Chapter 270: A Promise, A Pulse, A New Beginning

Cyrus stared at Kane.

The familiar amber eyes, the crooked smile, the ridiculous question after everything they had endured.

He had imagined this moment so many times that its reality left him speechless.

He leaned forward and gathered Kane into his arms.

"Whoa. Easy, Dragon Daddy. I just got this body back."

Cyrus held him anyway, burying his face against Kane’s neck. Beneath his cheek, a heartbeat pulsed steadily. Warm skin. Living breath. A spirit core answering his own.

Kane’s laughter faded when he felt Cyrus trembling. He slipped both arms around him.

"Hey," he whispered. "I’m here."

"I thought I’d lost you."

"You did." Kane tightened his embrace. "But you found me again."

Cyrus drew back enough to see his face. "I was terrified."

"Dying was terrible, for the record. Zero stars. I’m not doing it again."

"Promise?"

For a moment, Kane looked at him without joking. He seemed to understand that Cyrus was not asking for a guarantee either of them could give. He was asking for a future they could finally try to protect together.

Kane’s smile softened. "Promise."

Cyrus kissed his forehead. The gesture was brief, but he lingered close afterward, unwilling to surrender even an inch of the distance between them.

A pointed cough interrupted them.

Kane glanced past his shoulder. Isabelle, Rina, Ginsei, and Commander Qi stood beside the ruined ritual array, watching with varying degrees of concern.

"Why does this look like an intervention?" Kane asked.

"Because," Ginsei said, "I think you died?"

"And came back. You’re welcome."

Rina blinked. "You actually remember being dead?"

"Unfortunately. I can provide a detailed review, but there’ll be spoilers."

Isabelle pinched the bridge of her nose. "I have so many questions."

"Excellent. I’ll prepare slides."

"Agent Ashwood," Commander Qi said, "you can address those questions in your field report."

Kane stared. "Commander, I literally returned from the dead."

"Then your report should be particularly informative."

Kane opened his mouth, but Cyrus shifted beside him. The movement was small. The way his face drained of color wasn’t.

"Cyrus?"

"I’m fine."

He tried to rise. His damaged wing twitched, and his knees buckled before he cleared the edge of the pod.

Kane caught his arm. Isabelle seized the other.

"Fine?" Kane repeated.

Rina swept a scanner over Cyrus’s chest. Its warning lights turned red. "Fractured ribs, a damaged wing joint, severe dragonfire depletion, and extensive spirit-core fractures."

"Also," Isabelle added, "he spent the last hour insisting he’s had worse."

"Has he?" Kane asked.

"No."

"Traitors," Cyrus muttered.

They eased him into a medical chair. Kane remained at his side while Rina applied a stabilizing charm to the fractures around his core. Silver foxfire sparked instinctively across Kane’s fingertips.

"Don’t," Rina warned.

"I haven’t done anything."

"Your newly restored core needs time to settle. At least forty-eight hours before you attempt major healing."

Kane looked at Cyrus, then reluctantly extinguished the flame. "Fine. But somebody had better fix my dragon."

"We’re working on it," Isabelle said.

Just then, a sharp crack sounded across the chamber.

Everyone froze.

Kane turned toward the obsidian case resting near the dismantled ritual apparatus.

Crack.

"Uh," he said. "Is our egg supposed to do that?"

Cyrus went still.

A silver line appeared across the shell. Another followed, branching beneath the black surface like lightning trapped in stone.

"It’s hatching," Cyrus whispered.

The words caught strangely in his throat. He had guarded that egg through centuries of loneliness and one terrible night of bargaining. He had never allowed himself to picture what came after the shell broke.

"Now?" Kane looked between the egg and his mate. "Our son has spectacular timing."

Rina checked the nearby readings. "Both your signatures are stable and present. The egg’s resonance is responding to you together."

Cyrus attempted to stand again.

"Stay where you are," Isabelle said. She signaled two agents, who carefully brought the protective cradle beside his chair.

Inside, the egg rocked once, then twice. A small triangular piece broke free.

Two black claws poked through the opening and scrabbled helplessly against the shell.

Kane clapped a hand over his mouth.

A tiny snout emerged, followed by delicate horns and a pair of blinking crimson eyes.

The hatchling sneezed, releasing a puff of smoke that curled harmlessly toward the ceiling.

"Oh, he’s adorable," Kane whispered, delighted.

With a determined chirp, the baby shoved against the remaining shell and tumbled into the padded cradle, landing on his back.

For a moment, he lay there in outrage.

Then he righted himself, wings flapping unevenly.

Glossy obsidian scales covered his little body. Fine silver markings traced his horns and wing edges, while a tail nearly as long as the rest of him curled around his feet.

He looked first at Cyrus, responding to the familiar warmth of dragonfire. Then he turned toward Kane, whose restored foxfire shimmered faintly beneath his skin.

The hatchling stretched both claws toward them.

Kane’s eyes filled. "Cyrus, look."

Cyrus reached out with one trembling finger. Their son pressed his tiny forehead into it, then chirped impatiently toward Kane.

"Demanding already," Cyrus murmured.

"Clearly takes after you."

"I’m not the demanding one."

Kane gave him a look, then carefully lifted the hatchling with both hands, supporting his belly and oversized tail.

The baby immediately grabbed a lock of silver hair.

"Ow. Excuse you. That’s attached."

Cyrus laughed, softly enough that only Kane heard.

For one quiet moment, he watched the two of them. Hours earlier, he had believed both might be lost to him. Now Kane was alive, their child was warm and squirming, and Cyrus could touch them without fearing they would vanish.

Behind them, Rina cooed softly. Isabelle’s typically stern expression had softened considerably. Even Ginsei looked grudgingly impressed.

Commander Qi cleared his throat. "Agent Ashwood."

Kane looked up, still cradling the hatchling.

"Remember to register him with the BSA."

Kane blinked. "That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say?"

"Congratulations on your resurrection and new child. Now register him."

"Sir, I—"

"Within fourty-eight hours. The paperwork is extensive."

Kane stared at Commander Qi, then down at the tiny dragon in his arms, then back at Qi.

The hatchling chirped happily and tried to bite Kane’s finger.

"Yeah," Kane said faintly. "Okay. Sure. Paperwork. After coming back from the dead."

Cyrus’s hand settled on Kane’s shoulder, warm and steady.

The hatchling yawned, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth, and curled into Kane’s chest with absolute trust like it always belonged there.