I trailed off, a cold lump settling in my stomach. “The soldier,” I whispered, feeling the blood drain from my face. “The human from Crescent Beach. They were there to free the soldier of St. George.”

My legs felt weak. This was not what I’d expected. I’d hoped that, by watching the chapterhouse Sebastian belonged to, he would lead us to Ember. Or that Ember would contact him, somehow, and we could follow when they moved on her and the rogue. I’d never expected her to breach St. George itself.

Mist’s eyes were grave as she turned to me. “So, not only has your sister gone rogue, she is also fraternizing with the enemy,” she said. Her voice was quiet, meant only for me and our team members. “What do you intend to do with this information?”

I took a deep breath. “I have to tell Mr. Roth,” I said, feeling slightly ill, but knowing there was no other choice. “If Ember is associating with St. George, Talon must know immediately. She could unknowingly put the organization at risk, though I have no idea what she thinks she’s doing.” Anger flickered, and I scrubbed a hand down my face, trying to stay calm. Ember going rogue was bad enough, but to aid one of the Order? How was I supposed to advance my cause, convince Talon that my sister was being manipulated, if she kept pulling stunts like this?

Straightening, I looked back at the paused screen, at the trio of figures huddled against the car. “Did they escape?” I asked, almost dreading the answer. Surely Mist wouldn’t be showing me this footage if they hadn’t. But if the worst had occurred, if Ember hadn’t gotten out of that compound alive, I wasn’t going to stand here and watch. Even after everything, I didn’t think I could handle seeing my sister gunned down right in front of me.

Surprisingly, the other dragon’s lip twitched into the faintest of smiles. “Oh, you could say that,” she said, and hit the pause key on the computer.

Seconds later, with my heart in my throat, I watched the two dragons flee the compound amid a flurry of lights and gunshots. If I’d had any doubts that one of the figures in black was Ember, they were long gone now.

I took a slow breath as the two dragons soared offscreen, vanishing westward and out of sight. The soldier sat astride one of them, and a flicker of rage and disgust pierced my amazement. With a brisk nod, I turned on one of the humans.

“Send a message to Mr. Roth immediately. Let him know we’ve found her.”

Ember

Ember

“Ember,” Dante said. “Get up.”