“Bloody fabulous,” Wes muttered. “The most heavily guarded building of them all. Tell me again why we’re doing this? If it was a hatchling we were all getting ourselves killed for, I’d understand. I wouldn’t like it, but I’d understand. That’s more your type of loony.” He continued to glower at Riley and ignore me, as if I wasn’t standing not three feet away. Well within singeing distance, I thought. “Even if we do get this blighter out, what makes you think he won’t run straight back to St. George to tell them where we are? Or shoot us in the back himself?”

“He won’t,” I snapped, glaring at Wes. “I know Garret. He’s not like that.”

Wes turned a disgusted sneer in my direction. “Really?” he drawled. “Then answer me this, if you know the blighter so very well—how long did it take you to figure out he was part of St. George?”

I flushed. I’d never guessed the truth, never let myself think Garret could be the enemy, not until he’d aimed a gun at my head, and even then I hadn’t wanted to believe it. Wes gave me a smirk. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. You only think you know him. But the truth of it is he was lying to you that whole time. He would’ve told you anything to get you to reveal yourself, anything you wanted to hear.”

“He saved us from Lilith—”

“He shot at a bloody adult dragon,” Wes interrupted. “Because it was clearly the bigger threat. And when it was over and his squad hadn’t arrived to back him up, he told you what was necessary for him to stay alive. He told you exactly what you wanted to hear.”

“That’s not true!” I remembered Garret’s face that night, the intense way he’d looked at me, the remorse and determination and guilt. I’m done, he’d told me. No more killing. No more deaths. I’m not hunting your people anymore.

Wes snorted. “Leopards can’t change their spots,” he said with maddening self-assurance. “St. George will always hate and kill dragons because that’s what they do. It’s the only thing they know how to do.”

I looked to Riley, standing silently beside the desk, hoping he would back me up. To my dismay, his mouth was pressed into a grim line, his jaw set. My heart sank, even as I turned on him, frowning.

“You agree with him,” I accused, and his eyebrows rose. “You think this is a huge mistake, even though you were there. You heard what Garret said.”