And that terrified me.
My hand was in my pocket, fingers closed around the bug I hadn’t been able to place in her phone. Tangible evidence that I was failing the mission, that I was far too close.
Ember rested her chin on the top of her bear and gazed up at me. Green eyes met mine, open and inquisitive, and a little worried. “You’re brooding,” she accused softly, sounding very much like Tristan at that moment. “What are you thinking about?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Liar.” Clearly unconvinced, she sat up straighter, watching me. “Come on, Garret. One minute you’re fine, the next you go all dark and serious. Something is obviously bothering you. What’s wrong?”
I scrambled for a response, knowing she wouldn’t let it go until I replied. “I...was just thinking about the end of the month,” I said, turning to face her. She gave me a puzzled frown, and I gestured vaguely at the amusement park. “Summer will be over soon. In a few weeks, I’ll have to go home, back to Chicago and my dad. We won’t see each other again.”
I gazed out over the railing, surprised by how much that bothered me. Though most of it was a lie, the part about not seeing her again was real. If she was a normal civilian, I’d leave as soon as the mission was over, returning to the Order and the eternal war. And if she was the sleeper...
I clenched my fist around the railing, finally forcing myself to really acknowledge what that meant. I’d always known, of course. It was always there, at the back of my mind; I just didn’t want to think about it. But if Ember was the sleeper...I would have to kill her. That was my duty, what the Order expected of me. To put a bullet in her heart, without mercy, and watch her die. It was easy to kill a dragon in human form; they didn’t have their armorlike scales to protect them, or the thick chest plates that turned away all but the highest caliber rounds. If you could surprise one before it had a chance to shift, it stood no chance.
A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Dragons were the enemy; they wanted to enslave humans, and the Order was the only thing standing between them and global dominion. I knew that. I believed that wholeheartedly.
But before I’d met Ember, I’d never shot zombies in a crowded mall on a random Thursday. I’d never gone surfing and felt that pure adrenaline rush of riding the waves. And I’d never felt anything like what Ember stirred in me when we kissed—that rush of heat that both thrilled and terrified me.
I felt balanced on the edge of something huge, and the earth was cracking under my feet. Everything the Order had taught me about dragons—that they were lethal, conniving, calculating monsters who hated mankind—none of that fit the daring, cheerful girl at my side. Which could mean only two things: that Ember was a normal human being, or that the Order was wrong.
And the second part of that statement disturbed me more than anything I’d ever faced.
A slim hand on my knee jolted me out of my dark thoughts. I looked back to find Ember gazing up at me, still hugging her bear to her chest.
“I know,” she said as I struggled to focus on what she was saying; the warm fingers on my leg were fairly distracting. “I’ve been thinking about that, too. The locals here have a saying—‘Don’t let your heart leave the beach.’ It means you should never get attached to someone who’s going to disappear at the end of the summer. If they’re going to leave, anyway, why risk it?
“But,” she continued, “if we did that, if we never took a chance on anything, we might miss out on something incredible. I don’t have a lot of time here, either. When summer ends...” Her eyes darkened a shade. “My life is going to get pretty crazy. But I’m glad that I met you. Even if we have to part ways at the end of the summer, I wouldn’t change anything.” She paused again, averting her gaze as if in embarrassment. “From the day we met, you’ve been the person that I look forward to seeing, spending time with, the most. I never really felt like I fit in until you came along. You made me forget...some unpleasant things in my life. You made me feel that I wasn’t so different, after all.”
I reached up, brushing a fiery strand of hair behind her ear. “We’re not...really that different, you know,” I faltered. I didn’t know why I was telling her this; until now, I hadn’t even known I felt like this. “I’ve never fit in anywhere—well, anywhere normal. My life has always been dictated by my dad, and where he thought we should go. The only difference is...you do all the things I never allowed myself to do. Things I never thought I wanted.” I looked into her brilliant green eyes and smiled ruefully. “I didn’t know what I was missing, until I met you.”
Ember’s gaze went searingly bright. Dropping her bear, she scooted forward and straddled my waist on the bench, a move that would’ve normally set off all my alarms, but I had given up on normal a while ago. I wrapped my arms around her small form, holding her tight, letting the heat of her body melt through the last of my armor, dissolving the logic of not getting close. The soldier was still warning me not to do this, reminding me that she was a potential target and nothing else. I ignored him. I was getting good at ignoring him, but today was different. This wasn’t me convincing myself I was still following the mission; I knew that was a lie. My emotions had finally gotten the better of me, and I was with Ember because I wanted to be here. Tonight, I didn’t care. I’d been a soldier every day for the past seventeen years. Just this once, I wanted to know what it was like...to live.
Ember peered down at me, her hands resting on my shoulders, soft fingers gently brushing my neck. Her stare was awed, as if she couldn’t quite believe this was real, that it was really happening. I knew, because I was feeling the same.
“Kiss me,” I whispered. Make me forget, for a night, that this isn’t real. Make me believe that this could be my life. That I’m not betraying everything I know to be here, to feel like this.
