Page 148 of Cruelly Bitten

Fortunately, it seemed the vampires hadn’t been given enough time to figure that out.

Or maybe they had.

I’d tuned them out the moment I’d realized I was about to die. Rather than remain in the present, I’d fled into my memories, choosing to remember the Cam I loved.

At some point, I’d become moderately aware that I was no longer in a state of pain.

But I hadn’t realized what that had meant. I’d thought—hoped—I was dead.

Now, I wasn’t sure about anything.

I massaged my temples, my head spinning through what I could remember.

Alas, it all came up blank.

The only memories I had of the last however many hours were from Cam.

I laid my forehead against the cool wood and inhaled slowly, my insides clenching as I again saw the bloody room. The ruined vampires. My unconscious form.

Instead of lingering, I pushed beyond that, speeding through what I already knew, and focused on our current location.

On Hazel.

And the meeting Cam apparently had to attend in a few hours.

We, he interjected into my thoughts. “We have a morning meeting,” he reiterated aloud. “Hazel is making the arrangements. You and Keys will be attending with me.”

I blinked.

And Keys coughed, choking on his food. “M-me?”

“I can’t leave you here. They might try to relocate you to the service area again.” Cam sounded irritated about that prospect.

Apparently, Deirdre had already tried to take Keys away. But Cam had decided he owned the human, and he now had no desire to give him up.

I arched a brow, curious about that development.

He’s interesting,Cam explained.I like him and would therefore prefer he stay alive.

“We will all go to the meeting together,” Cam reiterated. “And I strongly suspect Jace will be there, too. Maybe Ryder and Damien as well.”

I started at that. “Damien’s here?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. Hazel didn’t say who else was coming, but I believe she called Ryder, or maybe Jace.”

His reasoning for suspecting that became clear in his thoughts. “You suggested it.” And not only that, but he’d also told Hazel about Lilith’s weapon.

Because he’d found all the details in my head.

“But you don’t know for sure if she called them?” I went on, still sorting through his mind and what he’d just said.

“No. She didn’t confirm it or mention who will be at the meeting.”

“Oh.” That could be solved with a phone call.Maybe he doesn’t want?—

“I don’t know how to reach them,” Cam informed me, cutting off my thought. “I’ve also been more concerned with waking you up.”

“Oh,” I repeated. “I… I could call Damien?” I phrased it as a question, as I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to talk to my brother or not. Everything between Cam and me felt too tentative, tooinsecure, for me to push boundaries right now.