Free Love Is in the Air by Carolyn McCray

it?”
    As hard as she tried, Sal just felt a cranky baby under her palm. “No.”
    Gently, Tyr rubbed his thumb over the boy’s forehead. “There is a knotting deep that will break soon. Can you not feel the pressure within?”
    Again, she had to shake her head.
    Instead of recrimination, Tyr nodded sadly. “Your own essence blinds you. It is… Your… It brims.”
    Sal wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
    “It is time,” Tyr said, pulling his knife from its sheath.
    In a panic, she grabbed his wrist. “No! Wait.”
    It was one thing to consider taking a baby’s blood in theory. It was quite another when the baby fussed right under your hand. They couldn’t do it. She couldn’t do it. But Tyr brought his knife to bear.
    Then she remembered his promise. “Not until he ‘agrees.’ “
    Sal thought she had forestalled the crossing of this awful line, but Tyr held out his hand to the infant boy. “May I?”
    Then the most amazing thing occurred. The baby placed his little hand in Tyr’s wide palm. Those icy blue eyes thawed just a bit as he looked over to her. “We are ready. Are you not?”
    They both seemed at peace. A peace Sal didn’t think she’d ever achieve. What could she do but incline her head?
    With quick precision, Tyr made the nick. The baby just gurgled a happy coo as the blood welled. The collection was a simple thing. Once Tyr capped the vial, he leaned over the child.
    “Thanks be to you, little warrior.” Tyr kissed the top of the baby’s head.
    The scene felt surreal. Was this little boy going to die tonight? Is this really how this night was going to end? With another death?
    Unfortunately, Tyr’s words rang true. No, not just his instinct, but hers as well. For just the briefest moment, when she held her hand against that fuzzy scalp, Sal could have sworn she could feel the tangle of blood vessels that fed the baby’s tumor. She could even feel the fatal clot that was about to break off and cause a massive stroke.
    No matter that the child’s toes touched the edge of the veil, his heart was still beating. Every instinct as a doctor screamed for her to help the baby. Could she just stand by and let the child die without at least trying? Maybe his Praxis couldn’t help stop a stroke, but she knew half a dozen ways they could possibly prevent the tragedy.
    She grabbed the chart and began scribbling orders when a noise from the nurse’s desk made them both swing around.
    It was Richard. He’d come looking for her.
    Of course , he’d come looking for her.
    They would be discovered. How could they not? Tyr’s “ignore” edict couldn’t shelter them forever. And when the nurses found out they were inside the NICU without proper sterile garments, touching vulnerable children? She’d be lucky if she just got suspended. The Badger had terminated doctors for far less.

CHAPTER 23
    Then Tyr’s hand was in her own, pulling her down into a crouch.
    “Is there no route beyond those doors?”
    Sal thought back to her neonatal rotation. “The director’s office.”
    Scrambling between the incubators, they snuck to the back of the ward.
    Sal tried the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.”
    Why she thought that would matter to Tyr, she didn’t know.
    “Because you did not ask,” he said, as he placed his hand over hers. The knob turned smoothly, not even giving a little resistance to make it look at least a little hard. The act didn’t even require blood.
    Once inside, she led him to the other side of the room, where they spied through the blinds on the nurse’s desk. Sure enough, Richard was inquiring about Sal. Luckily, the nurse didn’t seem to have a clue.
    “We’ll have to wait until they move off,” she commented, trying hard not to notice Tyr’s brooding presence right beside her. He radiated a heat that seeped through her clothes and pressed against her skin.
    As the seconds dragged on, Sal realized that Tyr had what he’d come for. The