Cassie stared after him, not sure of what to say.Shelooked atSeverin, who had a stunned and stricken look on his face.
“Do you think he really means it?”she asked softly.
TheBloodKindredshook his head.
“I don’t know.ButI’venever known him to change his mind once he makes a major decision.”Hesighed and ran a hand through his tousled blonde hair.“Iguess we’ll find out.”
Cassie felt like her heart might burst and she wanted more than ever to get through the barrier and hug him.Notfor her own comfort this time, but for his.ThebigBloodKindredjust looked so beaten down and defeated—he looked like a man who had just lost his best friend.Whichhe probably had, she thought sadly.
“I’m so sorry,Severin,” she said softly, putting a hand on the glass.“Inever meant to come between you two.”
“You didn’t.”Helooked away, towards the directionRavikhad taken.“Youbrought us together.That’sthe problem.”
52
RAVIK
Ravik stalked away from the clear barrier before he said something he couldn’t take back.
Not that he hadn’t already said plenty—too much, probably.Morethan enough to put that wounded look inCassie’seyes and that stunned, hollow expression onSev’sface.Butif he stayed there another second—if he kept looking atCassandrawith tears on her cheeks andSevsitting beside him like a male who had just taken a blade to the chest and was pretending it didn’t hurt—Ravikknew he was going to break.
So he left…or tried to, anyway because there wasn’t anywhere to go.
That was the problem with quarantine.Theroom on his side of the barrier was large enough to move around in, but not large enough to escape anything that mattered.Ithad a sleeping platform, a fresher, a small sitting area, and a nutrition dispenser stocked with plenty of food cubes.
On the other side of the transparent wall,Cassandrahad almost the same setup, except she had noSevand noRavik—no one to hold her when the need got bad.
That thought made his chest ache so he pushed it away.
No.Hewasn’t thinking about that.
Ravik paced instead, because pacing was better than punching the wall and getting sedated by the medical team.Hecould feel the security sensors following him as he moved.Probablymonitoring heart rate, adrenaline, aggression levels, viral markers, and whatever elseCommanderSylvanand his people were tracking.Fine—let them watch.Letthem see he was in his right mind now.
Physically, anyway.
His body was cured—the milky fog was gone from his vision.Histhoughts were his own again—sharp and clear and ugly.Thatwas the problem.
When he was half-lost to theHungerVirus, everything had been simpler.Cassiewas his mate.Sevwas his best friend.Cassieneeded both andSevbelonged close.Therehad been no shame in it then—no old rules dragging chains of shame through his head—no voice from his childhood growling thatBeastKindreddid not share mates.
Now the voice was back…and so were the memories.
Ravik stopped pacing and gripped the edge of the small metal table bolted to the floor.Hisknuckles went white as he gripped it.Hecould still hearCassie’svoice cracking when she asked if he would do this for her.Couldstill see her crying behind the barrier, one small hand pressed to her heart as she told him the need was tearing her apart.
He had agreed because of her, he told himself—that was all.Becausehe couldn’t stand to see her crying and know he was the cause of her pain.
He was going toCherubinThreebecauseCassieneeded him and because some doctor with a ridiculous name had decided her body could make a vaccine in her breasts if she got enough of his seed andSev’stoo.Hewas going because she was his mate in the only way that mattered, even if they had notBonded.Hewas going because she was suffering and he would rather cut off his own fucking arm than stand there and do nothing while she sobbed on the other side of that fucking glass wall.
He wasnotgoing because ofSev.
He wasnotgoing becauseSeverinhad looked at him with those pale blue eyes and said he cared for him more than anyone else in the universe, except maybeCassandra.
He wasnotgoing because those words had touched something deep inside him and nearly knocked the breath from his chest.
“Fuck,”Ravikmuttered, shoving away from the table.“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,FUCK!”
He strode to the far side of the room and back again.Hisbody wanted action—a fight—a target.Somethinghe could hit until it stopped moving.Instead, all he had was silence and too much time to think.
He had told them they would go their separate ways afterward.
