by Julie Kagawa
Peeking through the crack in the door, I saw Liam and Sarah pass briefly through my line of sight before continuing toward the back of the room. The chair squeaked as someone sat in it, and a sequence of taps and clicks soon followed. The light through the windows flickered, becoming brighter, and I realized the huge screen had come to life.
“Report,” droned a deep male voice in a brusque tone that reminded me of my trainer. Even through the walls of the cell, it made me jump. “What is the status of Ember and Dante Hill?”
I froze, suddenly afraid to move. I couldn’t see the screen, of course. Not unless I pulled myself up to the barred windows and peeked out, and I wasn’t going to risk getting caught. But even without seeing him, I knew that the speaker was a dragon. Possibly one of Talon’s upper executives, though I’d never met one myself. The dragons that ran the cooperation were very tight-lipped about their whereabouts, for fear that St. George would hunt them down. Why would one of Talon’s higher-ups be talking about me and Dante? I pressed against the wall and held my breath, listening hard.
“Dante has adjusted well, sir,” Liam said, his voice emotionless even through the wall between us. “He excels at human interaction and is comfortable within the social circle he has built himself. He follows the rules and understands what is expected of him. I foresee no problems with his assimilation.”
“Good,” said the voice, though there was no praise or pleasure in his tone. “As we expected. What of his clutchmate, Ember Hill?”
“Ember,” Liam replied, and an edge had entered his voice, “is a little more...problematic. She has made friends and is adjusting well, but...” He paused.
“She is reckless,” Sarah broke in, sounding like she couldn’t hold back any longer. “She flaunts the rules and is drawn to dangerous, risky activities. She resists our authority and constantly questions her trainer. In fact, I think Dante is the only reason she hasn’t done something drastic. He keeps her grounded, but I fear even he may not be able to control her much longer.”
The voice was silent a moment, pondering this, while I bit my lip and ordered my heart to stop racing. Was this the moment they would decide to call me back for retraining? Alone? My stomach heaved. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go back there. Especially without Dante. I would die of loneliness and boredom.
“Has she broken any rules?” the voice finally asked, making my insides clench once more. If Dante had told them, if they knew about that night with Cobalt, I was as good as gone.
“No,” Liam said reluctantly, making me slump with relief. “Not to our knowledge. But she could be a ticking time bomb—”
“Then we will observe her more closely,” the voice interrupted. “Ember Hill could be a danger to the organization, or she could simply be acting out from the unaccustomed freedom. It is not uncommon with hatchlings. Better that she get it out of her system now, it will let her focus on her training in the long run. It is not a viable reason to pull her out, since by your own admission, she has not broken any of the rules.”
Huh. I blinked in shock. That’s...surprisingly reasonable. Maybe Talon isn’t as bad as Cobalt lets on.
“And what of the rogue?” Sarah asked suddenly, turning my blood to ice. “He could still be hanging around. What if Ember or Dante runs into—”
“The rogue,” the voice said, overriding her, “will be taken care of. You need not concern yourself. Our agents moved in last month when he was first reported and determined that he had fled town. He will likely not return, but if you see him, or if either of your charges mentions him, you will inform us immediately, is that clear?”
Dante, I thought as both guardians muttered consent. It was you, wasn’t it? You told them about Cobalt. That’s why he left, and why our trainers arrived early. It was you all along.
“We will speak with Ember’s trainer and see if anything can be done to focus her energy down a more productive path,” the voice went on. “Now, are there any other pressing concerns?”
“No, sir.”
“Very well.” I imagined the speaker pulling back, waving his hand. “Dismissed.”
The screen flickered and went dark. Liam and Sarah immediately turned and walked toward the secret door, not glancing in my direction. I peeked from the cage, watched them press a single button to release the door panel, and waited several minutes after the door closed again before I fled myself. Back up the stairs and into my room, thankfully undisturbed by nosy brothers and now untrustworthy guardians. No one had been in to check on me, and I collapsed to the bed, my mind racing with what I’d heard. Talon, my guardian, my trainers, Dante.
