by Julie Kagawa
The Viper stared vacantly as I stepped up beside her, trying not to glance at her heaving sides. At the two round holes seeping blood right behind her foreleg. A perfect shot to the heart, from someone who knew exactly how to kill a dragon. Faith blinked, and I caught my reflection in one golden eye that was slowly turning to glass.
“I wanted…to be her best student,” she whispered, as a thin line of red trickled from her nostril. “Her…only…student. I wanted to make her proud. To prove…I could be like her.”
A lump rose to my throat, and I swallowed hard. “You are,” I told her, my voice a ragged whisper. “You were a true Viper. Lilith would’ve been proud.”
Faith didn’t answer. Her wings had stopped moving, and her gold eyes stared up at me, fixed and unseeing. She was dead.
And the soldier who had killed her was standing right behind me.
Garret
I lowered the gun, watching as Ember stepped away from the body, feeling some of the tension leave me as I gazed at the dead dragon. It was over. She was the last; the others, the Talon agents, were scattered behind me in the warehouse. They had fought stubbornly and persistently, down to the last man. As if they had nothing to lose. Maybe they didn’t. Perhaps Talon’s policy was return victorious or don’t return at all. Regardless, it didn’t matter. No one would be returning to Talon tonight.
Abruptly, Ember staggered, catching herself with a grunt, and my alarm flared up again. Holstering the pistol, I hurried toward her, scanning the lithe, scaly body for wounds. Her crimson scales made it difficult to see if there was any blood, though by the stiff way she was moving, I suspected she’d been hurt. I’d never witnessed a full-on dragon fight, but I had seen firsthand what their claws and teeth were capable of, able to crunch through bone and rip doors off vehicles. Their scales might be fireproof, but I imagined two warring dragons could still do a lot of damage to each other.
My hunch was confirmed when I drew close and saw the glimmer of open wounds on her back, four long claw marks that had been raked across her scales. But the edges around the narrow cuts looked burned, blackened around the edges, the flesh inside a raw, painful pink.
“Ember,” I said, lightly brushing a wingtip as I circled around. More wounds came to light, all in the same condition, claw marks scored by flame. The faint scent of smoke and chemicals lingered in the air, seeming to come off the limping dragon, and I frowned. “What happened?”
“Bad decision that seemed a good idea at the time.” Her voice was tight, and she turned to face me fully. Four thin, seeping gashes scarred her muzzle, red and painful looking, and my stomach clenched. “You killed her,” she whispered, not quite accusing, but her eyes gleamed angrily. “You didn’t have to kill her.”
“Yes, I did.” I met the dragon’s gaze, saw my reflection in those slitted green eyes. They narrowed sharply, but I didn’t feel one inkling of fear. Strange now, that I could stand this close to a furious, wounded dragon and know, beyond any doubt, that she would never hurt me. “I had to use lethal force,” I told her. “You know that. She wouldn’t have stopped until you were dead.”
“I know. Dammit.” Ember slumped, glancing at the lifeless body against the wall. A pained expression crossed her face, and she let out a gusty sigh, smoke curling from her jaws. “She was still one of us,” Ember murmured. “She was like me, once. Who knows what she might’ve been if Lilith and Talon hadn’t gotten their claws into her.” A shudder went through her, and she turned her head, closing her eyes. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
I reached out and put a tentative hand on her neck, feeling warm scales under my palm. My heart jumped, still thrilled by the idea of touching a dragon. “We need to take care of those,” I said, mentally assessing her wounds, wondering how serious they would be in human form. “Can you Shift back?”
“No.” Ember shook her head, staggering away from me. “I mean, yes, I can, and I will, but…what about Riley? He’s still out there. We have to find him.”
“Ember, you’re hurt. Badly, by the looks of it.” I sidled around to face her, blocking her path. “We need to get you back to the hotel and let Wes know what’s going on. Maybe he’s heard from Riley by now.”
