For the Memory of Dragons (17 page)

For three days, Alex had traced the patterns
that shouldn’t have been on her skin. Dragon scales. Not fully
formed, hard scales like those that had covered him during his time
in balance. These were soft scales, very much like those of a new
baby dragon when they were first learning to shift. They pushed
against the backside of her skin but couldn’t quite make it
through.
What the hell had those men given her?

Alex let out an exhausted sigh and dropped
his head to the bed next to her, turned so that he could stare at
their joined hands. The doctors were working on the drug they had
found in the car Daniel had wrecked, but they were baffled. Yes,
there were dragon hormones in it—both male and female. They were
sure the large doses of hormones had caused Terra’s seizure, but
there was more in the mix than just those. There was a very fine
powder they suspected was diamond dust, but they couldn’t figure
out why anyone would inject someone with diamond dust. The doctors
had called in a mage to see if the dust was some form of magic
spell. It held power, but nothing the mage had ever seen before.
They were calling in a team to study it. But how long would that
take?

Closing his eyes, Alex listened to the
beeping of the machines. It gave out a steady rhythm that soothed
his dragon. As long as that beeping was steady,
Mine!
was
okay. His thumb rubbed across the rough skin as his tired mind
worked on an answer to the problem. They would have had their
answer had they captured either of the men from the attack, but
both were dead—one by his hand, and the second by Daniel’s.

If Daniel hadn’t been so careless, they
would have had
their answer,
Alex’s dragon growled at
him.

That’s wrong.
Daniel hadn’t been
careless. The man had fired first, and Daniel had defended himself.
Had someone actually captured the man, Alex would have probably
torn him to shreds after seeing what they had done to Terra.

The sound of the door opening pulled Alex
from his thoughts. He lifted his head to see who had come to visit.
His dragon ruffled his wings, ready to defend his mate if need
be.

A single man walked in, carrying a paper
sack and a backpack.

The ghost of a smile crept across Alex’s
face as he identified the familiar man. But, with his silvery hair,
everyone in Eternity knew who he was.

“Hello, Michael.” Alex’s eyes traced over
his friend. Michael looked just the same as the last time they had
met, with the exception of his hair. There was one thin lock of
gold flowing back from his temple—a mark from his bonding to
Carissa. “How are you?”

Michael stopped and considered Alex. “Not
bad.” He gave Alex a warm smile to ease his next words. “You look
like hell, though.”

Alex just made a confirming noise in his
throat. He probably did look like hell. Glancing down, he
considered the scrubs the EMTs had forced him into when he’d
refused to leave Terra’s side. They were rumpled from the days he
had spent huddled in that uncomfortable chair, waiting for some
change in Terra’s condition. There were traces of dried blood
smeared on them because he hadn’t taken the time away from Terra to
wash properly. Yes, he was a mess.

Alex looked up as Michael came over and
stood across the bed from him.

“How is she?” Michael asked as he stood over
the bed, looking down at the sleeping woman.

Alex groaned as he shifted his stiff muscles
and sat up. “Quiet,” he answered, rubbing his thumb over the back
of her hand. “She had a few fits when she first came in, but she’s
been calm ever since.”

Michael nodded and looked down at her
exposed arm. “And the scales?”

Alex glanced down at them. Those worried
him. “They keep spreading.”

In the few days she’d been there, the number
of scales pushing at her skin had grown. They had started at her
hand and had slowly been creeping up her arm. They were nearly to
her shoulder now.

A worried noise rolled out of Michael’s
chest. “And she’s not a dragon?”

“No, she’s not.”

They both waited in silence as they
considered Terra’s condition. Finally, Michael broke into the
tension hanging in the air. “So how are you?”

A wry laugh slipped out of Alex in answer,
but he didn’t elaborate. If Michael couldn’t already tell that he
was an absolute wreck, then the man needed his head checked.

An amused grin turned the corner of
Michael’s mouth. “Have you eaten?”

Alex shook his head softly.

“Alex,” Michael reprimanded him. “What good
are you doing her if you don’t take care of yourself?”

“I know,” Alex said as he hunched over in
his chair. “But…”

His dragon growled in frustration. Yes, he
was hungry and needed food, but he couldn’t leave his mate alone
again. His bad decision to leave was what had put her in that bed
in the first place. He looked up at Michael, trying to find the
right words to make the man understand.

