Inferno (Talon #5)(26)

“Martin, perhaps.” Ember’s hands came to rest on my arms, squeezing gently. “I could see him finally accepting us, or at least realizing that some dragons don’t want what Talon wants. But Lieutenant Ward…” She sighed, a shadow crossing her face. “I’m afraid of what he’ll do,” she whispered. “What he might order his soldiers to do. We’ll be in the middle of nowhere and there will be no place for the breeders to run. What if his real goal is to get to that island and slaughter every dragon there? Riley would never forgive me.” Her voice dropped, becoming nearly inaudible. “I’d never forgive myself.”

“That won’t happen,” I told her firmly. “We’ll stop him. I’ll stop him, Ember, I promise. Even if I have to shoot him myself.”

Ember shivered. “I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

I hoped it wouldn’t, either. I was weary of fighting my former brothers, sickened by their blood that stained my hands. I would protect the rogues, the underground and the dragon I loved, but that didn’t mean I didn’t hate myself each time I had to pull the trigger against the men I’d once fought beside.

“Garret?” Ember’s voice was contemplative, her fingers tracing small circles on my forearms. “Do you think…the war will come to an end in our lifetimes?”

I gazed down at her. It was hard to imagine. I’d known nothing but war my entire life. Everything I could remember was fighting, blood, battles and death. Except for one brief memory of a small town called Crescent Beach, and a summer that changed everything.

“I don’t know,” I murmured. Certainly the Order allying with rogue dragons was a huge step in the right direction, but it almost seemed to come too late. When Talon was poised to destroy everything. “Why?” I asked her. “What got you thinking of this?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Ember reached back and slipped her fingers into my hair. “I was remembering that summer, I guess.” She didn’t have to say what she meant; it was seared into both our memories forever. “I was thinking it would be nice to go back to normal again. Where we’re not running or fighting for our lives. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve even thought about surfing? Or anything that doesn’t involve bullets and guns and crazy suicide missions?”

I chuckled. “I thought that was normal for us.” She swatted my arm, and I grinned, pulling her closer. “Maybe someday,” I murmured, making her sigh. “Someday this will be over, and then you can drag me to parties and dancing and all the normal things people are supposed to do together.” I gave a wry grin, brushing her hair from her shoulder to place a kiss on her neck. “You’ll probably have to teach me, though. I still don’t have a great grasp of what normal is supposed to be.” I’m in love with a dragon. I’m as far removed from normal as anything can get.

“Honestly?” Ember whispered. “I don’t even care about those things anymore. I just… I want us to be alive at the end, all of us. You, Riley, Jade, Mist, the rogues… Dante.” She swallowed hard. “The longer the war goes on, the more likely it is I’m going to lose someone. We’ve gotten lucky so far. I can’t even remember how many close calls we’ve had, but I know it can’t last forever.” Her hands tightened almost painfully on my arms. “That’s all I want,” she whispered. “I’d rather die fighting beside you than spend normal alone.”

I gently turned her to face me and ran a thumb over her cheek. “I can’t promise you that, dragon girl,” I told her softly. “I wish I could. I wish I could protect everyone, but war doesn’t ever give you that luxury.” She nodded sadly, and I drew her closer, lowering my head. “But I can promise you this—as long as I have the breath to keep going, I won’t give up. I’ll keep fighting for that normal life. As long as this war doesn’t kill me, I plan to be right beside you when this is done.” She blinked, and I offered a small smile. “What do you say when this is all over we find a beach and go surfing again? I’ll bet money you fall off your board more than I do.”

Her eyes flashed, and a grin finally crept across her face. “I’ll take that bet, soldier boy,” she said, looping her arms around my neck. “And you’re going to eat those words, along with all that sand and seawater, when you wipe out.”

“Oh?” I tightened my arms around her waist, feeling heat start to flicker through my veins. “And what if I don’t? What do I get if I win?”

“The love and reluctant admiration of a dragon.”

“I thought I had that already.”

“Don’t push your luck, soldier boy,” Ember said, and kissed me. I closed my eyes, feeling the heat spread to all parts of my body, melting away the worry, stress, nervousness and fear, at least for the moment. We could still die. In war, it was all too easy; you’d blink, and someone else would be gone. But as long as I was killed fighting for her, for a future I would probably never see, I would have no regrets.

Of course, that didn’t mean I’d go down without a fight.

“Lieutenant Ward?”

Footsteps sounded outside the door, clipped and hurried, making us pull back. “Lieutenant Ward,” the voice said again as someone swept into the room. “I have those papers you wanted—”