Alek managed to watch several hours of “TV” before he fell asleep. When he woke up, drowsy as usual, he realized Talia must have been up for some time.

She handed him a bag filled with different materials and suggested he take them into a “bathroom” to change.

After he’d figured out the toilet and shower, which were both magnificent inventions, he’d changed into the clothing he’d been given.

When he’d first come out, some of the items had been backward, and Talia had needed to fix a few things, do up a few odd buttons, help him tie the odd short boots he was wearing.

At the end of it, he couldn’t help but look in the mirror and think he looked foolish indeed.

No one who saw him now would think him a warrior or a lord of anything, unless it was a lord of soft, non-protective clothing.

Still, Talia seemed appreciative, and a soft blush had spread over her cheeks when he was finished and came out to show her the final result.

He wore some kind of blue shirt that buttoned down the front and blue, sturdy fabric pants that had a weird, dangerous metal contraption holding them together over the groin. Plus, a leather belt, keeping it up.

He’d used one of the odd little bands on the counter to pull his hair back in a low queue so it would stay out of his way. The men he’d seen on the TV had short hair, so he guessed none of them had his kind of nobility.

His long, pale locks were a sign of everything he was meant to be, and he guarded them carefully.

Talia was staring at him, still blushing, and lifted a hand to gesture toward his hair. “May I?”

He cocked his head. “May you what?”

“Touch it?”

It was his turn to flush. Something that was odd for the lord of winter to do. But she had done a lot for him, and he supposed there was nothing wrong with it. He bent his head. “Of course.”

She put a hand up to stroke a lock that had escaped his ponytail, then lifted the ponytail in her hand. “Wow, so long and soft.” It went to just below his shoulders. “I’ve never seen hair like this.”

An electric buzz of awareness went through him, and he straightened, pulling out of her grasp. Letting the human touch him had been a mistake. She kept setting off something inside him, and he wasn’t sure what.

He pushed his ponytail back over his shoulder. “So what now?”

“We should go back to the lab,” she said. “I need to write up some notes. Figure out what I should say to my mentor.” She rubbed her forehead, and he wished he could ease her stress for her. “I mean, I don’t know if I should even tell anyone about you. Who would believe me?”

“Why?”

“Because normally, people aren’t supposed to pop out of ice after hundreds of years!”

“But I am not normal people,” he said patiently. “I’m the lor—”

“Lord of winter,” she said softly. “I know. And that doesn’t make any sense either. I mean, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t. But for right now, I just need to get back to the lab and hope I can figure something out.”

“All right,” he said. “I will accompany you.”

“Just… try to be normal.”

He straightened, rising to his full height. “But I told you I’m not normal, even for my time. I’m—”

She reached up on tiptoes, putting a finger to his lips. He started at the touch, at how much it affected him, and jolted backward.

“I know, I know, but I need you to act normal for now. Okay?”

He nodded softly, agreeing internally as long as she took her hand away. He was the lord of winter, not to be affected by the mere touch of a finger. “Fine.”

She sighed in relief and walked over to grab a somewhat large leather bag from the room he now knew as the kitchen. “All right, then. Let’s go.”

They didn’t have far to walk across a small courtyard before they reached a large gray building and went inside. The hallway was cold and sterile, like the “lab” he’d been in before when he was in the ice.

People walked by him in white coats, and some of them stared at him, in either shock or admiration, and he smirked to himself. Maybe people in these days really had never seen a dragon, let alone one as exemplary as himself.

Though he remembered nothing from his history, he knew somehow he was exemplary at least. Why else would he have been allowed to rule?

In the courtyard, women had pointed and giggled, and men had stopped with slack jaws.

It was nice to be appreciated, but he didn’t like the way Talia had simply ducked her head and ignored all of their attention. Almost as if she… feared them.

How did the pecking order work in this world when someone as clearly bright and brave as her had to avert her eyes from mere strangers?

She was still shuffling down the hall as if in a hurry, clutching her bag, so Alek hurried to keep up. When they reached the door to the lab, she stopped, pulling out a keyring.

