The Platinum Dragon's Mate - Zoe Chant Page 0,3

The whole clearing fell away, out of Reid’s attention, his sight, his hearing. He found himself pivoting to look out to the left—at a wide expanse of trees, nothing else.

What—?

“Help!”

The cry was faint and far away, but Reid heard it.

“Who’s that?” he asked sharply, already moving towards the sound.

“What?” he heard behind him, Shiloh’s voice, deep and angry—but confused, also.

“That voice,” Reid said impatiently.

“What voice?” Athena this time, sounding baffled.

He strained, but he couldn’t hear anything else.

Then there was a new sound. Wingbeats. Coming closer.

And crying.

Then everyone was turning to look, because over the treetops came a fiery red dragon, scales brilliant in the sun, driving her wings as fast as possible, and cradling a little girl in her talons.

That was where the crying was coming from. Reid found himself running to meet them, without conscious thought interfering. If a child was hurt—

The dragon alit in the clearing, shifting immediately into a beautiful dark-haired woman, her face tight with worry. “She was climbing a tree and she fell,” the woman gasped. “I saw it but I couldn’t get there in time—”

It was like the woman’s fear rippled across the clearing and hit him in the chest. He was starting forward before he knew it, eyes fixed on her body, curled protectively around her child, and her terrified expression.

“It’s all right,” Reid said, hearing his voice come out calm and controlled, the way he’d learned as an intern. Doctors weren’t supposed to show emotion even when something truly terrible happened, and he’d worked hard to hone his already-developed skills into a perfect mask.

So even though he was shaken inside at the sight of the girl’s tears, the woman’s terror—more so than he ever was by injuries—he continued in a smooth, confident voice. “I’m a doctor. Is she a shifter?”

The woman nodded. “But her arm—she broke it, it’s going to heal all wrong—”

Reid could see the problem immediately, when the woman relaxed her hold to show the little girl to him. Her arm was at the wrong angle.

Shifter healing could be a disadvantage with broken bones like this. If it healed before the patient could get medical attention, the bone would be wrongly-aligned and might need a hospital to fix—and hospitals were dangerous places for creatures who were supposed to be mythical.

“I can set it for her,” Reid said. “What’s her name?”

“Rhiannon,” the woman said.

Peripherally, Reid was aware of a crowd behind him. It wasn’t nearly as important as the patient in front of him, though. He crouched down to look at her. “Hi, Rhiannon,” he said. “My name is Reid, and I’m a doctor. This probably hurts a lot, huh?”

She nodded, still crying in loud, shuddering wails.

“I’m going to make sure it heals all right. It’s just going to take—”

“Hold on a second!” came a voice from behind him. Deep and angry. Shiloh. “You’re not touching that kid.”

“He’s a doctor.” Athena. “He gave Olivia a checkup. Half the reason he came here at all is because we don’t have one.”

“We’re shifters. We don’t need a doctor. We heal.”

Reid took a breath, preparing himself to stand up and turn around, try to argue with this intractable, angry man about whether he was allowed to help a little girl or not.

But before he could move, the woman—the girl’s mother?—snapped, “Rhiannon needs a doctor, Shiloh. You remember Grandpa’s leg? You want her arm to be like that for the rest of her life? She needs someone to help her get it straight.”

“So we can set it. I’ve set a bone before. No Oak Ridge half-human is going to touch my niece.”

“You,” said the woman, and her voice had gone quiet and deadly, “are not going to set my daughter’s broken arm. You are going to stand there and watch him do it. If he puts a hand wrong, you can challenge him to combat and do whatever you like, but if Athena let him see Olivia, I’m letting him see Rhiannon.”

“Sage—”

“No. No debate.”

Shockingly, there wasn’t another rebuttal. Shiloh fell silent, and Reid looked up at the woman—Sage, Shiloh had called her. She nodded.

“All right,” Reid said. “Let’s get her somewhere clean and safe, where she can lie down. I have medical supplies in my car.” He’d come here knowing that they didn’t have any doctors, after all—although he hadn’t anticipated a medical emergency within the first ten minutes.

“I’ll get them,” rumbled Santos’ voice behind him, reminding Reid that he wasn’t alone here. Santos would watch his back while he focused on the girl.

It probably