Inferno (Talon #5)(47)
“Scarlett.” I stretched a hand toward her, keeping my movements slow and my tone soothing. “My name is Cobalt. I’m not here to hurt you. I came to get you all out of here. Tonight.”
“Cobalt.” The dragon’s voice was flat. Sitting back, she raised her head with a sniff, then peered down at me with sorrowful eyes. “So, you’re not a myth, after all.”
“No,” I agreed. “I’m not. Sorry it took me so long, but it’s over now. We’re leaving this place, and you’ll never have to see it again.”
The dragon sighed. “Maybe for everyone else,” she said, sounding weary all of a sudden. “But it’s too late for me. There’s no way off the island. I’m too close to nesting, so I can’t fly very far. And I certainly can’t swim to the nearest continent.”
“You won’t have to,” I told her. “I didn’t come alone. There’s a ship waiting about two hundred yards off the western side of the island. You won’t have to swim far.”
“We’ll never make it,” Scarlett insisted. “You’re going to get us all killed before we ever reach the water.”
“Do you not want to get out of here?” I asked, frustrated.
“Of course I do!” Her tail lashed, causing a handful of leaves and twigs to flutter to the ground. “But have you seen what lies between us and the beach?” She shook her horned head, curling her talons in the dirt. “We’d have to go through an army of humans and guns. And Director Vance. He’s not going to let us just walk out.” She shivered, folding her wings tight to her body. “I’ve been here longer than almost everyone now,” she whispered, a haunted look going through her eyes. “I’ve seen what happens to dragons who try to escape. I’ve talked a few of them out of it myself. We won’t get past the fence before we’re gunned down. Talon would rather kill us all than let us go free.”
“Scarlett, listen to me.” I stepped forward and put a hand on one scaly foreleg. She blinked and gazed down with resigned gold eyes. “I know what I’m doing,” I told her softly. “There is a plan in motion as we speak. I have friends, well, not exactly friends, but people, both on the island and outside, who are committed to getting you all out of here.” I didn’t want to go into the details of how we had convinced the Order of St. George to help us, and there was no time to explain even if I did. “We didn’t go into this expecting it to be easy, but we didn’t come unprepared, either. Right now, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
The dragon sighed out a long, writhing cloud of smoke and bowed her head. For a moment, she stood there, huge body coiled and tense, her talons curled in the dirt. Finally, she relaxed and looked at me, her voice becoming a growl. “If there is really a chance to leave this place,” she rumbled, “I will take it. And maybe I’ll bite some heads off on my way out. What do you need me to do?”
Relief flickered, but I couldn’t be distracted now. “When I give the order,” I said, “things are going to get crazy. I don’t have time to sneak around to every cell and let the others know what’s going on, not without being spotted by the guards. When the shit hits the fan, I need you to rally the other dragons. You’re the biggest and oldest here—they’ll listen to you. Let them know what’s happening, and then be ready to move on my signal. Will you do that?”
Scarlett nodded, but then a soft beep jerked my attention behind me. I spun, just as the door opened and a man walked into the room, the same doctor who had been speaking to Director Vance earlier.
“Scarlett,” the doctor was saying as he came forward. “I’ve just received word from the director. You are to be…”
He stopped, eyes going wide as he saw me, but I was already moving. Lunging, I grabbed the human by the collar and shoved the barrel of my gun in his face, pressing him back to the wall. The human gasped, and his clipboard dropped to the floor.
“Shh, Doctor,” I growled, smiling at him over the fire-arm. “Don’t make any stupid decisions. I’d hate for this to go off at such a short range.”
“Who are you?” The human’s voice trembled; he stared at me, then glanced over my shoulder at Scarlett. A sheen of sweat covered his brow, but that might’ve been from the heat. “How did you get in here? If you’ve hurt any of these creatures—”
“Hurt them?” I bared my teeth in a vicious smile. “Trust me, human. I’m not like you. I’m taking your ‘creatures’ out of here, far away, where you and Talon will never get your filthy hands on them again.”
“Cobalt, wait.” Scarlett strode forward, her shadow climbing the wall as she loomed over us. “Don’t hurt him. Dr. Miles is a good man. He’s not like the other Talon servants. He really does look out for us, as much as he can.”
I gave a dubious snort, but the human stared at me, his eyes going even wider behind his spectacles. “You…you’ll really take them away?” he whispered. “All of them? You have a plan to get them out of here, without being killed?”
I nodded warily.
“Good.” The human gave a fervent nod, gripping my shirt. “Good! Take them. Do what you want with me, but get them as far away from Talon as you can. They don’t deserve to be here. Nothing deserves the kind of treatment the organization inflicts on their own kind. If you can really get them all away from Talon…” He shook his head, his eyes a little watery as he looked at Scarlett. “Your name is on the deportation list,” he told her, and I felt the dragon stiffen behind me. “And we both know that dragons who leave the facility are never heard from again. If there is a chance for you to escape Talon, you must take it.”