Page 53 of Talon

Irritation flared, which was odd for me. “What would you suggest, then, O Guru of the First Date?”

Tristan laughed. “Wow, youarenervous. Relax, partner. It’s not like this is real. Besides,” he added, grinning as he shut the cabinet door and turned to me, enjoying my discomfort far too much, “I have the perfect spot.”

Ember

The soldiers were on to me.

I’d already been gunned down twice this morning. My scales were spattered with red, and a trickle of paint kept oozing into my eye, making my third lid constantly slide up to protect it. It was getting harder and harder to ambush the sneaky bastards; they were wise to my method of assault now, and ready to defend a sudden attack from above. Still, I’d managed to take several down before being shot to death with paintballs. Tearing away the strip of red cloth at their waist now equaled a successful “kill,” and I’d racked up quite the body count. I thought I was doing pretty well, for someone who had to get in close to people with freaking guns. Still, it never satisfiedher.

I was creeping through the aisles, all senses alert, when a soft groan made me freeze. It came from the other side of the crate wall, and I quickly leaped up top to avoid detection, careful to land silently. Peering over the edge, I blinked.

A soldier lay in the middle of the corridor, facedown on the cement, his gun at his side. I watched, ready to pounce if he got up. Maybe he’d tripped, or maybe he was just taking a nap, I didn’t know. But he didn’t rise, though his legs moved weakly and faint groans came from his huddled form. Something was wrong.

I dropped soundlessly to the floor, gazing around for his teammates. No one seemed to be around. They were probably stalking different corners of the room, looking for me. The man in the aisle groaned again, tried to get up and failed, slumping back to the cement. He was obviously hurt, and there was no one around but me.

“Hey,” I said, trotting forward. I wished I could’ve Shifted into human form and not look so...targetlike, but as always, I was nude for these little exercises. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

He moaned again, and I stepped closer. “Can you walk?” I asked urgently. “Do you want me to get Scary Talon La—”

Quick as a snake, he flipped onto his back, leveled his gun and me and fired point-blank at my chest.

Dammit!I flinched back, not bothering to dodge, knowing it was useless. I wasn’t even surprised when the rest of the squad appeared from hidden nooks and crannies and fired on me, too.Dammit, dammit, dammit, I walked right into that one. I’m sureshewill have all kinds of things to say about this.

Closing my eyes, I hunkered down until the storm of paint finally stopped, and waited for my trainer to appear.

As usual, it didn’t take long. Scary Talon Lady emerged from an aisle, shaking her head, her eyes crinkled with disgust. I growled, curling my lips back, as the soldiers took their guns and vanished again, including the one on the floor.

“I know,” I growled before she could say anything. “Pathetic. You don’t have to tell me, I know what I did wrong.”

Her eyes bored into me. “If you knew,” she said in a soft, unamused voice, “why did you do it?”

“I...I thought he was hurt! Really hurt. He’s not a soldier of St. George—if he really was injured, I wanted to help him.”

“Andthat,” my trainer said in a hard, icy voice, pointing with a sharp red nail, “is exactly why you failed. Who cares if he was hurt? He was still your enemy, and you had no business wanting to aid him.” She straightened, giving me a look of contempt. “What is it youshouldhave done, hatchling?”

I bit back the snarl rising to my throat. “Killed him.”

“Without mercy,” my trainer agreed. “Without hesitation. If you are ever in this type of situation again, I expect you to get it right. Because you may never have another chance if you don’t.”

* * *

Dante was on the couch watching some kind of action movie when I got home. He lay there looking perfectly nonchalant, with his head on the armrest, one leg dangling off the side and a soda resting on his stomach. I shook my head as I came through the door, on my way up to the shower. Dante never came home looking like a cow exploded on him.

He glanced up at me, and I held my breath. Ever since that night in my room after the party, we’d been walking on eggshells around each other. In typical Dante fashion, he never spoke of the encounter and acted like everything was fine. I knew better. It wasn’t fine,weweren’t fine, but I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Good God,” he commented as I paused in the frame, feeling hot and sticky and generally cranky. “Were you swimming in it today?”

“Shut up.” The response was mostly out of habit, something easy and familiar, and the tension between us eased a bit as I made my way toward the steps. “Why are you home, anyway?” I asked, keeping my voice light, uncaring. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something with Calvin and Tyler today?”

“I’m meeting them at the Hut in an hour,” Dante said, taking a swig from the can on his stomach. “Tyler found a new rock-climbing spot just out of town, so we’re heading up there to check it out.” He glanced at me and offered a wry half grin. “You’re welcome to ‘tag along’ if you like. The guys won’t care, and I’m pretty sure you can keep up.”

He was extending an olive branch and, another time, I would’ve gladly accepted. Beating Dante and his friends to the top of a cliff was exactly what I needed to clear the bad air between us. Tonight, though, I had other plans. Plans that made my stomach squirm in a way surfing, dancing or rock climbing never did. Tonight, I would be with Garret.

“No, thanks,” I told Dante. “I’ll kick your ass some other time.”

He shrugged and went back to watching TV. I continued toward the stairs but paused, hovering at the foot of the steps, watching him until he looked up again and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

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