by Sadie Sears
Justin scoffed. "Who do you think you’re talking to? I would've called you immediately if he’d been there. You know that."
I did know it, but I was hoping maybe I’d missed the call. "I know. I just thought I'd ask. I can't get a hold of him, that's all."
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine. I saw him at the grocery store just the other day, and he was fine. Getting beer and chips with one of the other hunky flyboys."
I didn’t answer because fine then didn’t mean fine now.
He sighed. “Do you really need me to drag my ass out of bed and go with you?"
If I said yes, he would spring from the bed and be ready in twenty minutes. But it wasn’t like he would be able to go in with me to talk to Dr. Holt.
"No, you're good, go back to sleep."
"Are you sure? I'll go if you want."
I knew he would, and I loved him for it, but this was probably something I needed to sort out on my own. I could very well lose my job over what I’d found, and I didn’t want to drag Justin down with me if that was the case. “I’m sure. We’ll meet up later. Take some aspirin and drink a big glass of water. Doctor’s orders.”
I didn’t have a shred of evidence that anything happened to Sam, but my stomach was tight, and I couldn't shake my dark mood.
I drove to the hospital to share my discovery about the wizards with Paul. He’d be just as mortified as I was, and we would have to figure out how to keep the hospital safe. Through the years, he’d never let me down, and once he got over the shock of what I’d found, he’d know our next steps.
I paged Paul to meet me in the lab, and then I headed there to wait. My stomach churned when I walked into the brightly lit room. I had the printout of the research results and the file I’d stolen from the bathroom lab. The blood. I went to the refrigerator and retrieved the last of the dragon’s blood and stuck the vial in my pocket. It would be evidence the cops would need.
"Gretta."
I spun. I hadn’t even heard the whoosh of the lab door. "You startled me."
I blew out a breath and smoothed my hand down my pants. Dr. Holt walked over and sat in my office chair and clicked the mouse so my computer came to life. I settled in the side chair next to my desk.
"I'm going to get right to the point. I have to tell you something about the nature of this research." I studied his face, but instead of concern, he appeared relaxed and raised his eyebrows as if to encourage me to continue.
"I've found evidence wizards are involved in our research. I found a file they kept on me with details of my life, and on Lila’s. They had pictures of Lila and Zoe.”
He didn’t even blink.
“And I think they’re harming dragons and might also be responsible for Lila’s symptoms suddenly getting worse.” I gritted my teeth as I said that last bit. I had no real proof, but after what I’d read in the file last night, the thought had almost become a certainty, especially when I linked the crystal orb I’d found in her house with the ones I saw in the secret lab. I’d spent the rest of last night getting Lila and Zoe moved and settled in with Sophie to keep them out of harm’s way.
When Paul remained silent, I opened the file and spread it in front of him, thinking he needed to see what I was talking about. He leaned back in my office chair with his legs spread and steepled his fingers. He never even looked at the file.
"What do you think we should do then?"
What do we do? "We need to shut down the program immediately."
"Gretta, think this through. I’ve already filled your position in the hospital. You’d be out of a job." He rolled the chair toward me. "Think carefully."
"I am thinking carefully. I don't care about my job. What's happening here is evil, against the law. We need to shut it down." How could he think otherwise?
He reached to touch my hand, and I jerked away to stand with my arms crossed. “The research is illegal if they’re using it as an excuse to hurt dragons or using it to develop new ways to do so.”
He smiled. "You're concerned, I understand. but you haven't shown me anything to prove that wizards are up to no good, much less harming dragons.” He sounded like he was placating a misbehaving child, and if anyone knew that tone, I did from my time covering shifts on the peds floor.
“But—”
“If anything, they're guilty of probing a little deeper than is acceptable into your life during the vetting process for their multi-million-dollar research project. But they’ve done nothing illegal, Gretta.” Dr. Holt said my name in such a personal way, but I realized I didn’t know him at all, and I’d already stopped thinking of him as Paul. He leaned back and stretched his hands over his head, then ran his fingers through his white hair and sighed.