Ember bent down. Her lips touched mine, and my doubts vanished. The soldier disappeared. Everything disappeared, except her. I felt nothing but her hands on my skin, her lips, her body pressed against me. I kissed her until I was consumed with her, searing this moment into my consciousness, driving away the soldier and St. George and everything about the war. I would get back to it tomorrow. Tonight, I wanted to be normal.
Tonight, Garret the soldier didn’t exist.
Riley
Two dragons were sitting in my living room when I walked through the door.
I frowned at Wes, who was hovering in the foyer waiting for me. “What happened?” I snapped, looking past him to the pair of teens on my couch. Hatchlings, both of them, looking scared, dirty and exhausted as they huddled together on the floral cushions. Naomi, or Nettle as she was called by nearly everyone, was a dark, thin girl with dreadlocks that stuck out in every direction. Remy, a sandy-haired kid with piercing blue eyes, peered at me over the chair back, solemn and grave.
Wes shrugged helplessly.
“I can’t get them to talk, mate. They said they were waiting for you.”
Sighing, I stalked to the kitchen, opened a cupboard and yanked out two bags of chips. Walking back to the living room, I tossed them at the hatchlings, who caught the bags and stared at me, unsure of what to do.
“Eat something first,” I ordered. Hatchlings were, by definition, almost always hungry, as their metabolism required large amounts of food to keep active and healthy. Shifting, too, took huge amounts of energy, which was why we were always ravenous soon after a change. And a hungry dragon was a nervous, restless, irritable dragon, something I did not need right now. If I was going to get to the bottom of this, I needed them calm.
“It’s fine,” I assured them as they still hesitated. “Go ahead and eat. Knock yourselves out, really. We’ll talk afterward.”
Clearly starving, they tore open the bags and plowed through the contents, barely stopping to chew. I left them demolishing the chips and wandered onto the deck, leaning my e
lbows against the railing.
Damn. Something was definitely up. Nettle and Remy shouldn’t be here. I’d left them both at a safe house in Boulder, Colorado, high in the mountains. What had driven them to find me? Something serious. Something that had caused my other safe houses to disappear. It was probably a good thing they’d showed up when they did. Maybe now I could figure out what the hell was going on.
I sighed, looking straight down from the balcony. Far below, the ocean crashed against the rocks, and the salt-laced air tugged at my hair and clothes. Frowning, I scrubbed a hand over my eyes, trying to dissolve the memories that flickered to life again, but it was no use. For some reason, every time I smelled the ocean, heard the crashing waves and felt the wind on my face, I thought of her. Of Ember and that brief night of flying the waves. Of racing a fiery red hatchling who called to my dragon, igniting an inferno within. I didn’t understand it. Ember as a human was young, naive, stubborn and impulsive. Ember in her true form was all of those things, but also fearless, defiant and beautiful.
I shook my head, pushing myself back from the railing. This was crazy. I couldn’t be distracted now. Ember was beginning to come around, but things were moving too slowly for my liking. I should’ve told her everything about Talon this afternoon. Unfortunately, I would have to deal with this new problem before I did anything else.
“Riley.” Wes poked his head out the doorframe. “I think they’re ready for you, mate.”
Pushing Ember from my mind, I stalked back into the living room. Nettle and Remy perched nervously on the sofa, two empty chip bags crumpled on the end tables. Wes had apparently gotten them drinks, as well, as a pair of open sodas sat dripping on the polished wood.
“All right, you two,” I said, sinking into the armchair facing them. “Start talking. From the beginning.” They stared at me, clearly not sure where to begin, and I sighed. “What happened to the safe house?” I said to get them started. “And why are you here? Only your guardian was supposed to know of this location. Where is he, anyway? Did you trek all the way up here by yourselves?”
The hatchlings exchanged a glance, then Remy took a deep breath.
“Chris told us to come,” he began in a surprisingly steady voice. “He gave us your location and sent us here.”
I frowned. Chris was the guardian in charge of the Boulder safe house. All the nests had one: a human who knew about us and who’d agreed to look after one or two vulnerable hatchlings until they were old enough to be on their own. Most of the guardians were ex-Talon servants, already living in hiding; if you were a human employed by the organization, you were in for life. As much as Talon despised having their dragons break away, they were even more fervent about not letting their humans go and risk exposing our existence. The few humans who did escape lived with the fear that St. George or Talon could show up on their doorstep any day, so after years of tracking them down and convincing them I wasn’t part of Talon anymore, we’d come to an agreement. I would keep the organization off their backs as best I could, and they, in turn, had agreed to watch over the hatchlings I broke out of Talon.
“Chris sent you here?” I repeated, and they bobbed their heads in unison. “Why?”
“We don’t know!” Nettle burst out, making Remy flinch. Her dreadlocks bobbed as she gestured wildly. “He just woke us up in the middle of the night and told us to pack our things. Didn’t say what was going on, just shoved us into a taxi and ordered us not to come back!”
A chill settled in my gut. I looked at Wes, who nodded and left the room, probably to check the status of the Boulder safe house. I turned back to the hatchlings. “He didn’t say anything to you at all?”
