“Yes. Trust me, they aren’t as they appear. Most are over three hundred years old and have had decades to study and excel at whatever they choose. And Detective O’Brien, he was turned in 1682. He was a member of Garrick’s clan and kept his daywalker abilities a secret for obvious reasons. However, once they gave me a chair on the council, he sought me out. Tully now speaks numerous languages and has flawlessly passed himself off as American, Greek, British, German, and Italian. He’s always been predisposed to mysteries and investigations, so he’s worked for a multitude of police organizations across the world for decades. He keeps his ear to the ground, and if a snippet of something relating to vampires arises, he helps to squelch it. Tully also likes to help himself to my first editions, the little bastard.”

“What?”

“It’s now a running joke between us. It started in London in the mid-1700s. Back then, the only way to feed was by using livestock or people, and it didn’t always go off as intended. Sometimes the scuffle was loud, and attention was drawn, and sometimes…sometimes I’m sorry to say my victim died because of my own stupidity. I had pushed myself too far and couldn’t stop,” Bennett said, frowning. “Anyway, the police would show up at my door saying someone had seen me in the area, and thankfully, Tully was always among those officers. The second time it happened, while he was questioning me, he began perusing my library and then proceeded to make up some sob story about his son and the poor lad’s constant struggles to read. Since I was trying to act as innocent and as upfront as I could, I ended up giving him a first edition of Robinson Crusoe to share with his son. A decade later, he conned me out of my copy of Gulliver’s Travels during another investigation, and through the years, he’s swindled me out of a host of others.”

“Oh, that’s funny.”

“To tell you the truth, at first, I was rather peeved. The books, after all, are priceless, but Tully is so good at what he does, and he’s protected so many daywalkers, he’s earned every single copy and then some.”

“So they follow you wherever you go?”

“Yes, except now they’ll be following us wherever we go,” Bennett said, taking Lisa’s hand. “Just as I’ve sworn to protect them, they’ve sworn to protect me, and therefore you. If you’d like, once we’re settled, we can throw a small soiree and you can meet them. They are truly extraordinary people with truly extraordinary stories.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea, but I thought they kept their identities secret. What about Polly and Angelique? It’s not like they won’t be around.”