I shoved myself off the wall, unable to stop flashing back to that instant. “I’m too close,” I said, walking to the window. Beyond villa roofs and the tops of palm trees, the ocean sparkled in the sunlight, only reminding me again. “I lost focus,” I continued, “and it wasn’t the first time it’s happened. I don’t think I should see her anymore.

It’s just going to jeopardize the mission.”

“No,” Tristan said firmly, and I looked at him in surprise. “No, this is what we want, Garret,” he explained. “You have to get close. It’s the only way to discover anything, to really know if she’s the sleeper or not. The more she trusts you, the more likely she is to slip up. You can’t stop now. You have to keep seeing her.”

Continue spending time with Ember. The thought left me relieved and terrified all at once. “How do I proceed from here?” I asked, walking back. I had no frame of reference for this kind of thing, no experience to draw upon. And how was I going to pursue this girl, pretend to like her, if she didn’t want to see me again? “After she…kissed me…she almost ran away. It seemed to spook her pretty badly.

What am I supposed to do now?”

“Did you ask her out, make any plans to see her again?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I…I was…”

“Too busy being ambushed?”

I sighed, giving the bag a half-hearted punch. “Yeah.”

Tristan grinned. “Well, you’re just going to have to suck it up and hunt her down, partner,” he said, far too cheerfully, I thought. “Be bold. Don’t take no for an answer this time. It shouldn’t be too difficult. If she kissed you, she has to like you a little.”

“If she’s the sleeper, she shouldn’t like me at all,” I protested, crossing my arms. Dragons didn’t have those kinds of emotions. They were flawless mimics of the human race, which was what made them so dangerous, but they had no real concept of friendship, sorrow, love, or regret. At least, that’s what I’d always been told.

Tristan shrugged. “Maybe this is part of Talon’s training. Do what the humans do to blend in. Seems like something they would attempt, either for control or to throw us off the trail. Or maybe she is just a normal civilian. In any case, you’re going to have to continue the ruse until you find out. Think you can handle that?”

A ruse. That’s all it was. Pretend to like this girl. Pretend to have feelings, to pursue some kind of relationship. Earn her friendship and trust, knowing I might have to destroy it, and her, in the end.

It felt wrong. Dirty and underhanded, something they would do.

But…I was a soldier, and this was my mission. I had to remind myself: if Ember was the sleeper, she wasn’t an innocent. She was a dragon, a creature who secretly despised mankind and possessed no empathy, no humanity, whatsoever. Even their young, their hatchlings, were just as devious and monstrous as the adults. Maybe even more so, because they seemed so human. Destroying hatchlings before they became cunning, immensely powerful adults was the only way we could win this war.

Even if I had to lie. Even if—if I was honest with myself—a small part of me leaped at the thought of seeing her again.

And even if an even smaller part, one I shoved to the darkest corner of my mind, was appalled and sickened by what I was planning.

“I can handle it,” I told Tristan, and stepped around the bag, heading toward the bathroom and a cold shower. “I know what I have to do.”

“Good to hear. And Garret.”

This time, Tristan’s voice was ominous. I looked back warily.

“Don’t make the mistake of falling for this girl,” he warned, watching me intently. “If she’s a normal civilian, you don’t have any business getting involved. Not with our life. But, if she is the sleeper, and this is some new way they’re teaching their hatchlings to assimilate…”

He shook his head, and his eyes narrowed. “If the time ever comes when you have to pull that trigger, you can’t have any doubts. you can’t hesitate, even for a moment, or she’ll tear you apart. You understand that, right?”

Ember’s face flashed before me once more, smiling and cheerful, the memory of her kiss making my stomach tighten. I shoved it away ruthlessly.

“Yes,” I said. “I understand.”

Ember

“Where’ve you been?” Dante asked as I came up the stairs, intending to go straight to my room to hide out the rest of the night. Unfortunately, my nosy twin stood at the top step, gazing down with wary green eyes.

I snorted. “What are you, my egg nanny? I’ve been surfing, what’s it look like?” I sidled past him and headed toward my room. He followed me down the hall, suspicious gaze searing the back of my neck.

“Who was the human that drove you home?” Dante asked. “I haven’t seen him before.”

“That was Garret,” I replied, hoping he wouldn’t see my burning face. “He’s the boy I told you about before, remember? The one that we met on the beach with Kristin and Lexi? The one who beat up those trolls for us. He’s a nice guy.”

Maybe too nice, my dragon whispered. I could still feel his lips on mine, the sudden impulse to reach up and kiss him, the flame that had lit my stomach when I did. What would Talon say if they knew?

Talon can eat their own tail, I thought back. That wasn’t the problem. Strictly speaking, pursuing a relationship with a human wasn’t entirely forbidden by the organization. Making a human fall in love with you was an easy way to control them, an easy way to get what you wanted. Dante was an expert at this; no matter where he was, who was around, he always had someone ready to give him a ride, a phone, the shirt off their back. He didn’t even have to try very hard.