Trina squeezed her shoulder. “I have faith in you, Dr. Davies. You’ve saved so many dragon-shifters to date, and I don’t doubt for a second that you’ll save your dragonman as well. Our own doctor is already analyzing what the researcher used and is waiting for your help.”
She frowned. “Your doctor?”
“Dr. Scarlett Turner. Technically, she’s a dragon-shifter doctor who lives on Clan Skyhunter. However, she helps us when Antony needs it. You can trust her.”
Without thinking, she added, “I’ll probably need to talk with Trahern as well.”
Trina bobbed her head. “I’m sure that’s fine. For now, we’re approaching the dock, and you need to get ready to disembark and help Cam.”
As soon as she could, Emily jumped onto the dock, where Euan MacKay waited for her. After he nodded at her, they ran toward Cam, who was further down the shore.
His dragon form was still. So very still.
Tears threatened to fall, but she took a few deep breaths to hold them back. She could cry later. For now, Cam needed her.
Because she refused to let the dragonman she’d fallen in love with die on her watch.
Chapter Fourteen
Cam had been wandering through the tunnels of his mind for what felt like weeks. No matter where he went, he couldn’t find his dragon, or even a way out.
He’d never been inside these tunnels, the ones used by his dragon to hide before finally talking to him as a child, since his beast had never wanted to return, let alone show Cam around. However, he’d heard stories of dragon-shifters getting lost forever and never waking up again.
Which he refused to think about. He needed to find Emily, make sure she was all right, and then hunt down whoever had attacked him.
It was fuzzy, but he vaguely remembered checking on one of the human researchers who’d made the distress signal with his hand. As soon as he’d reached him, the human had dashed to his head and stabbed Cam behind the ear. He’d barely glimpsed Emily before he’d blacked out and woken up here, trapped inside his mind.
And he had no idea if it’s been hours, days, or weeks. Maybe even years.
Normally his inner dragon would give advice, or a pep talk, or even just tell Cam to get his head out of his arse and make a plan.
The silence, though, was deafening.
Stop it, Cam. Focus on getting out and waking up, and then you can figure out the rest later.
So far he’d learned that the tunnels often led to wide, open areas, complete with a fake sky, as well as plant life that shimmered between green and blue.
However, no matter where he went, there weren’t any clues about how to escape. He’d hope to find something left behind by his beast, but there weren’t any claw marks or even shed scales.
Was this tunnel system really that vast?
Then there was the matter of the fake sky, which was always bright, as if the sun never set. Maybe the tunnels existed to allow inner dragons to sleep.
If—no, when—he got out of here, he would learn a little more about it all. Maybe it could help him understand his dragon better. And after being without him this long, Cam was going to give his inner beast a lot of attention for a while.
Eventually, Cam kicked something that banged against the wall before bouncing back at him. He crouched down and found a wee rock with a clumsily painted dragon on it. He frowned, studying it, and then it hit him—it was eerily similar to the one he’d painted as a child.
Had his dragon imagined his own version?
Picking it up, Cam held it tight and continued walking. His mum had always said their painted rocks were good luck charms, and he’d take whatever he could get.
He walked, slept, and ate the fruit and nuts that seemed to magically appear on the trees. After an undefined amount of time, the wee rock grew warmer.
Wanting to test it, Cam strode in the opposite direction, and the stone grew cooler. When he turned around and walked back, it grew hotter again, almost as if telling him this was the right way.
While it seemed ridiculous, his gut told him to use the rock like a compass, and at this point, he’d try anything. And so Cam continued maneuvering, going forward when it was warm and turning back when it became cold.
It gave him something to focus on, along with the image of Emily.
