It wasn’t a shock and it just confirmed what I’d always suspected.

Talon was training me to be a part of that war. Soldiers, guns, tactical maneuvers, showing no mercy to my prey; I certainly wasn’t going to be sitting at a table with high-ranking diplomats. No, I was destined to become one of their elite operatives, maybe a Basilisk like Riley, fighting an endless battle with St. George.

Reaching the end of the boardwalk, I turned and stared out over the water, shivering a little in the warm breeze. So, this was truly my last hurrah. Talon already had my life planned out, where I would go, what I would be. Never mind that I wasn’t certain I could do this. Never mind that I hated my trainer and everything she made me do, what she wanted me to become. Talon’s decision was law; I didn’t have any say in my own future.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. Pulling it out, I clicked it on and saw a new text message across the screen.

We still on for tonight? Smoothie Hut at 5pm, yes?

Garret. I smiled, feeling my crushed spirits rise a little. Screw Talon. Screw their war, their trainers, their plans, all of it. The summer was still mine. I wasn’t theirs yet.

Definitely, I texted back. See you then.

Garret

For once, Ember arrived and was waiting at our meeting place ahead of me.

I spotted the red-haired girl sitting on the curb in the parking lot, legs crossed, Styrofoam cup in hand. She looked deep in thought, chewing on her plastic straw, but when I pulled the Jeep into the spot next to her, she bounced up instantly with a smile.

“Hey, Garret!” she exclaimed as I reached over and opened the door, letting her into the cab. She slid into the passenger seat and beamed, and my skin prickled under that smile. “You must be rubbing off on me. Look, I’m on time and everything.”

“I see that.” I took advantage of the moment just to watch her, noting the dark jeans and top she wore instead of her usual shorts and T-shirt, and the way the afternoon sun fell into her hair and eyes, making them glow.

Focus, soldier. I shook myself and put the Jeep in reverse, pulling out of the parking spot. Ember leaned back and stared out the side window, her gaze troubled. I remembered her earlier call, the warning not to come to the house, and wondered what was happening at her home. If I could get her talking about her family, the twin brother especially, maybe I could discern something useful. Maybe I would discover she was just a normal teenager, after all.

“I apologize if I got you in trouble this weekend,” I offered as we pulled onto the main road. “I didn’t mean to make things difficult with your family. I can talk to your brother, if you want me to.”

“What? Oh, no it wasn’t you, Garret.” Ember shrugged and shook her head in disgust. “Dante is just being a neurotic freak. He gets carried away with the whole overprotective big brother thing sometimes.

And with what happened at the party…” Her eyes darkened a little. “I figured I’d give him some time to cool off before I told him about us.”

“You and your brother are close?”

“Well, yeah.” She turned back, cocking her head. “He’s my twin, after all. We used to do everything together.”

“But not now.”

“No.” Sighing, she looked down at her hands, twisting them in her lap. “He’s…different now. It’s like he’s pulling away from me, and I don’t know why. I wish he’d talk to me like he used to.”

I knew I should continue asking questions, find out as much as I could about this twin. But Ember looked distressed, and I found that I hated the sight of her unhappy. When we paused at a stoplight, my hand moved of its own accord to gently brush her hair back, tucking it behind her ear.

“I’m sorry,” I said, as she turned in surprise. “I don’t have any siblings, but Tristan is the closest to a brother I have. I know how…distracting it can be, when you don’t see eye-to-eye.” She blinked at me, and I pulled my hand back. “Just keep talking to him. He’ll come around eventually.”

“Yeah,” she murmured, as the light changed and we moved forward again. “I hope so.” She brooded a moment more, than shook herself, perking up as we turned onto the highway ramp. “Hey, where are we going, anyway?”

I grinned at her. “It’s a surprise.”

Ember

“Movies.”

“No.”

“Bowling.”

“No.”

“Ice skating.”

He looked at me strangely. “In California?”

“I’m sure there are spots for it. We have a professional hockey league and everything.”

“I suppose you’re right. And no.”

“Concert.”

“Not even close.”

I let out a little huff. “I’m being kidnapped and spirited off to Saudi Arabia to be the forty-second wife of Grand Sheik Ramalama.”

He chuckled. “You caught me. I hope you brought your camel repellant.”

“Smart ass.” I wrinkled my nose at him. “You do realize I have a brother, right? I can keep this up alllll afternoon.”

He gave me a patient smile, as if he too, was familiar with sibling tactics and no amount of pestering or torture would make him spill.

“Do you have something against surprises?”

“Yes! I don’t like secrets. I’d rather have everything up front and out in the open.”

Which was, now that I thought about it, a bizarre thing to say. my whole life was a lie. Everything Talon did, everything they taught us, was to maintain that deception. I was tired of it. Not to say that I wanted the world to know about the existence of dragons; even I knew what would come of that, but it would be nice, sometimes, to be myself. To not have to lie to everyone about everything. I used to be able to do that with Dante, but, it seemed, not anymore.