As he pulled out of the parking lot, I caught a glimpse of a red-haired girl in the rearview mirror, watching us drive away, and my stomach twisted. I would see her again, I told myself. Riley detested the Order and was dangerously protective of his underground. He would be understandably appalled at the very notion of helping the people who had killed so many of his kind. The hatchlings weren’t soldiers; they were teens who had been persecuted by Talon and the Order and had every right to fear and hate them both. But if anyone could convince them to come out of hiding and stand with their ancient enemies, it would be Ember. Once she put her mind to something, there was very little that could stop her. She had changed so much from the girl I’d met in Crescent Beach; she had become a true soldier who understood what was at stake and was willing to make sacrifices for what had to be done.

I just prayed that, when this was over, the sacrifices were ones we could live with.

Chapter 37: RILEY

RILEY

“Well, that’s everything,” Wes muttered. “All the safe houses have been evacuated. And all communications have been severed. The network is officially dead.”

“Good,” I said shortly. “That should make us harder to track down. And when Talon comes for the safe houses, there’ll be nothing left for them to find.” I stood in the small bedroom Wes and I shared, the human sitting at the desk with his open computer, myself standing behind him. A pair of twin beds sat on opposite ends of the wall behind us, but I hadn’t so much as lain down since we’d arrived. Every moment of my time had been spent securing my underground, making sure the hatchlings were settled in, going over emergency escape plans with Wes should an army of soulless dragon clones appear in the middle of the night.

“Everyone accounted for?” I asked.

“As far as I can tell.” Wes leaned back in the chair, rubbing his eyes. He, too, was exhausted, having worked all night tracking everyone in the underground, contacting all our people, shutting down networks and communications behind them. “We lost several this year, Riley,” he muttered, shaking his head. “More than we’ve ever lost in the past. The Order has been bloody relentless.”

I nodded wearily. Seventeen hatchlings had made it. Seventeen, out of what had been twenty-five a year ago. It made me sick. I remembered their names, their faces, their stories and backgrounds. I knew each and every death, and it ate at me like a cancer, making me furious with myself. I was supposed to keep them safe. They’d come to me for protection, and I had let them down.