Page 13 of Soar

“I understand,” Rodrigo assured him, mouth pulled down into a tight frown. “I wouldn’t leave without my Ha Na either. But, Gregori, no dragon has lived outside of his clan for a long stretch of time.”

He did understand. Gregori wasn’t blind to the possible obstacle. But what was he supposed to do?

Ha Na shared her mate’s frown. “How long?”

“Historically, I don’t know if any dragon has spent more than two weeks away from the clan. I literally don’t know what will happen to Gregori. It could be fine. It could also throw his entire physiology out of rhythm. This is entirely unprecedented.” Rodrigo ran a hand through his hair, looking more and more perturbed. “In days of old, it was unheard of for a mage to argue about going with their dragon. I think sometimes the dragon would join their clan, but there were always many other dragons around them.”

“Could take quite the toll on his mental health, too.” Dimitri joined the Frown Brigade. “Sam, how much does Salem use his magic?”

“Doesn’t,” Sam responded without a second of hesitation. “I think he uses the simple cleanup spells, does a few major workings a year with the rest of the family, but that’s about it. I would say, day to day?He doesn’t use his magic at all. Why?You think it plays into this?”

“A mage not in tune with his own magic can’t even fully accept himself, much less his dragon,” Rodrigo said. “I don’t like this situation one bit.”

“I realize this is unprecedented, and will likely be stressful at first, but I’m not leaving without Salem.” Gregori couldn’t even imagine trying. Even short flights to other cities for day trips would strain his control.

“Forcing Salem back won’t work either,” Sam maintained. He looked around the group and grimaced. “Look, none of this is ideal, I get why everyone’s worried. But some things take time. This is one of those situations, and rushing or pushing really isn’t going to help anything.”

Rodrigo blew out a long, stressed breath. “I do not like this.”

Gregori didn’t either, but what could he do? His hands were rather tied.

Ha Na put a hand on her mate’s shoulder in support, but her eyes were on Gregori. “For now, let’s give this time. I think Sam made some very good suggestions. Gregori, are you going to take them?”

“All of them,” he asserted strongly.

“Then do them. We will all help you as much as we can from here. If you feel lonely and disconnected, you are to say something. One of us will come up and visit you.”

That did make him feel better. “I promise I will.”

“Good. For now, let’s do a once-a-week check-in with you. Just to see how you’re faring and to monitor you. I know how you men are, you’re terrible at admitting when you actually need help.”

Gregori was all set to protest this, but in light of recent events…eh, she had him there. He sheepishly shrugged instead.

“Uh-huh.” Ha Na rolled her eyes. “It’s a good thing you’re all loveable. I will call you every Sunday, all right?Tell me honestly how you’re doing.”

“I will.”

“Good. I think we should end the call here. You have a lot to do today.”

“I do. Love you all, bye!”

He ended the call, staring at the screen for a long moment. All Gregori could do was his best. He would follow the advice he’d been given and give both himself and Salem time.

It would all work out in the end. It always did. He just had to be patient.

Salem went to work.

Sanity was at work. Routine was at work. There were no handsome, charming, pesky ice dragons at work. The last bit was the most important.

He went into his office first, reviewing the schedule of what surgeries he had this week. Salem’s office looked like most surgeons’ offices—in a word, organized chaos. He had multiple file cabinets and a bookcase taking up one long wall, his desk crammed on the other, with just enough space for a chair, his small fridge and microwave, and absolutely nothing else.

Would Gregori’s long, lanky legs even fit inside—ugh, brain. Stop. Just stop.

Salem shoved computer glasses onto his nose and forcefully focused. There was one follow-up today, a ten-year-old patient he remembered well because of the kid’s sass. He had been an interesting case. The kid had fallen off a water slide and damn near burst his spleen in the process.

Other than him, Salem had…a surgery this afternoon? He wasn’t supposed to.

Frowning, he opened the calendar appointment, then clicked on the link leading to the patient’s file. First page was a note from the other surgeon in the department. Dr. Kyle was maybe two weeks out of graduation, his residency completed, and thiscase was too much of an outlier right out of the gate. He’d deferred the surgery by two days with an urgent plea, asking Salem to please take lead and let him assist.

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