Rogue (26 page)

Riley

I slumped forward, feeling sweat run down my face into my eyes, my jaws aching from clenching them so hard. I knew if I relaxed an inch, I would start babbling like an idiot, but at the same time, my inclination to care was getting smaller and smaller. I knew the drug was working its way through my brain, suppressing inhibition and my ability to think straight. I had been completely, utterly trashed exactly once in my lifetime, having consumed enough alcohol to drown a football team. This felt very much the same.

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Mist said in a gentle voice. “Tell us what we want, and this can be over. You know you’re going to break sooner or later.”

“Probably.” The word slipped out before I could stop
it.
Damn. Stop talking, Riley.
“Though I don’t see why I shouldn’t drag this out as long as I can,” I went on, as my mouth refused to cooperate. “You’re going to kill me as soon as this is over.”

Mist didn’t answer, which told me everything I needed on that front. Deliberately, I jabbed myself with the item between my fingers, and the instant flare of pain cleared my head for a moment. “Just tell me one thing,” I gritted out, meeting the other dragon’s cool gaze. Hoping she wouldn’t notice the blood dripping from my hand to the floor. “Since I’m going to be spilling my guts here shortly, I think I deserve at least one straight answer. How much was Griffin paid to sell us out?”

Mist’s slender eyebrows rose. “Enough,” she replied, her gaze almost impressed. “Mr. Walker’s deal with the respective parties is not important right now, but I am surprised you know about him.”

“I didn’t,” I said, making her blink. “I was guessing a second ago. You just confirmed it.”

Mist’s gaze hardened. Crossing her arms, she leaned back and watched me, saying nothing more. My vision grew blurry, and everything became dreamlike and surreal. I felt like I was floating, and strange images filled my head, hazy and fragmented. Where was I? How did I even get here?

“Are we ready?” A clear, quiet voice cut through the drunken fog. I didn’t know what it meant by that, but another question followed before I could wonder about it. “What is your full name?”

“Depends on who you ask,” I heard myself saying, though my voice sounded slurred and detached, like it belonged to someone else. “I’ve had a lot of names.”

“Your real name, then. The one given to you when you were hatched.”

“Cobalt,” I replied. That was an easy answer; no use in trying to hide it.

“And how many humans do you have in your network right now, Cobalt?”

“I don’t know, exactly.” I shrugged. “I’ve lost count. Maybe a few dozen?”

“All from Talon?”

“Yeah.”

“Excellent.” The girl looked pleased. She placed a chair in front of me and sat down, then leaned forward to peer into my face. I stared blankly at the floor between us and felt cool fingers against my sweaty cheek.

“Cobalt, listen to me,” the voice cajoled, and I raised my head to meet those intense blue eyes. The rest of her face blurred in and out, and I blinked hard to clear my vision. “Where are your safe houses located?” she asked in a firm, direct voice. “Your resistance has been admirable, but you will answer me, now. Where are Talon’s hatchlings? Tell me where you hide your rogues.”

Ember

“Faith?”

I stared in disbelief as the other girl smiled and stepped away from the man in the suit, brushing at her sleeves like she was trying to wipe away filth. The human didn’t even glance at her, keeping his gun pointed directly at me. The six men behind us didn’t move, either.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice sounding small and weak in the vast chamber. Faith dusted off her hands, tossed back her curls and shot me a look of supreme disdain.

“Oh, I think you know the answer to that,” she replied, with a smile that was completely different from the shy, terrified girl of a moment ago. “You’re smart enough to figure it out. You wouldn’t be one of
her
students if you weren’t. By the way, do you like where I staged this little encounter?” She raised her arms, as if showing off the room around us. “I thought it would bring back memories.”

And everything hit me with a jolt. The warehouse. The maze of crates and shipping containers. The armed men surrounding us. I stared at Faith, horror and rage creeping over me. “Lilith,” I growled, making her smile widen. “You’re one of her students, aren’t you? You’re a Viper.”

Faith chuckled. “Her
only
other student. Before you came along, anyway.” For a second, her eyes glittered, a flash of hatred crossing her expression, before she shook it off and smiled again. “She told me to tell you hello, and that she fully expected you and Cobalt to fall for such an obvious trap. A beginner’s mistake, if you ask me. If you had only completed your training, this never would have happened.”

“Where’s Riley?” I snarled, making the men surrounding us raise their weapons higher. “You know where he is, don’t you? Tell me!”

“He’s dead,” Faith replied offhandedly. “Or he will be soon. Mist should be nearly done.”

“Mist?”

“Oh, sorry. That’s Ava to you.”

The floor dropped out from under me, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Not only was Faith a Talon operative, Ava was one, too. This whole thing was an elaborate plot by the organization. If they had sent a Viper, Lilith’s other student, of all people, I must have really pissed them off. And Riley…might already be gone.

