“You haven’t even been a vampire for twenty-four bloody hours, Lisa,” Bennett said, raising her voice slightly. “And I know you’re not my property, but I will not put you in danger.”

“So you don’t have faith in me—again?”

“That’s not what this is about, and you know it.”

“What I know is I’m a vampire now, and since I’m a daywalker to boot—”

“She’s a daywalker?” Max said, standing up.

Bennett fixed her eyes on Max. “Yes, it’s true. She is.”

Max looked back and forth between Ruby and Lisa. When he’d spoken to Bennett earlier that day, she had dropped the bombshell about Ruby being a daywalker. At first, Max was befuddled before he remembered that while Etienne had fathered both, Ruby and Napoleon had different mothers. Ruby’s mother had obviously carried the Black Death marker, and since Lisa, Finn, and Gunnar had the same parents, that meant they could all be daywalkers. Max dropped back into his chair. “Bloody hell.”

“What?” Lisa said, eyeing Max. “What’s wrong?”

“Um…nothing,” Max said with a wave of his hand. “I’m…uh…I’m just trying to take all this in.”

“And I’m trying to help,” Lisa said, taking a step in Bennett’s direction. “So stop being so stubborn about this and—”

“I’m not being stubborn,” Bennett shouted. “Goddammit, Lisa. Don’t you remember what they did to you?”

“Yes, and that’s exactly why I’m going,” Lisa said, invading Bennett’s personal space. “They snapped my arms and legs like they were twigs, Bennett, and I was awake when they did it. They cut me from top to bottom, and I was awake when they did that, too. I only lost consciousness after they stomped on my face. So yeah, I remember almost everything they did, and I’m going to stop them from ever doing it to anyone else again.”

Bennett sighed. “Lisa, I know you mean well, but…but you’ve never killed anyone.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything, and besides, they look more like dried peppers than they do people, so I’ll just think of it as making chili paste.”

“Please don’t be flippant. I’m being serious.”

“No, you’re being overprotective, and I love you for it, but you’re not leaving this house without me, Bennett. You’re just not.”

Bennett drew in a slow breath, mindlessly looking around the room as she did. Like in all his homes across the world, a chessboard was always standing at the ready in Max’s offices, and this one was no different. Thinking back on a time when she’d made another wager, Bennett smirked. “Fine,” she said, her eyes meeting Lisa’s. “On one condition.”

Lisa placed her hands on her hips. “Which is?”

“Follow me.”

Chapter Fifty