Page 24 of Inferno

Garret blinked, looking surprised as I entered the room with Tristan. His gaze sought mine, gray eyes questioning, as I circled around to his side of the table.

“Everything all right?” he murmured as I slid in beside him.

There was no suspicion in his tone. No jealousy, just puzzled concern. I realized I was still radiating heat; the anger and adrenaline from the encounter with Peter Matthews hadn’t dissipated. For a moment, I considered not telling Garret what had happened with the soldiers in the hall. Given his history with Peter, I wondered if it wouldn’t be better that he didn’t know. Garret wasn’t the vengeful type, not like Riley, but he just might make an exception for his old rival. Perhaps it was better to keep this hidden for now.

I decided against it.No secrets, Ember.This wasn’t a case of playground bullying. This was a war, and these were the soldiers who would be aiding us on our mission. Garret needed to know, in case Peter Matthews did decide to shoot us in the back.

“I’m fine,” I whispered back, and gave his arm a brief squeeze. “I’ll tell you everything after the meeting.” He nodded, and I turned my attention to the table, where the map of the island facility was laid out in the center. “What’s going on?”

“We think,” Garret began, “we have a way to get the breeders off the island.”

PART II

SMOLDER

DANTE

I had never climbed so many steps in my life.

This is ridiculous. Why didn’t anyone tell me that this council was held at the very top of a mountain, and the only way you could get there was climb or fly?With a groan, I pushed myself to my feet, secretly wishing, for perhaps the first time, that I could make this journey in my real form. Around me, the rocky cliffs rose straight into the air, soaring to jagged, impossible heights. The winding trail up the side of the mountain was narrow at the best of times and completely treacherous otherwise. The stone steps were slick, crumbling with age, and there were no railings, handholds or barriers of any kind between me and a sheer drop down the side of the mountain. The temple was isolated, as far from civilization as you could get. If I had known I would be climbing what felt like a few thousand steps to reach my objective, I might’ve saved myself the trouble and flown there. Sadly, I had only the one suit, and I wasn’t inclined to ruin it by Shifting. Besides, though I had no way of knowing, I suspected this was a test of some sort, that they were watching to see what the impatient hatchling would do. If I showed up at the council of ancient Eastern dragons in my real form, they would know I had failed, and I hated failing.

Overhead, the sky was mottled with clouds, and some of the peaks had vanished into the blanket of gray and white. The temple, I hoped, would be just beyond the cloud bank.

Checking my watch, I took a deep breath and continued climbing.

The clouds closed around me, a solid wall of white that muffled everything, and the trail shrank to a sliver of stone between the side of the cliff and open air. Setting my jaw, I pushed upward, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and not losing my balance.

And then, the steps ended, the clouds disappeared and I was staring at a magnificent temple perched at the very top of the mountain. Weathered gray walls and a sweeping, clay-tiled roof stood against the blue of the sky, with one of the balconies overlooking a sheer drop down the side of the cliff face. The temple looked as ancient as the mountain itself; I wondered how old it really was…if it had been built with the intent to house a dragon.

A single monk, bald and dressed in somber black robes, stood beside the doors as I approached. I hoped he wouldn’t try to speak with me—my Mandarin was all but nonexistent—but he silently bowed and stepped aside for me to pass. I walked down a very long corridor, lit only with flickering candles in nooks or atop brass stands, until deep, ancient voices began vibrating the stones at my feet.

Outside a pair of enormous wooden doors trimmed in gold, I paused, taking a moment to breathe, to calm the emotions fluttering inside.You are not just a hatchling, I told myself.You are the heir to Talon, the Voice of the Elder Wyrm herself, and they will respect that position or face the wrath of the organization.

Opening my eyes, I raised my head, pushed back the doors and strode into the chamber, smiling as I did.

Six pairs of ancient, all-knowing eyes turned on me. A round stone table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by pillars, candle stands and a half-dozen Adult Eastern dragons, all in human form. They wore long flowing robes of various colors and billowing sleeves, and the weight of their combined stares nearly knocked the air from my lungs.

As the doors groaned shut behind me, I faced the roomful of dragons and bowed, feeling their gazes on the back of my neck. “Please forgive my tardiness,” I said, holding the bow. “The climb up the mountain was…steeper than I first imagined. I hope I have not kept you long.”

“You,” one of the females said, her smooth voice tinged with anger. She was an older woman, smaller than me by several inches, with silver-gray hair braided down her back and piercing dark eyes. “How dare you come here, demanding an audience with the council, mere days after Talon brutally attacks our kind for no reason? You slaughter our people, burn our temples to the ground, send those…abominationsto destroy us, and now you have the audacity to stand before us in the name of peace and cooperation.” Her eyes started to glow an ominous yellow as the outline of her true form—a massive red dragon with a golden mane and horns—flickered overhead for a split second. “Tell me, hatchling, why shouldn’t we kill you here and now? What can you possibly do to stop us?”

I kept my voice polite, nonthreatening. As if this were a perfectly normal meeting, and I felt no fear whatsoever. “There is nothing I can do, should you decide to end my life,” I said calmly. “However, that course of action is not advisable. If you kill me, Talon will show you no mercy whatsoever.”

The woman gave a brittle laugh. “That is supposed to frighten us?” she mocked. “Talon has already shown us the extent of its ‘mercy.’”

“Forgive me, but I have to disagree,” I said, joining them at the table. “Everything you’ve seen so far? That was only the tip of the iceberg. Right now, Talon’s attention is dispersed—our operations in the US and England are taking much of our time. If you kill me, it will turn the full force of its gaze on this temple and everyone in it.” I met the woman’s eyes, unchallenging, but unafraid. “I am the blood of the Elder Wyrm and the heir to the most powerful organization in the world,” I stated calmly. “You do not want the Elder Wyrm to make this personal.”

“Enough,” said one of the others, an old man with a white beard and thin mustache down the front of his chest. Ancient black eyes gazed at me across the table. “You did not come to us simply to test our patience,” he said. “If Talon sent you here alone, they must be very confident in whatever you are about to say. Speak, then, and let us be done with it.”

I bowed my head respectfully. “Thank you.” Facing them all, their expressions ranging from anger to distrust to calm indifference, I took a furtive breath.

“You have all seen the power Talon now commands,” I began. “The Night of Fang and Fire struck not only here, but at all St. George bases around the world. Our forces took them by surprise, and the dragonslayers fell before the might of Talon. The Order of St. George has been wiped out. The war is finished, and the dragonslayers are no more.”

If the Eastern dragons felt surprise or dismay at the news, they hid it perfectly. “Our enemies have been put down,” I went on. “St. George will no longer threaten us. The rogue dragons will no longer threaten us. The only opposition Talon has left…is right here.

“We shouldn’t be enemies,” I continued before they could mount an argument, or accuse me of threats. “We are the same, and all dragons should be united under one banner. Join us. Accept the gift the Elder Wyrm is offering your people. With your wisdom and Talon’s power, we can make our race even stronger.”

“And if we do not?” Another dragon spoke, a beardless man with his hair pulled into a long tail that reached the small of his back. He was the youngest dragon at the table, and probably older than me by several centuries. “If we refuse this ‘gift’?”

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