Page 258 of Cruelly Bitten
He started showing his brother the logistics, explaining how the detector was programmed, all while I watched from beside Cam.
Cane didn’t seem to notice me. Or maybe he just didn’t care that I was watching. Because he hadn’t looked at me once, not even when I’d moved off of Cam’s lap.
“See these heat signatures?” Cane said, pointing at an infrared image showing five reddish-colored shadows. “Those are some of the incoming rebels. Although, it seems they’re separating…”
Three more screens populated the air before us, Cane’s hands immediately reacting to bring them into view.
“The system automatically scans the intruders, detecting their origin and even their name, if they’re a known entity in the system.” He drew one of the feeds into the center, leaving the others at the back, and touched one of the red blurs. “Identify.”
“Vampire,” a feminine voice said. “Name: Khalid. Age: over four thousand. Allegiance: uncertain. Please update system preferences regarding lethal force.”
“No lethal force allowed,” Cane replied before placing his finger against the other figure on the display. “Identify.”
The screen blinked. “Female vampire. Age: unknown. Blood type: unknown. Origin: unknown. Name: unknown.”
Emine,I guessed.
Cane’s nostrils flared. “Fucking slayer bitch.”
I nearly frowned.How does he know that?
I’m guessing hissourcetold him,Cam replied, his interest piqued. However, he remained silent as his brother pulled up Emine’s profile on the computer.
Cane selected a button beneath a fuzzy image of Emine and said, “Activate lethal force for the unknown vampire.”
“Lethal force protocols activated,” the system returned.
My blood went cold.
Oh, shit…
The profile turned black, a countdown starting. “Ten, Nine…”
Cam,I started.
But he was already reaching for the same button. “Deactivate lethal force for the unknown vampire.” His English tonessounded exactly like his brother’s, the two of them far too similar for comfort.
“Lethal force protocols deactivated,” the system replied, clearly agreeing that their voice signatures were the same.
Or maybe Cam already had administrative access.
Unless that wasn’t required at all in this mode.
“What the fuck?” Cane demanded. “She can’t be allowed to enter.”
“She should absolutely be allowed to enter,” Cam returned. “I want blood samples before you kill her. And I want them taken from a live source.”
Cane stared at him, his jaw clenching.
Cam merely gazed back at him, that arrogant eyebrow of his arched upward. “She’s an excellent test subject.”
“I already perfected the immortal blood bags, brother.”
“That remains to be seen,” Cam replied flatly. “I’ll need time to test your product. Until then, I want the slayer alive in case she can be of use to us. Surely your system has some way to detain her?”
I swallowed, both fascinated and mortified by the inner workings of Cam’s mind.
His strategic processing of the situation was practically immediate, his ability to handle his brother and counter his words bordering on extraordinary. Especially the way he’d ended his response by essentially daring his brother to prove his system’s capabilities.
