Page 17 of Inferno

“Yeah,” he muttered, not sounding at all convinced. “Mist. An ex-Talon agent with a mystery employer backing us up with the soldiers of St. George. That gives me all sorts of confidence that this mission is going to go well.” He ran a hand down his face, grimacing. “Maybe you can talk to her, Firebrand,” he suggested, glancing at me. “See if you can find out who this mystifying employer of hers is. I haven’t had any luck dragging it out of her.”

“Me?” I asked. “You’re the fellow Basilisk. What makes you think I’d have a better chance?”

“Because you’re the one with the knack for making people do things they don’t want to do.”

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

“Not a criticism, Firebrand.” Riley gave a wry grin and gestured to the door Martin and Ward had gone through. “Look around you. Do you think any of us want to be here? Do you think any one of us are happy having to work with people whom we’ve considered our enemies for hundreds of years? Dragons allying with the Order of St. George? If you suggested that to anyone a year ago, they’d either be horrified or they’d think you’d gone completely bonkers.” He shrugged. “And yet, here we are, working together. Trying to save more of us. Because of you.

“So, yeah,” he finished, stepping toward the door. “If anyone has a shot of pulling information, kicking and screaming, out of Mist, I’d give you a better chance than me. Of course, if you don’t want to feel like you’re beating your head repeatedly against a brick wall, that’s fine, too. She’ll slip up someday.”

“Watch yourself out there,” Garret warned. “Lieutenant Ward won’t try anything directly, but a lot of his men have the same convictions he does. If they know there’s a dragon walking around…”

“Oh, don’t worry, St. George.” Riley smiled grimly. “I always watch my back around genocidal maniacs. And I’ll try not to eat anyone who tries to fuck with me. Best I can promise at the moment.” His gaze slid to me and turned grave. “You be careful, too, Firebrand,” he cautioned. “All it takes is a single loud voice to start a riot, and this place feels like a tinderbox right now. One spark, and everything will go up in flames.”

With that dire warning, he left the room, leaving me to wonder if I’d done the right thing in seeking the Order’s help, after all.

GARRET

I’d never actively disliked Lieutenant Jacob Ward, until now.

I’d heard the stories, of course. We all had. His reputation was infamous among the soldiers of the Order, fed by rumor and egged on by the man himself. Drills that routinely made soldiers pass out from exhaustion, pain or dehydration. Punishments ranging from cleaning his boots with your tongue to doing push-ups in full gear for three hours straight. How his personal goal was to make every new recruit cry at least once during their first week at the chapterhouse. In the past, I’d never looked forward to missions where we had to partner with Ward’s men, because the soldiers of the Eastern Chapterhouse eventually developed the cruelty and ruthless nature of their lieutenant. They were superb dragonslayers, brutal and efficient in the field, but their insatiable bloodlust, and the way they treated anyone smaller or weaker than themselves, sometimes made them difficult to work with. I had been the target of their hazing once, when a pair of soldiers took personal offense to my growing reputation and tried to “put me in my place.” Two broken jaws and a dislocated elbow later, they’d known I was someone to leave alone, but I’d had to be just as brutal and vicious as them to get my point across.

I wondered how many of those soldiers had survived and were here right now. I wondered what would happen if they did try to start something with any of the dragons here, particularly Riley.

I grimaced. It wouldn’t end well, for either side. Not that I doubted my dragon teammates could take care of themselves when faced with a soldier of the Order, but if tempers were lost and violence erupted, it could shatter everything we were trying to accomplish. We needed the Order’s help, but you could only push a dragon so far. And, former comrades or not, if any one of them hurt the girl across from me, they would end up in the infirmary with a lot more than a broken jaw.

Ember, I noticed, had grown quiet. She hadn’t moved from the edge of the table, but was gazing at the map spread across the center. Her fingers reached down, tracing the edge of the paper.

