Mist appraised him. It was clear she was surprised to see him on his feet and was observing him carefully to see if he was as hale and healthy as he claimed. To be honest, I was a little surprised, too. The human was tough, but not dragon tough. Unless there was something I was missing. Something...

Oh, crap. Dazed, I stared at the soldier as my brain finally put the pieces together. This wasn’t the first time the human had healed abnormally fast, not the first time he could stand when it should’ve been impossible. Is that the reason he isn’t dead now? What kind of freak did I create?

I kept these thoughts to myself. Now was not the time to dwell on anything but escaping this god-awful hellhole. Mist continued to appraise the soldier, unaware of my sudden realization. St. George gazed back calmly, and she shrugged.

“If you can keep up, human, I’m not going to stop you.” Her gaze narrowed. “But if you fall behind, don’t expect me to stop. My mission is to retrieve that file—nothing else matters.”

“And you would trust us to help you?” I asked. “Just like that?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like you can report me to Talon, not unless you wish to be caught again. Of course, you can try to overpower me and escape by yourselves...” Her lip curled, as if she found that thought amusing. “But since I am aware that your last dose of Dractylpromazine wasn’t even an hour ago, and I can still Shift without fail, that seems imprudent. The far wiser course would be to do what I ask. So...” She stared me down. “Do we have a deal?”

To my surprise, it was the soldier who answered.

“No,” he said quietly. Mist blinked at him in shock. “Not without Ember,” he went on as I kicked myself for not thinking of her sooner. “I’m not leaving her here. You want our help,” he said, glancing at me, “you get her out, too.”

“That might be impossible,” Mist replied, sounding annoyed. “She was taken to the private lab early this morning. I have no idea what they’re going to do to her, but only a few scientists and a handful of guards are allowed past those doors. Trying to rescue one more person could put us, and the mission, in jeopardy. Freeing the two of you is going to be difficult enough. We can’t risk it.”

“Sorry, Mist.” I crossed my arms. “But I’m going to agree with my soldier friend. Ember comes, too, or no deal.”

Her lips thinned, as if our insistence on rescuing Ember was throwing a wrench into her plans. “You would throw away your one chance of escaping Talon?” she asked. “They’re planning to kill you both tomorrow, you know. If you stay here, you’re going to die.”