“Please,” I said quietly, making the human blink. “Wes, please. He’s my brother. I don’t know what’s happened to him, if he’s okay, if Talon is making him do something awful.” Wes thinned his lips, looking annoyed but hesitant, and I pressed forward earnestly. “I won’t tell him where we are,” I promised. “Or give him any information that can be traced back to us. I just need to know if he’s all right.”

Wes sighed. “Even if I wanted to do this,” he said in a softer voice, “which I don’t, let’s make that very clear—I’m not going to risk it without Riley’s approval. You haven’t really seen the blighter lose his temper yet, and as I am not fireproof, I’m not going to sneak around behind his back. You’ll have to take that request up with him.”

“Fine,” I said, backing toward the door. “Then I’ll find him and ask him myself.”

“Ask me what?”

I whirled. Riley stood in the doorway, watching us, and my dragon perked at his arrival. “Everything all right?” he asked, his amber gaze flicking past me to Wes, then narrowing slightly. “What are you doing in here?”

Wes snorted before I could answer. “Bloody hatchling wanted me to send a message to her brother,” he replied, already back at his computer. I scowled at him over my shoulder, but his eyes were on the screen. “I told her that before she brought the whole of Talon and St. George down on our heads, she’d have to take it up with you.”

“Ember.” Riley’s voice, furious and horrified, made my stomach clench. I quickly moved back as he stepped through the frame and swiftly closed the door, glaring at me. “Tell me you didn’t try to contact Dante,” he growled, backing me into the room. “Do you want the organization to know exactly where we are? Do you want to wake up surrounded by Vipers? What were you thinking?”

“He’s my brother!” I protested.

“He’s part of the organization!” Riley shot back. “He was in direct contact with Lilith herself. Did you not learn your lesson last time? You gave him a choice—Talon or blood—and he chose Talon. He’ll do it again if given the chance.”

“I don’t believe that.” The tightness in my throat was back, and the corners of my eyes stung. I’d already had this argument with Wes, but it was harder with Riley. “I don’t believe Dante would willingly hurt me,” I said, steadying myself under his accusing glare. “I think Talon is using him, and he doesn’t understand who they are, or what they’re capable of. If I could just reach him, make him see—”

“How?” Riley demanded, stepping forward. “What are you going to say? How do you think you’re going to convince him?” He poked his chest, glaring at me. “I’ve been on the inside, I know how the organization works. Every second he’s there, Talon’s influence on him gets stronger. They’ll smile and pat his back and promise that he’s doing the right thing, that this is for the good of us all, and he’ll believe them. He’ll accept everything they say without question, because they believe it, too. And even if you could somehow change his mind, how do you think you’re going to get him out? He’s too deep within the organization to risk contact.” Riley shook his head, giving me an exasperated smirk. “I’m not storming Talon headquarters, Firebrand, even for you.”

I briefly closed my eyes against the angry stinging. “He’s my brother,” I said once more, raising my chin to stare Riley down. “I won’t give up on him. There has to be a way. And if you won’t help me, then I’ll do it myself.”

“Ember,” Riley began, but I brushed past him and stalked from the room. He didn’t understand. He didn’t have a sibling. None of them did. Dante and I were the only pair that had been raised together, the only dragon siblings in existence. Riley couldn’t understand because he didn’t have one, but Dante was family. Talon couldn’t have him.

“Dammit, Firebrand. Hold up.”

Strong fingers grabbed my wrist just outside the door, halting my angry storm-out. Bristling, I tried yanking out of his grasp, but Riley pulled me back into the room with him and slammed the door behind us.

“Just wait a second,” he snapped, but I was full-on pissed now and punched him in the arm. “Ow! Will you stop? Listen to me.” Grabbing my arms, he pinned me against the door, glaring down with angry gold eyes. My instincts flared, rising to the challenge, nearly bursting through my skin as he shoved me back. I barely clamped down on the impulse to Shift right then and pounce on the dragon in front of me.

Riley took a deep breath, as if he, too, was struggling to hold his dragon down. “Look, I’m sorry about Dante,” he said. “But we can’t help him right now. We can barely help ourselves. If you try contacting him now and Talon finds out where we are, we’ll be dead. Even if he doesn’t give our location away, the organization will be monitoring his every move, because he’s connected to you. They’re watching him, Firebrand. They know Dante is their way to you, and if they find you, they find all of us. I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night surrounded by Vipers.” His fingers gripped me tighter, his face intense. “It’s too dangerous to send Dante any kind of message, Ember. Promise me you won’t try to contact him.”

Defiance rose, egged on by the dragon, the surging heat inside. Of course, he was right, but… “I’m getting him out, Riley,” I said, meeting that intense gaze, almost seeing Cobalt peering out at me. “One way or another. I can’t leave him there.”

“I know, Firebrand. I do understand. Trust me, I would take them all away from Talon if I could.” Riley straightened, sliding his hands up my arms. “But slow down for me a little. I know you want to save the world, but there are only three of us. We can’t take on Talon, or St. George, by ourselves. We’d need an army for that, and they’re not just lying around for the taking.” One hand rose to the side of my face, brushing a curl aside with his thumb. “Just trust me a little longer, okay? Let’s figure out where we’re going, what we’re doing next, before we go charging the organization’s front door. Can you do that, without burning the hotel down in the meantime?”

I swallowed, then took a slow breath. It didn’t cool the heat of the wild surging flames within. “I guess so,” I muttered, relinquishing the fight for now. He exhaled in relief, and I gave him a faint smirk. “Though I can’t promise not to set anything on fire, especially if St. George kicks my door down.”