It hit Calvin instead, earning a very exasperated, “Dude!” and the order to get in the car before he tied us to the roof with the surfboards. I obeyed, a little sad that such an awesome day had come to an end, but the genuine smile Garret gave me as we slid into the back made it all worth it.
Back at the Smoothie Hut, we pulled into the spot next to Garret’s black Jeep, and I gazed mournfully at our gorgeous tagalong. “Well.” I sighed as Lexi exited the front and pushed her seat forward to let him out. “See you around, I guess. If not tomorrow, then...some other time.” I perked as I remembered something, leaning forward as he left the car. “Hey, don’t forget, Kristin’s party is this Saturday. Maybe we’ll see you then?”
“Maybe.” He paused and turned back to me, gray eyes intense. “Thank you for today,” he said softly. “I had...fun.” Like the word was strange to him. I smiled, feeling a warm glow spread through me from within, even as my dragon hissed in disgust.
“Anytime,” I replied, and he was gone.
A few minutes later, I sat in the same corner booth from that afternoon, plowing my way through a jumbo chili-cheese Coney dog, while Lexi slurped her drink and gave me knowing looks across the table. I pretended to ignore her until Calvin got up to stand in line for a second hamburger, and she leaned in, grinning fiercely.
“You are so into him!”
“What?” I nearly choked on my Coney dog as I pulled back to glare at her. Lexi gave me a smug look, and I shook my head. “You mean Garret? You’re psychotic. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re such a bad liar, Em.” She rolled her eyes and gestured to the now-empty parking spot where Garret’s Jeep had sat minutes before. “Admit it. Whenever he looked at you, you couldn’t stop smiling. And when he rode that first wave with you?” She raised her thin eyebrows. “You were about ready to jump him.”
“You’re crazy,” I said. Because it wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. I was a dragon. I couldn’t be attracted to a human. A gorgeous, athletic, gifted human, but a human nonetheless. It was impossible. As a race, we appreciated beauty and talent, grace and intelligence, but we did not form emotional attachments, especially with human beings. That was something Talon made abundantly clear: even among our own, dragons did not fall in love.
Lexi snorted, clearly unconvinced. “Whatever. Be the queen of denial, if you want. But I think you know it’s the truth. And you know what?” She leaned across the table again, like she was divulging the world’s greatest secret. “I think he likes you, too.”
Garret
“There you are,” Tristan said as I came through the front door, tossing the keys onto the counter. “If you’re going to be pulling stunts like that, we’re going to need a second vehicle. I had to walk several miles down the beach to find this girl’s house. It looked pretty normal from what I could see, but we won’t know anything unless we can get inside.” He eyed my still-damp hair and clothes, arching an eyebrow. “The ‘lesson’ went well, I assume?”
I stifled a grin, remembering the thrill of the afternoon, the surge of adrenaline the second I caught the wave exactly right and rode it all the way to shore. “You could say that.”
“Uh-huh. Well, it must’ve gone swimmingly, because you’re grinning like a moron. The only times I’ve seen you this happy is when your team wins a month of no KP.”
I shrugged, not bothering to deny it, and Tristan shook his head. “So, what did you find out? Is this Ember girl our sleeper?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know. You spent the whole day with her, what do you mean you don’t know?”
“We didn’t really talk much.”
“You had the whole afternoon! What were you doing for six hours?”
“Sorry.” I crossed my arms. “Next time, I’ll try to hold a conversation while balancing on a plank down a ten-foot wall of water.”
Tristan blinked. “Oh, wow, and smart-ass Garret comes out. You must’ve had a good time.” I didn’t answer, and he sighed, sitting up on the couch to face me. “Look, partner. I’m glad you had fun. God knows you, of all people, deserve it. But this isn’t a vacation. We’re here for one thing, and that’s to find and kill a dragon. You know that. Fitting in and hanging out with these people and learning to surf, that’s all acceptable, as long as it gets us closer to the sleeper. If not, then it’s a waste of time and we should be focusing our efforts on something else.”
