Page 38 of Inferno

And a shot rang out somewhere close, causing the dragon to jerk up with a snarl. Blearily, I turned my head. A handful of soldiers swarmed into the yard, the chatter of M14s echoing off the buildings. As I struggled to stay conscious, one pale-haired soldier leaped over a pile of rubble, spun to face the dragon and fired a flurry of shots into its side.

“Garret,” I whispered as Vance bellowed with rage. As the soldiers spread out, surrounding him, he drew back, nostrils flaring, to unleash a column of fire at his enemies.

He didn’t see Scarlett stagger to her feet, eyes burning, and make one last, desperate lunge. As the director’s mouth opened, glowing red with imminent flames, the crimson dragon struck him hard, knocking him off balance, and clamped her jaws around his throat.

This time, the dragon’s booming roar was strangled. He turned on Scarlett, raking with his claws, trying to jerk free. His blows opened terrible wounds all over her body, but as I watched, unable to stand or even move, Scarlett closed her eyes and clung to him with stubborn determination. The soldiers surrounded the pair, continuing to fire on the director, whose struggles finally began to slow. I saw Garret sprint forward, dodge beneath Vance’s long tail and aim his weapon at the dragon’s side. Right behind the foreleg where the heart would lie. At such short range, the bullets finally pierced through the dragon’s scales and slammed deep into his body.

Vance convulsed, tail and wings thrashing, and Garret dove out of the way. With Scarlett still clinging to his neck, the huge dragon staggered, swayed and finally collapsed, hitting the ground with a crash that sent tremors through the earth. His sides heaved, his tail beating a weak rhythm in the dirt until, slowly, both stopped moving. With a last groan, the massive Adult dragon shuddered and went limp, the light fading from his yellow eyes, as he finally relinquished control and slipped away into death.

RILEY

The bastard was finally dead. I watched as the director of Talon’s infamous facilities—the dragon in charge of this island, who knew exactly what two dozen female dragons went through, day after day, and remained coldly indifferent to their suffering—shuddered once and gave up the fight. Relief, triumph and a sadistic glee blossomed in my stomach as the Adult finally went still. I had never in my entire life been so happy to see another dragon die.

But that didn’t erase my failure, or the price of our victory. While the soldiers of St. George cheered and pumped their fists in the air, I limped across the broken ground to where the two Adult dragons lay entwined together. Vance stared sightlessly upward, jaws parted and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. Even in death, he looked surprised, as if he couldn’t believe he had lost. Scarlett lay motionless beside him, eyes closed, her jaws still locked around his neck. She was still alive, though her breaths were labored and shallow, and the gaping wounds all over her body told me she wasn’t going to leave the island tonight. Or ever.

I swallowed the helpless anger and gently prodded her with a forepaw, careful not to touch any torn flesh or broken scales. “Scarlett,” I said quietly, and her eyes opened, gazing blearily up at me. “You can let go now,” I said, my voice coming out slightly choked. “We won. Vance is dead.”

A look of triumph passed through her eyes, and she released her death grip on her foe, smiling as she gazed up at the stars. “Worth it,” she said in a smug, quiet voice, reminding me of yet another crimson dragon who would’ve likely done the exact same thing if she had the chance. “You’ll take care of them, right?” she added before I could say anything else. I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Yeah,” I husked out. “I’ll take them as far from this place as I can. They’ll never have to live under Talon again, I promise.”

She relaxed. “Good,” she said, though her voice was barely audible. “I’m glad I came back. They deserve a chance… to be free.”

She didn’t move again.

Numb, I stepped back and looked around. The soldiers were still celebrating their victory, clustered around the pair of bodies in the center of the yard. For a moment, I felt a stab of anger. St. George didn’t understand the sacrifice that had just happened, what the cost of this victory really was. All they saw was two dead dragons, and for them, that was reason enough to celebrate.

All except for one, who knelt at the side of a small red dragon a few yards away.

Ember.Guiltily, I trotted up, ignoring the soldiers who smiled and grinned and slapped each other on the back for killing a dragon. Ember was struggling to her feet as I approached, her jaws clenched in pain and her pupils razor-thin slits against the green of her eyes. Her right wing still hung at an awkward angle, making my stomach curl at the sight of it.

“Riley,” she panted as St. George put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Her gaze traveled past me to the bodies in the center of the yard. A pained look crossed her face, and she glanced back at me, hopeful. “Scarlett?”

I shook my head. Ember sighed, slumping into St. George, who took her weight without pause. “Dammit,” she muttered, closing her eyes. “I didn’t want… I was hoping there wouldn’t be any casualties, but I guess that was too much to ask.”

“What about the rest of them?” St. George asked, turning to me without letting go of the red dragon. “Did the other breeders make it out?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Mist was able to lead them away and get them over the wall. They should be heading to the beach now. Give me a second—I’ll change back and tell her to wait for us.”

A shout came from the center of the yard. I turned to see the other officer, Lieutenant Ward, stride forward to yell at the soldiers, ordering them to stop standing around congratulating themselves and to secure the rest of the buildings. With hasty “yes, sirs,” the soldiers complied, heading toward the apartments and medical building behind us. Glancing around, Ward spotted us, and a stony expression settled over his features. Setting his jaw, he came toward us.

I tensed, subtly moving in front of Ember as the officer marched up, his back stiff and his stride rigid. He wasn’t looking at me or St. George, his gaze fixed on the red dragon between us.

For a moment, he appeared to teeter on the verge of saying something; his jaw clenched and unclenched, as if he were unwilling or unable to voice what he was thinking. Ember gazed calmly at the lieutenant, seemingly aware of what was going on, though it was confusing the hell out of me. Finally, the human gave up. With a scowl, he wrenched his gaze from Ember and looked at St. George, ignoring me and the fact that I had been glaring at him ever since he’d begun stomping toward us.

“Sebastian,” he said briskly. “Contact Lieutenant Martin and let him know that we have secured the facilities. Inform him that all hostiles have been eliminated, and that we will be joining him as soon as we clean up here.” His gaze flickered to me, then at the empty buildings behind us, his lip curling slightly. “I take it the target lizards were evacuated safely?”

“Yes, sir,” St. George answered, ignoring the demeaning term for us. “What should we do with the workers who survived?”

“Don’t kill them,” I growled, remembering Dr. Miles and the way Scarlett had spoken of him. Yes, they worked for Talon and they were part of this whole hateful facility, but I still didn’t like the thought of St. George gunning down unarmed, unresisting doctors and scientists. “They’re unarmed, and some of them are just doing their jobs. They don’t deserve to be slaughtered in cold blood.”

Ward’s eyes glittered. It was clear he didn’t appreciate being given orders by a “lizard,” and his voice was cold as he answered. “They’re Talon minions who knowingly serve the organization. Our Code is clear—all who sell their souls to evil must be executed.”

“You’ve already broken your Code a dozen times tonight, Lieutenant,” Ember said, surprising us all. “Break it one more time. We’ve won. The mission is over. There’s no reason for more needless death.”

Ward stared at her, anger radiating from him. I tensed, and on Ember’s other side, I saw St. George do the same. But, shockingly, Ward nodded once and stepped back, his posture stiff.

“As you say, dragon. This once.” He turned on a heel, preparing to stride away but paused, adding over his shoulder, “Do not expect it to happen again.”

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