But we weren’t out of here yet.

Four hundred yards to the perimeter fence…and everything exploded.

As we huddled by a wall, ready to make that final dash over open ground toward the fence line, a siren blared, shattering the quiet. Ember jumped, and the other dragon cursed, pressing back into the wall as lights erupted all around us. Spotlights flashed to life, huge white circles gliding over the ground and scouring the sky. Doors opened, and soldiers began pouring from everywhere, looking confused but alert as they gathered in loose squads, gazing around warily.

“What’s going on?” Ember whispered.

“They know we’re here,” the other dragon spat. “Probably found the empty cell and the guards.” He swore again and peered around the corner, narrowing his eyes. “Wes, we’ve been discovered. Can you kill the lights?” A moment passed, and he shook his head. “Fine, then get out of here! Don’t worry about us—we’ll catch up at the rendezvous point.” He paused a moment, then snarled, “I don’t care, Wes, just go!”

Soldiers were everywhere now. I raised my gun, though I cringed at the thought of firing on my former brothers. “We’re not going to make it,” I told the other two quietly. And for a second, I felt a stab of regret that Ember had come. I’d wanted her to be free of St. George, to not live in fear of dragonslayers trying to kill her. Now, she would die here with me.

“It’s too far,” I told them as they glanced back. “There are too many between us and the fence line. We’ll never reach it without being seen. Ember…” I looked into her wide green eyes. She stared back without fear or regret, making my heart twist. “I’ll lead them away. They’ll be looking for me. You and Riley get out of here, any way you can.”

Her eyes flashed defiance. “Don’t you dare, Garret,” she almost snarled. “I didn’t come all this way to free you just to leave you behind again. That’s the most pointless thing I’ve ever heard.” She stepped away from the wall, and her eyes were glowing now, a luminous emerald green. “We’re getting out of here, all of us, right now!”

A searing white light swung around, pinning us in its glare. I winced and raised my arm to shield my face, just as the girl in front of me disappeared and a fiery crimson dragon reared up to take her place. Shouts rang out over the base, as the red dragon landed on all fours, dark wings outstretched, and roared a challenge that made the air shiver.

“Shit!” There was another ripple of energy as Ember’s companion shed his human form, becoming a sleek blue dragon with a fin down his neck and back. My pulse spiked as the two inhuman creatures turned on me, eyes glowing. Even now, instinct was telling me to run, that they were the enemy and I had to gun them down before they attacked and tore me to shreds.

Shots rang out behind me, sparking off the wall. Ember snarled, flinching back, and I spun, raising my weapon. A patrol of two was rushing at us, guns drawn and firing on the dragons pinned in the spotlight. They hadn’t seen me, or rather, their attention was riveted to the creatures behind me. I raised my gun, silently asking forgiveness, and fired at their legs. The soldiers cried out and pitched forward, crashing to the ground, but I could see more running toward us. The whole base was alerted now and knew dragons were inside the compound.

“Garret!”

A metallic red body lunged to my side, and I had to force myself not to leap away as a narrow, reptilian face peered at me. “Get on,” the dragon said, lowering her wings. “Hurry! We have to fly.”

Get on? Ride a dragon? For a split second, I balked. Talking with dragons was one thing. Accepting their help was another. But riding one? Especially if I knew the dragon was also a slender, green-eyed girl I had kissed on more than one occasion?

With a roar, the blue dragon reared up and blasted a cone of fire at a patrol that came around the corner, guns raised. The soldiers fell back with cries and screams, and Ember snarled, baring her fangs at me.

“Garret, come on!”

I shook myself and vaulted onto her back. Her spines poked at me as I wrapped my arms around her neck and settled between the leathery wings. I could feel heat radiating from the scales, the muscles shifting and coiling beneath me, and I repressed a shiver. This was not the Ember I knew. The girl had vanished, any hints of humanity disappearing as the dragon moved, savage, majestic and terrifying at the same time. She craned her neck to look back at me, long muzzle close enough to show rows of fangs, the scent of ash and smoke curling from her jaws.

“Hang on.”

More gunshots rang out, and the blue dragon snarled something in Draconic, the guttural, native language of dragons. Ember spun, making me tighten my grip, took three bounding leaps forward and launched herself into the air. Her wing muscles strained beneath me like steel cables pulsing beneath her skin, and we rose into the sky. The spotlight followed, keeping us brightly illuminated even as we left the base behind. Gunshots roared; I heard a howl of rage from the blue dragon, and gritted my teeth, hunched low over Ember’s back. She jolted suddenly, then her wings flapped furiously as we picked up speed, racing to get away from the spotlight and out of range of the compound. Very gradually, the spotlight disappeared, and the gunshots faded away, as we fled St. George and escaped into the desert.

* * *

We were out. We’d actually escaped St. George.

The wind whipped at my hair and clothes as I shifted on Ember’s back and cautiously sat up, gazing around in amazement. The desert stretched out before me, vast and endless, looking like an ocean of sand in the predawn light. Where it met the sky, a faint smear of pink was peeking over the horizon, though the land was still dark and shadowed. From this height, I could just make out the distant highway and the tiny glimmers of cars that followed it.