Page 58 of Soar

Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but you have got to pull yourself together this second. He squeezed his eyes shut and balled his trembling hands into fists as he directed all of his attention at his dragon.Our mate isn’t leaving this hospital until every kid is evacuated. If we don’t do everything we can to stop this bomb, our mate is going to die. Those kids are going to die. Are you even listening to me?Salem is going to die!

There was a faint stirring in his chest, but nothing to indicate he had his powers back.

“Please…” The single word tumbled, fractured, from his throat. He roughly wiped away a stray tear that had slipped free.Help me now and I swear I’ll find a way to fix all of this with you and Salem and the clan. Please, don’t let Salem die today.

This time, the dragon stirred with a little more energy in his chest. It felt as if the great beast had lifted its head and blinked sleepy eyes to look around at its surroundings. It wasn’t much, but Gregori had to take it as a win.

Calling on all his magical powers once again, he threw out his hands. Ice blasted forth, forming three walls around him and thebomb that were several feet thick. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. With just enough room left for him to shift into his dragon form, Gregori jogged back to the bomb and picked up the tablet.

“Ready?”

Gregori glanced at the time. Two minutes left.

He flipped the camera on the tablet and held up the flashlight with his other hand, giving the bomb squad leader a good view of the bomb. “Thoughts?”

The man made a noise like he was sucking on his teeth as he reviewed what was on his screen. “I find myself leaning more toward your first suggestion of red, yellow, and first green wires.”

“Okay. I was thinking the same.” He flipped the camera back around so he could look at the man. “I’m ending the call so I can shift and cut the wires.”

“Wait—”

Gregori forced a tense smile. “If all goes well, I’ll call you back in a couple of minutes.” He didn’t give the man a chance to argue. He just hung up and placed the tablet face down on the floor.

After another deep, steadying breath, he lifted his right hand and forced it to shift into scales, each finger tipped with long, incredibly sharp talons. There was no point in using wire cutters when his nails were even sharper. He could slice through all the necessary wires in a heartbeat and then shift.

Kneeling in front of the cabinet, he carefully slipped his talons under the appropriate wires and sucked in some air through his clenched teeth. His heart hammered so hard he swore it shook his entire body.

We cut the wires and immediately shift, okay?For Salem. We do this to protect Salem.

His dragon shifted again. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for him to believe the giant lizard was at least paying attention to him as the last seconds ticked down on the timer.

Five.

Four.

Three.

I love you, Salem.

Gregori plucked each of the wires in the correct order, slicing through them with ease. As his nail went through the green wire, he forced his body to shift. Pain rippled through every tendon and crackled through his bones, but he fought through the agony to wrap his enormous body around the bomb. He tensed, breath held, waiting for the world to explode around him and end his life. A dragon’s body was built to survive a beating, but not so much C4 exploding at once.

But one second ticked by and then another and another.

He was still alive. His heart was beating.

Slowly, he cracked open one eye to find the time on the bomb stopped at one second. He was alive, the hospital was still standing, and the bomb had been defused.

Very carefully, he pulled away from the cabinet and shifted back into his human form. The process was painfully slow and his entire body was soaked in sweat when he was done. He took one step back from the bomb and his legs collapsed under him.

The relief rushing through Gregori was bitter. His dragon should have been begging to rush back to Salem’s side to make sure their mate was safe, but it felt like it curled up in his chest again and returned to sleep, indifferent to the entire world.

Something was very wrong with his dragon. This wasn’t just a little homesickness. This was bad, and he had no idea how to fix it. Especially if fixing it meant leaving Salem’s side.

The worst thing ever was having to function even though he was worried out of his mind. Salem couldn’t sit there and stew, he had patients to look after, and while they had an emergency evacuation procedure, it was hard to pull off when they hadthismany young children. Any available nurse from the other departments rushed in to help, and honestly, it was the only reason why they were able to manage.

Then he sat there, near his most delicate patient, his eyes on the child—but his mind on a dragon.

In this moment, where everything was uncertain, when he couldn’t turn and seek Gregori out for reassurance, it was easier to define his feelings. Easier to see the shape of them. Salem had suspected it all before but had deliberately not looked too close, a little afraid of what he’d find.

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