“Do the names Izzy or Ismerelda ring a bell?”
I repeated the names and shook my head again. “No.”
His irises flickered again, then a new image popped up. Another lycan. Brandt. Calgary Clan. His territory name matched the general area in Canada with his land including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and other nearby provinces.
When Jace shifted to Europe, I asked about New York and the general northeastern US.
“All formerly owned by Lilith, I’m afraid,” he murmured.
“Oh.” I tried to gesture for him to continue, only to remember that my wrists were still tied to the chair.
Which was about the time I realized I could no longer feel my fingers because the restraints had cut off all my circulation.
Jace followed my gaze, the screens momentarily disappearing. “When was the last time you ate?”
I parted my lips to answer, then found my brow furrowing when I realized I had no idea. “Your blood?” I offered. It had rejuvenated me entirely, sating whatever hunger I could have possessed.
Although now that I was thinking about it, I could sense the subtle ache in my gut. Similar to how my throat had felt when he’d given me water.
Jace folded his arms as he considered me, his black sweater stretching across his chest.
“All right, little genius. I’m going to free you and feed you. But if you so much as attempt to escape, I will tie you to the bed and teach you a lesson you won’t soon forget. Understood?”
Tie me to the bed, not the chair.A distinction I did not miss.
He pulled a knife from his pocket, sending a shiver through me. I parted my lips to confirm that I understood and didn’t need a lesson to the contrary, but he was already moving, causing the words to stick to my suddenly dry throat.
Except all he did was sever the bind on my right wrist, and then my left one. I didn’t move, my heart stuttering in my chest as he knelt to remove the ties against my ankles.
I couldn’t feel anything.
Until suddenly I felt everything. His hands. His fingers. His hot touch skimming my calves up to my knees and eventually my thighs.
His icy orbs lifted to mine, his pupils dilating to display divine vampiric thirst. “Your blood…” He trailed off, not finishing the statement. But I knew what he’d intended to say.
I was created to be irresistible. A human with unique properties that couldn’t easily be killed. Lilith’s personal drug of choice.
“My essence was perfected by my host incubator,” I whispered. “A rare blood type.”
“A blood virgin.”
“Similar,” I replied, aware of the rate humans bred specifically to satiate those who could afford them. Lilith had run the whole Coventus organization that housed them, the money mostly going to her various funds—like Bunker 47.
I knew these things because she’d openly spoken about them in front of me. Her hubris wouldn’t have allowed her to foresee this situation. There had been no doubt in her mind that I would follow protocol by killing myself long before someone ever found me. And on the off chance I didn’t, she’d very likely had a backup plan in place.
Only, she’d failed.
Because King Jace now had me in his clutches, and I wasn’t all that inclined to keep Lilith’s confidence.
This strategic game of negotiation was far more enlightening anyway.
“My blood is part lycan, partErosita, and curated in an incubator of a rare human type that no longer exists. Your blood virgins are the genetically engineered replacements for a breed that died during the revolution.”
“And you helped create such a thing?”
“No. Another lab specializes in blood types and theErositabond. I don’t know much about it, but the server farm may have details on it.”
“Was it destroyed like Bunker 47?”
