Soldier (Talon, #3)(44)

With an inner growl, I laid my head on my tail and closed my eyes. I am a dragon, I reminded myself. Garret left for a reason.

“Dammit,” Cobalt muttered. “I left my jacket back at the lab.”





RILEY

Well, this sucked donkey balls.

I was grateful to the soldier. I was. His timing had been impeccable, and I was trying not to let my baser instincts get in the way of reason. To not give in to the urge to snarl a challenge every time he looked at Ember. Without him, I had no doubt I’d be a holey lump of meat and scales lying on the laboratory floor. A trophy for some St. George bastard to take home and hang above his fireplace. I knew the human had come back for us, that he was the sole reason Ember and I were still alive.

But, at the same time, he was back, his very presence making things problematic. And here I thought I’d gotten rid of him for good. Maybe that was shortsighted of me. We had the same enemies; the Order hated him just as much as they hated us now. If he’d known St. George had laid a trap for us—because that was a very obvious trap that I’d walked into like a moron, damn Griffin to hell and back—I would expect him to return and help. If for no other reason than to save Ember.

But knowing how he felt about my fiery hatchling, seeing the way he looked at her, made me want to stalk over and sink my claws into his face.

I bit back a growl. That was instinct talking, my jealous, overprotective male dragon genes coming out, made worse by the fact that I was angry, sickened, confused and sore as hell. Injured, cranky dragons were not known for being reasonable. The base of my tail throbbed from where I’d taken a bullet, and the slug was probably still in there somewhere. Still, better to be shot in the butt than through the heart, and once the slug came out the wound would heal quickly. Though sitting down was going to be obnoxiously painful the next few days.

Dammit. What is Talon up to? I thought back to the laboratory, the glass tubes, the way my skin had crawled when I’d realized they were for living creatures. For dragons. What are they doing to us? How can they justify experimenting on their own kind? My stomach turned in rage, and I swallowed the flames wanting to crawl up my throat. I knew they were corrupt; I never thought they would stoop to this.

Ember stirred against me, a soft whimper escaping her clenched jaws, though she tried to hide it. My worry and protectiveness spiked, and I lowered my head, laying my chin against her neck.

“Hang in there, Firebrand,” I murmured, watching her talons curl, digging into the floor. “I know it sucks, but try not to think about it. You’re okay. I’m right here.”

She relaxed a bit. “I’m mad at you, you know,” she whispered, making me blink in surprise. Her green gaze rose to mine, fierce and indignant, her pupils razor thin with pain and anger. “What was that, back there? Throwing yourself at the soldiers for me? You don’t think I would’ve followed?”

“Ah. I was hoping you might forget that. Not so much, huh?” I offered a small grin that didn’t appease her in the slightest, and sighed. “I need you to survive, Firebrand,” I told her softly. “If I die, I’m counting on you and Wes to keep going for me. To take care of my hatchlings and my network, everyone I’ve gotten out of Talon. Without some sort of guidance, without someone fighting for them, the underground will fall apart. Talon will kill or take them all back, maybe to a laboratory like the one we saw tonight.” She shivered, and I eased closer, seeing my solemn reflection in those emerald eyes.

“You promised to help me fight,” I said. “But I need more than that, Ember. You can’t stop just because I’m gone. Promise me you’ll take care of my underground even if I’m not there anymore. I need to know that my hatchlings will be safe, that I’m leaving them in good hands.”

She blew out a ragged breath. “I can’t do what you do, Cobalt,” she whispered back. “I don’t know the first thing about your network or how to keep it going, but...I’ll try. I’ll do my best to keep everyone safe and away from Talon and the Order, but you have to promise you’ll keep fighting, too. Don’t you dare give up and die on me. I think I would kill Wes before the day was out.”

I chuckled. “Fair enough.” Though that reminded me, I needed to call my surly human friend soon, make sure he’d gotten out okay. I knew Wes; when I gave the order to clear out, he cleared out. No use in both of us dying, and there was nothing he could do against an army with guns. Though he would be insufferable after this; I would have to endure a few thousand I told you sos for the next month at least. Right now, he was probably having a nervous breakdown. Hopefully where we were going had a phone, and a place for me to Shift so I could use it.

“Good.” Ember sniffed, curled into a ball and laid her head on her tail. “Just remember that.”

Smiling, I pressed closer, laying my neck against hers, feeling the rise and fall of her breath. As her tail curled with mine, my gaze went to the soldier, still sitting against the wall. He wasn’t looking at us, gazing at the door of the container, but I curled a lip at him, anyway, baring fangs in a silent warning.

Ember is mine, St. George. You can’t have her. This time, I’ll fight if I have to.

*

The truck finally pulled off the highway, took several measured turns and slowed even more as the tires left pavement and crunched over gravel. We rumbled and bounced along what felt like a winding mountain road for several miles, making Ember growl and dig her claws into my tail, before the truck finally shuddered to a halt.