PRAISE FOR INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
JULIE KAGAWA
Katniss Everdeen better watch out.
Huffington Post on The Immortal Rules
Julie Kagawa is one killer storyteller.
MTV
a book that will keep its readers glued to the pages until the very end
New York Journal of Books
Kagawa pulls her readers into a unique world of make-believe with her fantastic storytelling and ultimately leaves them wanting more by the end of each book.
Times Record News
Kagawa has done the seemingly impossible and written a vampire bookthat feels fresh in an otherwise crowded genre.
Kirkus Reviews on The Immortal Rules
An intense and thought-provoking series
School Library Journal on The Eternity Cure
Surpasses the greater majority of dark fantasies
teenreads.com
JULIE KAGAWA is the internationally bestselling author of the Iron Fey, Blood of Eden and The Talon Saga series. Born in Sacramento, she has been a bookseller and an animal trainer and enjoys reading, painting, playing in her garden and training in martial arts. She lives near Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and a plethora of pets. Visit her at www.juliekagawa.com.
For official Blood of Eden news and extras, visit www.BloodofEden.com.
Available fromJulie Kagawaand
The Talon Saga
TALON
ROGUE
Coming soon
SOLDIER
Blood of Eden series (in reading order)
THE IMMORTAL RULES
THE ETERNITY CURE
THE FOREVER SONG
The Iron Fey series (in reading order)
THE IRON KING
WINTERS PASSAGE (eBook) THE IRON DAUGHTER THE IRON QUEEN SUMMERS CROSSING (eBook) THE IRON KNIGHT IRONS PROPHECY (eBook) THE LOST PRINCE THE IRON TRAITOR
The Talon Saga Book 2
Julie Kagawa
To Laurie and Tashya
Contents
Cover
Praise
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Dedication
Part I
Garret
Dante
Ember
Cobalt
Garret
Ember
Riley
Ember
Garret
Part II
Cobalt
Garret
Dante
Ember
Riley
Ember
Garret
Cobalt
Ember
Dante
Riley
Ember
Riley
Garret
Riley
Ember
Garret
Riley
Dante
Part III
Ember
Riley
Garret
Riley
Ember
Riley
Cobalt
Ember
Garret
Ember
Garret
Riley
Ember
Riley
Ember
Riley
Ember
Riley
Ember
Garret
Riley
Cobalt
Ember
Dante
Ember
Epilogue
Dante
Acknowledgments
Questions for Discussion
Extract
Copyright
PART I
Countdown
Garret
I stood before a silent, watchful table, six pairs of eyes on me, keen gazes ranging from suspicious to appraising as we waited for the charges to be declared. Men in uniforms of black and gray, with the emblem of the Ordera red cross on a white shielddisplayed proudly on their jackets. Their harsh, lined faces reflected a lifetime of war and struggle. Some I knew only by reputation. Others I had trained under, fought for, followed commands from without a second thought. Lieutenant Gabriel Martin sat at one end of the table, his black eyes and blank expression giving nothing away. Id known him nearly my whole life; he had molded me into what I was today. The Perfect Soldier, as my squad mates had taken to calling me. A nickname Id picked up during the relatively short time Id been fighting. Prodigy was another word that had been tossed around over the years, and lucky son of a bitch, if they were feeling less generous. I owed most of my success to Lieutenant Martin, for recognizing something in a quiet, somber orphan and pushing him to try harder, to do more. To rise above everyone else. So I had. Id killed more enemies of the Order than anyone else my age, and the number wouldve been much higher had the unexpected not occurred this summer. Regardless of my situation, I had been one of the best, and I had Martin to thank for that.
But the man sitting across the table was a stranger, an impassive judge. He, along with the rest of the men seated there in a row, would decide my fate tonight.
The room in which I stood was small but Spartan, with tile floors, harsh overhead lights, low ceilings and walls with no windows. Normally it was used for debriefings or the occasional meeting, and the long table usually sat in the center surrounded by chairs. Except for the main headquarters in London, Order chapterhouses did not have designated courtrooms. While disorderly conduct among soldiers was expected from time to time, and desertion sometimes reared its ugly head, full-blown treason was unheard of. Loyalty to the cause was something every soldier of St. George understood. To betray the Order was to betray everything.
The man in the very center of the row straightened, eyeing me over the polished wood. His name was John Fischer, and he was a respected captain of the Order and a hero in the field. The left side of his face was a mass of burn scars and puckered flesh, and he wore them like a medal of honor. His steely expression didnt change as he folded his equally scarred hands in front of him and raised his voice.
Garret Xavier Sebastian. He barked my full name, and the room instantly fell silent. The trial was officially under way. For disobeying a direct order, Fischer continued, attacking a squad mate, fraternizing with the enemy and allowing three known hostiles to escape, you are accused of high treason against the Order of St. George. His sharp blue eyes fixed on me, hard and unyielding. Do you understand the charges brought against you?
I do.
Very well. He looked at the men sitting in chairs along the far wall behind me, and nodded. Then we will commence. Tristan St. Anthony, step forward.
There was a squeak as a body rose from a chair, then quiet footsteps clicked across the floor as my former partner came to stand a few feet from my side.
I didnt look at him. I stared straight ahead, hands behind my back, as he did the same. But I could see him in my peripheral vision, a tall, lean soldier several years older than me, his dark hair cropped close. His perpetual smirk had been replaced with a grim line, and his blue eyes were solemn as he faced the table.
Please inform the court, to the best of your ability, of the events that led up to the night of the raid, and what conspired after.
Tristan hesitated. I wondered what was going through his head in the split second before he would give his testimony. If he had any regrets that it had come to this.
This summer, Tristan began, his voice matter-of-fact, Sebastian and I were sent undercover to Crescent Beach, a small town on the California coast. Our orders were specificwe were to infiltrate the town, find a sleeper planted among the population and terminate it.
The man in the center raised a hand. So, to be clear, Talon had planted one of their operatives in Crescent Beach, and you were sent to find it.
Yes, sir. Tristan gave a short nod. We were there to kill a dragon.
A murmur went through the room. From the very first day the Order had been founded, soldiers of St. George had known what we fought for, what we protected, what was at stake. Our war, our holy mission, hadnt changed in hundreds of years. The Order had evolved with the times
firearms and technology had replaced swords and lancesbut our purpose was still the same. We had one goal, and every soldier dedicated his entire life to that cause.
The complete annihilation of our eternal enemies, the dragons.
The general public knew nothing of our ancient war. The existence of dragons was a jealously guarded secret, on both sides. There were no real dragons in the world today, unless you counted a couple mundane lizard species that were pale shadows of their infamous namesakes. True dragonsthe massive, winged, fire-breathing creatures that haunted the mythology of every culture around the world, from the treasure-loving monsters of Europe to the benevolent rain-bringers of the Orientexisted only in legend and story.
And that was exactly what they wanted you to believe.
Just as the Order of St. George had evolved through the years, so had our enemies. According to St. George doctrine, when dragons were on the verge of extinction, theyd made a pact with the devil to preserve their race, gaining the ability to Shift into human form. Whether or not the story was true, the part where they could change their form to appear human was no myth. Dragons were flawless mimics; they looked human, acted human, sounded human, to the point where it was nearly impossible to tell a dragon from a regular, everyday mortal, even if you knew what to search for. How many dragons existed in the world today was anyones guess; they had woven seamlessly into human society, masquerading as us, hiding in plain sight. Hidden and cloaked, they strove to enslave humanity, to make humans the lesser species. It was our job to find and kill as many of the monsters as we could, in the hopes that one day, we could push their numbers over the brink and firmly into extinction where they belonged.