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Closing her eyes, Sid recalled sleeping in Gregor’s arms the night before. Even the memory of his heat and scent surrounding her made her sigh. Within minutes, she was asleep.
Chapter Seventeen
Gregor paced the length of the living room as he waited for Bram to finish his call with Rhydian Griffiths. Even though Stonefire’s leader had assured Gregor he’d call him as soon as he was done, Gregor didn’t want any sort of delay. Cassidy would be awake and he wanted to greet her with good news.
As he turned to pace the other way, a door opened and Kai Sutherland raced past. Gregor poked his head out of the hall, but he only saw the door to Bram’s study closing with a click.
He debated knocking to find out what was going on when Aaron Caruso, Kai’s second-in-command of the Protectors, burst through the front door. His gaze immediately zeroed in on Gregor. “There you are. We need you for a medical emergency.”
His doctor’s instincts on high alert, Gregor nodded and followed Aaron out of the cottage. “What’s wrong?’
“We’ve found another possible victim of the drone attacks.”
“What do you mean ‘possible victim?’ I thought you lot had tightened surveillance.”
Aaron’s paced quickened. “We have. But the victim was found outside the clan’s lands, where our surveillance doesn’t reach.”
Gregor made sure to match Aaron’s strides. “Is Lewis already there?”
“No, he’s in the middle of a minor surgery and can’t leave. Since Sid’s still resting from the frenzy, you’re our second choice.”
Gregor decided not to comment on Aaron’s less-than-enthusiastic tone. “What do we know?”
“Not much. One of the nurses is checking her out now.”
“Who’s the patient?”
Aaron looked over with a grim expression. “My mother.”
He may not know Aaron well, but Gregor still gripped the dragonman’s shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll take care of her.” Aaron’s expression was emotionless, so Gregor focused on his new patient. “Why was she outside the clan’s lands?”
“There’s no restriction to leave, as long as it’s in human form. My mum had just returned from visiting friends in Italy. We’d checked the surrounding areas and even had a guard posted with my mother. However, she had the car window open and she was attacked that way.”
“If that’s so, either there’s a traitor inside the clan or people are monitoring who comes and goes.”
“I’m aware of that,” Aaron bit out.
Dismissing Aaron’s attitude due to being concerned for his mother, Gregor followed the dragonman to the back entrance. A dark SUV came into view. On the other side of the vehicle one of the younger nurses, Thea, sat next to the motionless form of a middle-aged dragonwoman on the ground.
Gregor jogged to his patient and squatted down. As he did a quick examination, the nurse said, “Her breathing and heart rate are steady, although her pupils are slitted.”
Opening the female’s eyelids, he saw her pupils hadn’t changed. “What about an entrance wound? The others had slivers in their heads.”
Thea shook her head. “I can’t find anything. Although there is a residue around her nose and mouth.”
Bloody hell. If the attackers had changed the dosage method to an aerial spray that simply needed to be inhaled, that would be dangerous.
Gregor motioned to Thea and another surgery employee. “Take her to the surgery, but make sure to isolate her from the others. I want blood samples as well as whatever residue is on her face. I’ll be there shortly to take over for Trahern and allow him to analyze the samples.”
Thea bobbed her head as the other surgery employee laid out the stretcher. As soon as they put Aaron’s mother on it, they carried her off.
Gregor turned to Aaron. “Was anyone else affected in the car?”
Aaron shook his head. “No. The two others are fine.”
“That’s good news. It probably means the substance only affects those who inhale it directly, in large quantities. However, to be safe, implement a quarantine on the clan. Until I know exactly how this new attack works, I don’t want to risk anyone carrying something with them or leaving to be gassed along the way.”
Aaron clenched his fingers. “Will she be all right?”
