by Julie Kagawa
Again? Could I do this again? Once was risky enough; I had snuck out of the house, Shifted into dragon form and had gone flying after midnight with a rogue. Just one of those offenses was enough to get me sent back to Talon. “What makes you think there will be a next time?” I challenged.
“Because I know you’re curious.” Cobalt’s voice turned somber. “Because you’re exactly like me—you don’t want your whole life planned out. You’re tired of following Talon’s rules, of not having any say in your future. You want to know who Talon really is, but it’s even more than that, isn’t it? You want to be free.” His eyes gleamed, golden and brilliant in the shadows. “And I can show you how.”
A chill crept up my spine. Sneaking out was one thing, but this? “That’s treason,” I whispered. Cobalt shrugged, making his wings ripple.
“You’re sitting here in your real form talking to a rogue. I think we’re a little past breaking the rules.”
He had a point. Still, I wasn’t about to let him get the upper hand. I’d come here for a reason. It had been forgotten in the thrill of flying and breaking a half dozen Talon rules tonight, but I wasn’t about to give up.
“You promised me answers,” I insisted, well aware of the passing of time, of every second that ticked by. I had to go soon, or I’d be in a world of trouble. “You said you had information about Talon. Were you telling the truth, or was that just a ploy to get me out here?”
“I do have information,” Cobalt said. “This was more of a test to see how badly you wanted it. Congratulations, hatchling, you passed. Next time, I just might share some of it.”
“I don’t believe you,” I shot back. “If you’re really so well informed about Talon, tell me something I don’t know.”
“How about the code to the secret room in your guardian’s basement?”
I snorted. “You mean the tunnel out of the house?” I asked. “The one we use every day to meet our trainers? I already know about that. Nothing earth-shattering there.”
The rogue’s grin stayed smug. “I’m not talking about the tunnel, Firebrand,” he said quietly. “I’m talking about the command room. Every Talon base has a secret room where the guardians report in, receive orders from the organization and keep them updated about your progress. That’s their real job—to report any suspicious activity to Talon. If you set one toe out of line, it goes straight to the organization, and Talon swoops in faster than you can blink.” I stared at him, and he settled back on the rock, watching me lazily. “The room is behind a secret door in the basement, and the only way in is to punch in the special code on the panel beside it. If you ask nicely, I’ll give it to you.”
“How do you know all this?”
He chuckled. “I told you, Firebrand. I’ve been around.” I gave him a skeptical look, and he held my gaze. “I have my ways, don’t worry about that. But that doesn’t answer my question. Do you want the code or not? It changes every few weeks, so you’ll have to move fast if you want to use it.”
I debated with myself a moment longer, wondering if he was telling the truth or pulling my leg. But if there was a secret room...I was curious. I wanted to know what Liam and Sarah were telling Talon behind closed doors. “Let’s hear it,” I growled at last.
Cobalt recited a string of numbers and made me repeat them a couple times to make certain I remembered. “And are you sure this will get me in?” I asked when we were finished.
He shrugged one scaly shoulder. “Go check it out yourself if you don’t believe me. Just make sure they don’t catch you snooping around. Talon doesn’t like that.” He bared his fangs in a brief, humorless smile before sobering. “I can tell you more, of course. This is only the beginning. But if you want me to share all Talon’s dirty little secrets, you’re going to have to meet me again.”
“When?” I asked, impatient. “Tomorrow?”
“Not tomorrow,” Cobalt said. “Or the next night, or any night this week. We don’t have to set a time or a place. Just promise that you’ll meet me again, one dragon to another. I’ll tell you everything about Talon then.”
I snorted. “Fine. But you’d better not up and vanish into thin air again.” He just grinned, and I narrowed my eyes. “How will I know where to meet you if you won’t tell me where you are?”
“Oh, don’t worry, Firebrand.” Stepping back, the rogue dragon opened his wings, casting a dark shadow over the rocks. His eyes gleamed yellow as he gazed down at me. “I’ll find you.”
