Page 129 of Kingly Bitten

“What name did you choose?” I asked him as I approached. He would have been born a number without an identity. But one of the few gifts given to those who gained immortality was an identity, however meek it might be.

“Mouse,” he replied.

I arched a brow. “You chose the nameMouse?”

He shuffled his feet a little. “Uh, well…”

“Lajos named you Mouse.”

He nodded, his eyes falling to the floor.

Yet more proof of what was wrong with this world. “We’ll fix that,” I promised him. “Now, how do I hook this up to the screen so we can all see Lilith?”

Mouserequested my phone, which I pulled from my pocket and handed to him. He did a little maneuvering in the system menu, then Ryder’s face populated a massive curtain against the back of the stage.

“Ah, there you are,” I said, amused to find him leaning against the wall of what appeared to be an elevator. “That’s a lovely makeover.”

“Says the king,” Ryder replied in Lilith’s voice. He cringed at the sound and started fussing with something on his end while muttering, “Fucking AI bullshit. How do I turn this shit off?”

“Am I, though?” I asked, ignoring his little tangent.

“Are you what?” he asked, his regular voice finally coming through. “Much better.”

“King.”

“Well, you did volunteer.”

“Hmm. Not quite how I remember it,” I admitted, recalling the meeting in Silvano Region shortly after Ryder had taken Lilith’s head. “Where’s Lilith?”

“I’m on my way up to her now.”

That explained the elevator.

While Ryder traveled, I addressed the room of confused faces. “I can sense your misunderstanding. I promise this will all make sense just as soon as Lilith appears.”

Several of the vampires looked at each other, and Ryder peered down at us. “Show me the room.”

I frowned and glanced at Mouse. “How do I do that?” I understood how my phone and watch worked, but not this giant-ass screen.

The young vampire did a few things behind a curtain, followed by Ryder saying, “Oh, that is quite an audience. Where’s Lajos?”

“Behind Jasmine,” I answered, glancing up at the VIP area. It was just one step above the room, giving it a superior ring on a platform outlined by velvet rope.

Ryder peered down at us again, then his fingers appeared as he did something on his end. “Telecommunication bullshit,” he muttered to himself, his eyes squinting. Then his eyebrows popped up. “Ah, there. Yes. Zoom. Nice. Hmm.”

“We can all hear you.”

“As though I care,” he drawled, cocking his head to the side as a ding sounded.

He stepped out of the elevator but paused to evaluate whatever detail he’d pull up. Then his fingers appeared again, in front of him this time, suggesting he’d made the image of the room surround him.

A useful trick on certain devices. I could have done that with mine, but I needed the larger screen.

“Clean cut,” he finally said. “And not a speck of blood on you. I daresay I’m impressed. But what happened to the doctor?”

“Lajos snapped her neck.”

His eyebrows flew upward again, probably at the growl in my tone. “And so you killed him?”