“There’s a secret laboratory in the men’s restroom. I know it sounds crazy because who puts a laboratory in a bathroom, but there’s a secret door that leads to the lab behind it. I’ll show you.” I leaned over my desk and gathered the documents. No way was I leaving them there. I led him down the hallway, and he followed behind but with none of my urgency, none of my determination.
"You'll see, I'm not crazy." I pushed the door to the restroom open, touched the recessed panel, and the back wall opened just like it had last night. Paul looked inside.
“No one seems to be working today.” There was no indication of surprise that someone had built a secret high-tech research facility inside a bathroom in his hospital—because they couldn’t have done it without him.
God, how could I keep getting things wrong? The man I’d trusted my entire professional career was a snake—a bastard. And even if he hadn’t done it himself, he’d made it possible for those wizards to make Lila sicker.
He turned to me. "You have to know, there will be no hope for Lila if you interfere."
Those words were like a stab to my heart, but I shook my head. “I'm calling the authorities."
And I meant it, but right now, the smell in this bathroom was killing me. Literally. I put one hand on my head as if I could stave off the migraine with physical touch, and I used the other hand to hold the folder against my chest to protect it.
"Dammit, Gretta. This is for the greater good." Dr. Holt pulled his cell from the pocket of his lab coat and typed into the screen.
"You took an oath. Do no harm, remember?”
“They’re animals, Gretta.”
My vision blurred. “They’re not, you sick son of a bitch.” I winced again, this time in pain.
He laughed. Evil and maniacal. More like Bill than I realized.
"There’s a fortune to be made for this research, and I'm not letting you ruin it."
I took a step toward the bathroom door, but he moved and blocked my exit. I glared at him. “You’re going to have to kill me to shut me up. Are you willing to commit murder?” I didn’t really mean to dare him or force his hand, but he had to know only one of us was going to walk out of there unscathed.
Dr. Holt let out a deep sigh. "I'm disappointed in you. Such a waste of a bright researcher. You know, in the long run, this research would’ve helped your sister. And you could have made a lot of money.”
I squared my shoulders, ready to take him out to get around him. And I would have, but two of the three guys who’d interviewed me came through the secret lab’s door. Startled, I was too late to react before they stood beside Dr. Holt. And now there were three of them stopping me from leaving. I held the folder against my chest as if to protect it.
"Don't you fucking touch me." I backed away, but a glowing blue light weaved around me. It sucked the energy from my body. It was like the blue aura I’d witnessed around Teddy when I’d first treated him, and I sunk into the moment that my own vehement denial had led me to. The room tilted, blurred, and I could feel consciousness leaving me.
“Sam.” I knew it was useless, my voice was too weak for him to hear me even if he’d been standing right next to me, but I couldn’t help my instinctive need to cry out for the man I loved.
20
Samuel
I crouched on the floor of my cell, sizing up the puny little fucker standing in front of me. The other two wizards had left. One of them had taken a phone call and then nodded to his brother or whoever the fuck he was. I had no idea why they’d left, but they were idiots. It had taken the three of them to keep me caged up, and now, with only one of them, the energy field surrounding me had weakened considerably. On top of that, my hand had healed, which meant the gadolinite was losing its effects, so the only thing I had to contend with was the ugly bastard with a stupid smirk on his face.
Without any effort, I shifted to my smaller form, shocking the wizard who instantly took a step back, his eyes wide. I released a roar and then blasted the bars with a blazing stream of fire while mentally calling out for help, hoping Cam or Theo could hear me. If any of my clan had survived, they would come.
The wizard cried out just as I burst through the cage. He raised his hand as if trying to cast a spell, but I swiped my tail and took out his knees. Traditionally, bodies didn’t bend that way. I smiled, but I didn’t have time to torture him the way he’d tortured me. I needed to find the other two wizards and stop whatever it was they were doing. I dashed toward the door, but I was too big to fit through, so I took a step back and crashed straight through it and the wall next to it on both sides. Chunks of plaster fell on my head and body as I powered into what appeared to be a lab.
