by Julie Kagawa
“I don’t know,” I murmured, peering out the other side of the car. The space between the narrow aisles was dark and still. Too still. No bullet holes, no footprints, no signs of a fight or struggle. I hadn’t seen any telltale spatters on the ground, either, which made me both relieved and nervous. The Order was trained to strike hard and fast and to vanish without a trace when the job was done, but they would at least leave some signs of passing. There was nothing here. Ember was right; this place felt completely deserted.
“What about that building?” Faith said, pointing to a large rectangular structure beyond the maze of tracks and containers. From this angle, it looked like the freight warehouse. “Do you think they could’ve gone in there, to hide at least?”
I shook my head. “That would be one of the first places the Order would search. If they are in there, they’re either trapped, or…” I didn’t voice what I was thinking, but Ember went rigid at my back, drawing in a short breath. She knew what I was going to say.
“We have to check it out,” Ember said, her voice tight with anger and fear. Not fear for herself; I recognized that steely look on her face, and knew nothing would frighten her away now. It was for Ava and Riley, and what would happen if we didn’t find them. Or worse, if we did. I remembered the aftermath of a successful raid; the smoldering ruins, the charred, blackened husks that were once people, the lifeless dragons lying in pools of blood. My stomach turned. I didn’t want Ember to see that, to really see what St. George did to her kind. What I used to do.
“Let’s go,” Ember told me, rising swiftly. “If St. George is here, we have to help them. They could still be alive. And if they’re not, if the Order killed him…” Her eyes flashed, and I caught a split-second glimpse of an angry red dragon below her skin. Her lip curled, and the air around her shimmered with heat. “If St. George wants to fight a dragon, I’ll give them one.”
“Ember, wait.” I caught her arm, felt the faint outline of scales rising to the surface before they vanished. She turned on me, and I met the furious glare of the dragon. “Stay calm,” I murmured. “Don’t go charging off by yourself, not with St. George. This is not a good place to fight the Order.” I nodded toward the warehouse. “There’ll be a lot of narrow aisles and tight quarters, places where it’s easy to become cornered or trapped or lost, and St. George is trained to take full advantage of that confusion. If we’re separated, they’ll pick us off one by one. We can’t help Riley if we become hunted ourselves.” She stubbornly set her jaw, and I raised my other hand, pressing it to her cheek. “Do you trust me?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. No hesitation. Not even a heartbeat of silence. It made my heart turn over, that blind faith in a former dragonslayer, but I shoved it down. We had to stay focused.
“I promise,” I began, even as a part of me cringed inside. I never made promises to anyone; it was impossible to know if you could keep them. But the way Ember was looking at me, I wanted to give her some kind of assurance. “We’ll get Riley out,” I continued. “And Ava. I’ll do everything I can to keep them safe, but I also know what can happen if we’re not careful. The Order has us at a disadvantage. This is their ideal location for a strike, and if they surprise us we don’t stand a chance.”
“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve done this before.”
“I know.” I almost smiled at her indignant look. As if I could forget what she really was, what she had done. “But this is still the Order, and they’ll still do their best to kill us. I can’t help Riley and be worried about you and Faith at the same time.”
Ember was stiff for a moment, then nodded. “All right,” she said quietly. “I trust you, Garret. What do you need me to do?”
“Just follow my lead,” I replied. “We stay together at all times. And don’t Shift unless it’s a matter of life and death. Faith?” I glanced over my shoulder at the other girl. “Are you all right? Can you do this?”
“I’m…good,” Faith whispered, though a tremor went through her voice at the end. She took a deep breath and straightened grimly. “I’m okay. Lead on. We’re right behind you.”
We crept silently across the deserted train yard, weaving between cars and hugging the shadows, always on guard for the Order. I kept my eyes trained for movement, footprints in the dust, spent bullet casings or drops of blood. Nothing.
“Are you sure Ava said they were here?” I asked, glancing at Ember as we crouched behind a row of shipping containers a few yards from the warehouse. She nodded vigorously.