“No.” Remy shook his head. “But he did seem really freaked out. Kept glancing out the window and pacing while we packed.”
I narrowed my eyes. That house had been located halfway up a mountain peak, isolated and virtually unknown. No one was aware of it except me, Wes and a couple other former Talon servants. In fact, all of my safe houses had been, well, safe. I’d had no issues with keeping them hidden before. Why were they being exposed now?
The answer was sobering. I might have a mole in my ranks. With the exception of Wes, who hated Talon almost as much as I did, I really didn’t trust humans all that much. They were too gullible, too easy to sway with promises of wealth, power, status or whatever they coveted. I worked with them out of necessity; our numbers were small and I couldn’t do everything myself, but if Talon offered them something better, I wouldn’t put it past them to betray us.
Which meant we could be in trouble here.
“Riley.” Wes appeared at the edge of the hall, his face and eyes shadowed. I rose and followed him into the spare bedroom he used as his office.
“It’s gone, mate,” he whispered as I crossed the threshold. His laptop sat open and blinking on the desk, and he looked at it as if hoping it would tell him something else. “The Boulder nest has gone dark, and Chris isn’t answering the emergency number.”
I swore. “We had cameras and communications set up so that even if Talon found the nest, we could still contact them, unless the house was completely burned down.” I stared at Wes, hard, and he looked away. “Tell me that’s not the case.”
He rubbed his arm, his voice going soft. “I don’t think this is Talon, Riley.”
The cold spread to all parts of my body, and I shivered in rage and growing horror. “No,” I muttered, staring at the flickering laptop screen. “It’s St. George.”
Wes nodded. “Which means they’re probably tracking those two right now,” he said, sounding grim. “Persistent bastards won’t stop if they know a pair of dragons got away from them. So that leaves us with just one option.” He walked to his laptop, closing it with a snap. “We have to get out of town, tonight if possible. We’re way too exposed here.”
Dammit. I growled, clenching my fists. “No. Not yet. We can’t leave yet.”
Wes spun back, eyes widening. “Riley, did you hear what I just said? Bloody St. George is on the way. If they find us here, they’ll kill us all.”
“I know.”
“If we stay here, we’re putting those kids in danger, too. We have a responsibility to keep them safe. That’s what we promised.”
“I know!” I snapped, and raked a hand through my hair. “I just... I’m close, Wes. She’s almost ready to leave. I just need a little more time.”
“You want to stay because of her?” Wes looked at me like I had six heads. “Are you bloody insane? She’s just another hatchling, mate. We can’t save them all.”
Just another hatchling? My eyes narrowed. “Ember will come. She’s one of us, she just doesn’t know it yet.” He started to protest again, and I overrode him. “I’m not leaving without her. So either stay and help, or shut up and leave.”
“Fine.” He made a frustrated, hopeless gesture. “You want to stay and get us all killed? Great. I bloody hope she’s worth it.”
I ignored the jab. “We need to secure the house,” I said, slipping into safeguard mode now that we weren’t leaving yet. “Alarms, cameras, motion detectors, everything. If St. George comes within a hundred feet of the gate, I want to know. How soon can you set that up?”
Wes scrubbed a hand over his face. “Get me the equipment, and I’ll have it up and running by tomorrow.”
“Good. Start working on that now. I’ll get you what you need later tonight.” I headed out of the room but stopped when I saw the hatchlings, still huddled on the couch. Nettle had slumped against an armrest and was about ready to fall asleep, and Remy didn’t look much better.
“Don’t tell them about St. George,” I muttered without looking back. “I’ll explain what’s going on later, but I don’t want them panicking without reason. They’re scared enough as it is.”
“Oh, sure,” I heard Wes mumble as I left the room. “Don’t wan
t to worry the bloody hatchlings, but the human’s heart exploding from stress, that’s perfectly okay.”
I knew Wes was right. Staying here when St. George was tracking them was stupid and risky, especially if I had a mole. I was endangering the hatchlings, and I was endangering everything I’d worked so hard to build.
But the thought of leaving Ember behind, when I was just starting to sway her to my side...I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t lose her to Talon now. Wes would have to suck it up and get used to the idea. Because until I convinced Ember to break from Talon and join the rogues, none of us was going anywhere.
Ember
I was soaring the wind currents, the sun warm on my back, the breeze cool in my face. Below me, the white sea of clouds roiled and crashed against one another, smelling of salt and surf and the ocean, and I dipped lower to skim the waves.
Someone dropped beside me, another dragon, grinning a challenge as he swooped ahead. With a strong flap of my wings, I soared after him, following the streaming tail as he rolled and dived through the cloud-waves. I didn’t recognize him, though I knew I’d seen him before. Was it Cobalt? Or Garret...?
The alarm clock shrilled in my ear, piercing the fantasy, and I slapped it silent—5:00 a.m. already. Damn. And the dream was already fading, vanishing into the ether as reality returned me to my bed. Had I been flying? And who was that other dragon I was chasing? I tried to hold on to the memory, but it slipped away into the darkness and was lost.