Page 168 of Kingly Bitten

But that didn’t mean he knew that.

Lilith had erased his memory, then spoke to him in those logs as if all this was his idea. As though she were a servant tohismadness. And without any background or history in his mind, he would have had no way to fight it.

“Fuck.” I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping like hell we were wrong yet feeling inside that we were absolutely right.

Cam’s been stuck in a cave somewhere, watching those logs, and thinking he’s the one responsible for this change.It almost felt unbelievable. And yet, it was just like Lilith to leave us with one final mindfuck in the form of a brainwashed Cam.

One of the logs began to play in the background as Damien watched. But I didn’t look. Instead, I picked up on the subtle cadence and intentional uses of the termyou,my liege, andmy king.

She sounded so damn reverent.

Like she was worshipping the deity she spoke to and praising him for all this madness.

It wasn’t a partner at all. It wasn’t Michael. It was fucking Cam.

“That conniving cun—”

My phone began to vibrate, cutting off my curse.

One glance was all I needed to know who it was.

He’d let us live in the labs because his strategic mind would have told him that spilling our blood would be a waste. Cam would want to convince us to join him. He’d see it as a challenge.

For the wrong fucking side.

I swallowed, then stole a deep breath and accepted the call. “Hello, Cam,” I greeted as soon as his image appeared.

He grinned. “Jace. It’s been a while.”

“Indeed,” I replied, trying to keep my voice from reflecting any emotion. Attempting to tell Cam that he’d been brainwashed wouldn’t work without sufficient proof, and I couldn’t do that over the phone.

Of course, if he was actually watching the surveillance footage from Bunker 37, he might be able to enlarge the video we’d seen of his torment. But I doubted I could convince him to try.

The Cam I knew was stubborn.

And if Lilith’s videos had convinced him that he was the Liege, it would take a lot for me to undo that mindfuck.

I needed time and a plan.

I also needed to see what we were working with here.

“How was your nap?” I asked, playing into the charade.

He shrugged. “I don’t remember much, but I feel rested enough. Not too pleased with some of the things I’ve learned since waking up, though.”

“Oh?” I arched a brow. “Such as?”

His lips curled. “You truly are a master at politics.”

“I learned from the best,” I admitted, referring to him.

“A compliment.” He sounded impressed. “Does that mean we can discuss all this tomfoolery you’ve been up to lately with trying to undermine my life’s work?”

My jaw threatened to tick at those words, Lilith’s final act serving as a punch to my gut.

How she would’ve loved to have heard Cam say those words.

Thankfully, the bitch was very dead.