Saved By Her Dragon (2 page)

He
brushed an errant hair from her forehead and almost fell from his
chair when a voice from across the room said, “No
change?”

Devon had been so wrapped up in his mate he completely missed
Aaron’s approach; something that hadn’t happened to the experienced
Guardsmen since right after his transformation. Praying
it would go unnoticed, he had to smile when Aaron
laughed, “Sorry, Bro, didn’t mean to sneak up on ya’.”

Devon
let go of his mate’s hand and scratched the scruff covering his
jaw, realizing he couldn’t remember the last time he’d shaved. “No
change at all,” he sighed his answer, his eyes never leaving his
mate.

“What’s
Sam say?” Aaron asked, his usually joking tone replaced by
concern.

“She said there is
another
specialist coming today.” He shook his head and
added, “I finally gave in and called Mom. It’d be an understatement
to say she was pissed. After she finished yelling at me, she had me
call Lance to bring her down here.”

Feeling
incomplete without contact, Devon reached out and once again
wrapped his much larger hand around his mate’s. He and his dragon
needed the connection more with every day she stayed just out of
their reach. His thumb rubbed circles on the back of her hand and
wrist. Her long, elegant fingers naturally wrapped around his hands
and he thanked the Heavens that she was not as petite as Royce’s
mate, Kyra. At five foot two inches, Devon always feared one of
them would somehow hurt the little witch, even with her immense
magical power.

Devon had breathed a sigh of relief that his mate was at least
five foot eight inches tall. He was even more pleased that after
what the doctors were saying had to be almost four weeks in a coma
and with her only nourishment from bags and tubes, she still had
ample breasts and curves that made his palms itch to explore. She
was everything a woman should be. She was
perfect
. But he would still be
careful; she was considerably smaller than his six foot three inch
frame and delicate in comparison to his muscular
physique.

“Your
mom yelled?” Aaron asked, jarring Devon from his
daydreams.

He nodded. It had been one of only three times he could
remember his mother raising her voice in all of his hundred and
twenty years. Siobhan Walsh was the epitome of patience and
tranquility. As one of the most talented healers in all of dragon
kin and an Elder of their clan, she embodied calm, cool, and
collected. However, that had all gone to hell in a handbasket when
her only son had called from the hospital–and had gotten worse when
he told her that he had not been avoiding her for the last ten days
but had been at his mate’s bedside. But the cherry on the sundae
was when he told her that said mate was unconscious and
unresponsive. Her bellow (that’s the only way he could think to
describe it) had been just as loud as when she’d caught him and
some of the other young
drakes
peeking under the tent of the older, more
‘physically developed’
vibrias
when he was not yet a teen.

“Yeah,
she yelled. Then told me she loved me before slamming the phone in
my ear.” Devon tried to laugh, but it came out more like a
cough.

Aaron
walked the rest of the way into the room, grabbing a chair on his
way. “Don’t worry, Dev, you know she’s just shocked and even more
worried. Hell, you never keep anything from her.” He straddled the
chair backwards, laying his arms across the back, looking equal
parts comfortable and bored.

“Yeah I know, and I know I should’ve called her earlier, but I
really thought the coma was from a bump on the head or something
simple and might last a day or two. I was so sure my mate would
wake up and everything would be fine, I just didn’t want to bother
Mom. Well, as you can see,” he paused, letting his head fall
forward, “I was wrong…
really
wrong
. It’s just that Mom has enough on her
plate with Grace having twins. Heaven knows the entire clan is
celebrating the first set of twins in almost a hundred years and
the happy couple, or at least your brother, is losing their minds.
I was sure we could handle this without bothering her. Again…I was
mistaken.”

“Isn’t that some
shit
? My brother’s gonna have twins!
Well, Grace is going to have them, but you get what I mean,” Aaron
chuckled. “‘A’s in hog heaven when he’s not worrying about Grace
and I think she’s going to banish him from the house if he doesn’t
stop trying to coddle her.” He quickly added, “I’m telling you
right now, he’s
not
staying with me.”

