Smoked

by Mari Mancusi

  But Emmy hadn’t seemed interested in flying. Instead, she’d retreated to the sleeping nook they’d constructed at the far end of the hangar. Connor had found and hung some old, moth-eaten red curtains from the terminal to give her privacy, and Trin had painstakingly decorated, collecting some of the shinier pieces of plane fuselage and placing them around the nest as stand-ins for actual dragon treasure.

  But Emmy hadn’t seemed to notice their efforts. Nor had she asked to turn on the TV/DVD combo that Trinity’s dad had picked up at a garage sale a few towns over. Even Scarlet’s suggestion of watching the last season of the BBC show Merlin—Emmy’s favorite program—had been dismissed with a shrug. All of which worried Scarlet more than she wanted to admit. As did the fact that Emmy was barely eating or drinking. The others chalked it up to posttraumatic stress, which did seem a logical conclusion, but to Scarlet it seemed more than that. Through their bond, she could feel Emmy’s nervous energy, bouncing around her head. She wasn’t just depressed—she was agitated. Worried about something. But when Scarlet tried to ask her what it was, her words fell on deaf ears.

  “How’s she doing?”

  Scarlet looked up from rubbing to see Trinity hovering hesitantly between the two curtains, shuffling from foot to foot. She sighed and waved her inside. Trinity obliged, still looking a bit nervous as she approached the two of them, and Scarlet could feel Emmy stiffen under her hands.

  It was weird. While the dragon was certainly wary of anyone and everyone who approached since she’d returned, she seemed to get particularly fearful when Trinity showed up, which didn’t make any sense. After all, Scarlet knew more than anyone how much Emmy loved and cared for Trinity—it was all she would talk about back before she’d stopped talking in the government lab. Yet now that they were reunited? The dragon seemed to go out of her way to avoid her.

  “She’s clean at least,” Scarlet said with forced brightness after pushing a reassuring thought in the dragon’s direction. “I scrubbed each scale individually, and now I’m moisturizing. She seems to like that, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.”

  “She always did,” Trinity said sadly, sitting down in the chair across from Scarlet and the dragon, giving them space. She, along with several of the others, had attempted to help with grooming when Emmy first arrived. But Emmy refused to let any of them touch her. Only Scarlet. Which wasn’t exactly helping Scarlet’s already shaky relationship with Trin—as if the girl needed any more reasons to hate her. In fact, Scarlet was pretty sure Trinity wouldn’t be talking to her at all if it wasn’t the only way to reach her dragon.

  “Has she said anything else to you?” Trinity asked. “Like where she was all this time after we broke her out of the lab?”

  Scarlet shook her head. “I asked her,” she said. “Repeatedly. But she won’t answer. She hasn’t said anything since she’s been back. It’s like she’s forgotten how to talk.”

  Trinity gave the dragon a heartbreaking look. “What happened to you, Emmy?” she asked, her voice quavering a little. “Whatever it is, you can tell us. We won’t be mad.”

  Scarlet could practically see the waves of frustration radiating off Trin. She turned to Emmy. Come on, Ems, she tried. She only wants to help you.

  The dragon shifted, turning her face to the wall. But not before Scarlet caught a guilty look crossing her face. And was that…a tear leaking from her eye? She frowned. Something must have happened. Something Emmy didn’t want to admit to Trinity or anyone else. But what could it be?

  She turned back to Trinity. “I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “When she’s ready to talk, I’m sure she will.”

  “Yeah,” Trinity said dully. “I’m sure.”

  Scarlet watched as the girl rose slowly to her feet, giving Emmy one last look, then sighed heavily before heading back to the curtain. When she reached it, she stopped.

  “Maybe I’m not your Fire Kissed anymore,” she said in a soft voice, not turning around. “Maybe we’re no longer destined. But I still love you, Emmy. I will always love you and I will always protect you. That will never change.”

