Page 5 of Cruelly Bitten

I turned left down another hallway, followed by a right and another left before reaching the elevator at the end. Mira watched as I punched in the necessary codes, then entered behind me in contemplative silence.

“I’ve been thinking,” Mira started slowly, her ice-colored eyes bold as she met my gaze. She was an alpha wolf, used to subduing others with a stare.

However, her dominance was no match for my own, something I conveyed with a simple arch of my brow as I waited for her to finish her statement.

“I think we should wake up Fen next.” The sound of the elevator reaching our desired floor punctuated her confident words. “His bloodline is slightly different, given that he’s the father of lycans,” she added as we stepped out of the elevator. “It would provide the researchers with another sample type for their trials.”

“Technically, it would be your blood that would provide the varying sample type,” I murmured, leading the way toward the conference room. “You’re the only immortal lycan, after all.”

“Yes, but if you bite me, I’ll bite back. And I have sharper teeth.” She flashed me a wolfish grin with her words, not at all afraid of challenging me as her superior. “Mortals are easier prey.”

“Easier, yes. But they’re not very durable,” I returned.

“I take it yourErositais still out of commission?” She gave me a pitying glance that I ignored, instead choosing to open the door to the conference area.

A massive round table took up the center of the room with more than fifty chairs encircling it. Most of the walls were composed of dark glass, just like the formal meeting room in Lilith City. Only that glass wall could be un-tinted to reveal the skyscrapers outside. These panes had hard rock behind them—rock that matched the wall with the door.

I moved toward the chair directly across the table and in perfect line with the entrance. There was a camera mounted just above the door, thus keeping the rocky wall out of view of the lens and making this particular spot in the room the central focus for filming.

“So…” I settled into my chosen chair. “You want to wake up your father and give him to the researchers.”

It was a purposeful redirection of our conversation because I had no desire to speak about myErositawith Mira or anyone else.

Which was something I thought I’d made clear when I’d taken Ismerelda back to my quarters after Mira had recommended a room near the blood virgins.

Why the fuck would I keep my primary craving on a different floor?

No, Ismerelda would stay in the room I’d fashioned for her until I grew tired of her.

Then she could be moved.

Or killed.

But that was a debate for after she woke up.

And entirely irrelevant to this discussion.

“Fen’s bloodline is likely similar to those of the other Blessed Ones,” I continued as I steepled my fingers together on top of the granite tabletop. “He’s not a lycan. We also already have two ancients in the process of waking. So why do we need a third one?”

She took over the chair to my right and met my gaze once more, her expression devoid of emotion. “Because Lilith failed,” she answered flatly. “So now vampire kind is running out of time to develop an alternative blood bag.”

Yes, because my brethren had been gluttonous over the last century. We weren’t out of food yet, but we would be within the next decade if our trends continued. Hence the purpose behind the experiments—we needed to find a way to keep our food sources alive despite our feeding habits.

But I already knew all that. What I wanted her to explain was, “Why Fen?” I studied her emotionless expression. “Why do you think he’s needed?”

“Because there’s a chance his blood is different, and at this point, we need as large a sample as we can get.”

“So by that logic, we should wake up all the Blessed Ones,” I countered.

She shook her head. “Not at the risk of angering all the royals in existence.”

Hmm. She had a point there.

“You chose Sota because you know Sahara will accept her father’s fate as a justified punishment, just as Lajos would have?—”

“Accepted his father’s punishment as well,” I finished for her. “Yes, I’m aware of why I chose Sota and Troph.” Thanks to Lilith’s records, anyway.

Because I possessed no actual memory of it, just like almost everything else.