Page 12 of The Dragon’s Captive

“But humans have never been able to survive in our realm…” He paused as if he were thinking of an exception. “Most humans,” he added. “You are curious in that regard. What allows you to withstand our atmosphere?”

“Oh, it’s an anti-radiation treatment, it’s actually based on the samples of dragon DNA held in…” She stopped talking as a bolt of rage went visibly through Vilka.

“And how did you obtain these samples?”

“They’re from the war. Colleges all over the world have samples. A lot of research is still being done on dragons. People are fascinated. This is the closest thing to true alien technology anyone has seen.”

He tapped his long fingers. “This treatment… how many people know how to make it?”

“Just me,” Kate said proudly. “I developed it myself in my spare time.”

* * *

Vilka looked at her smiling face and felt an amused pity for the girl. She was evidently intelligent in many respects, but her bragging had just sealed her fate for certain. If she knew how to create a treatment that could potentially allow humans to invade the dragon realm, then she could never be allowed to leave.

“How much of this treatment do you have?”

“Well, I have enough to last several Earth weeks. I don’t know what that means over here, there’s a time shift obviously. I might have enough to last several weeks here, or I might have almost a year’s worth, depending on whether my cellular processes stay steady, or slow with time—or I might have less than I think, if I age more quickly here. I can’t really say.”

“And how will you know?”

“I can take blood and measure my levels,” she said. “If they drop at the normal rate, I will assume that my cellular processes remain at the normal level. If they drop faster or slower… then I will know the same. But either way, I will have to return to obtain more.”

“There are other ways to allow a human to live in the realm without any need for a treatment,” he said. “I do not take them lightly, but I cannot risk your return any more than I can risk your life. And it may be that what needs to happen has already been done.”

“What are you talking about?”

Vilka ran his hand over her belly. “I am talking about what may grow when a man’s seed meets a woman’s womb.”

Her eyes went wide, as if she were shocked by the possibility. “You think I could be pregnant?”

“Do not tell me your science has left you with such little knowledge of the matter of mating,” he said with a raised brow.

“Well… no, of course not, but… you are a dragon. We are not the same species. It should not be possible for us to procreate.”

“It is possible for dragons and humans to couple successfully,” Vilka said. “I know this very well. Without a shadow of a doubt, indeed.”

“How?”

His expression became instantly guarded. “That is a subject for another time.”

“Well, I can tell you that there is no risk of me being pregnant,” she said. “I have an implant.”

“What do you mean?”

“In my arm,” she pointed to her right upper limb. “It’s a little tube. It regulates my periods. It also means I cannot conceive. So even if it is possible for a dragon and a human to mate, which seems unlikely to me, conception wouldn’t occur.”

“You have never been mated, and yet you have something embedded in your body which prevents pregnancy,” he mused. “It is a strange world you come from.”

“It also stops me from bleeding every few weeks, ruining my underwear and being unable to go anywhere or do anything because of cramps,” she said. “It’s not easy being a woman, Vilka.”

“Evidently not,” he replied, unable to hide his smirk. He reached out and ran his hand over her arm, his dragon senses more attuned now. Sure enough, he could sense it, a very small cylinder of material that was not flesh. It seemed strange that something so little could have such a powerful effect.

“That will have to be removed in time,” he said. “I want my seed to grow inside you. I want to see you grow ripe with my progeny.”

He waited for a burst of outrage, but it did not come. Instead she blushed and lowered her eyes. She could be so bold one moment, so shy the next. Everything to do with the act of mating seemed to make her retreat into a more demure state of mind.

“We hardly know one another,” she murmured toward the bedding. “How can you talk about that so soon?”