Chapter 3: Heat

May’s lips moved as she prepared to make something up, but the world suddenly began spinning.

Strength drained rapidly from her limbs. Her skin was unnaturally cold.

In the intermittent flashes of fire outside the truck, Ray caught sight of her deathly pale face.

His gaze traveled down the torn red dress and abruptly stopped. Her right calf was already soaked through with blood.

"Theo! Get over here and hold her down!"

Theo dropped onto one knee beside them.

His complexion was almost unnaturally pale, his cool eyes hidden behind his glasses. His white shirt was soaked with sweat and clung tightly to his muscular chest, giving him an almost dangerously restrained, scholarly appearance.

A flash of silver.

The scissors sliced cleanly through the blood-soaked fabric.

Theo exposed the injured area so he could properly treat the wound. The contrast between her pale skin and the dark blood was stark beneath the dim emergency lighting.

Cold air brushed across the injury. May’s entire body convulsed from the pain.

Theo’s hands paused for the briefest moment, his throat suddenly dry.

He immediately pulled a thick bundle of gauze from his tactical bag and pressed it firmly against the wound.

Agonizing pain tore through her limbs again.

May gave a muffled cry and her forehead struck the metal floor.

Several drops of cold sweat rolled down her chin and landed on the back of Theo’s pale, slender hand.

The unexpected warmth made his nerves jolt.

Then—

A piercing screech of brakes ripped through the darkness.

At the intersection ahead, a Tyrant-class creature with grotesquely swollen muscles smashed through the front of a convenience store.

With a deafening crash, it slammed into a bus blocking the center of the road, completely sealing their path.

At the same time, behind them, something was rapidly approaching along the exterior wall of a high-rise.

It was a Skinwalker Demon, its head split into four grotesque sections and its mouth still smeared with chunks of flesh. Drawn by the scent of blood, it was climbing toward them at terrifying speed.

A monster in front. A nightmare closing in from behind.

"Alex! Floor it! Ram straight through!"

Ray drew the military dagger strapped to his thigh.

"Everyone, cover the vehicle!"

The atmosphere inside the truck changed instantly. The crisp sounds of weapons being chambered erupted one after another.

The engine roared. The truck charged directly toward the enormous Tyrant.

Its side scraped violently against the creature’s thick arm, metal screaming against flesh as the vehicle squeezed through the narrow gap and shot into a cramped, shadowy alley.

The gunfire didn’t stop.

Mitch and Jack braced themselves against the rear wall of the truck.

The heavy machine gun and assault rifles unleashed a continuous storm of bullets toward the Skinwalker Demon pursuing them relentlessly.

Ray lowered his gaze toward the figure curled in the corner.

Between the severe blood loss and the relentless shaking of the vehicle, May’s body temperature was plummeting at an alarming rate.

Her lips had turned bluish, slightly parted as her chest rose and fell with barely any strength.

"Theo! What’s her condition?"

Theo pressed two fingers against the fragile artery in May’s neck.

Her skin was soft and feverishly delicate beneath his fingertips, and the strange sensation sent an involuntary shiver through him.

"She’s lost too much blood. This damn truck doesn’t have a blood pack. We need to find a functioning hospital immediately."

His expression hardened.

"But the hypothermia is worse. She won’t last long."

He then glanced at the others.

"She needs sustained body heat. We need to use the warmth of an adult man’s body to help stabilize her core temperature."

The moment those words left his mouth, the truck, which had been saturated with the smell of gunpowder, seemed to grow inexplicably warmer.

Mitch, still firing wildly through the rear opening, felt his ears heat up.

His assault rifle wobbled slightly.

While swapping magazines, he shouted with a flushed neck, "Well... I’m pretty warm too! I can help!"

"Get lost!" Jack roared. "With those skinny arms and legs, how much heat could you possibly produce?"

His gaze kept darting toward the girl.

"I’m the biggest guy here. Obviously, I’m the best choice!"

"Shut the fuck up! Keep suppressing fire and stay sharp!"

Ray’s low, icy command silenced the two men at once.

He reached behind his neck and ripped the tactical vest clean off. The fabric, soaked black with zombie blood, tore apart under his grip. A broad, bronze chest and sharply cut abs were suddenly bare to the night wind. Old scars crisscrossed the stacked muscle, still radiating heat like they had just come off a forge. The raw, aggressive scent of a fighting male rolled over everything.

"Hold her steady."

He bent to scoop the girl off the floor of the truck. A pale, long-fingered hand stopped him mid-reach.

Theo had already undone the buttons of his white shirt with one hand. His skin was fair, almost cold-looking, yet the muscle underneath was dense and explosive, sculpted by years of iron discipline. The contrast between that pale surface and the hard lines beneath it carried a restrained, almost forbidden allure.

"She’s too small. She won’t take the force if it’s just you. We do it together."

Ray gave a short, cold snort. There was no time to argue.

Left and right, the two of them closed in. Inside the jolting, racing truck, they pinned the half-frozen May tightly between their bodies. Scalding, living skin sealed against her from both sides without a single gap.

Her slight, soft frame was trapped between two completely different waves of male heat.

On her left, Ray’s rough, wild heat pressed hard against her waist. The raised edges of old scars dragged over her snow-white skin and sent involuntary shivers racing through her.

On her right, Theo’s lean, solid warmth followed. A thin film of sweat coated his arm where it locked against hers, forcing heat into her with steady insistence.

Caught between the sudden cold and the overwhelming heat, May instinctively curled smaller. Following the simple need for warmth, she turned her face and buried it against Ray’s burning, rock-hard chest. Soft breaths brushed over his heart, one after another.

At the same moment, her long, evenly shaped leg shifted without thought and settled against the side of Theo’s thigh.

The light touch froze both men solid.

Ray’s Adam’s apple rolled once, hard. The large hand braced at the small of her back tightened without permission; veins stood out sharp across the back of it.

Theo’s breathing, usually steady, completely lost its rhythm. A thin flush of red climbed the pale column of his neck. Behind the gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes had gone dangerously dark.

Then the truck slammed through a deep pothole.

May’s soft body dropped hard, lodging itself fully into the narrowest space between them.

Both tall, powerful frames locked rigid at once. Fabric scraped roughly in the confined space. Something unmistakable stirred and pressed forward, settling, without the slightest deviation, exactly where it should not.