Legion

Julie Kagawa

Books by Julie Kagawa

The Talon Saga

Talon

Rogue

Soldier

Legion

Blood of Eden

Dawn of Eden (prequel novella)

The Immortal Rules

The Eternity Cure

The Forever Song

The Iron Fey series

The Iron King

Winter’s Passage (ebook novella)

The Iron Daughter

The Iron Queen

Summer’s Crossing (ebook novella)

The Iron Knight

Iron’s Prophecy (ebook novella)

The Lost Prince

The Iron Traitor

The Iron Warrior

To Tashya, Laurie and Nick,

my trio of awesome.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Books by Julie Kagawa

Dedication

PART I: Sacrifice Is Necessary

DANTE

EMBER

RILEY

GARRET

EMBER

GARRET

DANTE

RILEY

EMBER

GARRET

EMBER

DANTE

PART II: The Wyrm Turns

DANTE

EMBER

RILEY

EMBER

PART III: Fang and Fire

RILEY

EMBER

DANTE

GARRET

DANTE

EMBER

RILEY

EMBER

GARRET

RILEY

EMBER

GARRET

EMBER

RILEY

EMBER

GARRET

RILEY

EMBER

DANTE

GARRET

RILEY

GARRET

RILEY

GARRET

DANTE

GARRET

DANTE

GARRET

DANTE

GARRET

DANTE

GARRET

DANTE

EMBER

RILEY

GARRET

EPILOGUE

DANTE

Copyright

PART I Sacrifice Is Necessary

DANTE

She was always the favored one.

“Ember,” Mr. Gordon sighed for the second time that hour. “Please pay attention. This is important. Are you listening?”

“Yes,” my twin muttered, not looking up from her desk, where she was doodling cartoon figures into her textbook. “I’m listening.”

Mr. Gordon frowned. “All right, then. Can you tell me what the fleshy part of a human’s ear is called?”

I raised my hand. As expected, Mr. Gordon ignored me.

“Ember?” he prompted when she didn’t answer. “Do you know the answer to the question?”

Ember sighed and put down her pencil. “The earlobe,” she said in a voice that clearly stated, I’m bored and I want to be somewhere else.

“Yes.” Mr. Gordon nodded. “The fleshy part of a human’s ear is the earlobe. Very good, Ember. Write that down—it will be on the test tomorrow.

“All right,” he continued as Ember scribbled something in her notebook. I doubted it was the answer, or anything to do with the test, so I jotted the definition down, just in case she forgot. “Next question. Human hair and fingernails are made of the same substance a dragon’s claws and horns are made of. What is this substance called? Ember?”

“Um.” Ember blinked. Clearly, she had no idea. “I dunno.”

I started to raise my hand but stopped. There was no point.

“We discussed this yesterday,” Mr. Gordon continued sternly. “All through class, we talked about the human anatomy. You should know this. A human’s hair and fingernails, and a dragon’s claws and horns, are all made of...?”

Come on, Ember, I thought at her. You know this. It’s in your brain, even if you were staring out the window most of class yesterday.

Ember shrugged, slumping in her chair in a pose that said, I don’t want to be here. Our teacher sighed and turned to me. “Dante?”

“Keratin,” I answered.

He gave a brisk nod but turned back to Ember. “Yes, keratin. Your brother was paying attention,” he told her, narrowing his eyes. “Why can’t you do the same?”

Ember glowered. Comparing her to me was always a surefire way to make her mad. “I don’t see why I have to know the difference between scales and human toenails,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “Who cares what it’s called? I bet the humans don’t know that hair is made of kraken, either.”

“Keratin,” Mr. Gordon corrected, frowning back at her. “And it is highly important that you know what it is you are Shifting into, inside and out. If you want to mimic humans perfectly, you must know them perfectly. Even if they do not.”

“I still think it’s dumb,” Ember mumbled, looking longingly out the window at the desert and open sky beyond the chain-link fence that surrounded the compound. Our teacher’s expression darkened.

“Well, then, let’s give you some motivation. If you and Dante don’t make at least ninty-five percent on your tests tomorrow, you both will be banned from the game room for a month.” Ember jerked in her seat, eyes going wide with outrage, and Mr. Gordon gave her a cold smile. “That is how important you knowing the human anatomy is to Talon. So I would study, both of you.” He waved a hand at the door. “You’re dismissed.”

* * *

“It’s totally unfair,” Ember raged as we walked across the dusty yard to our dorms. Overhead, the Nevada sun beat down on me, chasing away the chill of the air-conditioned classroom and warming my skin. Or, should I say, my epidermis?

I smirked at my own joke, knowing Ember wouldn’t get it. And, in her current mood, she wouldn’t appreciate it even if she did.

“Gordon is a bully,” Ember growled, kicking a pebble with her shoe, sending it bouncing over the dusty ground. “He can’t ban us from the game room for a whole month—that’s completely insane. I’d go crazy—there’s nothing else to do around here.”

“Well, you could try paying attention,” I suggested as we neared the long cement building at the edge of the fence. As expected, the suggestion did not go over well.

“How am I supposed to pay attention when everything is so boring?” Ember snapped, wrenching open the door. Inside, the living room was cool to the point of chilly. A pair of leather sofas sat in an L around a coffee table, and a large television hung on the opposite wall, its huge screen shiny and dark. It had over a hundred channels, everything from sci-fi to news stations to movies and sports—an attempt to keep us pacified, I suspected, though it never really worked on Ember. She would rather be outside than sitting in a room watching TV all day. The room was also spotlessly clean, despite the mess a certain sibling made of it nearly every day.

Ember stalked to one of the couches and tossed her books onto the cushions. “They never give me a break,” she continued, ignoring the texts as one of them slid off the leather and fell to the floor. “They just keep pushing me—do better, go faster, pay more attention. Nothing I do is ever good enough.” She gave me a half joking, half sour glare. “They never do that with you, Tweedledum.”

“That’s because I actually pay attention.” I set my bag on the table and headed into the kitchen for something to drink. Our live-in caretaker, Mr. Stiles, was not in sight, so I figured he was either out or in his room. “They never have reason to come after me.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t know how lucky you are,” Ember grumbled, heading down the hall to her quarters. “If you need me, I’ll be in my room cramming for this stupid test tomorrow. If you hear a crash, don’t panic. I’ve probably just smashed my head through the wall.”

Right, I thought as the door to her room opened and closed with a bang. Lucky.

Alone in the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of orange juice and perched on the breakfast stool, brooding into the cup.

Lucky, Ember had said. Of course it would seem lucky to her. She was the favorite, the one they all paid attention to. It had always been that way. In our eleven years together, our instructors always seemed to ask her questions first, show her things first, make sure she knew what she was doing. They pushed her hard and insisted she do things right, not noticing—or seeming to care—that I already knew the answers. And when I did get them to notice, it was always to set an example for my sister. See, Dante knows the answers. Dante already has this down. I would kill for half the favor they showed her.

Draining the glass, I put it into the dishwasher before heading down the hall to my room. I just had to do better, I thought, resolve stealing over me. I had to work for the attention that came so easily to my sister. Ember was hotheaded and always getting into trouble; it was up to me to watch out for us both. But at the same time, if I kept working hard and excelling, eventually they would realize that I always did better than my twin. They would realize that I was the smart one; I was the one who did everything right. If Talon didn’t notice what I could do, I would just make them see.

* * *

“Mr. Hill? The Elder Wyrm is ready for you. Please, go in.”

Sitting on the couch in the cold, brightly lit lobby, I raised my head as the present caught up with me, shaking away dark thoughts and the memories of the past. I’d been thinking of Ember a lot recently, her presence weighing heavily on my mind. Guilt, perhaps, that I had failed her? That I wasn’t able to keep my twin safe from her worst enemy—herself?

Standing, I nodded to the human assistant and walked toward the huge doors of Elder Wyrm’s office. I couldn’t think like that anymore. I wasn’t eleven years old, desperate to prove I was worth something. I wasn’t the pathetic, overlooked twin of the Elder Wyrm’s daughter. No, I had proved myself, to all of Talon, that I was worthy of my heritage. I was the Elder Wyrm’s right-hand man, the one she trusted with Talon’s most important campaign.

And someday, if everything worked out, I would lead all of Talon. Someday, this would all be mine. I was close, so very close, to achieving what I’d set out to do all those years ago. I couldn’t falter now.

The enormous wooden doors to the CEO’s office loomed above me, brass handles glimmering in the light. I didn’t knock or wait for the Elder Wyrm to call me in. I simply opened the doors and entered.

The Elder Wyrm was sitting at her desk, manicured nails clicking over the keyboard as her eyes scanned the computer screen. Her presence still filled the office, massive and terrifying, even though she wasn’t looking at me. I walked quietly across the room and stood at the front of the desk with my hands clasped behind my back. Having an open invitation into the Elder Wyrm’s office was one thing. Interrupting the Elder Wyrm, without waiting for her to acknowledge your presence, was another. I was heir to one of the largest empires in the corporate world, but she was still the CEO of Talon and the most powerful dragon in existence. Not even the son of the Elder Wyrm was exempt from protocol.

The Elder Wyrm didn’t say anything or look up from her task, and I waited silently for her to finish. Finally, she clicked the mouse button, pushed the keyboard tray beneath the desktop and looked up at me. Her green-eyed gaze, identical to Ember’s and my own, pierced the space between us.

“Dante.” She smiled and, unlike that of many other dragons who could only imitate a smile, hers seemed genuine. Of course, that was what made her so dangerous; you never knew if what she was showing you was real or not. “Good to see you again. How was your trip back?”

“It was fine, ma’am. Thank you.”

She nodded and rose, gesturing to the duo of chairs in front of the desk. I sank into one obediently and crossed my legs as the Elder Wyrm came around the desk to pin me with her stare. The weight of her gaze was suffocating, but I settled back with a calm yet expectant expression, careful not to show any fear.

“Plans are in motion,” the Elder Wyrm said, and her low voice sent a shiver down my spine. “Everything is nearly in place. There is just one thing missing now. One last thing we must take care of.”

My heart beat faster. I could guess what that final piece was. Of course it would be her. Even now, she didn’t realize her importance.

“Ember Hill must be retrieved,” the Elder Wyrm went on, her tone becoming frighteningly intense. The hairs on my arms rose, and something inside me shrank down in terror as the Elder Wyrm speared me with that terrible gaze. “It is imperative that she return to Talon. No more mistakes. This is what we are going to do...”

EMBER

He’s gone.

I knelt in the salt, holding Garret’s motionless body in my lap as the sun climbed slowly over the flats and tinged the desolate landscape the color of blood. The soldier’s face was slack and pale, his skin still warm as he bled out in my arms. Around me, there were flurries of frantic movement, voices shouting, questions that might’ve been directed at me. But nothing seemed real. Garret was gone. I had lost him.

“Shit, he’s bleeding out fast.” This from Riley, kneeling on the opposite side of the soldier, holding a bloody cloth to his side. “We can’t wait for an ambulance—he’ll be dead in two minutes if we don’t do something now.”

“Here,” gasped another voice behind me. Tristan St. Anthony, Garret’s former partner and a soldier of St. George, dropped to his knees beside Riley. He carried a large plastic box and yanked the lid back, revealing an array of bandages, gauze and medical supplies. “I can do a transfusion right here,” Tristan said, pulling a long, clear tube from the bottom of the container, “but I don’t have the correct blood type. His body will reject it if it’s not a match.”

“What does he need?” Riley growled.

“O positive.”

“Shit.” Reaching into the box, Riley pulled out something that glittered metallically in the cold light. For just a second, he stared at it, as if trying to come to a decision. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered, and sliced the scalpel blade across his arm, right above the bend of his elbow. Blood welled and ran down his skin, and my stomach lurched.

Tristan’s eyes widened. “Are you—”

“Shut up and stick that tube in his arm before I regret this even more.”

Tristan scrambled to comply. Riley stood, holding the other end of the clear plastic, shaking his head. “I fucking can’t believe I’m doing this,” he growled again, and shoved the end of the tube into his bicep.

A dark stream of red ran from his arm, twisting lazily through the plastic, inching toward the dying soldier. Fascinated, I stared at the crimson stream, heart pounding, until Riley’s voice snapped me out of my numb daze.

“Don’t just sit there, Firebrand! How about you start patching him up before he starts leaking my blood all over the ground?”

I jumped, but Tristan was already moving, pulling out disinfectant, bandages and a needle and thread with grim determination. He glanced up, dark blue eyes meeting mine, and I saw the raw emotion behind his careful soldier’s mask. A lump caught in my throat, and I gently lowered Garret to the ground, then accepted the supplies thrust into my hands. For the next few minutes, we worked to keep the soldier we loved from dying on the barren flats outside Salt Lake City, while Riley loomed over us both, connected to Garret by a thin stream of red, his expression like a thundercloud.

RILEY

Whoa, getting light-headed here.

I swayed, gritting my teeth, as a wave of dizziness washed over me, making me stagger back a step. Thankfully, Ember and St. Anthony, still bent over the soldier, didn’t seem to notice. They’d patched up his many wounds, either by wrapping them in gauze or sewing them shut, and he now lay between them on the salt flats, still as death and nearly as white as the ground beneath him. I looked at Ember, at the tear tracks staining her cheeks, and wondered if she would cry for me if I ever bit the dust.

“He still alive?” I asked gruffly.

The other soldier of St. George felt his wrist, then nodded once and sat back on his heels with a sigh. “Yeah,” he answered in an equally brusque voice. “For now.”

“Well, that’s good. I’d hate to be getting this nauseous for nothing.” I watched him carefully remove the tube from the soldier’s arm and tape the final wound shut. The end of the tube dropped to the ground and leaked my blood all over the salt.

“You should go,” St. Anthony said in a low voice, not looking at me. “Get him out of here. Before the rest of the Order shows up.”

I nodded wearily. “I’ll call Wes,” I told Ember. My human hacker friend waited on standby, ready to speed to our side if anything went wrong. I’d say this classified as very, very wrong. “He should be here in a few minutes.”

She nodded without looking up, her attention riveted to the soldier, and I stifled the growl rumbling in my throat. Instead, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pressed a familiar button.