“So what will we do when we’re in there?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, there should be some more samples of ice. I’m hoping that maybe we could study them, figure out how you stayed alive so long. Bodies have been preserved in ice, but no one has ever lived that long before.”

He blinked. Well, he’d probably lived because he was a full-blooded dragon, and they were hard to kill. Certainly, a block of ice couldn’t do it. Though, how had it even put him to sleep?

“I suppose that would be good to find out,” he murmured.

As she unlocked the door to the lab, he remembered how he’d tried to use his powers to show her what he was and then passed out. Perhaps if they solved the mystery of how he’d gotten in that ice, they could also solve the mystery that would bring his past and his powers back.

He followed her as she walked into the lab and then was surprised when she let out a gasp. He pushed in front of her protectively, in case there was danger, but froze when he saw the scene in front of him.

Nothing looked as it had before when he’d burst out, spraying chunks of ice everywhere and knocking a few things over. Now there was a makeshift camp and a fire in the middle of it. Piles of paper had been used for kindling, and several chairs had been broken up to burn as well.

Pieces of lab equipment had been moved out of the way, and what he now knew was a refrigerator was turned over, boxes falling out and water leaking on the floor.

But the most surprising things were the two huge men seated in front of the fire, using long sticks to hold pastries like the ones he’d eaten last night over the fire to cook them.

As both men turned to look at Talia, something flashed in his mind, calling from his home. These men. He knew them.

Luka. Dmitri. As long as these two were in this world, everything was going to be fine. He was sure of it.

* * *

Talia stared at the panorama in front of her, trying to take it all in.

She was a logical person. At least she always tried to be. And she had managed to remain calm for the most part, even though nothing for the past twenty-four hours had made sense.

Alek was some kind of discovery, and she had no idea what to do about him. She knew she felt safe around him, for some odd reason. But she had no idea how he was alive or why he talked about being lord of winter or why he knew the men in front of her.

Oh God, they were burning her papers. Her manuals… And was that her new chair?

She jumped into action, grabbing a fire extinguisher from the wall and hurrying to put the fire out before a smoke alarm went off. One of the men, the giant one with a shaved head (who’d been… roasting a Hot Pocket?) glared at her as the fire fizzled out, covered with white foam.

He pointed the stick holding the Hot Pocket at her and bared his teeth. “You better explain yourself, human. Who are you and why have you brought us here?”

Alek stepped in front of her protectively, and she actually appreciated it, given that he was their size.

The man with the shaved head dropped to his knees immediately, putting his hands on the ground and sending the stick and Hot Pocket flying across the floor. “My lord.”

Good God, were they all in on this delusion? Or had Alek been some kind of actual ruler where he’d come from? And why did he think he ruled winter?

Alek put out a hand, raising the man to his feet, and pulled him into a hard, manly hug. “Dmitri.”

The other man, who had dark, shaggy hair, stood hesitantly. Alek noticed him and pulled him in as well.

“Luka,” Alek said affectionately. Then he separated himself from the men and spoke matter of factly. “This isn’t our world, but we are safe here. For now.” He looked at the Hot Pocket. “I will see to it that you both have food and shelter immediately.

“But, my lord,” Luka said with hesitation. “It is our duty to—”

Alek raised his head haughtily. “I am the first awake here. I have knowledge you don’t. I expect you to study and catch up so you can inform me, but for now, acting as friend and bodyguard is good enough.”

Both of the men nodded and looked at Alek expectantly.

Had she entered Crazy Land?

Alek turned to her with a smile. “This is Talia. She rescued me.”

Is that how he put it? At least he didn’t think she’d captured him. She put out a hand, and the other men simply looked at it.

“She is human,” Dmitri muttered, not extending a hand.

“A woman?” Luka said doubtfully. “She cannot possibly serve you, master.”

Alek’s expression hardened. “She has helped me. She is under my protection. I expect her to be treated as such.”

Dmitri eyed the crates they had come from, now broken and scattered all over the place. “How do you know she is not responsible for our capture?”

Alek shook his head. “It has been many, many years, my friend. Her mentor found us when gathering ice and snow. She was not expecting to find me. She was genuinely surprised.”

“I was,” Talia added for good measure.