“I’m sure. Old rail yard a few blocks from the abandoned hotel.” Ember scanned the open space between the tracks and the warehouse, frowning. “She said Riley was hurt and they had to hide because the Order was coming.”
Unease gnawed at me. It didn’t make sense. If I wasn’t sure that this was the only rail yard this side of the city, I would think we were in the wrong place. Still, we couldn’t go back, not until we were certain. If Ava and Riley were here, we had to find them.
There was no movement or sound as we approached the warehouse and sidled along the outer wall, looking for a way in. Several windowpanes were out, the glass shattered and broken, but they were filthy and covered in grime and cobwebs. Nothing had gone through them in a while. Beyond the filmy glass, the interior of the warehouse was dark, with aisles of freight stacked nearly to the ceiling. Again, my soldier’s instincts recoiled. Another maze of narrow halls and tight quarters; I was liking this situation less and less. The large metal doors, where freight was presumably taken and dropped off, were closed and locked tight, and nothing short of a blowtorch or a pack of C-4 was going to force them open. My hope that Ava and Riley were here was fading fast, when Faith gave a sudden gasp and surged forward.
“Ava!” she cried, making me jerk up. “Wait!”
Before I could stop her, she sprinted forward, toward an open door I hadn’t noticed, and vanished through the frame.
“Dammit,” Ember growled, and started forward, as well. “Come on, Garret, before she gets herself killed.”
I gave a silent curse and hurried after her, ducking through the opening into the enormous shipping room. The shadows of the warehouse closed around us, smelling of dust, wood and iron, and the maze of crates and shipping containers loomed overhead. Faith was nowhere to be seen.
Grimly, I raised my weapon and motioned Ember behind me. Hugging the walls, we edged around the stacks of crates, searching for the girl while staying on high alert. Light footsteps pattered across the floor, fading into the darkness, but it was impossible to tell which direction they were coming from.
“Dammit, where did she go?” Ember muttered.
A scream cut through the darkness, turning my blood cold. It was followed by a crash and the sound of a scuffle somewhere in the maze. Ember snarled something in Draconic and rushed past me, her eyes flaring green in the darkness. Gripping my weapon, I followed. The aisles of freight abruptly ended in a large open area, cement floor bare but for a few stacked pallets and a forklift.
“Faith!” Ember hissed, creeping forward with the gun raised. “Where are…”
A figure melted out of the shadows, dragging something into the light, and my stomach dropped. Faith met my gaze, her eyes huge with fear, as a man in a black suit yanked her forward, one arm around her neck, the other pressing a gun to her temple.
The lights came on, driving away the shadows, and a half dozen armed men stepped into view, muzzles of their M-16s pointed right at us.
Riley
“Comfortable, Cobalt?”
Ava lowered the phone and turned, smiling at me across the table. Without waiting for an answer, she reached over and flipped on the spotlight, beaming it right in my face. I squinted but refused to turn my head. “Anything you want to say before we get started?”
“I’m good, thanks.” I tried to shrug, which was harder than it looked, be
ing tied to a chair with my arms behind the metal back. The plastic cuffs dug into my wrists as I turned, pretending to look around the room. “Though the service in this place sucks. I ordered a glass of ‘Screw you, Talon bitch’ an hour ago.”
Ava smiled.
“Vulgar bravado will not save you, I’m afraid.” The girl walked around the table, regarding me like she might a particularly tricky math problem. Plucking a needle and syringe from the table, she held it up and turned back to me. “I assume you already know what I stuck you with.”
“I’m guessing Dractylpromazine,” I replied. Developed in Talon labs using a mix of science and old magic, “Dractyl” was a powerful tranquilizer that essentially put the dragon side of us to sleep, preventing Shifting and locking us into a human form for a short time. One of Talon’s more terrifying weapons against their own kind, it was a jealously guarded secret, given to agents only in rare, special circumstances. I’d attempted to Shift earlier, as soon as I’d woken up and realized where I was. But the dragon had barely stirred, sluggish and groggy, as if coming out of a long hibernation. That was when I’d known this wasn’t an ordinary kidnapping, that whoever had captured me knew exactly what I was and how to counter my most potent weapon. Which meant only one thing.
