Faith blinked. “What about him?” she asked, glancing at the soldier standing a little behind us. “He’s not a dragon. Why is he here?”

Ember stiffened, and I quickly jumped in. “He’s all right,” I said smoothly, and ignored Ember’s raised eyebrow. “You can trust him. He’s here to help.” I nearly choked on the words, but getting the hatchlings to trust us was more important than the truth now. I couldn’t have them freaking out if they discovered what he really was. The soldier’s expression remained neutral in the face of such blatant lies, and Faith finally seemed to relax.

I turned to Ava. “Are you two ready to go?” I asked. The night was fading quickly, and I was uncomfortable standing out in the open like this. Once we got back to the safety of the hotel, I’d figure out what we were going to do. “You’ll have to stay with us for a bit, until we can leave the city. But after that, I’ll find a safe place for you both.”

She nodded tiredly. “Yes, please. Anywhere is better than here, waiting for Talon or St. George to catch up.”

“No arguments there.”

The phone buzzed in my jeans pocket, making me jump, then whisper a curse. There was only one person would call me now. For one reason.

No. Not now. With dread blooming through my stomach, I put the phone to my ear and snapped, “Wes. Tell me you’re not going to say what I think you’re—”

His hissed words interrupted me. I listened to the frantic voice on the other end, lowered the phone and turned to Ember and the soldier.

“They’re here.”

Garret

Garret

“The Order?”

The rogue glared at me, anger and loathing crossing his face, as if I had summoned my former brothers here with my presence alone. “What do you think?” he spat. “Of course it’s the Order. They always seem to appear these days, like magic, wherever we are.” He shoved the phone in his jacket and raked both hands through his hair. “Dammit, of all the crappy timing. How the hell do they keep finding us?”

It was immature and vindictive, but I couldn’t help it. “Now do we need guns?”

“St. George?” The dark-haired girl, Faith, shrank back, her eyes huge and terrified. “The Order is here?” Her gaze darted to the entrance of the stairwell, as if armed soldiers could burst through at any time, then flickered to the edge of the building. “We have to fly,” she whispered, edging away from the other girl, toward the sudden sheer drop at the end of the floor. “They’ll kill us if we don’t—”

“No!” Riley whirled around. “No flying. We don’t know where St. George is, or what they have out there. They could be watching the building right now, waiting for us.”