Luka stared at her, his expression slightly softer. He had light, light eyes. Almost white but with just a tinge of blue, like ice on a frozen lake. “I see. We are grateful for your help, then.”

“Let us get you home, get you some victuals,” Alek said, turning to head for the door.

“But my work,” Talia said. She bit her lip as she looked around her lab, realizing she wasn’t going to really get anything done anyway. She’d have to call in some favors from some eager freshmen who could keep their mouth shut in exchange for extra credit. And she certainly couldn’t work there now. “All right. We’ll go home and get you fed and cleaned up.”

Luka and Dmitri perked up at that. Dmitri’s eyes were a vivid blue-green, not fiery blue like Alek’s or pale like Luka’s. He seemed a bit too excited at the prospect of food, but she guessed men as tall and muscled as him, as all of them, required near constant calories.

“Follow me,” she said warily, feeling the ground shake around her as the men followed her out of the room. How had she even gotten into this situation? Going home when she was supposed to be working, with three gorgeous, hulking, supposed-to-be-dead men following right behind?

She kept a steady pace down the corridor, hoping she didn’t have to pass any of her colleagues on the way, knowing it would look strange to be trailing such odd, weirdly dressed men.

She heard voices and looked up to see a group of men in lab coats coming toward them, talking a bit too loudly. Great. The chem lab douchebags. Their department was all male, and they tended not to get along with those in the biology lab.

She tried to hurry past them, hoping not to be noticed, but as usual, no luck.

Ben, the ringleader of the group because he was slightly taller and a little more boisterous, blocked her path, peering at the men behind her. “Ha, did the lesbians in the bio wing finally decide to give up on finding men and just buy them?”

She stared at Ben in disbelief at how rude he was being but tried to push past him, only to see five or six other guys blocking her way.

“Come on. If you and Iris wanted company, you could have asked us,” Neil said. “You didn’t have to hire strippers.” He made a crude gesture with his pelvis, and Ben and the others tittered with laughter.

She heard someone clear his throat and felt Alek step up to stand directly behind her. She didn’t have to look to feel him towering over her, glaring at the men in front. The way the group cringed back slightly told her everything she needed to know.

“You’d dare threaten the subjects of the lord of winter?” He stepped out to face them directly, and Luka and Dmitri joined him at either side. They made a solid wall of male muscle, and she could barely see through the gaps in their arms. “This woman and all her friends are under my protection. Mock her again and feel my icy wrath.”

Ben’s eyes widened, and he looked for a second like he didn’t know whether to laugh or to pee his pants.

“So you’re studying crazy people now?” Neil said, trying to scoff but looking like he was shaking.

“You want to challenge me?” Dmitri asked, taking a step forward, the most hulking of the group.

That made the men scatter, pushing each other out of the way and nearly tripping in their haste to get away from the “lord of winter” and his guards.

She watched as they sprinted down the hallway, glancing back to make sure no one was following.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t tell anyone about this embarrassing encounter, but she’d still have to come up with some kind of explanation in case they did.

She sighed, putting a palm over her face, and then looked up to see Alek staring at her in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I protected you as one of my subjects.”

Her heart warmed slightly at that because it wasn’t often that a man, any man, stood up for her. She’d always had to look out for herself. But then again, he was delusional and had just threatened to use supernatural powers on someone…

She had no idea what to say.

“You’re grateful,” Alek said finally, rising back to his normal height. “That is usual. We can go now. Word should travel, and you shouldn’t be bothered.”

“Word traveling is what I’m worried about,” she said quietly.

Alek stared at her curiously. “Why?”

She let out a sigh, still trying to deny the part of her that was warm and aroused at the way he’d stepped in front of her and made the other dudes scatter like flies. She was a scientist. He was a subject. A probably insane one who had been damaged by years of cryosleep. If such a thing was possible.

She had to stay sane. And that meant not noticing that he was hot, protective, and more man than she’d ever been with. And that he sometimes looked at her with something fierce and possessive in his eyes.

“Never mind. I’m your subject. It’s fine,” she said, deciding not to argue since he had done something nice for her. “I’m grateful for your help.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.”

“Now let’s head home.”