For just a moment, the Perfect Soldier recoiled at the idea of accepting the help of our greatest enemies, even now. But I knew the truth, and it cast an ominous shadow over my thoughts. There was something wrong within the Order, something I’d never seen before I met Ember. It was treason to speak against St. George doctrine, treason to consider that the Order could be mistaken. No one in St. George was willing to hear the other side of the story, that a dragon, a creature whose race they had hunted and killed for hundreds of years, could be more than just a monster. No one was willing to accept the idea that the Order of St. George had slaughtered those who did not deserve it.

Regardless, the Order was no longer home. I’d already been sentenced to die, at the hands of the very people who had raised me. I wouldn’t be any more of a traitor if I left this place in the company of two dragons who’d risked their lives to get me out. That made a pretty good argument, right there.

“I’m with you,” I said quietly, and stepped through the door. The other dragon was still watching me, gold eyes assessing, but my gaze sought Ember’s, and I saw relief spread across her face as I left the cell. I heard another disgusted snort from her companion, but I ignored it. I was a soldier of St. George no longer. I had no idea how Ember and her companion were going to get us out but, at least for now, I was free. If I was going to die today, I would go down fighting.

“Come on,” growled the second dragon, gesturing impatiently. “It’s almost dawn.”

We hurried from the cell block, passing through the guard station, where two soldiers lay in crumpled heaps on the floor, out cold. One of them had what looked like a broken nose and the other’s forehead was a mess of blood where, I suspected, he’d been bashed against the edge of the desk. I paused, kneeling down to grab the 9 mm from one of their side holsters, trying not to look at them as I checked the chamber for rounds. I might be with the enemy now, but they were still my former brothers, men I had trained with and fought beside. That couldn’t be forgotten in a single night, or even in a single act of betrayal. The male dragon glared at me as I rose with the gun, obviously not pleased with the idea that I was armed, but didn’t challenge me as we continued down the hall and up the stairs to the main floor.