“On Talon and the Order?” Griffin scratched his eyebrows. “Probably, but it could take some time. I’m going to have to be very, very careful about whom I talk to.”

“Please. I know the kind of people you work with. I don’t think you have to do too much greasing. If they need incentive, you know I’m good for it.”

He sniffed and sipped his drink. “Actually,” he mused, looking thoughtful, “there is this one thing that came up recently. Something I heard just this morning, in fact.”

I rubbed my eyes. “That didn’t take long.”

“Oh, trust me. You’ll want to hear this.” He paused as the waitress returned, asking if we needed anything else, and waved her off with a smile. “I don’t know how credible the story is,” he went on, “but my contacts seemed to think it’s legit. It’s actually quite amusing. Apparently, some poor bastard saw something in an abandoned hotel that freaked him out of his mind. A ‘fucking huge lizard’ I believe were his exact words.”

I straightened quickly. “A runaway hatchling?”

“They seemed to think so.” Griffin shrugged, swirling the ice in his glass. “I can’t do anything about it, of course, but this sounds like the type of thing you’d be interested in. Might be worth checking out.”

“Dammit.” I sighed, knowing I couldn’t ignore this. “Fine, send me the info. I’ll check it out when I can. It’s not like I have a million other things to do, like keeping Talon and St. George off our backs.” I glared at him over the table. “This place is still off their sights for the time being, right?”

“Of course, idiot. You think I’d be here if it wasn’t?” Griffin rose, tugging his suit jacket into place. “Give me a couple days,” he said. “I’ll see what I can find. And for God’s sake, don’t try to contact me until then. I’ll call you.”

I smirked. “Don’t keep me waiting too long. Wouldn’t want some cocky lizard sitting down at your table and ruining your perfect game, would we?”

“You’re a bastard, Riley.” Griffin gave me his most brilliant smile yet and turned to leave. “Thanks for the drink. Tell Wes I said hello.”

I paid for the drinks and wandered back upstairs, hoping nothing had exploded while I was gone. And that a certain stubborn redhead had stayed put, or at least out of trouble.

Apparently, that was too much to hope for.

As the elevator doors opened and I stepped into the hallway, I caught sight of Ember’s lean, slight form slipping across the hall and into the room on the other side.

Ember

Nice place. Too bad it was driving me nuts.

The room was too quiet, too empty and still despite the paintings of naked Greek people on the walls and the bust of some square-jawed guy staring at me from the corner. Now that we could finally slow down enough to breathe, there was nothing to keep me distracted, no life-threatening situations to divert my attention. I flipped on the television, just for the noise, but that didn’t stop all the images shifting around in my head. Memories I couldn’t shut out. Everything that had happened in the past two weeks flooded my brain in a rush, pounding against me like waves. I could see the red dragon hide hanging on the wall of the St. George office, a lifeless trophy that had once been a hatchling like me. I remembered the look in Garret’s eyes as he’d stared at me through the bars of his cell as if I were a ghost. The memory of his skin under my palm, his fingers curled gently around my wrist. The flight across the desert with him on my back, and that red-hot blaze of pain as the bullet had slammed into my body.

The enemy soldier, crumpling to the floor of the abandoned house, glassy eyes staring back at me. And Lilith’s voice, telling me I was born to become a Viper, a killer like her.

Shivering, I rose from the bed and walked to the window, gazing down at the city. Las Vegas sparkled with a million neon lights, massive hotels and casinos standing tall and glowing against the horizon. Talon’s territory. Going rogue hadn’t been what I’d thought it would be. Riley hadn’t mentioned this part—the running, the fear, being chased and shot and having to kill to survive. If I’d known what would happen after I’d left Crescent Beach, would I still have chosen to go with him?

Of course you would. A little voice, my dragon, perhaps, sneered in my head. You know yourself better than that. Riley made it very clear what being rogue was like—you heard exactly what you wanted to hear. And if you had to do it again, knowing what you do right now, your choice would be the same. You’re too stubborn for anything else.

Angrily, I stalked back to the bed and flopped down again, putting a pillow over my face. I wouldn’t regret my decision. I’d seen the dark side of Talon, knew what they really wanted, beneath the facade of “protecting our kind.” And I refused to be a part of it. I just wished I could talk to someone, sort out these crazy, unfamiliar emotions that tried to drown me whenever I was in my own head. I wished I had someone here, just so I wouldn’t be alone. Not the boys. They were part of the dilemma, part of the chaotic, confusing mess inside me. I couldn’t talk to them.

I wished…

I wished Dante were here.

Dante betrayed you. I didn’t know which voice this was, mine or the dragon’s. But it continued with ruthless logic and disdain. He sold you out to Talon. Lilith would’ve killed you and Riley that night, because Dante told her where you’d be.