“He would’ve called us if he had!” Her tail lashed, and she raised her head in defiance. “I’m fine, Garret. We have to keep looking.”
“Where? We still don’t know his location. He could be anywhere in the city by now. Where are you planning to search?” Ember slitted her eyes, and I kept my voice calm, knowing that if a five-hundred-pound reptile wanted to walk right through me, there was little I could do to stop it. The strangeness of standing in a dark warehouse arguing with a dragon did not escape me, either.
“We have to regroup,” I said, hoping she would listen to reason, that her worry and eagerness to find Riley would not override logic. Some dark little part of me bristled with anger at the thought, but I shoved it down. “Let’s go back to the hotel, get you taken care of, and see if Wes has heard anything. That’s the most reasonable course of action right now.”
Ember lashed her tail, taking a breath to argue, then frowned. “Wait,” she muttered, cocking her head. “Did you hear that?”
I fell silent, pulling the gun from my belt and stepping around to her flank. For a moment, we stood there, a soldier of St. George and a dragon, guarding each other’s backs. Strangely, it felt no different than the hundreds of times I’d done this with Tristan.
A faint, familiar jingle sounded, somewhere in the maze. Ember gasped.
“My phone!”
She started forward, stumbled and nearly fell, hissing in pain. Hurrying to her side, I gently caught a wing joint, making her pause and look back at me. “Hold on a second,” I said, wishing I knew a trick to get a dragon to lie down, especially this dragon. “Ember, wait. You’re going to hurt yourself.” She snorted and glared at me, and I sighed. “Stay here and don’t move,” I said, holding out an arm as I backed away. “Lie down if you have to. I’ll find it. I’ll be right back.” And I jogged into the maze without waiting for a reply.
I sprinted back to the place we’d first been ambushed, passing the bodies of several Talon agents, slumped in corners or behind crates. The majority of the group lay sprawled on the cement where the line had been, torched with dragonfire or shot with the gun Ember had tossed me.
The weapon she was supposed to kill me with.
My jaw clenched. For a bleak moment, I’d really thought she would. I knew she and Dante were close, that they shared a bond unheard of between their kind. Dante was a dragon, her brother and her only family; I was a human soldier she had known only a few weeks. She’d told me herself, she would do anything to get him out of Talon.
Why had she chosen me over her twin?
The ringing had stopped by the time I reached the area, but after only a few seconds of searching, it sounded again. I discovered the phone lying beside a pallet and snatched it up, bringing it to my ear.
“Wes?”
“Oh, goodie.” The voice on the other end, though heavy with sarcasm, was not Wes. “You’re still alive.”
“Riley.” I felt a strange mix of both relief and disappointment. Relief because, no matter what his feelings toward me, the rogue dragon was a competent leader and strategist, a soldier in his own right. And he obviously cared about the rogues in his underground, the hatchlings he got out of Talon, something I hadn’t thought dragons capable of a month ago. I hadn’t wanted him dead; I was glad he survived.
But at the same time, I’d seen how Ember looked at him sometimes, and I’d caught the protectiveness on his face whenever they were close. He was a dragon; long-lived, intelligent, and able to understand Ember in a way I never would. Jealousy was not something I’d experienced before. I despised how it made me feel. But it was there all the same.
“Where’s Ember?” Riley
asked, making resentment flare up again, stronger than ever. I stifled my anger, knowing it was unreasonable right now, and answered calmly.
“She’s fine. She’s wounded, but she’ll be okay. We…ran into some trouble with Talon.”
“Yeah, no shit.” Riley sighed, sounding angry and weary all at once. “I guess you know by now that Faith is a Viper,” he continued, sounding like he really didn’t want to know the answer.
“Yes,” I answered simply.
“Is she…?”
“She’s dead,” I replied, making him sigh again.
“I figured. Fucking Talon.” The pain in his voice surprised me. “They were just kids. Sending Vipers after us is one thing, but they weren’t even juveniles yet. Dammit.” There was a muffled thud, as if he’d slammed his fist into something. “Sending dragons to kill dragons. It makes no sense.”
