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The man’s soft voice, riddled with fear and actively fighting it, was enough to drop Klaus’s heart to his stomach.
“It’s him, isn’t it?” he asked, his dread awakening.
Miko nodded. Just like that, Klaus knew trouble was coming in the most literal sense, predicted long ago when he had been so oblivious to it. But there was no time to analyze it as the trouble was coming in and there was no stopping it. He took Miko’s shoulders, catching the man off guard at the physical contact.
“You need to stay underground,” he ordered. “Tell Bernard that everyone else does, including my castle staff.”
Miko’s shoulders straightened. “But I can help—”
“You lost your first family. You’re not about to lose this one, and the only way I can prevent that is if you stay under.”
Miko swallowed hard, emotion ringing in his features as their gazes met. Finally, Miko looked away and nodded, visibly fighting the urge to protest.
“I’ll keep them safe,” Miko promised.
“Keep yourself safe first so you can help them,” Klaus warned.
And then Miko was gone, leaving him alone on the shore as he searched the skies. Despite being a generally expressive person, Miko had only shown fear twice: the last time being now, and the first time being when Miko had been washed ashore on this island, half-dead and on the run from one of the most vicious creatures in the Otherworld: a dragon shifter.
There were three other dragon shifters who lived alone in their islands and ventured away to wreak havoc when they could: Hrothgar of Wrath, who was often tolerant and unbothered unless someone deliberately tried to stake a claim in his territory; Amadis of Tienor, who was never happy until there was no living creature within miles of his territory, even passing ones; and Salford of Mamba, who was the most elusive until he saw something he didn’t like—a botched deal, an order not followed, a treasure not given…a peaceful, honest clan not bowing down to him. Among the three, Salford dealt the most damage, not giving up until he destroyed every single person connected to the land that had offended him—and unlike the other two, he would fly to the ends of the Otherworld to ensure that.
Protect Miko no matter what. Sapphire too.
“Where are you?” he whispered, still watching the skies.
Seconds later, the alarm kicked off, warning him that someone had just entered his territory, and wasn’t afraid to announce it. Not long after that, he spotted the flying dot in between the clouds, getting bigger as it drew closer and eventually revealing its full size to Klaus. The dragon was larger than him, longer, and had more firing range based on rumors and that stouter snout. The dragon never visited Oslo before, either, but now it landed on the shore with ease and strode toward him like a man who had every intention to be here.
“Klaus. Were you waiting for me?”
Blond hair fell in long, luxurious locks while gray eyes examined him. Everything about the man screamed charming and was warmer than any of his interactions with Gareth, but instinct told him that Gareth couldn’t even compare to this man. The nagging feeling from earlier grew stronger than ever, his shoulders growing uncomfortable with it. He nodded, outward appearance unaffected and just a tad bit curious.
“Salford. I haven’t seen you since…who knows how long?”
“Ten years ago, when we ransacked that group of Fae together and drove them away,” was Salford’s succinct reply, along with a smirk. “Don’t you remember?”
“I remember,” he said. It had been more of him helping out Salford when the dragon had been trapped in a Fae group’s mischief before Klaus realized that Salford had messed with them first. He had left Salford and the group alone after that, deeming it safer for his people. “We got rid of those troublesome Fae folks.”
Salford nodded in approval. “I might have done some more to ensure they wouldn’t come back, but you were helpful in the beginning too.”
Be casual.
“Exactly. We had a truce and we stuck to it. Which makes me wonder what brings you here.”
The silence was telling, even while it didn’t tell him much. Salford waited for an invitation. When Klaus offered none, the man cleared his throat.
“Rumors bring me here…of your dead allies and the disappearance of others. Of your change of routine and no longer threatening the clans you used to.”
Klaus raised a brow. “I didn’t know you were monitoring my activities so thoroughly.”
“Not thoroughly,” Salford assured. “Just enough to ensure we wouldn’t clash paths. There’s also talk. Some marked warlock has been speaking up about being tortured and other interesting things.”
Harold.His blood ran cold.
“What interesting things?”
“It’s so ridiculous that I thought I might as well tell you.” Salford smiled, unaware of the turmoil going on inside Klaus. “You—the most formidable dragon who likes to burn villages as much as I do—apparently harbor slaves in your territory. Not just slaves but…survivors.”
So, Harold had regained his memory but was probably too scared to come back, and now he was spreading his suspicion. The problem that presented fought with his attempt at calm.
