Meghan sucked in a deep breath and walked out of her apartment. She could do this. Screw Tide. She was going to focus on the job at hand, and in so doing, she’d earn enough money over the next year or two to fund her asthma research. She relished the idea of not having to search for funding. Of being in control of her own future.

“Good morning,” a loud voice sounded from a few meters down the hall.

Meghan just about jumped out of her skin. She made a yelping noise and clutched her chest.

“My apologies!” The big dragon shifter looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine. Just don’t sneak up on me again.”

The guy smiled brightly. “I’m Bay. I was standing here the whole time. In fact, I’ve been here all night.”

“Oh, okay. I didn’t see you there.” She could feel her heart-rate normalizing.

"It looked like you were deep in thought. Don't mind me. Tide assigned me as the backup guard." Bay was smiling broadly. He looked really sweet.

“Good to meet you, I’m Meghan.”

“I’ve been instructed to call you Doctor Roberts, if you don’t mind?” He clasped his hands together behind his back.

“Of course.” She inclined her head.

“Follow me and I’ll take you through to the laboratory.” Bay glanced back at Meghan as he strode ahead. They walked down several passages. All of them wide and high ceilinged. After a couple more twists and turns, Bay opened a door and gestured for her to enter.

Meghan walked in, finding George already there. “How awesome is this?” He gestured around them.

Meghan gasped. “We got everything.” She swallowed hard. “Every item on our list.” At least it looked that way at a glance.

“Oh yes, and all top of the line.” He spoke quickly, obviously excited.

“Oh my word. An Electrophoresis System.” Meghan gaped at the sleek machine.

“Yep and a Thermal Cycler. It’s a scientist’s wet dream.”

"That's for sure." Meghan walked around the large space. It too had the same high, cave-like ceilings she'd come to expect in the dragon castle. Only, this wasn't like a traditional castle. Not that she'd seen many but heck, she didn't need to have. This one was built into the side of a cliff. The view from the lab was just as spectacular as through any other window. A horse-shoe shaped bay with sheer cliffs. The blue, sparkling ocean and mountains in the backdrop, they went on for as far as the eye could see. She shivered, realizing how distant they were from any kind of civilization. Not that the dragon castle didn't possess all of the modern conveniences. Meghan only had to look around her to know that she lacked for nothing.

“Good morning.” Torrent stepped through the door.

“Morning,” both she and George said.

"And who is this little princess?" asked George, his eyes on the tiny girl in Torrent's arms. Just then a petite blonde entered the room. With big blue eyes, she was beautiful, reminding Meghan a bit of a Barbie doll.

“This is my mate Candy and our daughter, Rain” The little girl buried her head into her father’s chest. She was a carbon copy of her mother. Very pretty with delicate features and blonde hair. The only difference was that her hair was slightly curly where Candy’s hair was perfectly straight.

“It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Doctor Roberts and this is my assistant, George.” He stepped forward and shook the woman’s hand. Meghan went on, “I will be taking care of you during your pregnancy. Congratulations, by the way, I believe you only just found out.”

Candy smiled. “Thank you. We’re very excited. It’s good to meet both of you.”

"Shall we all take a seat and have a chat about what the coming months will entail?" Meghan grabbed her notepad and a pen off of her desk.

Candy nodded. Torrent put a hand to her back, he gave his wife a look that was filled with such affection.

In a similar fashion to Torrent’s office, there was a lounge area. They made their way there, Torrent and his family made themselves comfortable on a love-seat.

“I’ll just take inventory.” George pointed to where all the smaller equipment was kept. “I’ll be over there if you need me.”

Meghan nodded and then turned back to the couple. She opened the notepad and clicked the pen. She still found it hard to believe that they were amongst dragon shifters and Torrent was the king of the Water dragons. It was surreal.

She needed to push those thoughts aside. As well as any lingering notions she had of Tide and what had happened the day before. Maybe he had changed his mind about being her guard. She hoped so. “Right, let’s begin. I have a couple of questions and then I’m going to explain how I foresee this going. We need to remain flexible and acknowledge that changes are going to be made as we go along. Nothing quite like this has ever been attempted. Not to this degree anyway.”

Both Torrent and Candy nodded.

“Okay then. How long is a normal pregnancy?”

“Six months,” Torrent and Candy answered together.

Torrent smiled and gave Candy’s thigh a squeeze. “I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you want my input.”

Candy nodded and smiled. Her eyes filled with so much love it was sickening, but only because Meghan was a bit jealous. People didn’t often find love like that. It was incredibly rare. Concentrate! Meghan made a note. “Good. How far along are you?”

“I suspect around three weeks. Give or take a day or two.” She beamed.

Meghan noted that down. “And …”

“Oh,” Candy said, “it’s important to note that Rain isn’t Torrent’s biological daughter. We were together when I was pregnant with her and she does have some dragon traits.”