Michael raised his hand, stopping any
further explanation. “I know.”

Of course he would know.
Alex let out
the breath he’d drawn in. For a moment, the fact that Michael was a
bonded dragon had slipped his mind. He was so used to Michael being
human. But he was dragon now. Michael would understand the need to
protect what was his.

“Here.” Michael reached out and dropped the
paper sack on the bed in front of Alex. “When Daniel said you were
here, I figured that you probably hadn’t left to get food.
Eat.”

Alex let out a soft snort of amusement. “So
Daniel knows I’m here?” He pulled the bag over and unrolled the top
with one hand. The smell of hamburgers made his stomach protest its
empty state.

“Of course Daniel knows you’re here.”
Michael shook his head. “If you’d looked outside this room, you
would’ve seen that he has a full security detail on this floor. And
not just anyone…” He paused for emphasis. “The man’s got SWAT out
there.”

This raised Alex’s eyebrows in amazement.
“SWAT?”

Michael nodded. Dropping his backpack on the
floor, he leaned up against the wall and crossed his arms. “I’m not
sure what’s up, but once they got the bullet out of his shoulder,
he ordered the SWAT team stationed on this floor and locked himself
in his office. Carissa is beside herself, and the only time I’ve
seen Kyle this mad was… well, when Carissa ran off with me.”

Alex chuckled softly. “He
was
in a
bit of a tiff that day.” Pulling out one of the hamburgers, he
peeled the paper back and looked up at Michael. “Do you want to
know what’s going on?” He took a bite out of the hamburger and
nearly groaned in pleasure. That had been exactly what he’d
needed.

“I think I can venture a guess.”

Alex gave him a curious look as he devoured
the rest of his burger.

“This has to do with the dead dragons.”

Swallowing, Alex nodded his head. “Someone
from Eternity is leaking information.”

Shock stole over Michael’s face. “We have a
mole?”

Alex nodded as he pulled out the second
burger and tore into it.

Michael turned his thoughts inwards. “I
thought we’d solved that problem when we caught Jareth.”

“Apparently not,” Alex answered around the
partially chewed burger in his mouth. He swallowed and went on.
“There was a leak of information three days ago. It’s how they
found Terra.”

“I knew something had gone down. Poor Reece
has been put on administrative leave, but no one would say why,”
Michael said. “I guess he was on dispatch duty that day.”

“I don’t know, but when I find out who’s
responsible…” The rest of Alex’s words trailed off in a threatening
growl, and anger pounded at the back of his skull. As soon as he
found out who had spilled their locations, they were going to be
very dead. A note of regret slipped in. Hopefully, it was not
Reece. The man had always been nice to Alex. It would be a shame to
have to mangle him.

A snort of mirth came from Michael. “Well,
you aren’t going to do anything unless you take care of yourself,”
he pointed out. “When was the last time you slept?” He sniffed at
the air. “Or showered?”

Alex glared at him.

“Look.” Michael pushed away from the wall
and picked up the backpack. “You’re no good to her if you’re
exhausted.” He set the bag on the foot of Terra’s bed. “I stopped
by The Dragon’s Wing and picked up some of your stuff.” Michael
paused for a second, thinking. “Did you know someone trashed your
locker?”

This brought a wry grin to Alex’s face.
“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” Michael echoed the irritated tone
that had slipped into Alex’s voice. “Brigs and I did our best to
sort it out for you. Sorry, man. I couldn’t just shove it all back
in there like it was.”

“Thanks.” Although he hated when someone
went through his things, Alex appreciated the gesture.

“Anyway,” Michael continued, “what you need
now is a nice hot shower and a nap.”

“I’m not going to leave her,” Alex
protested. Hell would freeze over first.

“You don’t have to.” Michael pointed to the
open bathroom door. “You can shower here, then either get dressed
and go find a place to nap, or shift and curl up at the foot of her
bed.”

“But I can’t leave her,” Alex protested
again. She needed him to protect her.

“Look,” Michael said sternly. “You need
rest.”

“But—”

“And think about what she’s going to say
when she wakes up.” Michael cut him off. “You reek. Do you think
she is going to like that?”

