Page 47 of Cruelly Bitten
Although, there were also some vampires who’d chosen eternal rest—vampires like Cam’s brother, Cane. Which meant these two could be vampires, not Blessed Ones.
No. That couldn’t be right. Because if they were vampires and they’d devoured all the bodies in that pile, then the blood should have helped them heal by now.
So why are they giving Blessed Ones blood?I wondered again, my frown deepening.
I’d witnessed the ritual when Cane had chosen to sleep. It hadn’t required any human sacrifice, just the essence of a higher-ranking royal or a Blessed One. As Cam was the oldest royal vampire in existence, his blood had been more than sufficient for Cane’s ceremony.
Just as it would be more than sufficient for the requisite waking ceremony.Or that was my understanding, anyway. Cam had told me they were similar processes, going as far as to teach me the ancient words involved just in case I ever had a need to orchestrate such a ritual.
Not that my blood would be sufficient.
But another royal’s would be.
However, nowhere in that conversation had Cam mentionedthis.
Why are they?—
The lights shut off around me, pitching me into darkness with the laptop providing my only source of light.
I blinked.
What—
A blaring alarm sounded, making my ears ring.
“Ow,” I breathed, my hands flying upward just as the screen shifted to a weird red tint. Then it went dark. Now red. Pitch black again. More red.
I stared at the scene as movement flickered in the strange lighting, the two ancient beings climbing off their macabre thrones and moving out of sight.
What happened to their chains?I wondered, my gaze trying to focus on the image. But the strobe lighting made it too difficult to decipher any details.
I jumped as a body flew across the live feed, the crimson color creating a grotesque scene of brutality. More body parts appeared next, making me gag.
Enough of this.I switched the video, my ears still ringing from the alarm. More red strobe lights lit up the screen, stirring a dizzying sensation inside my mind.
I can’t keep watching this in the dark.
I quickly keyed out of the admin mode and made sure I was logged off of Cam’s profile, but I didn’t close the lid. Because if I did, the room would go completely dark.
So the alarm sounds in here, but not the crimson strobes.
Maybe because it was Cam’s room and not one of the main areas? Of course, that cage holding the two ancients was probably more of a cell than a public space. Just as some of those classrooms resembled a prison-like setting more than anything else.
I shook my head to clear the images from my brain. I needed to focus.Cam’s here to help wake the ancients.
So again I wondered,Why am I here?While I understood the customs, my blood couldn’t help with the rituals. Thus, it couldn’t be for that.
Perhaps whoever is in charge brought me here as a way to control Cam?
No, that couldn’t be right. He didn’t remember me. And the wall between our minds prevented him from knowing me as well.
Unless that was the concern—that he might try to locate me if he couldn’t talk to me in person.
I frowned.Then why not just kill me?I was the best opportunity Cam had to remember everything. Surely that went against?—
The sound of the door opening made me freeze, the glimmer of the login screen my only source of light.
Shit…I swallowed, my exhale seeming to halt in my throat. No other noise followed. No footsteps. No clothes rustling. Not even the faint hint of someone else breathing.
