“Ember,” I said quietly. “Don’t.” She glared at me, angry and defiant, and I shook my head. “Don’t defend me,” I told her. I’d known this could happen if anyone found out what I’d been.
Stepping forward, I faced the three enraged dragons and steeled myself for the barrage. “Take your shots,” I told them. “Let’s get this over with.”
They started toward me, fists raised, just as there was a ripple of power, and a wall of scales, wings and snarling red dragon lunged between us. I stepped back, and my attackers drew up short as Ember lowered her head, opened her wings and rumbled a growl that made the air tremble.
“I said, no,” the red dragon snarled. “I don’t care what Garret says, I’m not going to stand here and watch you three pound on him just because he’ll let you. You want him, you’ll have to go through me.”
“What the hell?” The leader sounded outraged. “You’re defending him? The stinking soldier of St. George? What kind of traitor dragon are you?”
“Yes, I’m defending him!” Ember exploded. Her tail lashed, smacking the barn wall with a hollow bang. “I’m defending him because he is not your enemy. Because all he has done from the moment he left the Order is try to help rogues and other dragons. Because it doesn’t matter what he tells you, you’ve already made up your minds not to listen.” Tongues of fire snapped along her fangs, flickering brightly in the shade as the red dragon gave a furious snarl. “This is why the war never ends,” she raged. “Because we refuse to let go of the past. Because we’re too damn stubborn to sit down and actually talk to each other.”
“Talk?” The lead dragon sneered, glaring at me over Ember’s spines. “What’s there to talk about? He’s a fucking dragonkiller.”
All three teens’ attention was focused on Ember now, so they didn’t see Riley melt out from behind the corner and stride up behind them, his expression dangerous. Without a word, the rogue leader calmly hooked the neck of the teen leader’s shirt, yanked him back and threw him face-first into the barn wall. The teen bounced off the planks, reeled back and collapsed to the ground as the other two yelped and skittered away, eyes wide.
Groaning, the stunned teen rolled over and looked up to see Riley standing over him, smiling grimly. “Kain,” Riley said in a perfectly conversational voice. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Cobalt! Nothing, I...” Kain staggered upright, rubbing his jaw, then turned to point at me. “He’s a soldier of St. George! Did you know that? Did you know he’s a dragonkiller?”
“Of course I did, moron,” Riley growled, narrowing his eyes. “Considering I brought him here, did you think I had no idea? Yeah, he used to be part of St. George. He’s also fighting for us now, and he has a lot of info on the Order that I thought would be useful in, oh, I don’t know, protecting brats like you from St. George. I brought him here because I was looking at the bigger picture, and I thought everyone else could see it, too.” His eyes narrowed. “But it seems that my network is nothing but a bunch of hotheaded thugs who want to pick a fight.”
Kain shrank back, looking cowed, but still glaring at me with a mixture of fear and hate. “St. George killed Isaac.”
“We’ve all lost someone, hatchling,” Riley interrupted with a growl. “There’s not one of us who hasn’t been affected by the war. We’ve all been shot at. We’ve all seen friends die.” His voice softened a bit, his eyes going dark. “I remember that day. I remember getting the call from your guardian. I was going to move you and Isaac to another safe house because there were rumors of St. George activity in the area. But I waited too long and didn’t make the call in time. If you want to blame anyone for that, blame me.”
Kain glowered, looking sullen, and Riley sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m not here to argue with you,” he said. “I’ll make this perfectly clear once, after that I’ll get really annoyed. There is to be no fighting with anyone on this property. Human, dragon, soldier, rabid bull, I don’t care. This happens again, the next one you’ll be fighting is me. You got that?”
“Yeah,” Kain mumbled, looking at the ground. “I got it.”
Riley gave a short nod. “Then get out of here, all three of you. Save the fighting for when Talon or the Order storms the property. Move.” They scrambled off, heading back toward the farmhouse. Riley shook his head.
“Idiot hatchlings,” he muttered, crossing his arms. “Looks like I’m going to have to have a talk with everyone about what is and isn’t allowed around here. Though you would think ‘no Shifting, no flying, no beating the crap out of anyone’ would be common sense by now.” He glanced at Ember, still in dragon form, and raised an eyebrow. “I’m including you in that statement, Firebrand.”
She snorted and raised her chin. “Not sorry.”
“Color me shocked.”
I took a quiet breath. “Thanks,” I said, making them finally turn to look at me. “But you didn’t need to do that. Either of you. I could’ve handled it.”
“They were assholes.” The red dragon’s gaze narrowed, scrutinizing. “And three on one is not cool, in any world.” She thumped her tail against the ground. “Besides,” she continued, still glaring at me, “I know you, Garret. Would you have even fought back?”
I shrugged. “I know how to take a hit without being seriously injured. If I fought back, they might’ve Shifted, and then the potential for serious harm would be almost unavoidable. And I didn’t want you to have to deal with that.” I gave her a wry smile. “If I’m going to get beat up, I’d rather three humans do it than three dragons.”
“Don’t be so fucking noble, St. George,” Riley said. “It makes me want to punch your lights out.”
“Yeah, well...” Ember curled a lip, showing a flash of fangs. “I wasn’t about to stand there and let them attack you. In either form. Anyway, there was more to this than just stopping a fight.” She glanced at Riley, defiant. “Two dragons just stood up for a soldier of the Order—how often do you think that has happened? If we’re going to send a message, it has to be for everyone touched by the war. We have to show that dragons and St. George can actually get along, that they don’t have to fight each other.” She looked at me then, emerald gaze intense. “I’m ready to try. To show the Order who we really are, face-to-face.”
“What?” Riley straightened, his gaze turning suspicious and wary. “Hold on. Who’s going to face the Order?” he asked, a thread of warning in his voice.
I sighed; no trying to hide it now. Though he had to find out sooner or later. “We are.” I gestured to Ember and myself. “St. George needs to know about the threat that’s coming for them. Ember and I are going to meet with the Order and warn them about the clones. Before it’s too late for us all.”
RILEY