Page 81 of Talon

The dragon’s eyes narrowed. Shifting its weight, it drew its muzzle back, nostrils flaring, and I turned my head, bracing myself for the sheet of dragonfire, hoping it would be quick.

The dragon’s head snaked forward, and I flinched despite myself. But those deadly jaws went for my arm, for the hand that once held the gun, and closed over the muzzle of the pistol. Raising its head, the dragon gave an almost disgusted snort and hurled the gun away, where it sailed over the railing, glinted once in the moonlight and dropped into the ocean far below.

As I watched my weapon vanish over the edge of the cliff, the weight on my chest and arm disappeared. The dragon reared onto its hindquarters, flaring its wings, and backed away. Stunned, I levered myself to my elbows, watching it retreat, wondering if this was some sort of trick. If it was just toying with me further.

The dragon closed its eyes. Its form shimmered, rippled like a mirage and began to shrink. It grew smaller and smaller, wings disappearing, scales and claws melting away, until I was staring at Ember once more. She wore a dark suit that hugged her body like a second skin, outlining her deceitfully slender form. Her green eyes shone as she gazed down at me.

I didn’t move. I was unarmed, and the slight girl standing over me was just as dangerous as she had been a moment ago. It would take half a second for her to pounce on me again and tear me apart. But she didn’t move, either, just continued to watch me with sad, angry green eyes, and slowly, my muscles began to unclench. The thought was ludicrous but...it seemed this dragon, the target I’d been sent to kill, the girl I’d pursued with the intent to destroy, was going to let me go.

No,the Perfect Soldier protested.Don’t believe it. That’s insane. Dragons don’t show mercy, not to us.But what else could I believe? I’d been helpless a second ago, pinned under a creature three times my weight. One breath, one slash, would’ve ended my life. I didn’t know why it hadn’t. I was a soldier of St. George. It should have killed me just for that.

Looking up, I met the gaze of my enemy and muttered a single word, my voice coming out raspy and harsh. “Why?”

She took a deep, shaky breath. “If you have to ask that,” she whispered, glaring at me, “then you don’t know me as well as you think.” She paused, then added in an even softer voice, “You don’t knowusas well as you think.”

“Ember...”

“Goodbye, Garret.” Ember stepped back, her eyes hard. “Don’t follow me. Don’t come near me. If I see you or anyone else from St. George again, I won’t hold back. Stay the hell away from us.”

Turning, she fled barefoot across the rock without looking back, reached the stairs on the other side and was gone.

* * *

Alone, I dragged myself to my feet, feeling like I’d been sucker-punched in the head, and leaned against the railing. The ocean breeze tugged at my hair, cooling my heated skin, as I closed my eyes and tried to make sense of what had just happened.

I was still alive. I’d met a dragon, alone, fought it without any backup, lost and...I was still alive. I put a hand to my chest, feeling something warm seep through my shirt. My fingers came away red and sticky from where the dragon had dug its claws into my skin, but it could’ve done worse. It could’ve ripped me open like a paper sack. Charred the skin from my bones with a single blast of flame. But it hadn’t. It—she—had let me go.

You don’t knowusas well as you think.

“We’ve been wrong,” I whispered. It killed me to say it, to finally realize, after years of believing dragons were evil, could onlybeevil, but tonight’s encounter left no room for doubt. Dragons, at leastsomedragons, weren’t the vicious, calculating monsters we’d thought. Not all dragons hated mankind. If they did, I wouldn’t be standing here, feeling like the world had been tipped on its head. I’d been wrong, and the Order had been wrong. Ember hadknownI was St. George, that I was her greatest enemy, and she’d spared my life.

In a daze, I stumbled back to the parking lot, my mind spinning. What did I do now? Return to the Order? Rejoin the war as if nothing had happened? As if hunting down and killing more dragons wouldn’t remind me ofher,and what I learned here tonight?

As I reached my Jeep, still unsure of my next move, my phone buzzed. I pulled it out, wincing as Tristan’s number blinked across the screen. I’d already ignored one call from him, but I couldn’t ignore him forever.

Sighing, I put the phone to my ear. “Where are you, Tristan?”

“Where amI?” the furious voice on the other side answered. “Where the fuck are you? What the hell do you think you’re doing? If the captain finds out you ran out like that, you’ll be lucky to get fifty lashes in front of the whole squad.”

“I...had to think.”

“Well, get your damn head back in the game, partner. We’ve got orders. Where are you?”

“I’m coming back now.”

“No, I’m already moving. Meet me at the corner of Palm and Main. I’ll explain everything then. St. Anthony, out.”

Seconds after I arrived at the rendezvous point, a white van screeched to a stop at the curb, and Tristan flung open the door. “Come on,” he ordered, and I obeyed, sliding into the passenger seat. Tristan hit the gas almost before I closed the door, and we sped out of the lot.

“What’s going on?” I asked, snapping the seat belt into place. Tristan flashed me an exasperated glare and shook his head.

“New orders,” he said, gunning the engine and speeding through an aging yellow light. “Headquarters wasn’t pleased when they heard about the raid. There’s not much time before the targets leave town and drop off the grid again. But we know one of them is injured, and will probably have to hole up for a few hours, at least. They’re sending out all available soldiers to search every potential bug-out spot, cave or abandoned building. Any place these dragons could hide.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” I asked, clenching my fist against my leg. Tristan shook his head.

“No. We have a special mission.” He nodded to the dashboard, where his laptop lay open between us. On the computer screen, a blinking red dot was moving through a grid of streets, toward the ocean. “That’s our target. Ember Hill.”

My stomach twisted violently. I forced myself to speak, to remain calm. “Why her?”

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