by Julie Kagawa
Cobalt soared over the top of the cliff, landed and spun back, peeking over the edge even through the bullet storm around us. Shots echoed around me, sparking off rock and sending jagged chips and dust into the air. With a defiant snarl, I gave my wings a final thrust and half flew, half clawed myself over the edge. Staggering several feet from the dropoff, finally clear of St. George and their deadly weapons, I collapsed to the dusty ground.
* * *
“Ember.” Cobalt’s gold eyes peered down at me, worried and anxious. From where I lay, panting, his horns and wings seemed to frame the moon, and the light shimmered off his metallic-blue scales. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or maybe it was living through yet another near-death experience, but I decided I preferred his real form far more than his human one. I wished he could stay in this body forever.
“Ember,” he said again, his tail thumping a panicked rhythm in the dirt. “Are you hurt? Did they hit you?” He nudged me, anxious yet gentle. “Talk to me, Firebrand.”
“I’m fine,” I rasped out, and struggled to my feet. My right wing, down near the last finger joint, throbbed where the bullets had torn through the membrane, but it wasn’t serious. I stretched it out, gave it a couple flaps to make sure it still worked and folded it to my back again. “Looks like I’m still in one piece.”
Nettle and Remy crept forward, a slinky black dragon with a crown of spines bristling from her head, and a runty brown dragon with stripes down his neck and tail. They both had backpacks looped around their necks, and it would’ve looked ridiculous if the situation wasn’t so dire. “What now?” Nettle asked, her sibilant voice tight with fear. “Where do we go now?” Cobalt pulled away from me and turned, facing the desert.
“We run,” he said simply. “Far away from here. As far from St. George and Talon as we can. Let’s find Wes, and get the hell out of Dodge. I have a place in Nevada where we’ll be safe, at least for a few months while we decide what to do. It’s not the nicest place, but it’s better than nothing. Firebrand?” He turned to look at me, offering a brave smile. “You ready to go?”
Go. Leave Crescent Beach. My stomach twisted. This was it. I was going rogue, leaving Talon for good to go on the run like a criminal. With Cobalt and two others of my kind, but still. Would I see my brother again? Or any of my friends?
No. No, I wouldn’t. My time as a normal human was done. I had chosen my path, and the consequences that came with it. No more surfing, volleyball, parties or hanging with friends. No more kissing boys in the ocean, feeling butterflies in my stomach, wishing the whole world would just stop for a while. Summer had come to an end, as I knew it must, and I had to move on.
After I took care of one final thing.
“Not yet,” I told Cobalt, watching his eyes widen in surprise. “There’s one more thing I have to do.”
Garret
She’d escaped.
I watched Ember fly away, heart in my throat, as my squad swarmed around me, guns raised, and opened fire. I watched, not moving from where I stood, as Ember fled across the sand, leaped into the air with the blue dragon and soared up the rock face, struggling to get out of range. My heart stopped once when it looked like she’d been hit, wavering in the air, clawing frantically at the cliff. But she recovered, surged over the top in a flash of wings and crimson scales and vanished from sight.
I exhaled slowly in relief. Get out of town, Ember, I urged silently. Run, as far away from us as you can, and don’t look back.
“Sebastian!”
The squad was returning, filing back over the sand, weapons lowered in defeat. There was no use waiting for the dragons to return; they were long gone, and everyone knew it. The squad leader was striding toward me, long legs carrying him over the sand, every muscle tense with controlled fury. I snapped to attention as he marched up and brought his face very close to mine, glaring holes in the side of my head.
“Explain yourself,” he ordered in a low, tight voice as the rest of the team clustered around, angry and confused. Most of them I’d known for years, my whole life. Teammates I’d fought beside, stood shoulder to shoulder with on the battlefield, saved from certain fiery death, and vice versa. None of them looked friendly now. A few seemed bewildered, uncertain what was going on, but many of them were glaring at me with suspicion. I wasn’t supposed to be here, alone, and at the very least my recklessness had caused the targets to escape. They hadn’t figured out the real reason, not yet.
“I asked you a question, soldier,” the squad leader continued when I didn’t reply. His name was Michael St. Francis, and he was a good man: patient, fair and easy to get along with. I’d had no problems with him before tonight. “I assume you have a good reason for being out here alone,” St. Francis continued, still glaring at me. “I assume you have a good reason two hostiles didn’t fry you to a crisp before we could get here. And I assume you have a damn good reason for letting them escape and blowing this entire campaign back several months.” He leaned forward an inch or two, his voice softer but no less furious. “And you’re going to give me your damn good reason right now, because it sure looked to me like you were talking with the hostiles right before we came in.” His hot breath blasted my ear, and a mutter went through the soldiers around us. I continued to gaze straight ahead, my expression blank, as St. Francis stepped back. “Is that what you were doing, soldier?”
“Yes, sir.”
The muttering ceased instantly. For a second you could’ve heard a pin drop.
“Sebastian,” St. Francis said, his voice completely without emotion. “You just admitted to speaking with the enemy and allowing them to escape. I would think very, very carefully about the next words out of your mouth, because you are seconds away from the firing wall.” A cold lance went through my stomach, but I stared straight ahead, my expression blank as St. Francis continued. “What, exactly, were you doing out here?”
