The thought of her crying over him, or even worse, grieving if Cam never woke up, only strengthened his resolve to get the hell out of these tunnels. He’d just about won her over, and he wasn’t going to stop now.
So he pushed on, using his love for Emily and his family, as well as the rock’s warmth, to hopefully get him home.
Emily handed herlatest serum formula over to Dr. Scarlett Turner and said, “This batch should do it. I can’t guarantee anything, but all of my tests so far with this formula have been promising.”
Scarlett—a dragonwoman with brown hair, pale skin, and a scar running down one cheek who spoke with an accent from the South of England—nodded. “Good, because he’s reaching a point where he might not come back if he doesn’t wake up soon.”
Fear gripped her heart. “How can you tell?”
While Emily had learned a lot over the years when it came to the effects of poisons and drugs on dragon-shifter biology, she was still learning about the mental side of dragon-shifters, and how the inner dragon and mental map played just as vital a role.
Scarlett replied, “I can’t get his pupils to flash with drugs used to stimulate his inner beast. Even when they’re silent, you can usually get a minor response. Combined with the breakdown you gave me, my best guess is that the dragon hunters are trying to kill the inner dragon but leave the human form alive.”
“What? How is that even possible?”
“I’m not 100 percent sure, as the hunters haven’t exactly shared their secrets with us. But given my sources, I think that’s the next step in their war with the dragon-shifters. Whilst they’ve hurt or silenced inner dragons before, it’s always been by accident. Now, I think they’re trying to be deliberate about it.”
Emily rubbed her face. She’d barely slept in two days, and every time she received even more bad news, it became harder and harder to keep her emotions in check.
Because all she wanted to do was hide in a room and cry.
Stop it, Emily. Cam needs you. If he somehow wakes up without his inner dragon, he’ll need you all the more.
Scarlett squeezed her shoulder, and Emily met the dragonwoman’s gaze. “I know this is a lot to take in, Emily, and you should go rest for a bit. I can monitor Cam whilst you do.”
She shook her head. “No, if Cam reacts badly to that serum, I need to be there.”
The dragonwoman searched her gaze a second before nodding. “Right, then gather what you need and let’s go.”
It took more effort than normal to lift and carry her doctor’s bag full of supplies, and they trudged down the long corridor toward Cam’s room.
Antony and Iris had brought them here the first day, to one of the secret facilities Antony’s spy-like group used. She’d met the majority of his special-ops-like team over the last two days, although Emily barely remembered their names, given how she’d spent most of her time inside a lab.
At least Antony had provided everything she needed, or had ever dreamed of, to work with.
However, the place was classified, meaning none of Cam’s family had been allowed to visit him. Emily gave them updates, but it broke her heart to see Mary’s tears via a video call. The best she could do was promise to keep working until Cam woke up.
They entered Cam’s room, and Scarlett nodded at the nurse on shift. There were a few she’d seen, and Emily felt bad that she couldn’t remember his name. However, he left them, and Scarlett went to one side of Cam’s bed while Emily went to the other.
She cupped his cheek, now scraggly from his two-day beard, and caressed him with her thumb.
He was pale and still, apart from the rise and fall of his chest.
Leaning down, she kissed his forehead and whispered, “Let’s hope we can bring you back this time, Cam.” Her other hand went to his and checked to see if Mary’s good-luck rock was still in his palm. It was, and she squeezed his fingers before nodding. “Right, let’s see if the serum works.”
Emily stood upright but kept a grip on Cam’s hand as Scarlett put the needle into the IV and injected the medicine.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then his heart monitor beeped frantically, his heart rate skyrocketing as his blood pressure shot up.
However, Emily had warned this might happen for about thirty to sixty seconds before it should settle, provided the formula worked.
So Emily kept a grip on his hand and counted the seconds, mentally crossing her fingers that Cam would wake up and that she hadn’t just killed him.
The rockin Cam’s hand was nearly scalding. Using it as a guide, it’d steered him toward the largest cave inside the tunnel system to date, and a light breeze said he was nearing an opening.
Considering how hot the rock was, maybe he was approaching the exit, allowing him to return to the normal part of his mind?