“Tell me you’re not dead, Riley,” said the terse English voice on the other end.

I sighed. “No, Wes, I got my head blown off, and this is just my ghost speaking to you from the afterlife. What the hell do you think?”

“Well, since you’re calling me, I take it things did not go as planned. Did St. George manage to get himself killed?”

I looked down at Ember and the soldier. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? What kind of bloody answer is that? Either he’s dead or he isn’t.”

“It’s complicated.” I explained the situation, and what led up to it, as briefly as I could. Wes already knew that Garret had been challenged by the Patriarch, the leader of St. George, to a duel to the death. The soldier had defeated the man, barely, and forced him to yield, ending the fight. But then he made a mistake. He’d spared his life. And while the soldier was walking away, the Patriarch had pulled a gun and shot him in the back. That move had ended his life, as one of his own seconds responded immediately by putting several bullets through his former Patriarch, but it came too late to help the soldier, who now lay like the dead on the salt flats outside the city.

“So much for the famed honor of St. George,” I muttered into the shocked silence on the other end. “So now we need to get him, and us, out of here pronto. Think you can manage that?”

“Bloody hell, Riley.” Wes sighed. “Can you not, just once, go into a situation without one of you nearly dying?” There was a pause, and I heard the growl of an engine as it rumbled to life. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Try not to let anyone else get shot, okay?”

“One more thing,” I said, lowering my voice to a near whisper and turning my back on the trio kneeling in the salt. “I’m initiating Emergency Go to Ground protocol now. Send the signal through the network, to all the safe houses.”

“Shit, Riley,” Wes breathed. “Is it that bad?”

“The leader of St. George, their Grand Poobah himself, was just killed. Even if they don’t blame us—which they will, you can be sure of that—things are going to get crazy from here on. I don’t want any of us out in the open when the shit starts to hit the fan. No one moves or pokes a scale out the door until I say otherwise.”

“Bugger all,” Wes muttered, and the faint tapping of keys drifted through the phone. Even when he was on standby, Wes’s laptop never left his side. “Initiating protocol...now.” He sighed again, sounding weary. “Right, that’s done. So now I suppose we’re heading to the bugout spot to wait for the Order to flip the hell out when they hear the news.”

“Get here as soon as you can, Wes.”

“Joy. On my way.”

I lowered the phone and glanced at St. Anthony, forcing a smirk. “I don’t suppose you people brought a stretcher.”

“Actually, we did.” The other soldier still knelt in the salt beside Sebastian’s body. His voice was grave, but a tremor went through him, barely noticeable. “The Order always comes prepared. Though we thought it would just be...one body.”

A chill went through me, joining the dizziness. I lifted my gaze and looked over the huddle of people in front of me to where a still form in white lay crumpled in the salt a few yards away. Like the soldier, he was covered in blood, the back of his once-pristine uniform spattered with red from where the series of bullets had torn through his body. The Patriarch of the Order of St. George lay dead where he had fallen, the final look on his face one of disbelief and rage.

I guessed I’d be surprised, too, if I’d been shot several times in the back by one of my own soldiers. And not the one I had challenged in a fight to the death.

“Tristan St. Anthony.” The new voice echoed behind us, low and frigid. I saw the human briefly close his eyes before raising his head.

“Sir.”

“Get up. Step away from the dragons, now.”

St. Anthony complied immediately, though his movements were stiff as he rose and stepped away from Ember and myself. His face was carefully neutral as he turned to face the man standing behind us. Martin, I remembered the Patriarch had called him—Lieutenant Martin. He wasn’t a large man, or tall; he was older and had that commanding presence I’d seen in unit leaders and veteran slayers. St. Anthony stood rigid at attention, his gaze fixed straight ahead as the other regarded him with stony black eyes.

I watched intently, wondering if he was going to shoot the younger soldier right here. Execute him for killing the Patriarch, perhaps. Even though, in my mind, St. Anthony had done exactly what he was supposed to. The seconds were there to ensure the duel was fair, that no one interfered, cheated or swayed the fight in any way. Sebastian had won; the Patriarch had yielded and the duel was clearly over. Shooting Sebastian in the back wasn’t just extreme cowardice; it marked the Patriarch, beyond any doubt, as guilty, and St. Anthony had responded as he should have. Maybe it was a knee-jerk reaction, and the realization of what he’d done was just now hitting home, but his response had probably saved both their lives from two vengeful dragons blasting them to cinders.

But I didn’t know St. George policies or politics, only that they were severe to the point of being fanatical. Maybe it didn’t matter what the Patriarch had done. Maybe killing the revered leader of St. George was an immediate death sentence, no matter the intent behind it. It wouldn’t surprise me.

By the look on St. Anthony’s face, it wouldn’t surprise him, either.

The officer regarded the younger man in silence for a moment, then sighed. “You did what you had to do, St. Anthony,” he said in a stiff voice, making the other look up sharply. “In accordance with the rules of St. George. The Patriarch was guilty, and his actions called for immediate reprisal.” His voice didn’t quite match the look on his face, as if he would give anything to believe that it wasn’t true. “You did your duty, though the council might not see it that way,” he added, making St. Anthony wince. “But I will speak on your behalf and do my best to ensure you are not punished for it.”

“Sir,” St. Anthony breathed as, with the crunching of salt, the other officer walked up. He was older than either of them, with a white beard and a patch across one eye, and his face was twisted into an expression of hate as he glared at us.

“Know this, dragons,” he snapped, his voice shaking with rage. “You might have won the day, but you have not broken us. The Order will recover, and when we do, we will not stop until Talon is destroyed This war isn’t over. Far from it. It has barely begun.”

I smirked, ready to say something suitably defiant and insolent, but Ember lifted her gaze from where it had been glued to the soldier’s body and glanced up at the humans.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” she said in a soft, controlled voice. “Some of us want nothing to do with Talon, or the war. Some of us are just trying to survive.” She looked at St. Anthony, holding his gaze. “Garret realized that. Which is why he went to you in the first place, why he risked everything to expose the Patriarch. Talon was using the Order to kill dragons that didn’t fall in with the organization. St. George thinks we’re all the same, but that’s not true.” Her voice grew a little desperate on that last word, and she dropped her gaze, staring at the soldier’s body once more.

“We don’t want this war,” she murmured. “There’s been too much killing and death already. There has to be a way for it to end.”

“There is.” The human’s tone was flat. “It will end with the extinction of every dragon on the planet. Nothing less. Even if what you say is true, St. George will not yield. The Order will never abandon their mission to purge the threat your kind represents. If anything, this has only proved how treacherous you dragons really are. Perhaps this was Talon’s plan all along—to strike a critical blow against the Order by removing the Patriarch.”

“Are you really that stupid?” I asked, and all three humans glanced at me sharply. “Is the Order so blind and rigid that it won’t even consider another way of thinking? Open your damn eyes, St. George. You have two dragons in front of you that hate Talon just as much as the Order. And if you believe this was some elaborate plan by the organization to off the Patriarch, you’re not thinking that through. Why would Talon want to kill the Patriarch when they were pulling all the strings and had the Order right where they wanted? We—” I gestured to myself, Ember and the motionless soldier “—had to expose this alliance, or Talon would have just kept using you to wipe us off the map. Maybe you should think hard about what that means.”

St. Anthony, I noted, was still watching Ember, who was kneeling by the soldier with his hand clasped tightly in her own. His eyes were conflicted, a tiny furrow creasing his brow. But then the man spoke again, his voice as hard and cold as ever.

“Take Sebastian and leave this place,” he said, stepping back. “The Order will not pursue, at least not today. But there will be a reckoning, dragon. And when that happens, I suggest you stay far away, or be consumed with the rest of your kind. Martin, St. Anthony,” he said, and walked toward the body of the Patriarch lying in the bloody salt a few yards away. The one called Martin followed immediately, but Tristan paused a moment, still staring at Ember before he, too, turned on a heel and marched off with his shoulders straight. Neither of them looked back.

I knelt, putting a hand on Ember’s arm and leaning close. “Wes is on his way,” I told her. “We’ll be out of here soon.”

She nodded without looking up. “Do you...do you think he’ll make it?” she whispered.

I didn’t want to upset her, but I didn’t want to lie, either. To give her false hope. “I don’t know, Firebrand,” I muttered. “He’s lost a lot of blood. I don’t know if that bullet hit anything vital, but...he’s not in a good place right now. I think you have to prepare yourself for the worst.” She closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek as she bowed her head. My dragon stirred, and a bitter lump caught in my throat. I remembered her words as the soldier lay dying in her arms, the whispered confession as the human slipped into unconsciousness. And I knew she would never say those words to me.

Unless he was gone.

Sickened with myself and the dark, ugly thoughts of my inner dragon, I rose and walked away to scan the barren horizon.

So. The Patriarch was dead. We’d accomplished what we’d set out to do—not kill the man exactly, but expose him to the rest of the Order and break up the alliance between him and Talon. The organization could no longer pull the Order’s strings, because their prize puppet was out of the picture. This would throw St. George into chaos, and they would want retribution for the death of their leader, but at least they would be distracted for a while. And while they were figuring out what to do, I could move my network even deeper underground so we’d be well hidden for the inevitable retaliation.

But that still left Talon to deal with.

A chill went through me as I watched the sun creep slowly over the flats, staining the horizon red. Something was coming; I could feel it. Talon was out there, and killing the Patriarch would cause them to react, as well. Maybe that had been their plan all along. I felt like a pawn in a chess match—one who had just taken out the bishop, but then looked up and there was the queen, smiling at me from across the board.

I shook myself, frowning. I was getting paranoid. Even if Talon had expected this, our plans wouldn’t have changed. We would’ve had to expose the Patriarch regardless, and everything would still have led to this, with the leader of the Order dead, and the soldier who’d exposed him hovering between life and death in the bloodstained salt.

I looked back at Ember and the human, huddled together on the bleak, unforgiving flats. The soldier’s face was as white as the salt beneath him, half his blood, and probably a little of mine, already drying in the sun. Try not to die, St. George, I thought, startling myself. Things are going to get even crazier from here, and you’re not bad to have around when everything implodes. If Talon decides to come after us full scale, we’ll need all the help we can get. Plus, if you die now, Ember will never be able to forget you.

And I don’t want to compete with a damned ghost for the rest of my life.

GARRET

I was flying.

The clouds stretched out below me, a rolling sea of white and gray that went on forever. Above me, the sky was a perfect, endless blue that made me dizzy to look at. I could feel the wind in my face, smelling of rain and mist, and the sun warming my back. How long had I been flying? I couldn’t remember, but it felt like an eternity and a heartbeat at the same time. Why was I up here? I was... I was looking for something, I think. Or chasing something.

Or something was chasing me.

A low rumble echoed behind me. I looked back to see a wall of black clouds boiling up from the white, spreading toward me with frightening speed. Chilled, I tried to fly faster, but the sky rapidly darkened and lightning flickered around me as the storm drew closer, filling the air with the smell of ozone.

Garret.

A voice shivered across the cloudscape, soft and female, making me falter. I knew that voice. Where was she? Why couldn’t I see her?

Garret, I’m here. Just hold on.

Where are you? I tried to call, but my voice had frozen inside me. At my back, the boiling wall of darkness loomed closer, streaks of lightning flashing in its depths.

How’s he doing? A different voice joined the first. Low and strangely familiar, it made something inside me bristle. I couldn’t remember the face, or what it had done, but a low growl rumbled through my chest before it died in my throat.

He’s fighting. The female voice sounded choked, making my stomach clench, too. His temperature is far higher than normal, and he’s been delirious the past few nights. Wes thinks his body is trying to adapt to the transfusion, and that it’s causing some weird side effects. But we really don’t know anything. She sniffed, and her voice went even softer. All we can do is wait, and hope that he comes out of it.

The other sighed. At least he’s still alive, Firebrand. I did the only thing I could think of.

I know.

Their voices faded, swallowed by the darkness and rising wind, and a stab of desperation shot through me. Wait, I wanted to shout, straining to hear her voice, to follow it until I found the person on the other side. Don’t go. Don’t leave me here.

No answer except the howling of the wind and the rumble of the storm at my back. Before me, the sky continued on, forever. Rolling gray clouds with no end in sight. Behind me, the dark wall boiled steadily closer, a wave swallowing everything in its path, filling the air with the tingle of electricity.

I suddenly realized what I had to do.

I twisted around to face the oncoming storm. For a split second, hanging upside down in midair, I caught a glimpse of my shadow in the clouds below, lean and sharp, with an elongated neck and wide, sweeping wings. Then I was rushing toward the wall of darkness. The clouds filled my vision as I shot into the flickering blackness, and everything around me disappeared.

* * *

I stumbled forward, and flames surrounded me, roaring in my ears. The entire warehouse was engulfed, tongues of flame curling around the iron beams and snapping hungrily at the aisles of crates and boxes. Everywhere I looked, there was fire, screaming and crackling, tinting everything in a hellish glow, but I wasn’t afraid. A nearby tower of pallets collapsed with a deafening roar, and a cloud of embers billowed into the air, swirling around me, but there was no discomfort or pain. I could feel the heat, smell the smoke and ashes settling in my lungs, but it didn’t bother me at all.

Firebrand?

That same voice, low and husky, drifted from one of the aisles. Ember, it said again, its tone laced with worry. You’ve been sitting here for eight hours. Go to sleep. Let me or Wes take watch—he’s not going anywhere.

No, said the voice that made my heart leap in my chest. I want to be here. When he wakes up, I should be here. He was almost lucid a little while ago. I think... I think he was calling for me.

I started toward the voice, ducking a burning beam, feeling the heat against my back and neck as I hurried forward. The voices continued, but they were fainter now, swallowed by the roar of the inferno. Overhead, a skylight exploded into shards of razor glass and rained down, pinging off the cement. Impatient, I shielded my face with a hand and jogged forward.

The Patriarch emerged from the darkness of the aisle, dressed in white and red, a sword hanging loosely at his side. Flames engulfed him, burning his uniform, clawing at his beard and leaping from his hair. His face was blackened, the skin cracked and oozing, but his blue eyes glowed in the haze and smoke, and he pointed a fire-wreathed hand in my direction.