“I know.” Slumping, I turned away. He was right, of course. This wasn’t like me, forgetting the assignment for a fleeting distraction. “I’ll stay focused next time.”
Tristan nodded, leaning back on the couch. “I assume there will be a next time? You did make plans to meet with her again, correct?”
“Tomorrow,” I replied, determined to see the mission through. Find the sleeper. Kill the sleeper. Simple as that. “I’m meeting her and the others at the mall.”
Ember
“Ember, you’re not eating. Are you sick?”
I looked up from where I was poking halfheartedly at my boiled lobster. As a whole, I didn’t like seafood. Dragons were carnivores; seventy percent of our diet had to consist of meat, and Sarah made sure we were fed appropriately, but in my opinion, lobsters weren’t food. They were big bugs that lived underwater, and ugly ones at that.
Although, this evening, my lack of appetite had nothing to do with giant mutant water bugs. “Um,” I said, picking at one of the large claws still attached to the lobster’s armored corpse. Ugh, seriously, they expected me to eat this thing? “I do feel a little tired,” I hedged, because saying that I wasn’t hungry would be a monster red flag, at least to Dante, who would immediately suspect that I was up to something. Stupid twin radar. “It’s nothing. I went surfing today and got pounded a few times, that’s all.”
Liam put down his fork and lowered his eyebrows at me. “You know we don’t like it when you put yourself in danger, Ember,” he said in a tight voice. “We’re your guardians, and I cannot risk you getting hurt or injured on my watch. I’ve allowed you to continue because you promised you would not pull any more crazy stunts, but if you keep putting yourself at risk, I’ll forbid you from surfing entirely.”
“What?” I bristled, resisting the urge to bare my teeth at him across the table. “You can’t do that!”
“I can’t, but Talon can.” Liam glowered and pointed at me with his fork. “Don’t give me that look, girl. You may be a dragon, and I may be a lowly human, but until Talon deems otherwise, I am responsible for you. All it would take is one phone call explaining that you are a danger to yourself and to others, and Talon would be here the next morning to take you back.” He gave me a challenging stare. “You aren’t the first reckless hatchling I’ve had to ship back to the organization. Don’t think I won’t do it again.”
I swelled with fury, ready to tell Liam what he could do with his phone call, but I caught Dante’s eye across the table. Don’t cause trouble, his gaze pleaded. Don’t do anything that will get us sent back. Keep it together and follow the rules.
I slumped, then pushed myself back from the table. “I’m not hungry anymore,” I muttered, not caring what anyone thought right then. “I’m turning in early. Don’t wait up.”
“You still have training tomorrow, Ember,” Liam called as I retreated from the kitchen, heading up to my room. “I’ll be at your door at 5:00 a.m. to make sure you’re awake.”
“So looking forward to it,” I sang back with as much sarcasm as I could muster, and slammed the door behind me.
I seethed quietly for a few minutes, tempted to slip out the window, head down to the beach and catch a few waves just for spite. Who was Liam to forbid me from surfing? From doing something that I loved? Not only that, riding the waves was the only thing that kept me somewhat grounded; if I didn’t have that release, I’d probably be snea
king out every night to go flying with rogue dragons.
I snorted. Maybe I would do that again. I didn’t need Cobalt to go wing surfing any night of the week; I could do it on my own. It wasn’t like Liam could stop me, rules or no.
Maybe that’s why Cobalt went rogue, I thought sourly, gazing out the window. I could hear the ocean in the distance, shushing against the sand, and my resentment increased. Because all these stupid rules were suffocating him. Can’t Shift, can’t fly, can’t have any fun, oh, and here’s a sadistic trainer to make your life miserable for no good reason.
There was a soft tap at my door, and I sighed. “It’s open, Dante.”
The door creaked, and my brother stepped into my room, a concerned look on his face. “Hey,” he greeted, closing the door behind him. “You all right?”
