The impact shakes the ground. I stumble back, heart leaping into my throat.
Two dragons.Hugedragons. Almost as large as K was at full shift. They fold their wings. Scales recede. Within seconds, two men stand there instead.
Caleb and Dorian. The CEOs. The clan leaders. The most powerful dragons I know.
And they’re staring at K like he’s—
They drop to their knees.
Both of them. Simultaneously. Heads bowed. Fists pressed over their hearts in an oddly formal gesture.
“My Lord,” Caleb says. His voice carries a submissiveness I’ve never heard from him. “We are here to serve.”
I blink. “What the hell are you doing?” These guys are nothing like the arrogant bastards I’ve come to know and love a bit.
“Please, rise,” says K, making a sweeping gesture with his hand. “This isn’t necessary.”
“What isn’t necessary?” I ask. “K, what’s going on?”
The twins are rising, still looking at K with what could only be described as hero-worship.
“What the hell is wrong with you two? Caleb? Dorian? Did you take a knock to the head?”
Dorian’s head lifts. He looks at me like I’ve just spoken gibberish. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Who he is.” Dorian’s gaze shifts to K. Wonder and shock war in his expression. “Whathe is.”
“He’s a dragon,” I say slowly. “With amnesia. I told Viktor that. You knew this already.”
“We knew he was a dragon.” Caleb rises slowly, like movement might spook a wild animal. His eyes never leave K’s face. “We didn’t know he wasthedragon.”
“The what?”
“Kael Craven.” Caleb’s voice shakes. Actuallyshakes. “The Sleeping King. Greatest of our line. Our ancestor. Our—” He stops. Swallows hard. “Our king.”
The words don’t make sense.
I look at K. See the way he’s gone absolutely still. Listening intently as I try to understand all this.
“That’s impossible,” I say. “The Sleeping King is a legend. A story. The Syndicate tried to wake him, and it didn’t work because he wasn’t real.”
“I am quite real, Mara,” he says quietly.
“It worked.” Dorian’s voice is meek. Awe-struck. “We just didn’t know it. Didn’t know you woke with no memory. Wandered into the mountains. Were just—” He swallows hard. “Just surviving. While we thought the ritual failed.” He bows his head. “I am so sorry, my Lord.”
My brain struggles to process this.
K. The man who saved me. Cared for me.
Is a mythical Dragon King.
“No,” I hear myself say. “That can’t be right. He’s… He’s just K. He doesn’t remember anything before a few weeks ago. He’s not some ancient—”
“Look at him,” Caleb interrupts. Not unkind. Just factual. “Look at what he just did. The power. The scale of it.” His jaw tightens. “Only one dragon in history could do that. Move like that. Burn through suppression fields designed to contain a dozen dragons.”
I look at K.