“Traitor,” he whispered. “Dragonlover. Like your parents before you. You are damned, Sebastian. Your soul has been tainted beyond all redemption, and you must be put down like the demon you are.”

He took a step toward me. I raised my gun and fired point-blank at his center, and the Patriarch exploded into a cloud of swirling ashes and scattered into the smoke. But his voice continued to echo through the warehouse.

You cannot escape your destiny. Evil is in your blood, Sebastian. You will fall, and you will burn in the flames of your own making, as your parents did before you.

Lowering my arm, I strode through the ash cloud into the blackness beyond.

* * *

Sunlight blinded me. Wincing, I raised my arm, trying to see past the sudden glare. The scent of salt and sand filled my nostrils, and I heard the sound of waves, crying gulls and distant laughter. Blinking rapidly, I lowered my arm to find myself on the edge of a beach, a strip of white sand stretching out to either side and the brilliant, sparkling ocean before me.

Recognition sparked. This place felt familiar, though I couldn’t remember why. Hadn’t I been here before? If I had, why did the sight of the ocean fill me with both excitement and dread?

“Garret,” Tristan said at my back. His voice was impatient, and I turned to face the other soldier. He wore shorts, a tank top and a slight frown as he gazed down at me. “You okay?” my partner asked. “You went all glassy-eyed for few seconds. Did you hear what I just said?”

“No,” I muttered as memory came back in a rush, reminding me why we were here. Find a dragon, kill a dragon. Like we had done all those times before. So, why did this seem so different? I felt like I was missing something important. “Sorry,” I told Tristan, rubbing my eyes. “What was that again?”

He sighed. “I was saying the dragon is hiding right over there, and that maybe you should go talk to it before it disappears.”

He pointed. I turned, squinting against the light and the glimmer coming off the ocean. Farther down the sand, a group of teenagers clustered by the water’s edge, laughing and occasionally splashing each other. Between the sunlight and the blinding glare, I couldn’t see their features, just moving silhouettes against the water, sand and sky.

“I don’t see a dragon,” I murmured, walking forward a few steps.

“Really?” Tristan followed, his footsteps shushing quietly through the sand. “It’s standing right there, plain as day. Maybe if you weren’t so blinded by love, you’d see it for what it really is. And then, I wouldn’t have to kill you.”

I turned. Tristan stood behind me, a gun held level with my chest. His eyes were hard as they met mine and he pulled the trigger.

There was no sound. The flash of the gun filled my vision, and I felt myself falling.

* * *

I opened my eyes.

The sky overhead was gray and dim. There were no clouds, no glimmers of blue or sunlight through the haze. Just a flat gray sky that seemed much closer than it should be. I blinked a few times, and it resolved itself into a concrete ceiling with cracks running across the surface. I lay on my back in a small, empty room, a sheet pulled up to my chest and my hands draped over my stomach. My body felt numb and heavy, and my head felt like it was full of cotton, which made it very hard to think. Where was I? How did I get here? The last thing I remembered...

My mind stirred sluggishly, trying to sift through what was real and what was nightmare. What had happened to me? Memories rose up, familiar faces and voices, but it was difficult to separate reality from hallucination. Had I been injured? Or had I been chasing something?

Slowly, I turned my head, trying to take in my surroundings, and my pulse stuttered.

A girl slumped next to my bed, seated in a metal chair pulled close to the mattress. Her arms were folded against the sheets with her head cradled atop them, bright red hair mussed and sticking out at odd angles. Her eyes were closed, and her slim bare shoulders rose and fell with the rhythm of her breathing.

Ember. I drew in a breath, feeling the strangeness of the dreamworld dissolve as reality took its place. Suddenly, all those things—where I was, what had happened to me, how much time had passed—didn’t seem important anymore. Just that she was here.

I stretched out my hand, not trusting my voice, and touched the back of her arm.

She jerked away and looked up, green eyes wide and startled. For half a heartbeat, she stared at me in confusion as her mind caught up to the present. I saw my reflection in her gaze and wanted to say something, but my voice hadn’t returned quite yet.

“Garret,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper. And then she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around my neck in an almost painful embrace. I slid my arms around her, feeling her heartbeat against mine, her warm cheek pressed against my throat and jaw. I closed my eyes and held her, trembling, in my arms.

“Hey you,” I whispered. My voice came out raspy and weak, and I swallowed some of the scratchy dryness in my throat. I became aware that I was very hot, my skin burning with fever. I could practically feel the heat radiating off me, and was thankful that only a thin sheet covered my body. “What happened?” I husked out as Ember pulled back, regarding me with shining green eyes. “Where are we?”

She gave me a solemn look. “We’re in one of Riley’s safe houses, an old bomb shelter he renovated from the Cold War era. We are literally underground right now. Hang on.” She turned, sliding off the mattress, and reached toward a small end table beside the bed. A bowl and a wet cloth sat on one corner, a glass and a pitcher on the other. She poured the last of the pitcher’s contents into the cup and turned back, cocking her head. “Can you sit up?”

Carefully, I struggled to a sitting position, feeling weak and unstable as I leaned forward, and Ember adjusted the pillows at my back. When we were done, she handed me the cup, and I forced myself to drink slowly, though the burning in my throat and deep in my chest made me want to down it in two gulps.

Putting the empty glass on the bedside table, I looked at Ember again. She ran her fingers over my forehead, brushing back my hair. Her fingers were cool and soft and left a soothing trail over my heated skin. “What do you remember?”

“I... I don’t know.” Everything was still fuzzy, and now the heat in my veins had become even more pronounced. I pressed a palm to my face, trying to clear my thoughts and to ease the pressure behind my eyes. “I was...fighting the Patriarch, I think,” I said. “He challenged me to a duel, and I agreed to fight him. That’s all I can remember.”

Ember nodded. “You won,” she said quietly. “You beat the Patriarch, but when the fight was over, he shot you. In the back.” A feral gleam entered her eyes, and I wondered if the Patriarch was still alive. If he had survived the vengeance of an enraged red dragon. “You nearly died,” Ember went on, the murderous look fading to one of anguish. “You were bleeding out, and the only way to save your life was to perform a blood transfusion right there. There was no time to take you to a hospital. And no one else had the right blood type. So... Riley became the donor.” She paused. “Riley saved your life, Garret.”

For a few seconds, I didn’t understand the significance, why she looked so distraught. Was she afraid that I would resent the fact that a former enemy had saved my life? Given our past, I was shocked that the rogue dragon had offered his own blood to save a soldier of St. George. Did Riley himself wish that he’d let me die? I didn’t think he was that vindictive, but I was a rival. No longer an enemy, but a challenger in the worst way—competition for the girl beside me. If I was out of the picture, Riley would have Ember all to himself.

Then it hit me. The heat in my veins, the feeling of molten fire crawling beneath my skin. I let out a long breath.

“I have...dragon blood in me.”

Ember winced. “It’s been causing some complications,” she said in a near whisper. “Some of it has been good—your wounds have been healing at a much faster rate than normal. But you’ve been delirious for the past week and a half. Until today, we didn’t know if you would pull out of it.” At my incredulous look, she dropped her gaze. “Wes thinks it’s your body trying to compensate for the infusion of new blood, and that it should eventually adjust, but he’s not certain. This has never been done before. We don’t know...what the effects will be. Long term or otherwise.”

Dazed, I sank back against the pillow. Riley had saved my life, and he’d done it by injecting me with dragon blood. Was that why my heart was pumping like I’d run a marathon, even lying here on my back? My mind, already wandering and confused, began spinning in strange directions. What would this infusion do to me, inside and out? Was I in danger of dying, as the dragon blood cooked my organs from the inside? Or could it do even more outlandish things? Dragons were magical creatures; a tiny bit of ancient, supernatural power flowed through their veins. Even the Order of St. George acknowledged this. What would that do to the human body? Would I come out of this completely normal?

For a moment, I had bizarre, delirious thoughts of waking up covered in scales, or getting out of bed to find a tail coiling behind me, before I shoved them aside. That wasn’t possible, I told myself, struggling to hold on to logic as it twisted and squirmed away from me. Blood couldn’t do that to a person; I was in no danger of morphing into some sort of strange half dragon. The most it could do was kill me, if my body rejected the new blood and shut down organs, one by one.

Ember, I realized, was watching me carefully, waiting for my reaction. I reached for the hand lying on the mattress, and she curled her fingers around mine and held on tight, like she was afraid to let go. “It’s okay,” I told her, smiling as I met her gaze. “I’ll deal with the complications as they come, but right now, I’ll settle for still being here.”

She let out a breath that was half laugh, half growl, and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to my cheek. “Dammit, Garret,” she breathed in my ear. “I thought I’d lost you. Don’t do that again.”

“I’ll try not to,” I whispered back. Her skin was cool against mine, and I slid my fingers up her arms. “But will you still feel the same if I sprout wings and a tail?”

I felt her silent laughter. “Actually, that would be pretty awesome,” she admitted. “Though you’d never be able to wear shorts in a public place again, so there’d be some kinks to work out.”

I wanted to drag her closer, to pull her against me and listen to our hearts beat together. But my eyelids were suddenly heavy, and sleep was clawing at me, even as I struggled to stay awake. “What happened with the Order?” I asked, determined to get some sort of answer before I succumbed to exhaustion.

“We don’t know,” Ember said, drawing back. “After the duel, they took the Patriarch’s body and left. We came straight here from Salt Lake City and haven’t been up top since.”

I nodded. That was smart. The Patriarch was dead. The revered leader of the Order of St. George had been slain by the enemy. Even if there was no immediate reprisal, staying off the Order’s radar right now was a good idea. Still, the lack of information was worrisome. What was happening, in both St. George and Talon? We had thrown a huge wrench into the works of both organizations, and something had to come of it. Sooner or later, they were going to respond. We had to be ready when they did.

But not right now. At least, not for me. Staying conscious was becoming increasingly difficult, even though I had about a dozen more questions I wanted to ask. And something else hovered at the back of my mind, a feeling that I was forgetting something important. Something about the Order...and me. Ember must have noticed, for her cool fingers brushed my forehead again, and her lips briefly touched my temple.

“Get some sleep, soldier boy,” she whispered, the relief in her voice washing over me like a wave. “You’re safe here. I’ll see you again when you wake up.”

Lulled by that promise, I obeyed.

EMBER

I watched Garret fall asleep, relaxing into the pillows, his breaths even and slow. It was a sound, peaceful sleep this time—no jerking, mumbling or fluttering eyelids. No thrashing around in nightmare. Hopefully, the fever had broken and he was on his way to recovery, though his skin remained disturbingly hot. Hotter than any human’s should have been.

But he was finally awake, and lucid, and that itself was a massive relief. Watching while he’d jerked and muttered nonsense in his sleep had been horrible. One night he’d thrashed about so violently we’d considered tying him down. I knew it was the dragon blood working its way through his system, causing fever and sickness as his body tried to adapt to or reject the infusion. I knew that without it Garret would most certainly be dead, and that Riley had saved his life with his quick thinking. But, watching him moan and thrash trying to ward away phantom enemies, hearing what was almost a snarl erupt from his throat one night, I couldn’t help but wonder what he would be like when he finally came out of it. If he came out of it at all.

Thankfully, he had. And it didn’t appear to have changed him. At least, not on the outside. What was happening inside him was anyone’s guess; as far as any of us knew, no human had ever received a transfusion of dragon blood, so there was nothing to compare it to. I doubted Garret would sprout wings and a tail, as cool and disturbing as that might be, but I also doubted any human could get injected with the blood of a dragon and not experience side effects.

Right now, watching him sleeping peacefully for the first time in over a week was all that seemed important. He was alive, not delirious, and now I could rejoin the rest of the world. Riley, I knew, would be relieved. I’d barely seen him and Wes since our arrival, and the only times I’d left this room were the instances when I’d fallen asleep at Garret’s side and Riley had carried me to my own bed. I knew he’d want to hear that Garret was awake, if for no other reason than I would stop worrying about him.

With one final look at the unconscious soldier, I tiptoed out of the room and slipped into the hallway beyond.

I nearly scraped my skull on the low, curved ceiling—again—and ducked my head with a stifled growl. The corridor was actually an enormous corrugated steel tube with rooms branching from it. A steel ladder at the far end of the tube led up to a tiny concrete hatch in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming. As fallout shelters went, it was pretty typical. Riley said he’d “stumbled onto it” many years ago and had modified it into an emergency fallback center. It was dark, it was claustrophobic, but it was, according to Riley and Wes, the most secure place we could hope for, a refuge where we could wait out the craziness up top and know that St. George wouldn’t come for us all in the night.

I didn’t know how much I liked the idea of waiting things out. Now that I knew Garret would be all right, sitting here doing nothing, just hoping Talon and the Order would forget about us, was sounding less like a plan and more like a stall tactic. Neither was going to forget about us. And we had worked so hard to strike a decisive blow against both organizations; breaking up the alliance between Talon and the Patriarch was a huge victory, even if it had almost cost one of us his life. To pull back and hide seemed the opposite of what we should do right now, but good luck convincing Riley of that.

The room beside Garret’s, where Riley and Wes shared a bunk, was empty. So I headed to the one other place they would be, the “command room” at the other end of the tube.

Like everything in this underground facility, the command room had low ceilings, concrete walls and just enough room to move around. A square table sat in the middle of the floor, with maps and files and other documents scattered over it, and a desk with an old computer was shoved into the corner with a couple shelves. Amazingly, Wes had been able to get power running to this place. The opposite corner held a very old, yet working, television, and it was on at the moment, an overly cheerful weather reporter announcing that we were in for a soggy weekend.

As I walked into the room, I blinked in shock. Wes, unsurprisingly, sat at the computer, both his laptop and the other screen open and active. Riley stood at one end of the table with both hands on the surface, gazing down at the map spread out beneath him. He was dressed in black—black jeans, boots and shirt—and his dark hair was unkempt. I felt a stirring of heat inside me, my dragon coming to life as she always did when he was around.

But it was the third person in the room that caught my attention. She stood on the other side of the table, arms crossed, straight black hair falling to the center of her back.

“Jade?”

