Inferno (Talon #5)(46)
I swallowed a growl. One was a dragon, a tall man in a business suit, with short brown hair and a perfectly groomed goatee. He was also an Adult, given the way my instincts shrank back, wanting me to crawl beneath the shelves to hide. This must be the famous Director Vance, the one in charge of this island of atrocities. He was speaking to a balding human doctor–type with glasses and a white lab coat, the smaller man nervously tapping a pencil against his clipboard as they walked.
“Scarlett should be ready to lay any day now,” the human was saying as they got closer. “She just started nesting behavior this morning, so I stopped her food and ordered her habitat be put in isolation mode until the egg arrives. Which should be sometime tomorrow or the next day, if I had to guess.”
“Good,” the dragon said. “I’ve just received word from Talon. This is to be Scarlett’s final hatching. Once the egg has been sent to the organization, terminate her name from the schedule.”
The human chewed his lip. “Forgive me, Director,” he ventured, and those cold dark eyes fixed on him, unblinking. “I understand Talon’s desire to scale back production,” the human went on as the pencil resumed its anxious tapping against the clipboard. “But Scarlett has always produced healthy, fertile eggs. Now that we’ve reduced the number of resident females by nearly half, she is one of the only breeders left who is a known quantity. I’m not one to question the organization’s motives, but—”
“Then don’t.” Director Vance narrowed his eyes, seeming to loom over the smaller human, who cringed away from him. “You are not paid to question Talon, Dr. Miles. You are here to keep our breeders healthy and happy, and to make certain the eggs arrive safely and on time, a task that you are paid exceptionally well to do. What Talon does with the members of our organization is not your concern. I suggest you put it from your mind and follow orders before you find yourself out of work, on a small raft, in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.”
His voice raised the hair on the back of my neck. I’d heard his kind speak many times before, but that cold, clinical detachment never ceased to infuriate me. As if he were discussing the inner workings of a car, rather than a living, breathing, sentient creature. I remembered the fear in Sera’s voice when she spoke of Director Vance, and my resolve hardened even further.
“Yes, Director.” The human’s voice trembled, but there was a hint of sullenness there, too. “As you say. I’ll remove Scarlett from the list and prepare her for deportation.” The medical bay door opened with a hiss, and the pair vanished from sight as it closed behind them.
As soon as they were gone, I hurried across the room, careful to locate the three guards and time my approach so that I passed out of sight of each of them. Thankfully, the room was dim, with heavy shadows making stealth a bit easier. As I reached the cell labeled twenty-two, I saw that a single large window had been set into the front of the otherwise solid steel walls. Through the glass, a junglelike habitat greeted me, heavy vegetation and indoor trees growing along the inner wall. Beside the window sat a pair of huge, dragon-size doors that looked thick enough to hold up to a tank, but a normal-size door was also set into the wall to the left of the window. A single lightbulb glowed a warning red beside it, probably to indicate the cell was occupied.
“Wes?” I crouched in the shadows under the walkway, ready to make that final dash. “I’m about to break into cell twenty-two. Where are the cameras?”
“Give me a second” came the terse reply, followed by a moment of silence. “Okay, the one in twenty-two shouldn’t be a problem now. But…” And a slow whistle came through the earpiece. “Bloody hell. I’d be careful if I were you, mate.”
That sounds ominous. A familiar key card slot blinked at me as I eased up to the human-size door, and I grimaced as I pulled out my stolen card. Let’s hope this thing works here, too, I thought, and swiped it through the reader.
The light beeped green, and I slipped into the habitat of a pregnant Adult dragon.
It was even warmer in here, and humid, reminding me again of the jungle where Ouroboros had staked his territory. I felt sweat form on my brow and run down my neck. My boots squelched in soft dirt as I turned carefully, searching the vegetation. Okay, so where is this dragon Wes is so worried about—?
I felt her approach before I saw it; a low growl rippled through the air, and the branches rattled as a twenty-foot crimson dragon stalked out of the shadows and came right at me.
I stood my ground, holding up my hands to indicate I wasn’t a threat, as the Adult female prowled close and stopped, her muzzle just a few feet away. Her teeth were slightly bared, and smoke curled from her nostrils as we stared at each other. Golden eyes narrowed as they met mine, puzzled and suspicious but not entirely hostile. I didn’t move, keeping my hands raised and empty, but careful not to show any fear. I didn’t think she would attack and savage me like a mother bear, but I was a stranger, and I had invaded the territory of a nesting female dragon; her protective instincts would be very high right now. Add imprisonment, restlessness and poor treatment at the hands of her human captors, and that probably wasn’t doing a lot for her disposition.
On second thought, she was showing remarkable restraint not biting me in half like a twig. Maybe I should’ve had a little more foresight before barging in unannounced.
The dragon stared at me, then curled her lip back, just enough to show fangs. “Who are you?” she demanded, though she kept her voice low and quiet. Well, as quiet as a twenty-foot dragon could be. “You don’t work here. I’ve never seen you before.” Her eyes glittered, the tip of her tail swishing an agitated rhythm behind her. “Have you come from Talon? What do you want with me?”