I ignored the jab. “We need to secure the house,” I said, slipping into safeguard mode now that we weren’t leaving yet. “Alarms, cameras, motion detectors, everything. If St. George comes within a hundred feet of the gate, I want to know. How soon can you set that up?”

Wes scrubbed a hand over his face. “Get me the equipment, and I’ll have it up and running by tomorrow.”

“Good. Start working on that now. I’ll get you what you need later tonight.” I headed out of the room, but stopped when I saw the hatchlings, still huddled on the couch. Nettle had slumped against an armrest and was about ready to fall asleep, and Remy didn’t look much better.

“Don’t tell them about St. George,” I muttered without looking back. “I’ll explain what’s going on later, but I don’t want them panicking without reason. They’re scared enough as it is.”

“Oh, sure,” I heard Wes mumble as I left the room. “Don’t want to worry the bloody hatchlings, but the human’s heart exploding from stress, that’s perfectly okay.”

I knew Wes was right. Staying here when St. George was tracking them was stupid and risky, especially if I had a mole. I was endangering the hatchlings, and I was endangering everything I’d worked so hard to build.

But the thought of leaving Ember behind, when I was just starting to sway her to my side…I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t lose her to Talon now. Wes would have to suck it up and get used to the idea.

Because until I convinced Ember to break from Talon and join the rogues, none of us were going anywhere.

Ember

I was soaring the wind currents, the sun warm on my back, the breeze cool in my face. Below me, the white sea of clouds roiled and crashed against each other, smelling of salt and surf and the ocean, and I dipped lower to skim the waves.

Someone dropped beside me, another dragon, grinning a challenge as he swooped ahead. With a strong flap of my wings, I soared after him, following the streaming tail as he rolled and dived through the cloud-waves. I didn’t recognize him, though I knew I’d seen him before. Was it Cobalt? Or Garret…?

The alarm clock shrilled in my ear, piercing the fantasy, and I slapped it silent.

Five a.m. already. Damn. And the dream was already fading, vanishing into the ether as reality returned me to my bed. Had I been flying? And who was that other dragon I was chasing? I tried to hold on to the memory, but it slipped away into the darkness and was lost.

Rolling to my back, I stared at the ceiling, already dreading the day. Wonder what fun thing Scary Talon Lady has planned for me this time. Probably another dozen or so rounds of “hunt the dragon,” which was still far too realistic for me to enjoy, even in my real form.

I sat up, throwing off the covers, and my bear tumbled from the mattress to the floor. Smiling, I picked it up, inhaling the faint scent of cotton candy that still clung to the fur, and gave it a squeeze.

Garret won this for me. Just the thought of that, of him, made me smile. That day at the carnival had been amazing, especially the part on the Ferris wheel. The way he looked at me, right before I kissed him, made my breath catch. It was like he was seeing me—seeing me for what I really was—and he didn’t care.

I knew that was a lie, of course. Garret couldn’t know what I was.

Our worlds were vastly different. I knew, when the summer ended, I would have to give him up.

But not yet.

“Ember.” A knock came at my door, and Uncle Liam’s voice drifted through the wood. “It’s five o’ five. Are you awake?”

“Yes,” I sighed, and the footsteps receded. Rising, I set the bear on my unmade bed and dressed into my old, now paint-spattered shirt and shorts. I didn’t bother with a shower, knowing I’d come home dirty, sweaty, and covered in bright red paint. (My driver had covered the back seat of his car with a sheet so I wouldn’t ruin the up-holstery. The sheet now looked like someone murdered a goat on it.) Dante had already gone ahead when I went down to the basement, and a knot settled in my stomach as I opened the tunnel door. ever since our fight yesterday afternoon, my brother and I hadn’t spoken, not about anything important. He’d smiled at me when I came back from the carnival and acted as if nothing was wrong, but it wasn’t the same. Around our guardians, he was still my friendly, teasing, easygoing brother, but ask him anything Talon or dragon related, and his eyes would go blank, his smile empty. He was slipping farther and farther away from me, and I didn’t know how to get him back.

When I reached the office building, I received a shock. The enormous storage room had been cleared out. Nothing remained of the massive wooden labyrinth except a few crates and pallets stacked in the corner. The floor was empty, except for a square of thick blue wrestling mats in the middle of the cement, making it look more like a gym than a storage room. But that wasn’t the biggest surprise.

Scary Talon Lady stood in the center of the mats, arms crossed, waiting for me. She wasn’t wearing her normal three piece suit and heels. She was dressed in a sleek black outfit that hugged her slender form and covered her from neck to ankles. Her blond hair had been pulled behind her and swung halfway down her back, free of its ever-present bun. She was, I realized, quite attractive in human terms. Beautiful and stunning. Though her acid green eyes, watching me cross the room, were the same: flat, cold, and subtly amused.

“Something new today, hatchling.” She smiled as I stepped to the edge of the mats. “I think I’ve been too easy on you, letting humans chase you around with paintball guns and fake bullets. I also think you’re depending far too much on your real form to get out of trouble. Sometimes you need to shear through a St. George soldier with claws and fangs and fire. Sometimes it is better to be human.