A large, ghostly shadow soared overhead, landing atop a nearby crate, and I froze. In her true form, Mist was as slender and poised as her human counterpart, her scales a glittering blue-white, her ivory horns curling back from her skull. Sinking to her haunches, the pale dragon folded her wings, curled a long, diamond-tipped tail around herself and peered into the darkness with slitted blue eyes.

I didn’t move, holding my breath as that piercing gaze swept the warehouse. This was bad. The white hatchling was graceful, elegant and probably one of the prettier dragons I’d seen in my long existence, but I was still human, and she could turn me inside out with one claw.

Abruptly, Mist raised her hair, nostrils flaring, to sniff the air. And I winced, realizing my mistake.

She can smell your blood, idiot. Move!

I bolted from the corner just as Mist turned her head sharply, blue eyes narrowed in my direction. With a hiss, she leaped gracefully atop another aisle, then another, following me as I sprinted through the labyrinth of crates. I could hear her talons scraping over metal and wood, and didn’t dare look back as I fled through the aisles, searching for anything that would save my hide.

As I hurried down a dark, narrow corridor, stacks of plywood on either side, there was a blur of motion from above. I skidded to a halt, tensing to run back the way I’d come, as the white dragon landed in front of me with a snarl. Raising her head, she drew in a breath, the fire gland below her jaw swelling, and my pulse spiked. I dived aside, toward a narrow gap between piles of wood, and squeezed through as a massive firestorm erupted behind me, setting everything ablaze. Wrenching myself through the space, I scrambled upright, feeling the immense heat at my back, searing through my clothes. Panting, I tensed to run again, when I spotted a gleam of yellow in the corner of the aisle, half-hidden in shadow, and my heart jumped.

Oh, please let that work.

An angry roar echoed behind me. Without looking back, I bolted to the corner, swung into the forklift seat and grabbed for the key, praying it would be there. It was still in the ignition, and the engine sputtered to life as I wrenched the key up and threw the machine into Drive.

A white dragon landed in the aisle with a snarl, hellish firelight playing across her scales. She had just enough time to glance up and hiss in alarm…as the forklift slammed into her, the metal prongs catching her on either side. Shrieking, she was dragged across the cement floor, ripping and tearing at the forklift, until I drove full speed into the opposite wall. The impact rocked me forward, nearly throwing me out of the vehicle, and several large crates tumbled free and crashed around us, spilling their contents everywhere.

Mist slumped against the prongs, trapped between the forklift and the wall. Her legs moved weakly, and she raised her head, dazed, as I dropped from the seat and stepped around to her side. Crystal-blue eyes opened, trying to focus as I fished in my jacket and pulled out the syringe.

“Wait,” she muttered, trying to struggle free. Her wings fluttered, pinned against the wall, and she clawed feebly at the metal prongs. “Cobalt, stop. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Sorry, kid,” I muttered, and drove the needle into her neck, angling up to slide it between the scales. She snapped at me, and I dodged back, watching as her struggles grew weaker and weaker. Eventually, her eyes rolled up, and she collapsed against the forklift. I sighed, stepping away, as the white hatchling gave a final twitch and lapsed into a drugged sleep.

“I do know what I’m doing,” I told the unconscious dragon. “I’ve always known. I just wish you could have seen it, too. I wish you could see what Talon is doing, to all of us.” Shaking my head, I watched her for another moment, then took a step back. “I would have shown you everything, if you had let me.”

Raking a hand through my hair, I turned and sprinted out of the aisle, back to the office to search for my phone. I had to contact the others, let them know I was okay. Let them know they were probably walking into an ambush. Alone.

With a Viper.

Ember

Well, isn’t this déjà vu?

I crept through the shadowy labyrinth of metal containers, all senses alert, searching for any hint of the other dragon. Of course, it reminded me of my training sessions with Lilith, stalking through a warehouse maze just like this one, hunting those who were hunting me. I was sure that was exactly Faith’s intention; she seemed to emulate her trainer flawlessly, taking sadistic pleasure in my pain. But she wasn’t going to win this time.

There was a ripple of movement above me, a shadow darting from other shadows. I tensed, craning my neck up, wary for an attack from above. For the indigo dragon to suddenly pounce from the ceiling. I had used that tactic many times my—

A blur of motion from the side, and something hit my front leg, tearing through scales and skin to the muscle beneath. I snarled, fangs bared, but all I caught was a brief glimpse of a long, slinky tail vanishing around a corner. Already gone.

Wincing, I glanced at my shoulder. Four straight, narrow gashes cut through my scales, already starting to well with blood. They weren’t very deep; my armor had absorbed a good bit of the attack, but they still hurt like hell.

A scraping sound came from the corner Faith had vanished around and I whirled, ready for the attack. It came from a different direction altogether, talons ripping into my flank. Roaring, I loosed a blast of flame that seared the container behind me, leaving a black spot in the metal, but Faith had already vanished.

Growling, I turned in a slow circle, trying to watch every angle at once. “Is this what Lilith taught you?” I challenged, feeling hot blood trickle down my shoulder and back leg, dripping to the cement. Both wounds throbbed, but I refused to show pain. “How to hit someone in the back? What’s the matter, scared I’ll kick your ass if you face me head-on?”

A sibilant chuckle echoed from the darkness around me. “I don’t know what they saw in you,” the disembodied voice stated. Impossible to pinpoint which direction it came from. “For the life of me, I can’t imagine why Talon chose Lilith to be your instructor. What a terrible waste of her time and talent. It’s certainly not her fault you were completely unsuited to be a Viper. No discipline, no killer instinct at all.” A disgusted sniff followed, though I still had no idea from where. “I heard the Elder Wyrm was hoping to ingrain some of Lilith’s ruthlessness into you, that’s why she was chosen as your teacher,” Faith continued, “but then you went rogue and disappointed everyone. Your brother is much more salvageable, I hear.”