And the rogue.
Okay, Cobalt, I thought, feeling a shiver run down my back. You were right. Talon isn’t telling us everything. You have my full attention now. I just hope I’ll get to see you again to ask about it.
Garret
“So, you have a possible target now.”
On the computer screen, Lieutenant Gabriel Martin leaned back in his desk, steepling his fingers in thought. Both Tristan and I stood in the apartment’s tiny kitchen, facing the open laptop on the counter. These weekly status reports were routine, keeping headquarters updated on the mission, but tonight was different. Tonight, we actually had a name.
“Ember Hill,” Martin mused, drawing his brows together. “I’ll have intelligence run another background check on her and her household, see if we can find any discrepancies. You say she has a brother?”
“Yes, sir,” Tristan answered. “But they could have been raised together and then planted here to throw us off, knowing we’d be looking for a single target.”
“That is a possibility,” Martin agreed. “I wouldn’t put it past Talon to think of new ways to hide their spawn. Have you spoken to either of her guardians, or been inside their house?”
“No, sir,” Tristan said. “But Garret has established a connection with the girl. He’s set to meet with her tomorrow.”
“Good.” Martin nodded and glanced at me. “What about you, soldier?” he asked. “What are your thoughts on this girl?”
I kept my voice and expression blank. “I haven’t discerned anything yet, sir. So far she hasn’t given us any proof, only happenstance. Based on that, I couldn’t give you a sure answer.”
“Forget proof, then.” Martin narrowed his eyes. “Sometimes you have to go with your instincts, regardless of everything else. What does your gut tell you?”
“That...” I paused, remembering Ember’s smile, the way her eyes flashed when she was angry or excited. That eager, defiant grin that said she wouldn’t back down from anything. The unfamiliar twisting sensation in the pit of my stomach when our eyes met. On the surface, she acted no different than anyone else; there were no obvious clues that hinted she was anything but an ordinary girl.
But my instincts, the gut reactions that had kept me alive on the field of battle all this time, said otherwise. Ember was different. Maybe it was her passion, a fiery determination that I’d seen all too often in the creatures I fought. That stubborn refusal to die that made them such lethal enemies. Or that sometimes, when she looked at me, I caught something in that stark gaze that wasn’t entirely...human. I couldn’t explain it, and I knew St. George would never accept those as valid reasons to eliminate a suspect. But Martin wasn’t asking for proof now. He understood that soldiers sometimes had to make choices based purely on intuition. And my instincts had rarely been wrong.
“She could very well be the sleeper, sir,” I replied.
Though, for the first time, I hoped I was mistaken.
Martin nodded solemnly. “We’ll have to see what comes of this information,” he murmured. “Sebastian, your goal now is to get as close to this girl as you can. See if you can get inside her house. Talon bases will occasionally have underground lairs where they receive intel from the organization. If you find that room
, you have the Order’s full permission to take out the entire household. Just be discreet about it.”
“Should we stake out the house, sir?” Tristan asked, but Martin shook his head.
“No. Talon operatives are trained to notice anything amiss, such as a strange car sitting in the road. We don’t want to give them any clues that we could be in the area. Set up electronic surveillance to monitor the exterior, but your primary mission remains. Gain entrance into the domicile—any concrete intelligence will be found inside.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good work, both of you,” Martin finished, the faintest hint of a smile crossing his face. “We’ll follow up on the leads you’ve provided. But for now, take the night off. You’ve earned it.”
The image disappeared as the video feed disconnected. Tristan blew out a breath and closed the laptop. “Well, that’s done,” he muttered, stretching his long limbs. “I’m glad we could finally give them a name. They were probably getting a little nervous with the lack of progress. Now we can focus our efforts on this girl, and maybe her brother, until we have an answer.”
