He stood slowly.
“I consent to travel,” he said, his voice rough.“Iconsent to helpCassiemake the vaccine.”
The med tech nodded.
“AndCommanderSeverin?”
Ravik’s jaw clenched.
Across the room,Sevlooked over at him and for a moment, their eyes met.
Ravik wanted to look away but he didn’t.Heforced himself to hold that pale blue gaze and say the next words, even though he could barely get them out.
“I consent to work withSev,” he said.“Forthe duration of the treatment.”
Sev’s face changed.Notmuch—not enough that anyone else would have noticed, probably.ButRavikknew him.Hesaw the flicker of pain and hope and resignation, all tangled together in his best friend’s pale blue eyes.
For the duration of the treatment—that was the lineRavikhad drawn and he was determined not to cross it.
The assistant entered the note into her tablet and moved toward him with the blood collection kit.Ravikoffered his arm without looking away fromSev.Theneedle pierced his skin, but he barely felt it—he had survived worse.
He would surviveCherubinThree, as well, he told himself.Hewould survive sharingCassie.Hewould survive whatever strange, humiliating, impossible things the cure demanded of him andSev.
Then he would leave before wanting became needing…before needing becameBonding.
Before he looked at his best friend and admitted the one truth he had been running from since the night with theTenebrianwoman—the truth he still couldn’t even let himself think, let alone say our loud.
He wantedSevlike he wantedCassie.Hewanted them both together as badly as he wanted his next breath.
And that was exactly why he had to go.
53
CASSIE
Cassie settled back against the cushioned seat of the long-range shuttle that was going to take them toCherubinThree.Itwas a quarantine shuttle, meaning the front part where the pilot sat was sealed off by a dark smoked glass panel.Shecould barely even see his head through the small window.
She didn’t care about that though—finally, after days of quarantine, she had her guys back.Severinwas sitting on her right andRavikwas on her left.Justbreathing in their scents was already making her feel better and feeling their body heat on either side of her calmed her nervous system which had been on high alert the whole time she had been separated from them.
Both of them were being unnaturally quiet though, which made her sad.Shemissed the banter they’d had beforeSeverinhad to biteRavikandRavikstarted hating him for it.Shewished she could shake some sense into both of them—tell them they belonged together and they needed to stop this stupid fighting.Butshe sensed that nothing she could say would bring them back together until they were ready and willing to listen.
Ravik, especially, was extremely stubborn.Cassiewondered if he really was planning to leave once she was able to produce the vaccine and hoped not.Shehadn’t known either of them that long, but they’d been through so much in that short time in the bunker.Itfelt like the thee of thembelongedtogether.
They had just folded space—which always madeCassiefeel like she was going through some kind of time warp—and were on route toCherubinThree, when the need started tormenting her again.Maybeit was their scents that were getting to her, she speculated.Ravik’sleather and smoke and spice scent mixed withSeverin’sclean, sharp, ocean scent made her almost dizzy as she breathed them in.
They also made her thirsty.
Suddenly, her throat was as dry as the desert.Cassieknew instinctively what she needed, but she wasn’t sure how to ask for it.Shecouldn’t exactly ask the two bigKindredif she could suck them right here in the back of the shuttle—could she?
I can wait,Cassietold herself grimly.Oncewe get down to the planet and we can get some privacy, thenI’llask.
But the longer she kept silent, the worse the need and the thirst got.Soonshe felt like she was twisting herself into knots inside.
Just as she was feeling really overwhelmed, the com-link clicked on and the voice of the pilot said,
“Sorry to tell you this, but we’re in a holding pattern for a little while here.Itmight be thirty minutes to an hour before we’re allowed to land.”
The link clicked off andCassiecouldn’t take it anymore.