The slight Chinese woman, in reality a forty-foot-long Adult Eastern dragon, turned and gave me a faint smile as I stepped into the room. “Hello, Ember,” she greeted me. “It’s good to see you again. From what Riley has told me, I was expecting not to catch a glimpse of you for days.”

“What are you doing here?”

One slender eyebrow arched. “I said I would return, did I not? When I made certain the monks were safe and had found a new temple, I promised to come back. And there is still a war to be fought.” She lifted her hands slightly. “So, here I am. Though it seems I have come at a, if not bad, rather uncertain time.”

“Ember.” Riley rose quickly, his gold gaze meeting mine across the table. For a moment, his expression was apprehensive; I hadn’t voluntarily left Garret’s room since the day we’d arrived. There were only two reasons I would leave it now. “St. George?” he asked cautiously.

“He’s awake,” I said, making him slump, but whether it was in relief or disappointment, I wasn’t sure. “The fever has broken—he was talking to me a few minutes ago. I think he’s going to be okay.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” Riley raked back his hair. “Nice to get some not horrible news for a change. If the bastard gets back on his feet soon, I could use his perspective on what the hell is going on out there with the Order.”

Mention of the Order brought the current situation rushing back. I’d been so distracted by Garret, I’d nearly forgotten about it, but now it rose up again, looming and ominous. “Why?” I asked, stepping to the edge of the table. What had I missed? “What’s going on? What’s the Order been doing?”

He shot me a frustrated look. “Nothing,” he growled, making me frown. “Not a damn thing. We haven’t heard a peep from them since we left Salt Lake City. There’ve been no raids, no strikes, no activity at all. The Order has gone completely AWOL.”

“I’m confused,” I said, cocking my head. “Isn’t that a good thing? We exposed the Patriarch to the rest of St. George, and Talon’s hold on them is broken. They’re not going after your safe houses anymore.”

“Not right now.” Riley crossed his arms. “But it’s still too quiet. I don’t trust this complete lack of response—it’s not like them at all. This is probably the calm before the shitstorm.”

“The Order is not the one we should be worrying about,” Jade insisted, as if I hadn’t said anything.

“So you keep telling me,” Riley said, glaring at the Eastern dragon. “But I don’t know what you expect me to do against Talon. If the organization is up to something, all the more reason to keep off their radar. We hide deep, and we hide hard. That’s the only way we’re going to survive.”

“It is not a plan to simply hide and do nothing.”

“I’m sorry—this from one of the Eastern dragons who, for hundreds of years, have done nothing but sit on their scaly butts in isolated temples while the rest of us fought the war?”

While they were talking, the news story changed to show a young reporter standing on a narrow stretch of pavement that snaked into a forest. A pair of orange and white barricades blocked the road behind her, warning lights flashing in the gray drizzle. “Authorities are still struggling to discover the reason behind the accident that caused a cargo plane full of fuel to crash into a small Arkansas town last week,” the woman was saying. “As you can see, the road to the town has been blocked, and authorities have closed off the area. Rescue crews are on the scene now and have been combing through the rubble nonstop, but so far no survivors have been found.”

“When did that happen?” I asked.

Riley gave the television a cursory glance. “Couple days ago,” he said in a brusque voice. “Apparently, a plane full of jet fuel took a nosedive into some hillbilly community in the mountains. Caused a spectacular explosion and wiped out the whole town, according to the news. It’s been on every station for days.” He shrugged. “Tragic, but not something we need to worry about.”

“Correct,” agreed Jade. “We should be worrying about Talon and what their plans are, now that the Order has been disrupted.”

“And what is it you think we can actually do against the organization?” Riley said, turning back to her. “For that matter, what makes you think Talon is up to anything at all?”

While they were arguing, I turned my attention to the TV. The scene had changed from a map of the United States to what looked like a news conference, with a man behind a podium speaking to a handful of reporters and flashing cameras. After a moment, he stepped down, and a woman took his place behind the podium. She was tall and attractive, with jet-black hair and striking blue eyes, and for some reason, my instincts prickled when I saw her.

“Oh, bloody hell,” Wes breathed from the corner.

Riley and Jade didn’t hear him, or the quiet horror in his voice. Puzzled, I turned, but he wasn’t looking at any of us, his attention riveted to the television in the corner. “Shit,” Wes swore again and glanced at Riley, still in a heated argument with Jade. “Riley, bloody shut up for a second. Look! Look who it is.”

Riley craned his neck toward the TV, and his eyebrows shot up. “Miranda?” he exclaimed. “What the hell? Why is she there...?” His eyes narrowed, jaw tightening as he shook his head. “Dammit,” he growled.

“What?” I asked. “What’s going on? Who’s Miranda?”

Riley swore again. “She an agent with the NTSB—the National Transportation Safety Board,” he answered. “They’re a federal agency that’s called in to investigate aviation accidents across the US.” He sighed, his gaze sharpening. “She’s also a Chameleon, and one of Talon’s best. Which means...”

“That whole story is a bloody cover-up,” Wes muttered darkly. “If Talon sent a Chameleon herself to the site, they’re neck-deep in whatever is going on down there.”

Jade’s cool gaze held Riley’s across the table, and there was a warning in those dark eyes. “Talon is on the move,” she said in an ominous tone. “How long can we remain ignorant? How long can we hide while they put their plans into motion, unopposed?”

“As long as it takes,” Riley growled back. “Breaking up the Order is one thing. Saving hatchlings from the organization is another. Dragons who go head-to-head with Talon die, that’s all there is to it. I’m the leader of this underground—it’s not just my hide on the line. I have an entire network of dragons and humans to worry about, and I will not bring them under Talon’s fire. No, we stay here, we hide, we let this blow over. I’m not going to put anyone in danger if I can help it.”

“And what if it doesn’t blow over?” I challenged. “What if it just gets worse?” I pointed at the screen. “Riley, if that’s a cover-up, then Talon might have destroyed an entire town. That’s not like them at all—they would never risk that kind of exposure unless they’re planning something huge to counter it.” Riley glared at me, making my dragon stir, but I held my ground. “Jade is right. Something is happening with the organization, something big. We need to know what Talon is up to before it’s too late.”

“Don’t you start, too, Firebrand.”

“They’re right, mate,” Wes said quietly, shocking us all speechless. We turned to him, but he was staring at the screen, his gaze dark. “Talon might’ve blown up a building or two in the past, but they’re always careful to make it seem like an accident. This...” He shook his head at the TV. “This is a whole different animal. I’ve never heard of them taking out an entire town for no reason. That place is in the middle of nowhere. Unless we’re missing something big, there’s nothing there that Talon would want.” His jaw tightened. “I don’t like it, Riley. They’re changing the game on us. We need to find out what the hell they’re doing before it bites us all in the ass.”

“Et tu, Wesley?” Riley growled, but before Wes could reply, he turned to me. “Hang on a second, Firebrand,” he ordered. “Before you go charging off again, I think you’re forgetting something.” He gestured at the door. “What about the soldier? He can’t come with us, not with that injury. He’ll slow us down or get himself killed. Hell, he can’t even stand now, much less hold a gun. How do you expect him to keep up?”

I bit my lip. He was right. Garret was in no condition to go running into yet another dangerous mission, but I also knew that we needed to find out what Talon was planning. “I... I’ll stay behind,” I told Riley. “I’ll keep an eye on Garret while you, Jade and Wes go see what Talon is up to.”

Riley snorted. “Very noble of you.”

“I would come with you, Riley, you know I would,” I said firmly. “I want to go, and I want to see for myself. But...” I started to rub my arms, then stopped myself. “I won’t leave him behind. Not alone. And we have to figure out what Talon is doing before they surprise us with their next horrible scheme. So, the three of you go ahead. I’ll stay here with Garret.”

“No, you won’t,” Wes sighed, shocking me again. “I will.” Riley turned to him, and he shrugged. “I can do just as much over the phone as in person,” he said in a reasonable voice, “and you’ll need someone watching the safe houses while you’re gone. Let’s face it, mate, she’s better in a fight, and if bugger all goes down, three dragons have a better chance of making it out alive than two dragons and a human. I’ll stay here, provide support and make sure St. George doesn’t bleed to death and the nests don’t explode. He’ll be safe with me—and don’t give me that look,” he added as Riley raised a brow at him. “The tosser is useful—I’m not too much of a bastard to admit it. If keeping him alive means he’ll kill more of St. George and Talon in the future, then by all means, I’ll give him whatever he needs.”

I smiled at his gruffness, seeing the flush that crept below his scruffy jawline. “Thanks, Wes.”

“Yes, thank you, Wesley,” Riley echoed in a mock sincere voice. “For dragging me into yet another insane scheme. I suppose if I refuse now, these two morons will go to this crash site without me.” He shook his head and raised a hand before I could protest. “Fine. Great. Into the jaws of death once more—must be a Tuesday. So, now that you mutineers have decided where we’re going next, why don’t you tell me how long it’s going to take to drive from Wyoming to Arkansas?”

Wes’s fingers flew over the keyboard. “Um...about eighteen hours,” he confirmed, squinting at the screen. “If you drive straight through.”

Riley exhaled and shook his head in exasperated defeat. “All right,” he muttered, “if we’re really going to do this, let’s get it over with.” Straightening, he became confident again, his tone brusque and commanding. “We’ll leave tomorrow. Wes, send a message to all the safe houses. Tell them—again—they are to stay put and not move unless they are one hundred percent certain Talon or St. George will kick down their door in the next twenty-four hours. I’ll get things together so we can leave as soon as we can.” He gave me an appraising, golden-eyed stare, and one corner of his mouth curled up. I swallowed, ignoring the slow flame coiling through my insides. “Get some rest, Firebrand,” he ordered. “You’ve gotten only a couple hours a night this whole time, and most of that has been slumped in a chair. I know you’re tired. Go to sleep.”

I smirked back, ready to tell him I was fine, but then I realized he was right. I was more than tired. Between the stress of nearly losing Garret, his sickness and the constant bedside vigil, I was completely exhausted. Sleep sounded wonderful right now.

“Yeah,” I agreed, drawing back. “I’ll do that. Don’t leave without me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

I checked on Garret one last time before continuing to the room next door. He was still dead to the world, his breaths slow and deep. I tiptoed out to avoid waking him, walked into my own room and collapsed on my tiny cot in the corner. The lumpy, metal-framed mattress felt like heaven. I was unconscious almost before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

A knocking at my door pulled me out of a dead, dreamless sleep. Groping for my phone, I stared blearily at the glowing numbers: 6:42 a.m. Holy crap, it had been seven in the evening when I’d fallen into bed last night. I’d zonked out for nearly twelve hours.

The knocking came again, probably Riley or Jade, impatient to get on the road. Eighteen hours was a long drive down to Arkansas. I thought of Garret, and felt a stab of worry and guilt for leaving him, but he had been shot and nearly killed less than two weeks ago. He certainly couldn’t come with us.

“I’m up!” I called, scrambling off the mattress. Jeez, the floor was cold. “I’m coming, just gimme a couple seconds.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, smoothing it down as best I could. Yawning, I walked to the door and pulled it open.

It wasn’t Riley. Or Jade.

“Hey, dragon girl,” Garret said, smiling at me over the threshold. He wore jeans and a white T-shirt, and his short blond hair, clean and brushed back, glinted under the bare bulbs. His metallic-gray eyes were shining as they met mine. “You didn’t think you were going to leave me behind, did you?”

GARRET

I shouldn’t be up.

Not because I felt weak, or because I was still healing. I literally should not be able to stand right now, not with the injury I’d sustained. I’d nearly died; my body had suffered a massive amount of trauma that should have taken weeks, if not months, to fully heal. But last night, I’d woken up groggy and confused, and the air under the sheets had felt like a sauna. Without even thinking about it, I’d swung out of bed and slipped down the hall until I found a room with people in it. When I’d walked through the door, Wes had nearly fallen out of his chair, and Riley had uttered a very emphatic curse.

“Shit, St. George!” The rogue had given me an incredulous glare. “What the hell are you doing? You want to kill yourself? There is no way you should be up right now.”

I’d tried to clear my bleary thoughts. Only then had I realized I was shirtless, and my entire chest was wrapped in bandages and gauze. “How long have I been down?”

“More than a week.” Riley had stalked forward, gold eyes narrowed and appraising. “And truthfully, I have no idea how you’re even standing, unless you’re so delirious you don’t feel anything.”

Jade had appeared in the doorway, slender brows rising as our gazes met. I’d been surprised, as well; just how much had happened while I was out? “Well,” the Eastern dragon had commented in a wry voice. “According to Riley, I was not expecting to see you for quite some time. But it appears that you are not...what is the saying again? On death’s doorstep, after all.”

“Like hell he’s not.” It had been Wes’s turn to stalk forward, yank up a chair and grab a first-aid kit from a cabinet. “Sit down, you bloody stubborn bastard, before you tear yourself open. If you die now, that damn hatchling is going to kill something.”

I’d sunk wordlessly onto the chair as the hacker began cutting gauze from my back and chest. As he’d peeled back the wrappings, cool air had hit my skin, and the human had uttered a breathless curse.

“Bloody hell, are you kidding me?” I’d felt a cloth brush my skin, right over the wound, but it had barely stung. “Are you seeing this, Riley? Last week, there was a hole the size of a golf ball. Now, bloody nothing.” The rag had swiped my back, a little harder this time, sending a twinge through my side. “This looks like weeks of healing, not a bloody few days. Holy shit. Holy. Shit. Do you realize what this means?”

I’d twisted in my seat, causing him to fumble with the bandages and swear. “Where’s Ember?” I’d asked, looking around the room. I was still groggy, light-headed and confused. I hadn’t known where we were, what had happened or why Jade was back. I’d needed answers, but first I needed to see Ember again.

“Asleep,” Riley had answered. The rogue leader had stood above me with an unreadable expression on his face. “These past few days, the only times she left your room were to use the bathroom, and when I forced her to eat something,” he’d gone on. “You’re not going to wake her up now, St. George. She needs all the sleep she can get before we leave tomorrow.”

“Leave?” I’d furrowed my brow. “Where are you going?”

