It still smells like him.
And I let myself break.
Just for a moment. Just long enough to feel the fear and rage and helplessness.
Then I rebuild the walls. Lock everything down.
Tomorrow, I follow the road.
Tomorrow, I find where they’ve taken him.
And then, God help anyone who tries to stop me. I’m getting him out of there.
Chapter 18
K.
The vehicle is wrong.
Not the motion; that’s smooth, controlled, faster than anything I can recall encountering. But the interior. Metal and plastic and glass, humming with contained power I don’t understand.
I’ve traveled before. The knowledge sits certain despite my memory’s void. But not like this. Not with screens glowing softly in the darkness, displaying symbols and numbers that mean nothing to me.
“Iron bird,” I called the helicopter. This is similar; technology I can’t place, moving us toward a destination I don’t know. Was Mara right? Did I live in a village cut off from civilization?
The cuffs dig into my wrists. Heavy. Cold. Reinforced with something that makes my flesh prickle and my power stutter.
Six operatives surround me in the vehicle’s interior. Armed. Alert. The suppression devices still hum at low frequency, creating pressure against my skull that makes thought difficult.
They’re not taking chances.
Smart of them.
If I could access even half my strength, I’d tear through this metal shell like parchment. Burn my way free. Return to—
Mara.
I left her behind. Saw her collapse to her knees as they dragged me away. The devastation on her face carved itself into my memory with permanence I can’t escape.
I will come back, I promised.
But how? Bound. Suppressed. Being transported toward an unknown destination by men who clearly know what I am, even if I don’t fully understand it.
The questions have no answers. So I focus on observation instead.
The operatives speak occasionally. Short, clipped exchanges. They avoid looking at me directly, but I feel their awareness. Their… fear?
No. Not fear.
Something else. Something that makes them hold themselves straighter when they think I’m watching. That makes their voices drop when they speak near me.
Reverence.
The realization settles cold in my gut. Whatever I am, whatever they believe me to be, it’s significant enough to warrant this strange combination of restraint and awe.
Perhaps it’s because they know of the golden dragon I become. Bigger than their own. Stronger.
If I could reach for the beast right now, I could put that theory to the test. But I’ve never worked out exactly how I make that change because the dragon has only ever surfacedin emergencies. Now, trussed up like an animal and with my strength subdued, there’s even less chance of that happening.