Aaron stopped, looked around the room and then said, “Did I
tell you, they’ve completely moved back to the lair? Siobhan wants
them close and Kyndel demanded, enlisting Rayne for backup. I’m
just thankful Aidan is carrying on the family tradition. I can’t
imagine a mate, much less a baby…and two? No
fucking
way!”

His brethren was laughing, but Devon could hear the longing in
his voice. It was hard enough that the twin Guardsmen had lost
their parents, but then their younger brother had betrayed dragon
kin and was lost to his own hatred and insanity. Insult to injury
was that Devon had found his mate, leaving Aaron the only bachelor
on their Force–a situation that just had to
suck
.

Deciding
they both needed a break, Devon let go of his mate’s hand and
stood, gripping Aaron’s shoulder. “Let’s get a cup of coffee before
Mom gets here. Ya know there won’t be time later.”

Aaron
nodded as he stood, returning the chair to its place against the
wall as he headed towards the door. He glanced towards Devon’s mate
and then back to his friend. “You sure you want to leave
her?”

“Yeah, even
I
have to get away every once in a while to keep my sanity, just
not for long. I’ll stop by the nurse’s station; someone will come
and stay with her while I’m gone. Sam put ‘round the clock care in
her official orders so my girl is never alone.” He stood staring,
unable to stop his fingertips from caressing her cheek.

Devon leaned as close as he could get to her ear and
whispered, “I’m going with Aaron to grab a cup of coffee,
a chumann
. Be right back.”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, lingering an extra heartbeat to
inhale the scent of sand and sea. One simple whiff calmed his soul
and the dragon within, who was
not
dealing well with their mate’s
condition.

When he
stood, he saw that Aaron had silently moved to just outside the
door, protecting their tender moment from prying eyes in his own
way. His quick-to-temper and always-a-smart -ass brother was not
usually so considerate, and Devon had to wonder if there was more
to his friend’s newfound manners than just courtesy.

Turning
as he approached, Aaron spoke before Devon could thank him, “You
ready to go?”

Taking
the hint, Devon nodded. “Lead the way.”

After a
quick stop at the nurse’s station, the Guardsmen headed towards the
elevators. One more glance down the hall reassured Devon all would
be well in his absence. Melanie, one of his favorite nurses, was
heading into his mate’s room. Once inside the lift he asked about
another of their brethren, “Has anyone heard from Kyra and
Royce?”

Aaron nodded, “I talked to the old man this morning. They’re
no closer to finding Calysta than when they left.” Aaron chuckled,
“Royce is definitely ready to put some distance between him and his
brothers. He grumbled about them always ‘being under foot’ before
Kyra wrestled the phone from him and said everything was good. She
sounded more tired than I thought possible, but said she has some
strong leads and gave me a long list of her witchy stuff that she
needs sent. I asked if she was worried about her mom and she said
‘not really’, but it was just a cover. There’s definitely something
up.” He shrugged. “I gave the list to Jace and told him how
important it was that it go out today. All in all,
grumpy grandpa
and his
mate sounded good…just beat.” Aaron finished just as the doors
opened and the scent of fresh coffee and food invaded Devon’s
senses, making his stomach growl.

Aaron
laughed out loud, clapping him on the back, “Hungry,
dude?”

“I guess
I am,” Devon chuckled. “I think Sam’s surprise party was the last
time I ate anything other than sandwiches and chips from the
vending machine in the waiting room.”

“I know
I’m going to sound like the old man, but you really have to take
better care of yourself. Your mom’s gonna give you another dose of
hell when she sees you. I didn’t want to mention it, but you’re
kinda looking like Grizzly Adams there. It’d be a damn shame if you
scared your lovely mate as soon as she opened her eyes.” Aaron
laughed at his own joke, and for the first time in ten days, Devon
laughed too.

