I dial Viktor’s number with fingers that won’t stop trembling. Video call. I need him to see my face. To understand how serious this is.
He answers on the second ring.
“Mara.” His voice is sharp with concern. “Where the hell have you been? After your call yesterday—”
“I found him.”
Silence.
“Found who?”
“The man who saved me. The one who pulled me from the helicopter. Kept me alive for a week in the mountains.” I lean against a boulder, trying to keep my voice steady. “And the Syndicate has him.”
Viktor’s expression shifts; concerned to strategic in a heartbeat.
“Explain.”
So I do. The whole story pours out. K waking with no memory, just instinct and fire. The way he’d pulled me from the wreckage and flames. Brought me back from the brink of death.
His transformation—scales like molten gold, soaring wings, fire that answered to his rage.
The attack on the village. His capture.
When I get to the part about him being a dragon, Viktor goes very still.
“You’re certain.”
“I watched him shift. Saw him take down a Syndicate strike team single-handedly.” My voice cracks. “He’s one of yours, Viktor. And they have him.”
Ember appears in frame. Then Luke. Elena pushes in from the side, her face tight with worry.
“Which clan?” Luke demands. “Do you have a name?”
“He calls himself K. That’s all he remembers.”
“K?” Elena frowns. “That’s not— Wait. Just K?”
“Total amnesia. Woke up in the mountains with nothing. No idea what he is, no memory of his past.” I pull up the photos with shaking hands, start sending them. “But I have coordinates. I found their facility. Here. Look.”
Viktor studies the images, his expression darkening. “We have a ground team in Bra?ov with the Craven men. Ready to find you.”
“How fast can they get here?”
“We can mobilize immediately.” He’s already typing something off-screen. “ETA six hours.”
Six hours.
The hollow feeling in my chest expands like someone’s scooping me out from the inside.
Six hours of K locked in that facility. Six hours of him alone, maybe drugged, definitely restrained.
“I’m staying here till you arrive,” I hear myself say. “I can watch for pattern changes. Let you know if they move him.”
“Absolutely not.” Viktor’s tone sharpens. “You’re injured—”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Mara. You clearly need medical attention. Get back to safety—”