And he launched himself into the air, his wings blasting me with wind and spray. I craned my neck up, watching his sleek form get smaller and smaller, as the blue dragon soared over the pounding waves and vanished into the night.
Garret
No luck.
Lowering the binoculars, I tossed them to the seat beside me, put the Jeep in Reverse and pulled away from the railing, heading back to the road. That was the third lonely cliff I’d staked out tonight, scanning the sky with the night vision lens, and the only movement I’d seen belonged to planes and a lone pelican swooping over the water. No hint of a flying reptile anywhere.
My phone rang as I pulled onto the main road; I snatched it from where it lay on the dash and held it up. Tristan’s voice buzzed in my ear. “Anything?”
“Negative. I tried three different spots, but there was no movement. If the sleeper is still out there, it won’t be flying around in the daytime.”
“All right.” Tristan sighed, sounding frustrated. “I didn’t see anything, either. Come on back.”
I hung up, feeling frustrated, as well. We’d been here nearly a month and still had no real leads. And the summer was flying by quickly. If it ended without a kill, the sleeper could be relocated and our target would be lost. I couldn’t allow that. I’d never failed a mission before, and I wasn’t about to now.
As I turned onto another street, movement in the headlight beams caught my attention. A body was jogging down the sidewalk on the right, pushing a bicycle. Bright red hair gleamed in the headlights, and my heart jumped.
Ember?
I shook my head, annoyed with myself. The girl had been on my mind most of the day. In fact, one of the main reasons I’d decided to leave the apartment tonight and hunt for dragons was to focus on something else. Something that wasn’t her. I didn’t like this instant excitement, the sudden hope in seeing a random civilian and thinking that it might be the red-haired girl I’d met yesterday afternoon.
But, just to be certain, I pulled alongside the girl and slowed, then blinked in surprise. It was Ember, striding down the sidewalk with a mountain bike, looking like she was in a hurry. The bike’s front tire was flat, and the girl did not look pleased.
Suspicion flared then, replacing everything else. Why was she out so late? Why was she alone? One possible answer rose to mind: she was the sleeper dragon, returning from a night of flying around. Yes, she had a brother but...perhaps that was Talon’s newest ruse. A ploy to throw us off. Or an anomaly, like Tristan said. And if that was the case, then Ember Hill suddenly demanded a lot more attention.
I eased over to the curb, slowing even more. A Corvette swung around me with an irritable beep, but I ignored it. “Ember,” I called. “Over here.”
She looked up, green eyes widening. “Garret? Oh, wow, small world!” She did not slow down, and I tapped the gas pedal to keep up. “What are you doing up so early?”
I could ask you the same. “Couldn’t sleep.” I did not specify why. “Went for a drive. What about you?”
“Me? Oh, I like to go biking early, before I hit the water. Clears my head, you know?” The answer was swift and immediate, no hesitation on her part, even as she quickened her pace. “Nothing worse than being distracted when a twelve-foot wall of water is crashing down on you. It’s nice to get up early, work everything out of your system.”
Except I’d never s
een her out in the early morning, biking, on the beach with her friends, anywhere. Until about 9:00 or 10:00 a.m., she was nowhere to be found.
“Unfortunately,” Ember continued, oblivious to my suspicion, “I blew out a tire, so now I have to hurry home, before Dante yells at me for taking his bike without permission, again.”
Perfect opening. “Hop in,” I told her, jerking my head at the rear seat. “Put the bike in the back, it should fit. I’ll take you home.”
“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, pulling to the curb. Ember beamed, wrangled the bike into the back, then slid into the passenger seat. I quickly hid the binoculars in the glove compartment before she got in, and we started down the road.
“Thanks for this,” she said, after giving me the address of her house, which I already knew but of course didn’t mention. “Jeez, that’s twice now you’ve shown up to rescue me. Are you some sort of knight in training or something?”
I shifted uncomfortably, as that statement was closer to the truth than she knew, and didn’t answer. Ember watched me a moment, then smiled. “Where’s your cousin?” she asked, tilting her head. “Did he not want to go sightseeing?”
