And then, I remembered something else.

“Where is Dante?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the other dragon. “You said you had his number on your phone. Or was that another lie?”

“It wasn’t.” Faith rubbed her arm. “Dante…is the one in charge of this operation. He and the rest of the board are standing by. I’m supposed to check in with him as soon as I take care of you, one way or another.”

My stomach dropped to the pads of my toes. “I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want.” Faith’s gaze didn’t waver. “But Dante was the one who set this whole thing up. This was part of his test, coming up with the plan to bring you back to the organization.”

My throat was suddenly dry. “And if I refused to come?”

“Then I had orders to kill you.”

Reeling, I shook my head, still unwilling to believe. Dante had truly done this? My own brother had sent a Viper after us, with orders to kill me if I didn’t return? That couldn’t be right. He wouldn’t do that to me. We might’ve argued, fought, disagreed on a lot of things, but Dante wouldn’t give the order to take me out if I refused to cooperate.

Or would he? Was he so invested in Talon’s doctrine that he’d really believe he was doing the right thing? I remembered something Riley had told me once, and it made my stomach twist. Talon has him now. He’ll betray his own blood if they give the order.

Faith curled an arm around her side, her face creasing with pain. “What are you going to do with me?” she asked in a tight voice.

I stood up, wincing as the movement pulled at the charred, blackened cuts on my body. The Viper flinched, as if expecting a sudden attack, but I was just about done with this. My mind was spinning, I ached and I felt nauseous in more ways than one. “Take a message back to Talon,” I growled at the Viper. “And Dante. Tell them to stop sending people after me. They’re just wasting their time. I’m not coming back.” Faith still eyed me warily, like I might pounce on her as soon as she moved, and I bared my fangs. “Get out of here!”

She scrambled to her feet, holding her side, and staggered into the darkness. I watched until she slipped down an aisle and vanished, then I slumped to the cool cement.

“Ow,” I whimpered, wishing I could just lie here and not move for a few minutes. I hurt all over, but at least I had won. I’d actually won a fight with a trained Viper. A small Viper, but a Viper nonetheless. I guess I should be thankful I was alive; Lilith’s prize student certainly wouldn’t have spared me if the situation were reversed. She didn’t know how close she’d come to beating me, that I wouldn’t have been able to kill her if she hadn’t surrendered. I guess I’ll never be a proper Viper after all, I thought, and felt nothing but relief at that notion. And if Faith had realized that, I don’t think I would’ve won. But I didn’t have to worry about her now. My bluff had worked. She was gone.

Though Mist was still out there. And Riley.

My stomach turned over. Setting my jaw, I pushed myself upright and started to limp back down the aisle. Find Garret, find Riley, deal with Dante. Those were the items I had to focus on now, in that order. And not passing out before we could leave; that was on the list, too.

A sibilant chuckle behind me froze me in my tracks.

“Oh, Ember,” Faith crooned, as the ripple of a Shift went through the air. “Haven’t you learned anything? What did Lilith teach you about showing mercy to your enemies?”

I spun painfully, knowing I wouldn’t be fast enough. The Viper was already in midleap, jaws gaping, talons fully extended to tear me apart.

A shot rang out, slamming the dragon aside. The Viper collapsed to the cement and rolled into a pile of crates, screeching in pain as she came to a halt. Heart pounding, I looked over to see Garret, pistol raised, step out of the shadows between aisles, keeping the dragon in his sights. His eyes were hard and dangerous, his expression a flinty mask as he aimed the gun at the fallen Viper.

Faith screamed in rage and defiance. Tail thrashing, she tried clawing herself upright, but a second shot followed the first, jerking her to the side. The Viper struck the crates and crumpled to the floor, leaving a bright crimson smear across the wood. Her wings twitched, frantically at first, then growing slower and slower, as a trickle of red seeped over the floor from her body. Her jaws gaped, gasping for breath. Her eyes glazed over in pain and fear.

“No,” I heard her whisper. “Not yet. Not like this. I can’t die…like this.”

I felt sick. My legs wobbled, and it was uncertain whether they could hold me up much longer, but I gritted my teeth and staggered toward the dying dragon. She was a Viper, she’d been sent to kill us, but she was still part of my race, someone who had been just like me, once.

The Viper stared vacantly as I stepped up beside her, trying not to glance at her heaving sides. At the two round holes seeping blood right behind her foreleg. A perfect shot to the heart, from someone who knew exactly how to kill a dragon. Faith blinked, and I caught my reflection in one golden eye that was slowly turning to glass.

“I wanted…to be her best student,” she whispered, as a thin line of red trickled from her nostril. “Her…only…student. I wanted to make her proud. To prove…I could be like her.”

A lump rose to my throat, and I swallowed hard. “You are,” I told her, my voice a ragged whisper. “You were a true Viper. Lilith would’ve been proud.”