Ruby slipped her phone from her pocket, glancing down at the headless men at her feet before she returned Bennett’s text. “Yes. How are we doing this?”

Bennett couldn’t help but appreciate Ruby was allowing her to take the lead. Bennett thought for a second and then texted, “Simplest way. Count to three and then go.”

Bennett hit send, pocketed her phone, and pulled a sword from its scabbard. One. Two. Three.

The two women came from opposing corners at speed belonging only to daywalkers, and the sentries at the door didn’t stand a chance. Bennett took the head of one before he could pull his sword from its scabbard, and her other adversary suffered the same fate. With a sword sharper and lighter than any she’d ever owned, Ruby nearly cut her first opponent in half, and taking aim at the second’s neck, she swung at the same time as Bennett. The tips of their swords clinked as they connected, but that didn’t prevent the end result. In less than a minute, Ruby and Bennett were standing in a puddle of blood and body parts.

Bennett wiped the crimson spray from her face with the back of her hand before silently sliding her second katana from its scabbard. She looked at Ruby, and when their eyes met, no words were needed. Bennett’s held a flicker of compassion, a flicker of latitude releasing Ruby from her pledge to help because behind the door could very well be their end. If Ruby wanted to leave, she could.

Ruby’s response came in a snort, and filling her lungs with the icy air, she pushed open the heavy wooden slab. With Bennett on her heels, Ruby wasted no time stepping into the brightly lit great hall, and then both women came to an abrupt stop. They were expecting a welcoming committee, but instead of a horde of vampires filling the room, there were only ten.

Ruby shot Bennett a look. “Okay, so I’m feeling a little underappreciated at the moment.”

“Me too,” Bennett said, sizing up Napoleon’s people. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Neither does that,” Ruby said, angling her head to the right. “Who the hell are they?”

Bennett fixed her eyes on a pile of dead bodies stacked near the fireplace, and scanning the room, she saw another, equally as large as the first, on the other side of the room. “Holy Mother of God. He truly is a fucking barbarian.”

“What? Who are they?”

Bennett sighed. “Some were Napoleon’s guardians, and by the uniforms of the others, I suspect he killed his servants, too.”

“But why?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe for Omega. They knew they were in for a fight, and they wanted to be prepared.”

“God, that’s sick,” Ruby said, returning her eyes to the vampires. “Any idea why they aren’t moving?”