Ruby stepped where Bennett stepped and swerved where Bennett swerved, and it wasn’t long before they were jogging again. A few minutes after that, they hit a full-out sprint.

Ten minutes passed before Bennett burst from the forest onto the road, and a second later, Ruby did the same. Both doubled over, pulling air into their lungs for several seconds until Bennett stood straight and looked up at the stars to get her bearings. “The car’s that way,” she said, gesturing to her right. “Maybe three or four miles. I’m not sure.”

“Let’s go.”

The Omega feed had enabled their wounds to heal and had given them the strength they needed to best all Napoleon had thrown at them, but even vampires can’t always escape exhaustion. Their muscles were heavy and tight, and with each breath, their lungs burned, yet they forced themselves to trudge up the road. Death was following them…and they both knew it.

It wasn’t long before Bennett stopped, and a razor-thin smile broke through her weary expression. “There’s the car.”

Tired muscles and burning lungs no longer mattered, and breaking into a trot, they headed for their salvation, only to come up short when they saw someone had slashed the tires on Ruby’s car.

“Fuck,” Ruby said, looking at her car sitting on rims. “Now what are we going to do? Unless we go back and become deer hunters, I’m not sure I have the strength to keep running. Maybe we can hide?”

“Not unless we can stop our hearts,” Bennett said, frowning.

“Shit.”

Bennett’s ragged breaths fogged in the air as she looked across the road at the dense forest. “We’re going to have to try our luck in—” Suddenly, everything grew brighter, and turning toward the light, Bennett saw a car barreling down on them.

Ruby and Bennett raised their hands, shielding their eyes from the high-beam LED headlights as the car drew nearer, and just as the sedan zoomed past Ruby’s car, the driver hit the brakes, and the car skidded to a stop a few yards away. The passenger rolled down, and a voice rang out, “Hey. You guys need a ride?”

Bennett snapped her head to the left and gaped at Ruby, and when she saw the woman’s tooth-filled smile, Bennett took the longest, shakiest breath of her life. She turned back toward the sedan, her skin tingling with goosebumps, and as Bennett crept toward the car, her heart beat faster and faster with every step she took. Reaching the passenger window, Bennett bent down to look inside, and it was all she could do to whisper one word. “Lisa?”

Chapter Forty-Four

Napoleon raised his eyes when Ivan strode into the room. “Did you let the others out of the keep?”