Chapter 16 · Pod Seven

"Let go of me!" Mika's teeth found Arbiter's finger before her brain caught up.

Arbiter didn't scream. He made a low, surprised sound, almost polite, like he'd stubbed a toe on furniture that had no right to be there. Mika bit down harder, tasted copper and something beneath it that wasn't blood, wasn't human, and then she was flying.

Not shoved. Thrown.

Cade caught her before the floor did. His arms were still trembling from being pinned to the wall, but they closed around her ribs hard enough to bruise. She slammed into his chest, and the air left both of them at once.

"You bit him," Cade said.

Mika spat. Blood hit the floor between his boots.

"At least I bit him."

"That wasn't a plan."

"It worked."

Arbiter straightened and shook out his hand. His finger wasn't bleeding. It wasn't even marked. He studied it anyway, his pale eyes narrowing for the first time.

"Feral," he said. "Good. I was starting to think the Bond had made you soft."

"Don't say that word to me." Mika's voice cracked, and she hated him for hearing it. "Not after what you did to it."

"I didn't do anything to it."