Chapter 25

S alem sat on the roof with Gregori, unsure whether to be worried or pissed. Currently worry won out because Gregori looked like shit. He lay on the roof with only a blanket under him, head pillowed in Salem's lap, eyes not focusing. Salem wasn't even sure Gregori was lucid enough to realize he'd been hauled up here.

And there wasn't a damn thing Salem could do to help him.

Right now, he couldn't help but kick himself over and over. He'd known Gregori wouldn't leave him, but dammit, Salem was toxic as hell for banking on that and never even questioning what it would do to Gregori in return. This man had basically broken himself to stay with Salem. If there had ever been any doubt about Gregori leaving, it was long gone now. Salem kicked himself again. He'd driven Gregori to this. And to think he'd told Alexis only yesterday that he needed more time.

More time. Like this much time away from his clan hadn't done enough damage to Gregori.

Fuck, he hated himself.

Anger flared again, hot and heavy. Damn his magic, and himself, for being so useless. What was even the point of being a mage when something like this happened and Salem could only pray for someone else to arrive to help?

He hadn't been kidding with Sora about asking for an apprenticeship, but this situation right here, it made him all the more determined. No one else was going down on his watch and leaving Salem uselessly sitting by and wringing his hands.

The firefighters had been called out to a fire, so they hadn't been able to stay, though they'd promised to swing by later and check in. It left Salem up here alone, with Sora texting him, promising they'd be there in a few hours.

Sora's sole instruction to him was to somehow coax Gregori into shifting if at all possible.

Easily said. How to manage it, that was the question. This situation was unheard of. There was no guide on how to overcome it.

There would be after this, though. Salem would make damn sure of it.

"Don't do this," Salem muttered, stroking Gregori's hair in a rhythmic way. "I just owned the fact I was being an asshole. I can't make it up to you if you're like this."

Was it his imagination or did Gregori try to nuzzle in closer?

The roof door creaked open and a head popped around it. Building security guard, looked like, a retired vet who worked here part time by the name of Joe.

"You two okay up here?" Joe inquired.

Since it was a balmy fifteen degrees, and no one sane would come up here to do anything romantic, he could see why Joe asked.

"Not really. Gregori's in bad shape, he can't shift to dragon form right now."

"Oh shit," Joe breathed. "Can I help?"

"Joe, right now, I don't even know how to help."

Joe didn't seem to like that. He looked at Gregori for a long second before saying, "I'll let everyone know."

Who the hell was everyone? Salem had no chance to voice this question before Joe ducked back inside, letting the door slam shut behind him. Eh, didn't matter, he'd surely figure it out shortly.

Salem turned his attention back to Gregori. He'd tried coaxing, bribes, everything he could think of to encourage Gregori to shift. Nothing had worked. What had he not tried?

His cell phone rang next to him. Oh, Sora?!

Shit, no, of course it wasn't Sora. It was the hospital. Why were they calling him on his day off?

Of course, the answer was obvious. He swiped Accept and snarled, " What ."

The person on the other end of the line paused. " Uh, Doctor Hunter ? Can you possibly come in ?—"

"No."

" It's kinda a serious case ? — "

"Listen to me carefully. Gregori is down right now. I'm going fucking nowhere."

The tone changed and did a one eighty. " Gregori is ?! Oh no ! Okay, I'll make sure you're not on call, and keep us posted on how he's doing ."

Was there anyone Gregori had not made friends with? Forget ice dragon, the man was a social butterfly.

"I will." Salem hung up and set the phone back down at his side.

The second he refocused, he realized Gregori no longer stared blindly ahead and instead looked up at Salem. Oh? Relief leapt into his throat. This was the first time in almost four hours Gregori had looked at him properly.

"Gregori?"

"First time," Gregori whispered, his throat sounding tight. "First time you've made me priority."

"I told you, I've realized I've been an asshole. I'm not denying you or this relationship anymore. I'm so sorry. You can't believe how sorry I am. I promise you, after this, I will never put my needs above yours."

A sound escaped Gregori's mouth, and it spoke of relief, quiet joy, and something like need. Salem felt like a jerk all over again.

"I love you," Gregori whispered.

"I know. You literally drove yourself into the ground to be with me. How about you start loving me enough that you stand your ground when I start pushing too hard? Instead of being afraid of how I'll react."

"Ahhh." Gregori sighed again, and this time he had a hint of a smile. "My mate is sassy. Well, today can't be too bad if my mate is sassing me."

"You are such a—ugh. Just shift already, you're driving me crazy."

"I have been trying, y'know."

He'd definitely perked up to be able to do this back-and-forth with Salem. That was the good part. The bad was hearing he'd been trying and failing. "You've been trying how long?"

"Since I woke up this morning."

Oh. Well, fuck, that wasn't what Salem wanted to hear.

"What can I do to help?"

"I don't know."

Figured. If Sora hadn't known, it wasn't likely Gregori would magically have the answer. Still, it hadn't hurt to ask.

The door creaked open again and out bustled two people Salem vaguely recognized as neighbors who lived in the building. He'd bumped into the bodybuilding guy—he was a trainer at a local gym—and the elderly woman with him was Salem's across-the-hall neighbor, Eleanor. She was a widow who was the opposite of your traditional grandmother figure in every way. Even now she wore bright rainbow sweatpants, fuzzy Crocs, and an overcoat that could double as a circus tent.

"Salem," she greeted, almost sprinting to them. "What's wrong with our Gregori?"

When had Gregori even met the neighbors? He'd ask later. Right now, Salem rolled with it.

