Dragos Goes to Washington (Elder Races #8.5)(37)

She squeezed Dragos’s fingers, and he erupted upright to bend over her, eyes blazing. He called out, “Medina, she’s awake.”

Almost immediately, the bedroom door opened, and Dr. Medina stepped inside. “I’m here.”

Briefly, Pia considered sitting up, but it seemed like too much effort. “I thought you were a dream,” she told the doctor in a rusty voice.

Dr. Medina smiled at her. “You were pretty confused when I arrived.”

“You fainted,” Dragos told her. Lines of tension scored his face. “Scared centuries off my life when I saw you collapse like a rag doll.”

Contritely, she squeezed his fingers as she thought back. “We were with the president in the library. How long ago was that?”

“Last evening. It’s almost dawn now. Investigators have been here all night.” Dragos touched her face, stroking the curve of her cheek. “How do you feel?”

She admitted, “Achy.”

“Do you need anything, perhaps a drink of water?”

“Maybe in a bit,” she sighed. His caress was so soothing, it made her want to close her eyes again.

Dragos turned a hard expression to the doctor. “You said you would talk to us both when Pia woke up. Well, she’s awake now, so start talking.”

The doctor gave him a look of rebuke. “I also told you she was going to be okay.” She turned to Pia. “And you are going to be okay. Do you feel up to having a conversation right now, or do you need more rest?”

Beside her, Dragos felt so tight, like he was going to explode. Remembering the raging dragon from her dream—hallucination—she nodded. She did need more rest, but she didn’t think he could hold off any longer.

“Okay,” said Dr. Medina, straightening. “I have some great news and some not very great news for you, and it’s all tied together. Remember, the most important thing is—you’re going to be okay, and so is your baby.”

“What?” Pia said, not believing what she had just heard. Was she hallucinating again? She glanced sideways at Dragos, who looked as thunderstruck as her. “I’m not pregnant. I can’t be pregnant.”

Swiftly, Dragos placed one large hand over her flat stomach. She felt his Power probing deep within her. Placing her hand over his, she sank her awareness deep into her body too.

“I don’t sense anything,” Dragos said.

Pia muttered, “I don’t either.”

Dr. Medina folded her arms and regarded them both with a certain wry, sour expression. “You’re not really questioning my diagnosis, are you? The last I heard, neither one of you had a medical license.”

“But I’m not feeling anything.” She felt close to tears. “Does that mean something’s wrong?”

“Wait.” Dragos leaned closer, his expression arrested. “Fuck me. I’ve got it.”

“I don’t feel it! I can’t sense anything.” Frantically she searched harder, but she couldn’t feel a thing, not until Dragos’s Power surrounded her awareness and drew her attention to . . .

A slight something, nestled deep, hardly more than a shadow. Catching her breath, she strained everything she could toward that subtle shadow but couldn’t pick up any more details.

She would have missed it entirely if it hadn’t been for Dragos pointing it out.

And Dragos had missed it entirely until the doctor told them.

“Can you feel it now?” Dragos asked.

“Yes, but what does it mean?” she whispered anxiously. “Liam didn’t feel anything like this.”

An incredulous smile lit Dragos’s hard features, and his gold gaze flashed up to hers. “I think the little shit’s cloaking itself. And its cloaking ability is so damn good, it fooled even me.”

Pia’s gaze flew to the doctor’s, who nodded in confirmation. Wonder coursed through her tired body, along with a tumultuous cascade of joy.

She said to Dragos, “You do have mighty sperm. Once we made the decision, we must have gotten pregnant on our very first pow.”

He kissed her swiftly but sobered as he turned back to face Dr. Medina. “You said there was not so great news.”

“Yes, well.” The doctor looked down at her feet and pursed her lips. “Remember this, and keep it firmly fixed in your mind—you’re going to be okay, and the baby is going to be okay.”

Pia’s anxiety came back, squashing the incredulous joy. Not wanting to hear what came next while she was lying flat on the bed, she pushed herself upright. “What is it? Why have I felt so sick and had so many symptoms?”

“Sometimes, when a predator and an herbivore are mated, complications can arise,” Dr. Medina told them. “Sometimes those complications turn serious. You remember how nauseated you were during your pregnancy with Liam?”

She snorted. “I’ll never forget it. I was sick every time I took my necklace off.”

“You can roughly compare this situation to when a human mother has a different Rh factor in her blood than her baby.” The doctor paused. “Have you heard of that before?”

Dragos shook his head, but Pia nodded. “I’ve heard of it.”

Dr. Medina looked at her. “Often there’s no problem with the first child a mother has, but during the pregnancy she develops antibodies to carrying the fetus, so there can be complications with the second child. Those can get severe.”