  And with that, she stepped through the curtain and disappeared. Scarlet said nothing, listening as her footsteps faded and the exterior door to the hangar clanged shut behind her. Then she turned back to Emmy. The dragon was staring at the closed curtain, a tortured look on her reptilian face.

  Oh, Fire Kissed. Why couldn’t you have just let me die?

  Scarlet startled as Emmy’s words echoed through her head. It’d been so long since she’d heard the dragon speak, she’d almost forgotten the sound of her voice. But there it was, clear and unmistakable and unbearably sad.

  “Emmy, what are you talking about?” she scolded. “Of course we weren’t going to just let you die. That’s crazy! Why would you even say something like that?”

  The dragon lowered her head to the ground, releasing a long, slow sigh. Scarlet waited, wondering if she should say something else. But then, Emmy spoke again.

  She tried to send me away, you know, she told Scarlet mournfully. To a happy place filled with other dragons. But I didn’t go. I thought I could help her. Instead, I ruined everything. And now, because of me, the world will burn all over again.

  Scarlet stared at her, not having a clue as to what the dragon was talking about. A happy place filled with other dragons? The world burning all over again? Had Emmy gone mad from her time in captivity? Was she having delusions? She wondered if she should try to call Trin back—maybe she would know what Emmy was going on about—but she didn’t want to upset the dragon further.

  “Look, Emmy. I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know that you haven’t ruined anything,” she insisted instead. “In fact, you’ve done a lot of good since you’ve been around, not the least of which was saving my life.”

  She thought back to the first time she’d encountered Emmy in the cave. She’d been bleeding badly after a fight with her mother’s boyfriend and thought she was going to die. But then Emmy appeared—like an angel from heaven—giving her blood from her one soft scale to help seal up the wound. This particular pocket of dragon’s blood, it was said, could perform medical miracles if given voluntarily by the creature in question. And without that miracle, Scarlet was pretty sure it would have been game over for her.

  Suddenly, a thought struck her. Maybe Emmy’s blood could heal Caleb too, bring him back from the Nether once and for all. And maybe healing Caleb would give Emmy more confidence, make her see how valuable she really was. Scarlet’s heart pounded in her chest. It was the perfect plan! Something to give Emmy a purpose, and as a bonus, she’d get Caleb back too. Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

  “Emmy, do you think you could maybe…”

  She trailed off, realizing the dragon was already shaking her head. Evidently she could still hear Scarlet’s thoughts before she voiced them, through their blood bond.

  I’m sorry, Emmy said, sounding wistful. I wish I could. But it seems I am useless in this now, as in everything else.

  “What do you—?” Scarlet started to ask, then broke off as she watched Emmy lower her gaze to her arm. Scarlet followed the look, then gasped as she saw it.

  “Emmy!” she cried, horrified. She dropped to her knees, taking Emmy’s paw in her hands. So many scales had been broken, she hadn’t noticed this one in particular. But there it was—her healing scale, ripped away. Only an ugly scar remained in its place.

  The poor dragon. The poor, poor dragon!

  “Oh, Emmy!” she cried, looking up at the creature, her eyes blurred with tears. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize. If I had known, I never would have asked. I’m such an idiot. Please forgive me.” Here she thought she was going to make the dragon feel better. Instead, she’d only made things worse.

  Emmy regarded her sadly. It’s all right, she assured Scarlet. You couldn’t have known.

 
Scarlet’s heart panged at the suffering she could hear clearly in Emmy’s voice. She couldn’t imagine how much pain the poor beast was going through each and every day. Not just the physical pain that would eventually heal with her wounds. But the mental anguish to know she was no longer whole.

  She stepped up to the dragon, opening her arms wide to embrace her fully. Emmy was so big now she could barely manage to get her arms around her head. For a moment, the dragon was stiff, unyielding, But as Scarlet continued to hold her and whisper in her ear, she eventually softened, snuggling her head against her chest, her soft breath tickling the hairs on Scarlet’s arms. For a moment, they just stood there, holding one another, pulling strength from one another—no words necessary.

