Garret knelt beside me, stilling my arm, his gaze solemn as he pulled me back. “He’s gone.”
No. I slumped, a thousand emotions raging inside, making me want to scream, to Shift and rip something to pieces. Tears blurred my vision and crawled down my face, and I could barely speak through the sudden fury. “Dammit, Dante,” I choked out, gazing down at the still form of my brother, lying motionless on the tile. Gone. He was really gone. I’d never see him again. “Why didn’t you believe us earlier?” I whispered. “Why didn’t you just listen? We could have saved you.”
“Ember.” Garret’s voice was soft, hesitant. I glanced at him with tear-streaked eyes, and he gently put a hand over mine. “I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes bright with sympathy. “But we have to move. The Elder Wyrm could be rallying her forces against us right now. We still need to find the stasis chamber, plant the explosives and get out of here.”
Dammit. Screw the mission. For a moment, a part of me rebelled, hating everything that had brought us here. I didn’t want to think about the clones, the attack or the mission. I wanted to find a dark, empty room, curl up in a ball and sob out my anger and grief, and maybe blast a few things with fire. I wanted to grieve the brother I had lost, the twin who had been with me most my life, whom I had always believed we could save in the end.
But the Elder Wyrm was still out there. Gravely wounded, perhaps even dying, but still an unknown. Still a threat. And we had a whole lot of people and dragons who were counting on us. Riley, Martin and everyone outside wouldn’t retreat or back down. The longer I sat here, the greater the casualties, and even more would die because of me.
With a shaky breath, I accepted Garret’s hand, letting him pull me upright. At the bottom of the steps, Tristan, Mist and Peter Matthews were gathering our packs and confiscated firearms, warily eyeing the vessels, who were now staring straight ahead without expression, ignoring the movements around them. Their last command, I remembered, was “Release the prisoners and stand down,” which they had done. Without someone to direct them, they were on standby, awaiting further orders. Orders that would never come—unless the Elder Wyrm or another Talon dragon returned.
I looked at Dante one last time, memorizing his face, remembering the last words he’d said to me. Not as a rival or an enemy or the heir of Talon, but as a brother. I didn’t want to leave him here, in this dark, cold room that would eventually explode in a blaze of fire and destruction if we managed to complete the mission. But there was no way we could take him with us, and time was dangerously short. The sudden thought that this was really the last time I would see him, ever, hit me hard, and fresh tears threatened even as I took a step back.
Garret took my hand, squeezing gently, and I turned away before I really broke down. We left the lair of the Elder Wyrm—me, Garret, Tristan, Mist and Peter Matthews—hoping to make it to our destination before the alarms were sounded. I looked back only once, glimpsing my brother’s limp body lying on the stage, and bit my lip to keep back the sob.
Goodbye, Dante. If there is an afterlife for dragons, I’ll meet you on the other side. Maybe sooner than we both thought.
RILEY
I hit the ground hard, rolled and managed to get to my feet, just in time to meet the vessel who had slammed me out of the air. Dodging two raking claws to the face, I ducked and clamped my jaws around its throat, then held it down until it stopped moving.
Panting, I looked up. Dead dragons surrounded me, littered across the rocky ground, both vessel and hatchling alike. Scattered among them were the bodies of soldiers and guards, sprawled limply in the dust, either shot or torn open or blasted with fire. Looming over them all were two giant, motionless forms: the long, limp body of the red Eastern dragon, and one of the Adult vessels, as well, courtesy of a furious Jade tearing it apart.
We couldn’t go on like this. Almost all of my dragons were gone, and only a handful of soldiers remained, firing on the swooping vessels. Jade and the other Eastern dragon were both fighting for their lives with the Adult clones, and I didn’t know how badly the battle was going for them.
And then, a shot rang over the battlefield, making my ears throb, and the male Eastern dragon screamed. Stunned, I looked up to see the huge serpent falling slowly from the sky like a deflated balloon, seemingly unable to stay aloft. It wobbled in the air, trying to stay afloat, before an Adult vessel slammed into it and bore them both to the ground with an earthshaking crash.
My heart plummeted. That had been a shot from the Dragonkiller, which had been unnaturally silent until now. There was no way the sniper had hit the Eastern Adult by accident, not a dragon the size of a small airplane. That shot had been deliberate, and now the biggest dragon on the battlefield was fatally wounded.
“Dragon!” Martin’s voice crackled in my ear. “Dragon, come in. Cobalt, are you there?”
“Yeah,” I snarled. “I’m here. What the hell just happened, Lieutenant? I just watched your sniper shoot one of our dragons out of the air!”
“I know.” Martin sounded frustrated, as well. “Something must be wrong. I’ve been trying to contact Nicholas since those damned Adults showed up, but there’s been no response. We need to get to that ledge to see what the hell is going on. I’m heading there now—join me if you’re able.”
“What? Wait a second—” But the line cut off, and I snarled a curse.
Dammit. Gazing around at the frantic movements of vessels and hatchlings, I ground my teeth. I didn’t want to leave my underground to fight alone. The ledge in question was on the other side of the bowl, through a whole lot of dragons and gunfire.
An agonized wail shivered through me, coming from the male Eastern dragon as the Adult vessel tore into him relentlessly, and my stomach turned. If we took another hit like that, if Jade was shot down, then it really would be over.
“Cobalt!”
There was a streak of darkness, and Nettle landed beside me in a cloud of dust. The black dragon was panting hard, and red streaked the scales along her flank and shoulders, but a savage grin stretched her narrow muzzle as she gazed up at me.
“I think we’re putting a dent in the clones,” she said, making me blink in astonishment. “Kain is rallying who’s left, and we’re about to launch a counterattack with the rest of the soldiers. How are you holding up, leader?”
I shook myself out of my split-second daze. When the hell had my dragons turned into full-blown soldiers? “I have to check out something with Martin,” I replied. “But I’ll be back as soon as I can. You got this?”
She nodded and stepped briskly away, unfolding her wings. “Go. We’ll keep them off your back.”
Bounding forward, I launched myself skyward and headed for the cliff face.
Even knowing vaguely where it was, the exact location was difficult to find. They had set up the massive rifle behind camouflage, covering the metal to prevent reflection. Still, once you got close, it was fairly obvious: an enormously long barrel sitting atop a ledge overlooking the laboratory. From this vantage point, I could see the whole battle, the flashes of dragons as they darted through the air and the bursts of gunfire coming from the ground. But the gun sat empty, abandoned. There was no body, living or dead. No blood or churned earth indicating a struggle. No footprints or scorch marks or scrap of clothing. Nothing that pointed to what had happened here.
Footsteps shuffled behind me as Martin climbed the rise and strode across the rocks to stand beside me. I frowned at him. “That was fast.”