Page 41 of Inferno

The windows buzzed up, and the van continued around the farmhouse and out of sight.

As I ran a tired hand down my face, a hollow thump came from the back of the semi, sounding suspiciously like a tail had been smacked against the wall in impatience. Ember, it seemed, had had enough of waiting around. Not that I could blame her; spending hours in the back of a tractor-trailer couldn’t be pleasant for anyone. Even though she’d been able to Shift back to human form, she had opted to stay with the four pregnant dragonells so they wouldn’t be alone for the journey. Of course, that also meant she’d spent two days in a dank, poorly lit shipping container as we’d sailed back to the coast. I hadn’t seen her in human form since we’d assaulted the facility, and I knew the accommodations for the dragons, while necessary, had not been ideal. I just hoped the red dragon had not reached the point of snapping at anything that got close to her.

I opened the door and exited the rig, seeing Riley ahead of us, dropping down from his seat with Mist close behind him on the passenger’s side. He gave me a nod as he strode around the back of the semi. I returned it before walking to the doors of my own truck and pulling them back with a rusty groan.

A cloud of warm, stale air billowed out of the opening, smelling of rust, grease and the faint, musky scent of dragon that was unlike anything else in the world. Ember stood in the frame, in human form and wearing the black Viper suit that masked her from head to toe. Her arms were crossed, and she gazed down at me with half teasing, half exasperated green eyes.

“Jeez, Garret,” the girl stated as my heart jumped in both worry and relief. “Were you aiming for the potholes? You must’ve hit every dip from here to Florida.”

I masked a relieved smile and held out my hand. Without pause, Ember took it and hopped down from the truck, right into my open arms. I pulled her close as her arms circled my neck, and we stood like that for a moment, the late-afternoon sun beating down on us.

“We made it,” she breathed into my neck. “We’re home.”

“Yeah,” I murmured.Home.That was a strange thought. For years, the Order had been home, the soldiers of St. George my family. And then, for a while, I hadn’t known where I fit in. I was adrift, an outsider, mistrusted by dragons and hated by the Order that raised me. Now, I was certain I’d found my place. This was where I belonged, with Ember and Riley and a bunch of rogue dragons.

Ember pulled back to gaze at the farmhouse over my shoulder. “And the house is still standing,” she remarked. “It didn’t explode or burn down while we were gone, so that’s a good thing.”

Four scaly bodies were curled up at the back of the container, so entwined with each other that it was impossible to tell them apart. “Everyone okay?” I called into the darkness.

Glowing dragon eyes peered at me, wary and mistrustful. I spoke as gently as I could, opening the doors a bit wider so that the light spilled into the truck. “Come on,” I urged. “Everyone follow me. I’ll show you where you’ll be staying. Don’t worry about being seen—we’re pretty much in the middle of nowhere. You’re safe here, I promise.”

Slowly, the pile of dragons uncurled. Cautiously, they edged out of the truck, then gazed around in wonder, eyes wide as they took everything in. I reminded myself that they hadn’t left the island in years, perhaps decades. The tight confines of the facility was all they knew, so the outside world was probably very strange and exciting. Ember watched them from a few feet away, her expression shadowed with sympathy and understanding. Perhaps she saw herself in them, wide-eyed and eager, from very long ago. Before her world was consumed with fighting and war, blood and death. Before she was forced to leave that ordinary girl and ordinary life behind and become a soldier.

“This way,” I told the group, and they followed us across the yard to the barn sitting at the edge of the pasture. Shoving the doors open, I led the small group of dragons into the cool barn. The individual stalls had already been prepared, and fresh straw, water and blankets lay in each of them.

Upon seeing the inside of the barn, the dragonells relaxed. Without any prompting, they each took a stall and began rooting around in the hay, as if making a nest. Nothing was said about the lack of proper accommodations, of being forced to stay in a barn. I suddenly had the feeling that such housings were normal for them, as normal as a room with a bed. I saw Ember clench her fists at her sides, anger radiating from her skin.

“Last time,” she whispered, as if making a promise. “This is the last time you’ll have to do this, I swear it.”

A shadow fell across the doorway a moment before Jade entered the barn. The dragonells jerked up, their eyes going wide with fear and awe, recognizing a much older, vastly powerful Adult. The small Asian woman gazed back at them serenely and inclined her head.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said, her soothing voice flowing over them like water. “You have nothing to fear from me, or any of the dragons in this circle. We will do our best to protect all of you, so rest easy. You are safe here.”

Once again, the dragonells relaxed, sinking back into the straw, though they still kept an eye on the Eastern dragon as she turned to face me and Ember. “I’m glad you’re safe,” she told us, returning Ember’s smile. “And that the mission was a success. I only regret that I was not there to aid you. The loss of any life is a heavy burden. I would have shared it with you if I could.”

Ember’s face darkened, probably remembering Scarlett, as I thought back to the other soldiers who hadn’t made it off the island. Nine men had been killed in the assault when the monstrous green dragon showed itself. Nine soldiers we had to leave behind. Three of them had been from the Western Chapterhouse, men I had known and fought beside. It was a relatively small number, but now with the Order so scattered and broken, the loss of every soldier was devastating.

“Thanks for staying here, Jade,” Ember said. “And for looking after the rest of them. Any trouble with Talon?”

“No. The organization has been unnaturally quiet the past few days. It is worrisome.” The Eastern dragon furrowed her brow. “I believe this is what you call the calm before the storm.”

I had the dark, ominous feeling she was right.

DANTE

“The Elder Wyrm has called for you, sir.”

I barely heard the voice coming through my speaker. I was numb. Nothing felt real anymore as I stared at the words on my computer.

True. It was all true. The experiments, the start of the vessel program, everything the letter hinted at. Ember and I were clones of the Elder Wyrm. But it was worse than that. According to the scientist’s notes, Ember was the one they’d wanted to create: a near-perfect replica of the Elder Wyrm. I was an afterthought, a backup plan. Something that was allowed to exist only to give my twin a better chance at life. Because Ember was the vessel intended for the Elder Wyrm to achieve immortality. Or at least another thousand years.

“Sir? Sir, are you there?”

I shook myself out of my daze, answering the call out of habit. “Thank you, Ms. Brooks. Please inform the Elder Wyrm that I am on my way.”

Slumping back, I stared at the file for a few seconds longer, then deleted the entire thing. No point in keeping such incriminating evidence sitting on my computer, and I had confirmed what I’d set out to find. It was too late to unsee the file, to return to blissful ignorance. I could never unlearn what I knew.

Ember was the Elder Wyrm’s vessel.

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