Shattered (17 page)

Emmy took flight, pushing off her back feet and soaring into the sky. Scarlet watched her go, her heart squeezing as the dragon disappeared behind a rooftop.

Stay
safe
, she begged her.

“Damn it!” Rashida swore, squeezing her hands into fists. “She was right here in front of us! We totally had her!”

Scarlet was silent for a moment, staring up into the once-again empty sky. “There’s no vaccine, is there?” she said quietly. “You made that up to get me to help you find her.”

Rashida sighed. She walked over to Caleb. “Can you help me over here?” she asked, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him violently. “Wake up, Caleb!” she cried. “You stupid idiot. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Against her better judgment, Scarlet joined her. She poked Caleb hard. “You need to get up,” she told him. “It’s not safe here.”

Finally Caleb shifted, his face turning upward. His eyes fluttered open, at first unfocused then locking onto hers. She’d almost forgotten what crazy eyes he had—a kaleidoscope of blues and greens, swirling around in a storm of color.

“Where…?” he started, looking around the alley, his face awash with confusion. Then he turned back to her, his eyes lighting up as they focused on her face. “Buttercup!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Evidently I’m saving your ass, Bad Seed,” she replied with a wry smile. “Are you okay?”

Her eyes roved over him. He didn’t look okay. In fact, he looked like hell. His face was pale, his eyes glassy, his skin covered in goose bumps. She swallowed, déjà vu hitting her hard and fast.

Another alley, another dumpster, another life.

“She’s fine,” Rashida interrupted briskly, taking his arm and trying to yank him upright. “She’s helping us rescue Emmy from your little girlfriend. Now come on! Get on your feet you lousy Netherhead, or I’ll leave you in the gutter where you belong.”

Caleb rose to his feet, his legs shaking. He could barely stand, Scarlet realized with growing dread. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” he announced. Then he turned to Scarlet. “Buttercup—”

Before he could finish, he stumbled, his legs giving out from under him as he fell, his eyes rolling to the back of his head, losing consciousness again as he hit the ground with a thump. Scarlet cried out in horror, dropping to her knees before him, while Rashida swore under her breath. “God, he’s even more pathetic than I remembered him,” she muttered.

Fury surged through Scarlet. She rose back to her feet, hands on her hips. “Rashida, what’s going on here?” she demanded. “What do you mean you’re rescuing Emmy? And what about the vaccine?”

Rashida sighed. “Look,” she said, “the truth is, Trinity infiltrated our headquarters. She pretended to be one of us and then she turned Caleb against us. She used him to break the dragon out so she could have her to herself. We’ve been trying to track them down and rescue Emmy ever since.” She gave Scarlet a rueful look. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I was afraid Trinity had brainwashed you as well. And we’d gotten so close. I couldn’t afford for you to walk away and refuse to help.”

Scarlet scowled. “So you lied to me.”

“Only about the vaccine. And about being friends with Trinity,” Rashida protested. “The rest is true. Emmy’s in trouble. We’re trying to help her. And if we don’t save her soon, the world as we know it could be in grave danger.”

Scarlet opened her mouth to speak, but a roar of an engine drowned out her words. The other Potentials had arrived, pouring out of the van, surrounding her with excited faces.

“Where’s the dragon?” one of them finally asked.

Hopefully
far, far from here
, Scarlet thought mournfully.
With
enough
sense
to
stay
away
from
you.

Trinity shifted, feeling drowsy and warm as the sun flittered through the windows, teasing her eyelids awake. For a moment she had no idea where she was. Only that she felt overwhelmingly cozy and comfortable. She’d slept through the night for the first time in what felt like forever, without a single nightmare to wake her.

She burrowed into the pillow, hoping to chase a few more minutes of blissful slumber before getting back to the reality she didn’t want to face. But then something solid shifted at her back, a weight falling gently over her side. Her eyes flew open and she turned her head, only to find Connor snuggled up against her, his arm draped solidly across her waist.

Now she was wide awake, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she wondered what she should do. How had this happened? Last thing she remembered was finishing up their Chinese food and discovering that really terrible
Fields
of
Fantasy
movie was playing on HBO. They must have fallen asleep in the middle of the movie.

