Damon King

The doctor rushed into the room, banging the door open.

"Your girl is something else," he said. He held up a syringe, empty of course.

I groggily blinked at him. I had only just fallen asleep maybe ten minutes ago, and I was a little upset that Audrey wasn't still in my arms.

Dutifully, I allowed him to draw blood. To my surprise, the doctor placed some on a microscope and then added some blood from another vial to it.

"Hmm," he said before fixing another slide, this time mixing my blood with blood from another vial.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking to see if your blood is the answer," he said. "It's possible an infection was induced, a kind of sepsis. Antibiotics haven't helped, and it's not a virus. I can't tell what exactly it is. I don't think that it's magic, but it's possible that blood… yes. This might work."

Henry approached, carrying the second vial.

"I added noncontaminated dragon blood to yours, but the mixture remained toxic. When I added human blood, though, the dragon blood became strong and virulent again. Now, I don't know how much blood you would need and if it would be permanent or not. It might even cause complications down the line, but…"

I stared at him, hating that I was seeing double. I was able to stay conscious longer and longer, but as much as I could hide how ill I was from the others, I knew I was sick, seriously ill, maybe even dying.

"Give it to me," I said.

"I should test more," he said.

I tried to stand, faltered, and had to touch the wall to stand, but then had to sit a moment later.

"We're at war. I have to be able to stand and fight. I won't ask you again."

Henry drew up a full syringe and injected my shoulder. It felt like ice in me, and I shuddered, my entire body trembling. I closed my eyes, waiting for the moment to pass, and when it did, I felt reborn.

I jumped to my feet. I wasn't one hundred percent yet, but I was so much closer now. Already, I could feel the gash from the slashes healing as they should've all along.

"Whose blood was that?" I asked even though I'm certain of the answer.

"Audrey's of course."

"Don't take too much from her."

"I'll make sure that any human's blood will work, and use one human per sickened dragon." Henry nodded his farewell and rushed out of the room.

Now that that was settled, I left the room in search of the other leaders. When I bypassed Audrey's room, I peeked inside to find her peacefully sleeping. Finally.

Unsurprisingly, I found Francesco and Miguel deep into their cups, although the two weren't talking to each other.

"You're up and about," Francesco said.

"Feeling much better," I said.

"The doc cure you?" Miguel asked, no doubting wanting to take all of the credit for locating the person who healed me.

"Time will tell, but yes, he gave me a cure." I couldn't rise about it and added, "Audrey's blood."

"You took from her in her weakened state?" Miguel yelled, all angry and bothered as I knew he would be.

"I didn't know it was her blood at first," I said.

"She will give too much of herself," Francesco said. "We have to ensure that she doesn't."

"I agree, but—"

"You're so damned selfish. "You had to try and one-up me, didn't you?" Miguel challenged.

I gaped at him, confused.

Francesco rolled his eyes. "He gave her blood twice," he explained.

"You did?" I asked, shocked.

A heated surge of jealousy rushed through me. My own blood connection had ended drastically, and though she still loved me, she loved Miguel too.

"But have you made love to her twice?" Francesco asked.

Miguel's face reddened with anger, and he started toward Francesco, fist raised.

"Cool it, Miguel," I said, sliding to step between them.

"Do you really want to share her?" Miguel asked before going off on a long spree of Spanish that was far too fast for me to comprehend even one word, although I doubted many of them were words I would've picked up in high school or college.

"Of course I don't want to share her," Francesco said. He raised a fist. "You know she won't end up picking you, Miguel. How could she? You invaded her house, her computer, her property. How can she trust you?"

"She can trust me," Miguel said. "You all should be thanking me. If I hadn't emailed that detective, we all could've been exposed. Then what? Would you still love her just as much if that bomb exploded?"

"Trust is the foundation of love," Francesco countered.

"Love is love," I said quietly.

Francesco stepped closer. I still had a hand on Miguel's chest, still stood between them, but now, I reached out to block Francesco.

"We are at war," I said quietly.

"We can't forget that," Miguel admitted.

I shook my head. "Not just with the Fanged Serpents. With each other over Audrey. We can't have that. We can't be fighting two wars at once. We must be united. We have to be. We will die otherwise, and we are dragons, not phoenixes. We will die and remain dead. Now, believe me, I am not ready to share her. I don't know if I will ever be, but I love her. I want her. I know you love and want her, Francesco, and you too, Miguel. But in order for all four of to work this out, we have to survive. We need a truce to save all of us, all four of us, all fifty of us."

"Forty-nine dragons plus the three leaders' lover," Francesco murmured.

"Do you agree to the truce?" I asked, taking my hand from his chest to hold it out for a shake.

Francesco shook it.

I turned to Miguel and shook his hand, and the other two shook theirs, and it was done, at least through words.

Trying to push my worries aside, I rubbed my hands. "Now, we need a plan—"

Just then, an explosion sounded in the rear of the mansion. Thankfully, that wasn't near us or Audrey, but the floor still quaked, and the window shattered. Glass shards descended, the sound of the pieces hitting the ground almost like a chaotic symphony.

The Fanged Serpents had chosen now to attack. The war was now at our back door. Had the doctor administered the cure to the other invalid dragon shifters? Was the cure permanent? Would we survive the smoke of the battle to face the embers, or would we soon be reduced to ashes, ruined by the seduction of one woman who blinded us to our one true enemy instead of each other?

Time would tell. Unfortunately, time was running out.