Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93267 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
It was such a terrifying and elating realization, but he felt the truth of it seep into his bones. He loved Salem with every fiber of his being.
And he had no idea how to tell him.
As the seconds ticked by, Salem’s broad grin melted into something softer. He leaned into Gregori’s touch and his eyes closed as if he was soaking in the affection. Gregori carefully pulled him in, wanting to seal the moment with a kiss.
But just as their lips were about to touch, Salem’s eyes popped open in something akin to horror and he shouted, “Dinner!” right in Gregori’s face.
Salem jerked back out of Gregori’s touch and smiled again, though this one seemed a little tense. “Dinner! You promised me dinner. We go. I mean, should go. We should go. Now. Let’s go get dinner. I’m starving.”
As he spoke, Salem fought against the slippery ice, trying to push back up to his feet. Gregori bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn’t the only one who’d gotten sucked into the moment. Yes, this was excellent progress.
With his head clear and a little more confidence to bolster his mood, Gregori climbed to his feet and helped to steady Salem as they made their way across the pond.
“I was looking online and saw there is this Thai place with very good reviews not far from here. Would you be—”
His words were cut off by the scream of screeching tires in the distance, followed by the loud bang of metal slamming into metal and the shattering of glass. But it didn’t happen just once. The crashing kept rolling on and on, as if several cars had collided not too far from them.
Dinner was definitely on hold.
Salem’s instincts sent him turning sharply, orienting to the horrendous sound of crashing metal, only for his heart to drop into his stomach. It was a multicar pileup, more cars joining the accident as he watched, smoke already coming out of some of the engine compartments. He could hear the cries of pain, the screams of panic, and every doctor instinct hardwired into him said move and move now.
“Gregori—”
“Give me two seconds.”
Gregori stepped back and shifted into dragon form without any warning. Or much time, as he seemed to shift in a matter of seconds. Then he scooped up Salem close to his chest with one paw, thighs bunching, before launching himself into the sky. Salem’s stomach dropped for a totally different reason as he went from ground to air with no transition, but it was a short flight. Literally more like a hop to get them to ground zero as efficiently as possible.
Salem’s mind was already locking into the groove of emergency mode, but some part of his brain still observed that Gregori hadn’t hesitated. Even with danger right on hand, his first instinct was not to shield Salem from it, but instead to depend on him for help. This really, really made Salem happy. He couldn’t begin to describe how much.
The second they touched down, Salem snapped into action. “Gregori, bring people over to this bus waiting area if they can be moved, otherwise don’t move them.”
“Got it.”
He yanked his phone from his pocket and immediately dialed 9-1-1.
“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”
“This is Doctor Salem Hunter of Mass General, there’s a multicar accident at the cross of—”
Even as he calmly related all the information she’d need to dispatch ambulances, he ran to the first car, getting there in seconds, and pried open a door. An elderly woman with a hematoma to the forehead sat in the driver’s seat, dazed, blinking at him like she couldn’t quite put together what had happened. Likely a concussion.
“Hi,” she greeted. “Is that a dragon?”
“It is,” he returned, tone calm. If she wasn’t panicking, all the better. “I’m Doctor Hunter, can I examine you?”
“Sure. You’re handsome. Is he your dragon?”
“He would argue he is.”
She laughed. “Ahh, young love. It’s fun to see. Doctor, my head hurts.”
“That’s what happens when you’re in a car accident.” He went through the motions of checking her pulse and eyes, but it seemed the contusion on her forehead was the worst of it. “I want you to sit right here and watch the pretty dragon throw cars around. Can you do that for me until the EMTs get here?”
“Oh sure,” she assured him dreamily. “Free show.”
He didn’t want to move her without a neck brace and there was nowhere safe to move her to right now anyway. If she’d stay put, it would be better for all involved.
“You do that, then. I’ll have someone check on you very soon.”
“Okay,” she agreed, still in a dreamy state.
She’d be fine for a few minutes and hopefully he could direct EMTs to her quickly.
Salem turned and went to the next car, doing triage there and finding the same. Bruises, some possible mild concussions, but nothing too serious.