Page 78 of Lethal King

Our family has been shattered.

But I still carry that dream with me.

I just don’t need him to fulfill it anymore. I don’t need anybody.

Right?

“If you’d be so kind as to wait here for a moment…” Leander says, asking for permission before he turns to leave.

Water drops from the cave ceiling. A soft howl blows over us.

Tytus nods before I can respond with disgust. “Go ahead. But don’t be long.”

“I would never dream of making my partners wait twice,” Leander tries to charm, a sickly smile lifting his glass cheeks.

It doesn’t work on either of us.

Still, he doesn’t hesitate to make his way to a depression at the far end of the grotto. Four black-suited security guards follow him. Eight stay behind.

More water drips from the ceiling, splashing down into the small green body of water beside us. Giant stone daggers jut out of the rocky walls.

We all wait in tense silence as Leander and his men disappear.

I’m not sure what to expect.

Part of me is hoping that this is an ambush. Any excuse to let off some steam… and avoid confronting the man who’s caused me so much pain.

But another part of me needs to see him again.

I need to look in his face and remember that he’s just a man—someone I can kill.

“No fucking way…” Tytus growls, spotting the shadow up ahead before I do. “It’s actually him.”

We both tense up as footsteps echo through the oceanside cave.

Then, without further ceremony, Drago appears.

At first, it’s like seeing a ghost. He’s so thin and frail that I can almost see through him.

A long scraggly beard drags down his chin. A wiry head of hair drops like wet drapes along the side of his emaciated face.

He looks more like a castaway than the fearsome dragon I remember.

But there’s no mistaking that face. And when my former savior steps into a beam of moonlight, I can’t help but tremble.

The claw marks that cross his cheek are as deep and as red as ever. His dead eye is paler than the moonlight. His skin is paper white.

It’s him.

“My children…”

My mouth opens. A certain word desperately wants to drift out of my lips.

Dad.

But it all gets stuck in my throat.

I’m speechless.