by Julie Kagawa
A tiny chuckle escaped him then, as if he couldn’t help himself. “Point taken,” he murmured, the hint of a smile finally crossing his face. “Would you like the groveling done now or later?”
“Oh, later. Definitely later. When I can get comfortable and enjoy it for a few hours.”
“Hours, huh? I’ll keep that in mind.” He shook his head, meeting my gaze. “Thank you for coming after me,” he said, quite serious now. “You didn’t have to, but I’m grateful you did. I wasn’t…quite as ready to die as I thought.”
I nodded. The haunted look had not quite left him, but it was a start. At least he was talking to me like a normal person again and not walking on eggshells around “the dragon.” For now, it was enough. “So, where is everyone?” I asked, gazing around. Garret nodded out the door.
“Riley was sleeping in his room, last I saw” was the answer. “Wes left a few minutes ago for supplies. The three of us have been taking watch in turns since we got here. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up before we decide where to go next.”
“Where are we, anyway?”
“Vegas,” replied a new voice from the door.
I craned my neck around to look back. Riley stood in the frame, his gold eyes intense as they met mine. He wore ripped jeans and a black T-shirt, and looked strange without his ever-present jacket. His dark hair was mussed and shaggy, his clothes rumpled. Half circles crouched beneath his lids, as if he hadn’t slept in a while.
I forced a weak grin, even as my senses flared to life, sending heat through my veins. “Hey, you. I’m up.”
“Dammit, Ember.” Riley entered into the room and, without hesitation, strode to my side. Garret drew back, melting into the corner as the other drew close. Riley’s hand came to rest on my neck, a searing spot of warmth even through my scales. “Are you all right?” he asked, his gaze flicking to my ribs, where the bullet had pierced through. “Why didn’t you tell me you were awake?”
“It was on my to-do list.”
He pressed his forehead to mine, skin to scales. “Don’t scare me like that, Firebrand,” he whispered, as my stomach danced and my wings fluttered restlessly. “If you had died, I don’t know what I’d have done, but it would probably involve eating that St. George bastard over there.”
“That’s not very reasonable,” I whispered back, knowing that Garret could hear us, and Riley probably didn’t care if he did. “Then all our scheming against St. George would’ve been for nothing.”
He snorted and drew back, rolling his eyes. “Have you eaten yet?” he muttered, an exasperated smile crossing his face. “You were out for three days. I imagine you’re probably starving right now.”
Food. I was suddenly ravenous, like a bear coming out of winter hibernation: skinny, starving and cranky. Food sounded wonderful. In fact, nothing else mattered right now except food. Riley chuckled.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. There’s pizza in the fridge and— Whoa, hold on, Firebrand.” He put his hands out, stopping me as I pressed forward. Impatient, I glared at him, and he smirked. “No dragons in the kitchen. The neighbors would have a fit.” I blinked, remembering that I was still in the form that wasn’t supposed to exist in normal society. The one that would cause a panic if seen. I repressed a sigh. It felt so natural to be in my real body again; I was reluctant to Shift back.
“Your clothes are in the dresser behind you,” Riley said. “Get changed, and meet us when you’re human again.” His smile faded, a darker note creeping into his voice. “There are things we have to discuss.”
Riley
Ember exhaled, sending tendrils of smoke curling around me, and turned away, padding toward the dresser in the corner. I watched her a moment, the sweep of her neck and wings, the way the narrow bars of sunlight glinted off her crimson scales. The urge to Shift was almost painful, burning my lungs and making the air taste like ash. I turned away before it got too tempting and jerked my head at the soldier, motioning him out of the room.
We walked into the hall and shut the door behind us. “All right,” I said, keeping my voice low, so Ember wouldn’t catch it. “You’ve seen her. She’s going to be fine now. Why are you still here, St. George?”
