Kiyana was helping to change Finn and Arabella's twin boys' nappies when there was a knock on the front door.
Arabella, who was breastfeeding Freya in her human baby form, looked at her. "Can you get it? I'm afraid if I move at all, Freya will stop eating, shift, and run away. And she needs to eat in her human form at least twice today."
Finishing Declan's nappy, she placed him in his bouncy seat and fastened the strap. "No worries."
Since Kiyana was only allowed in Finn's house or the archives, interacting with anyone else would help distract her from thinking about Alistair. Again.
Or, worrying about her upcoming pitch to the DDA director about her dragon Assembly idea. She may not have brought up the Assembly just yet, but she was hoping to sneak it into the next video conference she had with the DDA director.
Opening the door revealed Layla on the front stoop. Kiyana's stomach lurched upward. "Is everything okay?"
"The best news is that he's still alive. However, there's something I want to talk with you about straight away, in private."
Kiyana had interacted enough with Layla to know she wouldn't divulge any details until they were alone, so she guided her toward Finn's office, which had gradually become hers over the last few days.
She shouted toward the kitchen, "I'll be with Layla in the office for a bit, Ara," before shutting the door.
The room was soundproofed so no one would know what happened inside it apart from her and Layla. "Right, then tell me what's going on. And the more to the point you are, the better."
Layla nodded. "I like how the first thing you brought up wasn't about asking to see him again. So I'll bypass that bit and get to the point. Alistair woke up for a wee while."
Kiyana gasped. "Is he okay?"
"As far as we can tell, his human half is intact. It was for a matter of minutes, though, so I couldn't fully gauge his mental state. But given his questions, I think he didn't suffer any significant brain damage."
Kiyana's heart rate ticked up. Alistair had woken up once, and from what everyone had told her, that was the most important step for a dragon-shifter. It almost always meant they'd survive.
Still, she wouldn't get her hopes up too much. Layla's face was still set in a neutral expression, and she sensed there was more to the story. "While that makes me happier than you know, I sense that's not what you came here to tell me."
Layla shook her head. "No, it's not. Sid and the other doctors have been researching blood transfusions and doing their best to decode the data swiped from the Dragon Knights. While it's mostly anecdotal at this point about what happens to a dragon-shifter who receives a human blood transfusion, there is one single common factor amongst them all I can't dismiss. One that makes everything complicated."
She sighed. "Layla, my entire situation here is complicated. That's not new, and can hardly scare me."
"Maybe, maybe not. But the commonality? Every dragon-shifter who's received a human blood transfusion had become sterile."
"Sterile?" she echoed. Of all the possibilities, that hadn't been one she'd thought of.
Layla bobbed her head. "Aye. Further research is needed to ensure it's universally true, but it's a big enough concern that I need to discuss that outcome with you."
She started to put things together. "Meaning if Alistair's dragon wakes up and still wants a frenzy, he'll never be able to complete it and will probably end up rogue."
"Unfortunately, that's a real possibility. However, there is one way to maybe avoid that situation."
"If you say send me away and drug Alistair until the frenzy can pass, then so help me, I may start yelling a little."
Layla smiled. "No, it's not that." Her face returned to its calm, collected demeanor. "You may or may not know that dragon-shifter sperm doesn't survive freezing. So if you wish to stay and be with Alistair, we'll have to artificially inseminate you until you're pregnant. Correction, if you can become so because artificial insemination has a very, very low success rate amongst dragons."
Kiyana recalled hearing that in her early days at the Department of Dragon Affairs, and it was the reason why humans had to actually have sex with a dragon-shifter in the sacrifice program instead of being impregnated off the clan's lands. "And if it takes, then what happens after?"
"After, if successful and we can be sure his dragon will be calm if returned, we can try saving Alistair using what data we've managed to find. There is a ticking clock here, though. Because of the foreign chemicals in his body, ones that don't seem to go away through normal metabolic processes, each shot of the dragon sleeping drug is dangerous. It could, possibly, make his dragon silent forever."
Kiyana crossed her arms over her chest. "So I have to decide soon, is what you're saying?"
Layla nodded. "Aye, I'm afraid so."
To think, Kiyana had pictured a few lazy days getting to know Alistair before participating in the frenzy. She'd already prepared herself for becoming pregnant and all the risks—including death—that came with it for humans carrying half-dragon-shifter children.
But now, she couldn't even talk with Alistair. And if she didn't agree to a possibly long, drawn-out artificial insemination process, she may never be able to do so.