Page 46 of Legion

“All right, all right!” The scientist held up his hands. “I’ll tell you, for all the good it will do now.” He leaned back from the gun and ran a hand over his face, seemingly unaware that the rogue was fighting hard not to Shift and tear him into tiny pieces. The Dractylpromazine was starting to wear off, because the flicker of a dark blue dragon suddenly overlapped with Riley for the barest of seconds, gold eyes blazing in fury as they glared at the scientist. Who, dangerously for him, didn’t notice.

“Ms. Hill was...is...the Elder Wyrm’s vessel,” the human went on. “That is why she is so important to the organization. As one who shares her blood and DNA, she was genetically engineered to house the memories and consciousness of Talon’s CEO.”

“Wait,what?” Riley gaped at the scientist. “Shares her blood? Are you telling me that Ember is—”

“The daughter of the Elder Wyrm, yes.” The scientist nodded and glanced at Ember, not seeing Riley’s pale face, the shock filling his eyes. “She and her brother are the heirs to Talon, though it was always the Elder Wyrm’s intention to raise a daughter for the sole purpose of extending her own life. We were extracting Ms. Hill’s memories so that the Elder Wyrm’s presence could take over her mind without opposition.” He frowned then, shaking his head, and glared back at the rogue. “Of course, now that you and your friends have quite literally pulled the plug on this fragile operation, there is no telling what state of mind she will be in when she revives. If she wakes up at all.”

Horror flooded me. I looked down at Ember’s body, willing her to wake up, to open her eyes. She lay like a doll in my arms, her head lolled back and her hands limp at her sides. With shaking arms, I gathered her close, pressing my forehead to hers, praying my thoughts would reach her.

Wake up, Ember, I thought, fighting the despair clawing at my insides.You’re too strong to let this beat you. Come back to me, dragon girl.

Ember didn’t respond.

EMBER

I raised my head, and found myself alone. The beach was gone. The ocean was gone. I was in the middle of a black void, darkness surrounding me like a vacuum. It wasn’t nighttime; there were no shadows clinging to the ground or hanging in the air. There was no ground. No sky. Just...blackness.

“Where am I?” I whispered.

A soft growl echoed out of the darkness. “I think the better question,” something said behind me, “would bewho. Also, what the hell?”

Spinning around, I came face-to-face with a dragon. With...myself.

* * *

The human gaped at me, green eyes widening. She looked like a startled deer in headlights, dazed and frightened. Like prey. I saw my own reflection in her eyes, my wings partially open, my neck raised to gaze down at her. It was a strange sensation; I’d only seen myself, my true self, maybe once or twice. The human face I saw much more often, gazing back at me from mirrors and shiny surfaces, the girl who had become the real me.

“What...the hell?” she stammered, taking a step back. “What is this? What’s going on?”

I snorted. I had been awake for only a little while, and even now, I felt groggy and disoriented. Every time they stuck me with one of those damned needles, I blacked out and didn’t know anything for a time. “I have no idea,” I told the girl—me, I supposed. Other me. The one who cried and loved and followed emotion rather than instinct. The one who insisted we love a human, instead of ourSallith’tahn.I curled a lip at her. “I’ve been asleep. You’re the one who has been awake through all of this. You tell me.”

Other me shook her head. “This has to be a nightmare,” she muttered, putting a hand to her face. “It can’t really be happening. I can’t be standing here, having a conversation withmyself.”

“Why not?”

“Because...it’s impossible!” She ran the palm down her face, her eyes a little glassy. “I’m dreaming,” she muttered again. “That’s all. You’re a nightmare, a figment of my imagination. I just have to wake up.”

I growled, the sound vibrating through the void around us. “From where I’m standing,you’rethe hallucination,” I told her through bared teeth, and she flinched back. “I’ve always been here. From the beginning. You’re the human part that won’t accept who we are.” She shook her head, denying it, and my anger flared. “If anything,I’mthe real one. And maybe if I get rid of you, everything will be as it should.”

* * *

I backed away as the dragon stalked forward, eyes blazing against the void. Okay, maybe this wasn’t a hallucination. And even if it was, being attacked and torn apart by my dragon, quite literallymyself, would probably screw up my head pretty bad.

“Stop it,” I told her, forcing myself to stand my ground. “This is crazy. We can’t fight each other.”

Dragon me stopped, but didn’t look convinced. “We’ve been fighting each other for a long time, didn’t you know that?” she hissed. When I gave her a puzzled look, she actually sneered. “Don’t act dumb. You know what I’m talking about. Ever since you met that boy, that human, all you’ve been doing is fighting me. We’re not human, and he won’t be around forever. Cobalt is your life-mate, ourSallith’tahn. Why do you keep denying who we are?”

“I love Garret,” I told her firmly, realizing what this was about. “And I don’t want my choices to be defined by instinct. You keep pushing me at Cobalt, but it’s not going to change what I feel for Garret. I can’t choose who I love, anymore than I can choose theSallith’tahn.”She watched me with blank dragon eyes, and I gave a bitter smile. “But I don’t know why I’m telling you this—love is a human thing. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

Dragon me snorted again, sounding indignant. “What the hell gave you that idea?” she demanded.

* * *

The girl glanced at me sharply, a look of confusion crossing her face. “What are you talking about?”

With a gusty sigh, I sat down, folding my wings to my back as the flames within flickered and died. I supposed it was time to stop denying it. “Cobalt is ourSallith’tahn,” I told her simply. “I don’t have to do any pushing. You feel the pull toward him just as much as I do.” I paused, waiting for her to deny it, knowing she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. “So why do you think I feel any different toward the human?”

She stared at me, an expression of shock crossing her face as she realized. “You love Garret, too,” she finally whispered.

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