He raised his brows in a very dubious manner, and I rolled my eyes. “When I’m not dealing with genocidal maniacs trying to murder all my friends, anyway. Then I get a little bad tempered.”
“Fair enough.” St. George seemed to relax a bit. “What do you want to know, Riley?”
“You knew about that trap with the Order,” I continued. “That’s why you came back. But there’s more to it, isn’t there? Last I heard, you were in England snooping around St. George central. And then you suddenly turn up, with an Eastern dragon, of all things, to save our hides. So I’m guessing you found something, am I right?”
The soldier didn’t answer, and I crossed my arms. “Come on, St. George,” I cajoled. “Spill it. Something is going on, and I hate being kept in the dark. Wanna fill in the missing pieces for me?”
The soldier sighed. “I was hoping to tell everyone together, but that might not be an option now,” he said, glancing in the direction Ember had fled. I suppressed a wince, planning to talk to her when this was resolved and we had an actual plan. Human stuff, I reminded myself. You’re trying to be more human for her. Find her and talk to her, make sure she knows she’s yours. That she doesn’t ever need the soldier.
I would do that, as soon as I knew what the hell was going on.
“You’re right,” St. George went on, leaning against the wall. “The Order is after you specifically. Ever since you and Ember broke me out of the Western Chapterhouse, they’ve been looking for you. For all of us.” His expression darkened. “But Griffin wasn’t sending St. George after you,” he went on. “Talon was.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” I stared at him, thinking that either he had lost his mind, or I had. “I think I just heard you say that Talon was responsible for sending the Order after us. But, that can’t be what I heard, right, St. George?”
“I met Jade in England,” the soldier went on, as if he hadn’t just dropped the biggest bombshell ever on my head like it was nothing at all. “Her temple had been destroyed by the Order, right after she got a visit from Talon. We were both following the Patriarch when she found me.”
I resisted the urge to curl a lip. The Patriarch. The so-called spiritual leader of St. George. Talon had always kept a close watch on the different Patriarchs over the years, but even with all their power, the leader of St. George was nearly untouchable. It was too costly to go after the Patriarch directly, since he rarely left London and was surrounded by so many of the Order. In my time as a Basilisk I’d learned that, long ago, there had been exactly one attempt on a Patriarch’s life, and the resulting backlash from St. George had been immediate and terrible enough for the organization to decide that maybe that course of action was a bad idea. As a result, as long as the Patriarch remained in St. George central, the organization was content to leave him alone. After all, if they got rid of one, another would just take his place. And the human life span was so short, even if one Patriarch was giving the organization grief, he wouldn’t live long enough to make a real difference.
“I trailed the Patriarch to a secret meeting in a park,” St. George continued, unaware of my thoughts. “And I watched him meet with an agent of Talon. The agent knew us—all of us—by name. He knew where you were going to be, and he gave that information to the Patriarch so that St. George could be there when you showed up.”
I felt slightly ill. “So, you’re telling me...”
“Talon and the Order of St. George are working together,” the soldier said. “Not only that, they have been for a while. I heard the agent mention other dragons, other places the Order had taken out. I also learned that the number of strikes against dragons has increased, but no one in Talon seemed affected.” He gave me a very serious look. “I think Talon has been sending St. George after your safe houses, Riley. They’re using the Order to systematically take out rogues and dragons who refuse to align themselves with Talon. And the rest of St. George has no idea.”
“Son of a bitch.” I raked a hand through my hair, dazed. This was huge, worse than anything I could have imagined. Talon and the Order working together? To eliminate rogues? Yeah, this was bad. Very, very, very bad. “Why?” I rasped. “The organization has never gone after rogues full-scale, not like this. Why now? What has changed?”
“I don’t know,” the soldier replied, his expression grave. “But I am certain of one thing. We can’t outrun both Talon and St. George, not if they’re working as one. Especially since both factions want us dead. Sooner or later, they’re going to find us.”
“Fair enough.” St. George seemed to relax a bit. “What do you want to know, Riley?”
“You knew about that trap with the Order,” I continued. “That’s why you came back. But there’s more to it, isn’t there? Last I heard, you were in England snooping around St. George central. And then you suddenly turn up, with an Eastern dragon, of all things, to save our hides. So I’m guessing you found something, am I right?”
The soldier didn’t answer, and I crossed my arms. “Come on, St. George,” I cajoled. “Spill it. Something is going on, and I hate being kept in the dark. Wanna fill in the missing pieces for me?”
The soldier sighed. “I was hoping to tell everyone together, but that might not be an option now,” he said, glancing in the direction Ember had fled. I suppressed a wince, planning to talk to her when this was resolved and we had an actual plan. Human stuff, I reminded myself. You’re trying to be more human for her. Find her and talk to her, make sure she knows she’s yours. That she doesn’t ever need the soldier.
I would do that, as soon as I knew what the hell was going on.
“You’re right,” St. George went on, leaning against the wall. “The Order is after you specifically. Ever since you and Ember broke me out of the Western Chapterhouse, they’ve been looking for you. For all of us.” His expression darkened. “But Griffin wasn’t sending St. George after you,” he went on. “Talon was.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” I stared at him, thinking that either he had lost his mind, or I had. “I think I just heard you say that Talon was responsible for sending the Order after us. But, that can’t be what I heard, right, St. George?”
“I met Jade in England,” the soldier went on, as if he hadn’t just dropped the biggest bombshell ever on my head like it was nothing at all. “Her temple had been destroyed by the Order, right after she got a visit from Talon. We were both following the Patriarch when she found me.”
I resisted the urge to curl a lip. The Patriarch. The so-called spiritual leader of St. George. Talon had always kept a close watch on the different Patriarchs over the years, but even with all their power, the leader of St. George was nearly untouchable. It was too costly to go after the Patriarch directly, since he rarely left London and was surrounded by so many of the Order. In my time as a Basilisk I’d learned that, long ago, there had been exactly one attempt on a Patriarch’s life, and the resulting backlash from St. George had been immediate and terrible enough for the organization to decide that maybe that course of action was a bad idea. As a result, as long as the Patriarch remained in St. George central, the organization was content to leave him alone. After all, if they got rid of one, another would just take his place. And the human life span was so short, even if one Patriarch was giving the organization grief, he wouldn’t live long enough to make a real difference.
“I trailed the Patriarch to a secret meeting in a park,” St. George continued, unaware of my thoughts. “And I watched him meet with an agent of Talon. The agent knew us—all of us—by name. He knew where you were going to be, and he gave that information to the Patriarch so that St. George could be there when you showed up.”
I felt slightly ill. “So, you’re telling me...”
“Talon and the Order of St. George are working together,” the soldier said. “Not only that, they have been for a while. I heard the agent mention other dragons, other places the Order had taken out. I also learned that the number of strikes against dragons has increased, but no one in Talon seemed affected.” He gave me a very serious look. “I think Talon has been sending St. George after your safe houses, Riley. They’re using the Order to systematically take out rogues and dragons who refuse to align themselves with Talon. And the rest of St. George has no idea.”
“Son of a bitch.” I raked a hand through my hair, dazed. This was huge, worse than anything I could have imagined. Talon and the Order working together? To eliminate rogues? Yeah, this was bad. Very, very, very bad. “Why?” I rasped. “The organization has never gone after rogues full-scale, not like this. Why now? What has changed?”
“I don’t know,” the soldier replied, his expression grave. “But I am certain of one thing. We can’t outrun both Talon and St. George, not if they’re working as one. Especially since both factions want us dead. Sooner or later, they’re going to find us.”
