“Absolutely not,” Napoleon said, his mirth escaping in what sounded like a donkey’s bray. “I don’t want them to kill you, Archer. I want them to capture you and that cunt sister of mine so I can gut you both like your precious Lisa.” Napoleon clapped his hands together. “And oh yes. I almost forgot. I promised Ivan here he could have his way with you, and he said I could watch. I am so looking forward to seeing him fill your snatch.” Napoleon waved his arm. “Boys, make me proud. Catch the bitches and bring them to Daddy.”

While Ivan remained at Napoleon’s side, the twelve sentries rushed Bennett and Ruby. The two women flew out of the stairwell, and within seconds, they were fending off their attackers. Standing back-to-back, Ruby and Bennett swung one of their swords feverishly while using the other as a shield, and within a minute, four of their adversaries were dead. Sparks flew as blades connected with blades, and Napoleon’s men grunted as they used all their strength against the daywalkers. But wide swings of swords leave bodies unprotected, and that was their mistake, for when Ruby and Bennett swung as one, two more were sliced in half.

Six against two were much better odds, and with the floor covered in blood, no one’s footing was sound any longer. The only difference was the men continued to act independently, and Ruby and Bennett did not. Several times, the women slipped in the blood, their fate in the hands of the one still standing, and each time, they pulled each other to their feet and continued to fight.

Bennett hissed out in anguish once when a sword found her leg, leaving a gash almost to the bone, and Ruby fared only slightly better when a dagger sliced open the side of her face. There were other slashes and punctures, near misses that removed a bit of flesh or tore through muscles toward the organs below, but having had Omega feeds, the daywalkers were unstoppable.

Ruby and Bennett ignored their own pain and the blood they were losing. Resolute, they fixated on their attackers, advancing and parrying, switching from offense to defense in the blink of an eye until only one of Napoleon’s sentries remained. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was open as he gasped for air, and in the time it took him to decide who he’d attack…he was dead.

Bennett swung the sword in her right hand, and Ruby took aim with the one in her left, and as Ruby decapitated the man, Bennett bisected him at the waist. His head landed with a thud, and like a collapsing tower of cards, his torso and lower half fell to the floor.

Bennett glimpsed at Ruby, stunned to see the woman’s face covered in blood. “Christ, are you all right?”