I snarled, slamming a palm onto the table where the map had been laid out, smoothed over, pointed at and argued about. We’d been stuffed into this dimly lit hole for several hours, trying to come up with some sort of plan for storming a Talon-owned island facility without getting killed, and we were no closer to rescuing the breeders than we’d been when we first started. The problems were always the same. How were the six of us going to sneak onto a heavily guarded island, make our way past the security and defenses and numerous Talon employees, to get to the breeders? And even if we did get to them, how were we going to sneak them off again? There could be several hundred dragons on that island, some of whom were likely to be pregnant and unable to Shift to human form. We certainly couldn’t herd them all down to the water and tell them to swim for it.
I raked a hand over my scalp, feeling like I was beating my head against a wall as the truth slowly crept over me. There were too few of us. Six individuals, no matter how skilled, stubborn or determined, would not be able to pull this off. We didn’t have the bodies, and we didn’t have the resources. If we attempted to rescue the breeders on our own, we would all die.
Still, I couldn’t give up. I had spent too many years searching for the facilities to stop now. I knew where the breeders were; I’d promised myself I’d free them all if I ever found them. I wasn’t going to stop until I figured this out.
“There has to be a way,” I growled, staring at the map again, as if a solution would suddenly make itself clear. “Something we’re missing. Something we haven’t thought of.”
“Riley,” Wes said. “It’s in the middle of the bloody ocean, mate. You’re not going to float there on a raft. And who knows how much armed security is between you and the breeders? Not to mention all the normal Talon employees, all the people who actually take care of the dragons, the facility and the island. It’ll be like assaulting an amusement park.”
“I don’t want excuses,” I snapped at him. “I don’t want you to tell me it’s impossible. I want you to figure out a way to rescue the dragons Talon has been using as fucking broodmares for years. There has to be a way to do this.”
“There is.”
Ember’s voice floated to me through the darkness. I looked up and saw the red hatchling standing quietly beside the soldier, one fist against her chin in thought. Her green eyes were narrow and solemn as they rose to mine. “There is a way,” she continued. “But...you’re not going to like it.
“We can’t do this alone,” the red hatchling went on, looking to the others, as well. “I think everyone has realized that. It will be next to impossible to get to the breeders, and even if we do, we don’t have a way to get them all off the island. We need help.” She glanced at St. George beside her, and her jaw tightened. “We’re going to need the Order.”
Oh, fuck that.
I was about to follow up the thought with the actual words when Jade cut me off. “Listen to her, Riley,” the Asian dragon urged. “We cannot do this ourselves, that is very clear. We have allied with the Order in the past. So far they have kept their word and have not hunted us down.”
“That was different,” I said. “We were saving their hides back then. They didn’t have much of a choice. I sure as hell am not giving the Order of St. George the location of Talon’s breeder females. What do you think will happen if we take a bunch of dragonslayers onto that island, where there will be countless female dragons with no way to escape? What do you think the breeders will do if they see St. George storming the facility? It’ll be a fucking massacre.”
“Normally, I would agree with you.” Shockingly, this came from the soldier, making Ember frown at him. He stood quietly at the edge of the table, gazing down at the map. “Giving the Order the location of the facility...” His brow furrowed. “It’s a risky move. Riley is correct—St. George has always suspected Talon has a place where they keep many of their female dragons. In the Order...” He hesitated, as if reluctant to continue, before saying in a grave voice, “The highest priority was always taking out the female dragons, because without them, the race couldn’t survive. In any other circumstances, I wouldn’t go to the Order. Martin may be honorable, and some of his soldiers are beginning to realize that not all dragons are the same. But if St. George discovers that the largest population of female dragons is together in one spot...” He shook his head. “Riley has every right to be concerned.
“But,” he added before I could feel vindicated, “these aren’t normal circumstances. Ember is right—there are too few of us to fight a war. We need allies, and the Order of St. George might be the only ones who can help. They’re scattered and broken, but they still have resources we could leverage. If we can get to the Order and convince them that we’re better off standing together, we might have a chance to pull this off.”
I tried very hard not to snarl at them both. “If they listen to us at all,” I said. “And decide not to shoot us in the back of the head the second we set foot on that island.”
“What else are we going to do, Riley?” Ember asked in a reasonable voice. “We don’t have many choices. Talon is still out there trying to kill us and probably the Order, as well. They don’t want any survivors, and if this keeps up, there will be no one left who can stand against the organization. How long before they decide they don’t need the breeder dragons, too?”
“Dammit,” I growled, clenching a fist. They were right; we were out of options, and time was running out. As much as I hated it, it seemed we were going to have to ally with the dragonslayers one more time. “All right.” I sighed. “But if this turns into a slaughter, that’s it, do you hear me? I’ve already lost too many hatchlings to this stupid war. If St. George decides it would rather shoot us than try to stop Talon, I’m done with them for good, understand?” Neither of them answered, though Ember gave a solemn nod. “All right,” I muttered. “So, how exactly are we going to get the Order of St. George to listen to us again without taking off our heads? Teaming up to survive the Night of Fang and Fire was one thing. How the hell are we going to convince an army of dragonslayers to rescue an island of dragons?”
“I’ll contact Lieutenant Martin,” the soldier said. “He, at least, will hear me out. And for the rest of the Order, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”
“Fine. Make the call, St. George. And let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a massacre.”
Mist stirred, glancing at the ladder leading out of the storm cellar. “If we’re done here,” she said, and it was more of a statement than a question, “I’ll excuse myself.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Got somewhere to be, Mist?”
She gave me a somewhat evil smile that said she knew exactly what I was thinking. “Nowhere in particular,” she said. And without waiting for me to reply, she walked across the room, swung onto the ladder and disappeared through the hatch.
Suspicion flared. I wanted to ask again about the mysterious employer that she was obviously going to contact. That he could so easily “acquire” the map to a top-secret island run by dragons seemed too good to be true. You didn’t just happen to have those things lying around. But I knew Mist would never reveal his identity unless he gave the order himself, and that worried me. The ex-Basilisk wasn’t working for Talon, but she wasn’t working for us, either. This employer of hers might be helping us now, but if he suddenly decided to have her sabotage everything we were fighting for, she would do so without hesitation.
I needed to find out what she knew. Who her employer really was. And if Mist wasn’t going to volunteer the information herself,
