For the Memory of Dragons (18 page)

“Come on,” Kyle coaxed him. “Let us
help.”

Looking up at the king, Alex waffled for a
moment before giving in. He could refuse them, but it would do him
little good. The king had power over his dragon subject. Besides,
they were there to help.

Reluctantly, Alex eased himself back from
Terra. She moaned in distress as he climbed out of the bed. It took
all of his willpower to not grab her back up against him. Turning
his back to her, he closed his eyes. She let out another soft moan.
His muscles tensed as he stood there, fighting the instinct to go
help his mate. A body bumped into his side, and a hand landed on
his opposite shoulder. Cracking open his eye, he glanced at the
person holding him. Michael stood there, intensely watching the
scene behind Alex as he gave Alex as much comfort as he could.

A strange sense of relief rolled through
Alex. He had never been one to enjoy physical contact from anyone.
Usually, it made his dragon cranky, but this… this comforted him.
The simple touch gave him the strength he needed to stand there,
helpless, as others tried to fix what was wrong with his mate. He
shifted so his side was more solidly against Michael. The fingers
at his shoulder tightened as the sounds of the scene behind him
intensified.

“Kyle,” Carissa’s voice was heavy with
concern, “she’s caught between forms. Can you push her all the way
to dragon?”

“I can try…”

Alex bit his lip, drawing blood, as he
listened to the king attempt to force Terra into full dragon form.
Michael’s hand clamped down harder when Terra moaned in pain. Alex
shifted, trying to keep from turning around. His dragon was roaring
to protect his mate, but he knew they were trying to help her.

“She won’t go.” The concern in Kyle’s voice
met Alex’s ears.

Carissa made a worried noise. “Let me
try.”

The seconds ticked by at an agonizing rate
as Alex listened to the king and his sister work to help Terra. He
stood there with clenched fists, listening to his mate moan in pain
as they tried to force her into a full shift. Magic tingled along
his back as Carissa worked. Slowly, the sounds of Terra’s distress
subsided.

Did they fix her?
The thought passed
through Alex’s mind, and he turned his head to glance back over his
shoulder. Terra was back to her full human state. Michael’s hand
stayed on his shoulder as Alex turned around to face the bed.

A soft moan rose from Terra, and her eyelids
fluttered open, then closed again.

Hope squeezed Alex’s heart as he dropped to
her side and took up her hand. “Terra?” he called to her.

Her eyes blinked a few times, unfocused,
before finding him. There was confusion there, but she smiled as
she recognized him.

Joy filled him as she squeezed his hand.
Mine!
was okay. Now, if they could just find a way to keep
her that way.

***

Ouch.
Terra wasn’t sure what she had
been doing, but every part of her hurt. A soft tingle ran along her
nerves, driving the pain back to a dull ache. As the hurt subsided,
her consciousness slowly returned. She tried to open her eyes, but
the bright light of the white room drove a moan of pain from her,
and she closed them again. Movement on her left drew her attention,
and warmth enveloped her hand.

“Terra?”

She knew that voice. Slowly, her weary mind
kicked in and gave it a name.
Alex.
Blinking to clear her
vision, she turned towards the source of the warmth and sound.
There he was, holding her hand. A warm smile crept across her face
as she took him in. Something inside of her purred with delight
that he was there. Her eyes traced over his kneeling form, and her
smile widened. “You’re naked again,” she teased him weakly.

Joy flashed across his face, and he stood up
to sit on the edge of her bed. His arms wrapped around her and
pulled her in against his chest in a fierce hug. “Mine!” he
whispered into her hair.

A contented rumble echoed up between them,
surprising Terra. She pulled back from him, shocked at that sound.
For a second, she thought the noise had come from him. It sounded
like something he would make, but the vibration had rattled up from
her own chest. She placed a hand over her sternum as the noise
continued.
What the hell?

Sympathy filled Alex’s eyes as he reached
out and caressed her face. “We will figure this out.”

“Alex.”

