Page 197 of Lethal King

“I didn’t want to come back here,” I tell him, wiping my nose.

“I know. It’s the only reason I came armed,” Drago says. I follow his gaze as he nods down to his waist. A huge silver Glock sits on his hip. “You would never voluntarily want to come back to this place. I figured it must be a trap of some kind.”

“Then why did you come?”

Drago sighs.

“Just in case it was you.”

My fallen heart shrivels.

“You betrayed me…” I whisper.

“I’ve failed you so many times,” he agrees, his brows furrowing in pain. “But you have to believe me. I’m done with that. I’ve learned my lesson. I’m trying to help. Please believe me.”

An awkward tension swirls in the air. I don’t know what to say.

“Tytus seems to believe you,” I weakly huff.

“That’s because he wants to,” Drago acknowledges. “He misses what we were.”

“I don’t,” I’m quick to reply. But I’m not sure how true that is.

“That’s alright. I don’t expect things to go back to how they were. The past is done. But I can’t rest until I help you control your future.”

“How is pawning me off on Leander supposed to help me?” I snap.

A sliver of moonlight finds its way through the clouds above. I see Drago look around, searching for danger. When he doesn’t find it, he sets his gaze back onto me.

That pale dead of his looks right through my soul.

“I wasn’t pawning you off on him,” he whispers, deep and low. “I was pawning him off on you.”

My tears threaten to return as I pull myself from the man I once foolishly considered my adoptive father.

“I’ve heard all of your tricks before,” I say, looking back towards the empty rock. “They won’t work on me.”

“This is no trick,” Drago insists. “Not on you. I’ve set everything up. I’ve infiltrated Leander’s mercenary army. I’ve whispered in the ears of all his seedy associates. Behind his back, I’ve done what he desired to do. I’ve built an army. But this army isn’t for him. It’s for you, my dear. Repayment for all I’ve made you suffer through.”

His words bash around my insides like falling boulders.

“And what do you get out of it?” I stubbornly question.

“Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to,” Drago sighs, shaking his head. “But believe your brother. Believe Tytus. He’s been helping me lay the groundwork for your takeover.”

“Is that what he’s been doing?” I mumble, remembering how focused he’d seemed at the hospital. Fuck. He’d trusted Drago enough to let him around Babcia. Tytus has never been an easy sell on anything, and he’s too smart to fall for any of Drago’s tricks.

There must be some truth to what the old dragon is telling me.

“What happens to Tytus in all of this?” I ask.

“He’ll be right there with you, ruling.”

“And you?”