Talon had finally caught up. I was in trouble.
“Yes,” Ava agreed, putting the syringe back on the table. “So you know escape is impossible. That dose is good for at least three hours, and I have several more where that came from. None of your friends know where you are, and I disabled your phone so that your human hacker friend won’t be able to track it. No one is coming for you.” She stepped in front of the table and faced me head-on. “This doesn’t have to be hard, Cobalt. You know I’m going to get what I want, sooner or later. How quick, and how painful, this is going to be depends on you.”
I smirked. “Is that your best opening? Take away all hope, make the victim think he has no options left, that you’re always one step ahead of him. If he has nothing left to cling to, nothing will matter to him, and he’ll be much more pliable to suggestion.” She blinked, and my smirk grew wider. “Psychological Warfare 101, hatchling. I’ve forgotten more about Talon mind games than you’ll ever know. If you think you’re going to out-psyche me, give it your best shot. I can do this all night.”
“Insightful,” Ava said, sounding reluctantly impressed. “You do remember your Basilisk training, after all. When we first met, I thought you were just a thug who kept getting lucky. I’d forgotten you were one of Talon’s best.”
“I was,” I agreed. “Though I must not rate too high on
Talon’s threat meter, if they’re sending hatchlings to do a Viper’s job. So, what’s your real name? If we’re going to go through the dance tonight, you can give me that much, at least.”
The girl regarded me for a moment, then shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now,” she mused. “My real name is Mist.”
“Mist, huh? You’re awfully young to be doing this with no backup.” I curled my lips into a sneer. “Is this your exam, hatchling, or are all the real agents off murdering defenseless kids in their sleep?”
She offered another faint smile. “Trying to anger me into letting information slip is not going to work, either, Cobalt. Besides, you know the answer to that as well as I do.”
I did know, which made the organization’s interest in me all the more insidious. Talon couldn’t send one of their real agents after me because I knew them all. If someone like Lilith or another Viper showed up in town, I’d be gone the instant I got word of it—unless I was trying to convince a stubborn, red-haired hatchling to leave with me, that is. It didn’t even have to be a Viper; any dragon from my old life, be they Viper, Basilisk, Chameleon or Gila, I was instantly wary of. Talon knew I’d never trust one of their agents. They had to send a hatchling, someone I’d never seen before and would want to help, to lower my guard.
I should’ve seen this coming. I knew Talon was getting irritated with my high jinks; losing even one or two hatchlings a year was a big thing when your numbers were small. I’d thought I could handle whatever big nasty Viper they sent to take me out. But Talon was also devious as hell, a master of manipulation, of finding your weaknesses and using them against you. They’d baited me with the one thing I couldn’t ignore: a couple hatchlings in trouble, and I’d fallen for it like a moron. I’d been overconfident and was paying for it now.
Fortunately, I had a couple tricks up my sleeve, as well.
“Pretty clever,” I admitted, looking at Ava, or Mist now, I supposed. “The soldiers of St. George were a nice touch. That ambush felt completely real.” Mist didn’t answer, and I sighed. “We can play these games all night,” I said, subtly reaching my fingers into one of my jacket sleeves, feeling around the cuff. “But I’m tired and sore and kind of cranky, so can we get on with it? What do you want from me? Or, rather, what does Talon want from me?” Mist raised her brows, and I rolled my eyes. “Don’t act so surprised. If the organization just wanted me dead, I wouldn’t be here now. They wouldn’t go through all this trouble to set me up. What does Talon want?”
Mist pushed off the table, serious now, her eyes hard and cold. “The location of your safe houses,” she said, making my stomach lurch. “All of them. Where they are, how many dragons live there and the number of humans you have working for you. Give us the information, and we promise that most of the hatchlings will survive.”
