I didn’t have an answer for that, so I stayed quiet. We slipped through the fence and huddled on the corner of the street, keeping a wary eye on the crowd surrounding the burning house. The roof was fully engulfed, clouds of black smoke billowing into the evening sky. I hoped Wes and the rogue dragon had been able to get out safely. And that they had come up with a getaway plan.

Sirens wailed in the distance. I tensed, and Ember froze, gazing down the street. The authorities were on their way. I glanced at the burning house, debating whether to search for our companions or to vacate the area and hope they caught up.

A sleek black SUV suddenly rounded a corner, barreled across the road and squealed to a stop in front of us. The driver’s window buzzed down, and Riley glared out at us, jerking his head at the back. “Get in!” he barked, as the sirens grew louder. “Let’s go!”

Yanking open the back door, I ducked into a black leather interior, the smell of new car surrounding me. Ember followed and slammed the door behind her, and the tires screeched as Riley stepped on the gas and roared away, leaving chaos in our wake.

Cobalt

Cobalt

Twelve years ago

Nearly there.

I pressed back against the office wall, holding my breath, as a pair of soldiers swept down the hallway just outside the door, their boots thumping in unison. They marched around a corner and out of sight, and I exhaled slowly in relief. Getting into this place had been a huge pain in the ass, with more close calls than I was comfortable with. It had taken all my considerable skills to make it this far unnoticed, and I still had to get out again once I was done. But one problem at a time.

A large wooden desk sat against the far wall, a computer perched atop the surface. Pressing into a corner, I hit a number on my phone and held it to my ear. One ring, and someone picked up.

“I’m in,” I whispered. Slipping around the desk, I jiggled the screen to life and pulled the human’s thumb drive out of my pocket. “Inserting the program now,” I said, and stuck the drive into the side of the computer.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, a bar flashed across the top of the screen, the tiny white numbers above the strip at 0 percent. As I watched, it flicked to 1 percent, then 2 percent as the numbers started inching upward. Very, very slowly.

Oh, don’t rush or anything, I thought, peering around the desk at the open door. No life-threatening situation here. Just me, a dragon sitting in the middle of St. George. Please, take your time.