The soldier kept his gaze on the closed door, his voice low and flat. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“Well, that’s not my problem, is it?” I brushed past him into the kitchen, knowing Ember would be out soon and on the hunt for food. Except for a box of leftover pizza, there wasn’t much to be had, and I’d sent Wes out for supplies a couple hours ago. Hopefully he’d be back soon. This wasn’t the nicest neighborhood, miles from the glitz and glamour of the Strip, the stretch of giant casinos Vegas was famous for. If you looked out the back window, you’d see a bunch of small, ugly houses and beyond them, the flat, dusty expanse of the Mojave Desert, stretching away to the distant mountains. Crime and poverty ran rampant here, but that suited me just fine. No one asked questions, no one came poking around, and no one wondered why a white van was suddenly parked in the driveway of a previously vacant abandoned house.
The soldier followed me into the kitchen, sweeping his gaze around the room, like he always did. “They’ll be hunting you,” he stated, making me shrug.
“Nothing new there.”
“You’re going to have to move soon. It’s dangerous to stay here, especially with St. George looking for us.”
Irritation flared, and the anger that I’d repressed during the whole ordeal surged up with a vengeance. In the three days we’d been here, we had tolerated each other’s presence in the most mature way possible: pretending the other didn’t exist. St. George didn’t talk to me, I didn’t talk to him, and things were good. Sort of an unspoken truce between us while we waited for Ember to revive.
Now, though, all bets were off. I narrowed my eyes, wondering what would happen if I Shifted forms and bit the soldier in half. Ember might’ve forgotten that he was part of the Order. She might have forgiven him for hunting down and slaughtering our kind without remorse, but I wasn’t okay with it. In fact, the only reason I hadn’t shoved him out of the van and left him in the middle of the desert to fend for himself was the girl who’d convinced me to rescue the murdering bastard in the first place. She was also the reason I hadn’t chased him out of the house with fire and told him not to come back. Right now that was a pretty tempting option.
“Don’t tell me how to do my job, St. George,” I said in a low, dangerous voice. “I’ve been at this a lot longer than you. I’ve been outsmarting your kind since before you could wrap your itchy little fingers around a trigger. I don’t need some murdering dragon killer telling me to be careful of the Order.”
“You’ve never broken into a St. George chapterhouse,” the human countered, as if he knew anything about me and what I used to do. “I know the Order. They’re not going to let that stand. Once word of this reaches London—and it probably already has—they’re going to throw everything they can at us, and they won’t stop until we’re all dead.”
“Oh, is that why you’re still here?” I challenged, crossing my arms. “You want the dragons to protect you, now that you’re the hunted one?”
“No.” St. George glared at me, a flicker of anger crossing his face. “I don’t care what happens to me,” he said, sounding so earnest I almost believed him. “But I want Ember to be safe. I owe her my life, and I can’t leave knowing the Order is hunting her right now.”
“They were always hunting her, St. George,” I snapped. “Every single day. The hunt never stops. The war never ends. Or did that fact slip your mind? The only thing that’s changed is now the Order has a wasp up their ass because their pride has been stomped on, and they’ll be desperate to save face. Never mind that they’ve been kicking down our doors and blowing us to pieces for years. But don’t worry about Ember.” I smirked, as his face darkened. “The Order won’t ev
er get that close. I’ll take care of her.”
“Also,” came a new voice from the doorway, “she’s quite capable of taking care of herself.”
Guiltily, we turned. Ember stood at the edge of the tile, arms crossed, looking peeved with us both. Her red hair stuck out at every angle, and she was definitely thinner than normal, making my gut squeeze tight. But her green eyes were as bright as ever, and the fire lurking below the surface hadn’t dimmed. I could see the dragon peering out at me, the echo of wings hovering behind her. She shot us—well, me—an exasperated glare, before marching to the refrigerator door and yanking it open.
“Ember,” St. George began as she emerged with a flat white box. “I—”
“Garret,” Ember interrupted. Her voice was a warning as she turned around. “Not to sound rude, but I am a dragon who hasn’t eaten for the past three days. Unless you’re about to reveal a stash of doughnuts hidden somewhere in this room, I would steer clear right now.”
