Soldier (Talon, #3)(50)
“I don’t know.” Now his voice sounded flat. He turned, metallic-gray eyes accusing and sorrowful, making my insides curl. “I didn’t think I’d see you again. For a while, I wondered if I’d made the right choice, but it looks like I have my answer. It didn’t take long for you to make your decision.”
“You’re the one who left,” I reminded him hotly. “You didn’t have to go.”
“You didn’t ask me to stay.”
We stared at each other, a thousand emotions simmering below the surface. My thoughts and feelings were a tangled mess, woven around each other until it was impossible to separate them. Garret stood there, wounded and beautiful, the shadow of the boy staring out through the soldier’s mask, and guilt settled in my stomach like a lead ball.
The squeak of a door opening interrupted us. My heart sank, even as a rush of heat across my skin told me who had stepped into the corridor. For a second, Riley paused, observing Garret and me in the hall, before striding forward.
“Hey.” His voice was perfectly civil; there was no echo of a growl in his tone or evil glint in his eye as he stepped up. But I could feel the tension lining his shoulders, the subtle heat radiating from his skin. As if Cobalt lurked just below the surface and was a breath away from coming out and snarling in Garret’s face. He flicked a glance at the soldier, his gaze cool and unruffled and somehow still a threat, before turning to me. “I didn’t know you were awake, Firebrand,” he said, and one hand rose to brush my cheek, light and caressing. Warmth flooded my skin, as Riley gave me a tentative, crooked smile. “Everything okay?”
No. Everything was not okay. I could feel them both gazing at me. I could feel Riley’s protectiveness and Garret’s torment pulling at me, tearing me in half. It was too much. I had to get away from them both.
“I need some air,” I said, and lurched away from them, backing down the corridor. Both started after me, concerned, and I pointed at them in warning. “Don’t!” I said, almost a snarl. “I’m fine. I just...have to think. Alone. Both of you stay right there.”
And before they could say anything else, I turned and fled down the hall through the first exit I could find, and out into the sun.
RILEY
I watched Ember leave, nearly tripping over herself to get away from me, and was torn between going after her and risking the hellfire sure to be spat in my direction, or turning around, grabbing the soldier and smashing his head through the wall.
“Okay.” I breathed deep, opting for the less violent approach, and shoved Cobalt down. Enough was enough. I could either be a bastard to the human and drive him off for good, or I could accept that something was happening that was bigger than all of us, and having a former soldier of St. George backing us up wasn’t a bad idea. “I think we’re gonna have to have a talk, St. George.”
“It’s not necessary.” The soldier’s voice was flat. “If this is about Ember—”
“No.” I narrowed my gaze. “It’s not about Ember. I don’t have a problem with you being here—let’s get that out of the way right now.” He blinked in surprise, probably wondering why I wasn’t in dragon form already, snarling at him to back off. I twisted my lips in a smirk. “I’m actually a pretty reasonable guy, most of the time.”
He raised his brows in a very dubious manner, and I rolled my eyes. “When I’m not dealing with genocidal maniacs trying to murder all my friends, anyway. Then I get a little bad tempered.”
“Fair enough.” St. George seemed to relax a bit. “What do you want to know, Riley?”
“You knew about that trap with the Order,” I continued. “That’s why you came back. But there’s more to it, isn’t there? Last I heard, you were in England snooping around St. George central. And then you suddenly turn up, with an Eastern dragon, of all things, to save our hides. So I’m guessing you found something, am I right?”
The soldier didn’t answer, and I crossed my arms. “Come on, St. George,” I cajoled. “Spill it. Something is going on, and I hate being kept in the dark. Wanna fill in the missing pieces for me?”
The soldier sighed. “I was hoping to tell everyone together, but that might not be an option now,” he said, glancing in the direction Ember had fled. I suppressed a wince, planning to talk to her when this was resolved and we had an actual plan. Human stuff, I reminded myself. You’re trying to be more human for her. Find her and talk to her, make sure she knows she’s yours. That she doesn’t ever need the soldier.
I would do that, as soon as I knew what the hell was going on.
“You’re right,” St. George went on, leaning against the wall. “The Order is after you specifically. Ever since you and Ember broke me out of the Western Chapterhouse, they’ve been looking for you. For all of us.” His expression darkened. “But Griffin wasn’t sending St. George after you,” he went on. “Talon was.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” I stared at him, thinking that either he had lost his mind, or I had. “I think I just heard you say that Talon was responsible for sending the Order after us. But, that can’t be what I heard, right, St. George?”
“I met Jade in England,” the soldier went on, as if he hadn’t just dropped the biggest bombshell ever on my head like it was nothing at all. “Her temple had been destroyed by the Order, right after she got a visit from Talon. We were both following the Patriarch when she found me.”