Meghan frowned. “I’m not sure if I follow. If she isn’t his child, then she shouldn’t have any of his traits.”

"That's the thing. When humans mate with non-humans, they slowly take on some of their traits. I can only speak for myself here, but I know it's true of all of the other human women mated to dragon shifters as well. The longer we're mated, the more apparent it is. I can hear better, see better … way better." She lifted her shoulders. "It's incredible. I can't breathe underwater, but—"

“Wait just a minute.” Meghan held up a hand. She frowned. “Breathe under water?”

"Sorry." Candy sucked in a deep breath. "I keep forgetting that you're not from here. Water dragons can breathe underwater."

"We don't have gills. Not on the surface at least." Torrent gestured to the sides of his neck and moved his head to the left and then to the right in an exaggerated fashion. "We believe that they must be built into our lungs. Or that our lungs have the ability to take oxygen out of the water, but yeah, we can breathe underwater."

“Wow, that’s interesting.”

"I can stay underwater much longer than before. Much longer than what is considered normal," Candy said. "Seven or eight minutes at a time."

Meghan made a note. “Okay. That’s amazing. I’ll want to take a look at both your DNA and that of your child.” She looked down at Rain who was playing with a stuffed toy. “More specifically, at how it’s changed.”

Candy nodded.

“Not if it’s going to put our unborn child at risk.” Torrent sounded gruff.

“This type of test is risk-free. I will simply swab the inside of your mouth. So it’s non-evasive.”

“Not everything you have planned will be non-evasive though?” His voice was a rough rasp.

Meghan clasped her hands together on her lap. “No, you are right. We will discuss risk shortly,” she sighed. “I will say right off the bat that what I’m about to propose is not without risk. We will monitor Candy and Sky carefully.” She looked at her watch. “I’m meeting with Sky and Lake after this. I will fill you in on all the details and then you can both decide if this is what you really want to do, given the risks.”

Torrent nodded. He was frowning heavily and looked worried. “I’m not sure this is what we should be doing,” he spoke to Candy.

“It will be for the benefit of our people. We have to try.”

“I don’t know.” Torrent shook his head. “I don’t want to take any risks. Not with you, my love.” He turned to look at Meghan. “You need to understand, healer, that most dragon females do not survive miscarriages. The further along a female is, the more chance she has of dying. Candy is a fragile human. She carries a dragon child, a son and my heir. He is strong. Dragons fight to survive no matter their age. Dragon young, even when still in the womb, will hold on. They hold on, to the detriment of their mother, often ripping them apart from the inside. It is normally the blood loss that ends up being fatal. Even to a fully-fledged dragon female. My Candy would not stand a chance.”

“I see.” She deliberated for a moment. “I propose that we take the least evasive route. I would recommend that any female planning to become pregnant start on my autoimmune therapy as well. It would have been ideal to have had Candy already on the program. Unfortunately, that is not the case.”

“Well then, it’s probably too great a risk—”

“Like I said, we will take every precaution. Did you order the special hypodermic needles like I requested?”

“Yes, they’re in the cupboard with the rest of the supplies.”

“Good.” She nodded. “The questionnaire you filled out previously was very informative.”

Torrent nodded.

“You stated that dragon skin, even when you’re in human form, is practically impenetrable due to the fact that you heal at such a rapid rate. That the only time it takes longer to heal is when your immune system is compromised, like when you have been injured by silver or if a female is pregnant. This is particularly true if both circumstances occur together.”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Torrent nodded.

"You also mentioned that the only way to successfully breach skin is to use silver, but that high dose contact is toxic to a fetus and can kill the mother too. As you pointed out. Even a healthy dragon shifter will become sick with prolonged contact."

“Yes, That’s right.” Candy looked down at her lap for a few moments.

“Well,” Meghan went on. “Has anyone thought to use a stainless-steel silver mix, or have you always just used a pure silver blade or hypodermic needle?”

“Oh,” Torrent breathed out the word rather than spoke it. “That’s genius,” he went on. When he looked her head on, his eyes were bright with excitement. “That’s why you had me order an array of needles. Two percent silver, four, eight and so forth.”

“Exactly, so, we’re not just going to look at contact time but we’re going to start with the needles that contain the least amount of silver. The idea is to slowly introduce more and more allergens, thus building up a resistance. I need to meet with Doctor Parry. I believe she is with the Earth dragons.”

“That is correct. Doctor Parry is an allergist, she has been treating the males for our allergy affliction and has made some major headway.”

Meghan nodded her head. “Yes, I read her files but have some questions for her.”

“You may meet with her. Doctor Parry had twins a couple of months ago. Another healer has taken her place.”

“I will need to meet with both of them then, if that’s okay?”

