I crumpled to the sand with a gasp, blackness hovering around my vision like fuzzy clouds. The world still spun frantically, and there was a fiery ache in my side where I’d hit the boulder. I tried getting to my feet, but my legs gave out and I slumped back with a hiss of pain.

“That’s it?” The Viper’s voice echoed weirdly in my head, hollow and ringing, but still amused and smug as hell. Through my darkening vision, I saw the deadly green dragon prowling up the beach toward me, her eyes glowing in the shadows. “That’s all the fight you have, hatchling?” she crooned in Draconic. “Perhaps I’ve underes-timated you, after all.”

Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself around the boulder, my tail and wings dragging behind me. My claws slipped through the loose sand, making progress difficult, and pain flared through my side. Panting in fear, I heard the Viper’s approach, getting ever closer, and I clawed frantically at the ground.

“Running away now?” Lilith called. “You should know you can’t escape me. Give up, little hatchling. Let me kill you now, and I’ll make it quick.”

Hugging the boulder, I tried to be calm as the killer dragon’s footsteps shushed through the sand on the other side of the rock. “What pathetic little prey you are,” she mused, dangerously close. “I am quite disappointed, indeed.”

I took a deep breath, and felt the heat in my lungs ignite.

Dragons are never prey, I thought, as a long neck snaked over the rock, the arrow shaped head smiling down at me. Dragons are always predators.

“There you are,” Lilith purred. “I see you, hatchling.”

I raised my head and blasted the Viper above me with fire. Flames couldn’t hurt us of course, as our scales were fireproof, but the sudden explosion caused her to snort and flinch away. Surging upright, I leaped to the top of Lone Rock and hurled myself at the Viper’s back.

I hit her side, between wing joints and neck, sinking my talons into her scales to stay on. Her spines poked at me as I clawed and scrabbled for a better grip, raking and snapping as best I could. Lilith hissed and spun, bucking wildly, but I clung to her with the last of my strength. Biting down hard, I felt the sharp tang of blood fill my mouth, and Lilith screamed in fury.

Her long neck whipped around, jaws closing on a wing joint, ripping me from her back. I dangled in the air a moment, before she reared up and flung me to the ground, hard. I landed on my stomach, and before I could move, one clawed forepaw pinned me down, and another fastened around my throat. Claws sank into my skin, pricking me through my scales. I gagged and looked back into the face of the Viper, who was no longer smiling.

“Now you’ve annoyed me,” she growled, as I struggled desperately, clawing at the sand beneath me, whipping my tail. It was no use. She was too big. “Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll make it quick. Once I tear your throat out, you won’t feel a thing.”

Her claws tightened, digging into my throat, drawing blood. I thrashed frantically, beating my wings, but I couldn’t move the murderous dragon holding me down. “A shame, really,” Lilith said, shifting her weight to a better position. “You had so much potential. I suppose we’ll have to rely on Dante, now.”

Dante? “Wait,” I choked, feeling the claws loosen the tiniest bit.

“What do you want with Dante?”

Lilith smiled once more. “That is not your concern any longer, hatchling,” she said, and squeezed my throat again, making my world erupt with pain. “Because in a few moments, you won’t be alive. Now, why don’t you go ahead and die like a good dragon? It’s what Talon would want.”

Her claws pierced my neck, sinking through scales, and I knew this time they wouldn’t stop. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the end, hoping it would be as painless as Lilith said.

Shots rang out behind us.

Garret

“There’s her car.”

Tristan yanked the van off the road, pulling to a stop behind a familiar white sedan on the shoulder before killing the engine. I stared out the window, fighting a sickening sense of dread. There were no landmarks out here, just an empty road, sand and rock, but I recognized this place. I knew what lay beyond the narrow, nearly invisible trail snaking off toward the cliffs. Lone Rock Cove, the place where I met Ember for the first time.

“She’s probably down in the cove. Come on.” Tristan stepped out and slid open the door to the back seat, where his rifle lay nestled in its case on the floor. Picking up his gun, he swung it to one shoulder and handed me an M-4 as I stepped around the front. I took it numbly, trying to clear my thoughts, to decide what I was going to do. I couldn’t kill Ember, and I couldn’t go against the Order. I was trapped between two impossible choices.

“What’s the plan?” I heard myself ask.

Tristan shoved a 9 MM into a side holster, first checking the cartridge to make sure the gun was loaded. “We scout the area, see where the suspect is, what she’s doing and, if necessary, hold position until the team arrives. If she is here, my guess is she’ll be in that cave on the beach.” He eyed my civilian attire, as I’d left my vest and uniform behind when I went to meet Ember, and frowned. “That’s not going to be much protection against dragonfire, partner. If we do get into a fight, be careful.”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began making his way toward the cliffs, moving quickly over the rocks and sand. I hesitated a moment, then followed, the sick feeling in my stomach growing stronger the closer we got to the cove.

Tristan disdained to take the path between rocky walls that would lead to the beach, instead seeking out the high ground at the top of the cliff. Lying down near the edge, he peered through a pair of night-vision goggles, while I knelt and waited uneasily behind him, desperately hoping she wouldn’t be there.

“Bingo,” Tristan breathed, and my heart sank. He motioned me forward, handing out the binoculars. Feeling like my chest had squeezed in a vice, I took the goggles from him and gazed over the edge.

The cove was already well lit from an enormous silver moon directly overhead, so it was easy to spot the three figures in the sand along the water’s edge. Ember I recognized immediately, causing my heart to thud against my ribs. She was with the young man I’d seen at Kristin’s party, the boy who’d danced with her and fought off Colin’s friends with us. They were both talking to a slight, slender woman in the same black body suit that Ember wore. I couldn’t see their faces very well, but by Ember’s posture and quick, angry movements, it looked like they were in a heated argument.