Page 100 of Bitten

“I need to see the histories now, Master Librarian,” Ralnur said.

“Follow me, my prince.” He smiled waving a hand as he continued on with his trolley.

* * * *

Retribution…

Kane lounged against the small cot in the cell, staring up at the crack in the ceiling above. The foundation of the castle. With enough strength, I could bust through…

The strength part was the issue. The bloodlust screamed in his veins, screamed in his mind. The hunger was intense. Twenty years he’d been denied.

Hearing footfalls, he turned to see a shadowed figure approaching.

As the man came into the faint light, Kane smiled.

“Hello, Cannon.”

“You’ll pay for what you did, bastard.”

“Bring it,” Kane murmured.

Lub-dub, lub-dub…

Kane smiled, the hunger burning in his veins.

* * * *

Cannon’s empty hospital room…

“No answer,” Eilam said as he turned to Adriel. “Phones don’t work well inside the archive from what Noah’s said. He said he worried they wouldn’t be able to call in case there was any incident.”

The king eyed both Solomon and his mate. “If what they said about Cannon was true, they could be in danger. Kane, as well. We should return to the castle.”

“I can go to the archive to let Noah know Cannon is missing,” Solomon said. “And then meet you at the castle.”

“Thank you,” Adriel said. “But I think we need to move a little faster than that.” Adriel worked to open a portal in the middle of the hospital room. The light from the magic illuminated in his hands before growing and opening into a whirling vortex of light. He turned to his mate and the dragon. “After you.”

Solomon nodded before walking through. Eilam took Adriel’s hand, and they entered together.

And exited out into the middle of the library, pages floating all around them.

“What have you done!” the master librarian cried, glaring at the king.

“Do you know to whom you speak?” Adriel demanded.

“I damned well do,” the librarian spat. “I hope you have a spell to clear up this mess, Your Majesty.”

Adriel opened his mouth to argue, but his uncle moved closer.

“Don’t mind him,” Ralnur said to Adriel. “You’d best look at this.”

Adriel eyed the large tome. “A history?” He gazed at the date. “It’s illegal to look at this before it’s aged.”

“It shows the truth about Cannon—and two others in your guard. And it’s also shown that Kane isn’t a vampire,” Ralnur said. “He’s a dhampir. He’d been bitten by a vampire—and the amulet stopped him from changing. There’s little time—we might be able to make it stop again.”

“He drank from you—and Caelian, you said. Wouldn’t that cement his change?”

“As dhampir mates our blood sustains him—it won’t cause him to change. As long as he doesn’t bite anyone else before we place that amulet back on him, we can save him.”

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