Torrent nodded. “As far as I’m concerned, you can have whatever you need to do your job and,” he frowned heavily, “to keep my Candy safe. Sky too of course. You also have Blaze’s blessing, so it won’t be a problem.”

Just then, the door opened and Tide walked in. He wore a pair of dark blue cotton pants. Otherwise, his chest was bare. Not something she would get used to easily. She quickly looked away. She didn't want him thinking that she was interested in any way. She planned on ignoring the hell out of him just as George had recommended. She pulled in a breath and held it for a few moments before continuing. "The plan is to slowly desensitize you during this pregnancy by exposing you to higher levels of the allergen and by increasing the contact time."

“I’m not allergic,” Candy said.

Bay left the room, quietly closing the door behind him and Tide took his place. Not looking! “Yes, but according to the reports I have read, children born to non-humans are more like their fathers. In fact, all have been males. It shows that non-human genes are dominant. None of the children, however, have ever been tested for the allergy.”

Torrent nodded. “That is correct.”

“I need to verify this before we begin, but it stands to reason that they will be affected.”

“I’m sure this will be the case,” Torrent said gravely.

“Therefore, your child will most likely also be allergic. By going through the motions of desensitizing you, we hope to improve or even to eradicate the allergy in your unborn son.”

Torrent nodded. He looked worried.

“Like I said,” she went on. “I will take every precaution. We will monitor both Candy and the baby, every step of the way, to ensure that all is well.”

“I’m still not sure.” He shook his head.

"I typed up a full report. It will give you a good idea of what you can expect over the next few months leading up to your son's birth. It will outline every procedure. Obviously we need to remain flexible, and, I can tell you now, the desensitization program will need to be altered as we go along. I'm hoping that at least one of the children, either yours or Sky's, will be born free of the silver allergy. Obviously, both would be the ideal situation."

“Do you really think it will be possible to create a vaccine from the blood of a dragon baby born without the affliction?”

She nodded. “Yes, it’s an involved, complicated process. It’s also groundbreaking work but I know it can be done.”

“In other words, it’s not a tried and tested method.”

She shook her head. “No, in fact, there are scientists who don’t believe it’s possible. I’m not one of them.”

"It seems like an awful lot of risk for something that may just be pie in the sky," Torrent's voice had taken on a rasping tone.

“Honey, don’t be rude.” Candy clasped his arm and the little girl on his lap squirmed. She giggled. Rain was looking at Tide, who pulled another face. The little girl giggled again, trying to get off of her father’s lap.

Torrent finally let her go with a sigh. Rain tottered over to Tide, who picked her up. Rain laughed wildly. Torrent turned towards his brother. He must have given him a dirty look because Tide put up a hand. “Sorry, I’ll take Rain outside for a few minutes. Leave you to talk.” He held her tight with one arm and tickled her with the other. Rain squealed with glee. The door clicked closed, drowning out the noise of the little girl’s laughter. She obviously loved her uncle. It was strange to see how good he was with her. Moving on!

“Sorry about that,” Torrent apologized. “Tide takes his uncle duties very seriously.”

She nodded. “I understand. Back to our conversation.” She certainly didn’t want to think about how cute the little girl had looked in her uncle’s arms. Or how good Tide was with her. He was still a jerk. “It’s called a prophylactic injection. There has been some success in creating this type of non-infectious vaccine for cancer, as well as with type 1 diabetes. Look, it is new and completely revolutionary but I believe strongly in my research. I’m this close,” she held two fingers together, almost touching, “to developing a vaccine against asthma. Not only do I believe it’s possible but I’m going to make it happen.”

“I know this already,” Torrent went on. “It is why you are here. I’m just not convinced.”

“I understand your fear. Thing is, I strongly believe it’s possible to create a vaccine that will cure you of your allergy to silver. Worst case scenario, through immunotherapy in the pregnant women, in your wife, I believe that we will either eradicate the allergy in the children completely. Or at the very least, significantly decrease their reaction to silver. It’s a process though. Here …” Meghan stood up and reached for her leather sling bag. She removed the file she had prepared. “This outlines and explains everything. I took Doctor Parry’s findings and combined them with my research and have come up with a detailed plan. In a nutshell, we will slowly increase the exposure to allergens. In your case, Candy, we will monitor the fetus closely. In the case of Sky, I will monitor both mother and child throughout.”

“Thank you for this.” Candy held up the file.

Torrent gripped her hand in a firm grasp. “If we decide to proceed with this, you will take every precaution imaginable. I will be here for every session.”

“Darling, I—”

“No, my love,” his voice turned thick with emotion, “I cannot abide the possibility of anything happening to you.”

Meghan felt awkward. She wasn’t sure where to look as Torrent cupped his wife’s cheek. “Oh, my love,” Candy whispered, “I will be fine. You heard the doctor.”

