“Before you ask,” I interrupted, making her frown in surprise, “there’s something you should probably know. Well, a couple things, really. One, you’re either very inexperienced at this, or overconfident. Or both. You realize you left that second dose of Dractylpromazine sitting on the table there, right?”

“Yes,” Mist said, glancing at the syringe. Her brow furrowed in wary confusion as she turned back. “But I’m in no danger. The dose I gave you is good for another hour, at least. Why?”

“No reason.” I shrugged. “Only, you forgot one of the prime rules of interrogation training. Never leave possible weapons like that lying within the prisoner’s reach. Because if they ever escape their plastic cuffs, that’s the first thing they’ll go for.”

Mist jerked back, eyes widening…as I surged to my feet, snapping the weakened plastic restraints, and lunged for the syringe.

Ember

Ember

“Dante?”

The flames within sputtered and died as I sucked in a horrified breath. Faith smiled, looking pleased, and I clenched my fist, glaring at the other hatchling. “Where is he?” I demanded. “What have they done to him?”

“He’s safe with Talon,” Faith went on. “For the moment, at least.” She paused to let that sink in, before continuing, “You don’t quite realize what’s at stake here, do you? This isn’t only your final exam. It’s also Dante’s. The organization is testing him, making sure they can trust him, the brother of a rogue and a traitor. This plan, well, most of it anyway, was his idea. If you fail and refuse to return to the organization, he fails, as well.” Faith smiled evilly. “And you know how Talon feels about failures.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. Dante was in charge of this. He’d sent Mist and Faith after us. He was responsible for Riley’s disappearance and, if things continued down this road, Garret’s death. Did he know what he was doing? Was Talon coercing him, forcing my brother to go along with their plans? If I didn’t return to the organization tonight, Dante would fail. I might never see him again. But to go back, to make sure my brother would be safe…Garret had to die.