“No, she’s not. If she were, I would have just fed on her and not you.”

“Lisa, she was afraid. Bennett can appear big and bad and always in control, but she has feelings for you, Lisa. Deep, true, powerful feelings, and they paralyzed her. And don’t think for a minute I believed she was right in what she wanted to do. You wouldn’t be standing here if I did, but you can’t be judge, jury, and executioner when you’ve never walked in our shoes. Do you have a right to hear the truth from Bennett, to hear for yourself how she truly feels about you? Absolutely, but from what I’ve seen, it’s going to be just as hard for her to admit she loves you as it was watching you die.”

Lisa thought she had an arsenal of reasons for hating Ruby, but it was quickly becoming apparent Lisa was shooting blanks. Ruby wasn’t trying to steal Bennett. She wasn’t trying to fan the flames, so Lisa would go one way and Bennett the other. Ruby was doing what friends do. She was opening Lisa’s eyes to what was right in front of them.

Lisa’s eyes locked on the two faint red marks on Ruby’s neck, and her posture withered like a punctured balloon. “Crap, and I just fed on you right in front of her.”

“Yeah, and it was nice, so if things don’t work out between you and Ben—”

“Don’t go there.”

Ruby chuckled. “Look, you’ve gone through a hell of a lot over the past few hours. Your emotions have got to be all over the place.”

“They are,” Lisa said, managing a laugh. “One minute, I think I’m fine, and the next, I’m being bombarded by sounds and thoughts and anger and happiness. It’s like I’m in a washing machine on the spin cycle.”

“Then do us all a favor. Before you speak to Bennett, get yourself under control. Your body is still adjusting to all the changes, and it’s going to have more to adjust to now that my blood is in your system. Take some time. Get some sleep, and think things through, and for the love of God, stop being stupid.”

Ruby looked at the glasses of wine and shook her head. “That’s not what I need.” Ruby opened the tiny fridge and pulled out a couple bags of blood. “Let her know I took these. I’m out of here,” she said, going to the door.

“Are you in love with her?”