Firestorm Forever: A Dragonfire Novel (50 page)

It gave her indigestion, and she didn’t care.

In fact, she wished she had a pack of cigarettes, even though she didn’t smoke. Something,
some
substance that was less than good for her, had to take this pain away. This kind of frustration and disappointment made her wish she had bad habits, just so she could overindulge and wallow in her failure.

Veronica Maitland was going to die. And even as a scientist, Sam thought that dying in the isolation ward of a research hospital, unable to hug your son one last time and knowing that the baby you carried would die, if not along with you then shortly thereafter, had to be the worst possible way to go.

Plus she
liked
Veronica Maitland.

That she was going to die, and that Sam hadn’t been able to help, totally stunk.

She knew Isaac had been trying to phone, but she really didn’t want to talk to him. The arrangements would be made with or without her confirmation or agreement. It was protocol.

In fact, the only person she wanted to talk to was that Drake guy, the one who hadn’t contracted the virus, who had just disappeared into the blue. Oddly enough, Veronica hadn’t seemed to be troubled by his disappearance, even though he was the father of her unborn child. Did Veronica know more than she was telling? Sam couldn’t believe it, not with her own life hanging in the balance.

No, the other woman just hadn’t expected much of him. There was a sad commentary on modern relationships. Sam thought of her own relationship with Sloane and wished she had a cigarette to stub out. In this mood, she could have smoked her way through a whole pack. She’d fought him over emotional intimacy and had eventually shared some. Now, she wished she’d surrendered even more to Sloane. Maybe they could have built something that lasted longer than four months.

She wondered what Sloane was doing. She didn’t even want to think about him finding someone else, or another woman making love to him. Sam would have given a lot for one of his hot slow kisses right about now, never mind feeling like a woman who’d been loved as thoroughly as she deserved.

Maybe that was the catch. Maybe she didn’t deserve to be loved.

Sam wouldn’t think about that.

She thought about work instead. She would have given a lot to have tested Drake. Not that there was anything saying that Sam would have figured out what had kept him from becoming infected. She just felt cheated that she hadn’t even had the chance.

What kind of an asshole would disappear like that, when he was the one chance of the mother of his child being saved? Sam didn’t think much of him, that was for sure. There was no way he could have missed her desire to test him. She’d even appealed in the media.

It was bizarre that the lab had destroyed the single sample of his blood that they’d had. It was infuriating that not a one of the staff working there could come up with a decent reason why they’d discarded procedure in this one critical instance.

It was bizarre and infuriating. Incompetent.

Maybe Drake would still turn up. Maybe there would be another chance, a late one, like the cavalry riding to the rescue at the end of a movie.

Sam could only hope.

No, she could do more than hope for a better future. She could do something constructive instead of destructive. She thought of how hard it had been to talk about her feelings the first time with Sloane, then how easy it had become—and how much better she’d felt. She didn’t feel that she could call Sloane.

But there was one conversation that was long overdue.

Before she could stop herself from following impulse, Sam turned on her phone and called Jac. The call went straight to voice mail and Sam winced in recollection of the email message Jac had sent her. Instead of hanging up at the tone, she decided to go with her gut and leave a message.

“It’s me. Sorry I missed you because it would be great to talk right now.” Sam swallowed. “Maybe I’ll just talk anyway and you can listen later. Everything’s gone to hell again, and that patient I was trying to save has progressed into the final stages of the virus. She has a son, Jac, and she’s pregnant, too. I feel like such a failure, for the second time in rapid succession.”

Her tears gathered and she shook her head. “I can hear you, even though you’re not actually there, making some crack about coming to the source for advice, but that’s not it. It’s time to do something different.” Sam swallowed. “It’s time to talk about Nathaniel. I never thanked you for all you did for him, and you have to know that I don’t blame you for what happened. He loved you so much. He told me once that he was the luckiest kid in the world because he had two moms, instead of the usual one.” Her voice broke. “I miss him, Jac, I miss him so much. I would have given anything to save him, but giving everything I had wasn’t enough.”

She took a ragged breath. “I want to remember the good times as well as the bad ones. I want to remember all of it, and I want to talk about it, and that starts right now. Call me back when you can. I’m missing you, too.” Sam broke the connection and stared at the phone in her hand. She felt raw inside, bruised and vulnerable.

But remarkably, she felt stronger and ready to fight that virus all over again. She’d had another setback, but that wasn’t the same as defeat.

And the only real failure would be quitting.

* * *

Sam was still awake at five when her alarm went off. They’d decided to move Veronica early, before the media caught wind of what was going on. Sam showered and dressed, drank a whole pot of coffee to no discernible effect, and headed to the hospital. She suited up to help with the transfer and headed into Veronica’s room when she heard the helicopter descending to the helipad.

“Change of scene for you today,” she said, trying to sound cheerful.

Veronica didn’t even try to smile. She was burning up with fever, and even though she couldn’t have been dressed to go for long, the back of her shirt was wet with perspiration. She nodded, as if too tired to do otherwise, and let Sam hook up the oxygen. They were going to seal her inside a bubble on a stretcher that could then be lifted into the helicopter.

“Are you coming, too?” Veronica asked, her tone so bleak that Sam knew she expected otherwise.

“You bet,” Sam said, changing her mind in that moment. That this woman who had been so strong for so long had finally lost hope broke her heart right in two.

