“The Elder Wyrm has called for you, sir.”
I barely heard the voice coming through my speaker. I was numb. Nothing felt real anymore as I stared at the words on my computer.
True. It was all true. The experiments, the start of the vessel program, everything the letter hinted at. Ember and I were clones of the Elder Wyrm. But it was worse than that. According to the scientist’s notes, Ember was the one they’d wanted to create: a near-perfect replica of the Elder Wyrm. I was an afterthought, a backup plan. Something that was allowed to exist only to give my twin a better chance at life. Because Ember was the vessel intended for the Elder Wyrm to achieve immortality. Or at least another thousand years.
“Sir? Sir, are you there?”
I shook myself out of my daze, answering the call out of habit. “Thank you, Ms. Brooks. Please inform the Elder Wyrm that I am on my way.”
Slumping back, I stared at the file for a few seconds longer, then deleted the entire thing. No point in keeping such incriminating evidence sitting on my computer, and I had confirmed what I’d set out to find. It was too late to unsee the file, to return to blissful ignorance. I could never unlearn what I knew.
Ember was the Elder Wyrm’s vessel.
I felt my feet carrying me from my office, trekking the familiar path to the elevators, as I’d done countless times before. A senior executive, Mr. Roth, I thought, met me as he left the elevator box and asked a question. I answered without thinking, smiling, not even hearing what I told him. He nodded in return and continued down the hall.
Alone in the elevator, I stared at my reflection in the mirrored surface, still trying to process all that I’d learned. My sister and I were clones, created in a lab, just like the vessels. I was the heir of Talon, but only a fail-safe. Ember was the indispensable one. Now I knew why the Elder Wyrm was so determined to get her back.
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. In a daze, I walked past the front desk, turned the handle of the double doors and stepped into the Elder Wyrm’s office.
“Hello, Dante.” The Elder Wyrm’s voice, brittle and cold, snapped me out of my trance. For a moment, I was certain she knew about the file and my conversation with Dr. Olsen. Her expression was hard, her eyes terrifyingly blank as she rose from her desk and came forward.
“We have a situation,” she stated as I wondered, perhaps illogically, if she was going to kill me then and there. I forced myself to breathe, to appear casual, though a cold sweat had broken out on the back of my neck and my legs were trembling. Thankfully, the Elder Wyrm didn’t seem to notice.
“Cobalt has struck again,” the CEO went on, her voice filled with bridled rage. “I received word a few hours ago that he and a small regiment of soldiers stormed the breeder facilities, killed most of the guards there and escaped with the resident females. Director Vance was slain in the battle, as well as the oldest breeder, a pregnant female named Scarlett. We have lost the facility.”
Stunned, I had to put a hand on the sofa back to steady myself. I knew what the facility was: a place where Talon’s females could live and lay eggs without fear of discovery, but I hadn’t known where it was located. Very few dragons did.
“How?” I asked. “How did they find it? And manage to defeat the security?”
“Reports are vague,” the Elder Wyrm said. “It was chaos on the island that night, but there are accounts of several human soldiers aiding the outlaws, as well. It appears that Cobalt has recruited the help of a few rogue soldiers of St. George.”
“What?” I gasped, appalled and horrified. “That’s impossible. We destroyed them all. And the Order would never agree to help our kind. It goes against everything they’ve been taught.”
“Yes,” the Elder Wyrm agreed. “Unless, of course, their survival is on the line. Then they will agree to any alliance, make any deal to save themselves. It is human nature, something I have seen time and time again. There is nothing they will not do, no ideals they will not abandon, if their existence is threatened. Not even St. George is exempt from human frailty.
“Regardless.” The Elder Wyrm’s eyes narrowed, glittering dangerously. “Such a blatant attack on Talon facilities cannot be allowed to stand. Both groups have gotten desperate enough to unite against us, and that makes them dangerous, simply because they are willing to do anything to survive.” She walked to the window to stare down at the city. “We cannot afford any hiccups this late in the game, Dante. It is time we destroyed Cobalt, these rogue soldiers and whoever stands in our way.” She paused a moment, her cold gaze scanning the city below. “We need to draw our enemies into one place,” she went on. “Present them with something so huge they cannot ignore it, and then crush them once and for all when they appear.”
My stomach dropped. I knew what she was talking about. Exposing it was risky, so very risky, but she was right; something so huge could not be ignored by Cobalt or the Order once they knew of its existence. Even if they knew it was a setup, they would come, drawn into the trap, and we would be there to destroy them.
Including Ember.
As if sensing my thoughts, the Elder Wyrm turned from the window, meeting my gaze head-on. Her eyes, ancient and all-knowing, glowed green in the shadows. “We are close, Dante,” she said softly, her voice causing the walls to tremble. “So close to achieving our dream, a world where our kind can live freely. A world where dragons will never again fear the Order and all humans pushing us toward extinction. We cannot falter now. We must see this through to the end, no matter the sacrifices that will come of it. Do you understand?”
I took a deep breath so that my voice would be steady when I answered. “I understand. What would you have me do?”