Chapter 22

S alem was jealous!

It was a beautiful look on his face. It truly made all the hectic racing about worth it. Seeing him immediately stop the nurse once she'd crossed the line had filled Gregori's heart past the bursting point. He would absolutely reward his jealousy later too. For now, he basked.

Gregori opened his mouth to take a bite of chicken when alarms blared throughout the entire hospital, piercing his ears. For a heartbeat, all six of the hospital employees sat frozen at the table, staring at each other in shock. As one, they all jumped up and ran down the hall as a voice came over the intercom announcing a code Gregori had never heard before.

Salem almost tripped over his own feet, but Gregori grabbed his elbow and saved him, getting him moving again. When Salem looked up to meet his gaze, the doctor's face was frighteningly pale.

"What is it? What's happening?"

"The alarm…the code…" Salem started, but his voice was too low to hear over the siren, forcing Gregori to read his lips. "There's a bomb in the hospital."

Everything inside of Gregori froze solid and his brain locked up. A bomb in a hospital full of sick people. Full of sick and innocent kids.

A bomb in a hospital that contained his one and only mate.

Gregori stepped in front of Salem, his hands wrapped tightly around his biceps, holding him in place. Every instinct screamed for him to first fly Salem a safe distance from the hospital before returning to deal with the bomb.

But even with the fear filling Salem's eyes and the fine tremor of terror in his frame, Gregori knew there was no getting Salem out of the building until he knew each and every child was safely away. And that was why he loved him. No matter his own fear, he would always put the safety and well-being of children first.

"How long will it take you to get all the children safely evacuated?" he shouted over the alarms.

Salem swallowed hard. "Hours."

That single word knocked the air out of Gregori's lungs. That couldn't be right.

"It's the middle of winter. Too many of these kids will die if they are taken out in the cold. There aren't nearly enough ambulances available to shuttle them off to nearby hospitals."

Not to mention all the ones hooked up to countless machines to keep them alive. Evacuating an entire hospital was never a quick affair.

Gregori nodded and forced a smile he didn't really feel. "Okay. You work on getting all the kids safely out of here. When they're clear, you get out of here too. I'll come find you. I promise."

He released Salem, but before he could draw away, Salem grabbed his arms, his fingers like claws digging through his sweater to nearly pierce flesh.

"No! What are you doing? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to defuse the bomb."

Salem looked him dead in the eye with a war of expressions. Unease being the most dominant one. "Can you…can you do that? You don't have equipment or?—"

"Hey, it'll be okay. This is what I do. I'm a bomb expert, remember?" He cupped Salem's cheek, sliding his thumb across the cheekbone. "Plus, I've got dragon magic to keep me safe." As he said the words, he felt a stirring of unease considering how finicky his magic had been recently. But he couldn't let Salem know. His mate needed to focus to protect the kids and get them to safety, which he'd never be able to accomplish if he was terrified something was going to happen to Gregori.

"But…but…" Salem stammered, his eyes darting around them at the nurses, doctors, and even police officers who were now rushing past them down the halls. "Shit. I do not like this. But you're the most qualified here to handle it. Just promise me, if it looks like something you can't handle, pull out."

"I absolutely promise."

The mage bounced up on the tips of his toes and slammed his mouth over Gregori's in a hard, demanding kiss that didn't last nearly long enough. Salem broke off the kiss and glared at Gregori, his hands still tightly gripping his arms. "Don't you dare get hurt or I will be very pissed at you."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Gregori said with a wide grin.

Before they could say anything else, Salem was running off in one direction, shouting orders and generally being the amazing person he always was. Gregori knew he could only hope to do the same thing.

He spun on the balls of his feet and ran through the halls until he finally grabbed the arm of one police officer.

"My name is Gregori Valerii. I am a dragon and a bomb expert. How can I help?" he blurted out before the cop had a chance to say anything.

The irritation melted away from his grizzled face in a heartbeat and he almost looked like he was going to cry. "We've been looking for you!"

Okay. That wasn't what he'd expected to hear, but it was nice.

"We were told a dragon was working here, and we were wondering if you could help with the bomb or maybe just getting people out of here." The cop grabbed his arm and pulled him along as he continued to speak. "We got a bomb threat about ten minutes ago from a parent who lost his child back during the summer. Our negotiator tried to talk them down, but they've already committed suicide, leaving us to defuse the bomb."

"Do you at least know where the bomb is?"

"Yes. Basement."

"Bomb squad?"

His new companion grunted as he rushed down the stairs at his side. "They're en route, but it's going to be at least ten minutes. The team leader has been online since we located the bomb, examining it."

Now the million-dollar question. "Does the bomb have a timer?"

