I drew back, slipped quietly across the room and cracked open the door.
Garret stood there, leaning with his back against the wall and his arms crossed, vigilantly scanning the hallway. When the door squeaked open, he immediately pushed himself off the frame and turned to me, eyes questioning.
“Any word from Riley?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “Wes still hasn’t been able to get a lock on his phone. How is Faith?”
“Sleeping,” I replied, and took a step back. “Come on in, just be quiet. I don’t want to leave her, and who knows when she’ll get another chance to rest.”
He eased through the frame, glancing warily around the room to make sure we were still alone, that no one had climbed in the windows or from under the bed when my back was turned. When he was sure the shadows were empty, he relaxed and followed me to the sitting area, where the huge curtained window showed off the glittering Vegas cityscape. I peered through the crack at the glowing carpet of lights, and my insides churned with worry. Riley was somewhere down in that mess, dodging St. George, fighting his way back to us. Still alive, my dragon insisted. He had to be. I wouldn’t let myself think that he wasn’t.
“Where are you, Riley?” I whispered to the haze of neon lights. “Don’t you dare die on me.” A lump caught in my throat, and I clenched my fists. “Dammit, I hate this,” I growled, feeling my dragon raging inside. “I feel so helpless. I wish I knew what to do.” Garret watched me, silent and grave, and I slumped against the window. Las Vegas stretched out below me, dazzling and bright, but I couldn’t see the luminance anymore. Now all I could see was a war zone.
“People are dying, Garret,” I whispered. “Riley’s out there. Ava is out there. And I’m just…” Scared. Lost. Completely unprepared for what being a rogue actually means. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass, staring at the streets until they blurred and ran together. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” I admitted. “I thought I did, but I was wrong. I have no idea what to do now. I…” I don’t want to lose anyone else. Especially him.
Garret moved close, and then two strong arms enfolded me from behind, drawing me close. My pulse skipped, and my heartbeat sped up, echoing his own. I felt his quiet presence at my back as he leaned in, lips close to my ear.
“Riley’s a pro at survival,” Garret said in his soft, low voice, making my insides flutter. No reassurances, no empty promises, just simple facts. “He’s been doing this a long time, longer than either of us. I know St. George. I know how they work.” He paused then, his voice becoming just a little lighter. “I’m not too proud to say that he’s smarter than most everyone in the Order. If anyone can get through this, he can.”
I turned and slid my arms around his waist, hugging him to me. My fingers brushed the smooth metal of the gun beneath his shirt, and I wasn’t afraid. He was a soldier, a former dragonslayer, but I felt safe with him. I trusted him completely. It wasn’t the fierce, fiery longing my dragon had for Cobalt. It was…simple. Easy. When I was with Garret, it was like we just clicked.
Riley’s voice echoed in my head, angry and accusing. Humans and dragons aren’t supposed to be together! Their lives are a heartbeat compared to ours. What kind of future do you think you could ever have?
I tried to shove it down, even as part of me agreed. I was a dragon; what was I doing with this human? My instincts raged at me, edgy and restless. I shouldn’t be here; I should be with Riley right now. Why did I keep resisting? Cobalt and I were the same, split down the middle. Not only in species, but in everything that mattered. His dragon called to mine, and I knew he felt the same about me. If Garret wasn’t here, it wouldn’t even be a question.
But, Garret is here, I thought rebelliously. He chose to be here. We gave him the chance to leave, and he chose to stay.
For how long? the dragon whispered back. How long did I think a former soldier of St. George would remain in the company of his enemies? How long before he realized we had no future, that a dragon and a human were two vastly different creatures, and had no business being together?
“Garret?” I asked, making him shift to look down at me. In the face of those solemn gray eyes, my throat went dry, and I swallowed to clear it. “Is this…? Are we…?” I exhaled and pressed my face to his shirt in embarrassment. Garret waited patiently for me to go on, his arms still looped around my waist. I ducked my head, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “Us,” I whispered. “What we’re doing… Is this wrong?”
Garret went very still. I counted his heartbeats, listened to the rise and fall of his breath. “I don’t know,” he finally said, his voice just a whisper between us.
I gave a bitter chuckle, stifling my disappointment. “That’s not exactly the rousing assurance I was hoping for.”
“I know,” he murmured, sounding resigned, though he still didn’t let me go. “But I’m probably the last person you should ask.” He rested his chin gently atop my head, his voice thoughtful. “All my life, I was taught that dragons were evil, that they had no souls or emotions or real feelings, that they were just imitating humans in order to blend in.” His hand traced my back, making my skin prickle. “And then, I met you. And discovered that everything I had learned, everything I thought I knew, my entire way of life, was wrong.”
The pain in his voice, the underlying bitterness, clawed at me. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “I never wanted you to regret this.”
“I don’t.” Garret pulled back to look at me, his metallic gaze intense. “Maybe I would’ve been happier if I’d never come to Crescent Beach,” he went on, making my stomach knot painfully. “If I was still with St. George, I’d still be killing dragons, because that’s what they expected of me, and I wouldn’t know any better. Maybe ignorance is bliss, but that doesn’t make it right.” His face tightened, eyes going dark. “I think back to who I was, what I did, before we met, and it sickens me. I’d rather die right now than return to the Order. I’d rather be hunted like the very ones I used to kill than revert to the ignorant soldier I was. That life is done. I want no part of it anymore. All because I met a dragon on a beach, and she refused to be what I expected.” One hand rose, pressing against the side of my face, stroking with his thumb. “Ember, meeting you is the most important thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said in a quiet voice. “I wouldn’t change it for anything.”