Not unless I pulled myself up the barred windows and peeked out, and I wasn’t going risk getting caught. But even without seeing him, knew that the speaker was a dragon. Possibly one of Talon’s upper executives, though I’d never met one myself. The dragons that ran the cooperation were very tight-lipped about their whereabouts, for fear that St. George would hunt them down. Why would one of Talon’s higher-ups be talking about me and Dante? I pressed against the wall and held my breath, listening hard.

“Dante has adjusted well, sir,” Liam said, his voice emotionless even through the wall between us. “He excels at human interaction and is comfortable within the social circle he has built himself. He follows the rules and understands what is expected of him. I foresee no problems with his assimilation.”

“Good,” said the voice, though there was no praise or pleasure in his tone. “As we expected. What of his clutch-mate, Ember Hill?”

“Ember,” Liam replied, and an edge had entered his voice, “is a little more…problematic. She has made friends and is adjusting well, but…” He paused.

“She is reckless,” Sarah broke in, sounding like she couldn’t hold back any longer. “She flaunts the rules and is drawn to dangerous, risky activities. She resists our authority and constantly questions her trainer. In fact, I think Dante is the only reason she hasn’t done something drastic. He keeps her grounded, but I fear even he may not be able to control her much longer.”

The voice was silent a moment, pondering this, while I bit my lip and ordered my heart to stop racing. Was this the moment they would decide to call me back for retraining? Alone? My stomach heaved. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go back there. Especially without Dante. I would die of loneliness and boredom.

“Has she broken any rules?” the voice finally asked, making my insides clench once more. If Dante had told them, if they knew about that night with Cobalt, I was as good as gone.

“No,” Liam said reluctantly, making me slump with relief. “Not to our knowledge. But she could be a ticking time bomb—”

“Then we will observe her more closely,” the voice interrupted.

“Ember Hill could be a danger to the organization, or she could simply be acting out from the unaccustomed freedom. It is not uncommon with hatchlings. Better that she get it out of her system now, it will let her focus on her training in the long run. It is not a viable reason to pull her out, since by your own admission, she has not broken any of the rules.”

Huh. I blinked in shock. That’s…surprisingly reasonable. Maybe Talon isn’t as bad as Cobalt lets on.

“And what of the rogue?” Sarah asked suddenly, turning my blood to ice. “It could still be hanging around. What if Ember or Dante runs into—”

“The rogue,” the voice said, overriding her, “will be taken care of. You need not concern yourself. Our agents moved in last month when he was first reported and determined that he had fled town. He will likely not return, but if you see him, or if either of your charges mentions him, you will inform us immediately, is that clear?”

Dante, I thought, as both guardians muttered consent. It was you, wasn’t it? You told them about Cobalt. That’s why he left, and why our trainers arrived early. It was you all along.

“We will speak with Ember’s trainer and see if anything can be done to focus her energy down a more productive path,” the voice went on. “Now, are there any other pressing concerns?”

“No, sir.”

“Very well.” I imagined the speaker pulling back, waving his hand.

“Dismissed.”

The screen flickered and went dark. Liam and Sarah immediately turned and walked toward the secret door, not glancing in my direction. I peeked from the cage, watched them press a single button to release the door panel, and waited several minutes after the door closed again before I fled myself. Back up the stairs and into my room, thankfully undisturbed by nosy brothers and now untrust-worthy guardians. No one had been in to check on me, and I collapsed to the bed, my mind racing with what I’d heard. Talon, my guardian, my trainers, Dante.

And the rogue.

Okay, Cobalt, I thought, feeling a shiver run down my back. You were right. Talon isn’t tel ing us everything. You have my full attention, now. I just hope I’ll get to see you again to ask about it.

Garret

“So, you have a possible target now.”

On the computer screen, Lieutenant Gabriel Martin leaned back in his desk, steepling his fingers in thought. Both Tristan and I stood in the apartment’s tiny kitchen, facing the open laptop on the counter. These weekly status reports were routine, keeping headquarters updated on the mission, but tonight was different. Tonight, we actually had a name.

“Ember Hill,” Martin mused, drawing his brows together. “I’ll have intelligence run another background check on her and her household, see if we can find any discrepancies. You say she has a brother?”

“Yes, sir,” Tristan answered. “But they could have been raised together and then planted here to throw us off, knowing we’d be looking for a single target.”

“That is a possibility,” Martin agreed. “I wouldn’t put it past Talon to think of new ways to hide their spawn. Have you spoken to either of her guardians, or been inside their house?”

“No, sir,” Tristan said. “But Garret has established a connection with the girl. He’s set to meet with her tomorrow.”