Rogue (15 page)

Ember

Nice place. Too bad it was driving me nuts.

The room was too quiet, too empty and still despite the paintings of naked Greek people on the walls and the bust of some square-jawed guy staring at me from the corner. Now that we could finally slow down enough to breathe, there was nothing to keep me distracted, no life-threatening situations to divert my attention. I flipped on the television, just for the noise, but that didn’t stop all the images shifting around in my head. Memories I couldn’t shut out. Everything that had happened in the past two weeks flooded my brain in a rush, pounding against me like waves. I could see the red dragon hide hanging on the wall of the St. George office, a lifeless trophy that had once been a hatchling like me. I remembered the look in Garret’s eyes as he’d stared at me through the bars of his cell as if I were a ghost. The memory of his skin under my palm, his fingers curled gently around my wrist. The flight across the desert with him on my back, and that red-hot blaze of pain as the bullet had slammed into my body.

The enemy soldier, crumpling to the floor of the abandoned house, glassy eyes staring back at me. And Lilith’s voice, telling me I was born to become a Viper, a killer like her.

Shivering, I rose from the bed and walked to the window, gazing down at the city. Las Vegas sparkled with a million neon lights, massive hotels and casinos standing tall and glowing against the horizon. Talon’s territory. Going rogue hadn’t been what I’d thought it would be. Riley hadn’t mentioned this part—the running, the fear, being chased and shot and having to kill to survive. If I’d known what would happen after I’d left Crescent Beach, would I still have chosen to go with him?

Of course you would.
A little voice, my dragon, perhaps, sneered in my head.
You know yourself better than that. Riley made it very clear what being rogue was like—you heard exactly what you wanted to hear. And if you had to do it again, knowing what you do right now, your choice would be the same. You’re too stubborn for anything else.

Angrily, I stalked back to the bed and flopped down again, putting a pillow over my face. I wouldn’t regret my decision. I’d seen the dark side of Talon, knew what they really wanted, beneath the facade of “protecting our kind.” And I refused to be a part of it. I just wished I could talk to someone, sort out these crazy, unfamiliar emotions that tried to drown me whenever I was in my own head. I wished I had someone here, just so I wouldn’t be alone. Not the boys. They were part of the dilemma, part of the chaotic, confusing mess inside me. I couldn’t talk to them.

I wished…

I wished Dante were here.

Dante betrayed you.
I didn’t know which voice this was, mine or the dragon’s. But it continued with ruthless logic and disdain.
He sold you out to Talon. Lilith would’ve killed you and Riley that night, because Dante told her where you’d be.

“No,” I growled into my pillow. My throat felt tight, and I swallowed hard. “He didn’t know what she would do. Talon lied to him, just like they lied to me, and everyone. It wasn’t his fault.”

Great, now I was talking to myself. Nothing crazy here. Throwing off the pillow, I stood once more and gazed aimlessly around the room. Everything was unfamiliar, and even with the television babbling, the silence seemed to press down on me. A lump caught in my throat. I was homesick, I realized. I missed my friends, my town and my old life.

I missed my brother.

“Dammit,” I whispered, and felt my eyes prickle. I wanted Dante back. I wanted him to be with me, on the side of the rogues and away from Talon. Talon was using him, like they did everyone in the organization. I wished I could tell him, right now. All Talon’s dirty laundry, all their secrets, the true price of staying with the organization. Dante needed to hear it. If he only knew the truth, he would never stay with them.

Maybe I
could
tell him, somehow.

Hope flickered, and I paused to think. I didn’t dare call him; if Talon was looking for us, they’d be watching my brother closely, maybe even tapping his phone. The same went for texting and email. The organization had eyes everywhere; normal methods of reaching my brother could put us all in danger. Me, Garret, Riley and all the rogues under his watch. I wasn’t going to risk that.

But, there
was
someone who was an expert at getting past Talon’s radar unseen.

I crossed my room and opened the door a crack, peeking out. The long corridor was empty. I was probably being overcautious; Riley had said this hotel was safe enough, from Talon at least. But if there were strange humans wandering about who looked like they might be armed, I wanted to see them before they saw me.

Slipping out, I took three steps across the green-and-gold carpet and knocked on the door across from mine.