He’d frowned back, and I could tell he was kicking himself for saying that, but Jade had pulled up another chair and sat down beside me, her expression somber.

“We think Talon is planning something,” she’d said, and proceeded to explain everything that had happened from the time I’d been shot. She’d spoken slowly, answering any questions that I had, and when Wes was finished rebandaging my wound, I’d been almost clearheaded again.

“I’m coming with you,” I’d told Riley. He’d snorted.

“Figured that’s what you would say, St. George,” he’d growled, and waved a hand. “Your funeral, of course. I certainly can’t stop you if you want to come along, but you’re going to have to keep up. That won’t be a problem, will it?”

I’d risen smoothly and felt my back twinge, but it had been forgettable. I’d endured far worse, though I knew I shouldn’t be this recovered. I’d seen soldiers shot in battle many, many times. I knew that one did not get up and walk around a little more than a week after the injury I had sustained. But I was not going to stay behind, not when Ember was rushing straight into danger, again.

“No,” I’d told the rogue, who’d nodded briskly as if he’d expected it. “No problem at all.”

* * *

Ember’s mouth fell open. She stared at me in shock, her eyes huge as they scanned my face. She blinked once, as if making sure I wasn’t an illusion, and then reached for me. I shivered as her fingers curled lightly around my arm.

“Garret.” Her voice was breathless but worried. “How...?” She shook her head. “You shouldn’t be up,” she whispered. “You were shot just over a week ago. And not just in the leg or the arm—you nearly died.”

“So everybody keeps telling me,” I murmured back, and smiled. “I know. I know I shouldn’t be here—I shouldn’t even be standing for a few days at least. But...” I gave a helpless shrug. “I’m fine. Wes checked me out, both last night and this morning. The wounds are mostly healed. He said that my healing is nearly on par with a dragon’s regenerative abilities, that he’s never seen anything like it before in a human. I guess having dragon’s blood is a blessing in disguise.” Her brows lifted in amazement, and I grinned. “So you don’t get to leave me behind, dragon girl. Even if I do grow wings and a tail, I’m not leaving your side. You’ll just have to get used to me being—”

Ember interrupted me by lacing her fingers behind my neck, pulling me down and pressing her lips to mine. I groaned and wrapped my arms around her waist, drawing her close, feeling her heart beat against me. Heat spread through my insides, roaring in my veins, as the tension in my stomach melted away. When I was with her, everything that had happened to me—being shot, nearly dying, being infused with something I wasn’t sure wouldn’t eventually kill me—seemed insignificant. I would die for this girl, I realized. I would happily take a bullet for her if it meant that, today, I could hold her one last time.

When we drew back, Ember’s eyes were bright, almost seeming to glow. I was wrapped in a cocoon of heat and warmth, feeling it pulse between us with every heartbeat. I wanted nothing more than to pull Ember into her empty room, lock the door and see how long it would take before the flames consumed us.

Gazing down, I stroked her cheek and offered a wry smile. “Riley is waiting for us,” I murmured, and she nodded with a sigh. “He wanted me to tell you to grab your things—we head out as soon as you’re ready.”

Rising on her toes, she kissed me once more, long and lingering, before pulling back and stepping away. I took a furtive breath to calm the inferno within and waited outside the door while she gathered her meager belongings. Her black Viper suit was the last item to be stuffed unceremoniously into a bag before she zipped up the duffel and joined me at the door. I took the bag, shouldered the strap and together we walked down the hall to the command room.

Riley, Wes and Jade were all there, the two dragons standing around the table discussing something in quiet undertones while Wes sat at the computer, furiously typing away. As we came into the room, Jade inclined her head to me with a faint smile. I nodded back.

“There you are,” Riley announced, looking at Ember. “Sure you got everything, Firebrand? It’s a long way to the Ozarks, and we’re not turning around this time.” One corner of his mouth curled into a smirk. “We don’t want to be halfway through Colorado before you realize you left your Viper suit in the bathroom.”

“That was one time, Riley.” Ember rolled her eyes. “And we lost fifteen minutes, tops. Let it go.”

“All right,” Wes interrupted, rising from the chair. “That’s done. I sent the final message through the network. Everyone is on high alert, with instructions to stay put unless absolutely necessary. We’re ready to move out.” Since I didn’t need watching anymore, Wes was coming, too.

The rogue shook his head. “Right,” he said, sounding not at all thrilled with the whole idea. “Let’s get this over with. Eighteen hours is a hell of a drive, so we’re going to have to do it in shifts. St. George, since you’re feeling so magically rested...” He tossed me a pair of keys. “You’re driving first.”

DANTE

Three years ago

Finals week was always hell.

“Watch it,” I snapped as Ember closed the refrigerator door and nearly ran into me with the milk. “Don’t you ever look before you bash into people headfirst?”

She snorted. “Jeez, grumpy much?” She sidestepped me and headed to the table. “Did something crawl up your butt in the shower?”

I yanked open the fridge door. “Sorry,” I muttered, pulling out the juice. “Just tired. I was up till two last night studying.”

She wrinkled her nose as I joined her at the table. “Again? You did that yesterday. And the day before. And all afternoon.”

“Yes, because I want to pass,” I snapped again. “Because, unlike you, I can’t half-ass my way through life. Because, unlike you, everyone expects me to do better. So yes, I have to study and not spend my evenings watching TV in my room.”

“Hey, jackass, I’ve been studying, too,” Ember snarled back. “Every night, I’ll have you know. So don’t pull that ‘I’m more persecuted than you’ crap with me. If you choose to stay up all night, don’t bitch at me if you’re tired. It’s not my fault.”

I started to snarl back at her but stopped myself. She was right. We were both cranky and exhausted. The past week had been nothing but exams, studying and more exams. Not just in math, science, biology and all our academic studies; we also had daily tests measuring how “human” we could be. These were to see if we could remain under control in extreme, stressful situations, or if we’d lose it and Shift to dragon form. Yesterday, one of our “exams” had involved sitting in the middle of a circle, trying to answer calmly while everyone around us had screamed in our face or asked demanding questions. I’d kept my cool and passed easily enough, but Ember had come out of the room bristling and ready to snap at anything that touched her.

“Sorry,” I offered again, and managed a half smile.

She relaxed and smiled back, mollified for now. “At least it’s the last day,” she said in a relieved voice. “After this, things will go back to normal.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I hope so.”

“God, they’d better,” Ember muttered. “If I have to endure another ‘scream in your face for a half hour’ exam, I’m going to bite someone’s head off.” She curled a lip, then took a hard bite of her cereal, crunching down with vigor. “Anyway, I have reasons to pass these stupid tests, too. Did you know that Mr. Gordon will take us to see the new horror movie if we ace the final exam?”

I smirked at her. “You might’ve mentioned that once or twice.”

She ignored my sarcasm. “I’m so tired of these same stupid walls,” she went on, glaring at the walls in question. “I need to get out of here, for a couple hours at least. And come on, Dante—you’re excited, admit it. You’ve been dying to see this movie, too.”

“Yes, though you know what I’m not looking forward to? Being woken up at 12:00 a.m. by someone sneaking into my room because she thought she heard her closet door open.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ember answered breezily. “But you should probably leave the sleeping bag on the floor, just in case.”

I shook my head, finished my glass and headed to my room for my books.

* * *

Testing was brutal. I was tired, and about an hour in, my head started to ache. But I gritted my teeth and pushed myself to finish early. Ember, shockingly, finished a few minutes after me, indicating that she had been studying as she’d said. I felt bad for snapping at her.

After the two-hour science test, we were ordered outside. It was midafternoon, and the sun beat down directly overhead, baking the dusty earth. A car waited for us near the gated entrance of the compound, engines humming, a man in a suit standing at the front. I was surprised, and a little wary. Testing wasn’t over yet, far from it; why would they have us leave the school premises now?

The doors were opened for us by black-suited Talon employees, and we climbed in without a word, knowing questions were useless and never answered. The car pulled out of the gate, and the school soon vanished in the rear window.

As usual, it was cold in the car. A little too cold for my liking, but the tinted glass between us and the driver prevented any questions or requests to turn down the AC. Ember gazed out the window, eager to be out of the compound and away from school, no matter the situation. I was a little less enthused. Not that I wasn’t happy to be outside, of course. I just didn’t know what Talon had planned. Why were they taking us out of school in the middle of testing?

“Where do you think we’re going?” I mused out loud, watching the desert speed by beyond the glass.

Ember shrugged. “Who cares? We’re out of school and not stuck in testing for six hours. They could be taking us to the gas station and I wouldn’t complain.” She thought about it, then shrugged again. “Maybe they’re taking us to see the movie early, because we did so well?”

I grimaced. “I highly doubt that.”

Abruptly, the car made a sharp left, cruising off the narrow private road and bouncing into the desert. Startled and now even more wary, I watched the road disappear as we went deeper into the middle of nowhere.

Just as I was about to run some crazy theories by Ember, the car slowed and came to a rolling stop in a billow of dust. With a faint buzz, the glass separator rolled down a few inches, just enough for us to see the top of the driver’s head over the rim.

“Get out. Both of you.”

I looked out the window. There was nothing beyond the glass. No gas stations, roads, signs or cars. Nothing but desert, stretching to the horizon in every direction.

“Here?” Ember asked, echoing my confusion. “Why?”

Questions regarding orders were generally discouraged or went unanswered, so I was surprised when the driver answered. “Part of your testing,” he replied brusquely. “The first to make it back passes. The other fails.”

My stomach dropped, and I stared at the driver, wondering if he was serious. “What happens if we come back together?”

“Then you both fail.” He made a gesture with two fingers, indicating that we leave the car. “Go.”

Stunned, we slid out. As soon as the doors closed, the vehicle tore off in a cloud of dust, cruised over a sand rise and disappeared. Leaving us alone in the middle of the Mohave Desert.

Ember looked at me with defiant green eyes. “The hell? What kind of stupid test is this? The first one back passes and the other fails? Like they expect us to race each other across the desert on foot? With no phones or water or even a compass?” Glaring around, she shook her head and made a hopeless, frustrated gesture. “This is crazy. Do you even know which direction the school is?”

“Yes,” I said quietly, and she blinked in surprise. “Judging from the time, and the position of the sun...” I squinted at the sky, then nodded and turned away, confident in my assessment. “The school should be...that way.”

Ember sighed, crossing her arms. “Well, I’m not going to go charging off without you,” she announced. “That’s insane. They can suck it if they want me to pass this stupid test. We cross the finish line together, and they can just deal with two failures, right?”

For just a moment, I paused. It was likely that what Talon was really testing for was loyalty to the organization. I realized that. But if I did what Ember suggested, it would be my first real failure. I’d always passed my exams with flying colors. If I screwed up now, it would stain my perfect record.

“I don’t know...” I began, but Ember tapped my arm.

“Wait a second.” There was a look on her face now, the one that always worried me. The one that said she was just coming to a realization that would probably get us in trouble. “If you know where the school is, does that mean you know where the town is, too?”

I frowned. “Yes,” I said slowly, gazing around. “I...think so.” The nearest town was a tiny, dusty settlement with a handful of gas stations, restaurants and one very old movie theater that we’d never been to. It was thirty minutes away by car, and by my estimation, we were probably closer to the town than the school right now. “Why?”

Ember’s eyes gleamed, a faint, defiant grin crossing her face. “Here’s an idea,” she said fiercely. “Screw their stupid test. Let’s go to town instead.”

I stared at her. “Skip the test? Are you crazy?”

“Why not?” Ember gestured at the terrain around us. “They dumped us here, in the middle of freaking nowhere—why shouldn’t we have a little fun for once? Let’s go to town and watch that movie. We can say we got horribly lost and wandered around for hours and hours. How are they gonna say otherwise?” When I still hesitated, she rolled her eyes. “Come on, Dante, we’re going to fail the test anyway, you know that, right? What’ve we got to lose? Unless you really want to race me across the desert.”

I took a breath. It was tempting. I was tired, and not just physically. I was tired of tests, tired of studying, of staying up all night only to face another grueling day of exams. And, truth be told, I was angry at Talon for giving us this impossible test, requiring the one thing I refused to do: abandon my twin.

I looked at Ember and nodded. “Yeah,” I said, ignoring the brief stab of fear to the gut. “Let’s do it.”

* * *

It took us all afternoon to reach town, even knowing which direction we were going. The desert stretched on, eternal in its sameness. Even for two dragons who normally thrived in the heat, hours of trudging through the desert in over a hundred degree temperatures began to wear on us. By the time we saw the first of the roofs across the desert, we were hot, sweaty, thirsty and desperate to get out of the sun.

“Made it,” Ember breathed, sounding triumphant. She grinned at me, eager and relieved at the same time. Her skin was slightly pink from the sun, and my own felt uncomfortably tight, making me wonder if it was possible for dragons to get sunburned. “Come on,” she said, gesturing toward a distant gas station on the edge of the road. “I’m spitting sand here. Drinks first, then let’s go find the theater.”

My stomach danced as we approached the border of town, either in excitement, fear or a little of both. This was supremely forbidden. Cutting class, wandering into town alone, deliberately disobeying our instructors? I’d never done anything this risky before. I didn’t know if I liked this feeling of nervous exhilaration and utter terror, but we couldn’t turn back now.

However, as we crossed the road and headed toward the gas station, I spotted a disturbingly familiar black sedan sitting at the edge of the parking lot, and my insides gave a violent twist.

Get ahold of yourself, Dante. Not every black car is from Talon. There’s no way they could know where you went—

The back door opened, and Mr. Gordon stepped out of the car, followed by two Talon agents in suits.

Ember froze. I went rigid, my mind going blank as our teacher came toward us across the lot, leaving the agents by the car. They had found us. How had they found us? Had the car turned around somehow, to make sure we were heading in the right direction? Had the driver been hiding somewhere with binoculars, watching our every move?

“Ember.” Mr. Gordon’s tone was impassive. He didn’t sound angry, or surprised, to find us here. “Dante. Come along, it’s time to go home.”

Numbly, we followed him to the car. There was nothing more we could do.

The ride back was silent. I stared out the window, trying to control the sick feeling in my stomach. What would they do to us? Would this permanently stain my record with Talon? Would they decide to separate me and Ember?

