“We have to check it out,” Ember said, her voice tight with anger and fear. Not fear for herself; I recognized that steely look on her face, and knew nothing would frighten her away now. It was for Ava and Riley, and what would happen if we didn’t find them. Or worse, if we did. I remembered the aftermath of a successful raid; the smoldering ruins, the charred, blackened husks that were once people, the lifeless dragons lying in pools of blood. My stomach turned. I didn’t want Ember to see that, to really see what St. George did to her kind. What I used to do.

“Let’s go,” Ember told me, rising swiftly. “If St. George is here, we have to help them. They could still be alive. And if they’re not, if the Order killed him…” Her eyes flashed, and I caught a split-second glimpse of an angry red dragon below her skin. Her lip curled, and the air around her shimmered with heat. “If St. George wants to fight a dragon, I’ll give them one.”

“Ember, wait.” I caught her arm, felt the faint outline of scales rising to the surface before they vanished. She turned on me, and I met the furious glare of the dragon. “Stay calm,” I murmured. “Don’t go charging off by yourself, not with St. George. This is not a good place to fight the Order.” I nodded toward the warehouse. “There’ll be a lot of narrow aisles and tight quarters, places where it’s easy to become cornered or trapped or lost, and St. George is trained to take full advantage of that confusion. If we’re separated, they’ll pick us off one by one. We can’t help Riley if we become hunted ourselves.” She stubbornly set her jaw, and I raised my other hand, pressing it to her cheek. “Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Yes,” she whispered. No hesitation. Not even a heartbeat of silence. It made my heart turn over, that blind faith in a former dragonslayer, but I shoved it down. We had to stay focused.

“I promise,” I began, even as a part of me cringed inside. I never made promises to anyone; it was impossible to know if you could keep them. But the way Ember was looking at me, I wanted to give her some kind of assurance. “We’ll get Riley out,” I continued. “And Ava. I’ll do everything I can to keep them safe, but I also know what can happen if we’re not careful. The Order has us at a disadvantage. This is their ideal location for a strike, and if they surprise us we don’t stand a chance.”

“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve done this before.”