They walked on, arguing now, their voices fading into the darkness. When they were gone, I blew out a quiet breath, slumping against the wall, then glanced at Ember.

Her face was white with horror and rage, her eyes glowing a bright, furious emerald in the shadows. Like she might Shift, here and now, and tear those two soldiers to pieces. Quickly, I put a hand on her arm, feeling it shake under my fingers, and leaned close. “Easy, Firebrand,” I whispered as my dragon tried pushing its way to the surface again. I shoved it back. “This is why we’re here. He’s not dead yet.”

Though that was the confirmation I needed. They were going to execute the soldier today, probably as soon as it was light outside. Not that I cared—I’d be more than happy if another St. George bastard kicked it—but that didn’t give us a lot of time to work with. If we were going to get him out, it had to be now. But Ember’s reaction to the news sent a flare of anger through my veins. Why did she care about this kid so much? He was just a human and, more important, he was St. George. I remembered the way she’d looked at him, the way she had danced with him, and my anger grew. Ember was a dragon; she had no business getting involved with a human. Once we rescued this bastard and were far enough from St. George that I could breathe again, I would show her exactly what it meant to be a dragon.

Ember took a deep breath and nodded. Carefully, we eased around the buildings, hugging the walls and shadows, inching steadily toward the large, two-story building near the center. We avoided the brightly lit front, of course, sidling along the back wall until we reached a small metal door.

Ember started forward, but I grabbed her arm, motioning to the camera mounted over the steps. We shrank back into the shadows again as I spoke into the mic. “Wes, we’re at the back door of the main building. No guards, but there is a camera up top and it looks like you need a key card to get in.”

“Hang on.” Wes fell silent while Ember and I pressed against the wall and waited. “Okay,” he muttered after a few seconds. “Just give me a minute to see if I can turn it off.”

As he was talking, a body suddenly came around the corner. A human, wearing normal clothes, his dark hair buzzed close. He jerked, startled, and for a split second the three of us gaped at each other in shock, before his muscles tensed, mouth opening to shout a warning.