LITMIR.BIZ

       Ember

      “Wake up, Firebrand.” Riley’s voice was soft and deep, and my dragon stirred to life at his touch. “It’s 2:00 a.m. Fifteen minutes till go time.”

      I lifted my head from the pillow, fighting the grogginess pulling me down. The room was dark; only one lamp had been left on, and outside the sky was black. I hadn’t thought I could sleep, but I must’ve been more exhausted than I’d felt. After the three of us had gone over the plan, Riley had told me once more to get some rest, and I’d drifted off almost as soon as my head touched the pillow.

      The plan. I sat up as my heart began an irregular thud in my chest. It was time. This was it. Tonight we were going after Garret.

      “Better get dressed,” Riley said, nodding to my backpack on the bed. He had changed, too. No longer in dusty jeans and a white T-shirt beneath his jacket, he now wore a dark shirt that clung to his chest and arms, black jeans, gloves and a belt with several compartments and pouches on the side. At the desk, Wes was garbed in all black, too, a ski cap perched on his head. But he looked sullen and scared, like he’d rather be doing anything else. Riley, looming over me at the edge of the mattress, looked completely in his element, and my heart gave a weird little flip in my chest.

      “Come on, Firebrand,” Riley urged as I sat there, blinking at him. “We’re sort of on a time schedule, here. Get your ninja suit on, and let’s go.”

      “Right.” Shaking the final cobwebs from my brain, I grabbed the backpack from the corner and hurried to the bathroom. Unzipping the top, I rummaged around until I found what I was looking for and pulled it out.

      The sleek black bodysuit unfurled in my hands like a spill of ink, shaking free of wrinkles, creases, everything. It had been a final gift from my trainer when I’d “graduated” basic training and would’ve started my real education. The formfitting suit was specifically tailored for me and would not rip or tear like normal clothes when I Shifted into my true form. The constantly warm, clinging fabric seemed to melt into my skin when I changed, and still covered my body when I turned back, so it was probably the coolest thing I owned.

      It was, I’d discovered later, the outfit of the Vipers, Talon’s deadly and notorious assassins, which was what they’d wanted me to become, too. Needless to say, I had issues with hunting down and killing my own kind simply because Talon ordered it. Talon’s rule was absolute, and the Vipers were used to silence dragons who weren’t loyal to the organization. Dragons like Riley who had gone rogue. I couldn’t do it. And because Talon wouldn’t accept no for an answer, I’d gone rogue, too. That was the main reason I’d left the organization. I would not become a Viper like my trainer, Lilith—ruthless and unmerciful, willing to kill without a second thought. I refused to turn into that.

      But the suit definitely came in handy.

      I slipped into the outfit, shuddering as the fabric sucked at my skin, melding to my body. Yeah, the magic ninja suit was awesome, but the way it felt almost alive was still creepy as hell. After putting on my shoes and shoving my normal clothes into my backpack, I left the bathroom and nearly bumped into Riley on the other side of the door.

      He put out his hands to steady me, but quickly pulled them back with a grimace. I frowned in confusion.

      “What? Do I smell or something?”

      “No,” he muttered, not meeting my gaze. “Sorry. It’s not you, Firebrand, it’s just…” He made a vague gesture at me. “That thing. Brings back fun memories, if you know what I mean.”

      I suddenly realized the problem. “I look like a Viper,” I said, and he nodded.

      “When you’ve been out of Talon as long as I have, the last thing you want to see is that outfit. Because it usually means you’re fighting or running for your life.”

      “I’m a rogue now, too, Riley.”

      “I know.” He reached out and brushed the base of my neck. A jolt of heat surged through me from that spot, as his fingers lingered on my skin. Riley’s gold eyes almost glowed in the shadows. “I’m glad you’re here, Firebrand,” he said, his voice low and soft. “I’m glad I won’t have to meet you down the road someday as a Viper. That would kill me, having to fight you.” His mouth twitched in a faint smile. “You have no idea how relieved I am that you left the organization. That you saw Talon for what it really is.”

      I swallowed, the warmth spreading through my whole body as the dragon rose to the surface, pushing against my fragile human shell. The Viper suit tightened, flattening to my skin until it felt like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. I could Shift, I realized. Right here in this tiny hotel room. What did I have to lose? No one would see me but Riley and Wes. And then, if I Shifted, Riley would probably change, too. I wanted him to. I wanted to see his true self, his other self, the one who called to my dragon and who peered down at me with gleaming golden eyes.

      Cobalt.

      Get it together, Ember. I breathed deep to cool my lungs, to calm the fire spreading through me, and tried to grin back. “Yeah, well, I bet you didn’t know what you were getting into,” I said lightly.

      “Doesn’t matter.” Riley dropped his arm and stepped back as if he couldn’t bear to touch me anymore. Or perhaps, if he kept touching me, a large blue dragon would suddenly make a very explosive appearance in the middle of the hotel room. “But if we live through this, you owe me, Firebrand. Big-time.” He glanced at Wes, who was packing his laptop into a shoulder bag, his jaw set. “Everyone ready? Once we start, there’s no turning back. Wes?”

      “Piss off” was the sullen answer. “Like I have any sort of choice. When you’re killed by St. George, don’t expect me to babysit two dozen bloody hatchlings the rest of my life.”

      Riley ignored that. “We’ll take two vehicles until we’re a couple miles from the base. From there, we’ll go the rest of the way on foot. Wes, how close will you need to be to pick up their signal?”

      “Bloody too close,” Wes muttered. “But it shouldn’t be hard to find, since they’ll be the only ones within a hundred miles putting one out. The challenge will be jacking in without raising any kind of alarm.”

      “If you do have to move closer, don’t go in the van. Last thing we need is for them to see headlights cruising toward them across the desert.”

      “Oh, really? Is that what I’ll want to do, then?” Wes zipped his bag ferociously. “Silly me, here I was thinking we needed big neon signs that said Here We Are, Shoot Us Please on top of the roof.”

      Riley rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. “ETA at the St. George perimeter will be zero three hundred. Once we’re finished inside, we’ll meet at the rendezvous and get the hell out of Dodge. Ember…” He turned, and his gaze met mine. “You’re with me. Let’s go.”

      * * *

      The drive to the Arizona/Utah line was silent and mostly empty. Few cars passed us on the long stretch of highway across the Mojave Desert. Overhead, the moon peered down like a sleepy, half-lidded eye, surrounded by a billion stars that stretched on forever. Out here in the desert, many miles from cities or lights or civilization, the sky called to me. I thought of Shifting, of leaping off the bike, changing forms midair and soaring through the empty sky. Annoyed, I pushed all tempting thoughts to the back of my mind, willing my dragon to settle down. In a couple hours, we would be sneaking into a heavily armed base filled with soldiers whose main goal was the complete genocide of our species. There were more important things to focus on than midnight flights in the desert heat.

       Garret. I hope you’re okay. Hang in there, we’re coming for you.

      It felt like a thousand tiny snakes were writhing in my stomach, and I breathed deep to

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