A very long silence followed. Long enough for me to slip through the fence and step onto the sidewalk. Gazing up and down the street, I picked a direction and started walking, toward the glow of distant lights that, hopefully, marked the edge of the city. A warm breeze blew against my face, smelling of dust and pavement; I breathed it in and smiled to myself. It was good to be free.

“Riley.” Ember’s voice trembled slightly, though I couldn’t tell what she was feeling. “What…what are you talking about?”

“I think you know what I’m talking about.” I raked a hand through my hair, feeling dangerously light and uncaring. “However, I’m probably still under the effects of a truth drug,” I went on, with the same easy nonchalance I’d felt while talking to Mist. “And it made me realize something, about us. But, if you don’t want to hear what I’m really thinking, I’d hang up right now.”

“Do you want me to?”

Yes. Say yes, Riley. “No.”

Ember took a deep, shaky breath. “Tell me, then.”

No turning back now. Ah, screw it. I officially don’t care anymore. “I realized something while I was in that session with Mist,” I began, hoping to tell her everything before Wes showed up. “She’s a Basilisk, you know. Talon wanted the locations of my safe houses, and they sent her to retrieve them. She was supposed to kill me after she got the information.”

“Bitch,” Ember growled.

“Wasn’t her fault,” I said, feeling a small twinge of regret that I couldn’t save her, too. “You know what Talon is like. You know what they’re capable of. I would’ve brought her with us if I could.”

“Is…is she…?”

“No,” I murmured. “I didn’t kill her. She’s sleeping off a tranquilizer that would put down an elephant, so she won’t bat an eyelash for at least a couple hours. But that’s not the point.” I paused as a taxi cruised toward my corner but then sped by without slowing.

“I would’ve told her everything,” I continued, feeling my stomach twist at how close I’d actually come to revealing my entire network. “I almost betrayed my entire underground. All my hatchlings, all the humans I got out. But something stopped me, kept me from spilling my guts and telling Mist everything she wanted to know.”

“What was it?”

“You, Firebrand.” I stopped at an intersection and leaned against a crosswalk sign. “I saw your face, and I knew I had to keep it together.” A human passed by, giving me a smirk as he crossed the street, and I didn’t even care. “You kept me grounded, Ember,” I said quietly, resting my head against the metal pole. “You’re the reason I was able to resist. I just kept thinking about you.