I clenched my fists as my dragon snarled in defiance. “No,” I said, as Faith’s eyebrows rose. “You’re wrong. You don’t know Riley. He’s more than a match for any Talon agent.” He had to be; I refused to believe anything else. If he was dead…I would know. My dragon would know. “It’s Mist you should be worried about,” I told Faith.

Faith shrugged. “Regardless,” she said, seemingly unconcerned about her partner, “he’s not here. And he isn’t the one
you
should be worried about right now.”

Her gaze shifted away from me, turning calculating and cruel as it fixed on Garret. “A soldier of St. George,” she mused, and my blood chilled. “How very…interesting. You
have
fallen quite far, haven’t you?” She shook her head and glanced at me with obvious contempt. “Consorting with the enemy? Allying yourself with a soldier of St. George?” She
tsked
, a mock-sorrowful look crossing her face. “For shame, really. What would Lilith say? What would
Talon
say?”

My throat felt tight with panic. I didn’t know what was happening with Riley, what Mist was doing to him, but I did know what would happen to Garret. Talon would kill him, right now, for no other reason than he had been part of St. George. It didn’t matter that he was on our side now. It didn’t matter that the Order itself was hunting him. They would show a soldier of St. George no mercy, unless I could somehow change their mind. Fighting right now would be suicide. With half a dozen guns trained on us, even if I survived, that first volley would kill the soldier.

We were trapped. Riley was gone, we were outnumbered and outgunned, and the Viper had us right where she wanted. This was checkmate for us, but I had to save Garret, at least. I could endure going back if I knew the soldier was still alive out there. And then, when I had returned to Talon and discovered who was responsible for this, I would take my revenge. For Riley, Dante, Garret and all the rogues Talon had crushed. If I couldn’t be free, I would make them suffer for it.

But keeping Faith from putting a bullet through Garret’s skull was the important thing right now.

“Let him go,” I told Faith, who raised her eyebrows. “He’s not part of the Order anymore. You’ve been around us. You know he’s not one of them.” Her lip twisted nastily, and my voice hardened. “He saved your life from St. George, remember that? They would’ve killed us all if he hadn’t been there.”

“Ember,” Garret said quietly, a motionless presence at my back. “You don’t have to do this.”

I ignored that, continuing to stare at Faith. “Let him go,” I said once more. “I’m the one you want, right? Trust me, you don’t want to kill him.”

“And why is that, exactly?” Faith smiled, eyes gleaming. I wondered how I’d ever thought of her as some innocent kid. “I’ve seen the war,” she continued. “I know what St. George does to our kind. Who cares if the human doesn’t hunt dragons now? He was still part of the Order, which means he’s killed before. As a loyal member of Talon, I’m not only expected but required to take out their enemies whenever I get the opportunity. Why should I let him go?”

I swallowed hard. “Because,” I whispered. “If you let him go, I’ll come back to Talon willingly. I’ll become a Viper, or whatever they want from me. Let him live and I…I won’t try to leave again, I swear.”

“No,” Garret said, stepping forward. “Ember, don’t—”

Two men closed on him, weapons raised. Garret stopped, lifting his arms again, but his gaze sought mine. “Don’t bargain for me,” he said in a low voice. “Not with Talon. They don’t accept compromise. It’s either all or nothing…and my life isn’t worth your freedom.”

I met his gaze. “Yes, it is.”

“Ember—”

“Don’t argue with me, Garret,” I almost hissed, feeling my throat tighten. “There is no way I’m going to stand here and watch them shoot you. Just shut up and let me do this, okay?” My voice was starting to tremble; I swallowed hard and took a quick breath to steady it. “I already lost Riley,” I whispered. “If I have to go back, at least I’ll know you’re still alive.”

“Well, this is all very interesting.” Faith’s cool, amused voice made me bristle. I turned back to find her watching me, that chilling smile on her face. “You are correct,” she told me. “We
do
want you to return to Talon, that’s why they sent me, of course. But there is a small problem with your proposal. You see, you’ve already confirmed your disloyalty to the organization, and they are somewhat reluctant to take you at your word. If you want to come back, you’re going to have to prove that we can trust you again.”

I clenched my jaw. The thought of having to prove anything to Talon rankled. But if it would save Garret’s life… “How?” I asked through gritted teeth.

Faith nodded to the men behind me. As I spun, two agents stepped forward, one on either side of Garret, and forced him to his knees. The others formed a line behind the soldier, keeping their guns trained on the back of his head. I started toward them, but Faith grabbed my arm in a grip of steel.

“You want to prove your loyalty to Talon?” she asked, and pressed a cold black pistol into my hands, making me freeze in horror. Faith didn’t smile as she let me go, nodding toward the kneeling soldier.

“Kill him.”