Slowly, as not to wake him, Trinity slipped out from under Connor’s arm and sat up in bed. The loss of connection sent an unexpected ache through her, and she glanced down at his sexy, rumpled figure, a rueful look on her face. How easy it would be to crawl back into bed. To let him hold her and cuddle her and keep the nightmares at bay. To absorb his strength, warm skin to warm skin. And remember his promise that she would never be alone.

But that couldn’t happen.
This
couldn’t happen—ever again. There was too much going on right now for her to be sidetracked by romance. Her body may have betrayed her, but her mind was set. And she wouldn’t put herself in that position—that oh so comfortable position—ever again.

Connor would understand this, she told herself. Even if Caleb refused to.

Caleb. She bit her lower lip, looking around the room again, now noticing his obvious absence. When he’d stormed out the night before, she’d assumed he’d be back eventually, tail tucked between his legs and his mouth full of apologies—just like every time before. But the other bed was still made. And a quick peek into the adjoining room told her he hadn’t returned at all. Which was probably for the best, she realized, feeling a stab of guilt. If he had seen her and Connor, locked in each other’s arms…

Her eyes caught the television set, which had been left on all night. The station had cut to a breaking news piece and the video showed blue and white and red emergency lights flashing against the backdrop of some random brick alleyway. Police tape had been stretched across the crime scene and EMTs were wheeling some poor schlub on a stretcher into a waiting ambulance. She gave a tight smile. At least they’d finally stopped talking about Emmy for five seconds and moved on to other tragedies going on in the world.

But before she could reach for the remote to turn off the set, her eyes caught the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen

Another
touchdown
of
terror?

A gasp escaped her. She flicked off the TV then ran to the other room to turn on the other one, grabbing the remote to turn up the volume. The reporter was holding the microphone out to a terrified looking man sporting a long scar down his cheek.

“It killed him!” he cried. “He wasn’t doing nothing. Just minding his own business. And this…thing…swooped down and dug its claws into him and threw him against the wall!” He made a swinging gesture with his arms, to illustrate his point. “Killed him dead. Right there in front of me. And then this girl? She was, like, petting the creature like it was some frigging St. Bernard, saying I was next.” He shook his head, droplets of spittle flying from his mouth. “I barely escaped with my life.”

Trinity glanced over at Emmy, who was still sleeping at the foot of the bed, snoring contentedly. Was this some kind of prank? A copycat crime?

She turned back to the TV. The program had cut to the reporter, now standing live in the alleyway where it had all gone down. “The military is on their way and authorities have instituted a lockdown on the city. Everyone is asked to stay indoors until the search for this creature is complete. If you do catch sight of it, please call 911. Do not approach it under any circumstances.” She stared straight into the camera, a severe look on her overly made up face. “This is Daisy Solomon reporting live from San Angels.”

Wait. What? Trinity dropped the remote onto the bed. San Angels? That’s where they were now. But Emmy was here. How could she have…?

Panicked, she turned to the sliding glass door leading out to the balcony. The
open
sliding glass door, she realized in dismay. Connor must have opened it in his attempt to cool off the night before and had forgotten to close it when Emmy made her sudden appearance. It was the kind of mistake the Hunter never would have made. But he’d been distracted.
She’d
distracted him.

And Emmy had taken advantage.

She looked over at the dragon who was still lying curled up on the bed, the tears welling in her eyes.

“What did you do?” she whispered.

Emmy lifted her head sleepily, looking at Trinity with genuine confusion. It was then that she saw the blood crusted on the creature’s claws, confirming her worst fears.

“What has who done?”

She looked up guiltily, realizing Connor had walked into the room and was staring at her. Terror churned in her stomach as her mind whirled with lies. She couldn’t let him know what Emmy had done. Not after she’d promised nothing else would happen under her watch. What would he say if he found out another person had been killed? More importantly—what would he decide to do about it?

If
she
gets
into
any
more
trouble…hurts any more people…

Oh, Emmy, what have you done?

She grabbed the remote and turned off the TV, struggling to retain her composure. “Sorry, what did you say?” she asked in a stumbling voice, as if she hadn’t heard him.

“I said…Wait, Trinity? Are you okay?” he asked, peering at her intently. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Um, yeah. I’m…fine. I’m just…” Oh God, oh God. “I just have to use the bathroom, okay?”

“Oh. Right. Sorry to barge in on you.” He headed back into the other room and shut the door. Trinity turned back to Emmy.

“Talk. Now,” she hissed. “And I don’t want to hear you say you don’t remember.”

