13
Someone was going to pay dearly for this as soon as he found out who was responsible. Alex sat in a well-worn hospital chair. Clutched in his fingers, he held Terra’s limp hand. A machine near her head marked every beat of her heart, while a thin plastic tube dripped fluids into her veins. Three days he had sat there without food or sleep, waiting for some change in her condition, painfully aware of everyone who came into the room to check on her. Waiting for something to give him hope that she would be okay.
For three days, Alex had traced the patterns that shouldn’t have been on her skin. Dragon scales. Not fully formed, hard scales like those that had covered him during his time in balance. These were soft scales, very much like those of a new baby dragon when they were first learning to shift. They pushed against the backside of her skin but couldn’t quite make it through. What the hell had those men given her?
Alex let out an exhausted sigh and dropped his head to the bed next to her, turned so that he could stare at their joined hands. The doctors were working on the drug they had found in the car Daniel had wrecked, but they were baffled. Yes, there were dragon hormones in it—both male and female. They were sure the large doses of hormones had caused Terra’s seizure, but there was more in the mix than just those. There was a very fine powder they suspected was diamond dust, but they couldn’t figure out why anyone would inject someone with diamond dust. The doctors had called in a mage to see if the dust was some form of magic spell. It held power, but nothing the mage had ever seen before. They were calling in a team to study it. But how long would that take?
Closing his eyes, Alex listened to the beeping of the machines. It gave out a steady rhythm that soothed his dragon. As long as that beeping was steady, Mine! was okay. His thumb rubbed across the rough skin as his tired mind worked on an answer to the problem. They would have had their answer had they captured either of the men from the attack, but both were dead—one by his hand, and the second by Daniel’s.
If Daniel hadn’t been so careless, they would have had their answer, Alex’s dragon growled at him.
That’s wrong. Daniel hadn’t been careless. The man had fired first, and Daniel had defended himself. Had someone actually captured the man, Alex would have probably torn him to shreds after seeing what they had done to Terra.
The sound of the door opening pulled Alex from his thoughts. He lifted his head to see who had come to visit. His dragon ruffled his wings, ready to defend his mate if need be.
A single man walked in, carrying a paper sack and a backpack.
The ghost of a smile crept across Alex’s face as he identified the familiar man. But, with his silvery hair, everyone in Eternity knew who he was.
“Hello, Michael.” Alex’s eyes traced over his friend. Michael looked just the same as the last time they had met, with the exception of his hair. There was one thin lock of gold flowing back from his temple—a mark from his bonding to Carissa. “How are you?”
Michael stopped and considered Alex. “Not bad.” He gave Alex a warm smile to ease his next words. “You look like hell, though.”
Alex just made a confirming noise in his throat. He probably did look like hell. Glancing down, he considered the scrubs the EMTs had forced him into when he’d refused to leave Terra’s side. They were rumpled from the days he had spent huddled in that uncomfortable chair, waiting for some change in Terra’s condition. There were traces of dried blood smeared on them because he hadn’t taken the time away from Terra to wash properly. Yes, he was a mess.
Alex looked up as Michael came over and stood across the bed from him.
“How is she?” Michael asked as he stood over the bed, looking down at the sleeping woman.
Alex groaned as he shifted his stiff muscles and sat up. “Quiet,” he answered, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. “She had a few fits when she first came in, but she’s been calm ever since.”
Michael nodded and looked down at her exposed arm. “And the scales?”
Alex glanced down at them. Those worried him. “They keep spreading.”
In the few days she’d been there, the number of scales pushing at her skin had grown. They had started at her hand and had slowly been creeping up her arm. They were nearly to her shoulder now.
A worried noise rolled out of Michael’s chest. “And she’s not a dragon?”
“No, she’s not.”
They both waited in silence as they considered Terra’s condition. Finally, Michael broke into the tension hanging in the air. “So how are you?”
A wry laugh slipped out of Alex in answer, but he didn’t elaborate. If Michael couldn’t already tell that he was an absolute wreck, then the man needed his head checked.
An amused grin turned the corner of Michael’s mouth. “Have you eaten?”
Alex shook his head softly.
“Alex,” Michael reprimanded him. “What good are you doing her if you don’t take care of yourself?”
“I know,” Alex said as he hunched over in his chair. “But…”
His dragon growled in frustration. Yes, he was hungry and needed food, but he couldn’t leave his mate alone again. His bad decision to leave was what had put her in that bed in the first place. He looked up at Michael, trying to find the right words to make the man understand.
Michael raised his hand, stopping any further explanation. “I know.”
Of course he would know. Alex let out the breath he’d drawn in. For a moment, the fact that Michael was a bonded dragon had slipped his mind. He was so used to Michael being human. But he was dragon now. Michael would understand the need to protect what was his.
“Here.” Michael reached out and dropped the paper sack on the bed in front of Alex. “When Daniel said you were here, I figured that you probably hadn’t left to get food. Eat.”
Alex let out a soft snort of amusement. “So Daniel knows I’m here?” He pulled the bag over and unrolled the top with one hand. The smell of hamburgers made his stomach protest its empty state.
“Of course Daniel knows you’re here.” Michael shook his head. “If you’d looked outside this room, you would’ve seen that he has a full security detail on this floor. And not just anyone…” He paused for emphasis. “The man’s got SWAT out there.”
This raised Alex’s eyebrows in amazement. “SWAT?”
Michael nodded. Dropping his backpack on the floor, he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms. “I’m not sure what’s up, but once they got the bullet out of his shoulder, he ordered the SWAT team stationed on this floor and locked himself in his office. Carissa is beside herself, and the only time I’ve seen Kyle this mad was… well, when Carissa ran off with me.”
Alex chuckled softly. “He was in a bit of a tiff that day.” Pulling out one of the hamburgers, he peeled the paper back and looked up at Michael. “Do you want to know what’s going on?” He took a bite out of the hamburger and nearly groaned in pleasure. That had been exactly what he’d needed.
“I think I can venture a guess.”
Alex gave him a curious look as he devoured the rest of his burger.
“This has to do with the dead dragons.”
Swallowing, Alex nodded his head. “Someone from Eternity is leaking information.”
Shock stole over Michael’s face. “We have a mole?”
Alex nodded as he pulled out the second burger and tore into it.
Michael turned his thoughts inwards. “I thought we’d solved that problem when we caught Jareth.”
“Apparently not,” Alex answered around the partially chewed burger in his mouth. He swallowed and went on. “There was a leak of information three days ago. It’s how they found Terra.”