Max pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Yes, she knows, but I haven’t heard from her. I doubt I will until she…uh…until she does what I know she’s going to do.”

“Which is?”

“Make Napoleon pay for what his people did to Lisa.”

Gus sat straight. “She’s going after him alone?”

“If I know Bennett, yes.”

“Then I gotta help her,” Gus said, standing up. “I just a need a car and a…and a gun or a knife or…or…something.”

Max suddenly felt several inches shorter, observing the man across the way. “I appreciate your concern. I truly, truly do, but Bennett would have my head if I allowed you to chase after her,” he said, waving Gus to sit back down. “She won’t involve anyone else in this unless, of course, the woman you know as Ruby goes with her.”

“You know, I gotta tell you the truth. You could have knocked Cath and me over with a feather when we realized Ruby was a vampire. We had no idea. Did Bennett?”

“I don’t know. When it comes to Ruby Miller, it appears there’s a wealth of blank pages to fill in.”

***

At one in the morning, Ruby guided her car to a stop on the side of the road, and flicking off the lights, she looked at Bennett. “Is this close enough?”

“Yes, we’ll walk from here, and if you’re carrying your phone, mute it.”

“Already did.”

Both women stepped from the car, their breath fogging instantly in the frigid January air, and although they didn’t need its help, the moon rode high in the blue-black sky above them. Dried leaves and errant sprays of grass along the side of the road shimmered with frost and surrounded by a dense forest, the only scent was that of pine.

Ruby opened the trunk, and unzipping the duffle bag, she and Bennett silently armed themselves. As Bennett slipped the last dagger into its sheath, she saw Ruby pull two guns from the bag.

“You brought guns to a vampire fight?” Bennett said, flinching back her head.

“They’re dart guns,” Ruby said, handing one to Bennett. “They’re silent, and they’ll knock out anyone within a few seconds. I thought they’d come in handy.”

“Oh,” Bennett said, slipping the gun into the waist of her pants. “Let’s go.”

With Samurai swords crisscrossed on their backs and daggers filling their sheaths, they silently walked to the dirt road leading to Napoleon’s hidden estate.

The two-mile trek up the dirt road was a silent one. Neither felt the need to speak, and with dead foliage littering the rutted path, they kept their eyes aimed at their feet, avoiding anything that could make a sound.