His dragon huffed. Aye, well, we'll find her tomorrow and remind her, which means we'll have to corner Layla in her home. Once we're alone, we can try again.
Aye, you're right. Tomorrow can't come soon enough.
Exiting the office, Chase gathered his remaining tools and left the surgery. At least he'd have some time in Layla's home. Not that he'd go snooping around, but her scent would be everywhere, which should help calm both man and beast for a wee while until they could see her again.
Chapter Three
As Layla half ran toward Aimee King's temporary cottage, she slowly packed away the moment she'd just had with Chase.
Every word about her, and his wanting her, had rung with truth. And he acted far more mature than any twenty-two-year-old should.
Her dragon spoke up. His father abandoned him a couple of years ago, and he's had to help his mother with her grief. That would do it.
Maybe. But I sense he's holding something back, something important.
But before she could replay her conversation with the male in question, she reached the correct cottage and knocked on the door. It instantly opened to reveal Holly MacKenzie, one of the human females mated to a Lochguard dragonman. And more importantly, Holly was one of Layla's part-time nurses.
Holly rushed her inside. "It's worse this time, Layla. I think she's reliving some of the worst of her torture."
Layla ignored the constricting of her heart. Aimee King was from Clan Skyhunter, in the South of England. While her brother was now one of the co-leaders of the clan, the old ruler had gone to extreme measures to keep his power for as long as he could manage it. As a result, Aimee had been one of many who'd been tossed into prison, their dragons silenced and then tortured if they didn't plead their loyalty. While many of the older clan members had survived and were slowly moving on, Aimee had only been eighteen at the time, not even fully mature by dragon standards.
As a result, Aimee's trauma had been more severe.
Layla replied to Holly, "Giving her a light, mostly dragon-friendly sedative is risky. We'll have to try and force the herbal tea down her throat to calm her down and allow her to sleep."
Layla had worked with the doctors on Stonefire to develop the tea. Something similar had been given to Arabella when she'd been younger and had been dealing with her own PTSD from being set on fire by dragon hunters in her teenage years.
Holly bobbed her head. "I have the hot water ready and waiting. Give the order, and I'll ensure she takes it myself."
"No, Logan should be the one to do it. Dragon-shifters are stronger than humans, as much as I'm sure you didn't wish it sometimes. Besides, we can't have the mother of the two future peacemakers of our kind hurt by a random punch or kick."
Holly rolled her eyes. "Not you, too. The twins will be wee troublemakers given their father, aye. But nothing more."
Holly had twin females, which was extremely rare amongst dragon-shifters. Even though Layla didn't quite believe in the legends of how twin females brought periodic peace to their kind, teasing the human mother often helped with stress and tension. And keeping her staff somewhat relaxed was one of the many aspects of Layla's job.
The sound of growls and something hitting the wall grew louder as they reached the doorway of one of the bedrooms.
Inside, a dark-haired female stood in a corner, growling and banging against the walls with her palms.
It was Aimee.
About five feet away from the troubled lass stood Arabella, the mate of Lochguard's clan leader and the main person in charge of taking care of Aimee.
Layla slowed her pace as she entered the room, careful to keep her distance from the unstable female. Layla whispered to Arabella, "Has anything worked to help calm her down?"
Arabella kept her eyes fixed on Aimee as she answered, "The video of my daughter in dragon form helped at first, her little squeaky roars stopping Aimee from shredding the bed with her nails. But as soon as the video ended, Aimee jumped into the corner, started her current actions, and nothing has worked to calm her down."
Layla bobbed her head. All inner dragons acted on instinct, and even in her dragon's silent form, the need to calm down for a young must've coursed through Aimee, which was why the video had been used before.
A real child's presence might be even more effective. However, Layla wasn't about to bring any child close to Aimee in her current state, no matter how calming it might be.
She said to Holly, "Find Logan so we can give her the tea."
Trusting the human to carry out her order, Layla focused all of her attention on Aimee. She waited for the younger female to meet her gaze. Once she did, Layla threaded dominance into her voice while still being gentle. "Aimee, I know you can hear me, aye? My accent alone tells you I'm not from Skyhunter. None of the males who hurt you are here, nor will they be able to get to you."
It didn't always work, but Aimee tended to respond more positively to dominant females than males. In a few beats, Aimee looked away as her hands dropped to her side, finally still.
Layla chanced a step forward, but the other female growled, so she stayed put. "Everyone here only wants to help you, lass. Can you tell us what happened? If there's anything in my power to do, I'll do it to help you, Aimee. But you need to talk with us first."