Page 90 of Lethal King

“What the hell happened to you?” I ask, heart suddenly racing. “Is this what happens to dragons when they’re cast aside?”

“This is what happens to a man who’s lost everything.”

“Pitiful,” I huff.

My headache is slowly evaporating against my fiery disgust.

To think, I once looked up to this man.

“Agreed,” Drago exhales. “It is pitiful. But it’s what I deserve for failing my children.”

“We were never your children.”

Somehow, that’s what finally shocks some life back into Drago.

A red fire rises in his eyes as he glares me down.

“Wrong,” he says, a familiar sternness returning to his gruff voice. “No matter what happens, you four will always be my children.”

My racing heart stops.

“Four.”

There’s no way he just brought those other two up.

“No matter how your relationships have changed, you four will always be my children.”

“Krol is dead,” I quickly remind him, unsure how to feel.

Krol.

How quickly I’d wiped that fucker from my mind. It’s only been a year, and I’ve already convinced myself he never existed.

Fuck. Just the thought of him makes my skin crawl. He was despicable, even by mafia standards. And I’m glad Gabriel managed to wipe him from the face of the earth.

It was the last good thing my long-lost brother ever did.

But I never knew Drago thought of Krol as his own child—even if I knew that’s something the snake always wanted.

“No, he’s not quite dead yet,” Drago whispers, shaking his head. “Just like Gabriel isn’t completely lost. There’s still hope. Hope that we can all reunite and take what’s ours. Together. That’s why I partnered with Leander. That’s why—”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I croak, emotions suddenly clogging my throat. “You really have been living under a rock. Krol fell into a black pit. He’s dead. Gabriel is married. He has a child. A kingdom. He’s lost. There’s no coming back for either of those fuckers. You’re delusional, old man.”

“Krol isn’t dead…” Drago repeats. “Not yet. I can save him, but only with Laender’s help…”

I don’t know what to think. It feels like I’m sinking into a fevered nightmare.

“You’ve gone crazy,” I grumble, wishing that Tytus has in here with me.

Tytus.

He must have heard this same spiel from Drago. Why didn’t he seem as disturbed as I feel right now?

There must be more.

“Losing everything will make any man go a little crazy,” Drago admits.

“There’s no one to blame but yourself.”