A small cauldron had crystals brewing in it like the ones at Lila’s house, but there were no signs of the wizards. Frustrated, I closed my eyes and listened. Muffled voices came from the other side of a wall, but unable to determine if they were innocent civilians, I searched for another way out. I couldn’t simply break through the wall in case I hurt someone, so I turned my attention to a sliver of light beneath a panel on the far side. I silently pushed it open and saw an empty bathroom.
I was getting used to smashing through doorways by the time I found myself in a corridor. Though I didn’t know exactly where I was, the smells were too strong for me not to guess. This was the hospital where Gretta worked.
The hospital with doctors, nurses, and sick people.
Fuck. I couldn’t go barging through any more doorways, and I was just contemplating shifting back to my human form when I smelled something else. Coconut.
Gretta.
I didn’t hesitate. I barreled down the corridor in search of my mate. If she was near, then she could be in trouble. I followed my nose, but then heard something that eased the anxiety that hadn’t left me from the moment I’d spotted those jars.
Cam and Ben called to me urgently from somewhere outside, and I roared a relieved response, and when Leath and Dominic answered, I was overjoyed. I roared again, warning them of the presence of wizards as I raced through the corridor, punching holes in the plaster walls with the tips of my wings.
And that’s when I saw Gretta, lying crumpled on the floor with a blue glow surrounding her.
At least she was breathing.
I roared—all my fear and anger in that one outpouring of sound. The two wizards who had walked out of the dungeon turned to face me, and as one, directed their magic on me. I ran at them, knocking over counters and laboratory equipment. They were standing between Gretta and me, and I was not going to let anything stop me from getting to her. I was almost on one of them when Leath burst in and let out a deafening roar. The earth trembled, and before I could react, he’d thrashed his tail and smacked the wizards to the floor.
When Dominic and Ben broke into the room, I left the two pathetic wizards to them. They didn’t stand a chance, not against three dragons.
I focused on Gretta. She was weak, barely conscious, but as I stood over her, ready to shift, she opened her beautiful eyes and looked up at me. She hadn’t seen my dragon before, and I held my breath as she studied me from my snout to my tail. Nerves made me shake. Love made me hope.
She reached up and gently touched my face then ran her palm over my snout. After a moment, she smiled. “You’re beautiful, Sam.”
All other sounds fell away, and only Gretta’s sweet voice rang in my ears—until a blunt object hit me in the head. I turned and narrowed my eyes. I was having a moment, and the bastard who’d interrupted it was going to pay.
Dr. Holt threw another beaker at me, then a scale, and burner of some sort that hit me in the snout as I shielded Gretta's body. I whipped my head toward him and blew a gust of warning smoke into his face. I’d let him live so long as he didn’t hurt Gretta. If he put so much as a red mark on her skin, I’d barbecue his ass, no question. He choked and lurched forward, resting his palms on his knees to clear the smoke from his lungs.
"The police are on the way,” Cam said as he casually strolled into the partially wrecked lab. He wore a pair of scrub pants low on his hips and a pair of booties on his feet. I would have laughed, but I needed him to get me some clothes too.
I sent the general thought to him, and he smiled. “Don’t worry, guys, I’ve got several sets of scrubs out in the hallway, but let’s get these mongrels sorted out first.”
Leath, Cam, Ben, and Dom stood in front of the wizards, and using their natural-born dragon ability, began draining the wizards’ power. A mist-like substance rose into the air, writhing as if in agony. One of the wizards—and I was sure it was the one who had mocked me about giving Gretta my blood, screamed, a pitiful cry that cut off when both wizards collapsed. I felt no sympathy for them, not after witnessing what they’d done to my fellow dragons in the tanks.
