“Are you crazy?”
That was my second response. I didn’t voice my first, which went along the lines of Fuck that. Ember glared at me, ready for a fight, and St. George looked grim but determined.
“So, how long have you been planning this, St. George?” I glared at the soldier, who met my gaze calmly. “I seem to remember specifically saying we weren’t going to try to warn the Order. But you were going to ignore that no matter what I said, weren’t you? When did you contact them?”
“Last night.” The soldier’s answer was unrepentant. “I sent a message to Tristan, no one else.”
“Uh-huh.” I looked at the red dragon now, matching her glare. “And when were you two going to let me in on your little scheme?” I asked her. “Or was the idea to sneak off without saying anything and leave the rest of us high and dry?”
“You know we wouldn’t do that, Riley,” Ember returned hotly, her spines bristling. “After everything we’ve been through, you should know us better by now. Do you really not trust us at all?”
“Dammit, that’s not it, Ember.” I groaned, raking a hand over my scalp in frustration. “It’s not that I don’t trust you. Or St. George, as much as it pains me to say it. It’s just that I can’t go with you this time.” I glanced back at the farmhouse. “My first responsibility is to my underground, especially now that Talon is coming for us. I can’t leave them alone, even for a day or two.”
She sobered. “I know, Riley.”
“No, you don’t.” I whirled on her and she took a step back. “You might have forgotten we’re supposed to be Sallith’tahn, Ember, but I haven’t. I’ve been as fucking patient and understanding as I can. I haven’t said anything about you and St. George, I haven’t gotten in your way and I’ve tried very hard not to notice whenever you two go sneaking off alone.” I didn’t glance at the soldier as I said this, but I could sense the brittle unease surrounding all three of us. “I’ve kept my promise,” I told her softly. “I’m trying to be all right with this, but you’re asking me to let you go into St. George territory, alone. I have to choose between the safety of my life-mate and the safety of my underground—do you realize what a sucky choice that is?”
“Life-mate,” the soldier said quietly, as if something had just clicked in his head. “Sallith’tahn is...life-mate, in Draconic?”
I blinked at Ember. “You didn’t tell him?”
We both stared at the red dragon. For a moment, Ember seemed frozen, trapped. She gazed past us with glassy green eyes, wings and muscles quivering, as if she couldn’t decide whether to stay or flee.
Then she relaxed. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and two thin wisps of smoke curled from her nostrils as she exhaled. When her lids opened, her eyes were dark, shadowed, but there was a steely resolve in her expression that made my heart beat faster.
“Garret.” Her voice was calm, serious. St. George watched her, his expression shut into that blank soldier’s mask I’d seen before. “I have to talk to Riley for a minute. It won’t take long. Don’t leave without me, all right?”
The soldier gave a stiff nod. He turned away, walked around the barn wall and disappeared. Ember let out a gusty sigh and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, almost too soft to be heard. And I didn’t know if it was directed at me, St. George or us both.
Raising her head, she gazed at me with shining green eyes, setting my blood on fire. “We need to talk, Riley.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, crossing my arms. “We do.”
“Not here.” Ember raised her head and looked around, as if suddenly realizing how out in the open we were. Granted, we were in the middle of nowhere; it wasn’t like a family in a minivan would come cruising around the bend and spot us. But it made me nervous all the same. “Can we find a place that’s more private?”
“Just Shift back, Firebrand. No need to stay scaly to talk, right?”
“I...can’t.” Ember looked momentarily embarrassed. If she hadn’t already been in dragon form, I suspected she would’ve turned as red as her scales. “They took my Viper suit while I was in Talon, so...”
I tried very hard not to grin and say the first thing that came to mind, which might’ve resulted in a blast of flame to my face. “What about inside the barn?” I asked instead. “No one will see us there, right?”
She nodded, and I led her into the barn, sliding open the heavy wooden door and waiting for the red dragon to pad inside. The interior of the building was spacious and cool, with high rafters and several stalls that were probably used for animals once. Thankfully, the stalls were empty now, as having a large, scaly predator waltzing in would not have gone over well. Bars of sunlight slanted through the wooden planks, gleaming along Ember’s scales as she stalked to the middle of the barn and turned to face me.
“All right,” I said, walking up to her. “We’re alone. Start talking, Firebrand.”
She shook her head. “I need you to do something for me first, Riley.”
“What’s that?”
“I need you to Shift. Right here.”
Surprised, I frowned at her. “Why?”
“Because I...I need to say this to Cobalt. That’s the other reason I asked to go into the barn. I want us both to be ourselves, with no interruptions. Please.”
I sighed. “All right,” I said, even as Cobalt surged up with excitement. “If that’s what you want. Though I do have to point out, a barn full of dry straw might not be the best place for this. Let’s try to remember that everything here is very flammable.”
I stripped out of my shirt, tossing it to one of the hay bales, feeling cool air hit my bare skin. As I started unbuckling my belt, Ember turned away, hiding her head under her wing. I smiled at her bashfulness.
“Still hanging on to that human modesty, Firebrand?” I asked as my jeans joined the T-shirt on the hay bale. “You can look, you know. I don’t mind.”
Her tail thumped the ground, and she didn’t peek up from the curtain of her wing. “Will you just hurry up and Shift?” she growled. I might have teased her some more, but the sudden desire to be in my real form was too great to ignore.