“Don’t be ridiculous,” she’d said in an overly reasonable voice. “If we’re going to walk down the halls in plain sight, we have to make it seem realistic. I can bluff my way through a lot, but it still has to look like you’re my captives. I’ll release you when the time comes, don’t worry.” Riley had still looked dubious, and she’d shot him a glare. “If my plan was to lead you into a trap, it would be rather silly for me to open the prison cell, where you were already trapped, and let you out, wouldn’t it?”

Riley had grunted. “Fair point,” he’d muttered, and snapped the cuffs around his wrists, rolling his eyes. “So, it’s the classic ‘prisoner transfer’ ruse, huh? Never gets old.”

“What if we run into Dante?” I’d asked. Mist’s eyes had glittered with more than casual suspicion, maybe even fear, as she’d met my gaze. I was a human and a soldier of St. George, I’d reminded myself. In her eyes, I was the enemy, perhaps even more than Riley himself. “He’ll certainly recognize us and want to know where we’re headed.”

“That would be true,” Mist had answered coolly, “if he were here.” She’d waited until I had locked the shackles around my wrists before unlocking the cell door. “Fortunately for us,” she’d continued, pulling the door back with a screech, “Mr. Hill had to take his leave this morning. That will make things easier, though we still have to be very, very careful. We don’t want word to reach the Elder Wyrm’s office.”

Riley’s face had turned the color of glue. “Wait,” he’d gasped, staring at her. “Did you just say the Elder Wyrm is here? Right now? In this building?”

Mist had nodded, and he’d staggered back a pace. “Shit. You couldn’t have mentioned that earlier? Holy Mother of all that is holy...why? What’s here that would bring the Elder Wyrm out of...”

He’d stopped, his face going even paler, and I’d guessed the reason at about the same time.

“Ember,” I’d muttered as he’d given me a dark, slightly glazed look. “That has to be why Dante was so eager to bring her back, why there was an army of dragons at that site. The Elder Wyrm must have sent him in person, and it has something to do with Ember.”

“Now you see why we have to do this quickly,” Mist had said, her cool voice tinged with fear. “If the Elder Wyrm discovers my betrayal, none of us are leaving this place alive.” She’d glared at us again. “So, the two of you follow my lead and do exactly what I say. No heroics. We might get out of here in one piece.”