Centuries since I heard him justify it to my face. And now he admits it again casually, like he's discussing weather patterns instead of confessing to murder.
"You chose power over her life." The transformation threatens, scales rippling beneath my skin. "Don't rewrite history to make yourself the hero."
"I chose survival." His expression hardens. "Saoirse was mortal, human, fragile. She would have aged while you stayed young. She would have died of natural causes within decadesregardless. All I did was accelerate the inevitable and remove the vulnerability before enemies could exploit it."
"You took that choice from me." The cave trembles as my power bleeds into the stone. "You killed her and called it mercy."
"I gave you a gift." Mikhail's voice drops to something intimate, persuasive. "Freedom from attachment. You survived her death. You grew stronger. You learned to live without love dragging you down."
"You're insane." Grayson's bear rumbles beneath the words. "You murdered someone and think that makes you noble."
"I'm practical." Mikhail's gaze never leaves mine. "And I'm watching history repeat itself. Finn falls for a mortal. I'm forced to make hard choices. He blames me when reality intervenes."
My dragon claws for release. The transformation fights me, demanding I shift and tear him apart. Mikhail admits he plans to kill Lila, calls it a twisted favor, and every instinct screams to give in.
"She's different." The words scrape out rough through the fury. "Not your concern."
"She's investigating drownings that expose our operations." Mikhail's smile turns cruel. "She's collecting evidence that proves supernatural trafficking exists. And she saw you transform, which means she knows what we are. That makes her very much my concern."
Declan lunges forward before I can stop him.
He blurs across the cave in a strike meant to disable and capture. But Mikhail dissolves into flames before Declan can connect, reforming near the entrance in a burst of heat that scorches the stone.
"Predictable." He laughs, backing toward the ocean beyond. "You always were too emotional, Finn. Letting fear and love dictate strategy."
"I'll kill you." The transformation completes. Wings unfold, filling the cave with crimson scales and ancient fury. "Before you touch her."
"Will you?" Fire dances around him, preparing for flight. "You've had centuries to kill me, old friend. Yet here I stand. Perhaps because part of you remembers what we were before sentiment made you weak."
The truth stings. I've hunted Mikhail across centuries, confronted him in battles that leveled mountains, but I never delivered the killing blow. I always stopped short, always let him escape, always found reasons to spare the friend he used to be.
"Enjoy your new weakness." Mikhail's form shifts, human bleeding into phoenix. "Let's see if you can protect this one better than the last."
He launches into the sky in a column of flame that lights the pre-dawn darkness like a second sun. The heat washes over the cave, and then he's gone, soaring over the ocean toward the mainland beyond.
The silence that follows carries the weight of threat and promise combined.
"He's going to kill her." Kian's voice breaks the quiet. "Not eventually. It will be soon."
"I know." The fury remains even as I force myself to stay calm and shift to human form. "That's why I tried to drive her away. I scared her, threatened her, and told her to leave before she becomes another casualty in a war she doesn't understand."
"And she seems to have stayed." Grayson crosses his arms. "Your strategy failed."
"She's stubborn." The admission tastes like defeat. "Smart enough to know something's wrong. Brave enough to investigate despite the danger. Too committed to her research to walk away from evidence."
"So claim her." Declan's command carries the weight of alpha authority. "Make her dragon. Give her the power to defend herself against what's coming."
"Claiming her binds her to this war, to centuries of bloodshed she never asked for, and gives Mikhail exactly the leverage he wants."
"Not claiming her means she dies unprotected." Kian's logic is brutal and accurate. "The syndicate will kill her for what she knows. Mikhail will kill her to hurt you. She's walking into danger with no real idea what she's facing."
There's no path that keeps Lila safe and human. The moment I showed her my dragon form, the moment the bond started forming, I sealed her fate.
"I need to warn her." The path is clear now. "I need to tell her what Mikhail is, what he did to Saoirse, and why she's in danger."
"And then?" Declan's question demands honesty.
"Then she chooses. Claim the bond and become dragon or leave this island and hope the syndicate doesn't hunt her for what she knows."
