Page 260 of Cruelly Bitten
Because Cane was in the middle of a full-on demonstration, his video showing a clear view of Khalid and Emine as they headed into what appeared to be a tunnel.
He also had a second image up of Ryder and Willow, the two of them cautiously climbing to the top of a building. Knowing Ryder, he was going to use this as a teaching moment for Willow.
But this wasn’t the time for a training exercise.
However, Ryder wouldn’t understand that.
Because he has no idea what Cane’s capable of,I thought, dread causing my stomach to tighten.
Cam squeezed my thigh subtly as he asked Cane something about a neutralizer.
What neutralizer?I wondered, nearly shaking my head. I’d been so lost in my inner musings that I’d clearly missed a hell of a lot.
“It’s similar to what was used on you,” Cane explained. “Only it doesn’t require as much fine-tuning, as it’s a temporary destabilizer rather than a long-term healing tool.”
Healing tool,Cam repeated mentally, his tone telling me how he felt about the term his brother had coined for the weapon he’d used to subdue him.
“It’ll activate automatically if the rebels reach a certain point in the tunnels. Or we can manually flip the switch now.” Cam selected a box that brought up a panel display. “What’s your preference?”
“How far into the tunnel do they need to go for it to initiate?” Cam asked.
“Another half mile, which won’t take them long if they?—”
The screen turned red, an alarm sounding from the device in his hand. Or maybe it was coming from his watch. I couldn’t tell. It wasn’t a loud blaring noise so much as a subtle beep, like a timer alert.
It seemed rather gentle in nature and quite at odds with the scene unfolding on the display—a scene I could now see very clearly. Because the red film had disappeared and a high-resolution video was left in its place.
Khalid and Emine grabbed their heads, their lips parted in clear agony.
I fought the urge to react to the visual, my stomach clenching even harder at the sight of them running from the invisible assault on their senses.
No, not running.Phasing.
Because they were moving far too fast for it to be considered a standard run. However, the camera seemed to be following their movements with ease.
This technology was terrifying.
But not nearly as terrifying as watching Khalid go to his knees.
He was one of the oldest beings of vampire kind. Just like Cam and Ryder and all the vampires in this room.
To take him down…My throat worked.Cane wasn’t lying when he said thisneutralizeris similar to the weapon he used on you.
“So you’ve found a way to incapacitate multiple vampires at once,” Cam said, a note of intrigue in his voice. I knew from his mind that it was a false note, one he’d manufactured to appease his brother.
“Vampiresandlycans, yes,” his brother murmured. “It’s a sound frequency that quite literally blows the mind. But with how fast we heal, it can be challenging to maintain. Which is why we do this…”
He flipped some sort of switch that revealed a wider view of the tunnel, one that allowed us to watch as four figures arrived at the scene. All of them were dressed from head to toe in black body armor, their heads covered in opaque helmets.
Each of them drew a gun, their barrels pointed at Emine and Khalid.
Cam opened his mouth to speak, but the weapons fired before he could comment.
Khalid and Emine instantly dropped to the ground.
My lips tightened as the cloaked figures swooped in to retrieve the bodies, their movements abrupt and without care as they picked up Khalid and Emine.
Then they all promptly disappeared from the scene.
