“I know. Dammit.” Ember slumped, glancing at the lifeless body against the wall. A pained expression crossed her face, and she let out a gusty sigh, smoke curling from her jaws. “She was still one of us,” Ember murmured. “She was like me, once. Who knows what she might’ve been if Lilith and Talon hadn’t gotten their claws into her.” A shudder went through her, and she turned her head, closing her eyes. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”

I reached out and put a tentative hand on her neck, feeling warm scales under my palm. My heart jumped, still thrilled by the idea of touching a dragon. “We need to take care of those,” I said, mentally assessing her wounds, wondering how serious they would be in human form. “Can you Shift back?”

“No.” Ember shook her head, staggering away from me. “I mean, yes, I can, and I will, but…what about Riley? He’s still out there. We have to find him.”

“Ember, you’re hurt. Badly, by the looks of it.” I sidled around to face her, blocking her path. “We need to get you back to the hotel and let Wes know what’s going on. Maybe he’s heard from Riley by now.”

“He would’ve called us if he had!” Her tail lashed, and she raised her head in defiance. “I’m fine, Garret. We have to keep looking.”

“Where? We still don’t know his location. He could be anywhere in the city by now. Where are you planning to search?” Ember slitted her eyes, and I kept my voice calm, knowing that if a five-hundred-pound reptile wanted to walk right through me, there was little I could do to stop it. The strangeness of standing in a dark warehouse arguing with a dragon did not escape me, either.

“We have to regroup,” I said, hoping she would listen to reason, that her worry and eagerness to find Riley would not override logic. Some dark little part of me bristled with anger at the thought, but I shoved it down. “Let’s go back to the hotel, get you taken care of, and see if Wes has heard anything. That’s the most reasonable course of action right now.”

Ember lashed her tail, taking a breath to argue, then frowned. “Wait,” she muttered, cocking her head. “Did you hear that?”

I fell silent, pulling the gun from my belt and stepping around to her flank. For a moment, we stood there, a soldier of St. George and a dragon, guarding each other’s backs. Strangely, it felt no different than the hundreds of times I’d done this with Tristan.

A faint, familiar jingle sounded, somewhere in the maze. Ember gasped.

“My phone!”