“There’s a rumor in Talon,” the rogue explained, his expression darkening with anger. “Of a laboratory where Talon sent the nonfemale dragons whom the organization had deemed ‘unworthy.’ Either they were sickly or crippled or weak in some other way. No one knew what happened to them, but if you were sent to that lab, you were never seen again.” His brow furrowed, a shadow of pain crossing his face. “As one of my rogues once put it, the laboratory was a place they sent dragons ‘to be sliced and diced and turned into something new.’”
“Something new?” Tristan shook his head. “Something new is a dragon that can also Shift into a motorcycle. Not an army of mindless dragon clones. Sorry, mindless Adult dragon clones.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Shit, we barely held off a swarm of hatchlings…can you imagine a few hundred thousand Adults raining fire down on everything?”
“Like I said—dragon apocalypse.” Crossing his arms, Riley stared at the rest of us. “So the question becomes, how are we going to storm another massive, heavily guarded Talon compound—one that is expecting us, by the way—and what are we going to need to have half a chance in hell of pulling this off?”
“A fucking miracle?” Tristan muttered.
Riley arched a brow at him. “Not terribly helpful, St. George, but I’ll take it under consideration.”
“We need more people,” I said.
All eyes turned to me. “We don’t have enough bodies,” I went on. “Not for something like this. We barely had enough people for the assault on the facility. I’d expect this to be much larger and well guarded. Even if they weren’t expecting us, we need a far bigger force to have any hope of success.”
“I’m afraid Sebastian is right,” Lieutenant Ward added, surprising us. His voice was grim as he gazed around the room. “This is their army, the dragons they’ve grown and bred to launch an attack, to declare war on their enemies and the entire human race. There will be more security in that spot than any other Talon facility in the world. We don’t have the numbers for this.” His voice grew even darker. “I don’t think anyone has the numbers for this.”
“Then we get more.”
Ember stepped forward, raising her head as she faced the table of men and dragons. “We get more,” she repeated firmly. “We put out the call to oppose Talon, once and for all. Lieutenant Martin, Lieutenant Ward, there have to be other survivors from the Order, other soldiers that are scattered or in hiding. Call them here. Make them understand what must be done, that allying with us is the only way to stop Talon. Jade…” She looked at the Asian woman, silently watching from the corner. “Rally the Eastern dragons and all their followers. I know there are more of them out there—they called a council a few weeks back. Convince them to fight with us. I know the Eastern dragons are reclusive and would rather not get involved, but the time for hiding is past. If we lose this battle, Talon will come for them, too.”
Jade offered a slight, solemn bow to the other dragon. “I will try, Ember,” she stated, raising her head. “I do not know how many of my people I can persuade—as you say, they have spent thousands of years in isolation, remaining neutral to the troubles of the outside world. But, in this, you are correct. We cannot hide any longer. This must become our fight, as well.”
Ember nodded. “Mist,” she went on, and the silver-haired girl raised an eyebrow at her.
“You’re going to ask me if I can convince Basilisks who are still in Talon to join us,” she said dryly. “To go rogue and fight the organization.”
“Not just the Basilisks,” Ember replied. “Any dragon or human who is unhappy with Talon, who hates what they’ve done but has been afraid to oppose the Elder Wyrm. I’m not saying we should alert the Vipers to our presence, but I trust your judgment, Mist. You must know of a few who would be willing to go rogue, to fight Talon with us.”
Mist offered a grim, mysterious smile. “I think I might know a few.”
“Good. You handle that, then.” Ember paused, then took a deep breath and turned to the front of the table. Her voice, once firm and confident, went a little bit softer. “Riley…”
He held up a hand. “I know, Firebrand,” he said before she could say anything. “You don’t have to convince me this time. We’re going to have to fight. All of us, everyone who can hold a gun or breathe fire. So don’t worry.” He shook his head, a rueful smile crossing his face. “It’s either make our final stand here, or burn with the rest of the world when Talon wakes those things up.”
He took a deep breath, then let it out and grinned savagely around the room. “All right,” he said in an overly grand voice. “There’s not much time left, and we have work to do. The dragon apocalypse is coming.”
PART III
INFERNO
RILEY
Ten days.
That was the countdown. We couldn’t wait much longer. Ten days to plan, to prepare, to wait for reinforcements to show up. That first afternoon passed in a flurry of confusion, questions and fear. When the video was shown to everyone, the soldiers of the Order had reacted with indignation and outrage, the rogues with horror and fear, but in the end, a steely resolve had settled over both groups, tinged with quiet resignation. Everyone knew what would happen if Talon’s mindless clone army was awakened. We’d all seen it firsthand, on a much smaller scale. We knew that if we didn’t destroy that army now, we wouldn’t have a chance when they woke up.
The soldiers of St. George arrived first. A few days after the meeting, Martin and St. George took the jeep away from the farm and returned that evening with a pair of grim-faced soldiers in the backseat. The following day, they did the same and brought back another three. Over the next few days, a handful of soldiers trickled in, all with the same story. They were the only survivors of their various chapterhouses, or they had been away on a mission when the Night of Fang and Fire hit and had returned to find that nothing remained of their home but cinders, ash and the bones of their comrades.
Naturally, everyone was extremely cautious of the newcomers. Dragons and soldiers alike eyed each other with suspicion, loathing and fear, uncertain whether or not the other would attack. I, St. George and both lieutenants strove to make it very clear that no one was allowed to harm or threaten anyone on the property, no matter who or what they were. The rules were nonnegotiable. If anyone had a problem working with each other, they were welcome to leave and take their chances with Talon, alone. If there were incidents of violence, if anyone—dragon or human—hurt or threatened anyone on the property, they would be driven to the nearest town and left there. No trial, no questions asked. We were all under the same banner, and those who could not get along were liabilities. It was harsh, but the situation was too grave to have to worry about infighting. Fortunately, the near-destruction of the entire Order of St. George had shown the soldiers exactly what Talon could do, and how dire things really were. They were much more willing to ally with dragons, now that there was no other way they stood a chance against the organization. Funny how things like that worked.
One evening, a little more than a week into our preparations, Wes and I were huddled over his laptop, trying to pinpoint exactly where the laboratory was, when there was a tap on the doorframe. Jade stepped into the room.
“I must go,” she announced without preamble.
I straightened. “What the hell? Now?” I stared at her, feeling the inevitable tick of the clock counting down the seconds. “Dammit, Jade, why do you always skip out on us when something big is going down? If you haven’t noticed, we’re about to start a war with Talon.”
“That is why I must leave,” the Eastern dragon said, unconcerned with my anger. “And I am not, as you Americans would put it, skipping out. But I know my people. They will not hear me if I plead with them from the other side of an ocean. I must go to them directly and speak with them face-to-face. It is the only way to make them understand.”