Page 125 of Cruelly Bitten

“Hazel has never approved of Lilith’s reign.”

It could be a lie. However, searching Ismerelda’s mind now, I didn’t pick up on any hint of dislike toward the ancient royal.

Very unlike Ismerelda’s response to thoughts of Mira and Lilith.

My little lioness was downright feral when it came to the now-dead “Goddess.” She was both excited and jealous that Ryder’sErositahad been the one to take Lilith down. She wanted to kill the cunt all over again. Make the pain last.Bleed her dry.

I growled in approval inside, my own desire rivaling her own.

But we had more pressing matters to see to, such as the fact that none of the humans had responded to me yet.

“Was I not clear?” I asked, arching a brow. Not that any of them could see it—they were all staring at the ground, including the one with the gun. “I need a car and a phone. I also need a human who can help me make a call.”

Primarily because I had no idea what numbers to dial to reach anyone. Michael had helped me call Jace a few weeks ago, and the external connection had been unavailable since.

I would need to phone Hazel first, inform her of my intention to cross into her region.

Unless the calls will be monitored.

But Michael would likely be sending someone after us regardless.And we might have trackers embedded in us somewhere.

Which meant I needed these humans to start moving.Right fucking…“Now.” I uttered that final word aloud, my impatience underlined by the bark in my voice.

“Keys,” the one with the gun breathed. “Keys.”

My brow furrowed. “Yes, keys would be useful.”

But the moron started shaking his head, his resulting tremble making me question why this Vigil had been trusted with a gun. “N-no, you?—”

“He’s paging me,” a deep voice said as a dark-skinned male appeared in my peripheral vision. He stood in the doorway of one of the new residence-style buildings, only this one was actually a security depot.

“My unit calls meKeys,” he continued as he walked toward me. “I’m Vigil One, manager of this checkpoint. How can I help you, Sire?” He bowed his head on that last part, his reverence a little delayed. At least according to new customs.

“I need a car, a phone, and a human who knows how to operate both,” I told him. “And I need all of that done right now.”

He raised his head, his brown eyebrows lifting. “Only two of us here know how to drive, one of whom is me. And I’m the only one who has been trained on communication devices.”

“Then I guess you’re who I need right now,Keys.” I stared at him expectantly.

While my brain might be a riddled mess of truths and lies, the hierarchy of our reality was certain—vampires and lycans ruled and humans served.

I’d just thought the whole concept had been my idea, thanks to Lilith’s mindfuck.

Keys cleared his throat. “Right. Yes. This?—”

A blaring alarm cut him off, his shoulders hunching as he visibly flinched. The other humans reacted similarly, all of them standing at full alert, their gazes surveying the boundaries for the cause of the disruption.

My senses flared as a buzzing sound filled my ears, the source of it coming from Keys’s wrist.

He responded nearly a second later, his human reflexes much slower than mine. I caught his forearm before he could answer the incoming call, Ismerelda’s weight shifting unsteadily against my chest.

“Ignore the alarms. Remove your watch and drop it on the ground. Then focus on finding me a car and a phone.” I laced each word with compulsion while sending a blast of power out to the humans around us, knocking them out with a mental command tosleep.

Not many of my kind contained this level of vampiric persuasion.

But I wasn’t an ordinary immortal.

I was the oldest vampire in existence.