Kingly Bitten by Lexi C. Foss
Jace
“King Jace.”I rolled my eyes. “I really hope that doesn’t catch on.” Unlike Lilith, I didn’t need or require the validation of my role or position.
“Better go see what Damien has to show you, Your Highness,” Darius deadpanned.
I met his green gaze and arched a brow. “A title you’ll be hearing a lot in your future as the replacement royal of my region.”
“I don’t recall accepting the job.”
“I don’t recall giving you a choice,” I returned as I started through the rubble to breach the tunnel entrance. We’d found it hidden in an old hut, the door locked up tight and riddled with security codes. Rather than hack it, we’d blown it up.
And then we’d found a bunch of dead lycans on the other side.
Damien had gone in first to clear it all out. He’d given the all-clear a few minutes ago and said he needed to work on gaining control of the elevator, as it appeared to be the only entrance into whatever the fuck this place was.
Darius and I had returned to the plane to gather a few more firearms, as well as Juliet. She’d remained on board while we’d set the explosives. Being Darius’s Erosita made her immortal in the way that she couldn’t die, but it didn’t grant her all his vampire strengths.
I navigated down the hall, the general layout reminding me of an abandoned hospital wing, apart from the scent of fresh blood. My nose twitched as I tried to discern the origins.
Some of it came from the dead lycans from the blast—an unfortunate event that we’d not expected.
The rest appeared to be stemming from the trio standing in front of Damien. He had his gun aimed at the blonde female while the other two hid behind her. I assumed this was what he’d called me in here to see.
He confirmed my assumption as he said, “King Jace, meet Dr. C.”
My brow furrowed until I caught the name etched into the lab coat. Calina.
“She states that she’s in charge here,” he added, his amusement palpable.
“Actually, I said I’m the lead researcher of Bunker 47,” Calina corrected, her sultry tone holding a regal flair that had me wondering at her origin. “Lilith is in charge, not me.”
“Lilith,” I repeated, intrigued that she hadn’t referred to the dead royal as the Goddess. It was Lilith’s preferred nomenclature among humans, of which Calina absolutely was one.
And yet, her blood possessed a sweet potency that was distinctly other. It made my mouth water for a taste. Pair that with her pretty face and slender build, and she was most decidedly appetizing by my standards.
Except for one thing.
“You work for Lilith?” I asked. Calina had used the present tense when claiming Lilith was in charge of this operation, thus it seemed wise for me to follow suit. Particularly as those of us who preferred reform had agreed to keep Lilith’s demise a secret until we were ready to inform the world of the truth.
Calina’s bright blue eyes met mine, shocking me with her boldness. However, beneath the shock was a hint of wonder because her irises possessed a distinctly wolfish flair to them.
Fascinating.
She smelled human. Actually, her scent reminded me a bit of Juliet, making me wonder if Calina possessed the rare essence of a blood virgin. My canines ached with the notion of taking a bite, but I knew better than to react impulsively.
However, I might very well indulge in her later.
Yes,I thought. Yes, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do with you, darling.
Work first. Play later.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “I’m not familiar with a King Jace.”
“I prefer just Jace,” I replied, even more enthralled by the beauty before me. A human standing up to a royal? “But I think the better question here is, just who are you, Doctor Calina? How did you come to work for Lilith?”
She studied me. “If you don’t know, then you don’t work for Lilith.”
“Indeed, I do not,” I replied. “But I am very much your superior.”
A flicker of wariness entered her gaze, and the two beings behind her shuffled nervously. I glanced around her to take in the two beings at her back and noticed the little bundle of fluff in the female’s arms. She clutched the little wolf tighter to her chest, the move distinctly maternal, suggesting the pup was her child.
Was this a breeding center of some kind?
I took in Calina again, noting the flatness of her stomach. She certainly had the hips designed for fucking, but she didn’t otherwise appear to be a lycan breeder.
No, this one was built for a vampire, I decided, that natural perfume of hers reminding me of a drug. Damien appeared to be impacted by it as well, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled deeply.
It seemed it wasn’t something he wanted me to see so much as smell.
Something buzzed, causing Calina to glance down at her watch. Numbers scrolled across her screen, making her flinch. “We need to get as far away from this place as possible,” she said urgently. “It’s going to self-destruct in less than fifteen minutes.”
