“What if there were more like us?”
“Even if there were,” I said, “how would we find them?”
The human’s eyes gleamed. “How indeed,” he said, and opened his laptop, bending over the keys. “You want to know what that file you took from St. George was?” he said, as I edged forward and peered over his shoulder. “Check this out.”
I squinted at the image that popped onto the screen, frowning in confusion. It was…a list. There was no title, no header, nothing to indicate what it was actually for. But the first line read: “Carson City, NV. Talon activity: Moderate. Sleeper agents discovered: 1.”
Sleeper agents? Sleeper was the Order’s word for the hatchlings ready to complete assimilation, when they were sent to human towns to blend in with humanity. I scanned the list, amazement and awe growing with each line. Each row held the name of a town, the level of Talon activity discovered there and one or two possible sleepers. My heart beat faster in excitement.
“This is…” I muttered, and Wes nodded.
“All the places St. George thinks Talon will send their hatchlings,” he finished, and shrugged. “It’s probably not accurate, some of those places might not be in use anymore, especially with Talon’s paranoia. But…”
But it was something. And now that we had a list of possible sleeper locations, the wisp of an idea began to creep into my head. A crazy, impossible, terrifying idea. If we could find these hatchlings, be there when Talon planted them into a town, I could show them the truth about the organization. They needed to know, before Talon sank their claws in too deep, before they were brainwashed completely. They needed to see what Talon was really like. And, if they decided they could no longer be a part of the organization, they needed someone to help them escape, to show them how to be free.
I could show them how.
Wes noticed the change, and a slow smile crossed his face. “So, what’d’ya say, mate?” he said softly. “Partners?”
“You realize this is going to take a long time,” I warned. “The type of network we’re talking about, it will take years to build, decades even. We’ll constantly be on the run, from Talon and St. George. Our lives are never going to be safe, or anything close to normal. Sure you’re up for it, human?”
“Hey.” Wesley Higgins leaned back with a shrug. “I’m being hunted by a bloody dragon empire that won’t stop unless it’s completely destroyed or taken down. What else am I going to do?”
“All right.” I looked down at the screen, at the first place on the list, and nodded. Carson City, Nevada, was our first stop. “Let’s get this resistance started.”
Ember
I lowered my arm, feeling my heart pound, my emotions raging everywhere all at once. Riley was okay; I couldn’t express how relieved I was to hear his voice, to know he was alive. The past few hours had been a nightmare; I hadn’t even realized how much Riley meant to me until he was gone.
And my dragon, surging like molten lava through my veins, was acutely aware of Riley’s promise, was relishing it, even. She couldn’t wait to see him again. She recognized her other half, had always recognized it. Cobalt called to her. She felt the other dragon’s pull as surely as I felt the need to fly or sleep or breathe. And Riley wasn’t holding back anymore.
So what was holding me back?
“We should move.” Garret’s voice echoed at my side. I glanced up and found him watching me, his face shut into that blank, expressionless mask that made my insides shrink. “Talon is probably aware by now that their ambush failed,” he went on, gesturing to the carnage around us. “If they aren’t, they’ll find out very shortly. We should leave the premises before they send in the cleanup crew.”
“Right.” I nodded and pushed myself off the crate stack, but pain shot up my leg and I nearly fell, barely catching myself on the edge. “Ow. Dammit. Ow.”
“Are you all right?” Garret hovered at my side, his remote expression cracking a little with worry. I waved him off.
“I’m fine.” I took another step, clenching my teeth as my leg, back, ribs and shoulder throbbed. I didn’t know if it was from dragon claws, or just general aches and bruises from my fight with the Viper, but dammit I was sore. Of course, the stupid magic Viper suit didn’t show rips or tears, so I couldn’t even see how bad the wounds were. “Right behind you,” I gritted out, wishing I could Shift to my real form again. The human body didn’t deal with pain as well as a dragon’s. “Just moving…a little slower than normal. Keep going.”
Garret hesitated, then stepped beside me, putting a hand on my back. Surprised, I glanced at him as he bent, scooped an arm under my knees and lifted me off my feet. I gasped, wincing as the motion tore at the open wounds beneath my suit, but then he shifted me gently in his arms, and the pain receded.
“Garret.” My heart pounded, my stomach tying itself into knots at being so close. I put a hand on his chest, feeling his own heart thudding beneath my palm. “You don’t have to do this,” I said, torn between exhilaration and embarrassment. “I’ll be okay…”
I trailed off at the look he gave me. Sorrow, regret and longing glimmered in his eyes for just a moment, before they blinked and became remote once more. “Let me do this one last thing,” Garret said quietly, and offered a faint smile when I frowned in confusion. “You carried me to safety once. Now it’s my turn.”
He sounded sad for some reason. Like this was the last thing he would do for me. Wanting to ease the tension, I looped an arm around his neck and smiled. “You know, if you really wanted to impress, I could Shift right now and you could carry me out like that.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Somehow, I don’t think I’d get very far. Riley would walk in and see a dragon lying on top of a crushed soldier. He’d probably take a picture to remember it, always.”
I chuckled, feeling some of the awkwardness subside. A soldier of St. George carrying a dragon to safety—what was next? Sighing, I leaned my head on his chest, as Garret walked easily through the maze with me in his arms. His heart beat steady and sure against my ear, and I relaxed. We were okay, all of us. St. George had come for us, and we’d survived. Talon had sent two deadly double agents to force me back to the organization, and I was still here. Riley was alive. Garret was alive. We’d taken the worst Talon and the Order could throw at us and had come out on top.