Soldier (Talon, #3)(68)
We had left the library a couple hours ago, fleeing the Vault and the ancient Wyrm dragon without incident. No one tried to stop us as we walked out, though I did see the desk clerk glaring at us, and me in particular, as we left the building. Now back in our hotel room, we were all crowded around the bed, watching as Riley began pulling the contents from the cardboard box and setting them on the mattress one by one.
Bank statements. Store receipts. Printed transcripts of conversations. Pictures of the Patriarch with the man I’d seen in the park, in different locations throughout London. All incriminating. All revealing, beyond any doubt, that the Patriarch was meeting with people outside the Order and getting paid for it.
I clenched my jaw, staring at a picture of him in a crowded restaurant, taking an envelope from the Talon agent across the table. Though I was no longer a soldier of the Order, the anger and feeling of betrayal still stung. He was the Patriarch, the supposedly incorruptible leader of St. George. And yet, here I was, staring at pages upon pages of evidence against him, proof that he was just a man, after all. It wasn’t even the fact that he’d taken money from Talon that bothered me. I’d already known the Patriarch was involved. I just wished I knew why.
“Garret? You okay?”
I glanced at Ember, who was sitting on the bed with a stack of pictures in hand. Wes and Riley had moved to the desk and were pouring over another sheaf of documents, muttering to each other and shaking their heads. I was the only one not looking at the evidence, the proof that not only had my Order betrayed me but the man I used to respect above all was just as bad as Talon.
With a sigh, I stepped around the bedpost and sat next to Ember, resting my elbows on my knees. Her arm brushed against mine, and my heartbeat quickened. “I’ve been better,” I admitted softly.
“At least we’re still all here.”
“That is true.” I glanced at her and felt an ache bloom in my chest. Her eyes were somber, the shadow of something dark lurking behind them. She was no longer the bright, carefree girl I had met in Crescent Beach; death had changed her, hardened her, as I knew it had to. I could sense the lingering guilt and sorrow for what she had done, and I would guess she suffered from nightmares sometimes, if dragons were able to dream. I had seen that expression before, in soldiers who had been through their first battle and were starting to realize what war was really about.
My throat felt dry, remembering her face when the Wyrm dragon finally let me go. The way she’d looked at me, fearful and relieved... Did she still care? Could she care, or was I fooling myself again?
“What about you?” I asked. “I know this hasn’t been easy. How are you holding up?”
Ember held my gaze, and for a moment, the world went still. I could see my reflection in her eyes, feel the brush of her arm against mine, making my skin prickle. Then she gave a faint smile and everything unfroze. “There’s a massive elder dragon underneath Chicago, Garret,” she said in a half teasing, half awed voice. “Kinda makes you wonder what else is lurking down there. I might never sleep again.”
“It puts the ‘gators in the sewers’ legend to shame, doesn’t it?” Riley said, walking back to the bed. He shot us a glance, and there was the barest hint of a warning in his eyes, before he turned and began sifting through the box again. Ember, I noted, didn’t move from her place beside me, but I refused to hope that it could mean anything. I had dared to hope before, and had been crushed like an egg in the jaws of a dragon.
“Well, well,” Riley muttered, pulling out an envelope. Recorded meetings was scrawled across the front, with a series of dates below. “What do we have here?” With a shake, he turned the envelope upside down, and a thumb drive slid out into his palm.
“Ooh,” Wes exclaimed, perking immediately. “I’ll take that, thank you.”
Plucking the drive from Riley’s palm, he hurried to his computer. The rest of us followed, encircling the desk as Wes sat down, opened the laptop and shoved the drive into the side slot.
A black rectangle flickered to life on-screen, accompanied by the sound of static. Then the sound of footsteps echoed from the computer, and the rustle of fabric as someone sat down.
“Thank you for meeting me like this,” said a voice, unfamiliar to me. “I assume you got my message? Was the tip I sent you about...certain targets, correct?”
“Who are you?” replied a second voice, deep and instantly familiar. I straightened quickly, and felt everyone in the room hold their breath, as if they were really there, watching it happen.
“A concerned citizen,” replied the first voice. “Who, unfortunately, knows a little too much. A human who wants to save our race from the tyranny of monsters.”
“How do you know of us?” the Patriarch asked, his voice suddenly cold. “Do you work for them?” My skin prickled, knowing what would happen if the man said yes. The Order did not bargain with Talon employees, even human ones. Even ones that wanted out. St. George believed that to be in the dragon’s employ meant that the human’s soul was hopelessly corrupted, and Talon was devious enough to try to send in spies to infiltrate the Order, something they could not afford, for any reason.
“No,” the other said quickly, as if he knew this, too. “I’ve never worked for them. Talon doesn’t even know about me. Let’s just say I’m a...freelance investigator who had something precious stolen away by monsters. Surely you can understand that. After all, most of your own can relate, am I right?” He paused, as if gauging the other’s response, before continuing. “Look, I know you have no reason to trust me. I could be a spy for them or whatever. But I’ll prove to you I’m not. I happen to know where you can find one of the bastards. And if you can take it out, I’ll make a generous donation to your Order.”