I sat at the front of the Zodiac raft, the wind and salt spray in my face, watching the looming silhouette of the island get larger and larger. Mist sat beside me, her long hair stuffed under a ski cap, her body hidden under her Viper suit. Not for the first time, I glanced down to make sure the sleek black outfit was still under my clothes; no one had told me how the Viper suit, after a few minutes of sucking at your skin, seemed to mold to your body, until it felt like you were wearing nothing at all. When I first put it on, it was creepy as hell, and I’d wondered if I’d be able to stand the clinging sensation, which had amused Ember and Mist to no end. Now, I repeatedly forgot I was wearing it.
Six soldiers of St. George were crouched at our backs, heavily armed and dressed for battle. All of them were of the Western Chapterhouse, and Lieutenant Martin was here, as well. We, apparently, had gotten the good raft. Ember and St. George had to ride in the raft with Lieutenant Windbag and his thugs. I had no love for the Order, but I would admit that Martin, at least, could see the bigger picture.
Still, that both lieutenants of the Order were accompanying us on the mission was frustrating. This was my operation. I had planned it for years. The soldiers of St. George cared nothing for these dragons. In fact, under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t be a rescue mission at all; it would be a strike to slaughter each and every one of them.
But I couldn’t do this alone. And I understood why the lieutenants had to be here. None of these soldiers would take orders from a dragon, at least not willingly. We were barely allies. For a mission this large and volatile, where one wrong move could spell disaster for everyone, dragon and soldier alike, we couldn’t take any chances.
The island loomed closer, a massive black giant against the stars. I gazed up at the huge shadow, felt excitement, anticipation and fear rip through my stomach, and took a deep breath. This was it. The location of Talon’s breeding facilities. After all these years, decades of rumors, dead ends, frustration and disappointment, I had found it. The lives of countless captive dragons hung in the balance tonight. I sure as hell wasn’t going to fail them.
Martin’s voice cackled through my earpiece, low and commanding: “This it is. From here, we split up. See you on the other side, gentlemen.”
I glanced at the lead raft and caught Ember’s gaze. She sat next to St. George, the wind tossing the red curls that had escaped her cap. Her eyes were bright with determination as she gave me a nod and a faint smile, which I returned. See you soon, Firebrand.
The rafts veered apart. Three of them swerved sharply to the left, heading for the northwest side of the island. My raft turned east and began following the cliffs, alone.
After several silent minutes, a small beach appeared between the foreboding cliff faces, a tiny strip of sand that was the only break in the seemingly endless wall of rock. We drove the raft onto the shore, hopping out to pull it onto the sand. After we’d dragged it out of reach of the waves, I straightened and looked around. About a hundred yards up the beach, dense jungle formed an ominous barrier between us and our targets. If anyone shipwrecked on this tiny beach, they’d have no clue that a huge, multi-million-dollar facility lay beyond that menacing tangle of vines and trees. Though I had no doubt the jungle was the least of our obstacles. The real security would be farther in.
“Wes,” I said quietly into my throat mic. The hacker was back with the ship, huddled over the map on his computer, tracking our movements. “We’ve landed.”
“Hang on,” Wes muttered in my ear. “Just trying to pick up your location. Okay, I’ve got you. Can you hear me, Lieutenant?”
“Loud and clear,” Martin replied.
“Looks like you’re about two and a half miles from the first fence line,” Wes continued. “Head northwest and you should reach it.”
“Roger that.” I nodded once and turned to Mist. “Okay, Mist. You’re up.”
She gave me a tight smile, took a few steps away from the soldiers and began to change. Her black Viper suit seemed to melt into her skin as the girl’s body stretched and shimmered, unfurling into the sleek, silver-white dragon that was her true self. I kept a careful eye on the soldiers as she changed, hoping none of them would forget themselves and start shooting. Their eyes were wide as they stared at her, and I realized none of them had likely ever seen an actual Shift before. A couple, I saw, gripped their weapons tightly, as if fighting their instinctive response to kill any dragon they saw.
Mist ignored the soldiers, nodded at me and glided up the beach toward the jungle. Without so much as a rustle, she vanished into the shadows and undergrowth, where she would scout ahead, silent and deadly, to warn us of any potential guards, patrols or ambushes.
“All right, people.” Martin’s voice cut through the stunned silence. “Get it together. You’ve all seen dragons before, so wipe those vacant looks off your faces. Remember, this is recon and rescue, not assault. Be on your guard, and don’t shoot anything unless I give the order. I don’t care what it is—unless I tell you to kill it, I’d better not hear you thinking about pulling the trigger. Let’s move.”
The soldiers snapped into mission mode. Dragons or no dragons, this at least was familiar to them. Flipping our tac lights on, white beams cutting faintly through the grasping shadows, we crept silently up the beach and pushed our way into the jungle.
It closed around us, thick and menacing. The branches blocked out the sky and what little light there was, so the shadows beneath were nearly impenetrable. It was also ominously silent, much like the jungle in Brazil had been when we’d approached Ouroboros’s domain. Except for our own footsteps and the rustle of vegetation as we pushed through, this jungle seemed eerily empty of life.
About ten minutes into the trek, we discovered why. The trees opened into a large clearing. A wide strip of open ground, probably fifty yards across, stretched away to either side, seeming to form a ring around the inner island.
