Page 170 of Cruelly Bitten

Except they’d all supposedly been hunted down and killed by vampire kind. At least according to Lilith’s logs. They were so rare to begin with that there hadn’t been many to exterminate when lycans and vampires had taken over the world.

Cam had only known of a handful over his long lifetime, too.

Yet he didn’t seem to remember his most recent encounter with one. While I hadn’t been part of the incident between him and Cane, I knew enough about it to share the information with him now.

His mind brushed mine as he absorbed the memories.

Cam coming home covered in blood.

“Aurelia tried to kill Cane. She’s a slayer. Or she was, anyway. She’s dead now.”

The finality with which he’d delivered that last line had haunted me, primarily because I’d considered Aurelia to be a friend at the time.

She’d fooled us all.

But it was Cane she’d impacted the most.

“He needs to sleep,” Cam had said. “It’ll help calm his mind, bring back his humanity, and put him on the right course.”

Which had led to us helping him fall into an immortal sleep.

Except he’s no longer in his coffin,I remembered, frowning as I realized I hadn’t yet told Cam what I’d discovered in his family crypt.

He heard me now, though, his psyche prodding mine for every detail I’d observed.

When Cam finished following my memory trail—learning everything from what I’d seen all the way through Michael arriving and manhandling me back into the underground lab—he growled, his instincts firing.

Yet outwardly he remained stoic. Calm, even.

Just like he had during Emine’s display of power. He’d been uncomfortable with her knowledge and had internally questioned if she’d been coached by Khalid.

But it wasn’t until Khalid had announced what she was that Cam labeled her as a threat.

Most vampires were familiar with the Blessed Ones, knew their names and where they rested. However, their mates—the mothers of the royal vampires—were not as well known. Because they’d all lived normal human lives, dying young.

Therefore, they weren’t as notable to vampire kind, their names whispered memories carried by their children and the Blessed Ones they’d left behind.

For Emine to be aware of their names, to know what she did about Calina, proved she was unique.

There’s something not quite right about her and Khalid,Cam had thought a few minutes ago.Something that suggests this animosity between them is all a charade.

Do you think they’re mated?I’d asked him.

Possibly,he’d returned.

Then Khalid had dropped his bomb about Emine being a slayer and her purpose in his region.

And Cam’s mind had fallen silent with the rest of the room.

At least until I informed him about Cane’s disappearance.

Now his mind was running through a myriad of scenarios.

Did Lilith make me wake him?

Is he stuck in a lab somewhere?

Does Michael know where he is?