“You don’t belong with them,” Dante insisted. “You belong with Talon. It can be how it was before. We can be a family again.”

“I...” Ember hesitated a heartbeat more, then raised her head, glaring at her brother. “No,” she said in a firm, clear voice. “I have a family. Right here. You and I are siblings, but the brother I knew wouldn’t slaughter a whole town of humans just for the good of our race. You’ve changed, Dante. You’re not my brother anymore. And if you want to kill Riley, or Garret, or anyone I care about, you’ll have to fight me, too.”

For a moment, the Chameleon stared at her, disbelieving. Then his eyes glowed with anger, and he took a step back.

“If that’s your decision.” His voice had gone cold and slimy again, and he raised a hand, sweeping it over the humans below. “Then you leave me no choice. You will see the power of Talon, and why our enemies stand no chance against us. Vessels!” he called, and the row of identical humans raised their heads. “Initiate!”

The humans started to change. To Shift. Almost as one, they swelled, stretching and growing as wings tore through their backs and scales covered their bodies. In the space of a heartbeat, over a dozen identical, metallic-gray dragons stood where a human mob had been moments before.

My spines bristled as I stumbled back a step. What the hell? This was even worse than the humans. They were all dragons—hatchlings, judging by their relatively small size—but they stared at us with that same blank, emotionless gaze that made my insides recoil.

Soulless. The word popped into my head, and I shivered. They look soulless, completely empty. There’s nothing behind their gazes, nothing at all. They look like machines. Like fucking robots.

“Dante...” Ember’s voice was a horrified whisper, as well, as she cringed back from the row of blank-eyed dragons. “What is this? What have you done?”

“This is the future,” Dante said, raising both arms as if to embrace them. “This is what’s going to save us from extinction. Don’t you see what they represent, Ember? This is our hope. We can finally turn the tide against the Order.”

“You’ve created soldiers.” This was from St. George, the first thing he’d said in a while, and he sounded just as quietly horrified as the rest of us. “These have been bred for war and nothing else.” He narrowed his eyes at Dante. “How many has Talon created?”

“More than enough,” Dante said. He smiled coldly as the clones continued to watch us with empty pale eyes. “Enough for our race to crush our enemies. Enough for dragons to return from the brink of extinction and never to be forced back. Not by St. George. Not by anyone.”