Kingly Bitten by Lexi C. Foss
Jace
I tracedthe lines on the map, studying the area known as Lilith Region. That name would change soon. An upgrade, in my opinion.
Jace Region.
Technically, that area already existed, but it would soon be renamed Darius Region. Assuming the ancient vampire beside me agreed to claim it.
“You realize you’re a royal now, yes?” I asked without taking my eyes away from the map. “The Blood Alliance may not know it yet, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”
“First a sovereign and now a royal,” my old friend drawled, his English lilt rivaling my own. “How thrilling.”
My lips twitched. Darius never was one for politics.
“You could give it to Ivan,” I suggested.
He grunted in reply. “He’s too young. The challenges would distract him from getting anything done.”
“True,” I agreed, my gaze narrowing at Lilith City on the map. It was formerly known as Chicago in the human era. However, the dead Goddess had claimed it and retitled it after her namesake.
All the royals and alphas had followed suit with their own destined location.
San Francisco became Jace City—my home.
Kylan claimed Vancouver, renaming it Kylan City.
The list continued throughout the world, designating seventeen distinctive lycan regions and eighteen vampire states. Lilith took over a vast section of the Midwest with her area sprawling upward to meet Majestic Clan, which was primarily composed of former northern states like Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana.
“I really don’t think the labs are here,” I said, pointing to Lilith City. It was too densely populated. “Lilith would definitely want to keep her research close, but not close enough to be discovered.”
“Indeed,” Darius agreed before taking a sip of his coffee. It was spiked with blood from his Erosita, something I’d scented the moment he’d entered.
I didn’t dare ask for a taste.
Darius used to be the sharing sort. That had all changed when Juliet had entered his life, and I respected that. At least when in private. However, in public, we had to put on a show. I helped protect him and his interests, just as I knew he would have my back if I ever required it.
“She had to have trusted someone with leadership in her absence,” I continued. “If we can find that person, perhaps we can torture the lab location out of him or her.” I shifted my focus from the map to the list of known allies.
We’d compiled the names after reviewing all the contents on her phone. Each contact fell into one of two categories—Lilith sympathizer or potential revolutionary.
“None of her files suggest there’s a partner of any kind,” Darius replied. “But I agree. There’s something we’re missing.”
I pulled up a group of photos, showcasing them on the wall in a way Damien had taught us. We were still in Ryder Region, having chosen to remain a few extra days to review all the data he’d collected on Lilith. It proved useful since Damien, Ryder’s second, had a lot of fun toys for us to use.
“She would never trust a lycan,” I decided out loud, pushing all the photos of Lilith sympathizers with wolfish origins to one side, leaving five royal vampires on the screen.
It was a surprisingly small number.
We’d anticipated much more, but apparently, there were several royals who had questioned Lilith’s leadership over the years.
Kylan, a notorious problem royal with a penchant for pissing off and challenging Lilith, was reaching out to each one to learn more. Meanwhile, Edon, Luka, and Logan—our three alpha wolf allies—were in charge of contacting the alphas with known anti-Lilith sentiments.
Darius and I were leading the effort to locate the lab that held Cam captive. He was my cousin and Darius’s maker, marking us as the appropriate individuals to locate the long-lost Vampire King. Most believed him to be dead because of Lilith’s antics. But we knew it wasn’t true. Otherwise, his Erosita would have died along with him, and Izzy was very much alive.
“Well, it’s not Helias,” Darius said, drawing a slash across the smirking photo of the blond male with beady black eyes. “He’s too arrogant to be a partner in anything. And the only reason he’s even sided with any of this is because she gave him Zurich.”
I dipped my chin in agreement. “He would only partner if she let him be the God to her Goddess.” I reached out and tapped a photo of an olive-skinned male with sharp features. “My money is on Ayaz. He’s always advocated for world domination and the enslavement of humankind. It’s why he involved himself in the Ottoman Empire all those centuries ago.”
“That didn’t go very well for him,” Darius drawled.
“Because he let the humans fight the battle for him.” Which was one of the many reasons he claimed mortals to be useless aside from being blood bags.
“Don’t discount Lajos or Sofia. They’re both renowned for their cruelty. Lajos has gone through nine blood slaves in the last six years. He’s gluttonous with no care for precious blood types. And you’ve seen the living conditions Jasmine maintains in her own capital city.”
“Wasn’t very hard for Jasmine to do, considering what the war did to the Philippines,” I pointed out, shuddering with the memory.
“Well, she hasn’t done anything to fix it.”
“True,” I agreed, rubbing my hand over the stubble dotting my chin. It’d been a few days since I’d used my razor.