The police officer swallowed hard as he looked up at Gregori. His face was pasty white, and beads of sweat were streaking down from his temples despite the chill hanging in the air. "We've got less than ten minutes until the bomb is supposed to go off."

That sounded about right for Gregori's luck recently.

He nodded and continued to race down the stairs to the basement. The officer at his side waved off anyone who tried to stop them as they hurried through a pair of heavy steel doors painted tan and covered in various official warnings stating this domain was for hospital staff only.

Glancing over, he picked up the name Ortiz from the cop's shiny gold badge on his chest. "Officer Ortiz, how did the guy get access to this part of the hospital in the first place?"

"Former employee," he grumbled. "Guy worked as a janitor here for two years."

Gregori clenched his teeth and swore a string of Russian curses. The man had come in here for two years, saw how this place had healed countless people, and then when they failed to save his child, he decided no one here was allowed to live. His heart broke at the man's loss, but it didn't give him a right to steal away so many other lives and destroy countless other families.

They charged into a large open area that served as a storage room for boxes upon boxes of supplies stacked to the ceiling. Machines roared in the background. Water heaters, furnaces, and countless other items whirred and growled as they kept the hospital running.

Around a blind corner, they located four police officers in a lot of protective padding as they crouched in front of a tall black metal cabinet. All four heads swiveled in their direction at the pounding of their footsteps.

"The dragon!" Ortiz shouted on his right, and all the cops breathed a sigh of relief. There was no way in hell Gregori was going to tell them it was too early to feel relieved. He might know bombs, but every last one was different. With time so short, there was no telling if he'd be able to defuse it in time.

"What's the situation?" he demanded as he joined the group to stare into the cabinet. Thankfully, the bomb itself didn't fill the container. It sat in a large box at the bottom of the cabinet. The timer rested on top of a shit ton of C4. Bright red digital numbers showed they had less than ten minutes.

" It's a fucking messy homemade ." The voice sounded somewhat small and distant, as it came from a tablet showing the face of a haggard Black man in what looked to be a vehicle. This had to be the team leader for the bomb squad. He went on to describe what he saw and the six different possible ways to diffuse the bomb. The only problem was they needed more time to study it, and he didn't trust his view of the device through the tablet.

Gregori accepted a flashlight from one of the cops and shined it on the inner workings of the bomb as he inspected it. "Third green wire and the yellow striped and blue striped wires are fakes," he called out. "Cutting them will detonate the bomb immediately. At first glance, the best options are red, yellow, and first green wires—cut in that order—or I'm thinking blue, first green, and red."

" I'm sorry, but how the hell does a dragon know shit about bombs ?"

Twisting around to look into the tablet again, Gregori grinned broadly. "I've been tinkering with bombs and explosives since black powder first appeared in Russia. Sooo…" He glanced up at the ceiling for a second as he did a bit of math before looking at the squad leader again. "About seven hundred years, give or take a few decades. I'm also the demolitions and bomb expert for the Valerii Clan."

" Got it. Glad you're here with us ."

Gregori nodded and turned his attention back to the bomb. "We need more time to study this before we start cutting wires willy-nilly. Can it be moved? Just drop it out in the middle of the parking lot? My dragon could easily carry something this size."

"The case holding the bomb is welded to the bottom of the cabinet and the cabinet is welded to a support beam. There's no moving either of them," one of the other cops answered.

"How's the evacuation going?" someone asked.

"Less than a quarter of the patients have been moved outside the hospital. The director says it will take an hour just to get out everyone in ICU."

A cold ball of ice settled deep in the pit of Gregori's stomach, and he scrubbed a hand over his face. There was no time to get everyone out, which meant someone had to take a chance and snip wires.

"How far are you from the hospital?" Gregori inquired.

" About eight minutes ." The squad leader's low voice only added to the weight in his stomach.

That was at least two minutes too late.

He'd never arrive in time to tackle the bomb personally.

"Okay." Gregori stood from his squat and held out his hand for the tablet. "I want everyone out of here now. I'm going to diffuse the bomb."

"Wait! We can't let you do that. You're a civilian," a cop argued.

"I'm also the only person here with experience defusing bombs. Not to mention, I've got magic and I'm a dragon," he added with a little wink.

"Can you defuse it with magic?"

Gregori shook his head. "No, but I can use my ice to protect the hospital some if the bomb does go off." He also planned to shift into his dragon form at the last second and use his enormous body to shield the hospital from the blast, but he didn't want to actually say those words out loud.

" The dragon is right ," the bomb squad leader barked. " Everyone out ! We've got eight minutes left to evacuate as many people as we can. Get to fucking work !"

