I clenched my jaw. The thought of having to prove anything to Talon rankled. But if it would save Garret’s life… “How?” I asked through gritted teeth.

Faith nodded to the men behind me. As I spun, two agents stepped forward, one on either side of Garret, and forced him to his knees. The others formed a line behind the soldier, keeping their guns trained on the back of his head. I started toward them, but Faith grabbed my arm in a grip of steel.

“You want to prove your loyalty to Talon?” she asked, and pressed a cold black pistol into my hands, making me freeze in horror. Faith didn’t smile as she let me go, nodding toward the kneeling soldier.

“Kill him.”

My heart stood still. I stared at the weapon in my hands, torn between hurling it away and shoving the muzzle in the Viper’s face. Not that it would do any good; Faith could probably disarm a person fairly quickly, and neither choice would help Garret, kneeling in front of what I knew was an execution line. Any aggressive move on my part might trigger them to blow his head off. Gripping the handle of the gun, I looked up at Faith, shaking my head in disbelief.

“You’re crazy,” I told her. “Did you not hear me at all? I said I’d come back to Talon if you let him go, not murder him in cold blood. You can’t possibly expect me to do this.”

“I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in,” Faith replied, and made a vague gesture at Garret. “The soldier is dead,” she said flatly, making my heart drop. “Either way, no matter what you decide, we’re going to kill him. There is no argument that will convince me to spare an agent of St. George. I am not here to make bargains. I’m here to bring you back to Talon, and this is the final test to see if you can be trusted. If you refuse, then you will share the soldier’s fate.”

“Then you’ll have to kill us both,” I said, feeling my lungs heat, the dragon rising up for a final, desperate battle. I’m sorry, Garret. I wanted us to be free of Talon. But if they won’t let us go, I’ll fight as hard as I can.

“Really?” Faith gave me an evil, knowing smile. “So, you would sacrifice not only the human, but Dante, as well?”

Riley

“Phoenix.”

Mist cocked her head, regarding me intently, as if trying to determine whether or not I was lying. I growled a curse and hunched forward, panting, feeling the other dragon’s gaze on the top of my skull.

“Phoenix,” she repeated in a slow, clear voice. “That’s where your safe houses are located?”

“One of the locations,” I replied.

“There are others? Where?”

“All over the place. Austin, Phoenix, San Francisco. There was even one in Mexico for a little while.” I listened to myself ramble on, unable to stop. “I thought about moving some of them overseas, but that would require me to travel more. I can’t be on two continents at once.”

“No, you cannot.” I heard the triumph in her voice. “And how many hatchlings are you hiding, right now?”

“Twenty-three.”

She blinked, the only outward sign of surprise. “You have been busy, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been doing this awhile.”

“Indeed.” Mist leaned farther forward, her gaze intense. “Where can we find them, Cobalt? Tell me exactly where they are.”

“You’ll never find them,” I slurred, smiling up at her with the knowledge. “If I disappear, Wes will give the signal for everyone to move. They’ll be gone before Talon ever gets there.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mist said. “Once we have them on the run, they’ll be easy to track down. You’re only delaying the inevitable.” Her voice dropped, became soothing again. “Stop fighting, Cobalt. Where are they? Tell me the closest safe house from here.”

Fighting. Why was I fighting? That seemed hard right now, too much work. “The closest safe house from here?” I shrugged. “That’s easy. I have one right in the city.”

Mist frowned. “Here?” she asked. “In Las Vegas?”

“Yep.” I nodded, tilting my head back. The inside of my skull felt full of cotton; a weird sensation. “We were just there a few days ago, in fact.”

“Who was there?”

“All of us. Me, Wes, the soldier of St. George, Ember…”

Ember.

Deep inside, the dragon stirred, rousing sluggishly at her name. It struggled into consciousness, growling defiantly, before sleep overcame it and it sank into the void again. But that brief rush of heat and fire burned away the fog and, for just a moment, my thoughts were clear.

“Was there anyone else in that safe house?” Mist went on, her voice closer now, not seeming to come from a great distance away. “Any hatchlings that could still be there, right now?”

I clenched my fist, curling my fingers around the item in my palm. It bit into my skin, and I exhaled in relief. Still there. I hadn’t dropped it. “No,” I muttered, almost before I knew what I was saying, and winced. The damn truth serum was still in full effect. “There was no one else. Just us.”

“All right.” Mist slid off the table, coming to stand in front of me. “Enough of this,” she said, and a note of impatience had crept into her voice. “You know what we want, Cobalt. You know you cannot hide them from Talon any longer. I will make this as clear as I possibly can. Where—”