Wes nodded gravely. “Be careful, Riley. Don’t get dead.”

Riley jerked his head at me as the human and the two hatchlings raced off down the hall. “Ember, you too. Go with Wes and the others.”

“No,” I shot back, though my heart was hammering against my ribs. Doggedly, I followed him into the hall, toward the living room, though my instincts were screaming at me to go the other way. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Dammit, Ember!” He spun, grabbing my arm. “This isn’t one of your training sessions. This is St. George, and they will kill you!”

A crash shattered the tense silence, the sound of breaking glass, as something small came hurling through the window, followed by a blinding flash of light. A second later, a massive boom rocked the house, and a wave of energy slammed into me, knocking me away from Riley. At the same time, the front door flew inward, and a trio of armed, masked soldiers spilled into the room, sweeping their guns toward us.

Garret

In combat, everything slows down and speeds up at the same time.

The door exploded inward with the force of my kick, and we lunged inside, the muzzles of our M-4s leading the way. I took in the room in a split second glance—bright, airy, expensive looking—before movement to the right demanded my attention.

A body dove behind the kitchen counter, and we opened fire. the M-4s chattered in sharp, three-round bursts, filling the room with noise and smoke, shattering glass and tearing chunks out of the marble. Rubble flew everywhere, ceramics exploded, and wood splintered as we edged toward the kitchen, concentrating fire on our target.

“No!”

The scream came from the hall, from someone at the edge of the living room. I whirled, sweeping my gun up and sighting down the muzzle, my finger tightening around the trigger.

And froze.

Ember’s small frame filled my sights, green eyes wide with horror and fear as she stared at me. For a single heartbeat, I faltered, unwilling to believe, and the gun wavered. For a split-second, I hesitated……and watched as the girl I had kissed, who had taught me to surf and play video games and laugh at myself, Shifted and reared up with a roar, her body exploding into wings and talons and crimson scales.

I realized my mistake and brought the weapon up again, too late. The dragon’s jaws opened, and a blast of flame seared toward us, engulf-ing the floor and setting the furniture ablaze.

I dove away from the roaring dragonfire, feeling the scalding heat even through my armor. Rolling behind a sofa, which was now completely engulfed in flames, I leveled myself to a knee returned fire.

The red dragon gave a defiant screech and ducked back into the hall as a bullet storm peppered the entryway, tearing chunks out of the walls.

There was another roar, and a second dragon, even bigger than the first, rose up from behind the counter and sent his own blast of flame into the fray. The once pristine living room swiftly became a roaring inferno, tongues of fire licking the walls and floor, as the blue dragon whipped his head back and forth, catching everything ablaze.

The heat was incredible, and smoke stung my eyes and mouth, making it hard to see. Squinting through flames and smoke, I caught a gleam of scales through the firestorm, ducked out of cover, and fired several rounds at the dragon-shaped blur.

There was a screech of pain over the bark of gunfire, followed by an angry roar. I couldn’t tell which dragon it came from, but the smaller red suddenly reared up, jaws gaping, and sent a fireball streak-ing for the couch. As I ducked behind cover to avoid the fiery explosion, both dragons spun and bounded for the glass doors leading to the balcony. I leaped upright, sighting the gun after the retreating targets, but the blue dragon hit the doors first in an explosion of glass, going right through the flimsy barrier with the smaller one close behind. We raced after them, knowing that once they took flight it would be nearly impossible to catch them again. I leaped through the shattered frame, bringing up my gun, only to see the red dragon dive off the balcony into empty sky. We hurried to the railing, a few of my teammates firing after the escaping dragons, but the pair swiftly vanished around a cliff face and out of sight.

Riley

“Riley!”

Ember’s cry echoed behind me, nearly swallowed by the wind and the pounding of the surf below us. She sounded frantic, but I ignored her, concentrating on staying aloft, keeping my wings moving, beating. I couldn’t stop now because if I did, I wasn’t certain I’d could get off the ground again.

We followed the cliff face for a couple miles, until it dropped off and became a rocky shoreline, waves crashing against the rocks. I felt exposed out here, gliding over the water in plain sight. Thankfully, this side of the cliff wasn’t friendly to humans or tourists; there were no beaches or docks or good surfing areas, only jagged coastline and rock. Humans rarely ventured down this shore. Which was exactly why I’d chosen it.

I glided low, following the coastline, until I finally saw what I was looking for: a tiny patch of sand, too small to be called a beach, even a private one, in the shadow of a cliff face.

The second my claws hit the sand, my strength gave out and I collapsed at the edge of the water, the waves hissing over my heated scales as they returned to the sea. Blood oozed in vivid red streams from a pair of holes right above my stomach plates, bullet wounds I’d taken just before we fled. Thankfully, it was more of a graze than a direct hit, and that part of my body was well armored, but still. Seawater foamed over me as a wave rolled onto the beach, rushing into the wounds and setting them on fire. I clenched my jaw in pain, panting through my nostrils, as Ember splashed over, wings outstretched, pupils dilated in fear and alarm. The sun glinted off her metallic crimson scales, her eyes blazed emerald, and even through the pain, the sight of her real form made my blood sizzle.

“You’re shot!”

“Yeah,” I hissed, digging my claws into the sand, wishing it was the face of the soldier with the gun. “One of the bastards got me.

It’s not as bad as it looks.”

She stepped closer, folding her wings over her back. She didn’t Shift, but gently nudged a wing aside to peer at the wound. I watched her, my body coiled around hers, fighting the desire to reach out and drag her close, wrapping us both in my wings.

“You were incredible back there, you know,” I said quietly. “Looked St. George in the eye and didn’t back down. You would’ve made an awesome Viper.”

“Yeah, well, I was terrified the whole time, so don’t think I’ll be doing that again anytime soon.” Her voice caught, and she drew back slightly, shivering. “They were really trying to kill us,” she whispered.