Page 59 of Legion

I didn’t. I tensed and quickly glanced around the room for anyone who could be a soldier of St. George. Lieutenant Martin sighed.

“Relax, Sebastian. I’m alone. There’s no one here but me, and no one in the Order knows where I’ve gone. Now, please...” He gestured to the booth again, giving me a tight smile. “Sit down. You and your dragon are in no danger, at least not today.”

Warily, we did as he asked, sliding into the seat across from him. “Where’s Tristan?” I asked, and his face darkened.

“Back at the barracks. He won’t be joining us.” Martin paused as a waitress arrived to take our drink order. After she left, he took a sip of his water and continued in a grim voice. “Sebastian, you should know that after the incident with the Patriarch, St. Anthony was taken into custody. He admitted to meeting with you outside of St. George and to conspiring against the Patriarch, both treasonous offenses as I’m sure you know. There were some in the Order who called for his execution for the part he played in aiding you that night.”

My stomach dropped. I knew Tristan had taken a huge risk in helping us, that St. George could see him as a coconspirator of the whole event. I’d hoped his actions would be overlooked in the general chaos; the last thing I’d wanted was for my former partner to be punished, too.

“Fortunately,” Martin went on, “or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, the Order is in a bit of upheaval at the moment. With all the disorder and confusion, no one has gotten around to organizing a trial. Or, at least, they have bigger issues to worry about. And I have no intention of reminding them anytime soon.

“But,” he went on as I relaxed a bit, “when the duel ended and you vanished with those dragons, I suspected we hadn’t heard the last from you, Sebastian. And I knew if you were to contact the Order again, it would be through St. Anthony. I’ve taken it upon myself to keep him under constant surveillance, so that when you resurfaced, I would know.”

“Then it was you who answered me yesterday,” I said. “You set up this meeting, not Tristan.”

“That I did.”

“Why?”

Martin didn’t answer right away. He stared down at the table with his fingers steepled in front of him, his eyes dark.

“You’re an agent of change, Sebastian,” he said at last. “For good or ill, events happen around you that no one can predict. It’s been that way since you first came to the Academy. Before that, even. Since the day Lucas found you in the Talon compound and took you in as a soldier for the Order. I’ve watched you through the years, and I’ve seen it happen time and time again. Whenever something important happens, something that could shake the very foundations of everything we know, you are always in the middle of it. Now the Patriarch is dead, the Order is in turmoil and Talon grows ever stronger because of it.” He glanced at Ember, sitting silently beside me, and his jaw tightened. “I should kill you, Sebastian,” he went on, making me cringe inside. “For turning your back on the Order and everything it stands for. You betrayed your brothers, and you betrayed me. But worst of all...” His eyes narrowed. “You betrayed Lucas, the man who saved you, who brought you to us and taught you everything you know. He would be ashamed if he could see you now.”

I kept the pain from my face, but if he’d stabbed me with a knife, I doubted it would have hurt as much as those words did right then. I thought of my mentor, remembering his words, the way he’d always pushed me to do better, to try harder. To be the best. The perfect soldier. Lucas Benedict would accept nothing less. After he’d been killed in battle, I’d thrown myself into training with a single-minded determination to become that perfect soldier. If it was Benedict sitting across from me now, and not Gabriel Martin, would my mission be the same? WouldIstill be the same?

“But,” Martin went on with a sigh, “you were also the one who discovered the truth. You brought this conspiracy to light, you and your dragons. And regardless of what St. George believes, you risked much to bring it to the Order’s attention. I will not forgive what you’ve done, but it would be foolish of me not to hear you out.” His voice turned cold and hard, and his eyes glinted as he spared the girl beside me a glare of loathing. “Even if I must sit down to dinner with a demon.”

Ember’s lips thinned, but she didn’t say anything. She knew nothing she said would change Martin’s disposition toward her. She was a dragon, and so, in his eyes, she was a monster. But he didn’t know her at all. He’d never seen her bravery, her kindness and determination. He’d never seen her risk her life for someone, be it human or dragon, because all life was precious to her. He didn’t know how much she hated the endless fighting and killing and longed for the day when the war would be over. Even with Ember sitting right across from him, all he saw was a dragon.

But he was still here, talking to us. Sitting across from his sworn enemy and having a conversation, instead of trying to slaughter it outright. It was a start, I thought. We wouldn’t be able to end the war overnight, but at least it was a step in the right direction.

“So.” Martin folded his hands before him again. “Talk, Sebastian. You risked contact with St. Anthony for a reason. I assume it was for something important.” His expression darkened. “Though, I will warn you both, I’m not sure what you think the Order can do, now that that the Patriarch is gone.”

“Why?” asked Ember, the first thing she’d said since meeting Martin. He gave her a hard look, but answered calmly.

“When Sebastian exposed the Patriarch’s involvement with Talon, it threw the Order into chaos. His death has fractured it even more. There is a divide within St. George, between those who accept that the Patriarch was working with the dragons, and those who believe he was set up. Chapterhouses have called their soldiers back and are operating independently from each other. Everyone is outraged, but no one knows what to do or who to trust.” Martin’s gaze narrowed. “It’s quite the mess you left us, Sebastian,” he said. “So I hope that, whatever news you’re about to tell me, you don’t expect the Order to respond in haste. Or at all.”

Ember released a slow breath. “Talon was expecting this,” she said, her voice full of quiet horror. “They were probably planning to expose the Patriarch themselves, and we just hurried things along.”

I was thinking the same, and the sick feeling in my gut grew stronger. With the Order so fractured and disorganized, it was the perfect time for an attack. Unintentional or not, we might have given Talon the exact opening they needed. Martin’s jaw tightened, his gaze sharp as it flicked between us.

“I assume this is about Talon, then.” It wasn’t a question.

I nodded. “Sir,” I said, looking up at him. “You have to contact the Order. We came here with a warning—Talon is going to attack St. George. We don’t know when, but it’s going to be very soon.”

Martin straightened. “An attack?” he said. “On St. George soil? Where is it taking place?” he asked, leaning forward. “Which chapterhouse?”

“All of them,” Ember said, making his brows rise. “Every chapterhouse, every Order sanctuary around the world, is going to be hit on the same night. At the same time.”

“That’s impossible,” Martin said flatly. “Talon doesn’t have the numbers for that kind of operation. Especially since we’ve taken out more dragons in the past three years than we ever have before.”

“Most of those dragons weren’t part of Talon,” I said, feeling the anger rise up from the girl beside me. “They were rogues, deserters who left the organization and went into hiding. Or dragons who never belonged to Talon at all. All you’ve been doing is taking out Talon’s enemies, the dragons they’ve wanted out of the way.”

“Regardless.” Martin leaned back, seemingly unconcerned. “It doesn’t matter if these ‘rogues’ were part of the organization or not. Talon still does not have the manpower for a full-scale assault on the Order.”

“They do now,” Ember broke in. “They have an army of dragons. And if you don’t take this seriously, they’re going to hit St. George when no one is prepared for it, and they’re going to wipe you out.”

He gave her a long, scrutinizing look. “And how would this be a bad thing for you, dragon?” he asked in a quiet voice. “Sebastian I can understand. He has been twisted and corrupted by the enemy, but in his heart, the loyalty to the cause and his former brothers in St. George cannot be erased so quickly. But you...” His voice turned cold. “You are a dragon, and we are at war. If the Order falls, your kind will be free to do what you wish. Talon will win. Why would you try to prevent the complete destruction of your enemies?”

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