“You’re right. I look like a bum. I’ve been spending every
waking minute here or on the road. I leave long enough to run home,
shower and change clothes, then haul ass back here. I’m trying to
at least be presentable to speak to the doctors and nurses that
come in every day, but it’s just so
damn
hard to leave her. I’m always
afraid she’s going to wake up and I’m not gonna be
there.”

Devon
turned away from his brethren, hiding the emotions that speaking of
his mate stirred within him, and grabbed a tray, heading towards
the food. He decided eating before his mother arrived and the
sermons began was a good idea. It was going to be bad enough when
she saw his shaggy hair and almost full beard without a lecture on
how important it was for him to take care of himself.

They ate
in companionable silence for a few moments until Devon asked, “Did
Kyra mention if she thought Andrew had anything to do with her
mother’s disappearance?”

Aaron
took a drink of his iced tea, then shook his head as he answered,
“I asked and she said there were no signs of the traitor or any
witches or wizards, for that matter. She said every spell she used
registered the same thing…really old, really dark magic that was
definitely from the earth, but had no human or magical
practitioner’s signature attached at all. When I asked what the
hell that meant, she sounded really frustrated, cursed a little
bit, and admitted she didn’t have a clue. Her next step is to call
her Aunt Della, something she didn’t sound thrilled about. Freaky,
huh?”

Devon furrowed his brow and nodded, “Damn sure is.” Before he
could contemplate what fresh hell was coming for them this time,
his mate’s voice sounded in his head,
“Are
you there? Please, help me…”

“I’m here, Sweetheart. Can you hear me?”
He waited less than two heartbeats before jumping to his feet,
tray in hand, and headed for the trash cans, his brother and their
conversation completely forgotten. Aaron’s voice from behind
brought him back to reality.

“Dude,
what’s up?”

Devon
pointed to his temple and answered, “She’s talking
again.”

Aaron
grabbed the tray. “You go on, let me throw this shit away and I’ll
be right up.”

Unable to speak, waiting for a reply from his mate, Devon
nodded and jogged towards the elevators. Once the doors closed,
Devon called to her again,
“Baby, are you
there? Can you hear me?”

As he stepped out of the lift she spoke again,
“Please help me. I can’t find my way.”

“I’m here. You’re not alone. I’ll do whatever I can to help,
but you have to talk to me. You have to tell me what you see or
feel or smell…anything.”

He spoke quickly as he raced down the hall. Crossing the
threshold into her room, he had to swerve not to run right into the
back of one of the younger healers from his clan. Quickly taking in
the scene, Devon saw his mother, Lance, and Sydney standing at his
mate’s bedside. Then he saw two more of his younger clansmen, who
were training with Siobhan, unpacking candles and incense, placing
them on every available surface. It was obvious his mother wasn’t
wasting
any time. He knew she was aware of
his presence but had yet to acknowledge him, and if truth be told,
he wasn’t looking forward to their first interaction since her
abrupt goodbye earlier.

He made
his way to her bedside and Lance was the first to speak, obviously
trying to relieve the tension filling the room. “Hey, Dev. How’s it
going?”

Devon
continued to call to his mate while greeting their visitors. Before
he could answer, Sydney, Lance’s daughter, came running towards
him, arms outstretched, a huge smile on her sweet face. He grabbed
her just as she jumped and swung her into the air before settling
her on his hip. Her arms came around his neck and she kissed his
cheek as she whispered, “Miss you, Dev.”

“I miss
you too, Syd. How have you been?”

“I’m
good. Been going to classes.” The room erupted into laughter at the
matter of fact way the child spoke. She was most definitely six
going on twenty-one. “When are you and your mate coming
home?”

They
reached her bedside just as Devon answered, “I don’t know, Syd. The
doctors say we need her to wake up first.” He hated that he didn’t
at least know her name. It sounded so impersonal to say ‘her’ or
‘my mate’ all the time.