Page 44 of Legion

Riley sat up, hissing into the phone. “Wes!”

“Hold your bloody horses. These things take time.”

“We’re sitting in the middle of aTalonoffice building, surrounded by people who want to beat the crap out of us, then kill us. We don’t have time.”

“Got it!” Wes’s voice rang with triumph. “I’m in. There, your damn file is unlocked. So, what’s so bloody important that you had to...oh...”

His words trailed off. Riley scrambled upright and slid into the chair with Mist right behind him, leaning over his shoulder. Both peered at the screen for a moment, their faces glowing blue-white in the darkness.

“Holy shit.” The rogue’s voice sent shivers down my back, and I turned from the window. Riley leaned back in the seat, shaking his head, his face full of horror. “St. George, you need to see this, now.”

I hurried around the desk and bent next to Riley to peer at the screen. After a few seconds of scanning the words on the computer, a chill crept up my spine as I realized what I was looking at.

It was a list...of Order chapterhouses around the world. The main headquarters in London was at the top, but below it were several more chapters throughout the United Kingdom, France, the United States and several other countries. Even more troubling, it listed the amount of security the bases had, the approximate number of soldiers, the exit and entry points and the time zone of every chapterhouse around the world.

And at the very top of the list, a timer, counting down the hours.

I looked at Riley, who drew in a long breath. “Do you know what this is, St. George?” he asked, his voice subdued.

I nodded. There were other things it could be, harmless, less sinister things. Talon could simply be keeping an eye on the Order, making sure their enemies would not attack and take them by surprise. There were other reasons this file would exist. But I was a soldier, and I knew where the signs were pointing. Talon had an army now. And St. George had always stood in their way.

“It’s a battle plan,” I said.

“My God,” Mist breathed, her blue eyes wide as she scanned the list. “The Night of Fang and Fire...they’re planning to attack the Order. All the chapterhouses, in one night.” She looked up at me, horrified and amazed. “They’re planning to destroy the Order of St. George in one fell swoop.”

Riley made a strangled noise. “Not only the Order,” he whispered in a voice of quiet rage. “Look at this.”

Below the St. George chapterhouses was another list of locations, all through the United States. These I didn’t recognize, but Riley swore heavily and shook his head. “Those are my safe houses,” he growled. “Most of them, anyway. Some aren’t in use anymore, but still.” He ran a hand down his face and snatched the phone from where it sat on the desk. “Wes,” he growled, shoving away from the computer. “Did you hear all that? Recall the safe houses right now, all of them...Yes, all of them! Get everyone out of the open before this goes down...Don’t worry about us, we’ll be there as soon as we can...Dammit, Wes, don’t argue with me, just do it!” He yanked the phone from his ear and glanced back at me. “When is this supposed to happen?” he snapped.

I looked at the top of the screen. “In three days,” I said numbly. Three days before Talon unleashed destruction upon St. George and the rogues. Three days to try to find a way to stop it. If they could be stopped.

But first...

I looked at Mist. “Get us to Ember,” I told her. “Right now.”

RILEY

The trip to the final lab was mostly a blur. Mist herded us back into the elevator and used her key card to gain access to the lowest floor, where, she explained, Ember was being held. She told me a few other things, about security and the layout of the floor, but I was finding it difficult to concentrate. I was desperate to get to Ember, desperate to find mySallith’tahnand life-mate, but I was still reeling from what we’d just uncovered. The Night of Fang and Fire. In one imminent, terrible night, Talon was going to attack not only the Order of St. George, but every safe house, nest and rogue dragon they could find, with the intent of destroying Talon’s enemies once and for all. And, from everything I’d seen, they finally had the numbers to do it.

The Order of St. George was going to fall. After hundreds of years of hunting us toward extinction, killing and slaughtering without regret, the genocidal maniacs were finally getting what they deserved. Talon would sweep through with their army of clones, dragons they had bred for destruction, and wipe St. George off the map.

And that, in the most ironic twist of fate I’d ever encountered, terrified me.

I felt no sympathy for the Order. Present company excluded, I hated St. George and every fanatical, trigger-happy individual in it. I had lost friends, colleagues and hatchlings to their endless war, and there had been countless nights where I struggled to keep my underground safe and my hatchlings off their sights.

But I didn’t want them wiped out. I didn’t want them gone. Because I knew that, without the Order of St. George, there would be no one left who could challenge Talon. They balanced each other, kept the other in check. The reason we had to hide, the reason Talon was so leery of discovery, was plain and simple—because they were afraid of the Order. Because they knew what the Order represented: humanity’s fear of the unknown and what they would do if they found out dragons were real.

Without St. George, that balance would tip. Without the Order, there would be nothing to stop Talon and the Elder Wyrm from achieving what they’d wanted from the start. Complete and utter dominion. How they would accomplish that I wasn’t entirely sure, but destroying an entire organization of professional dragonslayers seemed like a good first step.

I didn’t know how we were going to survive the coming storm. I didn’t know what the world would be like in the future, a future where Talon had no opposition and no one to stop their plans, whatever they were. I did know that I was going to rescue Ember, recall all my safe houses and then find the deepest, darkest hole where we could hide and wait this out. And hope that, when the dust settled and we reemerged, the world would still be intact and not burned to a crisp.

I spared a glance at the soldier. He stood next to me with a gun held loosely at his side, staring at the elevator doors. His face was stony, his eyes flat and dangerous. Most likely, he was thinking of the Order and what he could do to save them. Or perhaps he was thinking of Ember. I did know one thing: we were done with Talon. If anyone got in our way right now, they wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.

“This is it,” Mist said quietly as the elevator came to a halt on the very bottom floor. “Beyond this hall is the lab where we will find Ms. Hill. It will be guarded, so be prepared. We might have to fight our way through.”

I glanced at the clones beside me. “What about your two puppet dragons?”

“They will follow orders,” Mist said. “Because I will be the one giving them. But the security guards on this floor are human and will attempt to stop us when we approach. We need to silence them quickly before they sound the alarm. If they do alert the rest of the building, we’re as good as dead. Are you ready?”

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