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He took a small needle from the box, along with a crystal dish and a silver dropper. From a wooden chest, he brought out two vials of clear liquid and measured out several drops into the dish. Istil held out his hand, and Eli pricked his finger with the needle and let the blood drip into the dish, then covered it with a bandage.
“You’re not going to sniff it or anything?” Istil asked.
Eli raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
Istil glanced at me. I knew what he was thinking. He still didn’t believe my method was accurate—but I could smell it in the air the moment Eli pricked his finger, as thick and potent as the scent of lamo’o blossoms in spring.
The liquid turned a vivid blue.
Eli looked surprised. “You certainly are pregnant, Istil,” he said. “And far along, too. A couple of months?”
“What? That’s not possible,” Istil exclaimed. “It’s only been a couple of weeks.”
“It smells accurate to me,” I added.
“Smells? What smells?” Eli said. “What am I missing here?”
“I can perceive slight changes in scent that can reveal an incredible amount of information about a patient,” I said. “And what I’m smelling now matches the timeline.”
“It seems I’d better remember not to let one go around you, Ari!” Theo called from the galley.
“Well, if he’s only two or three weeks along, then this baby is developing much faster than I’m accustomed to seeing,” Eli said. “But…sea dragons are different.”
“So, you’re saying because I’ve got a half-sea dragon inside of me, this egg is going to come a lot faster than usual?” Istil asked.
I held up my hand. “No egg, remember?”
“What?”
“Sea dragons don’t lay eggs. I’ve told you this.”
Istil looked down at his stomach. “You mean… I’ve got a little whelpling swimming around inside of me?!”
Eli cleared his throat. “To be perfectly accurate, it’s not much different from having an egg inside of you. The development completes within your body instead of within the protection of an egg. It’s the same as humans.”
“I’ve got a little whelpling swimming around inside of me,” Istil muttered, shaking his head. “I can’t believe this. It was the love potion, wasn’t it? I shouldn’t have taken both.”
“Love potion?” I said with no attempt to hide the skepticism in my voice.
“No, Istil,” said Eli. “This is just the way things go sometimes.”
“What love potion?” I asked again.
“Eli made me something to boost my luck,” said Istil. “And look how lucky I was.” He eyed me, then lifted his finger and poked my nose. “You know, I bet it’s because of this. You smelled it, didn’t you? That’s why you couldn’t stop bothering me.”
“Iwas botheringyou?If I remember correctly, it was you accusing me of disliking you.”
“Hm. Perhaps mild disdain is just how you treat omegas you want to sleep with.”
“That is not true,” I grunted. “I think you’re speaking about yourself.”
“It wasn’t a love potion,” Eli said.
Istil turned back to him. “Huh?”
Eli folded his hands on the table. “It was just a mixture of dragon stone and veckwood. Completely inert. There’s no such thing as love potions, I just wanted to give you a bit of confidence.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Istil.”
Istil’s cheeks turned bright red. “Oh,” he said.