I didn’t respond. I should have been relieved; the mission was back on track, and we had a real course of action. I didn’t like the unknown; I wanted a visible plan, orders I could follow, an objective I could reach. I had my orders now. Engage the target. Discern the target to be the sleeper and, if she was, kill the sleeper. Simple, familiar commands. My mind should’ve been on the mission and how to accomplish it.
But now, all I could think of was Ember. Seeing her again, getting close, learning her secrets. And just a few hours from our designated meeting time, I found myself strangely torn. I wanted to see her, was looking forward to it, in all honesty...but at the same time, I was reluctant. I didn’t want to lie to her.
I didn’t want Ember to be the sleeper.
Shaken, I grabbed the binoculars from the counter and headed toward the door. I couldn’t think like that. Personal feelings had nothing to do with the objective. I had my orders, and I’d never failed a mission yet. I would not waver now.
“Uh, Garret?” Tristan’s voice halted me at the door. I turned to find him watching me with his arms crossed, a bemused look on his face. “What are you doing?”
I held up the binoculars. “What we’ve been doing every night since the time we got here. Why?”
He rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you hear the lieutenant? We have the night off. Seriously, put down the damn specs before I hit you with them. Garret, we are in California. Beaches, volleyball, bikinis, nightclubs. It can’t be missions and training every second of every day.” He gave me a look that was sympathetic and exasperated at the same time. “Even the Perfect Soldier needs to take a break once in a while. Hell, you have permission to relax from headquarters itself. Forget the mission for one night.”
Forget the mission. Forget the Order, and the war, and my objective. Before today, I wouldn’t have considered it. My life was the Order; I had to be exceptional, unyielding. The Perfect Soldier. That was what everyone expected of me.
But this afternoon, I’d gone surfing with a beautiful red-haired girl, and everything about the Order and the war had flown out of my head the second my board sliced down that wave. It was the most exhilarating moment in my life. I couldn’t remember having that much fun in...ever, really. My free time, when I had it, normally consisted of training—honing the skills that kept me alive. While the other soldiers went to bars and nightclubs, Tristan included, I was usually at the gym, or the shooting range, or studying mission tactics. There were a few non-training activities I enjoyed—reading and action movies, and I could hit the center of a dartboard nine times out of ten—but as a whole, my life consisted of training and battle and little else.
Now I’d begun to wonder—what might I be missing? Tristan had always pressed me to come to bars, clubs or parties with him, and I had always refused, not seeing the point. But maybe there didn’t have to be a point. Maybe it was just to experience something new.
“Well,” Tristan said, grabbing his keys from the counter, “you can stay here and be the perfect little soldier, if you want. I’m going out. Probably won’t be back till sunrise, and there will be a fifty-fifty chance I’ll be very wasted, so don’t wait up—”
“Hold on.”
Tristan paused, blinking in shock as I tossed the binoculars to the armchair and turned back to face him. For a second, I almost backed out, but forced myself to keep talking. “Where are you taking us, exactly?” I asked. “Will I need a fake ID?”
His mouth fell open dramatically. “Okay, sorry. Who are you and what did you do with my partner?”
“Shut up. Are we going or not?”
He grinned, making a grand gesture toward the front door. “After you, partner. I don’t know what’s happening here, exactly, but whatever you’re on, feel free to keep taking it.”
Not “it,” I thought as I opened the front door. Who. And you can keep wondering all you like, because I have no idea what’s going on, either.
Ember
“Hellooooooo. Earth to Ember. Are you still with us?”
I blinked and tore my gaze away from the glass case and the sparkling collection of diamonds, sapphires, emeralds and rubies within. At my elbow, Lexi sighed, giving me a look that said she’d been trying to get my attention for a while. The well-dressed woman behind the counter offered a polite, I-don’t-think-you’re-going-to-buy-anything smile, and moved on to a man looking at engagement rings.
“Sorry,” I muttered, turning back to Lexi. I hadn’t really been spacing out so much as thinking about the hidden room, and the secrets it still contained. In a stupidly risky move this afternoon, I’d snuck down to the basement after my training session, only to discover the code Cobalt had given me no longer worked. Either Talon had it changed or it reset automatically, because after the second time I punched it in, the panel gave an ominous beep and the words Warning: Incorrect Sequence had flashed across the screen in red, making me flee back upstairs.