“I can tell you that,” said a new voice outside the circle.
The cold spread to all parts of my body as Tristan stepped out of the shadows, moving people aside as he approached us. I winced inwardly. A dried trickle of blood streamed from his nose, and a massive purple bruise stood out on his temple, spreading to the corner of his eye. He stepped into the circle, shooting me a hard glare, before turning to the squad leader.
“Garret is a traitor to the Order,” Tristan announced in a clear, firm voice. “He deliberately prevented me from taking the shot on one of the targets, targets I had orders to kill. I tried reasoning with him, but he said the Order had been wrong to kill dragons, that we were mistaken. When I tried to stop him, he attacked me.”
I held my breath, knowing I was trapped, but wondering how much Tristan would reveal. This was no longer a simple case of reckless behavior, and the mood of the circle had definitely changed. Soldiers were staring at me now, some in disbelief, some in pity, contempt and rage. St. Francis, to his credit, remained calm, emotionless, as he nodded at my former partner.
“Is that all?”
Tristan hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“I see.” St. Francis turned to me, his eyes and voice cold. “And do you have anything to say in your defense, soldier?”
Nothing that you would accept. Nothing that would assuage my guilt, only compound it. Tristan didn’t tell you everything.
“No, sir,” I muttered.
“Take his weapons,” St. Francis ordered, motioning to the soldiers closest to me. They stepped forward, seizing the M-4 and stripping me of my sidearm. I didn’t move, and the soldiers stepped back, keeping their own weapons trained on me. “Garret Xavier Sebastian,” St. Francis went on, “I’m taking you into custody. For collaboration with the enemy and treason against the Order. We’ll escort you back to headquarters, and then your fate is out of my hands.”
I met Tristan’s eyes, and he turned away. Even after everything between us to
night, I couldn’t blame him. He knew, as I did, what that fate would be. I would be taken back to our chapterhouse, where my case would be presented to a jury of commanding officers, leaving them to mete out punishment. If I was found guilty of treason, I would be marched to a long brick wall behind the training compound, offered a blindfold, and then the line of soldiers standing fifteen feet away would shoot me. A fitting end to one who sympathized with dragons.
So be it. I had always known death would come for me, sooner rather than later. And even if my death was execution before a firing squad and not in the jaws of a dragon as I’d always thought, at least, this time, I knew what I believed. I would die saving someone instead of ending a life.
As I was led away, I glanced once more at the top of the cliff, where Ember and the other dragons had vanished into the darkness. They would be long gone by now, free of St. George, and that, too, gave me some small comfort. I hoped she would think of me sometimes, though we were enemies and she would never realize that the reason for everything—every choice, every understanding, every decision I’d made tonight—was because of her.
Because St. George fell in love with a dragon.
A faint smile tugged at my lips. Tearing my gaze from the sky, I followed my former teammates through the cliffs and into the shadows, leaving behind the beach where I first met a fiery, green-eyed dragon girl.
Ember
I lay on my stomach behind a sand dune, watching the line of soldiers move toward the big brown truck parked behind a boulder. My heart slammed against my ribs, echoing loudly in my ears, making me wish I could silence it. I was human again, still wearing my sleek black outfit, and I knew from this distance the human soldiers would have a near-impossible time spotting me among the rocks and sandy hills, but the sight of them still filled me with dread. They were my enemies, I understood that now. Before tonight, the war had been a distant thing, something intangible and unreal, never solid.
I’d been naive before; I would not be that foolish again. St. George would show us no mercy, no quarter. They would kill us just for existing. From here on, they could expect the same from me.
Except for one.
I saw him almost instantly, walking between two armed soldiers, head slightly bowed, following them down the path. Seeing him made my heart ache with longing, and sadness, and guilt. Because I’d wanted to be human for him, if only for a little while. Because those few moments we’d shared had been perfect, even though they were a lie. And because I remembered the look on his face when he saved us from Lilith, the knowledge that he’d just betrayed everything he knew. Just as I had with Talon. And his final words to me, right before I’d flown off with Cobalt and the others, finally made sense.
Forget about me. I’m already dead. Just go.
They would kill him. St. George would kill him for helping us. And he’d known. He’d known the consequences, and he’d still chosen to help. He’d chosen to save his sworn enemy, face death at the hands of his own people...for what?
I can’t follow their beliefs, and I can’t condone what we’ve done. I knew what I was doing when I came here tonight.
“I still can’t believe you talked me into this,” growled a voice at my side.
I looked away from Garret long enough to grin at the human beside me. Sprawled on his stomach, Riley wore a pair of black jeans and a gray shirt that had been stuffed in one of the backpacks, and looked distinctly unhappy about being so close to St. George. He did not return my smile.
“I thought you were a Basilisk,” I whispered to him. “Isn’t this the type of thing you used to do all the time?”
“For Talon, yes,” Riley shot back. “Not for fun. And definitely not to rescue some St. George bastard who shot at me earlier tonight. That doesn’t seem good for your health.”
