I ignored the way my heart leaped at that statement. “Firebrand, I’ll be fine. Trust me, this isn’t the worst situation I’ve been in. My surly hacker friend has patched me up many times before. Only bad part is listening to him bitch the whole time he’s doing it.” I clenched my jaw and struggled to my feet with a grimace, splaying my legs to remain upright, panting. “But we need to leave, and we need to leave soon. I’ll wait for you both as long as I can, but if you and Dante don’t meet us by midnight…we’ll have to go without you.”

Ember nodded. “We’ll be there.” Looking at the sun, she nodded grimly, nostrils flaring. “I’ll see you in a couple hours, at most. Be careful, Riley.”

I staggered forward and pressed my muzzle beneath her chin, closing my eyes. “You too,” I whispered.

She gave me an unreadable look as I pulled back, then turned and padded gracefully away. I watched her go, feeling a part of myself leave with her, until she paused at the edge of the ocean, silhouetted against the sun. Her wings cast a dark shadow over the beach as they unfurled, and I felt an almost painful longing to go with her, to spring forward and follow the red hatchling into the sunset, but I kept myself grounded and under control. Ember’s wings flapped twice, sending up whirlwinds of sand and foam, as she launched herself skyward. Still, I watched, as the crimson dragon climbed rapidly into the air, scales glinting in the evening sun, until she soared over the cliff face and disappeared into the blue.

Ember

I didn’t fly far. Just to the top of the cliff, where I found the road back to town, and quickly Shifted back to human form behind a pile of large rocks. I was barefoot, phoneless, penniless, dressed in what appeared to be a black wetsuit and nothing else, and several miles from any place familiar. I wished I could just fly home, but of course that wasn’t an option. Especially now that St. George was in town and on the warpath. I couldn’t linger in any place for long. At least one of those soldiers had seen me right before I’d changed, and knew what I looked like in human form. If they spotted me now, I was dead meat.

A car came down the road, a white Camry with tinted windows and music blasting from inside. Halfheartedly, I stuck out a thumb, and the vehicle cruised right on by without slowing down, giving me a honk as they zipped away. I stuck my tongue out as it passed, tossing dust in its wake, and fantasized about meeting them with a flat tire on the side of the road. Glancing at the last sliver of red peeking over the ocean, I sighed.

Wel , looks like I’m hoofing it.

With limited options, I began jogging down the road toward home.

Away from the cliff, and the beach, and Cobalt.

Cobalt. Riley. That moment on the beach, when he’d yanked me to him, still lingered in my mind. I didn’t know what to think of it, though my dragon had no such doubts. Even now, she was urging me to turn around, to fly back to Riley and never leave his side.

But there was someone else. Someone who made my chest ache at the thought of never seeing him again. Someone I’d have to leave behind. Guilt, a new, unpleasant emotion, gnawed at me as I thought of Garret. I knew our time together was already short, that he would leave at the end of the summer, but right now it felt like my heart was being torn out. And not just because of Garret, though I would miss him terribly, I realized. I would also have to say goodbye to Lexi and Calvin, to surfing and the ocean, and everything I’d come to love in Crescent Beach. My summer was truly at an end.

My throat felt tight, a strange sensation, and the corners of my eyes stung. I shook myself and jogged faster, shoving thoughts of Garret and everything else to the back of my mind. I couldn’t stay here, that much was certain. I had to fetch my brother and leave town with Riley, before St. George found us all.

The sun had set and the stars were starting to come out, when I finally staggered up the sidewalk to the villa, knowing this would be the last time. One of the cars was gone from the driveway, so hopefully I’d gotten lucky and both guardians were out of the house. Even so, I’d have to move quickly. No telling where St. George was right now, if they were scouring Crescent Beach for us, and I didn’t want to keep Riley waiting. I’d promised to meet him and the others as soon as he called with their location; that didn’t give me a lot of time.

Dante wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen, but light and music seeped out from the crack beneath his door. Relieved that he was home, I hurried down the hall and banged hard on the wood.

It opened, and my brother frowned at me over the threshold, looking perfectly normal in a sleeveless shirt and black trunks. His frown grew more confused as he saw me, barefoot and panting, in a single dark suit that covered my whole body.

“Ember?” His green eyes widened. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?

And what the hell are you wearing?”

“St. George,” I gasped, and his eyebrows immediately shot up. “St.

George is here! They’ve found us. We have to leave town, Dante.

Right now!”

“What? Whoa, slow down a second.” Dante grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside, slamming the door behind him. “What do you mean, St. George is here?” he demanded, spinning to face me.

“How do you know? Talon hasn’t said anything about possible St.

George activity, and I think that’s something they would mention.”

“No, listen to me.” I glared at him, wishing he would just trust me for once. “I’ve seen them, okay? They’re here. They shot at me! I was with Riley, and a squad of them kicked down the door—”

“Riley?” My brother’s eyes narrowed. “You were with that rogue dragon again? Dammit, Ember, what are you thinking? Why were you at a rogue’s house? No wonder St. George came for him. You’re lucky you weren’t killed!”

“I almost was!” I snapped. “We barely made it out alive. But even before that, I learned some very interesting things about Talon, and what they really want from us.”

“You can’t believe anything a rogue says. They’re traitors and criminals. They’ll lie through their teeth just to—”

“You knew the Vipers were assassins, didn’t you?” I interrupted.

Dante blinked, surprised, and I nodded. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me. Why? We’re supposed to look out for each other, isn’t that what you’ve said all this time? You’re my brother, and you didn’t think it was important to tell me I was destined to hunt down and slaughter my own kind?”