Page 144 of Kingly Bitten

The question became, did the person in charge know my importance in Lilith’s life? Because I was willing to bet they didn’t know every detail. Lilith had never been the type to share. It was why she’d always visited by herself.

“You were her best-kept secret,” Jace translated, responding to my thoughts.

“Or maybe it’s not me at all, but something in my head. Which could actually be what all this is about—whoever is in charge either needs something from me or has no idea what detail I possess.”

I just needed to figure out what I knew that was so important.

“We need to find a computer room or a lab with server access.” The answer would be in the files somewhere.

“Hold on, I’m trying to understand the plan here. You want to search for files and try to determine the purpose of this game, just to what? Be killed for our trouble at the end?” Darius didn’t sound impressed. And when phrased that way, I agreed.

“I don’t think the end goal is our death,” Jace replied. “Lilith didn’t kill Cam. She didn’t attempt to kill Ryder either. I’ve always wondered why, particularly regarding Cam as he so obviously opposed her. But maybe whoever thisliegeis told her to keep them alive. I imagine the same rule applies here.”

“That’s a dangerous guess.”

“It’s a practical estimation based on previous behavior,” Jace corrected. “It’s possible the one in charge just wants to gloat or that Lilith has set all this up as some sort of morbid endgame finale. But I really don’t think our death is the goal here. We represent two ancient bloodlines. And as Damien said to me recently, there’s power in blood. They won’t want to waste it.”

“No. They’ll want to harvest it.” Darius sounded even less impressed than before. “I much prefer the bloodbath option.”

“Well, we’ll keep it in mind as we discover our true purpose here.” Jace grabbed his shoulder. “If this is the true endgame, then Cam may be down there somewhere.”

Darius sighed. “I hate vampire politics.”

Jace smiled. “And yet you’re so skilled at playing the game. Let’s win this one, yes?”

Yes,I agreed despite the question being for Darius. He conceded as well, and the two of them began discussing options on how to proceed.

“I don’t think the elevator goes down,” Juliet said softly, causing both men to look at her. “I think it goes into the mountain.”

She pointed down the hallway in the opposite direction from the door we’d entered.

“That’s an interesting theory,” Jace said. “Why do you think that?”

“The tour book I read on the way here notes that Kauai has many caves. They were popular attractions in the old world. If I were building a bunker here, I would take advantage of a natural structure.”

Jace blinked, then looked at Darius. “You gave her a Kauai guidebook?”

The other vampire shrugged. “She enjoys reading.”

“He enjoys giving me books,” Juliet corrected. “He gave me several on Hawaii while we were in Jace City.”

Jace gaped at Darius. “Where the hell did you find them?”

“Humans died. Libraries didn’t,” Darius deadpanned. “I’ve kept all my books. And I sent Trevor on an errand to grab some things while arranging our travel.”

“Of course you did.”

“I think she’s right,” I interjected, uninterested in how Juliet had made her guess. Time was precious, and we had a puzzle to solve.

Ignoring them, I started toward the door at the end of the corridor. It looked exactly like the one we’d entered, only it was on the opposite side.

The keypad resembled the ones I’d used at Bunker 47.

Jace appeared with the watch, and I took it, curious to test my theory regarding the terminated use of the device.

I scanned it and wasn’t surprised when it said “Access denied.”

Darius tried the watch against the pad by the elevator, eliciting a similar response that echoed down the pristine white hallway.