Craved by the Dragon (Stonefire Dragons 8)

Standing, she noticed that Killian's eyes were still closed. He had to be dreaming again.

Since his dreams could give her clues, she resisted smoothing his brow.

However, he relaxed on the bed and went limp with sleep again.

The nurse named Ruby rushed into the room and went to the computer terminal next to Killian's bed. His vital signs must've jumped for a second, sending a notification to the nurse on duty.

The nurse said without preamble, "Anything different this time?"

They had been keeping a log of his actions and utterances since the day before, when he'd fallen asleep and had yet to wake up. "He reached for something and said 'stay.'"

Typing the answer into the computer, Ruby said, "So that makes mirror, lake, and stay he's mentioned. That's not much to go on."

"No, but I have an idea." She leaned down to Killian's ear and whispered, "Take me with you, Killian. Where are you?"

His brows furrowed, but he didn't speak. Brenna repeated her sentences a few times before giving up with a sigh. "Well, I guess we'll just have to keep trying."

"Yes, well, Dr. O'Brien should be here any second to discuss Killian's lab results. Those will hopefully tell us more about what's going on."

She scrutinized the nurse's face, but Brenna couldn't discern any emotion. "You could warn me of what's to come."

Ruby shrugged. "That's not my job."

Since one of the key traits of a good dragon-shifter nurse was to stand up to any sort of personality, especially the dominant ones, Brenna didn't push.

Killian stirred again, and Brenna had another thought. She opened one of his eyelids to check his pupil. The upper half was entirely round, but the bottom half came to a point like the bottom half of an almond.

The nurse was already at her side. "I've never seen that before."

Killian's pupil returned to round and Brenna released his eyelid. "Do you think he's talking to his dragon in his dreams?"

"Maybe, but the shape of the pupil worries me. The closest I've seen to that in the past was when a dragon-shifter was dying."

Her dragon growled. He's not

dying.

Maybe he is, dragon. We have no idea.

Regardless, Sid and Gregor need to hear about this.

Before Brenna could respond, Dr. O'Brien walked in. "Something happened, Ruby?"

The nurse must've hit the emergency call button. "It's better if I sketch it for you." The nurse sketched the oddly shaped pupil and continued, "When Killian stirred in his sleep, Brenna opened his eyelid and his pupil looked like this. Have you ever seen anything like this before?"

Dr. O'Brien grunted. "No, but that doesn't mean no one has." He moved his gaze to Brenna. "Your Dr. Sid and Dr. Innes have been laying the groundwork for a worldwide dragon doctor network to share information and research. How far along are they?"

"I'm not sure," Brenna answered.

"Then find out," Dr. O'Brien ordered.

She raised her brows. "Shouldn't you reach out to them, since you're the doctor?"

"I'm understaffed and still nursing the remaining few dragon-shifter visitors who came to judge the leadership trial and got injured in the process. I don't have time to make social calls."

She wanted to say such a network would benefit him professionally, but she held back. "Then how about you tell me Killian's lab results so that I have the full picture to share with the Stonefire doctors?"

He shrugged. "There's not a whole lot to tell. All of his readings are normal, with the exception of his dragon-shifter hormones. They were higher than usual."