I ignored that. “Ready?” I asked, but at that moment, something lean and scaly leaped atop the cubicle wall. It spotted us and gave a hiss of discovery, baring its fangs, and I winced. “Go!”
We ran for the elevators, hearing the rest of the clone dragons give chase from wherever they were in the room. I didn’t dare look back to see how many were coming, or how close they were. St. George reached the elevators first and slammed his shoulder into the doors, prying them open. I had just enough time to see the metal box through the widening crack before something slammed into me from the side and knocked me off my feet.
Snarling, I rolled to my back, lashing out with my hind claws as my attacker pounced, making no noise as its jaws went for my throat. My back legs caught it in the armored stomach, stopping the lethal fangs from snapping in my face.
I shoved it off and lunged to my feet as another clone hit me from behind. This time, I felt claws score my back and sides as curved talons ripped through my scales and sank into the flesh beneath.
With a roar, I spun, trying to dislodge the thing that clung to me like a leech, seeing the rest of the pack closing in. Gunshots rang out behind me, and one of the clones staggered and went down. But that didn’t stop the rest of them, and I snarled in both fury and frustration, trying to loosen the dragon’s death grip on my back.
Ember hit us hard, striking the clone full-on with her horns, knocking him away. Spreading her wings, she stepped in front of me and let out a roar that shook the walls, and amazingly, the clones hesitated.
“Riley!” St. George snapped as the dragons blinked and surged forward again. Ember and I scrambled for the elevators as the soldier pried the doors open and disappeared through the crack.
“Get the hatch open!” he told me as we squeezed into the small metal box. It was a tight fit; two dragons and a soldier definitely wouldn’t have fit, but thankfully Ember had already changed back into human form, her black Viper suit covering her body like paint. Unfortunately, that left her virtually defenseless against the mob of dragons on the other side of the doors. A clone followed us, sticking its head through the crack, baring its fangs. St. George bashed it in the side of the head with his pistol, rocking its head to the side, and it retreated with a hiss. Gritting my teeth, I reared onto my hind legs, ignoring the stab of pain that went through my side, and pushed against the square hatch on the ceiling. It was sealed, or stuck, because it didn’t move. I shoved on it harder, and it rattled, raining dust into my eyes. It still didn’t open.
A flurry of gunshots echoed inside the elevator box, making my ears ring. The clones had crowded the opening, eyes and teeth shining as they surged against the doors, and were starting to push through. They flinched away from the bullets as St. George continued to fire, but there were so many, and they would soon force their way inside.
With a snarl, I rammed my horns into the metal hatch as hard as I could, and the trapdoor finally flew open. “Ember!” I called, dropping back to the floor. She glanced up, and I positioned myself so she could use me as a stepstool. “Go!”
The girl darted from behind the soldier, took two steps and launched herself off my shoulder, reaching for the open hatch. Her arms hooked the edge of the opening, and she slid through as gracefully as any gymnast.
“St. George!” I snapped, but the soldier was already moving, dodging a dragon’s talons as he hurried to my side and leaped for the top of the elevator. I whispered a curse, watching his legs vanish through the opening—too small for me to go through in my present form. I was going to have to Shift.
Sorry, Firebrand, I thought, and forced myself back to human form. There’s no time for modesty now. You’re just going to have to deal for a few minutes.
A clone wriggled its way into the box and snarled at me just as I sprang for the trapdoor. Scrambling onto the roof, I caught a split-second glimpse of the elevator filled with hissing, pale-eyed dragons before St. George slammed the hatch door shut and locked it.
I collapsed on the roof for a second, panting. My side throbbed. Nothing felt broken, but blood was seeping down my skin and dripping to the metal in small puddles. The gashes I’d taken along my back and ribs burned like someone had poured acid in them.
“Are you all right?” Ember hovered a few steps away in her black Viper suit. Though her voice was concerned, her face was as red as a beet in the darkness, and she didn’t look directly at me. Any other time, it would’ve been adorable. “You’re bleeding pretty bad.”
“I’m fine,” I gritted out, heaving myself upright. “A few holes in my hide aren’t going to kill me.”
“Can you climb?” St. George asked. He had already yanked open the backpack and was pulling out a change of clothes. His demeanor was calm and practical; we had to climb down the elevator cables to get to the bottom floor, and then we had to get out of the building and escape into the city. All of which would be difficult to do in the nude.
Dammit, I really need to think about stealing a Viper suit one day.
A thud echoed below us, and the hatch door rattled. “Don’t think I have much of a choice,” I said, and snatched the articles of clothing the soldier tossed at me. “You two, get going. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Riley...” Ember began.
“No arguments, Firebrand. Unless, of course, you want to see me run naked through the streets.”
That got her moving. With one last worried look, she turned and made the short leap onto the rusty service ladder against the wall. St. George watched her descend until the top of her head vanished from sight, then turned to me.
“Hurry,” he said calmly. “I’ll cover you.”
I scowled at him as I yanked on the pair of jeans. “I’m fine, St. George. You don’t have to stay here and babysit—”
The elevator hatch burst open, and a scaly gray head lunged out, hissing. I jumped, and St. George instantly raised his weapon and shot it twice in the head and neck. It screeched and dropped away, and the soldier lowered the pistol, backing away with a steely expression. “That’s it, I’m out,” he announced as clones began clawing their way through the opening, hissing and snarling. “Move!”
I went, leaping from the roof and grabbing the rungs as I came down, wincing as my back and ribs protested the sudden stop. I shimmied down a few feet and felt the ladder shake as the soldier landed on it, as well. The elevator shaft echoed with the snarls and hisses of the dragons above us, but either they were unable to climb down after us, or Shifting into human form to pursue hadn’t occurred to them yet.
Though that did give me a rather morbid realization.
“You know,” I panted, seeing Ember below me, moving swiftly down the rungs, “those things are dragons. If they wanted to kill us, what’s to stop them from filling this entire shaft with fire and burning us to a crisp while we’re human?”