“He’s back at the apartment,” I replied. “Sleeping.”
“Not an early bird, I take it.” She gazed out the window, toward the coastline, and I snuck a glance at her. “Well, his loss. I wish I could get out on the ocean more often. It’s so peaceful right before the sun comes up. Just you and the waves.” She looked back at me, smiling again, and something in her eyes made my stomach twist. “Oh, well. Sleeping in is nice, too, and I’m kinda glad it was just you who showed up this morning.”
I gazed down the road, not knowing what to say. My whole life, I’d been trained to fight; I knew guns and weapons and combat, how to kill a man twenty different ways, how to shoot a dragon’s fire gland to cripple it. I even had special training in infiltration: blending in, being invisible. But this was completely different. Nothing had prepared me for talking to a teenage girl in the front seat of my car.
Adapt, Tristan had told me before. This is no different than any other mission. Talk to them. Engage in conversation. Get them to trust you.
I groped for something, anything, to keep her talking. Remembering the surfboard in the back of the Jeep yesterday, I asked, “So...you like surfing?”
“Oh, yeah,” was the eager, sincere reply. “I love it. The wind, the waves, the excitement of barreling down a huge wall of water before it pounds you into the sand. Nothing compares, really.”
“It sounds pretty amazing,” I said, not having to lie about that, because it did. “I’ve always wanted to try.”
And then, I had an idea. One that Tristan, had he been here, would have been proud of.
“Could you teach me?” I asked the girl.
Ember blinked. “To surf?” she asked, and I nodded. “I guess so, I mean...” She cocked her head at me with an appraising look. “You really want me to teach you?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”
“No, it’s just...” She shrugged. “It’s not like I’m an expert. I’ve just been surfing about a month myself. I’m not sure how great of an instructor I’ll be. You should really ask Calvin, he teaches this stuff for a living.”
“I’d rather it be you,” I said. Calvin and Lexi had lived in Crescent Beach their whole lives and were no longer on our suspect list. Ember was an unknown, a mystery. If I could get her to trust me, enough to let me into her house or room, we’d be one step closer to finding the sleeper.
That was the reason I told myself, anyway.
“Well...” She pondered the question a moment more, then grinned, making her eyes flash. “All right. I’ll do it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. If Lexi were here, she’d be telling you all kinds of horror stories about me and surfing.”
“How much?”
She frowned. “What?”
“The surf shop next to our apartment offers lessons,” I explained to her confused expression. “It isn’t free. They charge a hundred and fifty an hour for a private session.”
“Really?” For just a moment, a thoughtful, eager look crossed her face, as if she was imagining all the money she could make with this information. Dragons were extreme acquisitionists, power hungry and eternally greedy. Acquiring wealth was the only thing they cared about.
But Ember shook herself, and the eager look faded into one of disgust. “Don’t be silly,” she said, waving it off. “Calvin and Lexi taught me with no strings attached. I’m not going to charge anything for teaching something I love to do.”
That surprised me, but I kept my expression neutral. “All right, fair enough.” I nodded. “When can you do it?”
“Hmm.” She scrunched up her forehead, thinking. “How about this afternoon,” she said as we pulled into a well-kept subdivision close to the main beach. “Meet me at the Smoothie Hut at two, no...better make it three o’ clock, and I’ll give you your own private surf lesson. That is, if you’re not afraid of getting pounded a few times.” She grinned, looking sly. “You’re a good swimmer, right?”
I glanced at her. “Yes, but isn’t it customary to start small and work your way up to the big waves?” She continued to flash me that slightly evil grin, and I raised an eyebrow. “Or is this free ‘lesson’ just to watch me make a fool of myself?”
“No, it’s to see if you really want to do this,” she answered, abruptly serious. “Surfing isn’t for the faint of heart. You’re going to wipe out, and you’re going to get your ass kicked by the ocean a few times. But don’t worry.” She smiled, and her green eyes sparkled as she looked up at me. “I’ll be gentle.”
“I look forward to it.”
