“Ember.” Riley rose quickly, his gold gaze meeting mine across the table. For a moment, his expression was apprehensive; I hadn’t voluntarily left Garret’s room since the day we’d arrived. There were only two reasons I would leave it now. “St. George?” he asked cautiously.

“He’s awake,” I said, making him slump, but whether it was in relief or disappointment, I wasn’t sure. “The fever has broken—he was talking to me a few minutes ago. I think he’s going to be okay.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” Riley raked back his hair. “Nice to get some not horrible news for a change. If the bastard gets back on his feet soon, I could use his perspective on what the hell is going on out there with the Order.”

Mention of the Order brought the current situation rushing back. I’d been so distracted by Garret, I’d nearly forgotten about it, but now it rose up again, looming and ominous. “Why?” I asked, stepping to the edge of the table. What had I missed? “What’s going on? What’s the Order been doing?”

He shot me a frustrated look. “Nothing,” he growled, making me frown. “Not a damn thing. We haven’t heard a peep from them since we left Salt Lake City. There’ve been no raids, no strikes, no activity at all. The Order has gone completely AWOL.”

“I’m confused,” I said, cocking my head. “Isn’t that a good thing? We exposed the Patriarch to the rest of St. George, and Talon’s hold on them is broken. They’re not going after your safe houses anymore.”

“Not right now.” Riley crossed his arms. “But it’s still too quiet. I don’t trust this complete lack of response—it’s not like them at all. This is probably the calm before the shitstorm.”

“The Order is not the one we should be worrying about,” Jade insisted, as if I hadn’t said anything.

“So you keep telling me,” Riley said, glaring at the Eastern dragon. “But I don’t know what you expect me to do against Talon. If the organization is up to something, all the more reason to keep off their radar. We hide deep, and we hide hard. That’s the only way we’re going to survive.”

“It is not a plan to simply hide and do nothing.”

“I’m sorry—this from one of the Eastern dragons who, for hundreds of years, have done nothing but sit on their scaly butts in isolated temples while the rest of us fought the war?”