When they entered the hospital, the hallways were a smear of white and pale blue. The small group of dragons who’d escorted her out of the station reappeared, but she didn’t notice them, either. Her attention was honed on the awareness that every step brought her closer to Taevas.
He’s all right,she silently chanted.He asked for me. That must mean that he’s awake. That he’s well. I’m going to see him.
Her right hand flexed, making the cut on her palm burn. Her stomach bottomed out.
Oh gods, I’m going to see him.
Anticipation and joy crackled in her veins. So did a creeping dread.
She didn’t regret anything she’d done to keep Taevas alive, but she hadn’t exactly thought through the consequences, either.
Her stomach tied itself into a series of increasingly painful knots as worries began to bombard her from all sides. Would he be angry at her? Would he even understand what she’d done?
Before she could make herself sick with anxiety, the group of dragons peeled off to line the long, quiet stretch of hallway on the top floor of the hospital. They joined several others already stationed there.
She wasn’t entirely sure what made them stand out, but she could immediately tell that the three dragons closest to the door were different from the others. The way they held themselves, their sheer size, and the look in their eyes made them seem… more. Morewhat,she couldn’t even begin to speculate about.
All she knew for certain was that every single pair of eyes was on her.
Alashiya tightened the blanket around her shoulders and ducked her head. The gods only knew what she looked like, with dried blood crusted over her arm and the rest of her painted with rain-streaked dirt. She could hardly blame them for staring.
No one said a word as Radek approached a door and rappedhis knuckles against it twice. Without another second of hesitation, he pushed open the door and steered her inside.
She’d been prepared to see Taevas in a hospital bed. What she wasn’t prepared for was everyone else.
The room was practically bursting with dragons, and every last one of them stared at her like she’d just gotten off the first shuttle from Mars. For half a second, the room was blanketed in complete silence. Then, a voice she’d come to love so much barked, “Everyone standing in her way,move.”
A stricken look rippled over every brightly colored face in the room. Suddenly there was a whirl of activity as dragons stepped aside, allowing her to get a direct look at the bed.
The breath left her lungs in a greatwhoosh.
Taevas was there, sitting up, clean, free of bruises and blood. He had on a loose white shirt with an open back. It appeared his wings had been bound tightly with some sort of splint. His deep purple skin glowed with vitality in a way she hadn’t seen before. Compared to how he’d looked when she last saw him, Taevas was the very picture of robust health.
And he lookedfurious.
“Shiya,” Taevas choked out, “come here.”
She wanted nothing more than that. The only problem was that she couldn’t seem to move. There were so many eyes on her. The instinct to run and hide from all the dangerous strangers was a siren blaring in her mind. She didn’t think she’d ever been around so many unknown people at once in… ever.
But there was nowhere to hide. There were no trees, no loamy forest floor, and no safe haven of her house. Everything around her was clean and modern and sterile, free of all of the things that made her feel safe. She stared at Taevas, helpless, her discomfort rippling through the hyphae with mindless panic.
A flash of understanding crossed Taevas’s expression. Lifting his left arm, he gestured for her to come closer. In a gentler voice, he coaxed, “All is well,metsalill.They’re clan. You’re safe.”
After the twenty-four hours she had, Alashiya really couldn’tbe sure of that, but she knew one thing for certain:Taevaswas safe. Taevas was home.
Taevas was her grove.
The soft gray blanket fluttered to the ground as she hurried across the room. Her eyes stung fiercely, but her body seemed to have lost the ability to make tears. It was a blessing, really. She didn’t think she could handle crying in front of so many strangers.
The moment she was close enough to the bed, Taevas lunged. He snatched her to his chest, his tail a tight coil around her waist, and pressed her face into the crook of his neck.
The relief was instant.
His scent, the thrum of his thundering pulse, the warmth and darkness that came with being sheltered by the fall of his hair… It was no forest or hiding place amongst the roots of her trees.
It was better.
Alashiya shuddered. Her fingers curled into the strange shirt he wore. She didn’t feel the sting in her palm or her exhaustion. The hyphae hummed with joy in her, like his nearness struck a chord that sent music to even the most distant branches of the network.
