Taking refuge behind an auto-repair shop, I slumped against the brick wall, sucking in deep, gasping breaths while I waited for my heart to slow down. Ava leaned beside me, head back, silver hair spilling over her shoulders.

Damn, we made it. Edging to the corner of the building, I peered back at the hotel, making sure we weren’t being followed. Past the streetlights and the fence, I could just make out the helicopter, still circling the empty lot, and smiled grimly. Still a lucky SOB. Now, if only Ember and the others made it out.

“Okay,” I muttered, hearing Ava step up behind me. “Looks like we’re in the clear. We’ll lie low for a bit, see if the others got out okay. If we don’t hear from them in ten minutes, you go on to the hotel. I might have to go back for Ember and Faith.”

“No, Cobalt,” Ava said, her voice low and grave. “I don’t think you will.”

There was a sharp pain in the side of my neck, like a hornet’s sting, hot and piercing. Alarmed, I started to turn, but the ground swayed, tilted beneath me, and everything went dark.

Cobalt

Twelve years ago

The door swung open without a sound, and the figure in black eased into the room. On noiseless feet, it stole over the carpet, the long, straight knife glimmering in the shadows as it drew alongside the bed. The lump beneath the covers didn’t stir, as a slender gloved hand reached down to grasp the corner of the quilt. In one smooth motion, the shadow flung back the covers and plunged the knife into what lay beneath.

The pillow gave a muffled thump as the blade stabbed into it, but otherwise made no sound.

“Nice try.”

The assassin spun, raising her knife as I stepped out of the closet, my pistol already trained on her. She froze at the sight of the gun, and I gave a sad smile.

“Hello, Stealth,” I greeted softly, moving around the other side of bed, keeping a large obstacle between us. It would at least slow her down if she decided to lunge. She watched me with dark, impassive eyes, and a lump caught in my throat. “I knew Talon had to send someone eventually,” I said, my voice tight. “I wish it didn’t have to be you.”

The Viper continued to regard me without expression. I stayed where I was, every ounce of my attention focused on the other dragon. I could not let it waver, even for a millisecond. Because that was how long it would take the Viper to leap across the bed and put a knife in my throat.

Stealth blinked, seemingly unconcerned with the gun pointed in her direction. She was lithe and slender, and the black Viper suit looked like a spill of ink across her skin. Straight black hair had been pulled into a tail, and her pale, slightly rounded face seemed to float in the darkness of the room. “They were going to send Lilith,” she stated quietly, making my skin crawl at the name. “I convinced them that it should be me. It’s the least I could do…for old time’s sake.”

“Yeah.” I sighed, feeling an ache begin in my chest. “I could see how you would think that. You did save my life once. Only fitting that you should correct that mistake.”

Her eyes narrowed a bit, but that was all. “How did you know I was coming?”

I gave a small snort. “You know me better than that,” I said, grateful that, for all their lethality, Vipers did not have the same skill set I did. Or the paranoia that came with being a Basilisk. The hidden camera pointed down the hallway was synced to my phone, set to alert me whenever there was movement outside. It was annoying to be woken up by every drunk shambling down the hall at three in the morning, but a few hours’ sleep was a small price to pay when it came to this.

Stealth didn’t press the question, standing calmly with her hands at her sides, still gripping the dagger. “Are you going to shoot me, Agent Cobalt?”

“Not unless I have to.”

Her jaw tightened. “If you don’t,” she warned, “I’m only going to come after you again. You know that, right? We were colleagues at one point, and I respected you, Cobalt. I still do, so consider this your only warning. Next time, there will be no words.”

I nodded tiredly. “I know.” This was a courtesy call. A formality between two agents who had fought on the same team. Once I left the room, that civility ended. The next time I saw Stealth, one of us had to die.

The Viper’s lips thinned and, for the first time, a hint of anger crossed her cool face. “Why did you do it, Cobalt?” she asked in a harsh whisper. “You had just succeeded Blackscale. You were on your way up. There were even rumors that the Chief Basilisk wanted to make you his second. Why did you throw all that away?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” I told her, and she wouldn’t. The Vipers were trained for ruthlessness, to take lives without question. I knew Stealth; if Talon told her to slit the throat of a seven-year-old human girl, she wouldn’t even blink. “And it doesn’t matter now, does it?”

Stealth shook her head. “No,” she whispered, and I heard the resolve in her voice, the knowledge that when we did meet again, she was going to kill me. “I guess it doesn’t.”

I swallowed hard and gestured at her with the gun. “The knife,” I ordered, my voice firm. “Toss it to me, now.” This might be a courtesy call, but there was no way I was letting an armed assassin follow me out of the room. I might not make it to the parking lot.

Without argument, Stealth flipped the blade in her hand and arced it toward me over the bed. It hit the edge of the mattress right in front of me, hilt up, and I grabbed the blade without taking my eyes from her.

“You’ll never escape us.” The Viper’s voice was quiet, matter-of-fact. “Even if you kill me, someone else will take my place. Talon will never let you go, and sooner or later, we’re going to catch up. You’re living on borrowed time, Cobalt.”

Ice settled in my gut, but I sheathed the knife at my belt and gave her a half smile. “You don’t have to parrot the monologue at me, Stealth,” I said. “I was part of Talon just as long as you. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”

“Go, then.” The Viper eased a few steps aside, away from the door. “Run, traitor. I won’t be far behind.”

Keeping the pistol trained on her, I slid around the bed and edged toward the exit. Stealth didn’t move, only watched me with flat, expressionless eyes, as I pushed back the door and left the room.

The second I stepped through the frame, I began to run.