Smoked (15 page)

“Help me!” she cried to Scarlet. “Get them off each other.” They may have not been able to stop a dragon fight—but with the brothers, they'd take their chances. Together they dove at the boys, using all their strength to try to pull them apart. Connor had regained some control, rolling on top of Caleb, so Trin worked on him first, throwing her arms around his neck and yanking as hard as she could.

“Stop it!” she begged. “You're going to kill each other!”

She felt Connor startle at her words, reality breaking into his fury-induced haze. He started to back off, releasing Caleb, allowing her to pull him away. Unfortunately, this only gave Caleb opportunity to tackle him all over again. And worse, he'd somehow found a rock, cradling it his hand and slamming it down on Connor's head. In an instant, Connor fell into her arms, dead weight. Trinity screamed as Caleb raised his arm for a second blow.

“Stop it, Caleb!” Scarlet cried. “That's your brother!”

“He was trying to kill my dragon!” Caleb protested. But even as he argued, Trin could see the horror ghosting his face as he looked down at his unconscious twin. He hadn't meant this to go so far, she realized.

Not that good intentions meant much at this point.

Caleb staggered backward, the rock falling from his hand as he collapsed into Scarlet's arms, all the fight having drained from him. Trinity looked down at Connor, heart in her throat. His breathing was shallow, and there was a huge egg-sized lump on his forehead. Had Caleb given him a concussion?

“He needs help!” she cried. “Please!”

But there was no help. And it wasn't like they could summon any either. All she could do was cradle him in her arms and pray that he was just knocked out and would be okay. But even as she tried to convince herself, she wasn't sure. He looked so pale. So still. Her heart wrenched.

Connor. My sweet, brave Connor.

She thought of all the arguments they'd had over the last year, all the times he'd tried to warn her something like this could happen—that history could repeat itself. That dragons could turn wild.

He'd tried to tell her. Again and again. But she hadn't listened. No, not only had she not listened, but she'd fought him over it as well. And now…

Connor, please! Don't leave me.

Suddenly Trin felt someone behind her. She turned to see her father had approached. His face was grave. “Caleb and Scarlet, go round up your dragons,” he commanded. “I want them in the hangar, chained up and gagged, within the hour. Once they are secured, we will talk this over and figure out what to do.”

“But Zoe didn't do anything!” Scarlet protested. “She shouldn't be—”

“Do it,” her father said. “Or I will kill them both myself.”

Caleb opened his mouth as if wanting to protest, then glanced over at his unconscious brother and seemed to think the better of it. He slunk over to Zavier. The dragon gave him a bloody-mouthed smile, and Trin couldn't help but notice how extended his belly was from his recent feast. Caleb sighed, gave the dragon a rueful look, then climbed on his back, and together they flew toward the hangar's entrance. Scarlet watched them go, then turned to Trinity.

“Zavier didn't mean it,” she insisted, her eyes filled with tears. “I'm telling you, he's really gentle and sweet. You would like him, I swear, if you got to know him.” She paused, then cried, “It wasn't supposed to be like this!”

“No,” Trinity agreed in a tight voice. “It wasn't supposed to be like this at all.”

But it was. And now the entire world knew what happened when you couldn't control your dragons.

“What the hell were you two idiots thinking?”

Trinity slammed the door to the office shut, whirling around to face Caleb and Scarlet. She looked from one to the other, trying to quell the fury that burned through her like a fire. Raking a hand through her hair, she stormed over to a chair, pulled it out, and sat down on it backward. Then she gestured for the two of them to take a seat on the nearby couch.

“I want to know everything. From the very beginning. And don't even think of leaving anything out.”

And so they told her the tale, everything that had been going on behind her back the whole time. When they had finished, she shook her head in disbelief. “Why couldn't you have just come to me?” Trin asked. “I mean, from the very beginning?”

She could hear the hurt creeping into her voice, despite her best efforts. But who could blame her? While sure, there was no love lost between her and Scarlet, she had thought at least Caleb was on her side. They'd been so close. And yet he hadn't trusted her to keep this secret.