I barked a laugh. “Really?” I sneered. “That’s all Talon wants? Me to betray every dragon and human I spent years protecting from the organization? That’s not completely insane at all.”
“Think of what you’re doing to them, Cobalt.” Her voice changed, becoming low and soothing. “Think of what their existence means for us all. All Talon wants is for their hatchlings to return to the organization, where they belong. Where we can protect them. You can’t really believe they’re better off with you. Constantly in hiding, always on the run? Living in fear that the Order will come for them in the middle of the night? What kind of life is that?”
“A free one,” I returned, curling my lip in disgust. “One that isn’t dictated by the organization’s demands, or what Talon wants them to be. One where they can actually breathe without Talon looming over their heads, ready to pounce if they set one claw out of line. Where they can actually have thoughts of their own, and choose their own future, instead of being forced into the role that would benefit the organization.” I gave her a grim smile. “I’m sure you didn’t have a choice tonight. If Talon gives the order to betray, capture and interrogate your own kind, you don’t get to question why.”
Mist cocked her head, looking truly baffled. As if she couldn’t imagine how this was a bad thing. I sighed. “Not all of us want our lives run by Talon,” I finished, knowing I was wasting my time. Mist was too deep in the organization, fully indoctrinated to Talon’s way of thinking. She wouldn’t understand. “Some of us would rather be free. To at least be afforded that choice.”
“Free?” Mist gave me an incredulous look. “At what cost? Our extinction? Is this so-called freedom so important that you would risk the existence of our entire race? How many have you lost to St. George? How many hatchlings have died because you took them from the organization and threw them into the world with no experience, no knowledge of what they were doing? Without Talon and its resources, they’re exposed not only to the Order, but to all of humanity. Even you realize that we cannot let the humans know about us. Your rebellion is endangering us all. Something had to be done.”
“Why now?” I asked. “I’ve been doing this for years, and Talon didn’t seem to care much, other than a couple halfhearted Viper assassination attempts. Why are they so interested in me now?”
“I’m afraid you don’t get to know that.”
“Well, we’re at an impasse, then,” I said, leaning back in my seat as best I could. “B
ecause I’m not giving up my nests to Talon, no matter what you say. Especially since I know you’re going to kill me right after. Doesn’t give me a lot of incentive to cooperate.”
Mist shook her head.
“I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” she said, turning to the table behind her. “I was hoping you would see reason, and realize this is for the survival of us all.” Leaning forward, she dragged a rolling cart out from under the table. It had been draped with a towel, and a shiver went through me as she pulled it into the light.
Mist walked around the cart and faced me over the toweled surface. “This is your last chance,” she said, fingering the corner of the cloth. “No one is coming for you. No one will hear you. I will get what I want, make no mistake about it. How long it will take depends on you.” She reached beneath the towel, drew forth another syringe and set it next to the Dractyl on the table, where it glimmered wickedly. My blood chilled at the sight of it. “This can be quick and painless,” Mist went on, “or we can drag it out, all night if we must. It’s up to you. What is your answer, Cobalt?”
I took a deep, steadying breath, feeling my heart pound through my veins. “I don’t think you have the stomach for this,” I said, looking her right in the eye. “What’s more, I don’t think you want to do this. It takes a certain mind-set for this kind of work, and you’re not like that. Not the girl I’ve seen tonight, anyway.” Her brow furrowed just slightly, and I pressed forward. “You can walk away, Mist,” I said earnestly. “This doesn’t have to be your life. Talon doesn’t have to control it. Come with us, and I can show you how to be free.”
For just a moment, she hesitated, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her face. I leaned forward, ignoring the cuffs digging into my skin. “You know you don’t want to do this,” I cajoled, my voice gentle, and she scowled. “Mist, listen to me. You don’t belong with them. You’re resourceful, quick-thinking and one of the most intelligent dragons I’ve ever seen, hatchling or otherwise. Your talents are being wasted. Think of what we could do for our kind if Talon wasn’t in the picture. Cut me loose, and we can leave together.”