Faith didn’t answer. Her wings had stopped moving, and her gold eyes stared up at me, fixed and unseeing. She was dead.

And the soldier who had killed her was standing right behind me.

Garret

I lowered the gun, watching as Ember stepped away from the body, feeling some of the tension leave me as I gazed at the dead dragon. It was over. She was the last; the others, the Talon agents, were scattered behind me in the warehouse. They had fought stubbornly and persistently, down to the last man. As if they had nothing to lose. Maybe they didn’t. Perhaps Talon’s policy was return victorious or don’t return at all. Regardless, it didn’t matter. No one would be returning to Talon tonight.

Abruptly, Ember staggered, catching herself with a grunt, and my alarm flared up again. Holstering the pistol, I hurried toward her, scanning the lithe, scaly body for wounds. Her crimson scales made it difficult to see if there was any blood, though by the stiff way she was moving, I suspected she’d been hurt. I’d never witnessed a full-on dragon fight, but I had seen firsthand what their claws and teeth were capable of, able to crunch through bone and rip doors off vehicles. Their scales might be fireproof, but I imagined two warring dragons could still do a lot of damage to each other.

My hunch was confirmed when I drew close and saw the glimmer of open wounds on her back, four long claw marks that had been raked across her scales. But the edges around the narrow cuts looked burned, blackened around the edges, the flesh inside a raw, painful pink.

“Ember,” I said, lightly brushing a wingtip as I circled around. More wounds came to light, all in the same condition, claw marks scored by flame. The faint scent of smoke and chemicals lingered in the air, seeming to come off the limping dragon, and I frowned. “What happened?”

“Bad decision that seemed a good idea at the time.” Her voice was tight, and she turned to face me fully. Four thin, seeping gashes scarred her muzzle, red and painful looking, and my stomach clenched. “You killed her,” she whispered, not quite accusing, but her eyes gleamed angrily. “You didn’t have to kill her.”

“Yes, I did.” I met the dragon’s gaze, saw my reflection in those slitted green eyes. They narrowed sharply, but I didn’t feel one inkling of fear. Strange now, that I could stand this close to a furious, wounded dragon and know, beyond any doubt, that she would never hurt me. “I had to use lethal force,” I told her. “You know that. She wouldn’t have stopped until you were dead.”

“I know. Dammit.” Ember slumped, glancing at the lifeless body against the wall. A pained expression crossed her face, and she let out a gusty sigh, smoke curling from her jaws. “She was still one of us,” Ember murmured. “She was like me, once. Who knows what she might’ve been if Lilith and Talon hadn’t gotten their claws into her.” A shudder went through her, and she turned her head, closing her eyes. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

I reached out and put a tentative hand on her neck, feeling warm scales under my palm. My heart jumped, still thrilled by the idea of touching a dragon. “We need to take care of those,” I said, mentally assessing her wounds, wondering how serious they would be in human form. “Can you Shift back?”

“No.” Ember shook her head, staggering away from me. “I mean, yes, I can, and I will, but…what about Riley? He’s still out there. We have to find him.”

“Ember, you’re hurt. Badly, by the looks of it.” I sidled around to face her, blocking her path. “We need to get you back to the hotel and let Wes know what’s going on. Maybe he’s heard from Riley by now.”

“He would’ve called us if he had!” Her tail lashed, and she raised her head in defiance. “I’m fine, Garret. We have to keep looking.”

“Where? We still don’t know his location. He could be anywhere in the city by now. Where are you planning to search?” Ember slitted her eyes, and I kept my voice calm, knowing that if a five-hundred-pound reptile wanted to walk right through me, there was little I could do to stop it. The strangeness of standing in a dark warehouse arguing with a dragon did not escape me, either.

“We have to regroup,” I said, hoping she would listen to reason, that her worry and eagerness to find Riley would not override logic. Some dark little part of me bristled with anger at the thought, but I shoved it down. “Let’s go back to the hotel, get you taken care of, and see if Wes has heard anything. That’s the most reasonable course of action right now.”

Ember lashed her tail, taking a breath to argue, then frowned. “Wait,” she muttered, cocking her head. “Did you hear that?”

I fell silent, pulling the gun from my belt and stepping around to her flank. For a moment, we stood there, a soldier of St. George and a dragon, guarding each other’s backs. Strangely, it felt no different than the hundreds of times I’d done this with Tristan.

A faint, familiar jingle sounded, somewhere in the maze. Ember gasped.

“My phone!”

She started forward, stumbled and nearly fell, hissing in pain. Hurrying to her side, I gently caught a wing joint, making her pause and look back at me. “Hold on a second,” I said, wishing I knew a trick to get a dragon to lie down, especially this dragon. “Ember, wait. You’re going to hurt yourself.” She snorted and glared at me, and I sighed. “Stay here and don’t move,” I said, holding out an arm as I backed away. “Lie down if you have to. I’ll find it. I’ll be right back.” And I jogged into the maze without waiting for a reply.