“Did we do the right thing?” she mused, her voice solemn. “DidIdo the right thing, insisting we come, that we seek out the Order? Maybe Riley was right, after all.” She pulled her hand back, still staring down at the map as if it could give her answers. “What if the Order isn’t ready for this?” she murmured. “For hundreds of years, St. George has hunted us. We’ve been demons and monsters to them for centuries. They’re not going to change their beliefs in a few days. And I didn’t even think of the breeders. What’s going to happen when they see the Order of St. George arrive? They’re just as likely to panic and start fighting out of fear and desperation.” She sighed, bowing her head. “Dammit. If we go to that island, and a dragon is hurt or killed because of me…”

I moved behind her, slipping my arms around her waist. “It won’t be your fault,” I told her. “You have done everything you can to prepare both sides for this. You’re right, the Order won’t change their beliefs in a few days. And as long as St. George exists, dragons will continue to fear and hate us. But we have to start somewhere.” She leaned back, resting her head on my shoulder, and I tightened my grip, content not to move. “This is a huge first step, Ember,” I said. “You have no idea the magnitude of an officer of St. George agreeing to ally with dragons. They’re starting to listen. We just have to trust that they’ll keep their word. And that they’ll eventually realize the truth.”

“Martin, perhaps.” Ember’s hands came to rest on my arms, squeezing gently. “I could see him finally accepting us, or at least realizing that some dragons don’t want what Talon wants. But Lieutenant Ward…” She sighed, a shadow crossing her face. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do,” she whispered. “What he might order his soldiers to do. We’ll be in the middle of nowhere and there will be no place for the breeders to run. What if his real goal is to get to that island and slaughter every dragon there? Riley would never forgive me.” Her voice dropped, becoming nearly inaudible. “I’d never forgive myself.”

“That won’t happen,” I told her firmly. “We’ll stop him. I’ll stop him, Ember, I promise. Even if I have to shoot him myself.”

Ember shivered. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

I hoped it wouldn’t, either. I was weary of fighting my former brothers, sickened by their blood that stained my hands. I would protect the rogues, the underground and the dragon I loved, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hate myself each time I had to pull the trigger against the men I’d once fought beside.

“Garret?” Ember’s voice was contemplative, her fingers tracing small circles on my forearms. “Do you think…the war will come to an end in our lifetimes?”

I gazed down at her. It was hard to imagine. I’d known nothing but war my entire life. Everything I could remember was fighting, blood, battles and death. Except for one brief memory of a small town called Crescent Beach, and a summer that changed everything.

“I don’t know,” I murmured. Certainly the Order allying with rogue dragons was a huge step in the right direction, but it almost seemed to come too late. When Talon was poised to destroy everything. “Why?” I asked her. “What got you thinking of this?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ember reached back and slipped her fingers into my hair. “I was remembering that summer, I guess.” She didn’t have to say what she meant; it was seared into both our memories forever. “I was thinking it would be nice to go back to normal again. Where we’re not running or fighting for our lives. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve even thought about surfing? Or anything that doesn’t involve bullets and guns and crazy suicide missions?”

I chuckled. “I thought thatwasnormal for us.” She swatted my arm, and I grinned, pulling her closer. “Maybe someday,” I murmured, making her sigh. “Someday this will be over, and then you can drag me to parties and dancing and all the normal things people are supposed to do together.” I gave a wry grin, brushing her hair from her shoulder to place a kiss on her neck. “You’ll probably have to teach me, though. I still don’t have a great grasp of what normal is supposed to be.”I’m in love with a dragon. I’m as far removed from normal as anything can get.

“Honestly?” Ember whispered. “I don’t even care about those things anymore. I just… I want us to be alive at the end, all of us. You, Riley, Jade, Mist, the rogues… Dante.” She swallowed hard. “The longer the war goes on, the more likely it is I’m going to lose someone. We’ve gotten lucky so far. I can’t even remember how many close calls we’ve had, but I know it can’t last forever.” Her hands tightened almost painfully on my arms. “That’s all I want,” she whispered. “I’d rather die fighting beside you than spend normal alone.”

I gently turned her to face me and ran a thumb over her cheek. “I can’t promise you that, dragon girl,” I told her softly. “I wish I could. I wish I could protect everyone, but war doesn’t ever give you that luxury.” She nodded sadly, and I drew her closer, lowering my head. “But I can promise you this—as long as I have the breath to keep going, I won’t give up. I’ll keep fighting for that normal life. As long as this war doesn’t kill me, I plan to be right beside you when this is done.” She blinked, and I offered a small smile. “What do you say when this is all over we find a beach and go surfing again? I’ll bet money you fall off your board more than I do.”

Her eyes flashed, and a grin finally crept across her face. “I’ll take that bet, soldier boy,” she said, looping her arms around my neck. “And you’re going to eat those words, along with all that sand and seawater, when you wipe out.”

“Oh?” I tightened my arms around her waist, feeling heat start to flicker through my veins. “And what if I don’t? What do I get if I win?”

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