Emmy turned away, unable to meet her eyes.
You
don’t understand
, she began.

“You’re damn right about that.”

The dragon gave her a hurt look.
She
was
crying
for
help. She was scared. These men…they were hurting her. What was I supposed to do? You told me I should save people if I could.

Oh God. Trinity didn’t even know what to say as her words from the day before were thrown back in her face. “I didn’t mean by murdering someone else!” she cried.

He
was
hurting
Scarlet. I couldn’t let him hurt Scarlet,
Emmy said stubbornly.

Trinity froze. She stared at the dragon incredulously. “Wait, what? What do you mean Scarlet? Is Scarlet here?” Her heart started pounding in her chest. Had the girl followed them all the way to San Angels? “What would Scarlet be doing here?”

I
don’t know. But I think she’s in trouble
, Emmy confessed.
She
was
with
that
girl. That bad girl who tried to kill you back at the mall.

It was all Trinity could do not to fall over backward at this point. “Rashida? Are you sure it was Rashida?” This was getting worse and worse.

The dragon nodded reluctantly.
She
wanted
me
to
come
with
her. She said she could help me. But I remembered what you said. And I came straight back here.

“Thank God.” Trinity scrubbed her face with her hands. Still, this was not good. This was so not good. The Potentials were here. The military was on its way. They had to get out of here and fast.

A knock came to the door. “Trinity? Everything okay in there?”

She drew in a shaky breath, not sure what to say. Half of her wanted to tell Connor to pack his things—that they needed to get out of town, to not pass go, to not collect two hundred dollars. But then Connor would want to know why. Especially with Caleb still missing. After all, she wasn’t exactly known for leaving people behind.

You
have
to
tell
him
, a voice inside of her nagged.
He
can’t help you if he doesn’t know what’s going on.

But what about Emmy? If Connor found out the dragon had gotten out again—and killed someone this time—there was no way on earth he was going to agree to stick with the plan to go find her father. He’d want to get far away then hunker down. Wait for the heat to cool, no matter how long it would take. And in the meantime, Emmy’s future would be put on hold all over again. And who knew how long her dad and Virgil would even wait for her? They were already three months behind schedule. What if they gave up and disbanded? What if Emmy’s one possible ticket to salvation expired because Trin listened to someone else instead of her dragon?

No. She couldn’t do that. She
wouldn’t
do that.

“Caleb’s still missing,” she blurted out, her mind grappling for a plan as she pulled open the door to face him. “Can you go see if you can find him? He’s probably just zonked out in the Nether somewhere. I’m sure he didn’t go far.”

Connor sighed, not looking happy about the idea. But he reached for his shoes all the same, just as she knew he would. Connor was nothing if not dependable. She watched him, her heart aching as she remembered the feeling of his warm arms, spooning her against him. It already seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Look, Trin,” he said, shifting from foot to foot. “I’ll apologize, okay? I’ll tell him it was my fault. That you had nothing to do with any of it.”

Her heart broke as she realized that he was misinterpreting her real upset. Thinking she was worried about the fight he and his brother had had. And she was, of course she was. But that wasn’t the half of it. And if only he knew what she was truly stressing about, he might not be so sympathetic.

“This thing between my brother and me,” he continued. “It’s been going on a long time. And it’s not fair for us to keep putting you in the middle. From now on, I’m not going to let that happen. We’re going to act like a real team. I promise.” He gave her a shy grin. “Team Dragon forever.”

His earnest eyes were like a punch to the gut. He had sacrificed everything for her and the dragon. Put his trust in her assurances that she had it all under control. Even after all that had happened—he still stood by her side. Even as she lied to his face.

“Connor…” she started, before she could stop herself.

“Yeah?”

She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “Just…if you find him?”

“
When
I find him.”

“Right.” Her mouth twisted. “Tell him…tell him I’m sorry.”

He gave her a heartbreaking look. “Trin, you didn’t do anything wrong. To either of us. You have to know that. None of this is your fault.”

“Yeah,” she said, turning from him, unable to bear the sight of his regretful eyes. “Sure. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

She could feel his gaze upon her, but she refused to turn around. Finally he sighed, and she could hear him turning, heading toward the door. Only when it closed behind him with a loud crash did she dare turn back to where he’d just stood, staring into the now empty room.

You
didn’t do anything wrong. To either of us.

“Not yet anyway,” she said with a sigh then turned to her dragon.