“This is wrong, Dante,” Ember said, gazing up at him. “Can’t you see what Talon is doing? Don’t you know what this means?”

“Yes,” Dante replied. “It means Talon will save our race, that St. George will fall, and you will return to the organization with me tonight. Whether you want to or not. Vessels!” he called, and the dragons straightened to attention. “Attack! Kill the male dragon and the human, but leave the female alive. Restrain her if you have to, but bring her to me!”

As one, the line of dragons surged forward. There were no snarls, no roars or bellows or shrieking battle cries. They were as silent as death as they came at us, a terrifying gray tide.

I snarled my own battle cry, but before I could move, St. George stepped forward with a sharp, “Look away!” and hurled something into the room. A small, round object sailed through the air and landed in front of the approaching clones. They slowed, blinking at the object, just as I realized what it was and quickly turned my head.

The flashbang exploded in a brilliant burst of light, flaring white through my closed lids, and the shock wave knocked me back a step. Now the clones screamed, hissing with alarm and fury, making my blood chill, but for a split second, they were frozen in shock.

“Run!” I snarled to the others, and we fled, bounding back into the corridor. Gunshots echoed behind us as St. George fired shots into the stunned clones before he slammed the door and hurried after us.

“Where are we going?” Ember called as we entered the room where Dante had sprung his first trap. The humans were still sprawled motionless on the floor, but the room had changed. Steel walls covered the windows to the outside, blocking any escape by flying through the glass. I snarled a curse and looked around for another way out, but there were only the two doors into the room, the one we first came in with Dante, and the one that led back toward the army of clones.

St. George slammed the door to the hall and turned to Ember, beckoning her to the still-smoldering desk in the corner. “Ember, can you shove that against the door?”

The red dragon nodded, bounded to the desk and slammed her horns against the side. I hurried to join her, and the heavy piece of furniture groaned as we pushed it across the floor and shoved it in front of the door. Not that it would do much good against a fire-breathing dragon, even a small one, but it might slow them down a few seconds.

“What now?” Ember panted as we backed off, just as a heavy thud echoed from the hall beyond, and the door rattled on its hinges. I winced.