A moment later, it swung back, revealing Wes’s haggard, unkempt face. His shaggy hazel bangs hung in his eyes, and his jaw and mouth were lined with stubble. He scowled when he saw me, clearly expecting someone else—probably Riley.

“Oh, it’s you.” His gaze flicked up and down the hall before returning to me. “What do you want?”

“Hey, Wes. I have a question.” I offered a smile, making an attempt to be friendly. I knew Wes didn’t like me, but maybe I could change his opinion. He just stared blankly, and I sighed. “Can I come in? I don’t want to talk out in the open.”

“Bloody hell,” Wes muttered, but he stepped back, letting me cross the threshold into his room. It was much like mine, gold curtains, queen bed, pictures of Greek people in compromising positions on the wall. His bag had been tossed on the bed and forgotten about, but his computer sat open and glowing on the desktop.

Wes shut the door and turned to watch me with wary eyes. “Well?” he demanded as I hesitated, wondering how to convince him. “Whatever this is, can you make it quick? I really don’t have time to faff around with hatchlings right now.”

“Faff around?”

“What’s the bloody emergency?” Wes snapped. I took a deep breath, wondering how best to put it, then decided on the direct approach.

“I want to get a message to my brother.”

The human’s eyebrows shot into his hair. “Your brother,” he repeated in disbelief. “I’m sorry, you mean the bloke who sold us out to Talon? Are you off your rocker? You want to let Talon know exactly where we are?”

“He didn’t sell us out,” I snapped back. “Talon lied to him. He didn’t know what would happen when he told Lilith where we were. He didn’t know she would try to kill us.” Wes gave me a look of supreme disbelief, and I narrowed my eyes. “I know Dante. I’ve known him all my life. He wouldn’t willingly do anything that would put me in danger. Talon used him, like they used all of us.”

“Be that as it may,” Wes said, “he’s still part of the organization, or have you forgotten they’re the ones sending Vipers after us? Even if your brother is being manipulated, it doesn’t change anything. Talon will still use him to get to us. So, sorry, can’t help you there. I like our status as is—alive and breathing.”

Anger and despair rose up, and my chest squeezed tight. Half of me wanted to threaten the stubborn human before me with fire and fangs, the other half knew he was right, that he was only protecting himself and the rest of us. But still, Dante was my twin, my only family. I knew Talon didn’t approve of such things; the organization was our “family,” and we weren’t supposed to need attachments to anything, or anyone, else. But growing up, it had always been me and Dante against the world. I wouldn’t abandon him, even if he had turned his back on me in favor of Talon.

“Please,” I said quietly, making the human blink. “Wes, please. He’s my brother. I don’t know what’s happened to him, if he’s okay, if Talon is making him do something awful.” Wes thinned his lips, looking annoyed but hesitant, and I pressed forward earnestly. “I won’t tell him where we are,” I promised. “Or give him any information that can be traced back to us. I just need to know if he’s all right.”

Wes sighed. “Even if I wanted to do this,” he said in a softer voice, “which I
don’t
, let’s make that very clear—I’m not going to risk it without Riley’s approval. You haven’t really seen the blighter lose his temper yet, and as I am not fireproof, I’m not going to sneak around behind his back. You’ll have to take that request up with him.”

“Fine,” I said, backing toward the door. “Then I’ll find him and ask him myself.”

“Ask me what?”

I whirled. Riley stood in the doorway, watching us, and my dragon perked at his arrival. “Everything all right?” he asked, his amber gaze flicking past me to Wes, then narrowing slightly. “What are you doing in here?”

Wes snorted before I could answer. “Bloody hatchling wanted me to send a message to her brother,” he replied, already back at his computer. I scowled at him over my shoulder, but his eyes were on the screen. “I told her that before she brought the whole of Talon and St. George down on our heads, she’d have to take it up with you.”

“Ember.” Riley’s voice, furious and horrified, made my stomach clench. I quickly moved back as he stepped through the frame and swiftly closed the door, glaring at me. “Tell me you didn’t try to contact Dante,” he growled, backing me into the room. “Do you want the organization to know exactly where we are? Do you
want
to wake up surrounded by Vipers? What were you thinking?”

“He’s my brother!” I protested.

