I seethed, wanting to attack, to Shift to my true form and rend the human to little pieces, then char those pieces to ash. My dragon howled, violent and enraged, wanting to set something on fire. The soldier was now too far away, and on guard for an attack. I turned my anger on Ember, instead.

“What am I doing?” Spinning around, I yanked my arm from her grasp and glared down furiously. “What the hell are you doing, Firebrand? I leave for an hour, one hour, and come back to find you…” My voice caught on the words, and I curled my lip in disgust. “He’s a human,” I spat. “And not only that, a soldier of St. George. A dragon killer! I thought you were done with this idiocy when we left Crescent Beach.”

Her eyes flashed, and she lifted her chin to face me. “You have no right, Riley—”

“You’re a dragon,” I interrupted, making her scowl. “Have you forgotten that part? Never mind that he was part of St. George. Let’s ignore the fact that he’s killed who knows how many dragons before his miraculous change of heart. Let’s not ask how many hatchlings he’s shot in the back, while they were running away.” I sneered at the human before turning on Ember again. She stared me down, defiant; I growled and turned us away from the soldier, lowering my voice.

“Listen to me, Firebrand,” I said, attempting to calm my anger, though my dragon still raged up and down my veins, wanting retribution. “You’re not thinking straight. He’s a human, with a human life span. How long do you think he’s going to stick around? Where do you think you’ll be sixty years from now? A hundred years from now? Have you even thought about that?”

“Of course not!” Ember snarled. “Right now I’m still trying to keep up with the present. Right now, staying alive and getting Dante out of Talon is keeping me pretty occupied. What about you?” Ember challenged, glaring up at me. “Have you thought about the future at all?”

“Every single day,” I retorted, making her blink. “Every day, I wake up thinking about my safe houses, if they’re secure, if the hatchlings I get out of Talon will survive another year. What will happen to them if I bite the dust, because I don’t know how long I can keep getting lucky. But this isn’t about me.” I shot another glance at the human, wondering if he could hear us, then deciding I didn’t care if he did. “Humans and dragons aren’t supposed to be together,” I insisted. “Their lives are a heartbeat compared to ours. What kind of future do you think you could ever have?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t give me that, Riley,” she growled. “That’s BS. Admit it—you don’t want me with Garret because he was part of St. George.”

I ground my teeth at her stubbornness. “I have no problem admitting that, Firebrand,” I snarled. “What I don’t understand is how you can let that murdering dragon killer anywhere near you without wanting to rip his head off!”

“Hey.” The soldier had come forward again, eyes narrowed, his body tense and ready for a fight. “Leave her alone,” he said evenly, as I gave him a dangerous look. “It’s not her fault. I started this. Take it up with me if you have a problem.”

I would love to, St. George, I thought viciously, but Ember beat me to it.

“Don’t, Garret,” she snapped, and I didn’t know if the anger in her voice was directed at me, the soldier or us both. “I’m not afraid of jealous rogue dragons, and you don’t have to step in front of him for me.” She turned from the human then, looking me right in the eye. “I can take care of myself.”

Jealous? I took a deep, cooling breath and stepped back, shaking my head at them both. “I don’t have time for this,” I said, which was true. The runaway hatchlings were still a question, and I’d wasted enough time already. “I’m supposed to be somewhere else right now,” I went on, “and I’m done talking to the pair of you. Might as well beat my head against a wall.”

“You’re leaving?” Ember narrowed her eyes. “Again? Where are you going this time?”

“Out,” I retorted, feeling mulish and immature. “Somewhere important, if you have to know.” Her expression darkened, and I knew she was on the verge of demanding to come along. I took a step back. “Come or stay,” I growled, “it makes no difference to me. I’m done here.”

I spun on a heel, then strode across the roof without looking back. I heard them start after me, and controlled the urge to spin back around and lay the soldier flat on his back. It was my dragon talking, but what troubled me wasn’t the anger, or the disgust, that Ember had forgotten everything St. George had done. She was still young. She didn’t know the Order like I did, hadn’t seen the true face of St. George, not yet.

No, what bothered me most was that, even after everything, my fiery red hatchling had still chosen the human…instead of me.

Dante

The meeting room was frigid.

I didn’t like the cold. Maybe it was growing up in deserts and sunny beach communities, where much of my free time was spent outside. I liked the feel of the sun on my skin, the heat blazing down on me, seeping into my bones. I didn’t know what it was with Talon’s executives, but all their office buildings had the AC cranked up so high you could almost see your breath. Even in Reign’s opulent hotel, where the carpets were thick and gold and the leather chairs probably cost over a thousand dollars each, it was still cold enough to make my skin prickle. It certainly wasn’t my place to tell Talon how to run things, but a few degrees of warmth would make things less uncomfortable. I hoped I could get through this without my teeth clacking together. I was already nervous enough.