I couldn’t get back into the secret room. Which was annoying and left me with only one option. I was going to have to find Cobalt. And I had no idea how I was going to do that.
“Where’d Kristin go?” I wondered, trying to take my mind off Talon. I was free, I was here with friends and I didn’t have to see Scary Talon Lady until tomorrow. I wasn’t going to ruin the rest of the day thinking about sadistic trainers and absent rogue dragons.
Lexi pointed. Kristin was on the other end of the jewelry kiosk, admiring a new bracelet while her newest boy-shaped “friend” stuck his bank card back in his wallet. I’d forgotten his name. Jimmy or Jason or Joe or Bob, something like that. Poor guy. None of the core group bothered to remember his name, either. We were all used to Kristin’s endless stream of new guys.
“You and your obsession with shiny things,” Lexi muttered as we rejoined Kristin, who had sent poor Joe-Bob into a nearby Starbucks for a latte. “You’re almost as bad as Kristin, only she gets boys to buy her stuff.”
Kristin smiled. “It’s not my fault they all want to buy me presents for my birthday.” She raised her wrist, where the bracelet twinkled like a thousand stars. Entranced, I watched the light dance off the gemstones, and Kristin shook her head. “Em, you’re not using your assets to your advantage. If you really wanted a sparkly, there’s not a guy in the world who wouldn’t shell out for you. You just have to bat your eyes and let them think they’re getting some later.”
I wrinkled my nose. “That’s okay. I’m not, you know...evil.”
“Suit yourself.” Kristin dropped her wrist and smiled at Joe-Bob, who was approaching with a large, whipped-cream-and-caramel-drizzled latte. He gave it to Kristin with a goofy smile, and she purred her thanks, watching him from beneath her lashes as she took a long sip. I had to turn away to hide my rolling eyeballs.
“So,” Lexi announced brightly. “Where to now? Lunch? Is anyone hungry? Besides Ember, I mean.”
“Hey.” I crossed my arms. “Since I eat more than the two of you combined, my vote should count for twice as much.”
“I’m not done shopping,” Kristin said, pouting at Joe-Bob. “I wanted to find a top for the party this weekend. Let’s go look at one more store, and then we can get food.”
I groaned, knowing “one more store” with Kristin meant at least an hour of watching her try on outfits. And while I normally didn’t mind, I was starving, restless and getting cranky. Dragon wanted food now!
As if to prove my point, my stomach growled, and I put a hand over my middle. “Kristin, I swear, if I have to watch you try on shoes for an hour, I’m going to eat your boyfriend. With a fork.” Joe-Bob blinked at me, but I ignored him. “It’s lunchtime, and you don’t want to see me hungry. You won’t like me when I’m hungry.”
“Well,” said a new voice behind me, “I guess I’ll have to buy you lunch, then.”
My heart skipped a beat. I turned, and there was Garret, just a step away, watching me with a faint smile on his face. He wore jeans and a white shirt, and his bright hair glimmered like strands of metal in the artificial light.
I couldn’t say anything for a moment, and Garret’s gunmetal eyes shifted to Lexi and Kristin, who were also staring at him. “Sorry. Do you mind if I kidnap Ember for a while? Just to make sure she doesn’t eat anyone before you leave.”
Kristin, appraising Garret with a sly look on her face, hesitated, but Lexi grabbed her arm and stepped away from me. “Hey, Garret! Sure, you two go ahead. Take your time.” She gave me a very unsubtle wink, and I frowned at her. “We’ll be around. Text us when you’re done, Em. Or...you know...whenever.”
They walked off, Lexi nearly dragging Kristin with her, Joe-Bob following behind like a lost puppy, and melted into the crowds. I glanced at Garret, and he smiled. “Looks like it’s just us.”