I closed my eyes. “You have no reason to trust me,” I said. “I’ve done all the things you’ve seen St. George do and more. Had circumstances been different, I might have been on that raid.” Opening my eyes, I met her furious stare. “I know it means little now, and nothing I say can make up for what you’ve lost, but...I am sorry for what happened.”
The dragon paused, confusion and astonishment battling the anger in her expression. “You are either a very gifted manipulator, or the strangest soldier of St. George I have ever seen,” she murmured at last. The blade’s edge dropped from my throat, and she stepped back, regarding me intently. “All right, mortal. Let us say, against all my better judgment, I decide to believe you for the moment. You went from butchering every dragon you came across to apologizing to one of them today. What changed?”
“I met someone,” I said quietly. “A dragon. A hatchling out of Talon, being sent to live with humans for the first time. The Order knew the organization had sent one of their agents to a small town in California. My mission was to track her down, expose what she really was and kill her.”
“Her,” the Asian woman said. “A female.” I nodded.
“I found who I thought could be the target,” I went on, as memories of Crescent Beach rose up again, never far from my mind. “A girl, living with her brother and her guardians on the edge of the beach. If she was a dragon, I was supposed to kill her, but...the more time I spent with her, the more things didn’t add up. She made me see things in a different light. She made me realize...that the Order might be wrong about dragons.”
All three of my captors were staring at me now. I could feel their disbelief, but all I could think of at that moment was Ember. The ache I had suppressed returned as memories crowded in; everything from surfing to slow dancing to fighting for my life with the red dragon beside me. A kiss, stolen on the rooftop of a Vegas casino, the city glittering beneath us. And the final, devastating blow when she backed out of my arms, and I realized the dragon I would give my life for could never love me back.
“This girl,” the Asian woman said at last. “What happened to her?”
“She left,” I answered softly. “When she discovered what Talon wanted of her, she went rogue with another dragon and joined his underground. I don’t know where she is now. But...” I swallowed, remembering the meeting with the Patriarch, and the shocking truth I’d uncovered. Even that paled in comparison to Ember’s life on the line. “I do know she’s in danger,” I went on, beseeching the dragon with my gaze. “I know she and some others are walking into a trap, and I have to get to them before St. George finds her. Please...” I leaned forward, letting a little desperation slip into my voice. “She saved my life, and I can’t let her die. We can help each other—I’m willing to give you whatever information you need on Talon and the Order, but I have to take care of this first.”
A very long silence followed. The female dragon was motionless, staring down with hard black eyes, as if trying to decide what to do with me. The men on either side didn’t move or say a word, but I could feel the suspicion pulsing between them.
“Why should I believe you?” the dragon said at last. “Even if you are telling the truth, why should I offer to help a stranger when I watched my temple burn to the ground, and not one of my Western cousins was there to help? Why should I trust a human, a soldier of St. George, and a few rogue dragons I know nothing about?” She paused, glancing at the men behind me, and raised her chin. “We’ve survived this long on our own, with no others to help us,” she said, her voice resolved. “We can find what we need without you.”
“You can’t,” I said firmly, “because Talon and St. George are working together.”
For the very first time, the woman seemed shaken. The color drained from her face, and she took a step back, staring at me in horror.
“We’re on the same side,” I told her, taking advantage of the silence. “We’re facing the same enemies. Talon is sending St. George after rogues and dragons they want out of the way. That’s why your temple was attacked—because you wouldn’t conform to Talon. And they’ll do it again, send the Order after others, unless we stop them.”
The dragon didn’t say anything, just continued to watch me in silence. I took that as a hopeful sign and hurried on. “I have a contact in the States,” I told her. “A rogue dragon who has defied Talon and St. George for decades. He knows more about fighting both organizations than any dragon out there. But he’s with the girl, and Talon has sent the Order after them both. If I don’t get back in time, we’re going to lose him and any knowledge he has. I know it goes against everything you believe, but we have a chance of surviving both Talon and St. George if we help each other.”
“Talon and the Order of St. George are working together,” the dragon repeated, as if making sure she had heard correctly. “Are you very certain of this?”