But I didn’t want them wiped out. I didn’t want them gone. Because I knew that, without the Order of St. George, there would be no one left who could challenge Talon. They balanced each other, kept the other in check. The reason we had to hide, the reason Talon was so leery of discovery, was plain and simple—because they were afraid of the Order. Because they knew what the Order represented: humanity’s fear of the unknown and what they would do if they found out dragons were real.

Without St. George, that balance would tip. Without the Order, there would be nothing to stop Talon and the Elder Wyrm from achieving what they’d wanted from the start. Complete and utter dominion. How they would accomplish that I wasn’t entirely sure, but destroying an entire organization of professional dragonslayers seemed like a good first step.

I didn’t know how we were going to survive the coming storm. I didn’t know what the world would be like in the future, a future where Talon had no opposition and no one to stop their plans, whatever they were. I did know that I was going to rescue Ember, recall all my safe houses and then find the deepest, darkest hole where we could hide and wait this out. And hope that, when the dust settled and we reemerged, the world would still be intact and not burned to a crisp.

I spared a glance at the soldier. He stood next to me with a gun held loosely at his side, staring at the elevator doors. His face was stony, his eyes flat and dangerous. Most likely, he was thinking of the Order and what he could do to save them. Or perhaps he was thinking of Ember. I did know one thing: we were done with Talon. If anyone got in our way right now, they wouldn’t live long enough to regret it.

“This is it,” Mist said quietly as the elevator came to a halt on the very bottom floor. “Beyond this hall is the lab where we will find Ms. Hill. It will be guarded, so be prepared. We might have to fight our way through.”

I glanced at the clones beside me. “What about your two puppet dragons?”

“They will follow orders,” Mist said. “Because I will be the one giving them. But the security guards on this floor are human and will attempt to stop us when we approach. We need to silence them quickly before they sound the alarm. If they do alert the rest of the building, we’re as good as dead. Are you ready?”

“Yes.” St. George stepped forward, his expression hard. I glanced at his face and realized that whatever stood between him and Ember was probably going to die. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 27: EMBER

EMBER

We need to speed up the process.