“Without mercy,” my trainer agreed. “Without hesitation. If you are ever in this type of situation again, I expect you to get it right.

Because you may never have another chance if you don’t.”

Dante was on the couch watching some kind of action movie when I got home. He lay there looking perfectly nonchalant, with his head on the armrest, one leg dangling off the side and a soda resting on his stomach. I shook my head as I came through the door, on my way up to the shower. Dante never came home looking like a cow exploded on him.

He glanced up at me, and I held my breath. Ever since that night in my room after the party, we’d been walking on eggshells around each other. In typical Dante fashion, he never spoke of the encounter and acted like everything was fine. I knew better. Around our friends, he was still my smiling, charming, easygoing twin, but mention anything Talon or dragon related, and his smile became forced, his eyes going blank and glassy. He was slipping farther and farther from me, and I didn’t know how to get him back.

“Good God,” he commented as I paused in the frame, feeling hot and sticky and generally cranky. “Were you swimming in it today?”

“Shut up.” The response was mostly out of habit, something easy and familiar, and the tension between us eased a bit as I made my way toward the steps. “Why are you home, anyway?” I asked, keeping my voice light, uncaring. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing something with Calvin and Tyler today?”

“I’m meeting them at the Hut in an hour,” Dante said, taking a swig from the can on his stomach. “Tyler found a new rock climbing spot just out of town, so we’re heading up there to check it out.”

He glanced at me and offered a wry half-grin. “You’re welcome to ‘tag along’ if you like. The guys won’t care, and I’m pretty sure you can keep up.”

He was extending an olive branch and, another time, I would’ve gladly accepted. Beating Dante and his friends to the top of a cliff was exactly what I needed to clear the bad air between us. Tonight, though, I had other plans. Plans that made my stomach squirm in a way surfing, dancing, or rock climbing, never did. Tonight, I would be with Garret.

“No thanks,” I told Dante. “I’ll kick your ass some other time.”

He shrugged and went back to watching TV. I continued toward the stairs but paused, hovering at the foot of the steps, watching him until he looked up again and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

“Dante…” I hesitated, wondering if I should tempt fate like this, especially when we were still on shaky ground. But I continued anyway. “Do you ever wonder…what they’re training us for?”

“What do you mean?”

Hope flickered. At least he wasn’t immediately brushing me off, or pretending he’d forgotten something in his room so he could leave. I raised my paint drenched arms. “Well, look at me,” I stated. “They’re obviously not teaching us the same things. I’m running around getting shot at by lunatics with guns, and you’re sitting in a nice room learning Tea Ceremony or something.”

“Not yet,” Dante said, smirking to show he wasn’t being serious.

“Tea Ceremony is next month.”

“Why is our training so different?” I went on, ignoring his last statement. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think they’re going to separate us. You’ll go to some nice academy for important rich students, and I…I’ll be sent off to military school or something.”

“You’re overreacting.” Dante swung his feet to the floor, watching me with his elbows on his knees. “They’re not going to separate us.”

“How do you know?” I demanded.

“Because my trainer told me.”

“Oh, well, how great for you,” I shot back, not knowing where this sudden anger was coming from. Dante scowled, but the suppressed rage and frustration from this morning, from every session with Scary Talon Lady, surged up with a vengeance. “My trainer doesn’t tell me anything. Just lets me know how pathetic I am, that I’ll never be a proper dragon, that I’m a waste of time and Talon shouldn’t have even bothered hatching me. I hate going there. I hate her, and Talon, and this whole stupid—”

“Ember, that’s enough!”

Dante’s voice filled the room, sharp and guttural. Stunned, I fell silent, staring at him. “Be angry at your trainer all you like,” he said firmly. “Be angry at me all you like. But start talking like that, and it sounds like you could be harboring rogue tendencies.”

“So what?” I challenged. “Maybe I am. Who would tell them?

You?”

He gave me an angry, hooded stare, and didn’t answer. Rising from the couch, he vanished into his room, shutting the door behind him, a clear message that he didn’t want to talk anymore. Feeling abandoned and despondent, I showered, then wandered down to the beach, walking along the water’s edge.

I ached, both from the bruises I’d gotten in training and from my twin’s cold dismissal. Nothing had changed between us, not really.

The sun warmed my skin, and a breeze fluttered in from the ocean, smelling of salt and the waves I loved so much. Both would normally be a comfort, but not today. I was going to see Garret that evening, and while that made my stomach dance with anticipation and excitement, I couldn’t talk to him about dragon problems. And Dante was out of the question, at least for today. Maybe forever.

If you need to talk, Firebrand, about anything, I’m here.

Reaching into my shorts, I pulled out my phone and stared at it.

After going back and forth with myself several times, I finally touched the screen and began typing a message.

Can we talk?

I hit send and waited. The sun beat down on my head and flashed across the phone screen, making me squint and shade it with my hands. The answer came back almost immediately.

When?

I swallowed. Right now, I texted. Meet me at the pier?

Again, only a few heartbeats passed before his message popped onto the screen.

On my way.

Riley

Perfect. Sending the last text, I lowered the phone and smiled. Already starting to question things, huh Firebrand? That didn’t take long.

“I’m heading out,” I announced, grabbing my keys and jacket from the counter. “I’m meeting Ember at the pier, so I might come back with a guest. If that’s the case, we’ll probably leave town in the morning, so be ready to move out fast.” I glanced at the only other person in the room and frowned. “Hey, other target who is actively wanted by Talon. Repeat what I said so I know you still care.”