“They’ve got gadolinite. Obviously not on them, but in the dungeon where they held me. And there are victims.” I visualized the horrors I’d seen, and Cam groaned. It wasn’t an image I wanted him to see, but it was better they knew before they walked in there. “There’s also another wizard, but I think I broke his knees.”
Dom nodded and beckoned Ben, and the two of them disappeared down the corridor, still in their dragon forms. Leath ducked behind a lab counter and shifted, hiding his nudity from Gretta. He blushed and shrugged.
"You can shift, Sam. I've already seen you naked before,” Gretta said in a weak voice, a small smile on her lips.
I huffed out a laugh as Cam came in with the scrubs he’d acquired and tossed them to Leath and me. I shifted then dressed before helping Gretta to her feet, and then I hugged her tightly, grateful she was alive.
I inhaled the coconut fragrance of her hair and ran my hand down to the small of her back, just holding her and luxuriating in the feel of her in my arms when, for a long while, I thought I’d never get the chance again. When I pulled back, I kissed the top of her head. “Come on, I’ll take you to the ER and have you checked out.”
“No. I’m fine. Right now, we have to destroy their research, and they have a secret lab—”
“I know about the lab. Ben and Dom are going to sort that out.”
“Okay, but they’ve got all the results of my research on their computer system.” She headed to a desk with a computer on it.
“Why don’t you let me do that, and Sam can take you to the ER.” Cam turned the keyboard his way and smiled before sitting down at the desk.
“I don’t need to go to the ER. What about them?” Gretta pointed with distaste to the two wizards and Dr. Holt, who sat huddled in a corner.
“I’ll keep an eye on them. I believe the police are on their way,” Mitias said as he strode into the room.
Cam nodded as he typed, and that’s when I realized three of my clan were missing. “Where are Vincent, Taurus, and Theo?” Shit, Taurus had gone looking for whoever had laid those crystals around Lila’s property.
Mitias patted my shoulder. “They’re fine. Theo is out front, helping settle those who saw several dragons flying into hospital grounds. Taurus is with Vincent, collecting the crystal orbs he found.”
Gretta gasped. “Oh, do they have a black oily substance inside?”
I nodded, relieved to hear my clan members were all okay but concerned Gretta knew about the crystals. “Whe
re have you seen them?”
“In Lila’s house, and in that secret lab. They were floating in a cauldron of blood. Dragon blood. And I think the wizards used them to make Lila ill.”
“Yeah, Taurus found them circling Lila’s property. There were a thousand or more of them.”
Fire flashed in Gretta’s eyes, and she turned to Dr. Holt. “I can’t believe you let them do that, let them make Lila even more sick while knowing how much I want to cure her. You played me.”
Dr. Holt didn’t say anything, and Gretta shook her head, disappointment and anger clear on her face. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she went over and punched the guy. Instead, she headed over to Cam, and I heard her asking how he was doing.
Leath glanced at me then back at the prisoners. “So, Sam. How did you get captured?”
I internally groaned, knowing I was going to be the butt of all jokes for years to come. “They zapped me with something in Lila’s front yard. Threw me for six, but they also had gadolinite.”
He shook his head. “Where the hell did they get gadolinite? I thought it was restricted.”
“I don’t know, but they had a chunk of it, so we need to figure it out. As long as it’s out there, we aren’t safe.”
He nodded, knowing none of us would be comfortable until it was found. “Cam was a good choice; he zoned in and located a lot of them Taurus didn't see. You know Cam and his other sight. That's real. This new-age crystal stuff, not so much. At any rate, they've been destroyed for whatever it's worth."
All the metaphysical stuff was a sore spot for Leath. He'd trusted some yogis in the Himalayas, protecting them, but something happened, and they turned on him. He never talked much about it, so I didn’t press. Instead, I slapped his back. "Thanks for looking out for Gretta's family."
I shifted my weight. I wanted to get the hell out of there. Be with Gretta. Be somewhere private. But I had to wait until all of this was over. Still, I needed to be close, so I headed to stand by her side.