Page 74 of Soar

“NO!”

Discouraged, the crowd dispersed, forlornly going back toward the main house. Salem chose to think of it as a house instead of a manor because he needed that level of sanity. Now that it looked like he was going to live here and all.

When he turned back, he found Gregori looking at him with the softest, warmest eyes he’d ever seen aimed at him. It made Salem feel a little self-conscious.

“What?” he asked uneasily.

“You really were paying attention,” Gregori murmured, still sounding awed. “I didn’t think you realized.”

“You live with a doctor,” Salem pointed out with a sigh. “Of course I’m going to notice when you’re not feeling well and what your symptoms are. My mistake was not dragging a confession out of you of just how bad off you were.”

Sora loped over to them, looking as tired as Salem felt, but not slowing down any. “Hi, all. Sorry to interrupt, but I need to do a checkup on Gregori. Can I have a second?”

In privatewasn’t said but rather inferred.

That was fine. Gregori was not in the habit of answering questions honestly, clearly, as he’dfucking collapsedbefore admitting anything was wrong. If stepping away let him answer Sora’s questions truthfully while getting checked out, so be it.

Salem had no intention of leaving Gregori’s line of sight right now. It would surely trigger a relapse. But he could give the illusion of privacy.

He stepped about twenty feet away, finding a rocky outcropping to perch on top of. This way he stayed in line of sight with Gregori—a reassurance for both of them.

Sora performed diagnostic spells, from the look of it. From the way Sora moved about, checking every angle, he was being very thorough in his examination. Salem appreciated it. He wanted to make sure Gregori was on the mend.

The more he sat there—looking out over the dragons, the beach, feeling the humidity in the air—the more he felt like an asshole. It was beautiful here. The sense of community, of family, was incredibly strong. Anyone would give their right arm to live in such a place—except him, who had argued vehemently against it. Argued against it to the point Gregori couldn’t be honest with him. Couldn’t openly express when he hurt.

Salem sank his head into both hands, eyes closed, kicking himself repeatedly. He’d have to do so, so much groveling to make this up to Gregori. Salem wasn’t even sure where to begin.

Over the sound of water lapping at the shoreline, he could hear footsteps shuffling over the sand. He didn’t look up. Intuition alone told him who approached.

“You okay, bro?”

“No,” he answered on a long sigh. “Sam, I’m an asshole.”

“This fact is well established, but normally you’re okay with that?”

“I’m not okay with it when it damn near killed my boyfriend.”

Sam sucked in a startled breath. “Wow. You’re admitting to your relationship?”

Now he did look up to pin Sam with a glare. “Duh.”

“No, no, this ishugefor you. I mean, you were denying it even three days ago.”

“Yes, well, having Gregori collapse right in front of me put things sharply into perspective.”

“Ah.” Sam nodded, like this suddenly made a lot more sense. “Crisis will do that. Kinda had a similar moment with Dimitri, so I know where you’re coming from. Um, so, don’t fret? Gregori will forgive you for this.”

“Gregori was never mad to begin with. I wish he would get mad at me. I prefer being yelled at over feeling like this.”

Sam came in closer, slinging an arm around his shoulders in a supportive hug. “I promise you’ll be fine. Dragons are easy, trust me; give them lots of love and attention, admire their hoard, all things are forgiven.”

Snorting a laugh, Salem grumbled darkly, “Hopefully that works here. Will you help me, though?”

“Do what?”

“Pack up and move down here.”

Sam actually jumped a little in surprise. “Shit! You’re serious?”

---