“I’ll be all right,” I whispered. “They’re not going to kill me, not with all the trouble they’ve gone through to take me alive. I don’t know why they want me so badly, but if I have to go back, I’m damn sure going to get something out of it.” Stepping close, I put a hand on his cheek, gazing into his eyes. “I can’t watch you die,” I whispered. “Not when there’s something I can do to stop it. At least, this way, you’ll still be free.
“If Talon wants me to come back,” I continued, raising my voice again, making certain Dante could hear every word, “they’re going to let you go. If not, if they try to kill you here, I swear I will fight this army till my last breath, and I will take down as many dragons as I can. They’re going to have to kill me to get me to stop.” I turned then, facing my brother, who still watched imperiously from the balcony. “I’ll come back with you,” I said. “But only if you let Garret and Riley go. That’s my bargain, Dante. Either we all leave this room alive and unharmed, or none of us do.”
Dante was silent a moment, considering. Around us, the clones were also motionless, waiting. I could feel Garret and Riley at my back, tense and ready to explode into action, but I couldn’t look at either of them. I knew they would fight without hesitation. Even vastly outnumbered and outgunned, I knew they would struggle as long as they were still breathing, and they would die bravely defending what they loved. But they would still die. We couldn’t stand against Talon’s new army, this mass of chilling dragon clones who stared at us with eyes like empty mirrors. Even if I went back to Talon, if Riley and Garret were still alive, there was hope.
“Very well.” Dante’s voice drifted down from the balcony. “If that is what it takes to get you to come back, Ember, then you have a deal. I promise I won’t kill them.”
“That’s not good enough.” An annoyed look crossed his face, and I narrowed my eyes. “They walk out, right now, before I go anywhere with you. I want to see them go. And I swear, Dante, if I surrender and you double-cross me, you will never get my cooperation. I’ll fight you and Talon every step of the way, for the rest of my life, until you kill me.”
“I know you will,” Dante replied, frowning. “I know you’re stubborn enough to do it. And I don’t want that, Ember. Believe what you want, but hurting you is the last thing I set out to do.” He sighed, running a hand over his head. “All right,” he finally said. “You have a deal, Ember. The soldier and the rogue can leave, and I won’t try to stop them.”
I crossed my arms. “Prove it,” I ordered, making his jaw tighten. “I’m not taking a step until I know you’re serious. Open this door, right now, and let them go.”
Dante’s eyes flashed green with anger, but he turned and pulled out his phone, tapping the screen several times. A moment later, there was a beep behind us, and the metal barrier in front of the door slid up.
Raising his head, Dante addressed the army of dragons below him. “Vessels!” he called. “Stand down! Now!”
The horde of dragons rippled back, sinking to their haunches or bellies, but still watching us with flat, silvery eyes. They didn’t move, but their bodies were like tightly coiled springs, ready to attack with a word.
I caught Riley’s gaze, watching me from against the door frame. He was breathing hard, one side of his shirt stained dark red. I could see Cobalt just below the surface, wanting to burst out and fling himself at his enemies, numbers and consequences be damned. But there was also weary resignation in his eyes; he knew there were too many to fight, that we would die if we made our final stand here. I could tell he was thinking about his hatchlings, his network and his underground, because they were never far from his mind.
I swallowed hard and peeked back at Garret. He stared down at me, his gaze intense, metallic eyes stony with determination. “Ember,” he whispered, and his voice was anguished. I put a hand on his chest.
“Go, soldier boy,” I told him. “Get out of here. You know we can’t win this one. Walk out, and live to fight another day.”
Footsteps thumped behind us. A pair of guards approached, weapons raised menacingly, to flank me on either side. Garret retreated a few steps, backing up until he stood with Riley, the open door at their backs. Riley pushed himself off the frame, his gaze dangerous as he met my eyes.
“We’ll find you,” he promised, his eyes glowing as he took one step back, toward the open door. “We’ll get you out again, I swear it.”
“I know,” I whispered, memorizing their faces before I jerked my head at the door. “Go. Get the hell out of here before Dante changes his mind. Go!”
Their jaws tightened, and they went, both of them, slipping through the door and out of sight. Not two seconds after they cleared the frame, the metal barrier slid back with a clang, cutting us off from each other and trapping me in the room with the clones.
I swallowed the terror threatening to overwhelm me and turned to face Dante, alone.
The soldiers closed in. One of them took my arms and slapped a pair of thick metal cuffs around my wrists. They were heavier than normal handcuffs, solid bands of steel nearly two inches wide. I didn’t know what good they would do if I decided to turn into a dragon, but my stomach dropped all the same.
Without speaking, the guards motioned me forward. I spared a last look at the door Garret and Riley had gone through, hoping they were running as fast as they could from this place, before taking a deep breath and stepping into the dark.
Back to Talon. Like a delinquent runaway, only I knew my punishment would be far worse than anything the humans could think of. What would Talon do to me? I wondered. Lock me up for the rest of my life? That seemed rather pointless, considering all the trouble they went through to find me. Would they torture me for information about Riley’s network and Garret’s knowledge of St. George? Or—and my stomach heaved at this thought—would they ship me off to the facility, where I would become a breeder like the rest of Talon’s disgraced female dragons?
Garret and Riley are free, I told myself as my stomach threatened to crawl up my throat. That’s all that matters. They’re alive, and as long as they’re out there, they’ll be fighting to get me away from Talon. I just have to endure until then, and not give Talon anything they want.
Shaking, I followed my captors single file through the room, passing dozens of metallic-gray dragons who watched me with pale, empty eyes. The guards led me into an elevator, which opened up onto the balcony overlooking the main floor. From up here, the sea of clones looked even more ominous, a glittering mass of scales, horns and wings. Dante stood with his back to me and both hands on the railing, gazing out over the clones. He glanced at me over his shoulder as I approached with the guards. “I didn’t want it to be like this, Ember,” he said as they drew me to a stop a few feet away. “I didn’t want to use force. Once we get back to Talon, you’ll see what we’re really trying to do.”