before the Vipers catch up.”

Ember blinked. “Wow, look at that,” she said, grinning at me. “You’re famous, or at least infamous. A real-life Robin Hood.”

I stifled the urge to rub my eyes. My defiant little Firebrand might think it was great news, sticking it to the organization, but I did not want that much attention from Talon. That they talked about me meant they were thinking about me, which was never a good thing. I’d always been careful to lie low, especially after getting a hatchling out. We’d survived this long because I knew how to disappear, to vanish into obscurity without a trace. Talon was far too big to challenge head-on. As much as I hated them and would love to see them brought down, I knew that my tiny, ragtag underground could never stand against the massive force that was Talon. Right now, I was an annoyance at best. I did not want to reach the point where the organization brought its full might against me and my network, because we likely would not survive.

Faith’s dark gaze abruptly shifted to my companions. “Who are they?” she whispered.

“I’m Ember.” Ember stepped forward before I could say anything. “I just got out of Talon, too. You can trust Riley, uh…Cobalt. He knows what he’s doing. He’ll keep you away from them.”

Faith blinked. “What about him?” she asked, glancing at the soldier standing a little behind us. “He’s not a dragon. Why is he here?”

Ember stiffened, and I quickly jumped in. “He’s all right,” I said smoothly, and ignored Ember’s raised eyebrow. “You can trust him. He’s here to help.” I nearly choked on the words, but getting the hatchlings to trust us was more important than the truth now. I couldn’t have them freaking out if they discovered what he really was. The soldier’s expression remained neutral in the face of such blatant lies, and Faith finally seemed to relax.

I turned to Ava. “Are you two ready to go?” I asked. The night was fading quickly, and I was uncomfortable standing out in the open like this. Once we got back to the safety of the hotel, I’d figure out what we were going to do. “You’ll have to stay with us for a bit, until we can leave the city. But after that, I’ll find a safe place for you both.”

She nodded tiredly. “Yes, please. Anywhere is better than here, waiting for Talon or St. George to catch up.”

“No arguments there.”

The phone buzzed in my jeans pocket, making me jump, then whisper a curse. There was only one person would call me now. For one reason.

No. Not now. With dread blooming through my stomach, I put the phone to my ear and snapped, “Wes. Tell me you’re not going to say what I think you’re—”

His hissed words interrupted me. I listened to the frantic voice on the other end, lowered the phone and turned to Ember and the soldier.

“They’re here.”

Garret

“The Order?”

The rogue glared at me, anger and loathing crossing his face, as if I had summoned my former brothers here with my presence alone. “What do you think?” he spat. “Of course it’s the Order. They always seem to appear these days, like magic, wherever we are.” He shoved the phone in his jacket and raked both hands through his hair. “Dammit, of all the crappy timing. How the hell do they keep finding us?”

It was immature and vindictive, but I couldn’t help it. “Now do we need guns?”

“St. George?” The dark-haired girl, Faith, shrank back, her eyes huge and terrified. “The Order is here?” Her gaze darted to the entrance of the stairwell, as if armed soldiers could burst through at any time, then flickered to the edge of the building. “We have to fly,” she whispered, edging away from the other girl, toward the sudden sheer drop at the end of the floor. “They’ll kill us if we don’t—”

“No!” Riley whirled around. “No flying. We don’t know where St. George is, or what they have out there. They could be watching the building right now, waiting for us.”

“I’ll risk it.” The girl stopped, but looked on the verge of panic. “It’s the Order! We have to fly. It’s better than dying.”

“Faith, stop.” I didn’t dare step forward, lest I scare her into plunging off the roof right then. “Listen to me. That’s what they want. This is one of their tactics, send in the ground team to force the targets into the air. Like hunting quail.” She blinked at me, glassy-eyed with fear. I wondered if any of this was getting through to her. “There’s probably a team of snipers scanning the roof right now,” I continued, gesturing to the buildings around us. “If you fly, they’ll shoot you down—”

The whirl of helicopter blades interrupted me, a guttural whine in the silence. Faith flinched, her gaze going to the sky, but Ember darted forward, grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back…just as a spotlight beam sliced over the floor, passing inches from where they’d been standing. The rest of us ducked down and pressed against the walls, melting into shadow, as an unmarked black chopper circled the building once, then wheeled lazily away.

Ember glared after the helicopter, eyes flashing, as Faith whimpered and huddled close to her. “Well, there are the snipers,” she said. “What now, Riley?”

Shoved against a wall with Ava, Riley growled a curse and looked at me. “Any brilliant thoughts on getting out of this?”

“Back through the building,” I said. “It’s a big hotel. They’ll probably have more than one unit sweeping the floors, coming in from different angles. If we can get past the ground teams, we’ll have a chance of making it out unnoticed.”