Crouching at the edge of the trees, I scanned the clearing warily, searching for patrols and hidden sentries. But the open space was empty and still, no guards, towers or anything as far as I could see. So why an open area smack-dab in the middle of the island? Something wasn’t right; I smelled a trap, even though I couldn’t see one.
“Thoughts?” I muttered to Martin, crouched a few feet away. The lieutenant shook his head.
“I don’t like it. But I don’t see anything, either.”
Mist glided out of the trees, silent as a damned ghost, appearing next to me without a sound. “There are no patrols or guards on either side of the perimeter,” she announced. “It’s clear.”
“How certain are you of that, dragon?” Martin asked.
Mist frowned. “Very,” the Basilisk answered. “Unlike you, Lieutenant, I can see in the dark. I can also smell a human from a great distance if the wind is blowing right. There are no signs that anyone has been in the vicinity for a very long while. There are no tracks, no patrol paths, no disturbed vegetation. No movement. I know how to do my job, human.”
“Easy, dragon,” Martin said quietly. “Not questioning your abilities, but this seems suspicious because it’s so out of place. And I don’t like being out in the open.”
“Well, we certainly can’t sit here all night,” I said, and rose to my feet. “Mist, keep scouting ahead. The rest of us will follow.”
With Mist leading the way, we started across the open field. And for the first minute or two, everything was normal. I was beginning to think we’d actually reach the compound without too much trouble, but of course Talon never made things that easy.
“Oh, no,” I heard the Basilisk whisper from up ahead, before whirling around. “Stop!” she hissed. “Everyone, freeze!”
We froze. A couple of the soldiers raised their guns, glancing around as if expecting an attack, though the night remained silent and still. “Mist,” I said in a low voice, feeling my heartbeat roar in my ears. “What’s happening?”
“I just figured out the reason this place isn’t guarded,” Mist said. She stood like a statue in the long grass, wings half-spread, tail held stiffly over the ground. “It doesn’t have to be. Look down, Cobalt, about twelve inches from your right foot. Carefully.”
I followed her instructions, and my stomach gave a violent lurch as I saw a glint of metal in the weeds. “Shit,” I breathed. “This is a fucking minefield.”
The soldiers, who were beginning to relax, went rigid again. Martin took a quiet breath and looked at Mist, frozen in the same spot. “Can you lead us through it, dragon?” he asked in a low voice.
“I think so.” Mist looked around, narrowing her eyes. “If we move very slowly, I can tell where the mines have been buried. For the most part. Step exactly where I step, and we should be fine.”
“Single file,” Martin told the soldiers beside us, and they moved, very carefully, into position. “No one goes forward unless the dragon tells us to.”
I pressed close behind Mist, and we inched our way across the field. It was an agonizingly slow crawl, with Mist staring hard at the ground in front of her, sometimes standing motionless for long periods of time while she debated whether or not to go forward. Every time I moved or put my foot down, I held my breath, hoping I wouldn’t step on a hidden mine and trigger an explosion.
Finally, after several tense, heart-pounding minutes, we reached the other side of the clearing. As we stepped into the tree line, I collapsed against a trunk in relief, as a couple soldiers did the same.
“Well,” I muttered as Martin sank to a knee, gazing back over the field, “that probably shaved a good fifty years off my life. I vote we not do that again.”
“Agreed,” Martin said dryly. “Though I think this isn’t as much about defense as it is about keeping the captives on the island.”
“Yeah, I imagine so,” I said. “More to discourage the breeders from trying to run away than to keep anyone out.” I gazed back over the seemingly innocuous clearing and shivered. “I sure as hell wouldn’t want to risk it, especially in human form.”
“Unfortunately,” Mist remarked, sounding worried, “it’s going to make getting the breeders out challenging. At the very least, it’s going to slow us down.”
Dammit. I didn’t think about that. Let’s hope we don’t have to flee a bunch of guards on our way out.
“Contact Sebastian,” Martin ordered, glancing at me. “His team should know about this.”
I bristled. Contact him yourself, Lieutenant, the immature, defiant part of me thought. I’m not one of your damn soldiers. But this was not the time to play “you’re not the boss of me.” With a sigh, I turned the mic to the soldier’s private channel. “Hey. St. George.”
“Riley?” came Sebastian’s voice immediately. “What’s your status? Everything all right?”
“We’re fine. On target so far, but…ah, we’ve run into some potential problems.” Briefly, I told him about the minefield and our brush with death. “So if you come to a large open area, proceed with caution,” I advised. “One wrong step, and someone is going to have a really bad day.”
“Understood.” Per normal, the soldier’s voice was obnoxiously calm, as if I’d told him we’d just passed a troupe of monkeys, not woven our way through a lethal minefield. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll let the rest of the squad know. Where are you?”
“Close. By my estimate, we’re about a half mile from the fence line.”
“Let us know when you’re in position.”
“I will. Riley out.”
I lowered my arm and looked at Mist, waiting quietly in the shadows. “All right,” I said, forcing a grin. “Into the jungle of death we go. You know, if this was a movie, we’d all be dropping like flies any second now.”
Mist blinked, twitching her tail. Clearly, she didn’t appreciate the movie reference. “If this was a movie,” she replied, “you’d be the funny smart-ass who gets tragically killed.”
“Ouch. I always thought I was the ruggedly handsome hero.”
She rolled her eyes and slipped into the trees again. The rest of us followed, long shadows closing around us, and we continued into the jungle.