I should have been afraid, and I was. I knew Talon’s punishment would probably be terrible. But at the same time, the more I thought about it, the angrier I became. They were obviously watching us somehow, waiting for us to screw up. Setting us up for failure.

It wasn’t fair. I thought back to all the times I had excelled, followed instructions and orders without hesitation, and my blood boiled. Hadn’t I proved myself by now? Hadn’t I been the model student, never questioning instructions, never complaining? Why this one pointless test that we couldn’t win?

When we got back, we followed Mr. Gordon silently into one of the classrooms, where our other two trainers were waiting with displeased expressions.

“So.” Mr. Gordon turned to face us as the rest of the teachers came forward. His expression was stern, disapproving. “Decided to have a little fun, did you? In the middle of your exams, no less. Would either of you care to explain what you were thinking today? And please,” he added, looking at me. “Do not attempt to tell me you ‘got lost.’ I know that you at least, Dante, know enough to tell which direction is north. So.” He raised his eyebrows. “What were you doing in town today? Why did you ignore the test?”

“Because it was stupid,” Ember growled under her breath. Mr. Gordon’s eyes narrowed, and I jumped in before she made things any worse.

“I didn’t understand the point of the test, sir,” I said, though my own voice came out hard. “I wasn’t going to leave my sister alone, in the middle of the desert. I might’ve known the way back, but what if Ember really did get lost? She could wander around out there for days and get hurt or dehydrated.”

“That was unlikely,” Mr. Gordon replied. “We were watching you both via satellite. Neither of you was in any real danger. Besides, your assessment of the exam was incorrect. We were not testing to see who could make it back first—we were testing to see if either of you would Shift into your real forms in order to make it back faster. But, as you circumvented the exam entirely, that point is moot.”

Satellites. So that was how they knew. My heart sank even more. We’d never had a chance to escape. They’d known what we were doing from the very beginning.

Mr. Gordon gave me a piercing stare, seeming to read my thoughts. “Do let me make this perfectly clear, Mr. Hill,” he said firmly. “We are always watching you. We are always testing you. Nothing you do goes unnoticed. Remember that, always.”

“You were tracking us?” Ember was completely pissed now, and I winced. When she was this angry, there was no telling what she would say. “Well, here’s a thought—maybe that’s why we had to get out of here. Everything is work, exams and these stupid mind games. We can’t ever catch a break. Maybe if you would let up a little, we wouldn’t be so desperate to leave!”

Mr. Gordon looked at me, his eyes cold. “And you, Dante? Do you feel the same?”

“I...” I hesitated, feeling all eyes on me, both human and dragon. Ember was staring at me angrily, wanting but not really expecting me to back her up. The teachers were all watching us, silently judging. Always judging. No matter what I did, how perfect I was or how much I excelled. I could never please them. And suddenly, I was angry, too.

“Yes, sir.” I glared at Mr. Gordon. “From the time I got here, I’ve done everything you wanted. I never Shift, never ask questions, never do anything I’m not supposed to. Until now, I’ve aced every test you’ve given me, and yet I’m still being tracked? When have I given you reason not to trust me? All I’ve ever done for the past three years is excel.”

The human regarded us in heavy silence for a moment, then sighed.

“Yes,” he said, surprising us both. “I know we ask a lot of you. I know it seems unfair at times. But you must understand, it is for your own protection, as well as your future. We push you because it is imperative that you succeed. Because you have a destiny with Talon, and it is up to us to make certain you get there.” He clasped his hands, seeming to speak more to me now, instead of my angry sibling. “You are not mere humans. You are dragons, and your future is far greater than anything a human could hope for. I know it is difficult now, but if you work hard and do exactly what Talon wants, someday you will be the ones on the other side.”

The ones on the other side.

Something clicked in my head and, suddenly, everything became clear. I was a dragon, and Talon was one of the most powerful organizations in the world. If I was in Talon, I would be the one in charge. I’d be the one calling the shots. I wouldn’t have to take pointless exams, listen to humans or worry that my every move was being watched. In Talon, dragons were the bosses, the presidents, the CEOs. If I was part of the organization, no one would tell me what to do ever again.

Mr. Gordon noticed my reaction and smiled. “Yes, Dante.” He nodded. “Now you understand. Within the organization, you can become whatever you wish. But to get there, you must strive to become what Talon wants, even if it means putting your own desires aside for now. Remember your motto—Ut ominous sergimous. ‘As one, we rise.’ You are not merely a hatchling, you are part of something far greater than yourself. Sometimes, sacrifice is necessary.”

Sacrifice is necessary.

Ember snorted, still angry and clearly unimpressed with everything. “Whatever,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “I just know I’m never going to see that movie now, am I?”

Mr. Gordon was still watching me, his dark gaze assessing. His lips curled in a smug smile. “Ms. Brunner,” he said, still holding my gaze. “Please call the theater and arrange a private screening for tomorrow afternoon. Tell them we will need to reserve an entire theater room for a few hours. Tell them that price is not an issue.”

Ember jerked, eyes widening, and my mouth dropped open. Mr. Gordon smiled. “I think you’ve earned a bit of a break,” our teacher said, finally glancing at Ember, who appeared stunned into speechlessness. “You are correct. It can’t be training and exams every hour of every day. If you pass the final stages of your exams tomorrow, we’ll all go into town to celebrate. Is that motivation enough for you, Ms. Hill?”

Ember stammered an affirmative, and Mr. Gordon nodded. But his gaze met mine over her head, and in that dark glare, I could see the echo of his thoughts. This is what power is, Dante, it said. This is what you could have, if you do exactly what Talon wants. At the top, no one will tell you what to do, ever again.

At the top, you could be free.

Ember tried talking to me after we were dismissed, but I barely heard anything she said as we walked across the dusty yard to our rooms. My mind was spinning, and I suddenly didn’t care about the movie, or our ill-fated adventure, or anything but the upcoming test. I knew what I had to do now. I had a clear path, and I would not stray from it until I reached the end, at the very top. Even though the journey would be hard, and I would have to let some things go. It might be painful, but in the end, it would be worth it.

Sacrifice was necessary, but I would be free.

RILEY

“Riley,” said a voice out of the darkness.

I turned, shooting a bleary glance at the clock on the wall as the soldier appeared in the door frame of the cabin’s tiny kitchen—4:50 a.m. Apparently, I wasn’t the only early riser of the group. That, or St. George hadn’t gotten much sleep, either. Yesterday had been an exhausting, mind-numbingly long day of travel, the five of us—me, Ember, Wes, St. George and the Eastern dragon—stuffed into an old black Jeep that was not designed with comfort in mind. We’d taken shifts, both in driving and getting to sit in the front passenger seat, while the rest of us huddled in the back. A couple hours from our final destination, we’d pulled into one of the many small campgrounds scattered at the base of the Ozarks and had rented a cabin for the night. It had been a relief not to have to share space in a tiny hotel room, though my mind wouldn’t shut off long enough to let me sleep. Finally accepting that sleep was not an option, I’d risen and headed into the kitchen for the strongest black coffee I could make, when the soldier appeared in the doorway, wide awake, as well.

I ignored him, reaching for the coffeemaker. Well, what do you know, someone—probably St. George—had already made a pot. I poured myself a mug and took a swallow. Black and strong enough to strip paint from the wall—perfect. “What?” I mumbled.

A pause, then he took a quiet breath. “I never got the chance to thank you.”

Surprised, I turned away and opened the cupboard that held the meager supplies we’d brought. “Let’s not make this awkward, St. George,” I muttered, pawing through cans of soup and ravioli, jerky packages and bags of candy, anything that could be heated up quickly or eaten on the road. Ugh, maybe I would just grab something later from a drive-through. I didn’t see how Ember could eat Skittles for breakfast every day. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“You saved my life,” the soldier insisted. “You didn’t have to. There was nothing anyone could have done, not with how far away we were from the city. You could’ve let me die.”

“How much of an asshole do you think I am?” I growled, shutting the cupboard door to glare at him. “I didn’t do it because I like you. I did it because it was the right thing to do. Because you’re a decent shot, and you’ll back us up when we need it. Because you know about the Order, how it works, what goes on in their screwed-up heads, and it’s easier to stay alive when we have insider information. I did it for any number of reasons, St. George, and all of them outweighed the desire to watch you bleed out in the dirt.” I narrowed my eyes, taking a sip of bitter coffee to swallow the anger. “So don’t make me regret that choice with stupid questions about why I decided to save your sorry ass. Hard as it is to believe, I don’t let any of my team die if I can help it. And I’d be a piss-poor leader if I let personal feelings get in the way of anything. You don’t know me as well as you might think.”

For some reason, that made him close his eyes in a grimace. “Ember told me the same thing once,” he said. “She was right. I didn’t know anything about your kind back then. Everything the Order taught me was wrong.” He drummed his fingers against his arm and glanced down the hall, where Ember, Wes and Jade still slept in quaint, woodsy rooms. “I want to know more,” he said quietly. “I’m trying to understand. Even with Ember, I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.”

“If only you had a dragon around to explain these things to you.”

He smiled, though his expression remained shadowed and distant. “I don’t want to fight you, Riley,” he said after a moment, and we both knew what he was referring to. “You’re not my enemy. I don’t want to feel like I have to watch my back with any of my teammates. I love Ember.” He said it simply, like he was telling me the weather. “And I know there’s something between you and her, something...Draconic, I guess, that I might not ever understand. It’s not my place to ask—she’ll tell me when she’s ready. But I’m here to stay. I’m not going anywhere.”

I swallowed the growl and pushed Cobalt down from where he was rising up, bristling and indignant. “And you’re telling me this why?”

“It needed to be said.” He stared down the hall again. “We’ve been dancing around this for too long. I’m done hiding. I’d rather have everything out in the open. You saved my life,” he continued, obnoxiously sincere and calm. “I thought I’d give you the courtesy of knowing where I stood.”

Anger boiled, but I forced a smirk and pushed past him, into the living room. “Near-death experience making you sentimental, St. George?”

“Maybe.” His voice remained the same. “But it doesn’t change anything.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Ember walked out of the hall, yawning as she came into the kitchen. Her crimson hair stuck out at every angle, and Cobalt stirred at the sight of her. With a brief smile at St. George, she walked to the coffeepot, poured the contents into a mug and padded back to join us in the living room.

“Did we wake you?” the soldier asked, ignoring, I noticed, the previous question. Ember shook her head and brought the mug to her lips.

“Couldn’t sleep. Heard the two of you out here and thought I might as well get up, go over the plan or something. Ugh, that’s awful.” She pulled the mug away from her lips, screwing up her face, then took another sip. “I assume it hasn’t changed, right? We’re still keeping to the same plan?”

I sighed. “Yeah.” I nodded, taking a bracing swallow myself. “Same plan. As soon as the others are up, we’ll head out. We need a few things before we can pull this off.”

* * *

“All right,” I said, pulling to a stop on the narrow, winding road that cut through the mountain. Up ahead, a yellow barricade blocked both lanes, and a single police car sat beside it, lights flashing blue. “There’s the security checkpoint.” I glanced at Ember and St. George in the backseat, seeing a pair of strangers staring back. Like me, both wore black suits—or monkey suits as Wes so elegantly put it—and dark shades, the “few things” we had to pick up for this plan to work. I resented the fact that Wes didn’t have to dress up for this stupid mission; he got to stay at the cabin. I hated G-man suits; the tie around my neck felt like a noose, and the jacket was tight in all the wrong places. St. George, obnoxiously, seemed perfectly at ease in a suit and tie, probably used to being in uniform, but I wanted this over and done with as soon as possible.

“Remember,” I told them and the Asian dragon sitting in the passenger seat, “I’ll do the talking, but if anyone asks, we’re with the Department of Homeland Security. You two are assistants in training, so any questions should be directed to me or Ms. Long here.”

“And what are you going to tell them?” Ember wanted to know. “You don’t know any more about this Security Department than we do.”

“Department of Homeland Security, Firebrand,” I corrected. “And I might not be a Chameleon, but I am a master at bullshitting. Generally, I don’t need to know what I’m talking about. I just have to bluster and act like the person I’m talking to is wasting my time—basically be a giant dick—and most humans will cave. If you act like you’re supposed to be there, people will generally assume the same. What about you?” I asked the woman beside me. “Think you can BS your way past a guard?”

The Eastern dragon’s voice was dry. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

“All right, then.” I faced forward and put the car into Drive. “Let’s do this.”

We cruised up to the barricade, stopping as the door to the police car opened and an overweight human stepped out. I rolled down the window, watching him with as much bored disdain as I could muster as the officer strolled up to the side of our car.

“Sorry, folks,” the human said, peering in at us. “The road is closed for now. You’ll have to take the detour around.”

I flashed the fake badge Wes had given me that morning. “We’re expected,” I said in a bored, I-can’t-believe-I-have-to-deal-with-this tone of voice.

“The DHS?” The officer pulled back, shaking his head. “Damn. I didn’t realize a plane crash was such a big deal.” He gave me a furtive look, lowering his voice as if there were people around to hear him. “So, what’s really going on down there? You government types have been in and out for days. What, was this some kind of terrorist attack or something?”

“Sorry, but I’m not at liberty to say,” I replied stiffly, dropping my arm, and the badge, from view. “And you should know better than to ask. You’re lucky I don’t have time to report you to your superior.”

“Hey, don’t get all high and mighty on me, suit.” The officer stepped back with a sour look on his face. “You government hotshots think you can come through and order us around, but you’re wrong. This ain’t your town.” But he stepped back, waving us through the barricade. “Go on. The sooner you’re finished here, the sooner you can leave.”

Triumphant, I rolled up the window and continued down the road, watching the flashing lights get smaller in the rearview mirror until we turned a bend and they were lost from sight.

“That was easy,” Ember muttered.

I smirked. “Like I said, Firebrand. Master of BS, right here. Still, we shouldn’t press our luck. Try not to talk to anyone while we’re snooping around. And if you happen to see the Chameleon, let me know so we can clear out right away. The humans might not suspect anything, but she’ll definitely know something’s up if she sees three other dragons wandering around.”

