She stiffened, and so did the Basilisk, his dark eyes widening as he realized what was happening. “Stop!” he called sharply, and the vessels froze, their gun barrels pointed right at us. Panting, I glared at Luther over Ember’s shoulder, trying to calm the fear sweeping through me. I could feel Ember’s taut body against mine, the tension and shock lining her muscles, and hoped she would not try to struggle or throw me off. Trust me, Ember, I thought, willing her to understand. I’m trying to save us all. Don’t explode on me.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Luther,” I said, locking eyes with the Basilisk. “You’re going to let us go. You’re going to let me and everyone else walk out of here, unmolested, or—” I prodded Ember’s jaw with the barrel of the pistol “—you can kiss the Elder Wyrm’s daughter goodbye.”

Luther stared at me, his expression stony, and my heart pounded. I had to play this just right. For all his creepiness, Luther wasn’t stupid. If he called my bluff, we were done. The only reason this insane gambit might work was that I knew the one thing that terrified Luther, terrified all of us. The Elder Wyrm. I had to make him believe I wasn’t bluffing. I wasn’t Riley; I was Cobalt, the criminal leader of the rogue underground, and I had no issues sacrificing another dragon if it meant saving my own hide.

“You really expect me to believe that?” The Basilisk gave an oily smile, making my stomach drop. “You really expect me to stand here and believe that you would shoot one of your friends in cold blood, to save yourself? No, agent.” He shook his head. “The Cobalt I’ve seen, the Cobalt I have studied over the years, is not that ruthless.”

“Yeah?” Ignoring my fear, I flashed the Basilisk the meanest, nastiest smirk I was capable of and shoved the gun farther into Ember’s skin. She gasped, tensing in my arms, and Luther’s eyes narrowed. “Can you really afford to take that gamble?” I asked, holding his gaze. “What would happen if the daughter of the Elder Wyrm is killed while you were trying to prevent our escape? It certainly wouldn’t just be your job on the line.”

Luther didn’t answer, but I caught the flicker of raw fear that went through his eyes, and knew I had struck a chord. The rest of my party hadn’t moved. I could see the soldier in my peripheral vision; he had lowered his gun, but he still watched me with a hard look, one hand clenched at his side. I couldn’t see Mist; I just knew she was somewhere behind us, watching this morbid drama play out.