He blinked, and I snickered at his shocked expression as Ember moved past us, heading toward the counter. “Number one rule when dealing with dragons, St. George,” I said, as the girl hopped onto a stool and opened up the box. “Don’t get between a hungry hatchling and its food. You might lose a finger.”
Ember glared at me, looking like she might growl something in return, but then decided food was more important and devoured half a slice in one bite. I went to the fridge for a soda, and St. George settled quietly against the wall, as the starving dragon went through an entire pepperoni pizza by herself. Two minutes later, Ember trashed the box, dusted off her hands and finally turned to look at us.
“So.” She drummed her fingers on her arm, looking back and forth at each of us. “What now?”
Good question. “I guess that depends, Firebrand.”
“On what?”
“You.” She frowned at me, confused. Crushing the empty can, I put it in the sink and went to the fridge for another. “Let me ask you something,” I said as I closed the door. “What did you think was going to happen, Firebrand? After you left Talon? After you went rogue?”
She cocked her head. “I…don’t know,” she stammered. “Isn’t that where you come in? I thought you had this whole rogue thing worked out.”
“Normally, I do. But my plans don’t usually involve sneaking into highly guarded St. George compounds to rescue the enemy.” I didn’t look at the soldier as I said this, and St. George didn’t give any indication that he cared. “This whole situation is a bit abnormal for me, Firebrand. Frankly, I didn’t expect to have you around this long.”
Anger flashed across her face and she raised her chin. “Well, if I knew you were just going to get rid of me, I would’ve saved you the trouble.”
“Don’t be thick. That’s not what I meant.” I shook my head, giving her an exasperated look. She glared back, and I sighed. “What did you think I was going to do after taking you away from Crescent Beach?” I demanded. “Toss you out on the streets and say, ‘Good luck, have a nice life’? Give me some credit. I’m a little more organized than that.”
She frowned. “Then…what was going to happen to me?”
I started to answer, then paused. I didn’t like talking about my network so openly, especially with the human still in the room with us. Not that I was afraid he could go running back to the Order, but I trusted him about as far as I could throw him. Hunted or not, he had dragon blood on his hands, and that would never change.
As if reading my thoughts, the soldier raised his head and met my glare. “You can tell her,” he said in a low voice. “It’s not like I can take your secrets back to the Order.”
I smirked. “If I thought you could, you’d already be a pile of bones in the desert, St. George,” I stated. “That’s not what concerns me.”
“Riley!” Ember scowled. “You don’t have to be a jerk. He’s not with the Order anymore.”
“Firebrand. You don’t get it.” I turned on her, narrowing my eyes. “It’s not about me. This isn’t just my life I’m risking, it’s all the dragons I’ve freed from Talon. They look to me to keep them safe, keep them off Talon’s radar and away from the Vipers. Not only do I have to worry about the organization, I have to worry about St. George, too, because the bastards don’t know there’s a difference between rogue dragons and Talon, and they wouldn’t care if they did.”
I shot another piercing glare at the soldier, who didn’t reply. Though by the look on his face, he knew I was right.
“So, yes, Firebrand, I’m a little paranoid that there’s an ex-soldier of St. George in the same room as us,” I finished. “I believe the last time there was a soldier of St. George in the room with us, we were being shot at.” I put a fist to my chest, glaring at her. “This is my network, my underground. I’ve spent too many years getting dragons out of Talon to put their lives in danger now.”
Ember stared at me, surprise and amazement reflected in her eyes. “How many dragons are we talking about?” she asked. “How many rogues do you have?”
I sighed again, feeling my shoulders slump in defeat. Too late to hold back now. “Over twenty this year,” I admitted, and her mouth fell open. “And that’s just counting dragons, not the humans working for me. The hatchlings I steal from the organization are all green and starry-eyed, so they have to have a human agent looking after them until they’re ready to set out on their own.”
“I had no idea.”