No, I wasn’t. My anger still hadn’t cooled, and now it switched to the only target in the room. “Thanks for sticking up for me in there,” I snapped, making him frown. “You could’ve told Liam I wasn’t in any danger from surfing—you know how good I am. Now I’m going to have to watch my back every time I want to go down to the beach. Some twin you are.”
His eyes narrowed. “I was more concerned about you mouthing off to Liam and getting yourself sent back to Talon,” he retorted. I glared at him, and he gave me a look of exasperation. “You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t a vacation, sis, not for us. We’re not human, and we’re not here to have fun. This is a test, and they’re watching our every move to make sure we don’t screw this up. If we fail, it’s right back to retraining. Back to the desert, in the middle of nowhere.” He crossed his arms with a grave expression. “Remember that? Remember what it was like? Do you really want to go back?”
I shivered. I did remember. The isolation, the boredom, the same scenery every single day—nothing but dust, scrub and rock, as far as the eye could see. The loneliness. Except for our teachers, the guards stalking the perimeter fence around the facility and the evaluators who dropped by every month to check our progress, we didn’t see another living soul. No friends, no kids our age, no company. It was just us, two hatchling dragons against the world.
I did not want to return to that. Bad enough when I didn’t know any better, when the outside world was nothing more than images on TV or photos in a textbook. Now that I’d actually lived here, I’d go crazy if they sent me back.
I dropped onto the bed with a thump. “No,” I growled sullenly, knowing he’d won this round. “I don’t.”
Dante perched on the corner of the mattress, one leg folded beneath him. “I don’t, either,” he said quietly. “You’re my sister. It’s always been just us against everything else. But the rules are different here. Before, we could occasionally slip up and Shift into our real forms and Talon wouldn’t care—no one outside the organization would be around to see it. But now?” He shook his head. “We can’t afford any mistakes. We can’t break the rules, even once. There’s more to lose than surfing privileges and getting to stay out late. Talon is testing us, and I am not going to fail.”
My stomach felt cold, even though I managed a small smirk. “You know, you were a fun brother, once.” And someone I could trust. Why don’t you ever talk to me anymore, Dante? I still don’t even know what you do with your trainer every day.
He snorted, looking more like himself. “I grew up. You might try it sometime. I don’t think it will kill you.” He stood, ruffled my hair and yanked his arm back before I could smack it. I glowered as he walked to the door but paused with his hand on the knob.
“It’s still just us against the world, sis,” he said, quite seriously now, glancing back over his shoulder. “We have to look out for each other, even if that means doing what’s best for our future. Even if the other doesn’t agree sometimes. Remember that, okay?”
“Yeah.” I sighed, mostly to get him out of my room. His words had a strangely ominous tone, though I couldn’t put my finger on why. I suddenly just wanted him gone. “I will.”
He gave me a brief, somewhat empty smile, and the door closed behind him.
Alone, I flopped to my back and gazed up at the ceiling. Mornings came way too quickly these days. Tomorrow I’d have to be up at the crack of dawn—again—to attend another torture session with Scary Talon Lady. That last exercise, with the soldiers and the guns, had been shocking to say the least. Though it was slightly better than the pointless tasks of before, which, I suspected now, were designed to be pointless on purpose—to break my spirit, and to teach me not to question orders, no matter how stupid they seemed. If I just shut up and did whatever aggravating thing she told me to do, it would be over a lot faster.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at staying quiet and following orders, particularly if they made no sense. And now, I wanted to know why my trainer had thrown in these crazy new war games. I’d been curious before, and the encounter with a certain rogue dragon had only intensified my determination. If Talon, my instructor, my guardians and my own brother wouldn’t tell me anything, then I would just have to find answers myself.
* * *
I stayed in my room, listening to music and chatting with Lexi online, killing time until the rest of the house grew quiet. At 11:45, I switched off the computer, tiptoed to the door and cracked it open, peering out.
The house was dark and silent. Liam and Sarah had gone to bed, and from the shadows under Dante’s door, he had turned in, as well. I hoped he was truly asleep; maybe that annoying twin radar he had attuned to my every mood would be shut off if he was unconscious.