“He helped us, Riley,” I reminded him. “He knew the consequences, and he still helped us. St. George will kill him because of it.”
“I don’t care about that.” Riley’s voice was heartlessly blunt. “Let them kill one another—the more, the better, I say. The only reason I agreed to this insane plan was because I know I can’t talk you out of it.” His hand rose, lightly brushing my cheek. “So, here I am. With a death wish, apparently.”
The roar of an engine jerked me out of my thoughts. I looked up just in time to see Garret enter the truck with the soldiers, and the doors slam shut behind him. The headlights flicked on, the truck bounced several times as it pulled forward onto the road and then sped off into the darkness.
“They’re moving.” Leaping upright, I swiftly changed, shedding my human form once more, letting my dragon self uncurl into the sand. Wings fluttering, I looked at Riley, who got to his feet a bit slower, looking reluctant. “Riley, come on! We can’t let them get away.” He sighed, and I bared my fangs, impatient. “Stay or come, but make your choice. I’m getting him out, with or without you.”
With a roll of his eyes, Riley disappeared, Cobalt rising up to take his place. His gold gaze narrowed in exasperation. “Fine, Firebrand. You win. Let the suicide mission commence.”
Spreading my wings, I let the warm night air tease the membranes and breathed deep, filling my lungs with heat and fire. Gazing down the road, I let a savage grin stretch my muzzle, and I hissed a challenge into the wind. St. George had hunted dragons their entire life. Let’s see how well they fared when the dragons decided to fight back.
I’m coming, Garret. Just hold on.
With a blast of wind, I launched myself skyward.
Epilogue
* * *
Dante
“Do you know why we have brought you here, Mr. Hill?”
I nodded stiffly. Across the desk, the blond man I’d met once before watched me with a cool blank expression, his hands folded in front of him.
“Yes, sir,” I said calmly, politely, as I’d been taught. “I assume it has something to do with my sister.”
His lips thinned. “Your sister, Ember Hill, has betrayed us,” he stated, making my heart sink. I’d known, of course. The moment Talon came for me that night, I’d known, and it still made me sick to my stomach. “She refused to return home with Lilith, and left town with a dangerous rogue, a former Talon operative named Cobalt. Where they are now is anyone’s guess.” He paused, gauging my reaction across the polished surface. I held my breath and waited, until he smiled.
“Ember Hill is now a rogue, a traitor in the eyes of Talon. If she will not see reason and return to the organization, she will be killed. However, the Elder Wyrm would like to avoid that if necessary.” His cold blue eyes narrowed, appraising me, even as I guessed his next words. “Therefore, Dante Hill, we would like you to be in charge of bringing her back.”
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, a massive thank-you to my editor, Natashya Wilson, who has been the biggest cheerleader for Talon ever since she heard my fledgling idea for a dragon series many moons ago. For all her hard work, dedication and excitement. For all the emails going back and forth on tiny details I would’ve missed. Basically for being the most awesome editor on the planet. Thanks to Laurie McLean, the best agent out there, who wouldn’t take no for an answer. To Brandy Rivers, for getting Talon noticed by the right people; you are a queen of your field and an all-around fabulous person.
A huge shout-out to the team at Harlequin TEEN—Amy Jones, Melissa Anthony, Lisa Wray, Michelle Renaud, Nicki Kommit, Larissa Walker, Reka Rubin, Christine Tsai, the sales team and everyone at Harlequin who has worked so hard on my books. Publishing a book takes a village, and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. To the talented artists and designers of Talon’s gorgeous cover, Kathleen Oudit, Erin Craig, Bora Tekogul, Fion Ngan, Natasa Hatsios. And to Chris Parks, for the gold dragon emblem. Thank you for one of the most striking covers I’ve ever seen anywhere—you all outdid y
ourselves.
Thanks to Jeff Kirschenbaum, Sara Scott, Ainsley Davies and Chris Morgan for all your support and excitement. And for making a tiny Kentucky author feel like a movie star.
And, last but definitely not least, thanks to my family, who never doubted for a second that I would become an author someday. And to my husband, Nick, my real-life knight in shining armor, who knows me well enough not to slay the dragon, but to look into fireproofing the house and buying a dragon saddle instead.
Questions for Discussion
When the story opens, Ember and Dante have one idea of what Talon is and what it does for dragonkind. How does Ember’s view change and why, and how does Dante’s change? Why do they end up with different opinions about Talon? Point to characteristics shown by each in the story to back up your position.
The Order of St. George believes it is right about dragons. Talon believes it is right about what it needs to do to survive. Riley/Cobalt believes he is right to have left Talon. In what ways is each of them right and in what ways is each shortsighted? Is anything ever completely “right”? Discuss.
Why does Talon believe that dragons are superior to humans? What impact might that have on the organization in the future? Discuss using examples from the story.
Why does the Order of St. George believe that killing all dragons is acceptable? What other approaches might they use to protect humans from dragons?
Ember has been taught that dragons do not form emotional attachments the way humans do. Why do you think Ember herself forms attachments to Garret and Lexi? Is she different from other dragons, or is something else at work? Use examples from the story to back up your point of view.