He nodded once. Together, we walked through the casino, out the doors and into the hot Vegas streets.

Back into the war zone.

Garret

This place was a tactical nightmare.

The rail yard was separated from the rest of the city by a rusty chain-link fence and a strip of industrial desert that marked the end of civilization. Tracks stretched across the open, dusty ground, and aisles of freight containers created a labyrinth of cover and tight quarters. If I were to stage an ambush, this would be the perfect spot.

“Stay alert,” I told Ember as we crouched behind a metal container on the edge of the yard. The place looked deserted, but that meant nothing. St. George knew how to stay hidden. “Watch the aisles, they’ll be the most dangerous. If you see anyone, don’t try to take them out. The Order never does single patrols. If there’s one, there’ll be more nearby. Just get out of sight.”

She nodded, eyes determined. “I’ll follow your lead,” she whispered, raising the gun. “Tell me when to go.”

Behind her, Faith trembled and pressed close, her gaze darting around the yard like a trapped deer. I felt a stab of apprehension; Ember could take care of herself. Or at least, she had faced St. George before, and she wasn’t afraid to fight. Faith, despite her insistence on coming along, was not prepared for this. If we ran into the Order and had to fight our way free, I hoped I could protect us all.

I motioned us forward, and together we darted across the open yard, staying low and keeping to the shadows, until we reached the first train sitting idle on the tracks. Hugging the walls, I edged toward the front, peeking between cars for any hints of movement on the other side. Ember stayed close; I could feel her heat at my back, her steady breathing whenever we paused. For a moment, I had a distracting sense of how surreal this situation was. Again. Here I was, a former soldier of St. George, on the other side of the war with two dragons at my back, trying to rescue one of their own from the Order. It was a fleeting thought; I couldn’t let myself be distracted now. I had to stay focused on the mission and our surroundings, the tactics that would keep us alive. But it crept in all the same, dark and taunting. Would this ever feel normal? And who was I? I didn’t even recognize myself anymore.

“Where are they?” Ember whispered as we crept into an open boxcar after making certain it was empty. “This place feels completely deserted. Where could they be hiding?”

“I don’t know,” I murmured, peering out the other side of the car. The space between the narrow aisles was dark and still. Too still. No bullet holes, no footprints, no signs of a fight or struggle. I hadn’t seen any telltale spatters on the ground, either, which made me both relieved and nervous. The Order was trained to strike hard and fast and to vanish without a trace when the job was done, but they would at least leave some signs of passing. There was nothing here. Ember was right; this place felt completely deserted.

“What about that building?” Faith said, pointing to a large rectangular structure beyond the maze of tracks and containers. From this angle, it looked like the freight warehouse. “Do you think they could’ve gone in there, to hide at least?”

I shook my head. “That would be one of the first places the Order would search. If they are in there, they’re either trapped, or…” I didn’t voice what I was thinking, but Ember went rigid at my back, drawing in a short breath. She knew what I was going to say.

“We have to check it out,” Ember said, her voice tight with anger and fear. Not fear for herself; I recognized that steely look on her face, and knew nothing would frighten her away now. It was for Ava and Riley, and what would happen if we didn’t find them. Or worse, if we did. I remembered the aftermath of a successful raid; the smoldering ruins, the charred, blackened husks that were once people, the lifeless dragons lying in pools of blood. My stomach turned. I didn’t want Ember to see that, to really see what St. George did to her kind. What I used to do.

“Let’s go,” Ember told me, rising swiftly. “If St. George is here, we have to help them. They could still be alive. And if they’re not, if the Order killed him…” Her eyes flashed, and I caught a split-second glimpse of an angry red dragon below her skin. Her lip curled, and the air around her shimmered with heat. “If St. George wants to fight a dragon, I’ll give them one.”

“Ember, wait.” I caught her arm, felt the faint outline of scales rising to the surface before they vanished. She turned on me, and I met the furious glare of the dragon. “Stay calm,” I murmured. “Don’t go charging off by yourself, not with St. George. This is not a good place to fight the Order.” I nodded toward the warehouse. “There’ll be a lot of narrow aisles and tight quarters, places where it’s easy to become cornered or trapped or lost, and St. George is trained to take full advantage of that confusion. If we’re separated, they’ll pick us off one by one. We can’t help Riley if we become hunted ourselves.” She stubbornly set her jaw, and I raised my other hand, pressing it to her cheek. “Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Yes,” she whispered. No hesitation. Not even a heartbeat of silence. It made my heart turn over, that blind faith in a former dragonslayer, but I shoved it down. We had to stay focused.

“I promise,” I began, even as a part of me cringed inside. I never made promises to anyone; it was impossible to know if you could keep them. But the way Ember was looking at me, I wanted to give her some kind of assurance. “We’ll get Riley out,” I continued. “And Ava. I’ll do everything I can to keep them safe, but I also know what can happen if we’re not careful. The Order has us at a disadvantage. This is their ideal location for a strike, and if they surprise us we don’t stand a chance.”

“You seem to have forgotten that I’ve done this before.”

“I know.” I almost smiled at her indignant look. As if I could forget what she really was, what she had done. “But this is still the Order, and they’ll still do their best to kill us. I can’t help Riley and be worried about you and Faith at the same time.”

Ember was stiff for a moment, then nodded. “All right,” she said quietly. “I trust you, Garret. What do you need me to do?”

“Just follow my lead,” I replied. “We stay together at all times. And don’t Shift unless it’s a matter of life and death. Faith?” I glanced over my shoulder at the other girl. “Are you all right? Can you do this?”