Severin closed his eyes and held her tighter.
“I know.”
“I thinkIloved you from that first night in the bunker,” she said, her voice muffled against him.“WhenIslept between you andRavikand both of you kept me warm.Iwas scared and confused and infected andIhad no idea what was happening to me, but lying there with both of you on either side of me felt…right.LikeIhad been cold for years and suddenlyIwasn’t anymore.”
The words pierced him like a knife andSeverinkissed the top of her head because he couldn’t think of anything else to do.
“I wish he could see it,” she whispered.“IwishRavikcould understand that the three of us belong together.”
“He sees more than he wants to.”Severinlooked toward the door again, hating the certainty in his own voice.“ButRavikis stubborn.Oncehe decides something, he holds to it like a male holding a battle line.Hebelieves leaving is the honorable choice now, and convincing him otherwise is impossible.”
Cassie lifted her head sharply.
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m sorry.Ihave to speak the truth.”Heshook his head.“We’llhave to on without him.
“No.”Tearsspilled over her cheeks again.“Don’tyou dare be calm and practical about losing him!Don’ttell me we’ll do the best we can without him like that’s something either one of us can survive.Weneed him!”
Severin felt his heart fist in his chest—she was right and he knew it.
He had been reaching for cold logic because the alternative was despair.IfRavikwas gone, they would have to go on without him.Cassandrastill needed treatment and the vaccine still mattered.TheMotherShip, theVisskoussurvivors, every world that might someday encounter theHungerVirus—all of them still mattered.
But none of that changed the hollow feeling inside him.
“We’ll have to do the best we can without him,” he said, though the words tasted like ashes in his mouth.
Cassandra shook her head, crying harder now.
“It’s not just the vaccine,” she said.“Iknow the vaccine matters.Iknow people could die andIknow we have to try.Butit’s not just that,Severin.Thethree of usbelongtogether.Whycan’t he see that?”
“I do see it—now.”
Severin’s heart stopped andCassandrawent utterly still in his arms.Theyboth looked up.
Ravik stood in the open doorway.
For one impossible moment,Severinthought he must be imagining him.TheBeastKindredfilled the doorway, broad-shouldered and dark-haired, his golden eyes fixed on them with a rawnessSeverinhad never seen there before.Helooked shaken, as though he had been through a battle.Hishair was wind-tangled, his face tight, and his hands were clenched at his sides.
But he was there—he had come back.
Severin’s heart gave a painful leap, hope surging so fast and hard he had to crush it down before it drowned him.Ravikhad come back, yes, but that did not mean he had changed his mind.Hemight have returned for his belongings.Hemight have returned to say goodbye properly.
Severin forced his voice to stay steady.
“Did you forget something?”
Ravik’s gaze moved fromCassandrato him.
“Yes,” he said, his voice rough.“This.”
He crossed the room in three long strides.
Cassandra made a soft, broken sound and started to rise, butRavikwas already there.Hecupped her face in both hands and kissed her hard, right on the mouth, with all the hunger and fear and love he had been trying to outrun.
Cassandra threw her arms around his neck and kissed him back, crying against his lips.
Severin looked away for half a second—not because he didn’t want to see it but because he wanted too much.