I smirked. “When I said I’d take care of you, Firebrand, I wasn’t joking. I already have a place set up and waiting. A quiet little town near the mountains. You’ll be living with your ‘grandfather’ on a couple private acres of forest that butts up against a national park. No beaches, sadly, but it’s green and peaceful and isolated enough that Talon or the Order will never find you. You’ll be safe there, I promise.”
“And what will you do?”
“What I’ve always been doing. Fighting Talon. Getting hatchlings away from the organization. Helping them disappear.” I shrugged, feeling suddenly tired. “Maybe if I do this long enough, there’ll be enough free dragons someday to take a stand against Talon,” I muttered. “That’s my pipe dream, anyway.” Impossible, unattainable, but I had to hope for something.
“I’ll help you.”
Ember’s response was immediate. No hesitation or fear, just eager determination. I straightened quickly, alarm and exhilaration rising up at the same time. Part of me had known this would happen; after Crescent Beach, how could my brash, stubborn hatchling want to do anything else? But at the same time, I knew I couldn’t subject her to this life. It was dangerous, terrifying, bloody and occasionally it was just soul crushing. I’d seen so many die, had been responsible for countless deaths myself. There had been nights when I wasn’t sure I’d survive till dawn, when I’d wondered if the next hour would be my last. I’d seen the worst of Talon, St. George and the whole damn world, and it had turned me into a hard, cynical bastard. I couldn’t do that to her.
And of course, there was that other reason. The one pounding through my veins, even now. The one snarling at me to say yes, to take her with me so we could be alone, no humans or dragons or soldiers of St. George to interfere. The reason I was an exhausted, cranky mess, because I couldn’t sleep while she lay there, still as death. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t eat or plan or do anything. If St. George had kicked in the door, I would’ve burned the whole place to the ground before I left her behind.
I couldn’t keep going like this. It was dangerous; for me, for Ember, for everyone in my underground. She was a distraction, a fiery, tempting, intriguing distraction, and I had too many people counting on me to keep them safe. I had to get away from her, for both our sakes.
Though, convincing her of that was going to be a challenge.
“I’m not going to your safe house, Riley.” Ember’s voice was final, as if she k
new what I was thinking. Her eyes flashed, and she crossed her arms, staring me down. “Don’t think you can get rid of me now. I’m not going to hide away and do nothing while you’re running around dodging Vipers and dragonslayers and who knows what else. I’m not blind anymore. I’ve seen what Talon does, how they’re willing to kill anyone who doesn’t conform to their standards. I’m going to help you and all the dragons who want to be free. I want to get as many of us away from Talon as we can.”
“Firebrand,” I began, and she set her jaw, ready for a fight. “I know you’re angry with Talon,” I went on, “and you want to strike back at them somehow, but think about what you’re doing. This is a dangerous life. We’re constantly on the run, from the organization, and St. George, and the Vipers. Hell, you just woke up because you were shot three days ago. That’s the kind of situation you’ll be facing again if you come with me.”
“I know.”
“You’ll never have a normal life,” I insisted. “I can’t suddenly decide I don’t want to do this anymore. There are too many who are counting on me, too many I promised I’d keep safe. I’ll probably be doing this for the rest of my life, or until something—either a Viper or a St. George bullet—kills me.”
“That’s why you need someone watching your back.”
My temper flared. “Dammit, Ember—”
The door banged open, crashing against the wall. I jumped and spun around as Wes lunged into the room, turned and slammed the door behind him. His eyes were wild in his pale face.
“St. George!” he gasped, making us all jerk up. “They’re here! I think they’re right behind me!”
Ember
They’re here.
Fear crawled up my spine. St. George had come. Again. It didn’t seem to matter where we went, what we did; they were always one step behind, seconds from kicking in the door and spraying us with lead. And now that I had so blatantly waltzed into their territory and given the figurative finger to them all, they would be eager for retribution. It was no longer a job, I suspected, no longer a routine slaying of faceless enemies. Now, it was personal.