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Heading your way now. Old rail yard, right? I was there when Mist gave you that false information.” Riley paused, then asked in a quieter voice, “How is she?”
Of course, he could mean only one person. “She sustained a few surface injuries when she was fighting the Viper,” I answered, making him mutter another curse. “The wounds themselves don’t look too deep, but the edges are burned fairly severely. Third-degree if I had to guess.” I stifled a wince, knowing from personal experience just how painful third-degree burns were. Though I continued to hear myself speak with clinical detachment. “Other than that, from what I can tell, her injuries are minor.”
“Dammit, Ember,” Riley growled. “Taking on a Viper yourself, you idiot hatchling. Where is Faith now?” he went on, sounding faintly hesitant now. “Did Ember…kill her?”
“No. I did.”
“Good.” He hesitated again, longer this time, as if struggling to make himself speak. “Look, let’s make one thing clear,” he finally muttered. “I don’t like you. I think you’re a murdering bastard, and the fact that you’ve recently had a change of heart doesn’t erase all the blood on your hands, and it never will. I also think you’re an idiot for believing Ember would ever choose a human over her own kind. She’s a dragon, and even if she hasn’t figured it out yet, dragons and humans don’t belong together. You should know that, St. George. And if you truly care for her, you’ll let her be with her own kind. For both your sakes.
“But,” he went on, as my insides twisted painfully at his words, “I know what Talon is capable of. I know what the Vipers are capable of, even their hatchlings. Ember might be too softhearted to destroy one of her own, but I know that Faith wouldn’t have hesitated to kill her. If you put that Viper down, much as I hate you for it, then you probably saved Ember’s life. And for that…” He sighed. “You’re not as much of a bastard as I thought.”
“Thanks,” I said drily, knowing that was the closest to gratitude I’d ever get from the rogue.
He snorted. “Don’t get me wrong. If the Viper had ripped your throat out instead, I wouldn’t lose any sleep tonight. Where is Ember now?”
Soft footsteps made me whirl around, just as a slight figure in a black suit emerged from the maze. Ember had, of course, followed me, her jaw clenched in pain and determination as she limped doggedly across the floor.
“Riley?” she asked as I hurried over, catching her by the arm just as she staggered. Four angry red gashes scored her cheek, making me grimace. But her eyes shone with hope, even through the pain. “Is that Riley?”
For just a moment, I considered lying, turning off the phone and claiming it was Wes. For a moment, I hated the fact that Riley had lived, that he could make her face light up like that. It cast a dark uncertainty over my thoughts, and all the confusion and doubt I had pushed down rose to the surface once more. Was I just fooling myself? Would Ember ever see me in the same way as the rogue dragon?
“Garret?” She looked up at me, eager and confused, her eyes searching. “Did you hang up? Who were you talking to?”
Wordlessly, I handed her the phone.
Riley
“Riley?”
Heat flared through me at the sound of her voice, nearly making my breath catch. The dragon rose up, shaking off the grogginess, burning away the tranquilizer. And maybe I was still under the influence of the truth drug, but suddenly everything became a lot clearer. Ember was mine. I needed her. She was impulsive, reckless, infuriating…and I couldn’t imagine my life without her.
“Hey, Firebrand.” I sighed. “Good to hear your voice. You okay?”
“Oh, you know.” I heard the tremor that went through her, the breathless relief. “A little burned, a little sore. Nearly died a couple times. The usual. You?”
“The same.” I staggered through a metal door and paused outside the building to get my bearings. Some old warehouse district on the edge of town, isolated and unremarkable, as I expected. Still, I scanned the area carefully, not putting it past Talon to be watching this place, via satellite or something else. I had to get out of the area quickly. Now that my phone was back on, Wes would be able to find me; he was supposedly on his way now. “Though I am a tad confused by one part,” I went on, hurrying across the dusty yard toward a chain-link fence surrounding it. “Did you just say you were burned? You’re a dragon. How does that happen?”
