She didn’twantto die here.Shedidn’t wantRavikandSeverinto die here either.Notafter everything the three of them had been through together.Notafter the bunker and the cure and the awful, wonderful, impossible thing that had started forming between them.NotwhileRavikwas still angry andSeverinwas still hurt and none of them had said the things that needed saying.
“Goddess,” she whispered, though she had never been sure if theKindredGoddesslistened to humans or was even real.“Goddess,please.”
And then a blast of red light split the sky.
49
CASSIE
The beam of red light hit theInfectednearestRavikwith a sound like thunder and vaporized its head.
The headless body staggered for half a second, then toppled backward off the platform, taking three otherInfectedwith it.
Cassie screamed, but it was more from shock than fear.
Another red beam lanced down from above, striking the ladder, and a cluster ofInfectedburst apart in a spray of black blood and gray-green limbs.
Ravik grabbedCassieand shoved her down behind him.
Severin dropped beside her at the same time, throwing one arm over her shoulders as another blast hit the platform rail where anInfectedhad been climbing.Theair filled with the stink of burned flesh and superheated metal.
“Whatisthat?”Cassieshouted.
Severin looked up and pure relief broke across his face.
“TheMotherShip,” he said.“Theysent someone for us.”
Cassie looked up too.
At first, all she saw were the bruise-colored clouds and the red flashes cutting through them.Thensomething silver emerged from the mist—a sleekKindredshuttle descending through the filthy sky like a blade of light.Itshull gleamed despite the gloom—smooth and shining and utterly beautiful.Redtargeting beams swept over the tower, and every time one locked on, anotherInfectedwas blasted away.
It was the most gorgeous thingCassiehad ever seen—a beacon of hope—a silver spaceship coming to their rescue.
“Thank you,Goddess,” she breathed.
Ravik looked up too, still holding his shock blade in one hand andCassie’sshoulder with the other.Hisface was tight, but for the first time since the fight withSeverin, some of the hopelessness had eased from his eyes.
Severin’s long pulse had worked—he had saved them again.
An amplified voice boomed from the shuttle, distorted but clear.
“Survivors, get down!Weneed to clear the structure before extraction!”
“Down!”Ravikbarked.
He andSeverinmoved at the same time.Ravikthrew his body overCassiefrom one side,Severinfrom the other, and between one breath and the next she was pinned beneath two hugeKindredwarriors while the sky exploded above them.
Under other circumstances, being pressed between them like that might have triggered one of her humiliating viral responses.Butright then allCassiecould think about was the screaming.
TheInfectedshrieked as the shuttle’s weapons swept the tower, red beams cutting through bodies and metal and mist.Theplatform shook violently under them as heat washed over her face.
Ravik’s chest pressed hard against her back,Severin’sarm covered her head, and both males held her as though their own bodies could shield her from a world ending around them.
Cassie squeezed her eyes shut and just tried to breathe through it.
For several long seconds, there was nothing but light and noise and the smell of rotting flesh burning.
Then, gradually, the blasts slowed…the shrieking faded…and the platform stopped shaking.
