Page 45 of Cruelly Bitten
Is this who you always were deep down? Or is this a result of our time apart? The way you woke up? The way Lilith tortured you?There were so many questions, so many possibilities, none of which I could respond to.
But the biggest query of them all lingered at the forefront of my mind, the one I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer to.Is this version of you permanent?
What if I couldn’t make him remember me?
What if his memories were lost forever?
What would that mean for us?
I shivered, my mind racing into the land of “What Ifs.” It was a dangerous train of thought, one I forced myself to derail from as the administrator panel appeared on the screen.
The script cursor blinked, awaiting my typed command. My fingers flew over the keyboard, all too eager to engage in a distraction from my mental roller coaster.
A series of backend file names appeared next, taking me through a catalog of surveillance feeds. I clicked through them, searching for Cam.
I found myself in one, just like last time, and ignored the image.
Since there only appeared to be one camera in this room, it was impossible for anyone to tell exactly what I was doing on the screen unless they attempted to remote into the computer. And if that happened, I should be notified of it since I was lurking in administrator mode already.
Moving on, I found several more of the infamous Coventus. There were girls and boys in various rooms, some alone, some in groups, all being taught about their future lives as blood slaves. The feed made my stomach twist, bile rising in my throat as a sadistic-looking vampire bent one of the older matrons over a table to provide a hands-on demonstration for a classroom of young females. His beady black eyes observed them all with interest, showcasing his proclivities in a dark light for all to witness.
Monster, I thought, memorizing his face. If I ran into him here, I’d do my best to drive a knife through his heart.
Too bad I didn’t have Lilith’s infamous dagger handy. Apparently, it hadn’t been found on her corpse after Ryder had killed her. Probably because she hadn’t wanted it to be near him on the off chance he’d be able to grab hold of it.
Unfortunately for her, he’d improvised by taking an ax to her neck.
A poisoned blade would be much easier for me to handle, as I doubted I could repeat Ryder’s actions very easily. That sortof act required supernatural strength and expert precision when dealing with an immortal.
I clicked off the screen, not wanting to see how the demonstration ended, and kept searching for Cam.
There were various hallways—most of them vacant except for a guard stationed here or there. Two more bedrooms appeared, both empty.
However, the visual that followed had several people in it. A mountain of them, it seemed.
Dead humans,I realized with a flinch.
My fingers moved to select another feed, only to freeze as my eyes caught on the wall behind the mutilated pile of flesh.
There appeared to be a message written in red—no, that... that’s blood—on it. Except it wasn’t in a language I could read. It was something archaic. A script Cam could probably decipher.
Or write…
Did… did he paint that on the wall?I wondered, swallowing.For what purpose?Is it related to the ritual?
My lips curled down as I scanned the room—which was really more like a cell—for any signs of Cam.Is there another angle? Another viewpoint?
I selected the next feed and found another view of a hallway.
Hmm.
I shifted forward a few more, wondering if it would return to the?—
My eyes widened.Oh. Oh, God…
The display before me had my jaw dropping in utter shock. There were two naked men chained to what appeared to be thrones made of… ofhuman flesh and bones.
I lifted the back of my hand to my lips to keep from gagging at the sight. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen.
