“Well, we found her, and some of her friends.” Tristan muttered, taking the goggles back to stare through them again. “All human, for now, anyway. I wonder if she’s going to do anything interesting—”

She didn’t, but at that moment, the woman surged up in the blink of an eye, making my stomach leap into my throat. I tensed, hardly believing my eyes, as a monstrous Adult dragon unfurled dark leathery wings and shook the cliffs with her roar.

“Shit!” Tristan scrambled back from the edge. “Well, that answers my question, doesn’t it? Looks like the girl was our sleeper all along!” I didn’t answer, unable to tear my gaze from the scene below. I watched the green dragon lunge at Ember with teeth bared, watched the boy Shift into the blue dragon from earlier that night and attack the much larger Adult.

“We found them.” Tristan’s voice rang with urgency as he spoke into his phone. “Three targets, Lone Rock Cove. One of them is an Adult. Should we hold position until the squad arrives?” He paused, listening, as my heart beat faster with alarm. “Understood.”

I spared one more glance at the battle below. Ember, now in her true form, leaped at the Adult’s back, but was smashed aside by the green dragon’s long, whiplike tail. My heart skipped a beat as she flew back, tumbling to the sand, and the huge Adult pounced on her viciously. My insides seized up, but the blue dragon lunged in with a roar, driving her away, allowing me to breathe again. But it was obvious they were both outmatched. The Adult was bigger, faster, and more vicious than either of them. If I went down there now, I would be a traitor to my Order. But if I stayed here, Ember could die.

“Yes, sir. St. Anthony, out.” Tristan put away the phone and took the rifle from his shoulder, lying on his stomach at the edge of the cliff. My heart lurched as he lowered the gun and gazed through the sight, pointing it at the three dragons below.

“What are you doing? I thought we were waiting for the rest of the squad.”

“Change of plans,” Tristan muttered without looking up. “I told headquarters the three targets are on the move. They want me to take down as many as I can before they have a chance to fly off. This might be our only opportunity.”

A cold fist seized my gut. “That’s against protocol. There’re only two of us and three of them, one of which is an Adult. We need the whole squad to fight it.”

“Don’t worry,” Tristan smiled, his finger sliding around the trigger.

“I can take out the hatchlings before they even know what’s happening. This was our mission, Garret. We can’t let them get away.

If we can bring down even one, it’ll be a victory. Now, shut up and let me kill a dragon.”

I spared one last glance at the fight below. The Adult was circling the other two like a wolf, lashing her tail against her flanks as they crouched in the center, watching her. Both looked hurt, while the green dragon was obviously playing with them.

“Stop moving,” Tristan breathed, his entire focus on his targets.

“Just for a second.” The Adult paused, giving him a clear view of the two hatchlings, and Tristan smiled. “Yes.”

I made my decision.

I lunged, grabbing the barrel and forcing it down, just as a shot rang out. At the same moment, a shriek of pain rose from the beach, making my heart clench, thinking one of the dragons had been hit.

But that wasn’t the case. The Adult had reared up and crushed the smaller blue into the sand, and the dragon’s scream had masked the gun retort. They hadn’t noticed us yet.

But Tristan whirled on me, eyes blazing. “Garret, what the hell?”

he hissed, trying to yank he gun back. I held on and refused to relent. “Are you crazy! What are you doing?”

“I can’t let you do this.”

He stared at me like I’d spoken Swahili. “These are orders,” he finally snapped. “I’m doing my job, what the captain told me to do.”

“The Order is wrong,” I said. His face blanched, and he gaped at me like he didn’t know who I was. “This is wrong, Tristan. Dragons aren’t completely evil. Some of them are just trying to get by. We don’t have to slaughter them wholesale.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Tristan finally yanked the gun away and surged to his feet, his eyes wide. I followed, muscles tensing, as my partner staggered back, shaking his head. “Garret, you can’t be serious. They’ll kill you.”

“I don’t care.” I stood with my back to the cliff, hearing the roars and cries of the dragons behind me, and faced my partner’s accusing gaze. “I’m not letting you shoot them, Tristan. If you want to kill them, you’ll have to get past me.”

For a moment, he stared at me, disbelieving. For a moment, I thought he would let this go. But then, I saw the instant his expression changed, cold anger and loathing flashing through his eyes, before he went for his sidearm.

I was already moving, grabbing his wrist as the pistol came up, forcing the muzzle away from me. Tristan dropped his rifle and lashed out with his other arm, throwing a fist at my temple. I raised an arm to block it, then brought my knee up, striking him in the stomach.

He grunted and bent forward; I wrenched the gun from his hand and brought it smashing down to his skull, hitting him right behind the ear. Tristan crumpled forward, collapsing to the rocky ground, and didn’t move.

Stepping over my unconscious partner, not daring to think of what I’d just done, I grabbed my M-4 and ran for the beach, the roars of desperate dragons ringing out behind me.

Ember

I opened my eyes as gunfire boomed over the sand. Lilith shrieked, and the weight pinning me down vanished, the claws around my throat jerking away.

Panting, I rolled to my side, staring in amazement. Lilith was backing toward the ocean, shaking her head, blood and sparks erupting along her side and armored chest. Walking down the beach toward us, his gun level and firing short, controlled shots as he came, was Garret.

At the sight of her most hated enemy, the Viper screamed. Opening her jaws, she sent a line of dragonfire roaring at the human coming toward us, and Garret dove away before the flames could engulf him. Rolling to his knees, he fired at her again, but Lilith was already moving. Lighting fast, she darted to one side, then the other, racing in a zig-zag pattern up the beach. The soldier tried following her with the gun, but her quick, frantic movements were difficult to track, and she drew ever closer to the lone human, jaws gaping to bite him in two. Horrified, I struggled to my feet, shouting a warning to Garret, knowing I’d never reach them in time.