And
neither
had
Emmy
, she realized, suddenly feeling a little nauseous. What kind of person did they think she was—that they couldn't trust her with their secrets?

“Come on, Trin,” Caleb interjected. She noticed his face was still bruised from where his brother had struck him. But his leg looked better—Zavier must have shared some of his blood to help it heal. “You know as well as I do that if we brought the dragons to you as babies, everyone would have assumed, like Emmy did, that they were hybrids and a threat to the world. Sure, you may not have gone and actually sentenced them to death, but you would have at least locked them up until you could determine the risk for sure.” He gave her a half-cocked grin. “Hell, you should be grateful we saved you the trouble!”

“Saved me the trouble?” she repeated incredulously. “Are you even on this planet? We just freaking live streamed Dragon World War Three to four million people. I mean, maybe you haven't noticed, but we've been working our asses off to sway public opinion when it comes to dragons. And now everything's ruined. You think anyone's going to be Team Emmy now? Do you think we're going to get people writing their congressmen in favor of dragons being allowed to roam free after seeing that firestorm?”

“A firestorm created by
your
dragon,” Scarlet broke in. “May I remind you that Zavier was only trying to defend himself after your stupid dragon viciously attacked him for no reason. Hell, she's admitted she's wanted them dead from day one. So who's really the bad guy here?”

Trin closed her eyes, trying to reset her sanity. She didn't even know what to say at this point or if it was even worth saying anything at all. After all, what good would it do? The most she could hope for was an apology. And that apology would change nothing in the end. What had happened had happened. It couldn't be changed. They could only figure out a way to best move forward from here.

Caleb groaned. “Look, I'm sorry, Trin,” he said. “I admit, it wasn't my brightest idea ever. But trust me, we were trying to do the right thing. I thought if Emmy just saw them again, realized they weren't the monsters she believes them to be…” He gave her a helpless look. “What do want us to do?”

“I don't know,” she snapped. “I just don't know. The group is freaking out. Connor's still unconscious. Emmy's shut herself away.” She shook her head slowly. “Look, can you guys just hang tight for now? I promise we won't take any action until we have a chance to talk things over as a group.”

“Uh, are you really suggesting that we leave the fate of our dragons up to a committee?” Scarlet broke in. “'Cause I'm definitely not cool with that.” She made a move to rise to her feet. “Our dragons have done nothing wrong. Emmy should be the one being punished, not them!”

Trinity shot a look at Caleb.
You
need
to
calm
her
down
, she pushed
.

“Scarlet…” Caleb said in a warning voice, reaching out to try to pull her back down beside him.

She shook off his hand, looking down at him with angry eyes. “Oh, of course. Let me guess. You're just going to take her side, right?”

Seriously, Caleb
, Trinity pushed again.

What
am
I
supposed
to
do?
he pushed back, looking from one girl to the next.

Whatever
you
have
to. Do not let this get any worse than it already is.

“Look, Buttercup,” Caleb said, after drawing in a breath. “No one's taking sides here. It's just a simple chat between friends. And I do agree with you—Emmy's as much to blame as anyone else if not more so. And I'm sure Trinity is on her way to talk to her now. She's not going to just get a pass. Right, Trin?”

Trinity gave a grudging nod. “Though to be fair, you did blindside the poor dragon. And during her big party too.”

Caleb shot her a look.
You're not helping.

Trinity sighed. “Look, we just need to keep clear heads, okay? We've been in tight situations before, and we've always managed to work things through. We'll regroup in the morning and assess the situation. You guys can properly introduce your dragons to the group, and I will do what I can to talk Emmy down. Does that sound fair?”

Scarlet opened her mouth to speak, then glanced guiltily to Caleb. Trinity noted he was squeezing her hand very hard. “Fine,” she spit out instead. “We'll wait until morning. But we'd better get our fair say, Trinity Foxx. Zoe and Zavier deserve another chance.”

