Shivering, I rose from the bed and walked to the window, gazing down at the city. Las Vegas sparkled with a million neon lights, massive hotels and casinos standing tall and glowing against the horizon. Talon’s territory. Going rogue hadn’t been what I’d thought it would be. Riley hadn’t mentioned this part—the running, the fear, being chased and shot and having to kill to survive. If I’d known what would happen after I’d left Crescent Beach, would I still have chosen to go with him?

Of course you would. A little voice, my dragon, perhaps, sneered in my head. You know yourself better than that. Riley made it very clear what being rogue was like—you heard exactly what you wanted to hear. And if you had to do it again, knowing what you do right now, your choice would be the same. You’re too stubborn for anything else.

Angrily, I stalked back to the bed and flopped down again, putting a pillow over my face. I wouldn’t regret my decision. I’d seen the dark side of Talon, knew what they really wanted, beneath the facade of “protecting our kind.” And I refused to be a part of it. I just wished I could talk to someone, sort out these crazy, unfamiliar emotions that tried to drown me whenever I was in my own head. I wished I had someone here, just so I wouldn’t be alone. Not the boys. They were part of the dilemma, part of the chaotic, confusing mess inside me. I couldn’t talk to them.

I wished…

I wished Dante were here.

Dante betrayed you. I didn’t know which voice this was, mine or the dragon’s. But it continued with ruthless logic and disdain. He sold you out to Talon. Lilith would’ve killed you and Riley that night, because Dante told her where you’d be.

“No,” I growled into my pillow. My throat felt tight, and I swallowed hard. “He didn’t know what she would do. Talon lied to him, just like they lied to me, and everyone. It wasn’t his fault.”

Great, now I was talking to myself. Nothing crazy here. Throwing off the pillow, I stood once more and gazed aimlessly around the room. Everything was unfamiliar, and even with the television babbling, the silence seemed to press down on me. A lump caught in my throat. I was homesick, I realized. I missed my friends, my town and my old life.

I missed my brother.