Chapter 15
CASSIE
Severin, who had changed into a pair of long blue sleep trousers like the ones Ravik was wearing, led the way down the long, narrow hallway and Cassie followed him, with the big Beast Kindred walking close behind her—too close, actually.
Not that she was brave enough to tell him to back up.
For one thing, he was still somewhat foggy from the Hunger Virus—or at least, she thought he was.
For another thing, he was so big that if she turned around too fast, she was afraid she might crash face-first into his bare chest. He still had on pants, thank God, but he didn’t have a shirt on and his massive upper body was right there every time she glanced back.
Wide shoulders…thick arms…hard pectorals…
black hair spilling around his face and golden eyes fixed on her as though she was the only thing in the universe worth watching.
Which was flattering and unsettling at the same time and also way too much to deal with after the kind of day she’d had.
The hallway seemed to go on forever, lit by dim blue strips set into the ceiling. The bunker really was built like a series of tubes—long, skinny rooms and long, skinny corridors, everything made out of steel and stone and strange matte-black panels that hummed softly when they passed.
There were no windows, of course, because they were deep underground, but Cassie could feel the weight of the planet above them, pressing down on the ceiling and walls. It should have made her feel trapped, but honestly, considering what was roaming around outside, she was mostly grateful for it.
Better to be under tons of dirt and surrounded by reinforced alloy than outside with the Infected—at least, that was what she kept telling herself.
“This way,” Severin said, glancing back at her.
“I’m following,” Cassie told him. “Though I would like to go on record as saying I’m still not completely thrilled about this sleeping arrangement.”
“I understand,” he said gravely. “But Ravik’s cognition has shown marked improvement when he remains in close proximity to you. If he sleeps with your scent nearby, it may keep him stable through the night.”
“You keep saying things like ‘close proximity’ and ‘cognition’ like that makes this less weird,” Cassie pointed out. “But what you’re actually saying is that I need to sleep in the arms of a seven-foot Beast Kindred who thinks I’m his mate.”
“Seven-foot-one,” Ravik rumbled behind her. “And Ravik knows you are his mate.”
Cassie looked over her shoulder at him and instantly regretted it because, yes, there was all that bare chest again. It really was an unfair amount of mouthwatering chest for one male to have.
“Right. Seven-foot-one,” she said. “Thank you for clarifying.”
“You’re welcome, Mate.”
“You don’t have to keep calling me that,” she said.
Ravik frowned, his dark brows drawing together.
“What should Ravik call you?”
“Cassie. My name is Cassie,” she reminded him.
“Cassie,” he repeated slowly, as though tasting the word. Then his face softened in a way that made her stomach flutter. “Cassie smells good.”
“Yes, I know you like the way I smell.” She faced front again quickly. “Thank you, I guess.”
Severin made a low sound that might almost have been a laugh, though when she looked at him, his face was perfectly serious.
Of course it was—the Blood Kindred was nothing if not controlled.
Controlled and pale and elegant and cool, with those ice-blue eyes behind his glasses and that smooth blond hair that looked much too clean and perfect for the end of the world.
“So this mating chamber,” she said, because talking was better than thinking about either of the males walking with her. “Why exactly does a science bunker have one?”
“It was not originally a Kindred bunker,” Severin reminded her. “It belonged to the Visskous researcher who invited us here to study the first wave of infections. Apparently, he used this place as a private retreat as well as a laboratory.”
“A private retreat,” Cassie repeated. “With a group mating chamber.”
“Yes.” He shrugged, as though it was no big deal.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t it have an orgy chamber?” she muttered. “That’s exactly what every underground plague bunker needs.”
“The Visskous have different mating customs than humans or Kindred,” Severin said. “I believe this room was designed for heat-sharing during fertility rituals.”
“Heat-sharing?” Cassie wrinkled her nose. “You mean because they’re cold-blooded?”
She’d never heard of anything like that, but maybe it was because she and Sskarth hadn’t been trying to have any children since he knew she couldn’t get pregnant by him and lay eggs.
“Yes. During certain mating cycles, several partners may share a warmed nest-bed in order to regulate body temperature and encourage egg development,” Severin said.
Cassie stopped walking for a second and stared at him.
