Page 108 of Kingly Bitten

It was fascinating.

But I didn’t care for her supposed ties to other immortal beings. She revealed her connection to Lilith yet couldn’t define it, her mind blank when I prodded for more details.

That explained her eagerness to study the files with me—she wanted to learn more about her origin. The thought proved she’d spoken the truth the other day.

Actually, having access to her mind confirmed everything she’d told me from her first breath was grounded in fact. She’d never lied.

Oh, but she had omitted a few details, such as how I’d proven her assessment of vampire prowess wrong almost immediately.

Hmm, I hummed at her.I’m going to enjoy punishing you for that little omission later.

She responded by following that thread of thought to my experience again and pulling some of my favorite bedroom activities. A mixture of irritation and interest followed. She didn’t particularly care for my vast exposure to sensual activities. And yet, she found them intriguing at the same time.

After a few minutes, she dismissed the thoughts and returned to her musings of our connection.

I trailed after her, curious to watch her work through the puzzle of what shouldn’t exist between us. She sorted through my knowledge base and her own, comparing notes along the way and eventually reaching a conclusion that echoed through my thoughts.

My irregular genetics must make me predisposed to accepting a vampire mate.

She started thinking about her experience with the lycan, which had my fingers fisting in her hair. “Stop that.” I didn’t want that memory in my head. It was worse than Lilith drinking from her. Worse thaneverythingI’d uncovered in her mind so far.

But now that she’d started down the path, the whole episode played out behind my eyes, making me dizzy with rage.

“Calina,” I snapped, hating this experience more than anything else in my fucking life. “Stop.”

She didn’t.

The memory worsened, her pain an agonizing whip to my senses.

She hadn’t been allowed to scream, her mouth gagged to keep her silent. But she hadn’t been able to stop her tears, the anguish leaking from her eyes as the lycan ravaged her.

He’d been blind to his lust, his need causing him to disregard her human form and mistake her for a fellow lycan.

I could almost feel him fucking me from behind, and it wasn’t even my memory.

Calina shivered beside me, her cheeks suddenly wet as she cried in her sleep, the nightmarish images too real and threatening for her to pull free from.

There was a whole section of her mind filled with horrors that rivaled this one. Years of being treated like a lab subject. Growing up inside a bunker and never being permitted to go outside.

Lilith feeding from her.

Lilith testing the limits of Calina’s immortality.

She’d killed her so many times in so many different ways. I’d considered Lilith to be boring before, feeling her methods hadn’t been all that creative.

How wrong I’d been.

Now that Calina had opened this part of her mind, I could see all the torture she’d endured. The pain she kept locked away behind a mask of indifference. This was what had driven her to a logical frame of mind. This torment had been too much for a mortal psyche. So she’d clung to reason and strategy, choosing practicality over irrational thought.

She compartmentalized her anguish.

It was an interesting revelation that broke my damn heart.

This brilliant female had survived hell.

And she’d faced me with the spirit of a lion inside her.

“Fuck, Calina,” I whispered, enraptured with her once more. I palmed her cheeks to flick away her tears, then pressed my lips to hers.