Page 57 of Legion

Move on, she’d told me. As if I could. As if this wouldn’t consume me from the inside, tear me to pieces little by little every time I saw her.

No.With a mental shake, I pushed myself off the door, hardening my emotions. I couldn’t fall apart now. Over a dozen hatchling dragons still waited for me beyond the yard. Trusting me to keep them safe from the massive storm brewing on the horizon. Talon was coming for us. I had lost mySallith’tahn, but I was still the leader of this resistance, still responsible for dozens of innocent lives. I wouldn’t fail them.

So be it.

Goodbye, Ember.I stepped away from the barn and forced myself to move, to walk toward the farmhouse without looking back.Maybe someday, when this war is over and the soldier is gone, you’ll look to me again. And maybe... I can learn to love like a human, as well. But not now.Raising my head, I walked a little faster.I’ve been distracted for too long. Talon is coming. I have to look out for my own now, and make sure that, whatever the organization throws at us, we’re still alive at the end of it.

EMBER

In the cool darkness of the barn, I listened to Riley walk away. Listened to his footsteps fade into silence and curled my talons into the wood to stop myself from going after him.

I staggered across the floor to sink down in the corner, curl into a ball and put my head under my wing, shutting out the world as the realization stabbed me like a knife.

Cobalt is gone.

I started to shake. Hot tears welled in my eyes, spilling over to run down my scales, and I let them come. I didn’t regret my decision. It had to be done; Riley deserved to be with someone who could give themselves to him completely, who wasn’t in love with someone else. And I couldn’t truly be with Garret until thisSallith’tahnissue was finally put to rest. I knew I had done the right thing, for all of us.

But I could still feel the awful ache of loss inside, a gnawing emptiness that hollowed me out, making me feel empty and cold. I loved Garret with everything I had, but I couldn’t deny that it was Cobalt who made my dragon side stir and come to life. He understood me in a way a human never could. He shared my love of flying, my fascination with shiny things and the heat surging within that sometimes felt like it could consume me. Things only a dragon could comprehend.

And now, he was gone. I had let him go, so we both could be free. But that didn’t mean it hadn’t killed me to do it. To see the look on his face, stunned and devastated, when I said I didn’t want to be hisSallith’tahnany longer. It had taken everything I had to keep talking, to force myself to say those words. A few minutes of falling apart where no one could see it didn’t seem like too much to ask.

After several minutes, I heard the barn door open and close, and quiet footsteps, not Riley’s, rustled across the straw. Instinctively, I curled even more tightly around myself, pressing tail and wings close to my body. I didn’t know if I could facehimright now, either. I hadn’t told him about theSallith’tahn, what it meant, why Cobalt was supposed to be my life-mate. I’d meant to, of course. There just hadn’t been a good time.

“Ember.” His voice was calm, but it still made me wince. His footsteps stopped right beside me, close enough to touch. “I brought you a change of clothes.”

Warmth fluttered through my stomach. Even angry, he was still thinking of me, knowing I didn’t have my Viper suit anymore. Or maybe he just wanted to get on the road as soon as possible, and I was slowing him down. Either way, I needed to Shift, but I wasn’t going to do it with Garret standing there.

“That’s fine,” I said from beneath my wing. “Just leave them on the ground. I’ll change back in a minute and meet you outside.”

I waited for his footsteps to walk away, but he didn’t move. “Are you all right?” he asked, surprising me. It wasn’t a routine question; he seemed genuinely concerned. Or maybe I was just hoping he was.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “I’m okay.”I just drove off mySallith’tahn, my life-mate. Cobalt might never speak to me again. And I don’t know how angry you are with me for not telling you.“I’m sorry, Garret,” I said, grateful of the wing barrier between us, flimsy as it was. I didn’t want to see his eyes and whatever anger, disgust or sorrow lay within. “I meant to tell you earlier, and I know it’s an awful way to hear it now but...” I took a quick breath. “There’s this thing called theSallith’tahn. It’s the Draconic word for life-mate, though you already know that.” Garret didn’t say anything, and I didn’t dare peek up to see what he was thinking. “It’s not something we choose, or initiate ourselves,” I went on. “It just happens. But when a dragon finds itsSallith’tahn, they’re supposed to be together for life. Or that’s how it always was, before Talon, anyway.

“But,” I went on quickly, “I don’t want to be with someone because instinct says I should. I want to choose who I want to be with. And I... I don’t love Riley.” For some reason, my voice broke, and fresh tears trickled down my scales at that statement, but I forced myself to say it. To really acknowledge the truth, to myself as much as anyone else. Riley was a fellow dragon, a best friend and mySallith’tahn.We would always be connected, and I would always consider him one of the most important people in my life. But I didn’t love him. Not like I loved Garret.

“So,” I finished. “That’s theSallith’tahn.That’s the thing between me and Cobalt. What I’ve been feeling...ever since I met him, really. It’s messed all of us up for a long time, but I finally told Riley...that I wanted to be with you.” Still no answer from the human above me, and I closed my eyes. “I love you, Garret,” I whispered, clenching my talons in the straw, “but I don’t know if theSallith’tahnwill ever go away. If it doesn’t, I might always feel that connection toward Cobalt. I don’t know if you can accept that, but...it had to be said. I don’t want any more secrets between us.”

There was a moment of hesitation, and I wondered if he was going to walk away. If this life-mate thing was too weird for him to handle.

With a rustle of straw, the soldier knelt at my side. His hand came to rest lightly on my shoulder, sending a ripple of current through my whole body. “Is that why you’re hiding from me?” he asked in a soft voice.

“I’m not hiding,” I answered, still not uncurling.

He tapped a finger gently against my wing. “So, you’re telling me that you’re a dragon, and you might feel dragony things from time to time.”

I lifted my wing a bit and peeked up at him. He gazed back, not quite smiling, but there were no hints of anger, disgust or jealousy on his face. Hope fluttered, and I uncurled a little more, folding my wing to my back again. “So, you’re okay with this?”

“I wouldn’t say I’mhappyabout it,” Garret answered calmly. His fingers gently traced a wingtip, making me shiver. “But I knew there was something between you and Riley that I didn’t understand. Something only another dragon would get. I’d already accepted that when I made my decision to stay.” His gaze rose to mine, and a resigned smile finally tugged at his lips. “You can’t be completely in love with a dragon and expect anything to be normal.”

The heaviness weighing me down vanished, and warmth spread through my whole body. I sat up, and Garret put a hand on my neck, his gaze never leaving mine. “I’m here, Ember,” he said. “Dragon or human, it doesn’t matter to me. Whatever form you’re in, and whatever comes of it, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Dammit, Garret.” My eyes watered again, and I blinked hard. “Don’t say things like that when I can’t kiss you without biting your lips off.”

This time, his smile seemed to banish the shadows from the barn. He rose, brushing straw from his jeans, and I stood, as well. Things were far from okay, and the situation with Cobalt was an open wound on my heart, but he was free. And Garret had chosen to stay. Maybe now the three of us could finally move forward. And hope that time would heal the terrible scars we gave each other.

“Tristan has a place for us to meet,” Garret said, returning to the task at hand. “It’s halfway between here and my old chapterhouse, not too far, but we’ll have to move fast. Are you ready to go?”

I nodded. “I’ll meet you outside.”

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