As we turned a corner, the “town” came into view, a cluster of run-down houses and trailer homes huddled between the mountains on either side of the road. This is it? I thought. Town might be too strong of a word. Why the hell was Talon even here? What did they want? I pulled off the road, parking the car in the first driveway I came to, well away from the center of town and the scattering of people wandering the street. A lot of government types, I noticed. Men and women in black suits, along with a few in uniform. Something was definitely going on.

“Everyone stay together,” I warned as we exited the vehicle. “Remember, we’re the Department of Homeland Security, you two are our assistants and we’re here to assess the situation.”

“No civilians,” St. George muttered, gazing down the street. “Everyone here is an official or agent of some kind. The town is empty.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” I narrowed my eyes, trying to shake the unease that had settled under my skin. “Something is wrong here. This sure as hell isn’t about just a plane crash. As Wes would say, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Then it is good that we came to see what is going on,” Jade put in, and if I didn’t know better, I would swear there was a hint of I told you so in her voice. I ignored it and started walking.

As we began seeing more houses up close, I understood why there were people in suits swarming all over the damn place. And it raised the hair on the back of my neck.

The houses were all burned. Some just had a few scorch marks here and there; others were nothing but blackened shells, crumbling to ash. For more than a few, only the foundations were left, blasted cinder blocks and scorched concrete lying beneath what used to be a home. Several front yards held a colorful assortment of lawn ornaments, kids’ toys, and junked cars rusting side by side. They were untouched, as was the vegetation and trees around the buildings. Only the houses were charred to nothing, as if blasted with fire from the inside.

“Jeez,” Ember whispered, her eyes wide as she gazed around at the devastation. “What happened here? It looks like a bomb went off or something.”

“No,” I said. “A bomb wouldn’t just destroy the houses and leave everything else untouched. Neither would a forest fire, or a damn crashing plane. What does it really look like happened here?”

St. George’s voice was grim. “Like this place was attacked by fire-breathing dragons.”

“Yeah,” I muttered as a chill crept up my spine and turned the heat in my veins to ice. “Though, if Talon is behind this, I have no idea what that means. They’ve never engaged in something so blatant. The cover-up would have to be massive, and I don’t see what they would gain from it. If this is Talon...” I shook my head, repressing a shiver. “Something is definitely wrong.”

Voices halted us. Up ahead, a pair of humans in white coats stepped out of one of the more intact trailer homes, arguing with each other, and went hurrying away down the street. Leaving the door wide open behind them.

“Come on,” Jade said. “Let us do some snooping.”

We slipped into the trailer, and I was immediately struck by the smell. The faint, acrid stench of smoke lingered in the air, baked into the flimsy walls and floors. Part of the kitchen wall was gone, blackened and scorched around the edges, and it looked like the flames had spread to the living room. Tables and chairs were tipped over, broken dishes were scattered over the floor and the windows had been shattered. I wondered what had happened to the people that lived here. Had they been eating dinner, or asleep in their beds, when a dragon clawed open their door and turned the place into an inferno? Or had something else, someone else, been responsible?

“St. George,” I murmured as we slowly picked our way through the rubble and charred furniture. “Is there any way the Order could have done this?”

He frowned. “It doesn’t seem like them,” he answered, though he sounded unsure. “They would have no reason to attack this place unless there was a dragon living here. But even then...” He gazed around the devastated living room. “They wouldn’t take out the entire community. That would raise way too many questions.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Which is why I’m having a really hard time believing that Talon was behind this. They’re just as paranoid about discovery as the Order, if not more so. I mean, that’s their entire freaking philosophy—stay hidden, blend in, don’t let the humans know about dragons.” I stared through the giant hole in the wall to the house across the street. Unlike this home, it had been completely devastated, burned to the ground, only a few twisted frames poking up from the ashes. “Something this huge...it flies in the face of every single thing Talon taught us since the day the organization was founded. Why would they be breaking all their rules now? It makes no sense at all.” I raked a hand through my hair, shaking my head as I groped for an answer. “Maybe this wasn’t Talon or St. George. Maybe this was a random terrorist attack, or something else entirely human.”

“Riley,” Ember said from the living room, her voice urgent. “Take a look at this.”

I walked to where she was crouched beside an overturned coffee table, staring at a patch of cheap carpet. The carpet was gray and thin, but when she moved the table aside, a large brown stain came to light. I winced.

“Yep, that’s blood. Dammit. Well, I’d say we have a pretty good indication of what happened to the people here.”

“No,” Ember said, putting a hand on my arm. “That’s not what I wanted to show you. Look at this.”

She pointed to the coffee table, holding it on its side. It was scorched on one corner, a large black burn mark covering half the surface, but below that, raked across the wood, were four long, straight gashes.

“What do those look like?” Ember whispered, and I closed my eyes.

“Claw marks.”

“Excuse me.”

We turned. Two men were entering the trailer home, frowning at us as they stepped through the door.

“I’m sorry,” the older one said, gazing around at us, “but this is an ongoing investigation. Who are you, and what authorization do you have to be here?”

Before I could stand up or say anything, Jade turned, flashing her badge for both men to see. “Department of Homeland Security,” she said in a firm, no-nonsense voice. “We are here to assess the situation and determine whether or not we need to escalate the current threat level.”

“The DHS?” The older human looked unsure. “No one said you were coming. When did—”

“Do you have evidence to support this was not a terrorist attack made on American soil?” Jade interrupted, stepping forward slightly. The man blinked.

“I...no, not really. We’re still—”

“Then it is possible this was a malicious attack carried out by extremists.”

“I suppose.” The human sighed and looked away, flustered. “Look, we don’t really know what we have yet,” he admitted. “The evidence we’ve gathered so far has been...strange. The inspector has been trying to keep everything under wraps until we figure out what really happened here. If you want, you can check out the evidence tent at the end of the road. See the weirdness for yourself.”

“Thank you,” Jade said, and gave a brittle smile. “We will do that.” She started to turn but paused, staring at the human as if surprised he was still there. “You may go now.”

The two men retreated, practically scrambling over each other to get out of the house. They fled, slamming the door behind them, and strode away down the road without looking back. Jade, standing at the edge of the room with her arms crossed, allowed herself a triumphant smirk.

“Damn,” I said as the Eastern dragon turned back. “That was impressive. I guess I’m not the only one with a master’s in BS.”

She smiled. “The DHS does have a public website,” she said. “They list their mission statement, job offers, history, everything. When Wesley told me how we were getting onto the crash site today, I did my research. But yes.” Her smile widened. “If it is necessary for our survival, I have been known to ‘bullshit’ with the best of them from time to time.”

I snorted a laugh. “Wish you were around a couple years ago. I could’ve used the help. Anyway...” I glanced out the hole in the wall, down the road where the two men had disappeared. “Shall we track down this evidence tent and see if we can uncover what the hell is going on?”

The evidence tent wasn’t hard to find, being a large white structure at the edge of the road and the only building that wasn’t charred, scorched or burned to the ground. Humans in suits and white coats were swarming in and out of it, but other than flashing my badge at the entrance, we didn’t really get a second glance. Inside, metal shelves ran the length of one canvas wall, each of them holding boxes marked with labels in clear plastic bags. Immediately, Ember headed to the wall, her innate curiosity no doubt driving her forward, while St. George hovered at our backs, watching the crowd. Grateful that the soldier was keeping an eye out, I walked up and peeked into one box.

It held an assortment of clothing in more plastic bags. But as I looked closer, I saw that most of the garments had large brown stains soaking the fabric. Blood. And a lot of it, judging from the mangled clothes. I looked at the next box in line and saw more of the same; only this time, I could make out several long, straight tears in some of the clothes, as if made by the edge of a knife.

Or the claws of a very large reptile.

“It seems the evidence against Talon is becoming more and more damning,” Jade remarked, also peering into the containers. “Between the fires, general destruction and the Talon agent on the news, it certainly seems like the organization is at least partially involved.”

“I still can’t believe they’d be this sloppy,” I said. “They had to have known that something this big would cause a huge investigation, with everyone scrambling to figure out what the hell happened.” I snorted. “Plane crash, my ass. I bet it’s not even Talon that’s trying to cover this up—the government has no idea what they’re dealing with, so they invented a cover story to keep things quiet until they can figure it out. And since Talon has agents seeded throughout all the government agencies, they’re only too happy to help.”

“That might be true, but it is not the question that needs answering,” Jade mused. “If the organization is involved, then the real question becomes why. What could they possibly hope to gain here?”

“Riley,” Ember murmured in a warning voice. She pulled a bag out of a nearby crate. I looked up, and my stomach flipped.

Resting in the bag was a small, flat oval, pointed on one end and glittering a dull iron gray. Even though the color was strange, one I’d never seen before, I knew what it was instantly. We all did.

A dragon scale.

EMBER

“Give me that, Firebrand,” Riley muttered, quickly stepping forward and taking the bag from my hands. It vanished into his suit pocket as he glanced around warily. “No point in giving the humans any more hints that dragons are real. Or at least that something very unnatural went down.” He eyed a human wandering by who looked like a scientist, then lowered his voice again. “Regardless, I think we’ve seen all we need to see here.”

“I agree,” Jade said, nodding. “From the evidence, it is safe to assume that dragons attacked this town in their true form, and that Talon is at least partially responsible. Unfortunately, that theory creates more questions than it answers. Why would they attack this community? Especially since, as Riley pointed out, the entire point of the organization is to hide the existence of dragons from the human population. Why risk that now?”

Riley shook his head. “I have no clue, but I get the feeling we’re not going to like the answer.”

Abruptly, Garret stalked back, his gaze intense as he swept between us. “The woman you described is approaching this location,” he said in a low voice, making Riley jerk up.

“Hell. Miranda is coming? Come on, we can’t be seen by her.”

We fast-walked toward the end of the room, passing more humans and looking for a way out as we went deeper into the tent. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a back exit, and the open room offered very few hiding spots.

“There,” Riley said, nodding toward a corner of the tent that had been sectioned off. Plastic flaps hung to the floor, and the area beyond was dark. With Riley leading and Garret watching our backs, we hurried across the room and ducked through the plastic walls.

My stomach recoiled. The room beyond the flaps was dim and cold, and the sickly smell of death lingered on the air, masked by chemicals and disinfectant. A pair of stainless-steel tables stood in the center of the room, and atop the farthest counter was something long and suspiciously body shaped, covered with a sheet.

I drew in a slow breath to quiet my heartbeat and nudged Garret, who was still peering through the flaps to watch for the Chameleon. He glanced at me with a puzzled frown, but it quickly faded when he realized what I was staring at.

“There she is,” Riley growled softly, not taking his eyes from the room beyond. “Hello, Miranda. What are you doing here? Covering up for the organization again?”

I tore my eyes from what was obviously a dead body and peeked through the plastic flaps again, seeing a dark-haired, smartly dressed woman enter the tent, followed by what looked like an assistant of some kind. The woman, or dragon, really, wasn’t tall or intimidating—not like Lilith, who could walk into a room and freeze you in place with a glare. But everything about this woman radiated charisma, charm and confidence, much like another Chameleon I used to know.

As a certain traitorous brother entered my thoughts, I swallowed the brief pang and forced myself to concentrate on the Talon agent at the end of the other room. She spoke briskly to the assistant and pointed to several boxes along the wall. The human bobbed his head in mute agreement, and the Chameleon smiled, then spun and exited the tent as suddenly as she had appeared.

“All right,” Riley mused, straightening and drawing back from the flap. “So Talon sent an agent to help with the cover-up, but also to make sure certain evidence just...disappears. Sounds like them.” He nodded. “I think we’re going to have to pay a visit to a certain hotel room in town.”

I frowned at him. “How did you get all that? They were clear across the room.”

He smirked down at me. “I was a Basilisk, Firebrand. Among my many enviable talents are picking locks, hiding in plain sight...and reading lips.” His grin widened at my surprised look before he sobered and glanced through the flaps again. “Seems that our lovely Talon agent is staying at a hotel not far from here,” he muttered, watching the human gather up a couple crates and leave the tent. “Those boxes of evidence are likely headed there now. If anyone knows what Talon was doing here, it will be Miranda. And if they’re planning anything else like this, I’d kinda like to know when and why.”

“I agree,” came Garret’s grave voice from behind us. I turned to find him standing next to the counter I’d pointed to earlier, only he had pulled back a corner of the sheet, revealing a truly hideous sight. The corpse lying on the table was barely recognizable as human, as shriveled and burned as it was. It looked more like a piece of charred wood than anything that had once been alive. My stomach heaved, and I had to look away, feeling bile rise to my throat. Was that what my victims looked like, after I’d blasted them with dragonfire? I’d killed both Talon servants and soldiers of St. George in battle. Had they all ended up like that withered corpse? Blackened skeletons of what had once been human?

“If Talon is planning another attack,” Garret continued in that same somber voice, though his steely eyes glinted in the darkness, “we need to stop it before this happens again.”

* * *

We followed the Chameleon from the “crash site,” tailing her white sedan until it pulled into a normal, innocuous-looking hotel, not the Ritz but not a Motel 6, either. From across the lot, we watched the Chameleon walk briskly into the hotel followed by two large men I assumed were bodyguards. Left behind, her poor assistant hauled several boxes out of the trunk and staggered after them.

I looked at Riley as the human vanished through the hotel doors. “So, how are we going to do this?” I asked. “Wait to sneak in tonight?”

He shook his head. “No time for that, Firebrand. She could be leaving today and taking all the evidence with her. If we want to see what Talon is up to, we need to get in there now.” He frowned and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Problem is, I can take care of Miranda and get us into the room, but if she leaves any of her guards behind, that’s going to make things difficult. If she comes back and finds an unconscious human lying on her floor, she’s going to guess someone was there and warn the organization.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Jade said, surprising us all. “You just concentrate on getting the Talon woman away from the vicinity and finding her room. I will take care of the guards.”

He eyed her, raising a brow. “And how are you going to do that exactly? Eat them?”

“Please. I would very likely get food poisoning.” She wrinkled her nose and sniffed in clear disgust. “Do not worry. As I once told our soldier friend, a shen-lung has her ways. You get the Talon agent out of the building and find where her room is located. Leave any guards to me.”