“You should let Sky—”

“No!” Candy shook her head. “We will take every precaution. I need to do this, for our people, but most of all I need to do it for him.” She stroked her belly. “For our son.”

Torrent cupped her other cheek and put his forehead to hers. Meghan looked away. Maybe she should leave the room. There was a sucking noise. She glanced back at the couple, who were kissing at this point. Tongues and all. George busied himself counting and noting down stock.

She looked down at the notepad on her lap and added some doodles. She couldn’t think rationally while the two of them …

The door opened. “Hey, you two,” Tide said, putting his head around the jamb.

“Oh,” Candy said, as Torrent released her. She rubbed her lips with the tips of her fingers.

Tide grinned, he shook his head and pushed the door all the way open. Rain was still in his arms.

“Mama,” she yelled as she caught sight of Candy.

“Hey, baby.” Candy smiled. Both she and Torrent stood up. Tide put the squirming girl down.

“We will let you know what we decide,” Torrent said.

“Thank you.” Candy picked up her daughter and gave the little one a kiss on the top of her head. “We’ll be in touch.”

“You shouldn’t carry heavy things.” Torrent took Rain from her mother’s arms. “Come to dada.” He smiled at the tiny girl.

"I will need to visit the various dragon kingdoms and to test every child, particularly those born to human women. Maybe one of them has a natural immunity, in which case, I can develop a vaccine that way. I'm afraid I'll have to start soon after that. Your pregnancy is much shorter than that of a human to human pairing. So the window of opportunity is a small one."

“Oh, I didn’t realize you planned on visiting all the kingdoms. I thought it was just Doctor Parry.” Torrent raised his brows.

She shook her head. “No, I need to visit them all and test all the children, whether royals or not. I will also need permission to test Rain.”

“That’s fine.” Candy nodded. “As long as it won’t hurt her or make her sick.”

"No." Meghan shook her head. "At most, she would have a tiny red mark on the inside of her arm. That's if she is allergic. It would disappear within a few hours. Maybe less. Again, I assure you, I would take every precaution."

They said their goodbyes. Tide kissed the little girl on the forehead. “You be good.” He tweaked her little button nose. “Or the tickle monster will come and get you.” He proceeded to pretend he was going to tickle her. Rain squealed and laughed, crunching over against her father to protect her mid-section.

“You need one of your own,” Torrent said, smiling.

“Maybe one day.” Tide gave Rain another soft kiss on the temple and they left. Tide walked out into the hall.

Ignore him! Maybe he was going to stay out in the hall. A girl could hope. Meghan walked over to her desk but before she could sit down, the door opened and Tide entered with another guy. “This is Ice,” he announced.

She wanted so badly to ignore him flat out, but that would be rude to the new guy in the room. Meghan nodded. “It’s good to meet you.” She chose to focus on Ice, still ignoring Tide.

“Good to meet you too, Doctor Roberts. You must be George.” He looked towards the back of the lab. George held a test tube tray.

He put down the tray and walked over. “Ice. That’s an interesting name.” There was a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his face.

Meghan had to work to keep from rolling her eyes. Ice had dark hair and very blue eyes. He, just like the others, was really good-looking. George was having an absolute field day.

Ice’s smile grew bigger. “Water dragons are named after anything to do with water. I’m sure you have come to realize that by now. Our chest markings have green threaded through them.”

“Why are your makings silver, while some of the others I’ve seen have been golden?” George asked, his eyes roving all over Ice’s chest as he spoke.

“Royals have golden markings. Tide is a prince.”

“Interesting.” George nudged her with his elbow. “Isn’t that interesting, doc?”

She made a noise that showed her disinterest, pretending to look at something in the notepad.

“Ice will be your assigned guard. He will introduce you to his reliever at change of shift,” Tide said, speaking to George. “Ice, will you please show George around a bit? There is something I need to discuss with the doctor.”

“Actually, George is busy at the moment.” She looked up from her notepad and into his eyes. His very blue, very gorgeous eyes. It irritated her how attracted she still was to him. Her body didn’t seem to care that he was a grade-A ass.

“I’m sure you can spare him for a few minutes. Ice, if you will?” He gestured to the door.

Asshole!

“I would prefer it if …”

“It’s fine,” George responded, he widened his eyes at her, trying to tell her to drop it. “I’ll be back shortly. If Ice is going to be my guard, then we need to get acquainted.” He winked at Meghan and she battled to keep from snorting.

“Fine, but I need you back here in five. We have a lot to do.”

The door closed behind them as they left and the room seemed to close in on her. Suddenly the ceiling wasn’t as high. The air seemed to thin as well because it was harder to breathe. Her skin prickled with awareness. She hated how she was reacting to him. Hated. It. “What happened to us ignoring one another?” She looked at him with as much malevolence as she could muster. “That was the deal.”