“A program that will let me hack into their system undetected, find the data we’re looking for and download the correct file to Talon’s network,” the kid answered, not meeting my gaze. “Take back the drive, and the theft will be untraceable. They won’t be able to follow it back to us. So don’t worry about the technical stuff. I’ve got it covered. All you have to do is plug it in. You can do that, can’t you, mate?”

Ignoring the challenge in the human’s voice, I nodded, slipping the drive into a pocket. I wanted to ask what the data was for, what was so important that I was crossing enemy lines. But I understood that everything was on a need-to-know basis, and if Roth thought the information was important, he would tell me. If not, then he wouldn’t answer the question regardless. I had my mission; I didn’t need to know the whys.

I was, however, even more curious about the human across from me. He obviously knew what we were; Roth was making no attempt to hide it. Talon employed some of the brightest and most talented humans from around the globe, luring them with promises of wealth, power, security, whatever they desired. But most of Talon’s human workforce had no idea who—or what—their employers actually were. They did their jobs, went home to their families and returned the next morning, completely unaware that the company they worked for was anything but normal. Only a few mortals were privileged with the truth, those whose silence had been bought with money, threats or blackmail. There were a few humans in Talon who were slavishly loyal to the organization, who truly believed dragons were the superior race and were proud to work for them. But every dragon knew that humans, as a whole, were gullible, weak and easily swayed. To bring one into the know, to reveal our true nature, was a massive risk and something the organization avoided unless there was a solid, undeniable reason the human would not betray us to the outside world.

So, what was this human’s reason? I wondered. Why did he seem nearly as angry and resentful as me?

“When you are finished transferring the file,” Roth continued as the kid dropped his gaze and went back to staring at his computer, “find the data storage center and destroy it. This will cripple their network and blind this particular base. They will be unable to recover quickly, making retaliation against us nearly impossible. But there is another reason we are sending you, agent.”

He paused, and his gaze flicked to my trainer, who grunted and sat up in his chair before turning to me.