Chapter 56
SEVERIN
“Oh…I feel kind of woozy…” Cassie put a hand to her head as the last of the golden liquid disappeared into her arm.
Severin felt a surge of protective possessiveness roll through him.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked anxiously, leaning down to be closer to her.
“Yes—are you okay, baby?” Ravik growled from her other side.
It was good to see that the Beast Kindred still had feelings for her, Severin thought.
He’d been worried that the shame Ravik felt when they shared her might snuff out his tender emotions for the curvy little Elite.
But one look in his friend’s golden eyes was enough to let him know Cassandra was still in his heart and uppermost in his mind.
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Verityx chirped. “Slight dizziness is an expected side effect of the injection. Getting plenty of male seed inside you will ease the symptoms.” He made a sharp whistling sound and one of the lab assistants hurried up.
“Yes, Dr. Verityx?” he—or she, it was difficult to tell, Severin thought—bent their head until the feathered crest on the top of their head expanded to a rainbow plume. Maybe it was a male, since they tended to have brighter feathers than females.
“I want you to take these three to our finest guest suitee,” the owl-like doctor ordered. “Make certain they have plenty of food available and then leave them alone to copulate.”
“Yes, Doctor,” the lab assistant said, nodding his head again.
Dr. Verityx rounded on the three of them.
“Remember—copulation is key!” he chirped, loudly enough that everyone in the lab stopped and looked at him.
Cassie made a choked sound that was suspiciously like a laugh and Severin was certain the inherent ridiculousness of the situation was probably “tickling her funny bone” as the humans said.
“Yes, Doctor,” he said, nodding his head respectfully. “We’ll remember.”
“Good—then go with Lipshill here and he’ll take you to the suite. I’ll see the three of you back here tomorrow for the first nectar test,” the doctor told them.
“Okay—we’ll be there…er, here,” Cassie mumbled. She tried to stand up, but swayed dizzily.
Quickly, Severin caught her by the arm. At the same time, Ravik slipped an arm around her waist.
“Let me,” he said to Severin in a low voice.
Severin nodded.
“Of course.”
Ravik swung the curvy little human up into his arms and she rested her head against his chest weakly.
But even in her weakened state, she still put an arm back, reaching for Severin.
“Severin? I need you too,” she whispered.
He came to her at once and stroked her cheek.
“I’m here, sweetheart. I won’t leave your side.”
She looked at Doctor Verityx who was watching closely with his big, round, golden eyes.
“Is…is there a reason I need them both so badly?” she asked. “I can’t…I don’t want just one. I need them both.”
“As I said before, each one of your males gives you something your body needs to fight the Hunger Virus,” the owl-looking doctor replied.
“But knowing the nature of Kindred and the way they bind themselves to their females, I wouldn’t be surprised if the three of you hadn’t already started some kind of three-way mutual dependence. A ‘Triune bond’ if you will.”
“A bond?” Ravik growled, looking uneasy.
“Oh, not the regular Soul-Bond that Kindred form with their mates,” Dr. Verityx hastened to explain. “But it does mean the three of you are interdependent on each other now. If one of you were to leave or die, it would wound the other two greatly.”
Ravik looked like he wanted to say something about that, but in the end he only shook his head and growled,
“Where’s the guest suite you told us about? Cassie needs to rest.”
“Oh, right this way!” the lab assistant with the colorful crest exclaimed. “Please, allow me to lead you to it.”
“Thank you,” Severin told him, since Ravik was looking anxiously at Cassandra again and seemed entirely absorbed.
“Right this way.” The assistant nodded and led them to the exit door of the lab.
But as they walked, Severin couldn’t help thinking about what Dr. Verityx had said—that the three of them had already formed a bond and it was going to hurt like all Seven Hells when they had to break it.