“Severin, I am begging you not to say the words ‘egg development’ again while I’m trying to psych myself up to get into bed with the two of you.”
His mouth twitched.
“My apologies.”
“Accepted. Barely,” Cassie told him.
Ravik leaned closer from behind her, his breath brushing the top of her hair.
“Cassie does not lay eggs.”
“No, Cassie absolutely does not lay eggs,” she said firmly.
“Good,” Ravik said. “Eggs are fragile. Cassie is soft.”
Cassie wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything at all.
The hallway sloped downward slightly as they went, the air growing warmer with every step.
At first, Cassie thought it was another hot flash sneaking up on her, which would just be the cherry on top of this particular nightmare sundae.
But then she realized the heat was coming from somewhere ahead of them.
Gradually, the blue ceiling lights faded into amber ones, soft and dim and glowing like the inside of a lantern.
The walls changed too—the hard steel giving way to panels of some smooth, pale stone that looked almost like marble, though knowing the Visskous, it probably came from the compressed bones of some extinct reptile or something equally charming.
The smell changed as well.
The rest of the bunker smelled like metal, antiseptic, old air, and whatever strange herbs she had put into the stew.
But here there was a different scent—warm minerals, faint spice, and something dry and dusty underneath.
Not unpleasant exactly, but alien. Like heated stone after rain, Cassie thought, except there was no rain down here and no sky for it to fall from.
At the very end of the hallway, Severin stopped in front of a wide, arched door.
“This is it,” he said.
Cassie eyed the door suspiciously.
“It looks…dramatic.”
“It is somewhat larger than the others,” Severin admitted.
He touched the control panel beside the door. For a moment nothing happened. Then the panel gave a low hum and the door slid open with a soft hiss.
Heat rolled out at once.
Not terrible heat—not Florida-in-August heat, thank God.
But a deep, enveloping warmth that wrapped around Cassie like a blanket.
After the chilly stainless-steel rooms and corridors, it felt incredibly good.
Her skin prickled, her shoulders loosened, and she had to stop herself from sighing like a woman stepping into a hot bath.
Then she saw the room…or rather, she saw the bed.
Because there wasn’t much else to see.
The chamber was enormous compared to the rest of the bunker—round instead of long and narrow—with a domed ceiling that disappeared into amber shadows overhead.
The walls were made of that same pale stone, carved with curling Visskous designs that looked decorative until Cassie realized they were actually bodies.
Long, serpentine bodies tangled together in stylized loops and coils—tails wrapped around tails…
claws gripping shoulders…narrow lipless mouths open in what she very much hoped was ecstasy and not predatory hunger.
She looked away quickly but unfortunately, looking away meant looking at the bed…the bed which nearly filled the entire room.
It stretched from one curved wall almost to the other, a massive circular nest of layered cushions and thermal blankets and shimmering coppery sheets that seemed to glow faintly from beneath.
There was no floor space to speak of except for a tiny half-moon landing just inside the door, maybe large enough for one person to stand on if that person was not Ravik-sized. The rest of the chamber was bed.
Bed to the left.
Bed to the right.
Bed straight ahead.
Bed everywhere.
If a person wanted to enter the room, they had to climb onto the bed. There was no dignified way to stand around and discuss options. There were no chairs, no couch, no narrow little cot where Cassie could pretend this was less compromising than it was.
Just one gigantic heated lizard-sex nest.
She stared at it for a long moment, then turned slowly to Severin.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
His expression was composed, but she could see the faintest hint of discomfort in his eyes.
“I’m afraid not.”
“There’s no floor.”
“There is some floor.”
She pointed to the tiny landing where they were standing.
“That is not floor. That is a postage stamp.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means this entire room is basically a bed with walls.”
“That is…not inaccurate,” he admitted grudgingly. “But it’s the only chamber big enough for all three of us.”
Cassie took a deep breath and immediately regretted it because the warm, spicy scent of the room filled her lungs and did absolutely nothing to calm her down.
“So when you said we would all have to share the bed,” she said slowly, “What you meant was that we literally can’t enter the room unless we get into the bed.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t think that was worth mentioning?”
“I thought it might alarm you.”
“It does alarm me! I’m alarmed!” she exclaimed.