Julie Kagawa - Rogue

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 book…that 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 KAGAWAis 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 from Julie Kagawa and

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

WINTER’S PASSAGE (eBook) THE IRON DAUGHTER THE IRON QUEEN SUMMER’S CROSSING (eBook) THE IRON KNIGHT IRON’S 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 Order—a red cross on a white shield—displayed 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. I’d 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 I’d picked up during the relatively short time I’d 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. I’d killed more enemies of the Order than anyone else my age, and the number would’ve 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 didn’t 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 didn’t 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 specific—we 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.”