The soft sound of a woman’s voice drew
Terra’s attention away from Alex and her new issue. Fear raced
through her, and she clutched at Alex’s arm. A beautiful woman
stood next to the bed. Her golden hair was pulled up and held in
place by a pair of bronze sticks. The woman’s long dress was
casual, but there was an elegant air to her that told Terra she was
someone important. A man dressed in a button-down shirt stood
behind her. He was taller but had the same golden hair and elegant
air. Something about this pair pulled at the back of Terra’s mind,
but she just couldn’t place them.

“Hello, Terra,” the woman said with a gentle
smile. “Just relax; we’re here to help.”

Some tension in Terra’s chest unwound at the
woman’s calming voice, and the fear that had been racing through
her eased as the woman went on.

“My name is Carissa, and this is my brother,
Kyle.” Carissa waved to the man behind her. “I know you’ve been
through a lot, but we’re going to help you figure it out.”

At a loss for words, Terra glanced at Alex.
Taking the nod he gave her as encouragement, Terra turned back to
Carissa and asked the question she wanted to know the answer to.
“What’s going on?”

Carissa let out a long sigh and sat on the
edge of the bed. “That’s what we’re trying to find out. How do you
feel?”

How do I feel?
Terra pondered that
question for a moment. Up until Carissa had asked it, Terra had
felt fine. A little tired, maybe, but now, not so much. The more
she thought about it, the more it felt like something was moving
under her skin.

“Weird,” she answered, unable to explain the
sensation. Something brushed against her mind, making her gasp. She
dropped her head to her hand as a wave of fright and pain rolled
through her, making her head spin.

Alex clutched her against his chest, and the
sensation changed. The pain was still there, but need chased out
the fright, and she clung to Alex as if her life depended on it.
She needed Alex, but not in a physical way. Her soul needed him.
This new sensation brought the fear and confusion back, and her
hold on Alex tightened.

“Relax,” the man Carissa had introduced as
Kyle said soothingly. “He’s not going anywhere.” He brushed his
hand down Terra’s shoulder, and some of the tension and fear eased
again.

A soft vibration rumbled up from Alex’s
chest. “I will never leave you again,” he purred.

“But you will have to turn her loose,”
Carissa said. “We can’t help her with you there.”

Alex growled.

Terra smiled at the possessive tone of the
noise. It made whatever curled inside of her happy.

“Alexander,” the tone Kyle took with him
held a stern warning.

Another angry growl rumbled out of Alex, but
he reluctantly released Terra.

No!
the thing curled up in her chest
protested,
don’t leave me!
A whimper slipped out before
Terra could stop it.

“I’ll be right here,” Alex promised as he
laid a kiss on the side of her head and stood up away from her. He
squeezed her hand for a second longer before dropping it to the
bed.

Terra wanted to say that it was fine, she
didn’t need him to hold her, but the thing curled up inside of her
had other ideas. It roared in distress. The sound came out of her,
scaring her. Pain raced along her nerve endings as heat burned
through her. An anguished cry slipped out as something pushed
against her skin, trying to force its way out. Immediately, hands
were on her, holding her down. The burning and pain subsided,
leaving her gasping for breath. Her skin hurt, and tears blurred
her vision. She blinked them away, but something was wrong with her
vision. The world was too sharp, and the colors were off.

“Terra?” Alex’s soft voice called to
her.

Turning her head, she looked at him. Her
vision was still funky, but she could see the worry on his face.
That thing inside her squirmed with the desire to comfort him.
White-hot pain shot through her, making her scream again. Closing
her eyes, she leaned her head back against the pillow and gasped
for air. A soft thump on her bed drew her attention, and she
cracked an eye to see what was going on.

A man with white hair stood next to Alex,
waving his arms around as if he were talking, but no sound came
out.

“Of course,” Carissa answered the silent
man.

Terra turned her attention to the woman.

“Michael is right,” Carissa said as she
stood up, releasing her hold on Terra. “We’re going about this the
wrong way.” She held her hand down for Terra to take. “By now, I
should be used to dealing with a newly transformed dragon.” Carissa
shot Michael a warm smile before turning back to Terra. “Shall we
try this again?”