Damien kept his gun pointed at the doctor while he pulled Lilith’s phone from his pocket to show me the same countdown. They matched.
“Why is it going to self-destruct?” I asked her. “Who initiated the protocol?”
“If you’re truly my superior, then you should already know that,” she replied in that regal tone from earlier, like she was in charge of me and not the other way around. “But I’m telling you if we don’t run now, we’re going to die here.”
My eyebrows flew upward. “Not much can kill one as old as me.”
“Then you’ll live in agony beneath the rubble of this bunker for all of eternity,” she returned without missing a beat. “If that’s your chosen fate, then so be it. But I would prefer to die by a bullet than suffer the same.”
She started forward, ignoring the gun pointed at her head.
Damien flashed me a look, his surprise evident.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
She pointed around me to the exit and followed the path with her feet. When she reached my side, I grabbed her hip, halting her. “What part of I’m your superior did you miss?”
“The part where you proved it,” she replied, meeting my gaze once more. “And as I’m clearly the one with more knowledge of this particular situation, that marks me as the leader, not you.”
Damien snorted, his gun dropping to his side. “I think I’ll let you handle that.”
I ignored him, my focus entirely on the overly confident female in front of me. “You want a lesson on my superiority?” I asked, my tone darkly quiet.
Anyone else would know to bow right now.
But not this female.
No, she merely raised a brow, the invitation to act clear in the defiance of her pretty blue irises.
I smiled. “All right, Doctor.” I tightened my grip on her hip and tugged her closer, my opposite hand going to the back of her neck. “I’ll—”
Ding.
“Louis,” the male behind Calina said.
She flinched, trying to find a way out of my grasp. “Run,” she commanded.
The male and the female holding the lycan pup took off toward the exit. Damien immediately lifted his gun, taking aim.
“Don’t.” The word left my mouth on instinct, my focus falling to the opening elevator door.
Damien shifted with me, his pistol aimed and ready. “Drop—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his order, the beings inside already spilling out into the wreckage of the hallway. They didn’t have weapons, only teeth, and their focus was entirely on Doctor Calina.
Growls rumbled through the corridor, causing the female to stiffen against me.
“Holy shit,” Damien breathed, lowering his gun. “Zack?”
A vampire with animalistic features glared at Damien. Then his dark brows met his hairline. “Damien?”
The moment came to an awkward pause as everyone glanced at each other.
My own eyebrows lifted as I recognized the lone lycan in the group. “Louis.” The male doctor had voiced that name, causing Calina to tell him to run. But I hadn’t really considered the familiarity of it. Louis had been a popular name a few centuries ago.
“Jace,” he returned, his furious gaze melting into one of surprise as he looked at me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Looking for Cam.” It was a statement the lycan would definitely understand, considering he’d been supposedly killed for agreeing with Cam’s views on the revolution. “Is he here?”
“Cam?” Louis frowned. “I’ve not seen him in… a very long time. I don’t think he’s here. But I’m not sure where here is or how long I’ve been…” He trailed off, his attention returning to Calina. “If anyone knows anything about this fucking bunker, it’s her.”
“Because she’s in charge,” I mused, my grip on her neck tightening just enough to show what I thought of her leadership.
“She’s the fucking devil,” he snarled.
“A devil I need alive for the moment,” I told him. “We need to find Cam.”
“What year is it?” one of the vampires asked, his eyes wild with suppressed fury.
“Year one hundred seventeen of the new era,” I said. Then I translated it into a few different timing mechanisms until understanding crossed the vampire’s features.
Calina flinched as her wrist buzzed again. “Five-minute warning,” she whispered.
Louis lifted a similar watch and growled. “This place is going to self-destruct.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because of her,” he snapped.
Calina didn’t comment, but I sensed her hesitation, like she wanted to correct him. I’d have to dig into that later.
Right now, I had a much more important question to ask her. “Is Cam down there somewhere?” I demanded, taking Louis’s word that this female truly was in charge. She’d also called herself the lead researcher, and her name was tied to the transmission Damien had intercepted. All that pointed to her being the one with the answers I required.
“I’m not at liberty to disclose—”
I sank my teeth into her neck, nailing her pulse without preamble and informing her with my mouth who the superior being was in this situation. She’d accused me of not proving it. Well, I’d fucking prove it now. And this little minx would heel.
Except her blood was unlike anything I’d ever tasted in my life.
