Page 42 of Soar

Naturally, he headed east, buzzing past the bright lights and skyscrapers of Boston and then into the bay. His dragon felt a little better now that he was flying. But only a smidgeon. Which didn’t bode well for the near future.

Flying cleared his head and the bitter cold wind cooled his temper. His rage and frustration with Salem calmed, but it was only replaced with anger with himself.

Why couldn’t he have kept his head? A few witty, cutting remarks could have diffused the situation and easily reminded Salem which of them was the better choice.

But was he the better choice?

Maybe the doctor with the million-dollar smile was the better choice for him. They were both doctors, which meant they had plenty in common. He was handsome and amused Salem with his somewhat witty remarks.

Meanwhile, all Gregori had managed to do since he’d left Brazil was annoy the fuck out of Salem. They had made progress, or at least he thought they had with the agreement Salem hadhammered out with him, but for all Gregori saw progress, it felt like he was fighting his way uphill. He slid back far more than he gained ground. He’d tried so hard, but today he’d hurt Salem. After promising he wouldn’t, no less.

He felt like either crying or raging. Even he wasn’t sure which.

Lifting his head, Gregori stared straight ahead at the distant horizon. He was already pointed south. In a matter of hours, he could be basking in the warmth of his clan. No longer alone in a place where he wasn’t welcome or wanted.

As tempting as it was to simply fly straight home to the Valerii, what would be the point? His every thought would be about Salem. He wouldn’t be able to close his eyes for a second without worrying about what Salem was wearing or eating or if he was getting enough sleep.

Tomorrow, he had surgery on a case that had been bothering him for days. After they’d had sex last night, Salem had lain in his arms talking about the little boy who had next to no hope of getting better.

Who was going to hold Salem if the surgery didn’t go as well as he hoped?

Who was going to help him laugh at the end of the long, bad days?

Who was going to celebrate with him on the good days?

He couldn’t leave. Even if Salem didn’t want him to stay.

Gregori didn’t know how long he flew. His mind was a twisted mess, and he needed to talk to someone to get his head screwed on straight before he attempted to see Salem again. Maybe Sam would be able to help him salvage this disaster he’d created by losing his temper.

He landed in the middle of a park lit by a handful of bright streetlamps and shifted into his human form. A sort of low-grade exhaustion pulled at his muscles, and he felt weirdlycool. Perhaps because he’d worked up a sweat. With a mental shrug, he set the feelings aside. He pulled his phone from his pocket and initiated a video call with Sam, while silently praying he wasn’t catching the archaeologist at a bad time—something prone to happen more times than not when dealing with newly mated mages and dragons.

“Gregori!” Sam’s excited voice filled the empty park. “I was just thinking of texting you. How are things going?”

Gregori tried to force a smile, but he knew he fell short. “Not great.”

Sam squeezed his eyes shut and swore loudly. “My brother can be such a fucking stubborn ass.” When he opened his eyes again, Sam wore his determined, don’t-screw-with-me face. It was an expression he’d had frequently when they’d been trekking through the forest for the Sousa ruins. “Let me call you back.”

Before Gregori could reply, the mage ended the call, and Gregori felt the first hints of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Really, how could he lose this fight when he had someone as determined as Sam in his corner? Having Salem’s identical twin working on his side had to count for something.

Barely a minute passed before a video call rang on his phone. When he answered, he was greeted by Sam, Dimitri, and Luka in the tracker team’s meeting room. Sam had put him up on the main display again so the team could brainstorm his little problem.

“Okay, so what did my asshole of a brother do this time?” Sam demanded without preamble.

Gregori sighed. “As much as I would like to blame this on him, this was really my fault. I lost my temper.” He then launched into a painful retelling of the flirty doctor, Salem’s refusal to brush the man off, and Gregori sticking his nose inwhere it didn’t belong while making a scene for all the other doctors, nurses, assistants, and patients to see.

“I think I’ve destroyed what little progress I’ve made with him,” Gregori said, forcing the words past the tightness in his throat. “I can’t even get him to admit we’re dating. I do know about his exes, and what they did to him, so I was trying to be careful and not hit his buttons. But today, I feel like I acted poorly, like one of his exes had done. I’m not proving myself to be a better man.”

“Gregori, I don’t think it’s that bad,” Dimitri said.

“Dimitri is right.” Sam leaned forward, both of his forearms resting on the table in front of him. “Salem can be a complete asshole, but he can be reasoned with. He’s running scared and trying to keep you at arm’s length, but he’s not succeeding, right?”

“I haven’t made any progress in getting him to admit we’re mates. He loses his shit every time I even mention Brazil.” He almost said how much he loved Salem, how much it hurt to be rejected time and again, but he bit it back. That was a separate problem right now.

“But you’re still there. You’re living in his place. That’s big.” Sam pushed up in his seat, leaning toward the camera. “Salem sucks at relationships. He needs space. Lots of space. He’s never lived with anyone. Hell, I’m not sure he’s ever let a guy sleep over at his place.”

“I know things look bleak now, but you’ve got to remember how the courtship period didn’t go well for any of us,” Dimitri chimed in. “Sammy and I were fighting almost the entire way up the mountain and through the forest. He wouldn’t even share a tent with me until he woke up in the middle of the night with a stomper on his chest.”

The mage in question slowly turned his head toward Dimitri, eyes narrowed. “Sammy?I can’t imagine why I wanted to strangle you during most of that trip.”

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