Page 51 of Cruelly Bitten
Until the hard edge of his words filtered through my thoughts.
He sounded irritated. No, more than that. Lethal intent lurked beneath his question. A command that required a response.
But I was too disoriented to explain.
“My liege,” Michael murmured, his reverent tone nothing like the sinister voice from seconds—or was that minutes?—ago. “I was tracking the source of our technical disturbance when I found yourErositatrying to escape.”
I frowned. “I wasn’t escaping.” The words came out gravelly, everything feeling disoriented and wrong. I tried to open my eyes, to find Cam, but the brightness caused my head to ache and sent me into a downward spiral once more.
Why am I so dizzy? I didn’t hit my head during my fall.
Unless…
Did I?
Ugh, I don’t know. It justhurts.
“Why is myErositableeding?” Cam asked, that sharp quality in his accented tones still prevalent.
“She tripped and fell down the stairs in the dark,” Michael explained. “Apparently, in her hurry to escape, she forgot her mortality and inability to see without light.”
His description made me want to growl. “I was not escaping,” I repeated through my teeth, again trying to open my eyes.
“And why do you have my laptop?” Cam inquired, ignoring me entirely.
“Because it’s the source of our technical disturbance. I found yourErositacarrying it, which confirms she’s working with Damien. They clearly caused the security breach.”
What? That doesn’t make any sense.I’d tried and failed to access an external network. Only the internal system seemed to be working. So how was I even communicating with Damien?
And why would my brother be hacking into their system?
Well, I supposed he could be trying to locate me and Cam. But?—
“I see.” Cam’s voice pierced through my mental ramblings, his easy acceptance of Michael’s words causing my brow tofurrow even more. “And you have proof that my laptop is the issue?”
Okay, maybe he hadn’t accepted his explanation entirely.
“I will once I get this to the tech team,” Michael replied.
“And they’ll be able to confirm that Ismerelda is the one who helped Damien gain access?” Cam pressed. An icy note underlined his words, causing a chill to sweep along my spine.
I opened my mouth to deny the accusation, but Michael was already saying, “I’m not sure, my liege. I was trying to question her when she fell. But she never responded.”
“So it’s still possible that she has done nothing wrong.”
“It’s possible, yes. But unlikely, given that I caught her trying to escape with your computer,” Michael pointed out, again making me want to snarl at him.
“Why would I escape by going down?” I snapped, my eyes finally seeming to focus on my surroundings.
It was a little blurry, and very bright, but I could make out Cam standing on the platform a foot in front of me. Michael appeared to be a few steps down, his body hidden by Cam’s impressive form.
“We’re under the Vatican,” I continued before either man could disregard me again. “If I wanted to escape, I’d goup.”
Neither male replied, but I sensed a shift in the air. Something subtle. Something that left me… uneasy.
“She has a point, Michael,” Cam murmured, his body rotating toward me as he slid his hands into his pockets. “So what were you doing, Ismerelda? Why were you carrying my laptop in the stairwell?”
CHAPTER TWELVE
