Five seconds after Gregor tried to kiss Cassidy, she screamed and slumped onto the bed unconscious.
Drawing on twenty years of practice, Gregor pushed aside his panic and forced himself to look at her vital signs. Her heart rate was slightly erratic, but not dangerous. All of her other signs were still within acceptable ranges.
Opening one of her eyelids, he discovered a slitted pupil; just as if a dragon were in control. For one second, he merely stared.
Then his beast snarled. Help her.
I will once I bloody well know what’s wrong.
Checking her other eye, the other pupil was the same.
Had her dragon finally broken free? And if so, would it be insane?
As Gregor tried to think of what to do since he’d never been in this type of situation before, sharp points dug into his arms. Looking down, he saw the tips of Cassidy’s fingers had extended into talons and were embedded in his skin.
He tried to loosen her grip, but rather than remove her hand, the talons dug in deeper.
“Cassidy, if you can hear me, you need to fight your dragon.”
In response, her eyes opened and she hissed. As he moved to pin her top half down, she pounced and sent them tumbling to the floor.
Gregor managed to pin Cassidy underneath him, but one of her arms snaked loose and ripped off his shirt as she hissed in a voice not quite her own, “Mine.”
Shit. He was probably dealing with her dragon. And not just any dragon, but possibly an insane one, hell-bent on completing the mate-claim frenzy.
The door opened and Ginny’s voice drifted in. “What’s going on?”
Dragon-possessed Cassidy snarled. “Get out. My male. I’ll kill anyone who tries to take him.”
Gregor finally succeeded in pinning Cassidy’s arm down. He never severed eye contact with his doctor as he told Ginny, “We need to sedate her. The sedative that worked before is still on the counter. Hurry.”
“No!” Cassidy yelled before her arm grew into a dragon’s forelimb. She pushed against his chest and her increased strength sent Gregor flying across the room.
He thudded against the wall, but not hard enough to do permanent damage. Still, it took him a second to regain his wits enough to stand. By the time he did, Cassidy was gone.
He raced to Ginny on the floor, but she was conscious and murmured, “Find her. I’ll alert the others.”
With a nod, Gregor raced down the hallway. He followed the trail of scratched walls and furniture tossed to the side. He hoped she didn’t do the same damage to any of her clan members or Cassidy would never forgive herself.
Pushing his muscles to run faster, he tried not to panic. Even if she didn’t severely hurt anyone on her way out of the surgery, if Cassidy made it outside and succeeded in shifting, he might lose her forever. Not because she could fly away, but rather if she reached a human settlement and terrorized it, the DDA could shoot her down.
His beast roared. We must stop her.
Aye, so be ready to shift as quickly as possible.
While he felt his dragon pacing and waiting, Gregor followed Cassidy’s trail. As he reached the reception area, he caught a glimpse of her long hair disappearing out the front door.
Gregor didn’t have time to check the clan members huddling on the sides of the room. He only hoped Cassidy hadn’t killed
anyone. She may never come back to him if she had.
The late day sun hit his face, and he spotted Cassidy’s tall form dashing toward the rear entrance to Stonefire.
“Cassidy,” he yelled out. She looked over her shoulder, but rather than stop, the bloody female ran faster.
In the distance, he spotted Nikki Gray entering from the back gate. Before it could close, Cassidy pushed Nikki aside and darted out the entrance. While his dragon urged Gregor to follow their doctor, Nikki had landed front first on her stomach. Since she was several months pregnant, Gregor stopped. He couldn’t risk the lives of two people for one, even if he wished it differently.
Just as he crouched and murmured, “Nikki, are you okay?” her mate, a human named Rafe Hartley, dashed toward them.