The cops didn't linger another second, booking it for the entrance he'd used minutes earlier.

Before Ortiz could escape, Gregori caught his arm.

"If this doesn't work out so great for me and you see Doctor Hunter, could you deliver a message for me?"

Ortiz blinked wide brown eyes at him for a second and then nodded.

"Tell him I have always been so proud to be his mate, and I love him with everything that I am."

"Doctor Hunter. Got it. I'll tell him, but you gotta not die here. The doc's going to appreciate your message a hell of a lot more coming from you."

He clapped Ortiz on the shoulder. "I'll do my best."

The cop tried to smile, but in the end, he said nothing as he ran for the exit with the others, closing the big doors behind him.

Gregori set the tablet aside, warning the squad leader that he needed a moment to prepare the room as best he could before they discussed which wire to snip.

After sucking in a deep breath, Gregori turned in the direction of the doors and summoned up all his magical power to cover the door area around the cabinet in a thick layer of ice. And just like with the kids and the apartment fire, nothing happened. Not a flake or a whisp of frost.

Look, I don't know what your deal is, but you have got to pull yourself together this second . He squeezed his eyes shut and balled his trembling hands into fists as he directed all of his attention at his dragon. Our mate isn't leaving this hospital until every kid is evacuated. If we don't do everything we can to stop this bomb, our mate is going to die. Those kids are going to die. Are you even listening to me ? Salem is going to die !

There was a faint stirring in his chest, but nothing to indicate he had his powers back.

"Please…" The single word tumbled, fractured, from his throat. He roughly wiped away a stray tear that had slipped free. Help me now and I swear I'll find a way to fix all of this with you and Salem and the clan. Please, don't let Salem die today .

This time, the dragon stirred with a little more energy in his chest. It felt as if the great beast had lifted its head and blinked sleepy eyes to look around at its surroundings. It wasn't much, but Gregori had to take it as a win.

Calling on all his magical powers once again, he threw out his hands. Ice blasted forth, forming three walls around him and the bomb that were several feet thick. It wasn't much, but it was a start. With just enough room left for him to shift into his dragon form, Gregori jogged back to the bomb and picked up the tablet.

" Ready ?"

Gregori glanced at the time. Two minutes left.

He flipped the camera on the tablet and held up the flashlight with his other hand, giving the bomb squad leader a good view of the bomb. "Thoughts?"

The man made a noise like he was sucking on his teeth as he reviewed what was on his screen. " I find myself leaning more toward your first suggestion of red, yellow, and first green wires ."

"Okay. I was thinking the same." He flipped the camera back around so he could look at the man. "I'm ending the call so I can shift and cut the wires."

" Wait —"

Gregori forced a tense smile. "If all goes well, I'll call you back in a couple of minutes." He didn't give the man a chance to argue. He just hung up and placed the tablet face down on the floor.

After another deep, steadying breath, he lifted his right hand and forced it to shift into scales, each finger tipped with long, incredibly sharp talons. There was no point in using wire cutters when his nails were even sharper. He could slice through all the necessary wires in a heartbeat and then shift.

Kneeling in front of the cabinet, he carefully slipped his talons under the appropriate wires and sucked in some air through his clenched teeth. His heart hammered so hard he swore it shook his entire body.

We cut the wires and immediately shift, okay ? For Salem. We do this to protect Salem .

His dragon shifted again. It wasn't much, but it was enough for him to believe the giant lizard was at least paying attention to him as the last seconds ticked down on the timer.

Five.

Four.

Three.

I love you, Salem.

Gregori plucked each of the wires in the correct order, slicing through them with ease. As his nail went through the green wire, he forced his body to shift. Pain rippled through every tendon and crackled through his bones, but he fought through the agony to wrap his enormous body around the bomb. He tensed, breath held, waiting for the world to explode around him and end his life. A dragon's body was built to survive a beating, but not so much C4 exploding at once.

But one second ticked by and then another and another.

He was still alive. His heart was beating.

Slowly, he cracked open one eye to find the time on the bomb stopped at one second. He was alive, the hospital was still standing, and the bomb had been defused.

Very carefully, he pulled away from the cabinet and shifted back into his human form. The process was painfully slow and his entire body was soaked in sweat when he was done. He took one step back from the bomb and his legs collapsed under him.

The relief rushing through Gregori was bitter. His dragon should have been begging to rush back to Salem's side to make sure their mate was safe, but it felt like it curled up in his chest again and returned to sleep, indifferent to the entire world.

Something was very wrong with his dragon. This wasn't just a little homesickness. This was bad, and he had no idea how to fix it. Especially if fixing it meant leaving Salem's side.