“He’s part of the organization!” Riley shot back. “He was in direct contact with Lilith herself. Did you not learn your lesson last time? You gave him a choice—Talon or blood—and he chose Talon. He’ll do it again if given the chance.”

“I don’t believe that.” The tightness in my throat was back, and the corners of my eyes stung. I’d already had this argument with Wes, but it was harder with Riley. “I don’t believe Dante would willingly hurt me,” I said, steadying myself under his accusing glare. “I think Talon is using him, and he doesn’t understand who they are, or what they’re capable of. If I could just reach him, make him see—”

“How?” Riley demanded, stepping forward. “What are you going to say? How do you think you’re going to convince him?” He poked his chest, glaring at me. “I’ve been on the inside, I know how the organization works. Every second he’s there, Talon’s influence on him gets stronger. They’ll smile and pat his back and promise that he’s doing the right thing, that this is for the good of us all, and he’ll believe them. He’ll accept everything they say without question, because
they
believe it, too. And even if you could somehow change his mind, how do you think you’re going to get him out? He’s too deep within the organization to risk contact.” Riley shook his head, giving me an exasperated smirk. “I’m
not
storming Talon headquarters, Firebrand, even for you.”

I briefly closed my eyes against the angry stinging. “He’s my brother,” I said once more, raising my chin to stare Riley down. “I won’t give up on him. There has to be a way. And if you won’t help me, then I’ll do it myself.”

“Ember,” Riley began, but I brushed past him and stalked from the room. He didn’t understand. He didn’t have a sibling. None of them did. Dante and I were the only pair that had been raised together, the only dragon siblings in existence. Riley couldn’t understand because he didn’t have one, but Dante was family. Talon couldn’t have him.

“Dammit, Firebrand. Hold up.”

Strong fingers grabbed my wrist just outside the door, halting my angry storm-out. Bristling, I tried yanking out of his grasp, but Riley pulled me back into the room with him and slammed the door behind us.

“Just wait a second,” he snapped, but I was full-on pissed now and punched him in the arm. “Ow! Will you stop? Listen to me.” Grabbing my arms, he pinned me against the door, glaring down with angry gold eyes. My instincts flared, rising to the challenge, nearly bursting through my skin as he shoved me back. I barely clamped down on the impulse to Shift right then and pounce on the dragon in front of me.

Riley took a deep breath, as if he, too, was struggling to hold his dragon down. “Look, I’m sorry about Dante,” he said. “But we can’t help him right now. We can barely help ourselves. If you try contacting him now and Talon finds out where we are, we’ll be dead. Even if he doesn’t give our location away, the organization will be monitoring his every move, because he’s connected to
you
. They’re watching him, Firebrand. They know Dante is their way to you, and if they find you, they find all of us. I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by Vipers.” His fingers gripped me tighter, his face intense. “It’s too dangerous to send Dante any kind of message, Ember. Promise me you won’t try to contact him.”

Defiance rose, egged on by the dragon, the surging heat inside. Of course, he was right, but… “I’m getting him out, Riley,” I said, meeting that intense gaze, almost seeing Cobalt peering out at me. “One way or another. I can’t leave him there.”

“I know, Firebrand. I do understand. Trust me, I would take them all away from Talon if I could.” Riley straightened, sliding his hands up my arms. “But slow down for me a little. I know you want to save the world, but there are only three of us. We can’t take on Talon, or St. George, by ourselves. We’d need an army for that, and they’re not just lying around for the taking.” One hand rose to the side of my face, brushing a curl aside with his thumb. “Just trust me a little longer, okay? Let’s figure out where we’re going, what we’re doing next, before we go charging the organization’s front door. Can you do that, without burning the hotel down in the meantime?”

I swallowed, then took a slow breath. It didn’t cool the heat of the wild surging flames within. “I guess so,” I muttered, relinquishing the fight for now. He exhaled in relief, and I gave him a faint smirk. “Though I can’t promise not to set anything on fire, especially if St. George kicks my door down.”

Riley grimaced. “At least there are extinguishers by all the exits,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I can see the headlines now, though. Vegas Casino Mysteriously Ignites on Twelfth Floor. Strange Creatures Seen Flying out Window. That wouldn’t catch Talon’s attention at all.” He shook his head. “You certainly keep my life interesting, Firebrand.”