“And they will get one,” Trinity assured her, dropping her shoulders in relief. “I promise.” She rose to her feet. “Now if this is all settled, I'm going to go talk to Emmy.”

She glanced over at Scarlet, still not liking the dark look in her eyes. She turned back to Caleb.

You
told
me
once—whatever I needed—you would be here for me. That all I had to do was ask.

Caleb bit his lower lip.
Yes. Of course. But…

Then
keep
her
away
from
those
dragons
tonight. No matter what you have to do.

“Emmy? Are you awake?”

Trin stepped quietly into the hangar, blinking her eyes to adjust them to the darkness. From the far end, she could hear the hum of the television set and see the faint, blue glow seeping under the red curtains.

Her shoulders relaxed. Emmy was watching TV. That had to be a good sign, right?

Crossing the hangar, she pulled back the curtains, peering in to find Emmy curled up in front of the set, her long tail wrapped securely around her body and her head resting on her paw.

Trin cleared her throat to make her presence known. “Did you start watching the fourth Harry Potter without me?” she started to tease. “I thought we were…”

She trailed off as she caught sight of the TV screen and frowned. No, not Harry Potter. Something much darker.

FOX News. And, it appeared, the subject of the day was none other than the once-dubbed Touchdown of Terror herself.

Crap.

“Watch this,” one of the commentators was saying as the video rolled on the other half of the screen. A disturbing, slow-motion replay of Emmy blasting fire at Zavier. “Does this look like America's next top house pet to you?” he asked gleefully.

“I don't know. I'm pretty sure I couldn't afford the fire insurance premiums,” joked his cohost.

Oh
God.

“Emmy…” Trin tried. But the dragon's eyes stayed glued on the TV.

“As you know, over the last few months, the liberal media has been all over themselves trying to convince us that this creature should be part of some kind of animal-rights campaign,” added the third commentator. “And PETA has been actively petitioning to get this fire-breathing beast on the endangered species list.” He turned to face the cameras. “We have social media expert Ike Sudukus with us via satellite. Ike, is this the kind, cuddly creature we should be embracing as a society?”

“I know I'm not embracing anything with claws like that,” the first commentator interrupted with a snort. “I mean, give that poor beast a mani-pedi, why don't you?”

Trinity cringed as she caught Emmy stealing a peek at her actually very beautiful, shiny claws. The dragon had spent months growing them back after the government had shorn them and had been so proud of their length, showing them off to everyone who came to visit. Now she looked down at them sorrowfully and tucked them under her belly, hiding them from view. It was all Trin could do not to take a bat to the TV set.

The video switched to the social media expert. “It's clear this creature has a fan base. There are thousands of websites dedicated to the dragon, and its weekly web show has drawn viewers from all over the world. The question is will those fans stay loyal now that this video has surfaced? Now that it's obvious that this is, indeed, a wild animal and clearly dangerous.”

“Not your grandma's Puff the Magic Dragon, kiddos,” chimed in the female commentator. And Trinity's heart broke at the shame she saw in Emmy's eyes.

“In the last twenty-four hours, we've started to see an anti-Emmy backlash—with websites popping up all over. And the hashtag
Kill
Emmy
is currently trending on Twitter,” added the social media expert helpfully.

Emmy's eyes widened as the graphical representation of the hateful hashtag flashed across the screen. Trin grimaced. This was so not good.

“And yet this dragon has been so popular for months now. Why do you think people are so angry?” asked the host.

“Basically, they believe they've been lied to. Manipulated. Played for cash. For example, since the beginning, the Free Emmy group has been touting this creature as ‘the last of its kind,' and yet now you clearly see on the video, there are at least two more in existence.”

“And they don't appear to be besties either,” joked the female host as the video looped and Emmy shot fire at Zavier all over again. “I mean
ouch
! Take a look at the blast radius.”

