Page 15 of Kingly Bitten

Or maybe it was James and Gretchen he’d sought.

We’d remained silent, waiting with guns inside, just in case he somehow managed to break down the entrance. It was reinforced steel, hence the reason I’d needed Gerald to test his watch and unlatch the door for me.

Eventually, Louis had taken one of the watches off of a dead Vigil, noted the countdown on the clock face, and left to explore another division via the elevator.

With their bloodlust mostly sated, the vampires and lycans had begun thinking strategically. The video feed didn’t have sound, but I noticed their mouths moving as they all found each other on the various levels and looked at the stolen watches.

It didn’t take much for them to realize we were on a countdown sequence of some kind. And from their hurried efforts now, they’d clearly gathered that they didn’t want to be in this bunker when the clock reached 00:00:00.

Different groups ran into others on each floor, always pausing to discuss the watches and potential escape routes.

Then they scattered again to keep searching.

I observed them with interest, waiting for them to discover the one thing I’d never been taught—how to leave the bunker.

James stood beside me, his arms folded as he watched in silence.

Gretchen sat on the couch that I often used for sleep, her child snuggled against her as she hummed to keep him content and quiet.

There wasn’t anyone else alive in our section—at least, no one we knew about. There were other rooms like mine without cameras, making me wonder if anyone else had hidden out like we were now.

James reached forward to tap on one of the images to enlarge it. I let him take charge, his alpha energy clear in his stance. He usually bowed to my authority, but in this situation, he was the strongest amongst us. As he stood over six feet tall and was built of solid lycan muscle, I trusted his dominance so long as he listened to my strategy.

“There,” he said, gesturing at Group Three—a trio of vampires from the labs on floor two. “They’ve found something.”

I nodded, noting the excitement in their expressions as they tried to open one of the doors on level nine.

“Do you have a way of triggering the opening mechanism from here?” James asked.

I pulled up the access controls within the bunker, searching for one that would unlock the door on that level. Then I frowned and shook my head. “It’s not listed.” Which meant there were probably others like that throughout the building.

I started cataloging them quickly, based on the camera angles and doors I could see.

James fell silent as I worked, giving me the space and time to write down all the doors on each level that were visible in the feed and missing a control.

“There are only two,” I finally concluded after comparing all my lists.

“Where are they with door one?” he inquired, the surveillance feed having been switched as I’d checked each section within the bunker.

I returned to Group Three and found Group Four with them. I’d labeled them all in my head to keep better track of them. Group Four had a lycan and two more vampires. The lycan had shifted and was trying to use his claws to get through the steel door.

Two of the vampires were working on the watches they’d taken from dead Vigils.

My lips twisted. “They’re not making much progress.” I checked the time and found we were down to a little over three hours left.

There had to be something we could do to speed them along.

I started pulling logs from previous visits with Lilith, searching for anything that could signify the entrance or exit. Entrance protocols. System audits. Security logs.

Nothing.

“Shit,” I muttered, frustrated that I couldn’t find a damn thing to help us. Maybe it was my exhaustion or the stress of the moment, but my access and review of the files didn’t help us in any way.

Pulling the footage back up, I discovered that Groups One and Two had joined Three and Four, leaving only Group Five unaccounted for.

I found them at the other door without a system-controlled locking mechanism, which was on level fifteen. “Looks like—”

White light blared across my screen, blinding me before I could finish speaking. James cursed, both of us momentarily stunned. But the feed quickly shut to black, the visual of that area no longer available.