“The soldier, then,” I guessed. “St. George. You’re with him now, aren’t you? And you let him kill her.” There was no answer on the other side, and my voice hardened. “How could you let him do that?”

“You’ve got some nerve asking me that,” Ember hissed. And though she sounded furious, her voice cracked on the last word. “Don’t play innocent with me, Dante. You were the one who sent her, after all. You set this whole thing up, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I admitted, not knowing where this absolute rage was coming from. “I did. To bring you back. You belong here, Ember. You belong with Talon.” There was a squeak, as someone in the room rose from their chair, but I barely heard it. “I’m trying to keep you safe,” I said, suddenly furious myself. “I’m trying to make a future for both of us, but you insist on tearing it down! I can’t believe you let that human kill Faith, just because you didn’t want to come back. What is wrong with you!”

I was almost shouting into the phone now, and a second later, it was smoothly plucked from my grasp by Mr. Roth, who gave me a blank, chilling smile before putting it to his ear.

“Ms. Hill,” he said cordially, “this is Adam Roth, senior vice president of Talon’s western operations. How are you tonight?” He paused, smiling faintly, his sharp face giving nothing away. “Well, I’m sure you don’t mean that literally.”