There was a sound above me, the faint flap of wings overhead, making my blood chill. I glanced back to see a pair of vessels swooping toward us through the aisle, weaving around vats.
“Incoming!” I called, and spun around to fire at one vessel lunging in from the air. It shrieked as it flew into a hail of bullets, and I ducked out of the way as it crashed, fracturing one of the tanks as it did. Greenish fluid hissed to the floor and over the body of the vessel, filling the air with steam and a foul, almost fishy smell.
A yell rang out through the aisle, jerking my attention around. Peter Matthews lay on his back with a dragon atop him, biting and clawing. As I started toward them, the vessel’s head snaked toward Matthews’s face, and the soldier gave a ragged scream as narrow jaws closed around his neck.
With a flash of scales, both Ember and Mist slammed into the clone, knocking it away. It tumbled to the floor, bounced upright with a snarl and then jerked wildly as Tristan and I put several rounds into its body.
“Matthews,” I called as the vessel slumped lifelessly to the ground. “You all right?”
A raspy gurgle was my response, making my blood run cold. The soldier tried to sit up but slumped back as we hurried over. One look at his face told me everything. Blood soaked his collar and streamed from the side of his neck where the vessel had savaged his throat. With the amount of blood he was losing, he had a few minutes at most.
“Stupid,” he rasped, glaring at me as we eased him into a sitting position against a vat. “Why’re you still here, Sebastian? Get going, the elevator is just ahead.”
“Dammit.” I rose, hating myself. I’d never liked Matthews, but he was still part of my team; I was responsible for all the lives under my command. “I’m sorry,” I told him, backing away. He sneered.
“Don’t be. I get to see the end.” He raised his weapon, bloody lips curling in a smirk. “I get to say I saved your sorry ass from the lizards, one more time.” His gaze flickered to Ember, standing at my shoulder, and he gave a tiny nod. “Try not to eat too much of his soul,” he told her. “You’d probably choke on it.”
More shots echoed around us, and Tristan cried out and slumped to one knee. Heart racing, I dropped to his side, and Matthews swore.
“Dammit, get the fuck out of here, Sebastian! I’m tired of seeing your face. Go!”
Slinging Tristan’s arm over my neck, I went, Ember and Mist at our heels, as Peter Matthews’s defiant voice rang out behind us, punctuated by the sound of gunfire.
“Yeah, you like that? Come on then, you ugly bastards! Come get some!”
“There’s the elevator,” said Mist, still as calm and practical as ever. It sat in the corner, a small metal box surrounded by iron lattice, a relic of the coal-mining era. Ancient-looking, except for the modern keypad near the doors. As Ember and Mist Shifted back, taking Tristan’s weight, I stepped forward and shoved the plastic card into the slot. The keypad blinked on, and with a groaning and squeaking of gears, the elevator began to descend. Slowly.
“Garret,” Ember called, and I turned back to face a swarm of dragons closing in from all sides. As the elevator clanked slowly overhead, I stepped forward and raised my gun, firing into the horde, hearing Ember and Mist do the same.
“Let me go,” Tristan ordered, a second before his shots joined ours. Vessels screamed and collapsed, but more crept forward to take their place, blank silver eyes glowing in the shadows. The four of us stood back-to-back, holding our ground, but the swarm of dragons still pressed closer. A shot echoed from the darkness, and something hit me in the thigh, making me stagger.
Behind us, the elevator doors opened with a ding.
“Fall back!” I gasped, and we edged backward, still firing into the horde. I felt another bullet graze my arm, and then we were inside the box. Mist slammed her thumb into the door panel, but just as the doors were sliding shut, a scaly head burst through the opening and latched on to my leg, pulling me off my feet. I was yanked partway through the doors before Ember stuck her arm through the opening and shot the vessel clinging to me point-blank in the head. As it reeled away, several hands grabbed my arms and vest, dragging me back into the elevator. The doors finally closed, shutting out the chaos beyond and plunging the box into darkness.
Panting, I relaxed against the press of bodies that surrounded me, feeling their harsh breathing match my own.
“Everyone okay?” I finally husked out. “Tristan?”
“I’ll live” was the strained reply. “But you’re not looking so hot yourself, Garret. At least I’m not the one bleeding all over the floor.”
“Nothing serious,” I said, though standing up seemed hard right now. Ember’s grip on me tightened, and I put a hand on her arm, squeezing gently to reassure her. The box inched upward, creaking and rattling. “How much time do we have left?” I asked Tristan.
He gave a dark chuckle. “You don’t want to know.”
Not enough, then. I slumped against Ember, feeling a peaceful resignation creep over me. So, this was it. After everything we’d been through, all the narrow scrapes and traps and close calls, our time had finally run out. I would die in an explosion of my own making, along with Talon’s army of vessels that were meant to take over the world.
All in all, not a bad way to go, I mused, feeling the heat from the dragon beside me, the warmth of her against my back. At least my death would mean something. There was a moment of regret, where I wished Ember could have seen the end of this war. But at least, for the dragons and humans that came after us, the world would be a little safer.
“Just out of curiosity,” Ember asked, “what will happen when this place explodes? Will it reach all the way up here?”
In the corner, Mist raised her head. “The explosion itself won’t reach us,” she replied, “but the fires will shoot up the elevator shaft and bring the entire thing down. Not even a dragon could survive that fall. We could fly, but that would mean leaving the humans, and I know you’re not going to do that.”
“You could go, Mist.” Ember gave the other dragon a nod of understanding. “Riley is waiting for you, isn’t he? No need for all of us to die here.”
“No.” Mist shook her head and looked away with a sigh. “I wouldn’t be able to face him if I left you now. It seems his disturbing sense of loyalty has rubbed off on me. So…” A faint smile crossed her face, as if she couldn’t believe herself. “I guess we’re all going down together.”
My earpiece suddenly sputtered, and Wes’s voice crackled in my ear.
“St. George? Are you there? Can you hear me?”
I straightened, causing Ember to draw back slightly, and sat up, putting a hand to my ear. “I’m here, Wes.”
“Bloody hell, where the fuck have you been?” the hacker spat at me. “I’ve been trying to contact you for over thirty minutes. What the hell happened in there?”
“They were waiting for us,” I told him. “They must’ve jammed all communications on the last floor. We just got out a couple minutes ago.”
“Dammit,” Wes muttered. “I knew this was a trap, I just knew it. Damn it all to hell, Riley, why do you never listen to anything I tell you?” He gave a sigh that sounded more weary than angry. “So, the mission was a bloody catastrophe, is what you’re saying. You didn’t get the explosives planted.”
I took a deep breath. “The mission was a success. We found the stasis chamber with the Adult vessels and planted all the explosives, as planned. Give the signal to retreat, Wes. It’s going to blow in…” I glanced at my watch, and closed my eyes. “Fifty-eight seconds.”
“Shit,” Wes breathed. “Right, sending the signal now… Wait, where’s your team, St. George? Are you bloody still in there?”