
To pay off his debts, bankrupt auction-house intern Leo puts a forged dragon scale up for black-market bidding—unwittingly summoning Kael, the last black dragon on earth. Before the gavel falls, Kael's tail coils around Leo's waist as he declares before the crowd: "You stole from me. Now you belong to me." When dragon hunter Grim and creditor Marcus team up to drive a dragon-tooth arrow through Kael's wing bone and pin him beneath rubble, Leo can no longer stand by. He snaps his dislocated thumb to slip free of a gold chain and runs barefoot back to the battlefield, shielding the dragon with his own body. In the ruins, Kael bites his own tongue and feeds Leo dragon blood, pouring breath and ley-line energy into him—forging between them an unbreakable empathic bond.