He shrugged.
“I know.”
At any other time, she might have laughed.Shealmost did now, but she was afraid it might come out as a sob instead.Thesound got trapped somewhere inside her chest and then something shrieked far behind them, somewhere near the bunker shaft they had just escaped.
The sound rose into the mist—high and hungry—and was answered by several more cries from different directions.
Cassie froze in fear, feeling like a rabbit with a hawk circling overhead.
Ravik moved closer behind her at once and put a big, warm hand on her back.
“Keep walking, baby,” he rumbled.
“I’m walking,”Cassiesaid, starting again, though her legs felt a little less reliable than they had a second ago.“Iam very much walking.Infact,I’mwalking so much my feet are probably never going to be the same after this.”
“Quietly,”Severinadded.
“Right.Silentterror-walking.Gotit.”
Cassie knew she was babbling and made herself shut up.Sarcasmhad helped her through a lot, but sometimes—like say, during a zombie apocalypse—you had to shut the fuck up so the zombies didn’t hear you.
The ravine narrowed as they went, the black stone walls rising higher on either side untilCassiefelt as though they were moving through a crack in the planet.Strangecrystalline growths jutted from the rock in places—dull and cloudy now but probably beautiful before theHungerVirusturned everything into a nightmare.Somewere broken off, their jagged edges catching the weak light like teeth.
Cassie tried not to think about teeth…which was difficult because teeth had become a major theme in her life recently.
She glanced down at her arm and saw the bite wound glowing faintly beneath her skin.Itwasn’t too bright, thankGod—it hadn’t gone back to the angry reddish-gold pulse that had meant her body was losing its mind and demanding sex and seed instead of flesh.Butthere was still a faint shimmer there—a soft warning glow that waxed and faded in time with her heartbeat.
Severin turned to look back at her and saw her staring at her arm.
“Is it worsening?”he asked, his cool voice tinged with worry.
“No.”Cassietucked her arm a little closer to her body.“It’sjust doing its usual terrifying nightlight thing.”
Ravik leaned closer from behind and inhaled.
“Cassie smells scared,” he remarked.
She looked over her shoulder at him.
“That is becauseCassieisscared.”
His golden eyes softened.
“Ravik protectsCassie.”Heshook his head as thought to clear it.“Imean,I’llprotect you,Cassie.”
“I know you will, big guy.”Hervoice gentled despite the fear knotting her stomach.“Thankyou.”
His eyes were clearer than they had been earlier, but there was still a faint haze around the edges.Shecould see it when he turned his head—a milky shimmer that came and went like fog over sunlight.
Severin kept noticing too.Hetried not to be obvious about it, but every few minutes, he glanced back atRavikwith that tight, worried look on his face.
Ravik noticed his friend noticing and he clearly wasn’t happy about it.
“Stop checking my eyes,” he growled after the fourth time.
“I’ll stop checking your eyes whenI’mno longer concerned about your neurological stability,”Severinreplied.
“That was a lot of words to say you don’t trust me,”Ravikgrumbled.