She grinned, but then a shadow crossed her face and she pointed to the sidewalk. “Um, you can let me off at that corner,” she directed, looking nervously up the road. “No need to drive me all the way to the house. I can make it home from here.”
I was puzzled but didn’t argue. Pulling to a stop at the corner, I hopped out and grabbed the bike from the backseat, then set it before her on the sidewalk.
“Thanks.” She reached for the handlebars, but one of her hands came to rest over mine before I could pull back, sending a jolt racing up my arm. “I owe you one. You’re a lifesaver. Really.”
My heart pounded, and I swiftly drew my arm back, all my senses buzzing like crazy. Ember didn’t seem to notice and started pushing the bike down the sidewalk. “I’ll see you this afternoon at three,” she called over her shoulder. “And if you don’t show, I’ll just assume you got scared of the big bad waves and chickened out.”
“I’ll be there,” I replied. Waves didn’t scare me. They were big, they were violent, and if you made one wrong move they could easily crush you. Very much like a dragon. I wasn’t afraid of dragons. I respected them, and I knew that, one day, one of the savage creatures would probably kill me, but I wasn’t afraid of them. Ancient reptiles, fighting, killing and death, odd as it might seem, were familiar and comfortable.
What wasn’t familiar was the way my skin prickled when Ember smiled at me, the odd pulling sensation in my stomach when her gaze met mine. The way my throat was suddenly dry as she walked away, her lithe body swaying as she broke into an easy jog, loping down the sidewalk. I watched her, unable to tear my eyes away, until she turned a corner and was gone.
With a mental shake, I hopped back in the Jeep and wrenched the key in the ignition, trying to gather my thoughts. Dammit, what was wrong with me? That was twice now I’d lost my focus around that girl. It had to stop. This was a mission, and Ember was part of the objective. I could not lower my guard. I wasn’t here to surf, or go to parties, or talk to an intriguing red-haired girl who didn’t hesitate to kick bullies in the crotch or tackle giant waves. I was here to find a dragon, flush it in
to the open and kill it.
And if Ember was the sleeper...
Remember your mission, soldier. Do not lose sight of it again.
Putting the Jeep in Drive, I headed home.
* * *
“That took longer than expected,” Tristan said as I walked through the door of the apartment, tossing the keys on the counter. “Did you get lost on your way back? Maybe take a detour to the Smoothie Hut?”
“No,” I muttered, though mention of the Smoothie Hut made my stomach clench with nerves...and anticipation. “But I think I have a lead.”
Ember
Made it.
The house was still dark as I ditched the bike, unlocked the front door and crept down the silent hallway, sparing a quick glance at the clock on the wall: 4:52 a.m. Close, but I was home free. Liam and Sarah weren’t up yet; all I had to do was climb the stairs, slip into bed, and they would never know what had happened.
At the edge of the kitchen, however, I stopped. The basement door was just a few feet away, taunting me. The secret room was down there, hiding any number of secrets about Talon, my trainer, maybe even me.
I slipped across the linoleum to the basement door, hesitated and put a hand on the knob.
Just as something grabbed my arm.
I jumped a foot in the air and whirled around. “Dante!” I squeaked as my twin stared back at me, a grave look on his face. “Jeez, give me a heart attack, why don’t you?” My heart pounded, but I forced myself not to panic. “What are you doing up?” I whispered. “You’re supposed to be asleep, stalker.”
“Come on, sis. It’s me.” Dante’s voice was low, angry. “You’ve never been able to hide anything from me. I don’t know why you thought you’d be able to sneak out unnoticed. I just hope your illegal midnight flight was worth it.” His eyes flicked to the basement door and narrowed to green slits. “Shouldn’t you be trying to get upstairs right now, before Liam comes out and sees you?”
I hesitated. Should I tell him about the secret room and the code to open it? I’d never hidden anything from my brother before. But if I did tell him, he’d want to know where I’d gotten that information, and I wasn’t ready to admit my association with a rogue dragon just yet. Getting caught sneaking out was bad enough.