“Right? Maybe the military needs to start recruiting dragons,” added her cohost. “Talk about a weapon of mass destruction! I mean, can you picture the look on a terrorist's face when they suddenly find themselves up against a real-life dragon?”

Trinity stalked over to the TV and switched it off. Emmy whined, looking angry, then guilty—then just plain sad.

“Talk to me, Emmy,” Trinity commanded, sitting down in the chair across from the dragon. “Tell me everything that went down.”

Emmy didn't reply. Instead, she dropped her head to the floor and stared off into space. Trinity's heart wrenched to see the anguish on the dragon's face. But she couldn't let her get off that easily. She thought back to her talk with Scarlet. If she didn't make good, the girl was going to do something rash. And things were bad enough already.

“You thought they were dead, didn't you?” she pushed. “You told Scarlet to kill them, and you thought she had.”

Emmy gave a small huff. Trinity decided to take that as a yes.

“Why didn't you come to me from the start?” she demanded, her voice rising in frustration. “I could have helped you. We could have dealt with this together. Instead, you went and hid it from me!”

I
didn't want you to know.

“But why?” Trinity cried. “I thought we were a team. I thought we shared a bond. And yet, over and over, you've chosen to go behind my back. How am I supposed to help you, Emmy, if you never tell me what you need?”

I
don't deserve your help. Not when I can't help you in return.

Trinity sighed. “What are you talking about, Emmy? You've done so much. Hell, you sacrificed your one chance at true happiness to save the boy I loved.”

And
now
all
you
do
is
fight
with
him—because of me.

Trinity cringed. She hadn't realized the dragon had picked up on the tension between her and Connor. “That's not your fault,” she tried to protest.

But Emmy wasn't listening.
Because
of
me, you have lost everything. Your mother, your grandfather, your normal life.
She closed her eyes, letting out a soft groan.
If
I
had
just
done
what
you
asked. If I had gone to the place with all the dragons, none of this would be happening now. The world would not be doomed.

Trinity cringed at the self-loathing she saw clear on the dragon's face. Poor Emmy. No wonder she'd been so miserable this whole time. The guilt she'd been living under must have been suffocating.

When
I
saw
you
walk
into
that
lab, I could barely look at you. I was so ashamed. After what I let them do to me…

“You didn't
let
them do anything,” Trinity corrected, her voice cracking with frustration. “Emmy, you were captured. You were tortured. You were experimented on and impregnated against your will. How can any of that be your fault?”

Emmy didn't answer, and the silence stretched out between them. Finally, she looked up at Trinity, her eyes unbearably sad.

You
said
there
might
be
a
way
to
turn
back
the
clock?
she asked.
A
way
to
undo
all
that's been done?

“Maybe,” Trinity said hesitantly. “I mean, my dad's still trying to work that out, to see if it's even possible. I don't know how much progress he's made though. Maybe someday. But in the meantime, Emmy, we have to deal with what's happening now. You have two children, whether you like it or not. And how we deal with them now will make all the difference for the future.”

Emmy regarded her with solemn eyes.
You
want
me
to
give
them
a
chance, don't you? Even knowing what we know?

Trinity bit her lower lip. “We don't know anything,” she corrected. “Not anymore. Connor and Caleb's future, as far as I'm concerned, has already been eradicated. We're on a new path now. And each step on that path can lead to a new destiny.”

But
is
it
worth
the
risk?

“You were a risk once,” Trinity reminded her. “If Connor had had his way, you'd have been dropped into a volcano when you were still in your egg. But Caleb convinced me that we should give you a chance to prove yourself. And you did, Emmy. Ten times over. Don't these dragons deserve the same opportunity? They are your children after all.”

She rose to her feet, giving the dragon a sympathetic look. “I'll let you think it over, okay?” she told her. “But, Emmy, really think about it. Think about what it could be like for you to have children. For your children to have a real mother—like you never had. Imagine what you could do if the three of you were on the same team.” She gave the dragon a wistful smile. “Imagine what it'd be like…to never be alone again.”