HE IS WHAT?

Angela’s POV

“Was she going into heat??? Or shifting???” Celia asked the same questions that were stuck in my mind as well. The three of us were sitting in a lounge sipping tea after Emma’s episode. She was strong, much stronger than we anticipated and in a state that we did not understand fully. Dr Sina was thinking. He had this habit of rubbing his chin whenever he was in deep thought, and by the looks of his behavior, he was definitely going to rub some skin off his face. Looking at us both with his soulful, wise eyes, he nodded at first, getting up and starting to pace around, obviously stressed out. “It is possible. It certainly felt as if she was about to do both, and had we not injected her, chances are she would have become a full-blown dragon, likely leveling the hospital down, killing everyone in it”, he replied gravely.

The confirmation did not surprise me. However, things were not adding up. Usually, she-dragons would go into heat once she found her mate. Dragons went into heat only once a year and their pregnancies were longer than those of all shifters – 12 months in fact. However, unlike most creatures, including humans, they only started showing in month nine and fully developed a dragon child in the last three months. Now, Emma was a daughter of the First Human too, and there were no shifters like her, none like her and her brother existed before. So, all we know about dragons, especially she-dragons and their reproductive cycles, may or may not apply to her.

“She was certainly having a very vivid and, by the sounds of it, an erotic dream”, I said. “And she was burning up. Her skin nearly burned me”, I clarified. I had spent hours by her bedside, wiping off the sweat and trying to cool her down, chanting spells trying to give her a peaceful rest. Her skin was as hot as a fire pit, and if I had not placed a protection spell, I would have certainly burned, I thought to myself. “She is a twin, is she not?”, Celia asked again. “I am not sure if it matters, as it matters for us Vampires and even Lycans or Werewolves… But twins… twins sometimes have one mate… or sometimes…” she trailed off. We knew Leo and Cassius were together. We did not know if they were mates as neither was marked, but there was a real connection there – that much was obvious to all. Plus, we did not know how Leo would react to the existence of our world, and all that entailed. Cassius needed to be careful in divulging secrets, not just for our sake. Leo’s safety would be in danger once he found out who he is, and more importantly, once he found out what he is and who his father was.

“They are fraternal twins, not identical ones, so I doubt that they share a mate”, Dr. Sina elaborated. “However, if one of them goes into heat, and they are not marked, chances are that the other one will feel it. It is also tied to the fact that their dragons had been dormant. I can feel hers is woken, but if Leo’s was as well, it would have had a domino effect on her too”, he explained. “So, this is happening because Leo’s dragon shifted???” Celia asked. “Not necessarily. He could have been in heat, or alternatively, he could have been marked, creating an echo like situation which hit his unmarked twin”, Dr. Sina stated authoritatively. In truth, I knew that he was likely guessing. Beings like them did not exist in our world, well, at least not to our knowledge. The natural born offspring of dragons was rare to begin with, the one that was created with First Human – unheard of. Until now.

“Is she going to be OK?”, I asked, trying to figure out the best way to help her. “Is she going to go through this every time Leo is in heat or has sex??? Can you do anything – something????” I pushed Dr. Sina for an answer. I did not like seeing Emma this way and we could not explain her situation to her. First Dragon has strictly prohibited any conversations about our world or their heritage. He wanted to be the one to explain it to them and, as their father, he had that right. However, I was worried that we were running out of time. “If her brother gets marked, no, she will not feel these things again. That is not until she finds her own mate and goes into heat. Do you know if she has a mate???” he asked us back and I had no answer for him. Emma was indeed a very beautiful woman, but I had never heard her talk about a boyfriend. Come to think of it, the only person she really cared about was her brother and her friends Myra and Nick.

“When we did the background check on them I had found no boyfriends. Cassius appeared in Leo’s life later. Emma does not have anyone right now” Celia stated with the utmost authority. She was excellent at her job and I knew that she would have done extensive research on this. “So, then it is obvious. This was an emotional echo of her brother’s feelings”, Dr Sina said, clapping his hands as if happy to have resolved the mystery. However, I was not fully convinced. “Her dream…. I was sitting next to her.. It felt real.. If felt as if she was actually… I mean.. err.. ugh… I mean… It was happening” I surmised. “Hmmmmm… that is interesting… Interesting indeed.. You are sure Angela???” Dr. Sina now asked cautiously, furrowing his brow.

“Yes, I am absolutely sure. I was worried about her and tried to spell her into a peaceful sleep to no avail. The drug we gave her prevented the shift, but the dreams, or effects of whatever echo or whatever Leo was doing were surely there. I was actually embarrassed to be with her in such intimate moments, and I am just glad she was asleep and unaware of my presence”, I said sheepishly. Silence followed for a moment and Dr. Sina started pacing again, rubbing his forehead as if he was trying to decipher this new piece of information. Celia and I looked at each other confused, unsure of what was happening. “It could be her powers ….” He stated absentmindedly. “All dragons have some type of a power…. She, being the daughter of the most powerful dragon in existence, likely has various powers of her own… She could be travelling through time and space in her dream state, feeling and experiencing things from present, past and future…. I read about this.. there was a dragon who had this power.. only one before… long ago”, he mumbled, more to himself, although we heard him. “These powers of hers, if I am right.. they can be dangerous… We need.. we need to talk to First Dragon and Gia herself about this”, he stated unequivocally. “But first, before we do anything.. we need to find Leo. We need to ask him about last night and test the echo theory first.. We need…”

“That is easy”, Celia cut him off. “He had a date with Cassius last night. In fact, Emma and I helped Cassius set everything up. I am sure they are still together and will be here soon. Leo does not leave Emma alone for a long time. They are very close”, she said, smiling at us.

“Very well. We need to talk to him, that much is clear. Something tells me though, if they are mates, and depending on how their date went, Leo may already be aware of our world. And of the fact that he is a dragon”, Dr. Sina mused.

“HE IS WHAT?!!!!” We heard a small, frightened voice speak behind us. Somehow, during our discussion we did not hear the door open. Looking as pale as if she had seen a ghost, her eyes bewildered and scared, Emma stood there glaring at us, panicked, and confused.