“I did.”
“Good.”
“They’re with the med-kit below us.”
Cassie stared at him.
“That isnotwhereIwanted them to be.”
“No,” he agreed grimly.“It’snot whereIwanted them to be either.”
Ravik snarled and drove his blade into the throat of anInfectedthat had gotten too close toSeverin’sside.Evenangry, even furious, even with all that raw pain between them, he still protectedSeverinwithout thinking.AndSeverinwas doing the same for him.Thetwo males might be hating each other at the moment, but they would still die for each other.
Cassie saw it and wondered if either of them did.Probablynot—men were ridiculous, evenKindredsometimes and they were usually a hundred times more emotionally intelligent than human men.They?—
Another wave ofInfectedhit the platform then, sending every other thought out of her head as fear took her by the throat and squeezed.
The tower shook under them, metal screaming as moreInfectedclimbed up the ladder and struts.Cassiestumbled, andSeverincaught her with one arm while still firing with the other.Ravikstepped in front of them both, his broad back blocking her view for one second before he slammed his blade through twoInfectedat once.
There were too many, she thought again.Butthis time she knew it in her bones with a cold, horrible certainty.
Ravik andSeverinwere magnificent fighters.Theywere huge and strong and terrifying, and if there had been ten or even twentyInfected, maybe they could have done it.Butthere weredozensclimbing now.Maybehundreds below—the whole tower was crawling with them.
They were going to be overwhelmed, it was just a matter of time.
“Severin,” she said, and hated the way her voice shook.“Canthe signal work faster?”
“It is already broadcasting,” he said.“IftheMotherShipreceived my earlier pulse, they may already be looking for us.”
“May?”Cassiedemanded.“Mayis doing a lot of work in that sentence!”
Before he could answer, anInfectedlaunched itself overRavik’sshoulder straight at her.
Cassie screamed and swung the baton with both hands.
The crackle of electricity met gray-green flesh and the creature jerked violently, its lipless mouth snapping inches from her face.Forone sickening second, she could see its teeth—thin, wet, black at the roots—and smell the rot pouring from its open throat.
ThenRavikgrabbed it from behind and ripped it away from her.
The creature flew off the platform and vanished into the writhing mass below.
Ravik turned, his golden eyes wild with fear.
“Cassie?Youokay, baby?”he demanded roughly.
“I’m okay,” she gasped, though her knees were shaking.“I’mokay.Stillnot eaten.Veryproud of that.”
His mouth twitched despite the horror around them.ThenanotherInfectedclimbed over the rail and he turned back to the fight.
Cassie looked past him and saw more white eyes rising from the mist—so many more.Toomany to count.
This was it, she realized.Therewas no way out…no place to run…no place to hide.
The tower was too high to jump from—the platform too exposed to defend for long, and theInfectedwere coming from every direction.RavikandSeverinwere still standing, but both were breathing hard now.Severinhad blood on his mouth and bruising along his jaw whereRavikhad hit him.Ravikhad blackInfectedblood streaked across his chest and arms, and the fresh bite wound on his upper arm was still raw and oozing, even though the cure had driven back the milky haze in his eyes.
They were beautiful and brave and hopelessly outnumbered.
Cassie’s throat tightened.