  Finally, Emmy pulled away. Scarlet looked at her questioningly.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  While I cannot cure Caleb, there may be another way.

  Scarlet’s eyes widened. “Really?” she asked, hope rising within her. “What other way? Whatever it is, I’ll do it!”

  The dragon looked hesitant. If I help you, will you agree to help me in return?

  “Yes, of course,” Scarlet said a little doubtfully, not sure what she was agreeing to. But if Emmy could help Caleb… “I would help you no matter what. You know that, Ems. What do you need me to do?”

  The dragon gave her a stern look. First, you must promise never to speak of this. Not to anyone. Especially not to Trinity.

  Now Scarlet’s heart was really pounding in her chest. Was she about to learn what Emmy had been hiding at long last? What had made her so estranged from her former Fire Kissed?

  “Of course, Emmy,” she assured the dragon. “You know you can trust me.”

  Emmy seemed to consider this for a moment, then snorted, puffs of smoke billowing from her nose. Very well, she said. Open the door and get on my back. We need to take a little ride.

  Chapter Seven

  Thirty minutes later, Scarlet was high in the clouds, Emmy tearing through white mist at breakneck speed. As they dipped and wove through the atmosphere, she couldn’t help the small thrill tingling from her fingers to her toes, despite the somber circumstances. Besides the one brief flight after Emmy’s rescue from the government lab, the only other time she’d ridden a dragon was in the Nether—when Emmy’s future children, Zoe and Zavier, had taken her to Caleb. She remembered then thinking the whole thing was pretty thrilling—like some kind of crazy Six Flags Over Texas roller coaster or the like. But in real life, it was even better.

  But she forced back her enthusiasm, knowing Emmy probably wouldn’t appreciate it. After all, this wasn’t a pleasure ride. And the dragon wasn’t having any fun.

  Whatever she needs you to do, she told herself, you need to do it without question. No matter what it is. After all she’s been through, she deserves that at least.

  And maybe, as a bonus, it would lead to her getting Caleb back. Her heart warmed as she imagined his blue eyes opening, meeting her own, his trademark smirk spreading across his face.

  Oh, Buttercup, she imagined him saying. I knew I could count on you.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity (though was perhaps no more than twenty to thirty minutes), Emmy seemed to slow. Scarlet opened her eyes. They were out of the clouds and into the open sky again, and she willed herself to look down. The arid desert landscape seemed to roll out before them like a blood-red carpet in all directions. But straight ahead, a gigantic rock structure, the remains of some kind of long ago volcanic ash, rose to the sky like the Dark Tower of Mordor.

  “Where are we?” Scarlet questioned aloud. She had no way of estimating Emmy’s average miles per hour and had no sense of whether they were only a few miles or a few hundred from their home base.

  Where we need to be, Emmy replied simply. Now hold on. I am going in for a landing.

  Scarlet gripped the dragon’s scales tighter as the beast lowered her head and raised her wings, coming in for a landing on an uneven ledge near the top of the rock structure. A moment later, they touched down—perhaps not as elegantly as Emmy would have done before they’d broken her wings and not set them straight, but Scarlet managed to hold on and bite back an oomph as pain ricocheted through her.

  Once they were settled, Emmy lowered her wing, allowing Scarlet to leap down to the rocky surface. Now on solid earth again, she looked around, trying to determine where they were and what they were doing there.

  Emmy made her move before she could inquire, walking around a towering rock structure and disappearing from view. Scarlet scrambled after her, curious. Her eyes widened as she turned the corner to find a small, dark cave cut into the side of the cliff. Emmy made a gesture to the cave. I am too large to enter, she told her. But go inside and tell me what you see.

  Now Scarlet was feeling truly freaked out. The last thing she wanted to do was enter some strange, dark cave on the top of a random mountain without any light source. After all, who knew what kind of creature might make this den his or her home?

  Stop being such a coward, she berated herself. Emmy needs you. This is your chance to prove yourself to her, not to mention help poor Caleb.