Alex sat for a few minutes, thinking on his
situation. He did reek. Badly. And he wasn’t doing Terra any good,
sitting there exhausted. Drawing in a deep breath, he let it out in
a loud sigh. “But I can’t leave her alone.”

“Go wash. I’ll stay here until you’re
done.”

Looking up, Alex studied Michael’s face.
Michael had always been a solid and dependable guy. His
transformation into a dragon hadn’t changed that. Alex weighed his
options. His dragon didn’t like leaving her in the care of others,
even if it was only to shower in the next room.

“You can even leave the door open,” Michael
offered, trying to coax him into agreeing.

Alex smiled. “All right.” He was hesitant to
let Terra out of his sight, but Michael did have a point. He wasn’t
doing her any good sitting there. Reluctantly, he turned loose of
her hand. It was the first time he had released it since the
doctors had settled her in that confounded bed. He patted it gently
and stood up. “But just a quick shower.”

Michael laughed as he stepped out of Alex’s
way. “I didn’t expect anything more.”

Shooting the man a glare, Alex picked up the
backpack and went into the bathroom. A quick glance out the door
gave him a great view of the head of the bed. A hint of a smile
curled the corner of his mouth. He could get his shower without
Terra being out of sight at all. Digging into the bag brought a
full smile to Alex’s lips. Michael had thought of everything.
Clothing, soap, shaving equipment, a toothbrush, even a towel.
Taking the things he would need, he stripped out of the scrubs and
climbed into the shower stall. The temperature of the water made
him jump when he turned it on, but it quickly warmed up.

Alex stood in the falling water and savored
the feel. Even his dragon relaxed a little. This had been exactly
what he had needed. Worry for Terra still ate at him, but the fresh
water eased his tired mind. The best doctors in the area were
working on her case. If Carissa Markel was worried enough to have
Michael there, then the best mages were working on it, too.
They
will find out what’s wrong with her. She will be okay.
Alex
kept repeating those two lines over and over as he washed and
shaved. The inability to do anything for her was starting to drive
him nuts.

A sound from the other room drew Alex’s
attention away from his thoughts.

“Alex!”

Tearing out of the shower, Alex raced into
the hospital room, slinging water as he went. The sight that met
him made his heart clench in fear. Michael had a knee up on the
edge of the bed, trying to hold Terra down as she thrashed.

No!
Shoving Michael out of the way,
Alex caught Terra in his arms and pulled her up against him so she
wouldn’t hurt herself as she flailed. Immediately, her fit
subsided. He sat on the edge of her bed, shocked, as she let out a
soft moan and relaxed against him.
What the hell just
happened?

Turning his head, he looked down to where
Michael lay sprawled on the floor. Surprise was plastered all over
the fallen man’s face.

Slowly, Michael pulled himself up from the
floor. “What just happened?” he asked, verbalizing the question
racing around Alex’s head.

“I’m not sure,” Alex confessed, “but I think
you should go get the nurse.”

Michael nodded and left to get the nurse on
duty.

Bewildered, Alex turned his attention back
the woman in his arms. When he’d come racing out of the bathroom,
she’d appeared to be having another seizure, but that couldn’t have
been. No one calms down from a seizure that quickly. The look on
her face was contented as he held her to his damp skin. He studied
it for a moment. Something was different about her. Horror stole
over him as he realized the change. The bones in her face had
shifted, and fine scales had broken out over her skin. Holding his
breath, he slid his hand down her back, praying it was normal. It
was not.

Two long lumps stretched the skin along her
back.
Wings.

“You’re going to have to turn her loose,”
Carissa pleaded. “I can’t look at her while you’re wrapped around
her like that.”

Alex glared at her from where he lay in the
hospital bed with Terra pressed against him. After Michael had come
back with a nurse, Alex had forced himself to let her go so the
nurse could check her over. He had just turned away to shut the
water in the shower off and get a towel when Terra’s fit resumed.
After a few minutes, they discovered it was Alex’s touch that held
her to her current form. And that form was not pretty. The fit had
pushed her further into a dragon form, but it wasn’t a smooth
transition. Rough patches of ugly, misshapen scales covered her
body, while wickedly sharp talons tipped her fingers. Two
half-formed wings poked out of her back. Her spine had lengthened,
but she hadn’t sprouted a tail yet. Alex had never seen anyone
twisted as badly as Terra was. It looked painful, and that upset
his dragon greatly.