Chapter 37
Chapter
Thirty-Seven
MALCOLM
S hit.
Declan’s gone.
Ash is going to fucking kill me.
Dec, brother, you had better be somewhere in this hospital, or so help me, I will rip your wings off and beat you with them!
It’s an idle threat, one I wouldn’t go through with, especially with the damage he’s already sustained, but I need him to respond. I need him to be somewhere in the hospital, or just outside, somewhere I can find him, somewhere I can easily bring him back to bed.
I rush out of the room, looking both directions of the hall, looking for anyone who might’ve seen him, anyone who might know where he is. There are nurses at one end, but they’re busy with sensors and alerts coming from another room, so I don’t want to bother them.
I’m tempted to reach out to Pru, but if she’s not at work yet for the day, I don’t want to freak her out. And, okay, I don’t want to bring down the wrath of Ash. I had one job.
“Hey, Malcolm. Everything okay?” Calliope is leaning against the nurse’s station, looking entirely too normal, entirely too relaxed for how panicked I’m feeling.
“My brother left his room and it’s imperative I find him immediately.”
“Okay, tell me what he looks like. I’ll help.” She smiles at me as she stands up tall again. “Maybe I saw him, or maybe I can help you find him.”
“I love that you’re offering, but I really need to do this on my own.” I want to take her up on it, but if Declan’s losing control, I don’t want her to see him like that.
I don’t want him to hurt her.
“Okay, well, if he looks anything like you, he can’t hide too many places. So, you can take my help, or not, but you can’t stop me from helping.” She turns on her heel and heads down the hall, like she’s determined to find Declan before I do.
Fuck if I can let that happen.
Dec, you need to talk to me.
I wait a minute, focusing on my brother.
Or, at least as much as I can focus on my brother, with a certain redhead on the loose, looking for what could very easily be a crazed dragon.
Declan, please. Answer me.
The longer I go without a response, the more worried I get.
I move through the halls of the hospital, making my way toward the main entrance, letting my dragon focus on listening for any sounds that might be Declan. Drowning out the beeps, the buzzing, the chatter, of the building. I can’t even find his scent.
Then beyond the hustle and bustle of the hospital, I hear claws scraping against cement.
I close my eyes, listening intently for their direction.
Above me. The roof.
At least, even if he is losing himself, he’s got the wherewithal to try to get high up before shifting.
The instinct to climb before flying is one that every dragon takes on early especially when in a closed in space like a forest or a city.
I take off running, weaving in and out of hospital staff, patients, and visitors.
Pru calls my name, but I don’t have time to respond. If he’s got claws out, he could take flight, or at least try to take flight, at any minute. And I can’t let him get far.
I can’t let him traumatize more humans, and I can’t let a crazed dragon loose in the skies. I’ve seen entire forests destroyed by a dragon lost to the craze. I’ve watched men I knew, men my father was friends with, die because they didn’t find their mate and gave up hope.
What would a dragon who had a mate and lost her do?
I don’t even notice Calliope on the stairs at first, I’m so focused on getting to Declan. But as I burst through the door and let my own dragon loose, I hear her gasp.
Her eyes are wide, more in shock and wonder than in fear. Her lips curve up in an amazed awe.
Thank the Gods for small miracles there.
I want to try to reach out to her, to tell her she can’t say anything, but I don’t have the time. Not when Declan’s running full tilt toward the edge of the roof, his torn, scarred wings looking like they’ll completely come apart if he jumps off the building.
Declan, brother, please. Talk to me. Look at me. Give me some sign that I don’t have to put you down.
His head whips around, even as he continues to run.
I want to take that as a sign that he’s not entirely lost, but his eyes don’t look like his own. He looks empty, wild with insanity, and the velocity he throws himself off the roof with just goes to confirm how out of control he and his dragon are at the moment.
I run after him, listening for a crash, but just before I leap off the roof myself, I see his hulking form catch enough lift to rise on his broken wings.
He’s not flying smoothly, each flap of his wings causing him to drop a bit before rising again, but he’s airborne, and I don’t know that there’s anything I can do to stop him.
All I can do is keep pace, watching him, hoping he’s going to make it anywhere that’s less populated, anywhere that I might be able to force him to the ground and try to reason with him.
I project out to any dragons who might be listening, especially focused on Pru, Tell Ash I’ll bring him home. We’re not losing another family member to Grey’s bullshit vendetta against our clan. Tell Syrena to do whatever the fuck she can to find his mate.
It’s not a lot, and I’m sure Ash will have my scales for losing sight of Declan in the first place, but at least I’m with him.
At least my brother isn’t alone in this.
It takes longer than it should for us to clear Miami airspace, and as he flies up the eastern coastline of the U.S. I can’t help wonder what’s going on in his mind, if there’s any scrap of my brother in there anymore, or if all that’s left is the dragon or just rage, sorrow, and destruction.
Somewhere around South Carolina, I prod again with my mind, hoping he’ll respond to me, dragon to dragon.
Declan, you have to stop this. You’re in no shape to be flying. If you go down, not even a lost city of Larimars would save you.
Mate. Missing. Need. The three staccato words make my heart leap.
He’s still in there, even if he’s mostly just his baser nature now. If there’s even a chance we can bring him back, I’m going to hold onto it as long as I can. I still can’t believe he’s been able to fly, let alone as long as he has been. His adrenaline and rage must be carrying him.
I know. But we need to land. You need to shift back. Syrena’s going to find her. Syrena and Ash are going to bring her and your baby home.
I hope against hope that the reminder that he’s going to be a father, that he’s going to have a family of his own, is enough for him to cling to sanity a little longer.
Not claimed. Need mate.
Two-word sentences. We’re getting somewhere, however slowly, I’m sure of it.
I know. Show me her. Show me your mate.
I have no idea what kind of images he might project, and I have to hope it’s not a greatest hits of the two of them fucking, but at this point, any sign that he’s still there is worth it. I’ll just look away instead of seeing my future sister-in-law naked or my brother fucking her.
Instead of doing what I asked, he shouts in my head, MINE! before veering off further out over the ocean.
Fuck. Clearly that wasn’t the right tactic. Ash should be here or Krystana. Anyone but me.
I follow him and focus on the little bits of interaction I got to have with Brianna before she disappeared. I project an image of her in the passenger seat of the car they showed up in, looking almost shy as we all surrounded the car.
Her small smile, the way she gripped his hand, every detail I can remember, every detail I can think of, to try to keep him grounded, to keep him focused on the fact that he has a mate.
Brianna. The sound of her name coming from my brother sounds like a prayer, and I double down on the image I’m thinking of, focusing on her face, her eyes, her lips, the way I saw her looking at him.
I make sure to keep him in the image too, just in case he flips out, thinking there was any chance at all she was looking at anyone else like that or that I’m looking at her in any other way than a sister.
There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s head over heels in love with him, and the way he’s losing his shit at not having her, I need him to remember those feelings. Those moments.
Everything he shares with her.
You found her even in your worst moments, brother. Don’t let go of that now. Hold onto her. Hold onto yourself, for her.
It’s the only thing I think might help him. He’s clearly not going to hold onto his sanity for me, for any of our brothers, even our sister. He needs her, and I really fucking hope Syrena and her witch friends can find her before it’s too late.