Page 56 of Kingly Bitten

She remained frozen against the tree.

Tossing the rope and gag to the forest floor beside her, I pulled out my gun and studied the incoming vehicles once more. Their engines were louder now and accompanied by the jet overhead.

Stepping up to the tree, I took position beside Calina just as the first of the off-road transports appeared.

Two armored four-wheel-drive vehicles.

All black exteriors.

Tinted windows

I crouched and gestured for Calina to follow. She did, her movements jerky as though her body had forgotten how to properly function. Apparently, my threat had resonated.

The two transports parked alongside the building, their doors opening a few seconds after cutting off the engines.

All of them were humans.Vigils.

I glanced at Calina and found her focus on me, awaiting my next order. A bizarre way to act, considering she’d likely called these men here to save her.

Unless she hadn’t and this was just another one of Lilith’s protocols.

The way the humans walked suggested they had no idea we were here, their steps casual as they moved toward the field to await the arrival of the incoming plane.

“Did you call them?” I asked her softly, aware the humans were too far away to hear me.

“No,” she whispered back. “I did not.”

“Did you trip a protocol when searching for the location?” I wondered out loud. But even as I said it, I knew that couldn’t be right because these humans weren’t on the alert at all. If they were expecting our company, they would have arrived via stealthier means. And they would be on the defensive now, not casually walking around in broad daylight.

I relayed that thought through the comms before Calina could answer me.

“Agreed,” Darius replied. “They don’t smell aggressive.”

“Sending humans to fight vampires doesn’t make sense,” Damien added.

“Suggesting they have no idea we’re here,” Darius translated.

“Unless whoever is coming in that plane is a superior being,” I mused, watching the plane’s descent. “And this is just a distraction.”

My eyes burned from the sunlight gleaming off the metal, making me wince.

“Do you need blood?” Calina’s soft voice vibrated with emotion, one I sensed in her skipping pulse. I’d sufficiently unnerved her with my threat of snapping her neck. Perhaps Lilith had done that a few times in her history.

I studied her pale features, noting the sincerity in her gaze. “You’re offering me a drink?”

“I’m aware of the sun’s impact on your senses, something you’re exuding with each flinch. And while the sun doesn’t exactly drain you, it does weaken your ability to focus due to overstimulation.” She swallowed, her nerves showing once more. “Im-imbibing my blood will provide your senses with something to f-focus on.”

“You don’t sound very sure,” I murmured, noting the stammer in her voice and the increased hum of her pulse. “Worried I might take too much?”

“You think I brought them here,” she whispered. “Yes, I’m concerned about your inclinations at the moment.”

“Yet you offered me a bite?” I phrased it as a question, my curiosity temporarily overriding the situation entirely.

“Because you’re my best chance at surviving whatever is about to happen,” she replied flatly. “Giving you the focus you need is a practical recourse that not only bolsters your strength but also demonstrates my good intentions, thereby hopefully making you less likely to snap my neck and leave me here to wake up alone.”

Ah, it was the last part of my threat that had done the trick in subduing her, not the threat of violence. She’d been paying attention earlier when I’d commented on her future in this world without a powerful being by her side to protect her. Not only that, but she’d listened and processed my claims thoroughly enough to realize the truth in my words.

“You didn’t call them,” I said, confident in the assessment.