Fucking exquisite.
Better than a blood virgin’s. Or maybe on par. I couldn’t say. All I knew was this female showed me a glimpse of heaven in the best way.
It took considerable effort to stop, to not drain her dry right here and now. But millennia of experience kept me focused on the task.
Cam.
I harshly released her throat, tearing skin along the way before pressing my lips to her ear. “Did that prove my superiority, human?”
She shuddered out a breath, her limbs shaking from the exertion of losing so much blood so quickly.
Good.
But she didn’t reply.
“Defiant,” I hummed against her ear, both thrilled by the challenge and furious because of it. “If I find out Cam is down there and you let this bunker implode on him, I will make you dig until he’s free.”
She didn’t react other than to continue panting, her chest heaving from a combination of obvious fear and exhaustion from my sudden attack.
“Sixty seconds,” she wheezed as that damn buzzing kick-started.
I’d apparently lost time while feasting on her neck. No wonder she was shaking. I’d probably taken too much. But damn if I cared right now. My cousin might be underground and about to lose his life in an explosion meant to destroy everything inside.
Damien and the others were already running toward the exit.
I almost dropped Calina to let her try to fend for herself, but the weakness in her body told me she wouldn’t make it. And I very much needed her alive for answers.
I also meant my threat—if I learned that Cam was down there somewhere, she would help me free him. Then I’d give her to him as a snack to bring him back to health.
Releasing her neck, I jerked her alongside me. She lasted two steps before she tripped and nearly pulled me down with her.
“I should leave you here,” I told her, the words a taunt more than a promise.
“I’m meant to die here,” she whispered back. “I’ve always been destined to die here.”
The words sounded almost drunk, like she’d not meant to voice them out loud but was too delirious to stop herself. However, hearing them made me wonder how she’d come to be here in the first place.
She sounded almost broken. Sad. Like she’d never been given the chance to live. Yet she’d stood up to me with the spirit and strength of a superior being.
It… she… fascinated me.
I bent to lift her svelte form into my arms. She turned to dead weight, something that had me wanting to snap at her until I realized her eyes had closed and she was no longer conscious.
The blood loss, I realized, looking at her neck.
Not only had I taken too much, but I’d also created an open wound with my mouth that had her life fluid gushing from her vein with no signs of stopping.
My jaw clenched, my resolve torn between letting it happen and helping her.
I need answers, I thought as I started walking. Therefore, I need her alive.
But I couldn’t take a moment to heal her until we were clear of the impending explosion.
I began to run then, holding her to my chest and engaging my vampiric speed and agility as I took off down the hallway and crossed over the threshold.
The blaring light of the afternoon sun hit my eyes, making me wince.
Sunlight wasn’t deadly to vampires, but that didn’t mean we liked it. Our senses were too sensitive and heightened to withstand long periods outside during the day. We usually hid in the dark, healing and rejuvenating our immortal souls.
But apart from burning my senses, it did nothing to dispel my maneuverability skills. My old age added to my strength, allowing me to move with grace and precision, taking me over a hundred yards away from the site before a rumble touched the earth beneath my feet.
Someone must have told Rick because the plane was no longer on the ground, but in the air, and I suspected Darius and Juliet were up there, too. Maybe even with the two researchers who had run when Louis had arrived.
I glanced around, spying Damien a few yards to my left. Louis and the vampire named Zack were with him. The other two vamps were closer to the wreckage, lying on the ground. But they were definitely alive.
I couldn’t say the same for the others.
A geyser of flames kissed the air, incinerating everything in its path.
Calina hadn’t mentioned that, making me wonder if she’d purposely withheld it or if she hadn’t known what type of explosion to expect.
Because that sort of fire was inescapable, even for an immortal as old as I was.
Which meant that if Cam had been down there, he was most certainly dead now.
“I truly hope, for your sake, that Cam wasn’t among your subjects, little doctor,” I murmured to the dying female in my arms. “Or you’re going to wish you would have died here today.”
I rearranged my grip on her, holding the slender female to my chest with one arm and bringing my opposite wrist to my mouth. Biting down, I created the remedy she needed to survive, then I pressed my wound to her lips.
“Drink, Calina,” I told her, forcing my essence into her mouth. Her body would automatically do the rest even while unconscious. “When you wake, we’re going to have a very long chat.”
