Blindly, he reached into the cupboard and grabbed the first thing his hand touched.Itwas a jar with a lid which he stared at for some time before he remembered he had to twist it to get it open.
He managed this and then stood staring vacantly for a long time at the pots hanging from the far wall before he remembered he was supposed to use one.Thelonger he was away from his mate, the cloudier both his thoughts and his vision became.Hehad a vague impulse to go sniff her again…but he didn’t want to wake her up before…before…before what?
Frowning, he looked down at the pot in his hand and then at the jar.Oh, right—he must make food for hisMate.Thiswas almost more instinct than thought—aKindredwarrior had to feed and proved for his beloved bride.
Ravik dumped the contents of the jar into the pot and then had another long moment where he couldn’t remember what he was doing.Slowly, a murky image of someone standing at the stove with a pot surfaced in his mind.Right—he needed to use heat.
Mate can not eat cold food.Mustheat,he thought.
He put the pot on the heat circle and jabbed at the buttons.Hewasn’t sure which one made the heat work, but he was glad to find that something he did must have worked because the circle under the pot began to get hot and glow red.
Ravik looked down into the pot dully, wondering what to do next.
Stir…pot?asked an uncertain voice in his head.
But what was stirring?Ravikno longer remembered.
He stared into the pot, waiting for something to happen—something his cloudy brain could no longer predict.
After a moment, one of the things in the pot jumped—then it jumped again andexploded!
Ravik backed away from the pot with a grunt of surprise.Hisbrain was too cloudy now to understand what was happening, but he knew vaguely that it wasn’t good.
Pop!Pop-pop-pop-pop!
Now many of the things in the pot were exploding.Also, there was a bad smell coming from the pot.Whatwas happening?
Ravik didn’t know and he couldn’t make his brain tell him what to do about it.Hestood there staring mutely until one of the things in the pot exploded out at just the wrong angle—and hit him in the groin.
A sound of agony was torn from his throat and he doubled over.Whatwas this place and why was he here?Whatwere the things hurting him?
He didn’t know…he didn’t know anything at all anymore except for pain.
22
CASSIE
“What’s that smell?”Cassiemumbled, not opening her eyes.“Smellslike…burning popcorn.Ugh.”
“Hmm?”a deep voice answered her.“What’spopcorn?”
Cassie frowned.Herhusband,Sskarth, didn’t have a deep voice at all.Itwas high and dry and hissing—like a snake’s voice would be if it could talk, she’d always thought.
So then, who was she in bed with if it wasn’tSskarth?
Mitch?
No—she rejected that idea.She’ddivorced her first husband years ago and she was never going back to him.Plus, he knew what popcorn was—it had been his favorite snack.Sothen who was in bed beside her?Andwhatwas that burning smell?
These questions cut through her drowsiness enough to wake her more thoroughly.Sheopened her eyes a crack and saw a hugeKindredwarrior with blond hair looking back at her.Atfirst she couldn’t place him and panicked.Hadshe gone out and gotten drunk last night and cheated onSskarth?Buthow—there were nothing butVisskousmales inCrystalCity.
“Cassandra, are you all right?”the warrior said and then she remembered everything.Beingkicked out of the city by her cheating husband, bitten by anInfected, then thrown overRavik’sshoulder…wait a minute.WherewasRavik?Hewasn’t in bed with them and the burning smell was getting stronger.
Suddenly, a hoarse yell echoed down the bunker hallway.
“Ravik!”she andSeverinboth exclaimed at once.Andthen the race was on to scramble out of the huge bed and find out what the hell was going on.
23