"He can't shift," Salem explained, trying to keep how upset he was out of his voice. Basically failed. "He's been away from his clan too long, we think, so his dragon is all out of sorts."

"Well, hell, that was stupid of both of you."

Salem winced. Kinda hard to refute that.

Bodybuilder—come on, brain, what was the guy's name?—cleared his throat. "If his dragon is so homesick, maybe bringing up some home comforts will help? My grandparents saw me this week and brought me some pastila."

Some whatzit?

Gregori made an intrigued noise in the back of his throat. "I haven't had pastila in ages."

"Let me go get you some, then." Bodybuilder seemed relieved to have thought of something to help and immediately jogged back toward his apartment.

Eleanor put a hand to Gregori's forehead, then touched Salem's cheek, and she winced. "Of the two, his temperature is better. You're freezing. How long have you been out here?"

"A while," Salem admitted.

"I'll sit with him. You go get a better coat and something hot to drink, then come back up."

Honestly, he really had to pee, so it sounded good to him. He checked in with Gregori first. "That okay? I'll be back in five minutes."

"Go," Gregori encouraged. "I'm thirsty too."

"Then I'll bring something back up for you."

It was a good sign he wanted to eat and drink. Salem hoped and prayed this was a turning point for them.

He carefully levered up Gregori's head, pillowing it on his jacket, then darted downstairs. He did a quick bathroom break first, then got his seriously big overcoat—the one where he could be in the bush in Alaska and not feel cold—put it on, grabbed two sports drinks since he didn't have the patience to heat water first, and ran back up to the roof.

In the five minutes he was gone, more neighbors had arrived. Blankets and pillows had been carted up, along with the promised pastila. Someone had hauled a portable card table up, an extension cord, and was that a coffee maker? Sure was.

At least a dozen people had gathered up here. Half of them Salem didn't even recognize, but Gregori clearly knew them all, as he comfortably chatted even as he nibbled on the pastila-cake-thing.

It really did relieve Salem to see Gregori inclined up on pillows and eating. It could only get better from here. Surely.

Joe was back as well, and he handed off a mug of steaming coffee to Salem. "Here, drink this, warm up. We'll help you take it in shifts until he's in dragon form. You got help coming, he said?"

"Yeah. His clanmates and a renowned mage-doctor."

"Good, good, all help is good help. I think he'll feel better once he's got a fellow dragon by his side."

"I hope you're right."

"If you want, we can sit with him while you take a break?—"

Salem cut him off. "No. I go nowhere until I'm sure he's back on his feet."

Joe approved and gave him a nod. "Didn't expect a different answer but thought I should ask. All right, Doctor, we'll help you care for him."

"I appreciate it."

Speaking of, time to get back in there. Salem carried his coffee and joined Gregori, cozying up to his side. Gregori pushed most of the blankets over to Salem, which he appreciated, as it wasn't exactly warm out here. He was still warming up his jacket.

Bodybuilder protested wordlessly.

"Ice dragon," Salem reminded him. "This is like a balmy summer day for him. I'm the one freezing."

"Oh. Right, I feel stupid for not realizing."

Gregori finished off the last bite of pastila with a sigh. "Shawn, your grandmother sure can make a mean pastila."

"Favorite snack from her," Shawn the bodybuilder agreed cheerfully. "Want another slice?"

"Hmm, maybe later? I feel better. Like I can shift."

Oh! Yes, yes, yes! Salem immediately put his coffee down and got up on his knees.

"Okay, c'mon, let's do this."

Gregori frowned as he handed the plate back to Shawn, then rolled onto his side. Everyone seemed to be metaphorically holding their breaths, praying he'd do it.

Come on…come on…dragon, come out and play, don't be such a stubborn bastard.

Gregori was clearly struggling and failing, so Salem felt like some incentive would help. He leaned in to whisper against Gregori's ear.

"Don't you want to fly with me?"

Gregori's eyes flew open wide before he abruptly shifted. It was as quick as a blink, much like crazy string exploding from a can. Salem actually flinched in surprise before melting with relief. Finally. Finally! He threw both arms around Gregori's neck and hugged him.

"You did good. You did so good."

A cheer went up from the neighbors, a few people even clapping. Salem smiled back at them. They really were invested in Gregori getting better and it was heartening to see.

Gregori sank into his hold before collapsing back on the pillow/blanket pile. Salem could tell in a glance Gregori had definitely exhausted his reserves. A rest was in order.

Salem didn't push. He simply crawled back under the blankets before doing his own inspection. First, he texted Sora about Gregori finally shifting, then he went by the information Sora had already given him. He took Gregori's pulse—easy to do, a dragon's pulse was louder than a human's—then he put his ear to Gregori's chest to make sure his lungs were clear. Stroked his scales, mostly for the comfort. The scales looked dull, and he prayed it was just the cloudy day making them seem that way, but he knew better. Gregori's heartbeat was a bit sluggish and slow for Salem's liking.

Normally, Gregori would be making sexy doctor jokes right about now. Instead, he was wrapped around Salem again, eyes closed, perhaps dozing. Which was fine. Salem knew once Dimitri, Sam, and Sora were here, they'd help get Gregori back to rights. He'd done the one thing Sora had pressed for: Somehow convince Gregori to shift.

The phone buzzed next to him and he checked it automatically. Oh, Sora had texted back.

Good ! the text read. Relieved to hear it. Makes our job easier when we arrive. ETA three hours. Just hang on .

Three more hours, eh? With half the apartment complex up here helping out, Salem felt like three hours was more than doable. So he sent back a quick OK without any qualms.

Now all they had to do was wait.