“What happened?”

Wes’s fingers froze. His face blanched, and he slumped back against the headboard with a hollow thump. His face was blank with resignation as he looked up, and I knew what he would say before he opened his mouth.

“We’ve lost another nest. St. George is moving in.”

Garret

Why am I still here?

I tilted my face to the hot stream of water, letting it pound my forehead and sluice around me, trying to drown the question that had been plaguing my mind for the past three days. The water ran into my ears, muffling all sound, to no avail. I was used to long periods of inactivity, waiting for orders or for missions to begin, but I couldn’t escape my own thoughts.

This afternoon had passed in silence; television had no appeal, and since I wasn’t allowed to leave the floor, I’d leafed through random travel magazines or just lain on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Finally, needing to do something, I’d spent the rest of the afternoon working out in my room, pushing my body to the limits of its endurance, hoping that fatigue, at least, would provide a much-needed distraction. But the second I’d walked into the shower, it returned. The whisper that still haunted me, that nagging sensation of uncertainty and doubt, when before I’d always been so confident. Why was I still here? Why was I, a former soldier of St. George, choosing to remain in the company of dragons? I wasn’t a prisoner; though the rogue dragon hated me—with good reason—he wouldn’t try to stop me if I walked out the hotel door and vanished into the night. On more than one occasion, he’d encouraged me to do just that.

So why hadn’t I?

The obvious answer—because the Order was hunting me—was a stall at best. I was resourceful enough to evade their notice for a while. And while St. George paid their soldiers only a small stipend each month, they also provided us with everything we needed, so I had a sizable amount sitting in an account I rarely touched. It wouldn’t last forever, but it was enough to start over, to begin a new life.

The real question was: Could I pass for normal? I’d lived my whole life within Order walls, only venturing out when there were dragons to be slain. I had little experience of the real world beyond that brief summer in Crescent Beach and, truthfully, with no one giving me commands, telling me where to go, I felt slightly lost. My existence until now had been habit and structure and routine—the life of a soldier—and I’d welcomed that order, knowing exactly who I was. Left to my own devices, I felt I was wandering aimlessly, waiting for something to happen.

But fear, even fear of the unknown, had never stopped me before. I didn’t need a command to walk away, to leave my strange new companions behind, to fade into anonymity. I was a trained soldier, and survival was one of my strong suits; even with a price on my head, I could manage the real world if I had to. What was stopping me?

With a sigh, I placed my palms against the tile wall and bowed my head, letting the water beat my shoulders and run down my skin. I knew the answer, of course, why I hadn’t left. It wasn’t because of St. George, or Talon. It wasn’t because I owed these dragons my life, or that I felt I could fight the Order that raised me. It wasn’t even the guilt, the memories of blood and death that kept me up at night now. It wasn’t any of those reasons.

It was Ember.

I shut off the water, toweled briefly and pulled on my last pair of semiclean jeans, one of two pairs to my name. I’d need new clothes soon. Wes had gotten me the essentials while we were holed up in the abandoned house, waiting for Ember to recover, but I couldn’t count on him or Riley now. Especially since I suspected something had gone down with the rogue’s network; last night, he and Wes had been talking in low, angry voices, and this morning, when I’d ventured out for a soda, Riley had stalked past me down the hall, his face like a thundercloud. He hadn’t looked like he was inclined to share what had happened, and I’d known better than to ask.

Shirtless, I wandered to the window and stared at the glittering sea below. The sun was setting behind the distant mountains, and a haze had settled over the urban sprawl of Las Vegas. Where was St. George? I wondered. What was happening in the Order? Were they still out there, hunting for me?

And what am I supposed to do now?

A sharp rap on my door had me automatically reaching for a gun that wasn’t there. With a grimace, I snatched a

T-shirt from the bed and pulled it on while walking across the room. Peering through the eyehole, I felt a strange flood of both tension and relief wash over me, before I pulled back the lock and opened the door.

“Ha. There you are.” Ember grinned at me, making my stomach knot. She wore shorts and a loose tank top, and looked perfectly normal standing there in my door frame. Like any other human girl. “I was afraid you might’ve snuck out the window or something. Didn’t you hear me knocking last night, or were you already asleep?”

My heart beat faster as I faced that familiar smile. She was a dragon, I reminded myself. Not evil or soulless as I’d once believed, but an alien creature nonetheless. Not human. I stifled the urge to touch her, to reach out and ease the worry in her eyes, the exhaustion she was trying to mask. A memory of another room, another time when it had been just the two of us, rose up to taunt me. I ruthlessly shoved it back.

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t hear you. But I might’ve been in the bathroom.” Truth was, I hadn’t slept at all the night we’d arrived, and only a couple hours since. Not that I’d expected to. I’d been trained to survive on very little sleep, but more important, it was difficult to relax when there was a price on your head. And since the rogue dragon had all the weapons and I was currently unarmed, sleep was out of the question.