“Ember!” Dante said, and bent down, grabbing her by her shoulders. At the same time, the snake lunged, a blinding streak of tan across the desert floor. Dante cried out, falling to his side, and tiny Ember gasped.
“Dante!” she cried, instantly forgetting about the snake, which slithered off and vanished under a bush. Dante lay on his side, cradling his arm and making soft whimpering sounds. I knew he was trying not to cry out, to be brave so that his little sister wouldn’t be afraid. Blood oozed from two rather large puncture marks in his skin, and the lump in my throat grew even bigger. I hadn’t realized how much the bite had hurt him until now.
“Dante,” tiny Ember said again, her eyes huge and frightened now. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for it to bite you.”
“It’s...okay,” Dante panted. “It doesn’t hurt that much, Ember, really.” He was lying; it was easy to see he was in horrible pain, but the younger version of me relaxed. She believed her twin so easily, and it made my throat tighten.
“Besides,” Dante went on, attempting a smile, “I’d rather the snake bit me and not you. That’s what brothers are for, twin brothers especially.”
I bit my lip, my eyes prickling at the corners as tiny Ember sniffed and scrubbed a dirty hand across her eyes.
“Stupid,” she remarked. “Now I have to tell Mr. Gordon that a snake bit you, and he’s going to blame me as usual.”
Dante winced. “You can tell him...that I was poking the snake if you want,” he said, his voice tight with pain. “Or that we were wandering around outside and I tripped over it.” But Ember shook her head.
“No,” she said firmly. “It really is my fault this time. The snake would’ve bitten me if you hadn’t been here.” She gazed at her brother in complete adoration before she sighed and rose to her feet. “Besides, he wouldn’t believe me, anyway,” she said as she dusted off her jeans, then extended a hand to Dante. “You never get into trouble.”
Dante took her arm and let her pull him upright, clenching his jaw. “Because I don’t go looking for it,” he said in a voice much too wry for a six-year-old. Tiny Ember shrugged, apparently not getting the sarcasm.
“Ember and Dante Hill!”
I turned. A man was striding across the yard on the other side of the fence, a human in a collared shirt and khakis, looking stern as he stalked forward, eyes furious. But when he reached the gate and yanked it open, taking a breath to shout something, he disappeared. Vanished like the image on the television screen when you flipped it off. I blinked, then turned to whatever he’d been about to yell at.
There was nothing. Empty desert greeted me as I looked back, a barren landscape stretching on to the horizon. I frowned and turned in a slow circle, trying to determine where I was, but there was nothing but sand, rock and emptiness as far as I could see. I shivered and rubbed my arm, staring at a spot in the dust, certain something had been there a moment ago. Something...important, but I couldn’t remember what it was.
Then the desert twisted, flickered like a bad signal feed, and everything went white.
GARRET
I walked behind Riley, my wrists bound with metal cuffs, following Mist as she led us down a narrow white corridor. A pair of identical, blank-faced guards hovered at my shoulder, their footsteps sounding in unison and echoing down the hall. Mist walked in front of us all with her head high and her gaze straight ahead. A few men in white coats passed us, but they averted their eyes or ducked into other rooms or hallways as we approached. They were humans working in a Talon building, and here, dragons were the masters.
I breathed a furtive sigh, trying to ignore the pain in my side, the puffiness of my eyes and lip. I ached, but it was bearable. Far more than I knew it should be. And Mist’s plan of getting us through the building, daring as it was, seemed to be working. When she’d handed us a pair of manacles through the cell bars and told us to put them on, we’d both hesitated, making her sigh.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she’d said in an overly reasonable voice. “If we’re going to walk down the halls in plain sight, we have to make it seem realistic. I can bluff my way through a lot, but it still has to look like you’re my captives. I’ll release you when the time comes, don’t worry.” Riley had still looked dubious, and she’d shot him a glare. “If my plan was to lead you into a trap, it would be rather silly for me to open the prison cell, where you were already trapped, and let you out, wouldn’t it?”
Riley had grunted. “Fair point,” he’d muttered, and snapped the cuffs around his wrists, rolling his eyes. “So, it’s the classic ‘prisoner transfer’ ruse, huh? Never gets old.”
“What if we run into Dante?” I’d asked. Mist’s eyes had glittered with more than casual suspicion, maybe even fear, as she’d met my gaze. I was a human and a soldier of St. George, I’d reminded myself. In her eyes, I was the enemy, perhaps even more than Riley himself. “He’ll certainly recognize us and want to know where we’re headed.”
“That would be true,” Mist had answered coolly, “if he were here.” She’d waited until I had locked the shackles around my wrists before unlocking the cell door. “Fortunately for us,” she’d continued, pulling the door back with a screech, “Mr. Hill had to take his leave this morning. That will make things easier, though we still have to be very, very careful. We don’t want word to reach the Elder Wyrm’s office.”
Riley’s face had turned the color of glue. “Wait,” he’d gasped, staring at her. “Did you just say the Elder Wyrm is here? Right now? In this building?”
Mist had nodded, and he’d staggered back a pace. “Shit. You couldn’t have mentioned that earlier? Holy Mother of all that is holy...why? What’s here that would bring the Elder Wyrm out of...”
He’d stopped, his face going even paler, and I’d guessed the reason at about the same time.
“Ember,” I’d muttered as he’d given me a dark, slightly glazed look. “That has to be why Dante was so eager to bring her back, why there was an army of dragons at that site. The Elder Wyrm must have sent him in person, and it has something to do with Ember.”
“Now you see why we have to do this quickly,” Mist had said, her cool voice tinged with fear. “If the Elder Wyrm discovers my betrayal, none of us are leaving this place alive.” She’d glared at us again. “So, the two of you follow my lead and do exactly what I say. No heroics. We might get out of here in one piece.”