Claimed by desire in the apocalypse

back of her gloved hand, her breath steady

e old skin, but it still held treasures if you knew where to

ckets of antibiotics, a few unbroken syrin

expiration dates twice, tested seals, a

aint decay since the place ha

racked windows high above, casting

ts silent on the debris. A distant rumble ou

e sky i

the windows, brighter than an

romagnetic pulse surging through

died. Elara's flashlight sputtered out in her h

the building, old emergency systems

rs who had dared enter the ruins w

a overturned gurney, pe

named Jax, one of the rough traders who

les rippled and swelled across his shoulders and arm

eet cunning, turned wild and

pered, but he w

man named Mira, slamming her against

else entirely claimed her right there on

ansformation, bodies expanding into bulky

came Ra

She had heard the old s

igger until now. The solar flare had awakened it. N

ager crashed through a nearby door, roaring a

er a fallen scavenger, their snarls mixing with the wo

lace of healing, had b

wing on every survival

ck and slipped into a side corridor

controlled bursts. She needed an exit before the v

aw him: a newly turned Ravager, his frame massive, shirt han

rifying focus. Saliva dripped fr

len equipment and leaping o

e old emergency stairs, but a metal door

avager was too fast. His hand clamped onto her sh

er spine. Up close, his breath was hot. His

deeper stirred, an unfamiliar heat blooming in

her skin. It was invisible, yet she felt it release: a sub

of a second, confusion flickering across his brutal features. The r

and found the jagged shard of glas

t beneath his jaw. Hot blood sprayed across her face and neck. The Ra

at she had done. Her hands trembled. The heat

smell the copper tang of blood more vividly than ever

lood, the latent mutation her mother had once warned

believed it was

low. She wiped the blood from her eyes and bolted down

ns of smoke rose against a sky still

een skeletal buildings. Women fled in every directi

he knew by heart. Her body felt lighter,

trance, its grated gate long s

darkness, the cool underground air a

ered wall, chest heaving. The strange heat pulsed t

tunnel, the scuttle of rats, and worse, the

at was happening to her? How lon

es, trying to ste

t cost? She touched her neck where the heat felt s

it

ilence... getting close... closer, and