Page 28 of Surge of Heat

I tug Aydan along, and to my relief, he comes with me, Granger at his heel. Some of his anger seems to fade with menow at his side, but I know this isn’t over yet. The door to the cafeteria opens, and I glance back to see the hurt in Evander’s eyes before the door closes once more.

TEN

Samantha

I hitthe elevator floor to get to the medic, and instantly feel Aydan tense next to me.

“What are you doing?”

I’m prepared for the fight, even if I wish we didn’t have to have it. “We’re going to the medic.”

“Fuck no!” He tries to reach across me to hit a different button, but I gently smack his hand away.

“You need stitches.”

His face is gushing. Fucking gushing. All because that arrogant prick decided to assert his dominance like a dog pissing on everything.

“I’m fine.”

Granger shifts beside him. “I don’t think you are, man. That’s pretty bad.”

“It looks worse than it is. That asshole couldn’t hurt me.”

I whirl on Aydan. My heart hurts looking at the blood absolutely flowing down his face and onto his clothes. “Beinga dragon changes us. It makes us stronger and faster. Evander knew he could seriously hurt you, and he did it anyway.”

“He’s not stronger than me,” he says, drawing his shoulders back.

The elevator dings, opening onto the floor with the medic. “Stop being so stubborn. Let’s get you fixed up.”

“I’m fine,” he says.

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “You know, if your face ends up ruined, you’re going to lose your pretty boy looks and actually start having to be nice to people.”

His mouth twitches.

“Then girls will stop throwing their panties at you. You’ll have to learn how to make conversation. And everyone is going to ask you where you got that scar. You’ll never be left alone again.”

He sighs. “Fine. We’ll go, but I think I’m fine.”

Granger gives me a thumbs up behind his shoulder, and a little smirk. It takes me an effort not to smirk back. Instead, I slip my hand into Aydan’s and haul him to the right room, then push open the door. The receptionist opens her mouth to greet us, spots Aydan, and then just runs off to get one of the on-site doctors. A minute later, the receptionist returns and gestures for us to come to a room.

A little while later, Dr. Maveric says, “He definitely needs stitches.” He calls for the nurse to bring in the necessary equipment, while Aydan scowls at Granger and I.

Five stitches later, Aydan is fixed up. The doctor and nurse clean up the area and head out just as the receptionist comes in carrying a tray of breakfast foods.

I’m surprised, but grateful. “Thank you.”

We sit and eat in silence, clearing our plates like rabid animals. There’s not another sound other than our chewing and our forks scraping our plates until everyone is done. Then there’sa stillness between us. There’s a lot that needs to be said, but that I’m not ready to talk about.

The receptionist is back. “All done?” She glances at our plates. “Mr. Gable was right about you being hungry.”

Mr. Gable?“Who is that?”

She smiles. “The owner of Specter Inc. He’s actually waiting for you right now in the lab.”

“Then I guess we better hurry,” Granger says, flashing us a look.

None of us particularly likes being told what to do. When we were kids and were expected to be somewhere, we’d rarely actually end up there. We were in tune with nature, not so much to clocks and people, but we pulled it together when we needed to.

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