Dragon?
The thought bounced around
Terra’s head as she looked at the woman. She wanted to ask what she
meant, but words were eluding her. Something was wrong, but she
just couldn’t understand it. Slowly, Terra placed her hand in
Carissa’s.

Carissa pulled her into a sitting position.
She looked across the bed at Alex. “Hold her.”

It took no time for Alex to find a seat on
the bed behind Terra and pull her in against him. His arms wrapped
protectively around her.

Whatever was inside Terra relaxed into
Alex’s warmth. She leaned back, savoring the feel of him against
her skin.
Skin to skin.
Realization hit her, and she tensed
in his arms. Her bare back was pressed into his bare front as the
hospital gown she was wearing gaped open. It clung to one shoulder,
but the snaps on the other side had been torn open in her
struggles. She tried to shift away from him so she could fix her
gown, but he wouldn’t let her go. Slowly, she relaxed back into his
hold as he cooed reassuring noises at her. The thing inside her
wanted to be as close to him as possible.

A thing.
That was the only way she
could describe the ball of feelings bouncing around in her. It was
need, desire, pain, and fear, all rolled into one terrifying
package. And it was all separate from her own feelings, yet it
controlled her body as much as she did.

The thing chirped at her, and she had an
uncontrollable desire to snuggle into Alex. She pressed back
against him as his arms tightened around her. Apparently, the thing
felt safe there. The fear and tension drained from Terra, leaving
her limp in his arms. Unable to draw up the energy to be afraid,
she turned languid eyes towards Carissa. Her vision was still off,
and it made the already gorgeous woman even more beautiful. A
primal note of jealousy hit Terra, and she clenched her fingers
into Alex’s arms to keep him away from the other woman.

Alex shushed her softly and stroked his
fingers over her skin, calming her.

Carissa studied the pair on the bed before
sitting down on its edge. “Do you remember what happened?”

Terra’s thoughts were slow in moving, but
she could remember. “Two men came looking for Alex.” Her words came
out slurred as she spoke. There was a slight hiss to them. Terra
stretched her jaw, trying to pop it. It felt like it wasn’t in the
right place.

“Yes,” Carissa continued. “Do you remember
them giving you an injection?”

There was no way she could forget the sting
of that needle or the way the serum burned along her veins.
“Yessss.” There was that odd hiss again. Terra could feel Carissa’s
eyes run over her. The thing inside of her stirred for a second
before calming down again.

“We think those men were trying to turn you
into a dragon.”

This time, when the thing brushed against
her mind, it felt like the rough caress of scales under her skin.
Terra swallowed hard. How could they turn her into a dragon?

“How?”

Carissa let out a long sigh. “We’re not
sure, but you show all the classic signs of a dragon in distress.”
She paused for a moment before continuing. “Normally, it’s a mental
issue that can be addressed once we’ve forced the dragon into a
single state, but that doesn’t look to be the case here.”

Terra considered her words. “What do you
mean?”

“Well,” Carissa began, “your form wants to
go to dragon, but it can’t get there.” She glanced up at her
brother before looking back at Terra. “Not even with our help.”

Terra looked at her, confused.

“Somehow, your dragon is incomplete,” Kyle
explained. “It gets most of the way there, and then stops.”

“But I’m not a dragon,” Terra protested. She
didn’t know much about dragons, but she did know you had to be born
a dragon. You couldn’t make someone into a dragon.
Could
you?

Terra shivered as the thing inside of her
moved.
Could that be a dragon?
It purred a positive note.
Yes, whatever was inside of her was a dragon.
But it’s not
whole.
She didn’t understand how she knew this, but she did.
She looked up at Carissa. “Can you get it out?” The dragon in her
roared in protest. The sound came out as a soft growl.

Carissa gave her an apologetic smile. “We
aren’t sure how they turned you into a dragon, so reversing the
process is impossible.” She took a long breath before continuing.
“Other than the original myths, there’s only been one case where a
human has been turned into a dragon—” Carissa’s eyes flipped up to
the white-haired man for a moment. “—and that’s Michael.”

He smiled at her and mouthed something that
made her smile in return.