He snorted. “Don’t get me wrong. If the Viper had ripped your throat out instead, I wouldn’t lose any sleep tonight. Where is Ember now?”

Soft footsteps made me whirl around, just as a slight figure in a black suit emerged from the maze. Ember had, of course, followed me, her jaw clenched in pain and determination as she limped doggedly across the floor.

“Riley?” she asked as I hurried over, catching her by the arm just as she staggered. Four angry red gashes scored her cheek, making me grimace. But her eyes shone with hope, even through the pain. “Is that Riley?”

For just a moment, I considered lying, turning off the phone and claiming it was Wes. For a moment, I hated the fact that Riley had lived, that he could make her face light up like that. It cast a dark uncertainty over my thoughts, and all the confusion and doubt I had pushed down rose to the surface once more. Was I just fooling myself? Would Ember ever see me in the same way as the rogue dragon?

“Garret?” She looked up at me, eager and confused, her eyes searching. “Did you hang up? Who were you talking to?”

Wordlessly, I handed her the phone.

Riley

Riley

“Riley?”

Heat flared through me at the sound of her voice, nearly making my breath catch. The dragon rose up, shaking off the grogginess, burning away the tranquilizer. And maybe I was still under the influence of the truth drug, but suddenly everything became a lot clearer. Ember was mine. I needed her. She was impulsive, reckless, infuriating…and I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

“Hey, Firebrand.” I sighed. “Good to hear your voice. You okay?”

“Oh, you know.” I heard the tremor that went through her, the breathless relief. “A little burned, a little sore. Nearly died a couple times. The usual. You?”

“The same.” I staggered through a metal door and paused outside the building to get my bearings. Some old warehouse district on the edge of town, isolated and unremarkable, as I expected. Still, I scanned the area carefully, not putting it past Talon to be watching this place, via satellite or something else. I had to get out of the area quickly. Now that my phone was back on, Wes would be able to find me; he was supposedly on his way now. “Though I am a tad confused by one part,” I went on, hurrying across the dusty yard toward a chain-link fence surrounding it. “Did you just say you were burned? You’re a dragon. How does that happen?”

“Um, I might’ve set myself on fire.”

I closed my eyes. “Ember…”

“But look on the bright side, I managed to avoid being shot this time.”

“I need you.”