Chapter 2
CASSIE
Panic took over, buzzing in her brain like a trapped insect.
“Sskarth, don’t do this! Let me back in—please, somebody, let me back in!” she wailed, pounding on the gates.
Behind them, she heard the sound of hissing laughter.
“Scream louder, off-worlder,” one of the guards who had put her out said. “The Infected love the flavor of terrified flesh and you’re bringing them right to you.”
That was enough to shut Cassie up. They were right, she realized belatedly—as incapacitated as they were by the horrible Hunger Virus, the Infected had acute hearing. They would be alert for the sounds of someone screaming or crying.
Have to get someplace safe—have to hide! she thought desperately. Surely she could find someplace where there was still food and shelter. There must be other Visskous, who lived outside the city, still hiding from the Infected.
Right, like they’re going to take you in, whispered a skeptical little voice in her head. You’re an off-worlder—remember? And you’re of no use to them since you can’t breed with one of the males to make offspring or lay them any eggs.
Cassie knew the voice was right, but she had to at least try—she wasn’t ready to die yet. If anything, being in perimenopause had made her more determined to live. She wasn’t going to die until she got her hormones regulated, damn it!
She turned away from the gates…only to find that she was too late.
There was already a herd of Infected coming up over the hill.
Their horrible white eyes were fixed on her and their sharp teeth were gnashing.
Chunks of flesh were falling off their bodies in places but they were moving pretty quickly, for all of that.
“Oh, shit!” Cassie breathed. Her legs felt like they had turned to water as she looked around desperately for a place to hide or run to.
The land around the Crystal City was littered with junk—hovercars that had crashed and been left to rot and a land road that was clogged with ground traffic which was in a similar state of disrepair.
She supposed she could try to hide in one of the vehicles, but if the Infected saw her go into one, they would gather around it and either tear it apart to get to her or—if they couldn’t get in—would simply wait there until she died of thirst and hunger.
Never had she regretted her choice to marry and move to a whole different planet in a whole different galaxy more bitterly.
But it was too late now—all she could do was run and hope to God she found someplace to hide that the Infected couldn’t follow.
It was going to be nightfall soon—maybe the darkness would help her.
Since they had already seen her, she took off at a dead run.
But she wasn’t exactly dressed for exercise.
When the mandatory meeting had been called, she’d been wearing nothing but a nightgown, which barely came down past her thighs.
She’d thrown a matching silky robe over it and put on some slippers, but she hadn’t had time to change into decent clothing before the guards demanded she and Skkarn come out to attend the gathering.
Cassie didn’t even like the nightgown and robe combo—even if she hadn’t been running for her life in it.
One of the aggravations of living on Visslick Prime was that there were no Earth Clothes to be found.
All of the outfits for women had a hole in the back for a tail to go through.
Or the hem was so high it showed her lady bits.
The Visskous had sex organs that were completely internal and hidden by their scaly skin, which was why it wasn’t considered improper to go around flashing your crotch.
Cassie’s visible sex organs—her breasts and pussy—had been a source of excitement for Sskarth when they first got Joined.
However, he gradually lost interest and ever since she’d started having hot flashes he had made several remarks about how distastefully “hot and wet” she was between her legs.
Apparently, Visskous females had nothing but a dry, sandy slit which later turned into an egg-carrying pouch where they incubated their eggs.
Which was a round-about way of saying that Cassie was flashing her ass as she ran because she was wearing a nighty made for a lizard woman with no visible sex organs.
And why in the world were such inane thoughts running through her head while she was running for her life?
Cassie didn’t know—maybe it was her mind trying to fend off the panic that was threatening to swallow her whole. Or maybe—
Her thoughts cut off abruptly as she dodged around a fallen hovercraft and found herself face-to-face with a huge, ugly Infected.
It was a male Visskous—she could see that because he didn’t have a leathery crest on his head.
His eyes were milky white and glaring at her—or at least one of them was.
Horribly, the left side of his face had rotted and the left eye was hanging from its socket, bouncing against the rotted flap of a cheek where sharp teeth were visible through the disintegrating flesh.
Cassie stopped, stunned for a moment but the Infected didn’t pause for a moment. He lunged for her, his long teeth snapping.
“Get away!” Cassie shouted and threw up her left arm to ward him off.
She meant to knock his head aside and dart around him, but the Infected male bit her—sinking his long fangs into the flesh of her forearm, right below the elbow.
Pain lanced through her as blood ran down her arm and she screamed breathlessly as she tried to pull free.
He’ll give it to me—I’ll become one of the Infected too! her mind was yammering. Or else he’ll kill me and eat me. He’ll tear me apart! Oh God, please no—please save me! Help me get away—send me help!
She didn’t know if she was really praying or even who she was praying to but suddenly an enormous fist came down on top of the Infected male’s head.
The force of the blow caused the teeth that had been clamped on her arm to open and the Infected male fell to the ground, his white eyes rolling up in his head.
“Oh, thank you so mu—” Cassie began, but the words died abruptly in her throat when she saw her rescuer.
He wasn’t a Visskous and he wasn’t human either—he was a Kindred warrior and he was absolutely huge.
Cassie stared up at him—way up. The warrior had long black hair and blazing golden eyes that had been dimmed by a white film. She felt her heart freeze in his chest—was he infected too?
Cassie looked for the blood-sign around his nose and mouth but it was impossible to see if he had it, since he was wearing a huge black respirator that covered half his face.
It also made him look even more terrifying—which was something, considering he was already a seven-foot tall mountain of muscle.
“Uh, hi there, big guy,” she said uneasily, taking a step back from him. “Look, I appreciate you saving me, but…”
She trailed off because it was clear the huge warrior wasn’t listening.
He took a step towards her and leaned down, his milky eyes fastening on hers.
His irises weren’t completely opaque yet—she could still see the glint of gold behind the film that made her wonder if maybe he was a Beast Kindred.
Was he halfway infected? The Hunger Virus could be dormant in a person’s system for weeks before it took full effect.
Was he on his way to full Infected status?
“Hey,” she said, trying to talk to him again, though she had no idea if he could understand her. “Hey, like I said, it was nice of you to save me but now I think it’s time we went our separate ways. I mean, we can’t just—”
The words died in her throat because he reached up and pulled down the mask. He leaned towards her and for a moment, she was sure he was going to bite her. Instead, he pressed his face to the side of her head and inhaled deeply.
When he pulled back, the gold in his eyes seemed a little brighter…a little less obscured by the milky film. And he uttered one low, rumbling word—
“MINE.”
Then he bent down and wrapped one huge arm around Cassie’s knees. Before she could even protest, he swung her up over one broad shoulder like she was a sack of flour.
“Hey!” she cried breathlessly. “Hey!”
But the giant Kindred didn’t seem to hear. He was already moving—jogging along at a steady pace, weaving between the damaged and defunct vehicles with Cassie bouncing on his shoulder, her long brown hair swirling in the wind as the breath was knocked out of her by his steady gait.
Her arm where the Infected had bitten her was stinging fiercely, but she barely noticed. She was too busy trying to figure a way out of this situation.
But no matter how she shouted and struggled and pounded on the Kindred warrior’s broad back with her fists, he seemed completely unaffected and she couldn’t get loose.
His grip on her thighs was too tight and also she was afraid to go completely crazy—what if he dropped her on her head?
He was so tall it would be a long way to fall.
It seemed there was nothing she could do—he was taking her somewhere else and she couldn’t get free to stop him.
Cassie just prayed he wasn’t planning to eat her.