Page 20 of Kingly Bitten

He didn’t get a chance to finish his order, the beings inside already spilling out into the wreckage of the hallway. They didn’t have weapons, only teeth, and their focus was entirely on Doctor Calina.

Growls rumbled through the corridor, causing the female to stiffen against me.

“Holy shit,” Damien breathed, lowering his gun. “Zack?”

A vampire with animalistic features glared at Damien. Then his dark brows met his hairline. “Damien?”

The moment came to an awkward pause as everyone glanced at each other.

My own eyebrows lifted as I recognized the lone lycan in the group. “Louis.” The male doctor had voiced that name, causing Calina to tell him to run. But I hadn’t really considered the familiarity of it.Louishad been a popular name a few centuries ago.

“Jace,” he returned, his furious gaze melting into one of surprise as he looked at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Looking for Cam.” It was a statement the lycan would definitely understand, considering he’d been supposedly killed for agreeing with Cam’s views on the revolution. “Is he here?”

“Cam?” Louis frowned. “I’ve not seen him in… a very long time. I don’t think he’s here. But I’m not sure wherehereis or how long I’ve been…” He trailed off, his attention returning to Calina. “If anyone knows anything about this fucking bunker, it’sher.”

“Because she’s in charge,” I mused, my grip on her neck tightening just enough to show what I thought of herleadership.

“She’s the fucking devil,” he snarled.

“A devil I need alive for the moment,” I told him. “We need to find Cam.”

“What year is it?” one of the vampires asked, his eyes wild with suppressed fury.

“Year one hundred seventeen of the new era,” I said. Then I translated it into a few different timing mechanisms until understanding crossed the vampire’s features.

Calina flinched as her wrist buzzed again. “Five-minute warning,” she whispered.

Louis lifted a similar watch and growled. “This place is going to self-destruct.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because ofher,” he snapped.

Calina didn’t comment, but I sensed her hesitation, like she wanted to correct him. I’d have to dig into that later.

Right now, I had a much more important question to ask her. “Is Cam down there somewhere?” I demanded, taking Louis’s word that this female truly was in charge. She’d also called herself the lead researcher, and her name was tied to the transmission Damien had intercepted. All that pointed to her being the one with the answers I required.

“I’m not at liberty to disclose—”

I sank my teeth into her neck, nailing her pulse without preamble and informing her with my mouth who the superior being was in this situation. She’d accused me of notprovingit. Well, I’d fucking prove it now. And this little minx would heel.

Except her blood was unlike anything I’d ever tasted in my life.

Fucking exquisite.

Better than a blood virgin’s. Or maybe on par. I couldn’t say. All I knew was this female showed me a glimpse of heaven in the best way.

It took considerable effort to stop, to not drain her dry right here and now. But millennia of experience kept me focused on the task.

Cam.

I harshly released her throat, tearing skin along the way before pressing my lips to her ear. “Did that prove my superiority,human?”

She shuddered out a breath, her limbs shaking from the exertion of losing so much blood so quickly.

Good.