Riley stared at her a moment longer, then shrugged. “You’re awfully certain about that,” he muttered, pulling his phone out of his jacket pocket. “But as we’re a little short on time, I guess I’ll have to trust you know what you’re doing. Hang on a second.” He pressed a button on his phone, then put it to his ear. “Wes. We’re at the Wingate Hotel, about ten miles from the crash site. I need you to find which room Miranda’s staying in.” A pause, and he rolled his eyes. “Of course we’re going to sneak in, what do you think?... I don’t know, the Eastern dragon thinks she can get past the guards.” He sighed. “Don’t argue, Wes. Just do it.”

A couple minutes passed, and he nodded. “Three-eighteen. Got it. I’ll call you if there’s trouble.” He frowned. “Thank you, Wesley, your votes of confidence are always so inspiring.”

“Okay,” I said as Riley lowered his arm. “One problem down—we know what room she’s in. How are we going to get her to leave long enough to search it?”

“Don’t worry, Firebrand.” Riley gave a wicked smile. “King of BS right here, remember? Watch and learn.”

Pressing in a number, he held the phone to his ear and waited a few moments as it rang. “Hello, front desk?... Yes, could you please connect me to Miranda Kent’s room? I believe she’s staying there tonight.” A pause, and he grinned. “Thank you.”

I held my breath, watching Riley and counting the number of imaginary rings in my head. At three rings, he raised his head. “Ms. Kent? This is Director Smith, from the crash site? Sorry to bother you, but we recently found something of an anomaly near one of the victims, and thought you might want to see it.”

As he spoke, his other hand reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the plastic bag, holding it up with narrowed eyes. “Well, we’re not entirely sure. We’ve never seen such a thing before—it looks like some kind of reptile scale. But far bigger than any species in known existence—” He stopped, as if the voice on the other end had cut him off, and the gleam in his eyes grew brighter. “All right, then. We won’t do anything until you get here. Thank you.”

“Clever,” Jade remarked as he lowered the phone. Riley snorted.

“I just know how Talon works, is all.” He stuffed the phone and the scale into his pocket again and leaned back in smug satisfaction. “If Miranda’s job is to cover this up and make all evidence of dragons disappear, something like this is going to light a fire under her tail like nothing else. She’ll be desperate to get to that evidence before Talon hears about it. We should see her anytime now. Like a bat out of hell.”

Less than two minutes later, the hotel doors opened and the Chameleon and a single guard strode across the lot, setting an even brisker pace toward the car, the assistant scrambling along in their wake. The woman’s normally smiling face was taut as she entered the passenger side and slammed the door shut. As the guard opened the driver’s side, the assistant nearly tripped over himself getting into the car. The sedan backed hastily out of the parking spot, barely missing the hood of a truck as it did, and peeled out of the lot.

Riley snickered and straightened in his seat again. “And that,” he remarked, watching the sedan turn onto the road, cutting off a van as it merged into traffic, “is how you freak out a Chameleon. But we do need to hurry, before she realizes ‘Mr. Smith’ is no longer at the crash site.”

“One of her guards wasn’t with her,” Garret observed. Riley nodded.

“Yep. Which means he’ll be in her room, just like I thought.” He turned to Jade, who seemed perfectly calm and serene, even as my heart was pounding with nerves and anticipation. “All right, O great and mysterious shen-lung,” he stated, and waved his hand at the hotel. “It’s all yours.”

Jade nodded. Taking off the suit jacket, she laid it over the back of her seat. Her heels followed, and then her earrings, being placed carefully in the cup holders as we looked on in bewilderment. “How long will you need to be in the room?” she asked, unbuttoning the cuffs of her white shirt. Riley blinked.

“Uh, not long,” he said, watching her finish with the sleeves and unbutton the top. “Five minutes, at most.”

The Eastern dragon nodded. “Give me ten minutes,” she said, and left the car. We watched her walk barefooted across the parking lot, pulling the tie from her bun as she did, and enter the hotel through the front doors. Riley shook his head and glanced back at Garret.

“If this goes spectacularly to hell,” he told him, “I’m blaming you. You realize that.”

The soldier just smiled grimly.

Ten long, tense minutes later, Riley blew out an explosive breath and reached for the door handle. “Okay,” he announced far too brightly. “Let’s go see if our Eastern princess has managed to eat anyone.”

We cautiously entered the hotel and made our way through the long aisles toward room 318. Along the way, a maid stepped out of one of the rooms, pushing a cart, and Riley quite literally ran into it. He tumbled to the floor with a yelp, and the poor maid began a string of rapid apologies, rushing over and asking if he was all right, while Garret and I looked on in confusion. Riley, picking himself up off the floor, suddenly switched to perfect, fluent Spanish, making soothing motions with his hands and, from what I could tell, assuring her he was fine. He said something that made her laugh, and then she thanked him and walked away, pushing the cart down the hall again. I stared after her, then at the rogue, who seemed very pleased with himself.

“What the hell was that?” I demanded. “I’ve seen you move, and there’s no way that was an accident. You ran into her on purpose, didn’t you?”

Riley grinned, dusted off his pants and then held up a card between two fingers.

“I was going to say I left my key card in the room and could she please open the door for me,” he admitted as we quickly moved toward the elevators. “That’s always worked in the past. But I figured this might be faster.”

“Risky,” Garret remarked. “What if you couldn’t lift it without getting caught?” Riley smirked.

“I don’t get caught, St. George. Now, let’s get to Miranda’s room before anything else happens.”

We took the elevator to the third floor and easily found room 318. The hallway was silent, and no sounds or light came from the room beyond the door. Riley cast furtive glances over his shoulder, making sure no one was around, and raised the card he took from the maid.

“All right,” he said in a low voice. “Here goes. Let’s see if that Eastern dragon actually did what she said she could.”

He slid the key into the slot. It beeped green, and we pushed the door open.

The room beyond was empty.

Riley let out a breath, and beside me, Garret relaxed. I slumped in relief, letting muscles that had tensed up for a fight uncoil. “Okay.” The rogue nodded, shutting the door behind us. “I don’t know how she did it, but I’m not complaining. Let’s find that evidence and see if we can discover what Talon is up to. But remember,” he warned as we stepped farther inside. “Try not to disturb anything. We don’t want Miranda knowing we were here. Let’s find what we’re looking for and get the hell out.”

That sounded like a good idea. The hotel room wasn’t large, and we did a sweep of the place fairly quickly. There was nothing in the main room or the bathroom, but when Riley pulled open the closet door...

“Dammit,” he muttered, gazing at several cardboard boxes stacked neatly in the corner. They were taped, sealed shut, with shipping labels stuck to the sides. “Well, here’s the evidence, but we can’t get inside to look at it. Not without Miranda knowing we were here. Where are they sending these? I wonder.” He pulled one of the boxes toward him and looked at the address on top. “NewTech,” he growled, and shook his head. “Son of a bitch, there’s another lab. Firebrand, grab me a piece of paper or something, would you? Looks like we to need to check this place out. Maybe Wes can find something on them.”

I hurried to the desk in the corner and reached for the complimentary notepad sitting beside the phone, then hesitated. The Chameleon’s laptop lay open and dark on the surface of the desk, a mug of coffee cooling beside it. As if she might have been working on something and had to rush off before she could complete it.

I reached for the touchpad and jiggled the screen to life, bringing up a page with an unsent email across the surface.

Mr. Hill, the top line read.

My stomach turned to ice. I sank into the chair, scanning the rest of the message as the cold spread to every part of my body.

I have arrived on scene, the email read. Per Talon’s orders, all evidence at the “crash site” has been gathered and logged accordingly. The human officials are all too willing to accept the cover story, as they have no idea what they are dealing with. They know something unnatural happened, but so far their posited explanations range from the mundane to the absurd. I believe the organization to be in no danger of discovery. As you requested, the first boxes of evidence we have taken from the site will be sent to the specified location today. Expect their arrival in no less than twenty-four hours.

Ut ominous sergimus.

Miranda Kent.

“Ember?” Garret’s voice echoed softly across the room, wrenching me out of my daze. I might’ve gone a little pale, because his gray eyes were worried as they met mine. “What’s wrong?”

“Dante,” I whispered, and both he and Riley jerked up at the name. “Dante is part of this. He’s behind the cover-up. This message is to him.”

Both boys came to my side immediately, peering over my shoulders at the laptop screen. “Well, shit,” Riley growled in my ear. “Then we definitely need to visit this ‘specified location’ and see what the hell is going on.”

I stared at the screen, seeing only my brother’s name, standing out from the rest. Dante. All the feelings I thought I’d repressed—hurt, dismay, anger, betrayal—surged up again, making my stomach turn. Why are you involved in this? What the hell are you doing?

The words on-screen seemed to mock me. I was vaguely aware of Riley grabbing a scrap of paper and scribbling something down. “All right, that’s it,” he announced, straightening quickly. “I think we’ve found everything we can. Let’s get out of here before her guards come back.”

I shook myself, following Riley to the door with Garret close at my back. Now was not the time to dwell on traitorous siblings. I would think about my brother, and his role in this whole sordid mess, later. When we were away from the hotel and shady Talon agents who could return at any moment.

But as Riley opened the door and peered out, voices echoed down the corridor, making him jerk back. Through the frame, I saw two people walking toward us down the hall. One was a large man with a thick neck and chest, one of the guards we’d seen with Miranda. The other, walking beside him, was a small, slender woman with long black hair...

...dressed only in a towel.

For a second, my brain stuttered. It was Jade, I could see that, but the woman walking toward us with the guard was as different from the poised, elegant Eastern dragon as a swan was to a chicken. Snatches of conversation drifted to us, with Jade thanking the guard for escorting her back to her room, and how silly she felt for locking herself out. Her voice was high-pitched, giggly and slightly slurred, and she swayed a bit when she walked, as if very drunk. Of course, the guard wasn’t paying any attention to his surroundings, being distracted by the beautiful Asian woman in nothing but a towel. But we were still trapped. They were still coming toward us, and if we tried to leave now, the man would definitely see us.

Jade looked up, and for a moment, her eyes met mine through the crack in the door. Slowing, she reached out and snagged the guard’s sleeve, tugging him to a halt in the middle of the corridor. The guard turned, frowning, as Jade rambled on, asking him questions and talking so quickly it was hard to understand her.

Now’s our chance. I nudged Riley and he nodded, silently pulling open the door. But as we stepped into the hall, the guard, apologizing to Jade, started to turn back toward the room. For a second, my heart lurched, knowing he was going to see us. There was nowhere we could hide.

Jade dropped the towel.

My eyes bulged. Riley froze. The guard turned back instantly, his attention definitely not in danger of landing on us anymore. As Jade’s high-pitched giggles rang out in the stunned silence, Garret, his cheeks as red as a tomato, immediately took advantage of the distraction and began walking away. I glanced at Riley, saw him staring wide-eyed at the scene in the center of the hall and punched his arm. Hard.

He jerked, giving me a sheepish grin, and we fled the floor, ducking into the elevators and out of sight.

* * *

Jade rejoined us in the parking lot fifteen minutes later, fully clothed, sliding into the passenger seat as if nothing had happened. Her serene expression remained unchanged as she shut the door and began putting on her shoes and earrings, not noticing, or choosing to ignore, the stunned silence from the rest of us.

“Well?” she said, finally turning around. “I trust you found what you were looking for, yes?” As she glanced at Riley, her lips curled in a faint, defiant smile. “Please tell me you were able to acquire what you needed from the Talon agent’s room. I would hate to have given you a show for nothing.”

Riley gave a bark of laughter, as if he couldn’t help himself, and shook his head. “I think I’ve been dethroned.” He chuckled as the Eastern dragon raised a brow at him. “The king of BS is dead. Long live the queen.”

GARRET

“Are you bloody serious?” Wes exclaimed later that night. “You’re going to try to sneak into yet another Talon facility? Is our life not exciting enough, or do the lot of you just have some sort of mutual death wish?”

It was late evening, and the four of us were back in the cabin, having explained to Wes what we had found at the crash site. Riley stood in the center of the living room, arms crossed, while Wes watched him from the kitchen counter. I leaned against the far wall, and Jade sat peacefully in an armchair, watching everything in silence. The only one not in attendance was Ember, who had retreated to her room as soon as we’d arrived, claiming that she had a headache and wanted to lie down. She had been quiet and withdrawn ever since we’d left the hotel, probably brooding over her brother and his involvement with Talon. I worried for her; Dante was the one person who could get under her skin and make her question everything.

Riley sighed. “It’s not like it’s a heavily armed secret compound, Wes,” he said. “You researched it yourself. It’s an office building, certainly owned by Talon, but in the middle of a city. There’s not going to be guards with machine guns walking around.”

“You hope,” Wes shot back. “This is Talon. I wouldn’t put anything past them, and you should know better, too, Riley. You could be walking into a death trap.”

“You’re the one who wanted us to uncover what Talon is up to.”

“Bloody hell, I realize that! But I didn’t think we were going to be waltzing into Talon itself.”

“This is necessary, Wesley,” Jade said in her cool, unruffled voice. “This only proves that Talon is planning something, and we must discover what that is before it is too late.”

“And you know you’re going to go along with it,” Riley added. “So can we just skip the whining and get to the part where you actually start helping?”

“I could do that,” Wes said, scowling at him. “But then, who would tell you what an absolute wanker you are?” He sighed and opened his laptop, then bent over the keys.

I rose and slipped quietly from the room toward the hallway where the bedrooms were located. Riley watched me leave over the back of Wes’s stool, but he didn’t say anything as I continued into the hall and walked to the door at the very end. Light glimmered through the crack at the bottom, and I tapped on the wood.

“It’s open,” came the muffled voice beyond the frame.

I pushed the door back with a squeak. Ember sat on her bed with her back against the headboard and one leg drawn to her chest. She had changed out of the black suit, which lay in a crumpled pile at the foot of the bed, and now wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, though I could still see the slick material of the Viper suit poking up through her collar. I knew she rarely went without it anymore, just in case she needed to Shift into her real form, either to escape or to attack. Her hands rested in her lap, one of them curled around an item I couldn’t see.

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