"Try the door," I said, and Zamir nodded, wrapping his hand around the ornate handle. He pushed, and the door slid open, revealing the building inside.
"Damn it."
"Is there anyone inside who mightneedto get out for some reason and now can't?"
Zamir started to shake his head, then stopped. "Oh shit. Dustin, he's pregnant. I don't know if they have a doctor's appointment, but he's eight-and-a-half months pregnant, and it's a half-naga baby, so his pregnancy is unprecedented. What if there's a complication, or he goes into labor—"
"Hey,hey," I grabbed his shoulder, cutting him off. "We'll figure something out, okay?"
He swallowed hard, then exhaled an unsteady breath. "Okay, okay. Can you do something?"
"Let me try."
I replaced his hand on the door handle, closing my eyes as I focused on the threads of magic clinging to the wood. They were untethered, like something had ripped the pocket realm away from it, breaking their connection. Pocket realms needed more than one anchor point, and I hoped to Gaia this was the only point that had been damaged. I didn't even want to think about what could happen if it wasn't.
"Anything?"
I shook my head, and dropped my hand as I turned to meet his worried gaze. "Has anything like this happened before?"
Zamir pursed his lips, then made a strange gesture somewhere between a nod and a shrug. "Kind of? Not this exactly, but we've been having issues for a while. It started off small, undetectable, really. Flowers changed colors, grass grew a foot taller overnight,stuff like that. But then Khush had a little... freakout—he's a naga—and that seems to have escalated things. Since then, the sky has changed color multiple times, and a human walked in one time, though that turned out to be fortunate since he's mated to one of the residents now."
That didn't sound good. It sounded like the sorcerer was growing weaker, like he couldn't handle the added weight of the new residents. He needed help, and soon, or the Sanctuary might collapse in on itself one of these days.
I didn't want to panic Zamir, though, so I kept it to myself for now. It would be pointless to scare him when I couldn't help until we found a way inside.
"I'm going to walk around town for a bit, and I'll keep trying the door. You should go. You've helped me way more than you needed to," Zamir said, as he handed Clip's lead to me and took a step back.
"Zamir," I started, unsure how to say it, but sure I had to. He turned to look at me, and his body swayed, causing his feet to stumble. It was only because of my dragon nature that I dropped the leads and reached forward in time, catching him before he could crumple to the ground.
I cradled him against my chest as I sank to my knees, and Muffin whined, nosing at his cheek as the sisters tried to wake him up. Panic clawed at me as vision after vision of holding a loved one in my arms as they breathed their last flashed behind my eyes. No, no, no. I couldn't lose Zamir, not when I'd just found him.
Clip licked my cheek, and I blinked, pulling myself away from the past. Zamir was warm in my arms; his breaths still moved his chest. His heart still beat, soft and steady in his chest. He was still here. He was still here, and I wouldn't let him go anywhere.
I wasn't losing someone I cared about, someone I could love, again. I wouldn't allow it.
"Let's take him home, girls," I murmured, and removed their leads with one hand so I could carry Zamir, knowing they would follow us home.
