Page 217 of Cruelly Bitten

Cane ran his knuckles down my cheek to my neck. “She’s an immortal toy. One who bleeds. Screams. Dies. And regenerates.”

Cam still said nothing.

However, he was clearly listening, something his brother seemed to be keenly aware of.

“Tell my brother I have dozens of them,” Cane murmured. “Perfect consorts. Perhaps he’llchooseone of those to replace you with and free himself of his humanity. Reign by my side or over me. I don’t care. I just want him to join me, once and for all.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

CAM

Ismerelda’srevulsion soured our bond, her distaste growing harsher with each passing minute.

My brother had essentially turned myErositainto a living, breathing communication device. Every detail he provided to her on their way to the compound was meant for me, as was each word he spoke while leading Ismerelda into a building located at the ground level. It wasn’t the Coventus, but near it.

Ismerelda remained quiet, simply replying with whatever I told her to say, her dutiful behavior seeming to appease my brother.

Yet I heard her simmering inside. Felt her anger. Her disbelief. Herdistrust.

I couldn’t hide my curiosity, my brother’s accomplishment something I wanted to know more about. But that didn’t mean I approved of what he’d done, just that I desired more details.

That said, I was beginning to understand how and why my former self had compartmentalized and concealed certain details from Ismerelda.

It had nothing to do with wanting to lie to her and everything to do with protecting her.

Right now, her emotions and reactions needed to be believable. Keeping my mind open to her could impact that, as all it would take was a few moments in my head to know I didn’t condone what my brother was doing. And that would be enough to provide relief, something Ismerelda couldn’t afford to show.

Thus, my instincts told me to hide my feelings from her, and I knew exactly how to do it—something that proved I’d done it often before. Likely out of a need to safeguard Ismerelda’s mind.

But I refused to do that now.

I couldn’t block her out. It would be counterproductive to us being equals.

I’d meant what I’d said—Ismerelda was my queen.

And right now, I was trusting her to act as such. To manage her external reactions while knowing the truth about me deep down.

Our link was wide open, my thoughts and desires hers to decipher.

“We’ll be on the ground in three minutes,” Damien announced from the cockpit.

I nodded, not that he could see me, and passed the information on to Ismerelda.

She parroted my statement to my brother in a bored tone as he led her into a bedroom. Her mental voice told me it was similar to the one we’d shared in the underground, only this one appeared to be above ground, as it had tinted windows that overlooked a sunny courtyard.

Because it’s morning now,I grumbled to myself, irritated by my brother’s choice of timing for this kidnapping and forced meeting.

But I supposed it was what I would have done in his situation.

Those twilight hours around dawn were the most vulnerable hours for a vampire, mostly because it was when we all tucked ourselves in to avoid the brightness of the day.

While the sun’s rays didn’t harm me, they certainly irritated me.

How surprising,Ismerelda muttered, drawing my attention back to her evaluation of the room.No surveillance cameras in here. At least not in the same place, anyway.

Cane must have followed her gaze or noted her scrutiny because he remarked on her observation, saying something about having enjoyed watching me fuck Ismerelda nearly to death.

“If only he’d succeeded,”he concluded, his words echoing in Ismerelda’s mind.