I closed my eyes. “I would have never done it, Firebrand,” I whispered. “That whole time, I was terrified Luther would call my bluff. I had to make it sound as convincing as I could, because there was no way I could even think about pulling that trigger.”
“I know,” Ember murmured back. “And I knew, deep down, that you wouldn’t. Even...even if I am the Elder Wyrm’s vessel, and she just wants me to extend her own life. And it might’ve been better for everyone if you did.” She gave another violent shudder before taking a deep breath, seeming to brush it off. “But we’re out,” she breathed. “We made it out, all of us. Your stupid bluff actually worked, and that’s why I’m not going to punch you in the face when we get out of this.”
“I might,” said the soldier in a low voice.
I glanced at him, and the hairs on my arm rose. His jaw was set, his eyes angry as he met my gaze. His pupils had contracted until they were razor-thin slits against the gray of his irises. And for one crazy, surreal moment, it didn’t feel like I was staring into the face of an angry human. It felt like I was staring down a rival drake, and he was seconds away from snarling the ancient challenge and lunging at me with fangs bared.
But then he blinked, and his eyes went normal again. I ignored the possessive anger in my gut and gave him a weary smile. “Well, you’re welcome to try, St. George,” I said. “But I’m not extending the same offer. You want to kick my ass, you’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
“Perhaps if we can stay on target,” came an exasperated voice from the front, and Mist peered back at us. Her eyes glimmered blue in the fading light. Beside her in the driver’s seat, a man in a dark suit gazed straight ahead, silently ignoring the three dragons and the soldier of St. George surrounding him. I wondered who he was, if he was employed by Talon and if he was now royally screwed for helping us escape.
“We need a place to hide,” Mist said, gazing at me. “One where Talon can’t track us down. From what we saw, all of your safe houses have been compromised. I have a place we can go—my employer set it up in case it came to this.”
“No,” I said, and she blinked at me. “Sorry, Mist, but trusting you to get us out is one thing. Trusting some mysterious Talon employer to provide us with a safe house is a little out of my comfort zone. The fewer people who know where we are, the better.”
“You don’t have any more safe houses,” Mist said. “Talon found them all.”
“Not all of them.” I went over Talon’s list in my mind, making sure this final sanctuary wasn’t among the targets. “I have one last place we can go.”
Mist regarded me a moment longer, then shrugged. “I’d argue that you are being paranoid, but it would be a waste of effort. And I suppose it doesn’t matter where we go, as long as it’s safe.”
“Yeah,” I muttered as the sense of foreboding descended on me once more. I wasn’t sure any of us would be safe, ever again. Call Wes, I thought, planning our next move. Contact all my safe houses. Gather every rogue, hatchling and human friend I have and take them to the deepest, darkest, most impenetrable hole I can find. The storm was coming, looming on the horizon, and if any of us were caught in the open when it hit, no one would survive. I just hoped that, when the initial fury had passed and we poked our heads out again, the world would still be there, and not burned to ashes by dragonfire.
EMBER
“You will be my vessel, Ember Hill,” the Elder Wyrm whispered, her eyes glowing emerald as she loomed above me. “My new body, in which I will live forever.”
“No,” I snarled, fighting against the straps. “Get away from me! I won’t forget him. I won’t forget any of them.”
“Stop fighting, sis,” Dante murmured, walking around the gurney. He gave me an exasperated look and shook his head. “Why are you resisting? This is where you belong. This is your destiny.”
“Dante,” I pleaded, gazing up at him. He stared down with impassive green eyes. “Help me. You don’t know what she’s planning. What she really wants to do. Please.” I gave him a desperate look. “You’re my brother. Don’t let her destroy us all.”
Dante smiled. “I’ll save you, Ember,” he whispered, and climbed onto the gurney, resting cold hands on my shoulders. Chilled, I stared into the face of my twin and saw his eyes had turned a pale, silvery white. “I’ll save you,” he whispered again, digging curved nails into my flesh. Blood welled and ran down my arms, and Dante’s nostrils flared. “Don’t worry, sis. Dragons will never have to live in fear again. I’ll save us all.”
His body exploded, becoming long and sleek, iron scales ripping through his business suit, dark wings flaring behind him. Baring bloody fangs, the vessel drew back with a piercing shriek and went for my face.
*
I jerked awake, heart pounding against my ribs, a cold sweat covering my face and neck as the snarling face of my brother faded from my mind. Shaking, I sank back against the pillows, gazing around the room and trying to remember what had happened.
After escaping Talon, we’d driven through the night, setting a frantic, nonstop pace as we strove to outrun the organization and whatever agents they were sure to send after us. At the next town, we’d ditched our driver, Mist’s contact, who’d told us he would return to his employer now that we were away from Talon. Though we still hadn’t known who this mysterious employer was, no one had really cared at that point. We were out of Talon; that was all that mattered. After dropping the driver off at a bus stop, Riley had taken over, heading west into the setting sun.
“Where are we going?” Garret had asked, peering out the front window at the road stretching out before us.
“Somewhere safe,” Riley had answered, his voice short. “Somewhere I can gather all my rogues together so we can avoid the shitstorm that’s coming. We only have three days to make sure everyone is out of the open when that Night of Fang and Fire hits.”
I’d blinked. That had been news to me. “The Night of Fang and Fire?” I’d asked, and Riley had cursed.
“Dammit, that’s right. You weren’t with us when we hacked those files. Wanna give her the short version, St. George?”
“Talon is going to attack,” Garret had told me, his voice grim. “They plan to hit all the Order chapterhouses in one night, as well as all of Riley’s safe houses. They’re going to use the clones to wipe out their enemies in one fell swoop.”