I crept down the stairs as silently as I could, avoiding the squeaky third step, crossed the moonlight-drenched kitchen and pushed open the door to the basement. In one corner, the door to the secret tunnel sat firmly closed and locked, but that wasn’t even remotely interesting anymore. Not when there could be a whole other room somewhere behind these plain cement walls, hiding any number of secrets. About Talon, and my guardians, and me.
I poked around aimlessly for a few minutes, wishing I could Shift into my other form, the one that could see in the dark. I didn’t find any panels, levers, touchpads, anything that would indicate a secret room, and after scouring the walls and finding nothing but mold and a couple spiders, I was ready to give up. Maybe Cobalt was wrong, or just delusional.
Wait a minute. Annoyed with myself, I paused, turning to scan the room carefully this time. If Talon did have a hidden keypad, do you think they’d put it in plain sight? Come on, Ember, use your brain and the hundreds of spy movies you’ve watched over the years. The panel will be hidden, just like the room. Maybe in a wall safe, or under a counter, or behind a picture frame...
But there were no pictures, or counters, or anything in the room that a switch could hide behind. The walls were bare.
Except, maybe...
I turned and padded to the gray electrical box, then pulled back the door. Black switches marched down the center in perfectly straight lines, neatly labeled with the circuits they were attached to.
Except for one, near the very bottom, that was unmarked.
Hoping my hunch was right, and that I wasn’t about to short circuit the whole house, I threw the switch.
There was a click, and a tiny section of wall slid down beside the box.
I grinned in triumph. Well, what do you know? There it is. A small white panel was set into the concrete, a simple touch pad like the kind you’d see for home security. Numbered buttons sat above a lighted green strip, which currently said Locked in digital black letters. My heart began an excited thump in my chest. It was real. Cobalt had been right.
Let’s hope he’s right about this code.
I punched in the eight-number sequence and waited.
There was a hiss, then a section of wall beside the washer shifted and rotated out, like the secret passageway in a spy movie. The room beyond the hidden door was dark, but gl
owed with a faint green light.
For a moment, I just stood there, gaping at the revolving door like an idiot, until the panel beeped a warning and the wall section began to glide shut.
Whoops. Move, Ember! I sprinted across the floor and ducked through the opening with only seconds to spare. As the panel closed behind me with a hiss, I had the fleeting thought that I might be trapped, but then I saw the rest of the room.
“Holy...” I blinked in astonishment, gazing around. This was definitely not the basement, or even the secret tunnel, with rough cement floors and dim lighting. This looked more like the set of Star Trek or NCIS. The entire back wall was one gigantic screen, dark for now, but I could tell the images would be nearly life-size when it was on. The floor was shiny black tile and reflected the blinking lights of a long computer console that ran the length of one wall. Against the other wall...
My stomach went cold. What looked like a large metal cell sat in one corner. Not exactly a cage, but pretty darn close. It had tiny barred windows near the top, fireproof walls and thick double doors big enough to hold a horse. Or a Shifted hatchling dragon.
“What the hell?” I whispered, venturing farther into the room. My eyes hurt from being open so wide. I could hardly believe this place sat right beneath a sleepy little beach community, and no one had any idea. Talon had never mentioned anything like this.
So, what else is Cobalt right about?
My gaze fell on the console and the myriad blinking lights that ran along the surface. A chair sat in front of a smaller screen, with a keyboard below it, and I headed in that direction. If I could get into Talon’s files, or my guardian’s email, maybe I could discover what they were doing. Or at least figure out what they wanted from me and Dante.
I’d just taken a few steps when I heard the hiss of the door behind me and realized someone was coming in.
Crap. Turning, I flung myself at the only visible hiding spot, the open door of the cell, pressing myself against the cold metal wall. The inside of the cage was dark; only a few slivers of light filtered in from the barred windows up top, and I shivered. I couldn’t imagine being locked inside this thing, dragon or no. I’d be clawing at the walls to get out.