first heard your name, I thought you were a man. You’d actually come up in a few conversations through the years. Once when I was working in Hector’s house, and…and twice in Simeon’s, and both times it was in connection with the one original I’d never been able to track down.”

“Max.”