She cocked her head. “I…don’t know,” she stammered. “Isn’t that where you come in? I thought you had this whole rogue thing worked out.”

“Normally, I do. But my plans don’t usually involve sneaking into highly guarded St. George compounds to rescue the enemy.” I didn’t look at the soldier as I said this, and St. George didn’t give any indication that he cared. “This whole situation is a bit abnormal for me, Firebrand. Frankly, I didn’t expect to have you around this long.”

Anger flashed across her face and she raised her chin. “Well, if I knew you were just going to get rid of me, I would’ve saved you the trouble.”

“Don’t be thick. That’s not what I meant.” I shook my head, giving her an exasperated look. She glared back, and I sighed. “What did you think I was going to do after taking you away from Crescent Beach?” I demanded. “Toss you out on the streets and say, ‘Good luck, have a nice life’? Give me some credit. I’m a little more organized than that.”

She frowned. “Then…what was going to happen to me?”

I started to answer, then paused. I didn’t like talking about my network so openly, especially with the human still in the room with us. Not that I was afraid he could go running back to the Order, but I trusted him about as far as I could throw him. Hunted or not, he had dragon blood on his hands, and that would never change.

As if reading my thoughts, the soldier raised his head and met my glare. “You can tell her,” he said in a low voice. “It’s not like I can take your secrets back to the Order.”

I smirked. “If I thought you could, you’d already be a pile of bones in the desert, St. George,” I stated. “That’s not what concerns me.”

“Riley!” Ember scowled. “You don’t have to be a jerk. He’s not with the Order anymore.”

“Firebrand. You don’t get it.” I turned on her, narrowing my eyes. “It’s not about me. This isn’t just my life I’m risking, it’s all the dragons I’ve freed from Talon. They look to me to keep them safe, keep them off Talon’s radar and away from the Vipers. Not only do I have to worry about the organization, I have to worry about St. George, too, because the bastards don’t know there’s a difference between rogue dragons and Talon, and they wouldn’t care if they did.”

I shot another piercing glare at the soldier, who didn’t reply. Though by the look on his face, he knew I was right.