Darius was in a similar state, his dark hair unusually long and nearly touching his ears. He typically kept his appearance rather neat, always preferring to wear suits—just like me—and cropping his hair short. I wondered if Juliet preferred it this length or if he’d decided to embrace the lengthier styles of our olden days. Modern things like electrical razors and regular haircuts weren’t as common three thousand years ago.
He ran his fingers through his longer locks now while bringing his mug to his lips for another sip. The flush on his cheeks told me how much he enjoyed the flavor. “You know, drinking from the vein is much more satisfying.”
His dark green eyes flashed. “I had that this morning before I came to meet you. And I’ll be having it again as soon as we’re finished here.”
“Are you trying to make me jealous?” I’d left my harem back in Jace City. Not that I had much interest in them anymore. All the politics and the chance for a revolution had severely impacted my sex drive.
It’d been several weeks since my last fuck, a fact that didn’t bother me nearly as much as it should. Perhaps because that experience had been satisfying enough. Or more likely because I had too much on my mind to even consider playing right now.
“She’s addictive,” Darius murmured, his irises swirling with intensity. “So yes, you should be jealous.”
“As your royal, I could demand a taste.”
“But you won’t,” he countered.
“But I won’t,” I conceded. “Something you—”
“I need you to see this,” a deep voice interjected, the one I’d come to know quite well over the last weeks.
And speaking of my last sexual conquest, I thought as Damien entered the room.
We’d spent several days in bed with his current playmate, Tracey. I’d rather enjoyed the experience but caught on quickly that Damien felt an inkling of possessive intent toward the girl. So I’d backed off. It wasn’t in my repertoire to submit, and I suspected he would demand it if we played too much.
Still, it had been an enlightening few days.
Damien had talents any man or woman would consider admirable.
His golden-brown eyes met mine, but it wasn’t lust shining up at me now so much as determination. A few clicks on his phone wiped the screen from the wall and replaced it with a spinning circle at the center. Little document icons floated around it, compiling into a glowing folder.
“What the hell is that?” I demanded.
“Lilith’s phone,” he explained. “Some sort of countdown began a few hours ago, and I’ve been trying to track the source. And then ten minutes ago, I found that data stream flowing through an unsecure connection. I’ve already started downloading copies of them to our own servers.”
“What’s in the files?” Darius asked.
“I don’t know.” Damien sounded frustrated. “They’re encrypted, and I won’t be able to gather them all until the download is complete, which, according to the clock, is going to take at least a day. But what concerns me more is the countdown.” He clicked on an icon in the top left, bringing up the screen.
Thirty-six hours until self-destruct. Please make the appropriate preparations, and thank you for your service.
My eyes widened as I read the message.
“I think it’s related to the lab,” Damien said before I could ask. “Either someone knows she’s dead and set off a trigger to destroy all the evidence of whatever the fuck she’s been doing, or her death somehow set off a series of fail-safes. And then there’s this.”
Another message popped up.
Toxin malfunction. Will address immediately. —Dr. C.
“That message is actually how I found the files. I think they’re linked somehow because they’re coming from the same source.” He shuffled the images around again to pull up a map. “Dr. C. appears to be located in former upstate Michigan, which is also where the files are coming from.”
“Lilith Region,” I translated.
“It’s also a short flight from Chicago,” Darius added, meeting my gaze. “That’s where the lab is.”
A clock appeared on the screen, the hour mark set at twenty-nine and counting down.
Then it froze and a new message scrawled across the screen.
Detection protocol enabled.
I frowned. “Detection? As in… us?”
10:00:00.
“Oh, fuck,” I breathed. “We just lost twenty hours.”
“Because it sensed my trace through some backdoor safety measure,” Damien muttered. “Shit.” He shut everything down on the wall and met my gaze. “I’m coming with you. Whatever traps she’s left at that lab are likely technical in nature. You need me.”
I didn’t argue. “Yes.” All of this reeked of Lilith’s penchant for strategy. She probably had some sort of fail-safe tied to her essence, thus igniting a series of protective procedures in the event of her death.
And one of those would very likely lead to the destruction of Cam.
“When do we leave?” I demanded.
“Rick is already preparing a plane for departure,” Damien replied. “I just need to gather some toys and we’ll be ready.”
I glanced at Darius. “Juliet staying or traveling?”
“Traveling,” he said without missing a beat. “She’s still in training, but she grows stronger every day. It won’t do her any good to leave her here when she could learn something out there.”
I didn’t disagree with his conclusion but felt the need to say, “It’s dangerous.”
“Everything we do is dangerous,” he countered.
“Fair enough.” I locked gazes with Damien. “Lead the way, expert.”
