Because his memories were coming back…gods, thememories.Theywere coming back in pieces—bright and sharp and completely fucking unwanted.
Cassie lying naked between him andSevin that hugeVisskousmating bed, her skin flushed and her thighs spread whileRavik’smouth was on her…Sev’sarms around her andSev’slong fingers on her breasts…Sev’svoice low and commanding as he toldRavikwhere to touch and how to pleasure her.
Ravik’s grip tightened around the shock blade.
The worst thing was, he had listened—listened and obeyed.
That was the part that made heat crawl up his neck—that he had listened toSev.Notbecause he had been forced and not because theHungerhad made him mindless.Heremembered enough to know that wasn’t true.No, he had listened becauseCassieneeded them both and because some deep, shameful part of him hadlikedSevtelling him what to do and how to make her come.
Another memory pushed up through the back of his mind and nearly made him stumble.
Cassie on her knees, her mouth swollen and wet, her hands wrapped around both their shafts.Shehad pressed him andSevtogether—pressed their cocks side by side and licked across both of them like they belonged that way.
Ravik remembered the heat of his own shaft rubbing againstSev’s…remembered the soundsSevmade whenCassietook them into her mouth together…remembered how his own body had not recoiled.
You didn’t recoil because you fucking liked it,whispered a taunting little voice in his head.Youliked the way it felt to rub against him whileCassielicked you both.Hell, you fuckinglovedit.
But even worse than the shameful memory was the fact that his body was reacting to it even now.Hiscock stirred in his stained trousers, andRaviknearly snarled aloud.
There were hundreds ofInfectedcoming toward them,Cassiehad just been hurt because he andSevwere both fucking idiots, and they were all probably going to die.Andyet his shaft was hardening because his traitorous mind had decided to remember the wayCassiehad sucked him andSevat the same time.
Fuck.Somethingwas definitelywrongwith him.
Maybe the cure hadn’t worked after all, he thought desperately.MaybetheHungerwas still in him—twisting him into some kind of perverse version of himself.BecauseBeastKindreddidn’tshare mates.BeastKindreddidn’trub themselves against their best friend and like it.Andas aBeastKindredheshouldn’thave the memory ofSev’shands andCassie’smouth and feel shame because it made him wantmore.
He could fight theInfected,Raviktold himself.Hecould fightSev.Hecould fight the whole fucking planet if he had to.Whathedidn’tknow how to fight was the memory of wanting them both.
“There’s nowhere to run,”Sevsaid, breaking into his thoughts.
Ravik forced his mind back to the battlefield.
Sev stood a few feet away, blood still drying at the corner of his mouth, his broken oculars gone, his pale blue eyes narrowed against the distance.Withoutthe lenses, he looked strange.Younger, maybe—more exposed.Ravikdidn’t like seeing him that way—which pissed him off because he was still furious with the male.
Cassie was standing between them with one hand pressed to the side of her head where she’d been clipped by the punch meant forSev.Herface was pale, but her chin was lifted and she had that charge baton in a death grip like she was ready to take on the entire herd herself if she had to.
Guilt punched throughRavikharder thanSev’sfist had.
He hadhurther.
Not on purpose—never on purpose.Butshe had gotten between them because he had lost control, and now she was hurt and dizzy and still trying to stand upright because she was too stubborn to admit she needed help.
Ravik wanted to pick her up and carry her somewhere safe but there was nowhere safe to go.Butthey sure as hell couldn’t just stand here.
“We have to go up,” he said, looking at the communications tower.
The tower rose above them in a tangle of black metal and cracked crystalline supports, its upper platform half-hidden in mist.Itlooked old and damaged, but it was still standing.Aladder ran up one side, and above that was a maintenance platform with a broken shield screen and a relay dish angled toward the bruised sky.
Sev followed his gaze.
“The tower structure may not hold all three of us,” he objected.“Andthe ladder doesn’t look very strong, which is why we were originally going to sendCassandraup to send the signal.”
“It’ll hold,”Ravikgrowled.
“You don’t know that,”Sevsaid, frowning.
“I know the ground is about to be crawling withInfectedif we let that herd reach us,”Raviksnapped.“Unlessyou have another miracle cure hidden in your trousers, we climb.”
Cassie made a choked sound that might have been a laugh, which was insane considering the circumstances.Ravik’sgaze cut to her and his heart fisted in his chest.Shewas trying to smile, but the effort made her wince.
