Tongue-tied, Bennett gawked at Lisa. She hadn’t done anything wrong. Lisa had done something Max had thought impossible…and there was no stopping Bennett’s hope now.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong, Lisa,” Bennett said, taking Lisa’s hand. “Now, let’s head back to the car and get you tidied up.”

***

Ruby stepped out into the cool night air as soon as she saw Bennett and Lisa approach. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, everything’s fine,” Bennett said. “She just needs to get cleaned up.”

“I have some wet wipes in the glove box,” Lisa said, jogging to the passenger side.

Ruby stepped closer to Bennett. “She seems okay.”

“More than okay, actually,” Bennett said, keeping her voice low. “She didn’t kill them.”

“Excuse me?”

“She said she didn’t kill them. She stopped when she heard their hearts grow weak and moved to the next. On the walk back, she said there were three, and they’re all still alive.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Apparently not as impossible as we thought,” Bennett said, keeping her eyes on Lisa. “But I think she should have. She’s still tired and a little peaked. Don’t you think?”

Ruby observed Lisa for a long moment. “Yeah, she’s pale, and she shouldn’t be. Then again, if she didn’t have Omega, that could explain it.”

“I suppose,” Bennett said, her eyes never leaving Lisa. “And it looks like she’s finished, so let’s get out of here, and I’ll call Max on the way. See what he thinks.”

Bennett and Lisa climbed into the back seat, and as Ruby started the car, she glanced in the rearview mirror. “So, where to? Max’s?”

“No, the brownstone,” Bennett said, pulling her phone from her pocket. “We’ll be safe there.”

“Sorry, Bennett, but that won’t work,” Ruby said softly. “Sure, you and I will be okay, but Lisa now needs to avoid sunlight. She’ll be much safer at Max’s.”

“True, except Lisa’s a daywalker, so she’ll be fine at the brownstone.”

In unison, Lisa’s and Ruby’s eyes doubled in size, and as Lisa swiveled toward Bennett, Ruby whipped her head around. “What?”

A knowing smile graced Bennett’s face. “Earlier, Lisa told us she went over to the brownstone looking for me. If she weren’t a daywalker, she couldn’t have even got close to the building without having her skin sizzle.”

“The fucking light bulbs,” Ruby said, slipping the car into drive. “I totally forgot about them.”

“Me, too,” Lisa said. “And I’m the one who orders the freaking things.”

“And now that we’ve got that out of the way, I think I should call Max and try to bring him up to speed,” Bennett said, tapping on her phone.

***

“What do you mean she didn’t kill them?” Max said, jumping out of his chair. “That’s impossible.”