Hidden Fate

19

“But every parent on the injured network cares about the others. It’s not just about saving their family members but everyone. If this were a trap, I firmly believe she would’ve warned me somehow. I get that you’re all suspicious. I would be, too, if I hadn’t been involved in this network for the past year. We take risks to get resources to other people’s hiding spots and address needs such as financing and contacts. A few of us have shared our addresses with other families in the network when they were compromised and warriors were getting close to them. If one of us betrayed another, it would ruin everything our network stands for.”

The tightening sensation lessened from Thorn, but his body was still tense, and he kept a death grip on my hand.

“I got the same read from her.” Vlad turned toward us. “That’s the only reason I didn’t push not going. But that doesn’t mean we just throw caution to the wind. Someone could be pressuring her and watching her so she can’t warn us.”

That was true. If warriors were there, they’d be watching her every move. But I still believed she would try to notify us somehow.

The GPS started talking in that horrible nasally voice, and the truck became silent. We drove over the red covered bridge again and past where Edna had stopped us. With each mile, my heart pounded harder as we kept watch, tapping into our dragons.

“Roll down the windows,” Vlad said, lowering his.

All four windows went down, and the cool night wind of early June swirled around us. We could hear and smell everything this way.

I asked my dragon to amplify my hearing and vision, not enough to begin the shift but better than my normal human form. Though I couldn’t sense the surroundings from miles away like I could as a complete dragon, I could sense things nearby, which wasn’t much. Just a few foxes and some raccoons scurrying around in search of food. Between them being out and the lack of dragon scents, my lungs worked more easily.

A few minutes later, some houses peeked through the tree branches. The GPS began talking, guiding us toward the area. Several two-story buildings came into view, the bottoms in brick and the top halves sided in various colors. Each house sat on an acre of land that backed up to the woods. Of course, if an entire thunder lived here, they wouldn’t need more room since they wouldn’t have to constantly hide their existence from their neighbors.

Theron stopped on the right edge of the dirt road and turned off the vehicle. None of us climbed out, remaining quiet and listening.

A door opened, and a man ran out into the yard of the fifth house down on the left. “Mindy! Your mom said she needs you.” His voice broke. “Emily needs CPR!” The guy dropped to his knees. “I can’t…I just can’t see her that way.”

There was no way this was a setup.

“We need to go.” Pain ripped through my chest as memories of Mom’s death swirled around me. I touched my wrist but came up empty. The bracelet was still safely in our bag.

No one moved, and I gritted my teeth, ready to explode.

“You heard my mate. Now go.” Thorn wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest. Baby, what’s wrong?

That heartbreak. A tear rolled down my cheek. Someone he loves is dying.

Theron punched the gas, and as we pulled up in front of the dark gray house with the man on the ground, Mindy rushed toward us from across the street.

My medical training surged through my mind, and I reached past Thorn and shoved the door open, then rolled over him and onto my feet. I knew CPR, and I had to get in there to help.

“Thank gods you’re here.” Mindy ran toward us. “We need you to come inside.”

“I heard CPR is needed.” I rushed to the door. “I can help with that.”

Mindy’s eyes bulged, and her shoulders sagged. “Good, because I have no clue what to do, and she’s gotten worse.”

The man straightened when he saw Thorn and me. He appeared to be in his thirties, with short dark blond hair and olive skin. His slate gray eyes narrowed. “What are they doing here? Will he take the baby’s dragon? Will that even save her?”

I flinched, but I was pretty sure I was caught up. “Someone is having complications from having a baby?” There were so many scenarios running through my brain. She could be having a heart attack, which Thorn couldn’t fix.

“She’s human.” Mindy wrung her hands and glanced at Thorn. “We were hoping he could change her.”

“Mindy!” Edna screamed from inside.

We were running out of time.

Mindy raced to the door and waved us in.

“Wait.” The man pointed at Thorn. “He can make someone into a dragon shifter? All I saw on the wedding footage was him taking dragons.”

Thorn growled. The man wasn’t helping his wife, friend, or lover by delaying Thorn.

“Yes! He changed me,” I answered and took Thorn’s arm. “Let’s go. If her heart stops, we won’t have much chance of keeping her alive.”

The man paled. “Then go! Help her. Please. Save my wife and our baby.”

“Theron and I will stay out here and keep watch,” Vlad said and pointed at Saphira. “Go inside and help. I’m thinking your style of help will be better than ours.”

“That’s for sure.” Saphira didn’t hesitate, rushing after us.

The stairwell split the foyer. Mindy ran up the dark beige carpeted stairs to the top level. A flimsy plastic gate sat to the right of the top floor, blocking the opening to the stairway. A navy cloth couch butted up against it, with a flatscreen TV on a stand across from it, but when someone screamed in pure agony, the surroundings blurred, and that became the only thing I could focus on. We turned left, rushing down a hallway into the first bedroom.

Then the nightmare truly began. A woman I assumed was Emily lay in a king bed on what had once been white sheets. Half of the fitted sheet was now stained crimson. Her heart was barely a flutter, telling more of the story. Her body was wearing out.

The little bit of training I had kicked into gear as soon as I saw Edna standing helplessly between Emily’s legs. The baby’s head wasn’t showing, and Emily’s legs hung lifelessly. The baby couldn’t get out that way.

This was bad. Really bad.

I jumped into action.