They continued in silence, Sam pushing the gurney through the airlock, then removing her HazMat suit as the bubble was sprayed down. She took over from the orderlies—who looked as if they would have rather been anywhere else on the planet anyway—and pushed Veronica toward the waiting helicopter. The choppers were slowing and the two paramedics on board were watching her approach. The pilot was squinting up at the sky, but Sam didn’t care about the weather conditions. It would be clear enough until they got on their way.

“One more with you today,” she informed one pilot. “I’ve decided to come along.”

He nodded. Veronica’s eyes had widened and Sam leaned over her with concern.

“Are you okay?” she had time to ask, then four dragons dove out of the sky and attacked.

* * *

It had been too long.

Drake led the team, unable to restrain himself once he caught a glimpse of Veronica. She was strapped to a gurney, sealed inside some contraption, and he wanted to shred it. As planned, he flew straight for his mate and seized the entire gurney before flying high into the sky again.

“Drake!” Veronica gasped, but Drake concentrated on what had to be done. He could smell her pregnancy, the scent of child more stronger than it had been. The doctor shouted something, and the men on the helicopter pad cried out. They might have taken flight in pursuit, but Kristofer ripped off one of the helicopter blades, casting it aside like a toothpick that had been in his way. The orderlies cried out and scattered as Kristofer and Arach breathed fire to keep them at distance.

Theo pursued Drake to high altitude. He ripped off the protective covering from Veronica, and slashed at the straps that held her to the gurney with his talons. Drake held tightly to his mate, ensuring she didn’t fall, and Veronica clutched at him, obviously having the same concern.

“Good flight,”
Theo said in old-speak and gave Drake a steady look before flying the empty gurney to the ground.

“Thunder again,” Veronica said, then scanned the sky. “Even though it’s perfectly clear.”

“That is not thunder but old-speak. It is too low for humans to understand.”

Veronica nodded, clearly having heard the thunder of old-speak before. There were no
Slayers
in the vicinity, which was a great relief to Drake, and the weather was clear. Still he was glad he had brought a blanket and he wrapped Veronica in it with care.

When he was done, she sighed with relief and leaned her cheek against his chest. She was feverish and looked so sick that he feared he had come too late. “You were right about the baby after all,” she said softly, her hand falling to the curve of her stomach.

“I will never lie to you.”

She searched his gaze for a long moment. “I hardly believed it when Niall said you’d come. Do you really have a cure?”

“Sloane thinks so.” Drake gathered her close, feeling cheated by the time she’d been lost to him. “How do you feel?”

“Hot and shivery at the same time,” she admitted. “I definitely have a fever.”

“Then haste must be made.” Drake set his course and flew hard to the west. He was aware of Kristofer and Arach falling into formation behind him, while Theo flew ahead to ensure the way was clear. They were too high for humans to notice them, though he didn’t doubt that someone had filmed Veronica’s rescue.

She was running her fingertip over the scales on his chest, her touch returning repeatedly to one spot. “I had this one,” she whispered. “But Jorge took it from me. Does that matter?”

Drake only knew that the mate could repair a scale, but little else. He saw, though, that she was worried about it and didn’t wish to cause her any concern. “I doubt it.”

“That’s good. I was afraid I’d made a mistake or been tricked out of something important. It doesn’t look as if one is growing back, though. Will you always have a gap in your armor?”

Her fear was clear and Drake tried to reassure her. “Scales grow slowly, especially when the
Pyr
in question is in less than good health.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Only that I have given great quantities of my blood to Sloane, that he might find a cure.” Drake shrugged. “My overall vigor would be affected by that.”

“That’s why you were gone.”

“I could not risk being investigated by humans. They would have discovered many things about my nature that are better hidden.” He tightened his grip upon her. “I did not stay away by choice, Veronica.”

She nodded, evidently satisfied. “Where are we going?”

“California.”

“How’s Timmy?”

“He does very well. He is happy with the Pattersons and has been teaching me much of making a home.” Drake frowned slightly, his normal equilibrium returning now that he had Veronica in his embrace. “I believe, however, that he may know the truth of my nature.”

Veronica laughed a little. “He must be thrilled. He was obsessed with those videos of the
Pyr
.”

“I would like to bring him to California, Veronica.”

“You should call me Ronnie,” she chided gently. “Everyone does.”

Drake nodded as he settled into a steady rhythm of flight. “I find beauty in your full name, though. It means ‘little truth’ and you have shown me much of what is true in this world and of myself.”

She smiled, though he didn’t like how shallow her breathing had become. “Then you can call me Veronica. My grandmother did, too.”

Her eyes were closing and Drake knew she would sleep soon. It would be best for her, although he yearned to learn everything she had seen and felt since they were parted. “I know you wish to see Timmy.”

Veronica sighed, her hand rising to tangle in that string of pearls. “But the doctors are right. It wouldn’t be safe for him to visit me. I wouldn’t want him to get this, too.” She coughed and the sound sent terror through Drake.

“When you tell me it’s time, I’ll get him. I pledge this to you.”

Her smile was less joyous than once it had been and he saw that her color was fading. “And you keep your promises, don’t you, Drake?”

“I try, with all that I have within me.”

“It’s all anyone can ask,” Veronica whispered, then her eyes closed and she slept in his embrace.

As he flew steadily west, Drake hoped, more than ever, that his best would be enough.

* * *

Dragons!

Sam stood on the helipad and glared up at the sky as her patient was captured by dragons.

“She’ll
die
!” she shouted after them in outrage, even though she didn’t think they could hear her. They certainly didn’t look back. Of course, Ronnie was going to die anyway, but this way, she’d probably infect a lot of other people first.

Dragons! How dare they meddle?

How dare they abduct a sick woman who was six month’s pregnant?