“Oh…Ifeel kind of woozy…”Cassieput a hand to her head as the last of the golden liquid disappeared into her arm.
Severin felt a surge of protective possessiveness roll through him.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?”he asked anxiously, leaning down to be closer to her.
“Yes—are you okay, baby?”Ravikgrowled from her other side.
It was good to see that theBeastKindredstill had feelings for her,Severinthought.He’dbeen worried that the shameRavikfelt when they shared her might snuff out his tender emotions for the curvy littleElite.Butone look in his friend’s golden eyes was enough to let him knowCassandrawas still in his heart and uppermost in his mind.
“Don’t worry,”Dr.Verityxchirped.“Slightdizziness is an expected side effect of the injection.Gettingplenty of male seed inside you will ease the symptoms.”Hemade a sharp whistling sound and one of the lab assistants hurried up.
“Yes,Dr.Verityx?”he—or she, it was difficult to tell,Severinthought—bent their head until the feathered crest on the top of their head expanded to a rainbow plume.Maybeit was a male, since they tended to have brighter feathers than females.
“I want you to take these three to our finest guest suitee,” the owl-like doctor ordered.“Makecertain they have plenty of food available and then leave them alone to copulate.”
“Yes,Doctor,” the lab assistant said, nodding his head again.
Dr.Verityxrounded on the three of them.
“Remember—copulation is key!”he chirped, loudly enough that everyone in the lab stopped and looked at him.
Cassie made a choked sound that was suspiciously like a laugh andSeverinwas certain the inherent ridiculousness of the situation was probably “tickling her funny bone” as the humans said.
“Yes,Doctor,” he said, nodding his head respectfully.“We’llremember.”
“Good—then go withLipshillhere and he’ll take you to the suite.I’llsee the three of you back here tomorrow for the first nectar test,” the doctor told them.
“Okay—we’ll be there…er, here,”Cassiemumbled.Shetried to stand up, but swayed dizzily.
Quickly,Severincaught her by the arm.Atthe same time,Ravikslipped an arm around her waist.
“Let me,” he said toSeverinin a low voice.
Severin nodded.
“Of course.”
Ravik swung the curvy little human up into his arms and she rested her head against his chest weakly.
But even in her weakened state, she still put an arm back, reaching forSeverin.
“Severin?Ineed you too,” she whispered.
He came to her at once and stroked her cheek.
“I’m here, sweetheart.Iwon’t leave your side.”
She looked atDoctorVerityxwho was watching closely with his big, round, golden eyes.
“Is…is there a reasonIneed them both so badly?”she asked.“Ican’t…Idon’t want just one.Ineed them both.”
“AsIsaid before, each one of your males gives you something your body needs to fight theHungerVirus,” the owl-looking doctor replied.“Butknowing the nature ofKindredand the way they bind themselves to their females,Iwouldn’t be surprised if the three of you hadn’t already started some kind of three-way mutual dependence.A‘Triunebond’ if you will.”
“A bond?”Ravikgrowled, looking uneasy.
“Oh, not the regularSoul-BondthatKindredform with their mates,”Dr.Verityxhastened to explain.“Butit does mean the three of you are interdependent on each other now.Ifone of you were to leave or die, it would wound the other two greatly.”
Ravik looked like he wanted to say something about that, but in the end he only shook his head and growled,
