The bigBeastKindredturned his head slowly, as thoughSev’svoice had reached him from a great distance.Hishands were hanging at his sides, fingers curled slightly—not quite claws but close.Hischest rose and fell with deep, slow breaths and his nostrils flared as though he was trying to catch a scent he couldn’t quite reach.
“Mate,” he rumbled at last.
Cassandra made a strangled sound.
“He keepssayingthat,” she said, her voice pitched higher than usual.“Andbelieve me,Iappreciate the compliment or the delusion or whatever it is, butIwas just trying to cook supper and then he appeared in the doorway completely naked like some kind of giant wet caveman!”
“Mate good,”Raviksaid, nodding as though this explained everything.“Matemake food.RavikhelpMate.”
Cassandra stared up at him.
“That’s very thoughtful of you,” she said carefully.“Butmost people who help with dinner wear pants.”
Ravik looked down at himself, then back at her, apparently unconcerned.
“Ravik wet,” he said.
“Believe me,Inoticed,”Cassandrasaid, nodding.
Despite the seriousness of the situation—despite the fact that his latest anti-viral had failed andRavikwas clearly regressing again—Severinfelt a sudden, unwilling burst of amusement.
He swallowed it down at once.Nowwas not the time to be amused.Ravik’sspeech had deteriorated from full sentences to broken phrases in the space of less than an hour.Thewhite film was returning to his eyes and his body language had changed from protective and purposeful to confused and instinct-driven.
TheHungerViruswas still there…waiting…clawing its way back.
“Ravik,”Severinsaid, keeping his tone calm and even.“Youweresupposedto remain in the bathing room.”
“MissedMatesmell,”Raviksaid, his gaze sliding back toCassandra.Hisvoice was lower now, rougher.“Goodsmell.NeedMate.”
Cassandra’s expression changed—irritation giving way to alarm.
“Need mehow?”she demanded.“BecauseIam really not in the mood to be needed in any more weird alien ways today.Ihave been thrown out of a city, bitten by a zombie lizard, kidnapped by a hugeBeastKindred, stripped, scrubbed, tested, and told my blood is doing something ‘fascinating,’ which isnota word you want a scientist to use about any part of your body.”
Severin barely heard the last part of her little speech because his brain had grabbed onto his best friend’s words and wouldn’t let go.
“MissedMatesmell.NeedMate.”
Slowly, his mind began putting the pieces together, each one clicking into place with increasing precision.Ravikhad been lost for months—mute, fogged, and slipping further and further into the viral haze no matter what anti-viral cocktailSeverininjected into his bloodstream.Thenhe had gone out into theDeadZoneand returned withCassandraover his shoulder.
And he had spoken.Notmuch at first—just a few words.“Woman.”“Human.”“Mate.”
But after he’d heldCassandra—after he’d pressed his face to her hair and inhaled her scent—he had spoken more.Hehadunderstoodmore.Hiseyes had cleared and his cognition had improved so dramaticallySeverinhad assumed—hoped—that the latest serum was finally working.
But the sample under the scope had told a different story.
The anti-viral wasn’t working—Ravikwas.Orrather,somethingwas workingonRavik…somethingCassandracarried.
Something in her scent.
“Cassandra,”Severinsaid slowly, turning to her.“Ineed you to letRavikhold you for a moment.”
Her eyes widened.
“You need me towhat?”
“LetRavikhold you,” he repeated.
She looked from him to the huge, nakedBeastKindreddripping water all over the kitchen floor and then back again.