“Um, I might’ve set myself on fire.”
I closed my eyes. “Ember…”
“But look on the bright side, I managed to avoid being shot this time.”
“I need you.”
A very long silence followed. Long enough for me to slip through the fence and step onto the sidewalk. Gazing up and down the street, I picked a direction and started walking, toward the glow of distant lights that, hopefully, marked the edge of the city. A warm breeze blew against my face, smelling of dust and pavement; I breathed it in and smiled to myself. It was good to be free.
“Riley.” Ember’s voice trembled slightly, though I couldn’t tell what she was feeling. “What…what are you talking about?”
“I think you know what I’m talking about.” I raked a hand through my hair, feeling dangerously light and uncaring. “However, I’m probably still under the effects of a truth drug,” I went on, with the same easy nonchalance I’d felt while talking to Mist. “And it made me realize something, about us. But, if you don’t want to hear what I’m really thinking, I’d hang up right now.”
“Do you want me to?”
Yes. Say yes, Riley. “No.”
Ember took a deep, shaky breath. “Tell me, then.”
No turning back now. Ah, screw it. I officially don’t care anymore. “I realized something while I was in that session with Mist,” I began, hoping to tell her everything before Wes showed up. “She’s a Basilisk, you know. Talon wanted the locations of my safe houses, and they sent her to retrieve them. She was supposed to kill me after she got the information.”
“Bitch,” Ember growled.
“Wasn’t her fault,” I said, feeling a small twinge of regret that I couldn’t save her, too. “You know what Talon is like. You know what they’re capable of. I would’ve brought her with us if I could.”
“Is…is she…?”
“No,” I murmured. “I didn’t kill her. She’s sleeping off a tranquilizer that would put down an elephant, so she won’t bat an eyelash for at least a couple hours. But that’s not the point.” I paused as a taxi cruised toward my corner but then sped by without slowing.
“I would’ve told her everything,” I continued, feeling my stomach twist at how close I’d actually come to revealing my entire network. “I almost betrayed my entire underground. All my hatchlings, all the humans I got out. But something stopped me, kept me from spilling my guts and telling Mist everything she wanted to know.”
“What was it?”
“You, Firebrand.” I stopped at an intersection and le
aned against a crosswalk sign. “I saw your face, and I knew I had to keep it together.” A human passed by, giving me a smirk as he crossed the street, and I didn’t even care. “You kept me grounded, Ember,” I said quietly, resting my head against the metal pole. “You’re the reason I was able to resist. I just kept thinking about you.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” I hurried on, knowing this would be the only time I’d have the guts to actually say it, “or what you feel for the soldier, but I’m letting you know right now… I’m done fighting this. From now on, I’ll be fighting for both of us.”
“Riley,” Ember said again, her voice almost a whisper, “I can’t… I mean. This isn’t…” She broke off, and her voice dropped even further, becoming nearly inaudible. “I can’t promise anything,” she whispered. “I don’t know what I feel.”
“That’s fine, Firebrand.” I looked up as headlights pierced the darkness, and a taxi pulled to the curb. “But when you figure it out, when you remember that you’re still a dragon, I’ll be right here. I’m not going anywhere, that’s my promise.”
The cab window lowered, and Wes’s shaggy head poked out, thin arms gesturing frantically. I grinned and started toward the cab, surprised at how relieved I was to see him. “I’m heading your way now,” I told Ember, sliding into the backseat, ignoring Wes’s I-told-you-so glare. “Hang tight, we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Riley?”
I paused, stopping myself from clicking off the phone. “Yeah?”
“I’m glad you’re all right.” The voice on the other end sounded defiantly embarrassed. “You scared us there for a while. Don’t do that again.”
“You mean don’t get captured and interrogated by Talon’s double agents? No promises, but I’ll do my best.” I smiled, hearing her snort into the phone. “See you soon.”
