The real question was: Could I pass for normal? I’d lived my whole life within Order walls, only venturing out when there were dragons to be slain. I had little experience of the real world beyond that brief summer in Crescent Beach and, truthfully, with no one giving me commands, telling me where to go, I felt slightly lost. My existence until now had been habit and structure and routine—the life of a soldier—and I’d welcomed that order, knowing exactly who I was. Left to my own devices, I felt I was wandering aimlessly, waiting for something to happen.

But fear, even fear of the unknown, had never stopped me before. I didn’t need a command to walk away, to leave my strange new companions behind, to fade into anonymity. I was a trained soldier, and survival was one of my strong suits; even with a price on my head, I could manage the real world if I had to. What was stopping me?

With a sigh, I placed my palms against the tile wall and bowed my head, letting the water beat my shoulders and run down my skin. I knew the answer, of course, why I hadn’t left. It wasn’t because of St. George, or Talon. It wasn’t because I owed these dragons my life, or that I felt I could fight the Order that raised me. It wasn’t even the guilt, the memories of blood and death that kept me up at night now. It wasn’t any of those reasons.

It was Ember.

I shut off the water, toweled briefly and pulled on my last pair of semiclean jeans, one of two pairs to my name. I’d need new clothes soon. Wes had gotten me the essentials while we were holed up in the abandoned house, waiting for Ember to recover, but I couldn’t count on him or Riley now. Especially since I suspected something had gone down with the rogue’s network; last night, he and Wes had been talking in low, angry voices, and this morning, when I’d ventured out for a soda, Riley had stalked past me down the hall, his face like a thundercloud. He hadn’t looked like he was inclined to share what had happened, and I’d known better than to ask.

Shirtless, I wandered to the window and stared at the glittering sea below. The sun was setting behind the distant mountains, and a haze had settled over the urban sprawl of Las Vegas. Where was St. George? I wondered. What was happening in the Order? Were they still out there, hunting for me?

And what am I supposed to do now?

A sharp rap on my door had me automatically reaching for a gun that wasn’t there. With a grimace, I snatched a

T-shirt from the bed and pulled it on while walking across the room. Peering through the eyehole, I felt a strange flood of both tension and relief wash over me, before I pulled back the lock and opened the door.

“Ha. There you are.” Ember grinned at me, making my stomach knot. She wore shorts and a loose tank top, and looked perfectly normal standing there in my door frame. Like any other human girl. “I was afraid you might’ve snuck out the window or something. Didn’t you hear me knocking last night, or were you already asleep?”

My heart beat faster as I faced that familiar smile. She was a dragon, I reminded myself. Not evil or soulless as I’d once believed, but an alien creature nonetheless. Not human. I stifled the urge to touch her, to reach out and ease the worry in her eyes, the exhaustion she was trying to mask. A memory of another room, another time when it had been just the two of us, rose up to taunt me. I ruthlessly shoved it back.

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t hear you. But I might’ve been in the bathroom.” Truth was, I hadn’t slept at all the night we’d arrived, and only a couple hours since. Not that I’d expected to. I’d been trained to survive on very little sleep, but more important, it was difficult to relax when there was a price on your head. And since the rogue dragon had all the weapons and I was currently unarmed, sleep was out of the question.

Ember looked at me expectantly, green eyes shining beneath her bangs. I sighed and took a step back. “Do you want to come in?”

She beamed and scurried across the threshold, gazing eagerly around as I closed the door and locked it out of habit. I heard a snort, imagined her shaking her head.

“Jeez, Garret. Two days, and your room doesn’t look like it’s been touched. Are you making your own hotel bed? You do know there’s a maid service here, right?”

I managed a tired smile as I turned around. “Where I come from,” I told her, “if they ever discovered you let an old lady clean up your mess, you’d never live it down.”

“Whatever. I’ll take any excuse not to clean my room.” She hopped onto one of the neatly made beds, rumpling it nicely. “If I can see my floor through all the clothes, I consider that a win. Besides, didn’t you know, Garret? A messy room is a sign of genius.”

“I’ve never been inside your house,” I reminded her in a grave voice, “but if that’s true, I have the feeling I’m talking with the smartest person on the planet.”

She reached back and threw a pillow at me. I dodged, hearing her laughter ripple up, wicked and bright and cheerful. A strange lightness filled my chest, and I found myself smiling, too. Snatching the pillow from the floor, I prepared to hurl it back.

And caught myself, a cold chill driving away the amusement.

Too easy, I realized. Too easy to relax around her, to slip back into that role I’d adopted over the summer. A normal civilian, unguarded and carefree. Which was extremely dangerous, because this situation was anything but normal. I could not afford to drop my guard, even for her. Perhaps she’d come here to escape, to forget the reality of our situation. Maybe she wanted to pretend everything was normal for a while. But I couldn’t be that person she wanted, that ordinary boy from Crescent Beach. I was a soldier of St. George; I’d killed too many, hunted her kind with the sole intention of driving them to extinction. My hands were stained with the blood of countless dragons. No matter what my feelings, I could never escape that.

Stone-faced, I replaced the pillow, not looking at her. “Why are you here, Ember?” I asked. “Did you need something?”

“Actually, yes.” I looked up and found her watching me with a certain maniacal glee in her eyes. “You can come downstairs with me,” she announced. “Right now. I swear, if I have to watch one more pay-per-view, I’m going to set something on fire.”

“Downstairs?” I repeated, and she nodded eagerly. “To the casino? Why?”

“Because it’s Vegas!” Ember exclaimed, throwing up her hands. “Because we’re here. Because I’m literally going to start climbing the walls if I don’t get out and do something.” She raised her chin, and her eyes glinted. “And because I went to Riley’s room to see if he has any new information on Talon and St. George, and he had already left.”