My heart stood still. I stared at the weapon in my hands, torn between hurling it away and shoving the muzzle in the Viper’s face. Not that it would do any good; Faith could probably disarm a person fairly quickly, and neither choice would help Garret, kneeling in front of what I knew was an execution line. Any aggressive move on my part might trigger them to blow his head off. Gripping the handle of the gun, I looked up at Faith, shaking my head in disbelief.

“You’re crazy,” I told her. “Did you not hear me at all? I said I’d come back to Talon if you let him go, not murder him in cold blood. You can’t possibly expect me to do this.”

“I don’t think you understand the situation you’re in,” Faith replied, and made a vague gesture at Garret. “The soldier is dead,” she said flatly, making my heart drop. “Either way, no matter what you decide, we’re going to kill him. There is no argument that will convince me to spare an agent of St. George. I am not here to make bargains. I’m here to bring you back to Talon, and this is the final test to see if you can be trusted. If you refuse, then you will share the soldier’s fate.”

“Then you’ll have to kill us both,” I said, feeling my lungs heat, the dragon rising up for a final, desperate battle.
I’m sorry, Garret. I wanted us to be free of Talon. But if they won’t let us go, I’ll fight as hard as I can.

“Really?” Faith gave me an evil, knowing smile. “So, you would sacrifice not only the human, but Dante, as well?”

Riley

“Phoenix.”

Mist cocked her head, regarding me intently, as if trying to determine whether or not I was lying. I growled a curse and hunched forward, panting, feeling the other dragon’s gaze on the top of my skull.

“Phoenix,” she repeated in a slow, clear voice. “That’s where your safe houses are located?”

“One of the locations,” I replied.

“There are others? Where?”

“All over the place. Austin, Phoenix, San Francisco. There was even one in Mexico for a little while.” I listened to myself ramble on, unable to stop. “I thought about moving some of them overseas, but that would require me to travel more. I can’t be on two continents at once.”

“No, you cannot.” I heard the triumph in her voice. “And how many hatchlings are you hiding, right now?”

“Twenty-three.”

She blinked, the only outward sign of surprise. “You
have
been busy, haven’t you?”

“I’ve been doing this awhile.”

“Indeed.” Mist leaned farther forward, her gaze intense. “Where can we find them, Cobalt? Tell me exactly where they are.”

“You’ll never find them,” I slurred, smiling up at her with the knowledge. “If I disappear, Wes will give the signal for everyone to move. They’ll be gone before Talon ever gets there.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Mist said. “Once we have them on the run, they’ll be easy to track down. You’re only delaying the inevitable.” Her voice dropped, became soothing again. “Stop fighting, Cobalt. Where are they? Tell me the closest safe house from here.”

Fighting. Why was I fighting? That seemed hard right now, too much work. “The closest safe house from here?” I shrugged. “That’s easy. I have one right in the city.”

Mist frowned. “Here?” she asked. “In Las Vegas?”

“Yep.” I nodded, tilting my head back. The inside of my skull felt full of cotton; a weird sensation. “We were just there a few days ago, in fact.”

“Who was there?”

“All of us. Me, Wes, the soldier of St. George, Ember…”

Ember.

Deep inside, the dragon stirred, rousing sluggishly at her name. It struggled into consciousness, growling defiantly, before sleep overcame it and it sank into the void again. But that brief rush of heat and fire burned away the fog and, for just a moment, my thoughts were clear.

“Was there anyone else in that safe house?” Mist went on, her voice closer now, not seeming to come from a great distance away. “Any hatchlings that could still be there, right now?”

I clenched my fist, curling my fingers around the item in my palm. It bit into my skin, and I exhaled in relief. Still there. I hadn’t dropped it. “No,” I muttered, almost before I knew what I was saying, and winced. The damn truth serum was still in full effect. “There was no one else. Just us.”

“All right.” Mist slid off the table, coming to stand in front of me. “Enough of this,” she said, and a note of impatience had crept into her voice. “You know what we want, Cobalt. You know you cannot hide them from Talon any longer. I will make this as clear as I possibly can. Where—”

“Before you ask,” I interrupted, making her frown in surprise, “there’s something you should probably know. Well, a couple things, really. One, you’re either very inexperienced at this, or overconfident. Or both. You realize you left that second dose of Dractylpromazine sitting on the table there, right?”

“Yes,” Mist said, glancing at the syringe. Her brow furrowed in wary confusion as she turned back. “But I’m in no danger. The dose I gave you is good for another hour, at least. Why?”

“No reason.” I shrugged. “Only, you forgot one of the prime rules of interrogation training. Never leave possible weapons like that lying within the prisoner’s reach. Because if they ever escape their plastic cuffs, that’s the first thing they’ll go for.”

Mist jerked back, eyes widening…as I surged to my feet, snapping the weakened plastic restraints, and lunged for the syringe.