  Mind made up, she sucked in a breath and pulled out her cell phone, switching it to flashlight mode. Then she willed her feet to step forward, ducking down to enter the cave.

  It was small, cramped, not even large enough for Scarlet to stand in, and so she was forced to hunch over and crouch down to walk through it. She wondered, as she made her way inside, how Emmy had even fit inside this small of a burrow in the first place. She’d been told that dragons liked to jam themselves into tight spaces—it made them feel more secure—but this was ridiculous.

  It’s no different than your pirate cave back home, she tried to tell herself. You and Mac spent hours in there as kids. It was the safest place in the world.

  The thought made her feel a little better, and she waved the phone/flashlight around, trying to figure out what she was supposed to be looking for. Something Emmy had left behind and was now too big to retrieve?

  A sudden thought struck her. What if Emmy’s soft scale had fallen off in here back when the dragon was holed up inside? What if that was why Emmy had brought her here—so Scarlet could retrieve it? Maybe it couldn’t be reattached to the dragon herself but had enough blood left inside to heal Caleb.

  There may be another way, Emmy had said. Could this be what she meant?

  Scarlet’s heart rate picked up as hope started pumping through her. Yes. That had to be it. She would find the scale, and they’d bring it back to Caleb, and everything would be okay. Turning her flashlight to the ground, she started looking for—

  “Ow!” she cried, practically jumping out of her skin as she felt something sharp pierce her ankle. Startled, she leapt away, managing only to slam the back of her head against the cave’s low ceiling. Losing her balance, she tumbled to the ground, dropping her phone in the process.

  Are you okay? Emmy’s voice came through, sounding anxious.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Scarlet said, reaching up to rub her head. She could feel a large lump already forming. Then she scrambled for her cell phone. “But I think something bit me.” Visions of copperheads and scorpions danced uncomfortably through her mind as she felt around for the hard plastic and glass of her phone.

  Instead, her fingers made contact with something soft. Leathery.

  Something moving.

  “What the—?” She scrambled backward, heart in her throat now. “There’s something in here, Emmy!” she cried. “Give me a little light!”

  The dragon obliged, blowing a small fireball into the cave. The flames bounced off the walls, providing a moment of illumination. Scarlet took advantage, scanning the cave quickly, looking for her phone—looking for what she had touched instead of her phone.

  And then she saw it. Or make that them. Two tiny birdlike creatures huddled t
ogether, peering back at her with large, frightened eyes. One was black as night with sparks of gold dancing off his skin. The other was pink with delicate purple-veined wings.

  Scarlet stifled a gasp of surprise, her heart now slamming against her rib cage. It couldn’t be. It was impossible. And yet…

  There was no other explanation.

  Summoning all her willpower, Scarlet’s hands closed around her cell phone, and she switched it back on. Then, with shaky fingers, she raised it slowly, back in the direction of the two creatures.

  The two baby dragons, to be precise.

  “Uh, Emmy?” Scarlet cried out to the entrance of the cave. “Did you forget to tell me something?”

  I thought it would be better for you to see for yourself, came the dragon’s voice, sounding a little sheepish.

  “Not better for my freaking heart, that’s for sure,” Scarlet managed to reply, trying to breathe normally again. She looked at the baby dragons. They looked back at her. Then the pink one took a tentative step forward, sniffing the air. On instinct, Scarlet held out a hand, like she would do to a strange dog, inviting it to sniff her. The dragon stared at her for a moment as if nervous, then took another cautious step, craning her long neck until she touched the tip of Scarlet’s finger with her snout. Then she backed away skittishly to the protection of her slightly larger brother.

  “It’s okay,” Scarlet whispered. “I won’t hurt you.” She bit her lower lip. “Are you… Do they call you Zoe?” she asked.

  Of course it’s Zoe, something inside of her insisted. Who else could it be? Zoe and her brother, Zavier, the same dragons she had met in the Nether who had told her they were Emmy’s children, waiting to be born. At the time, they hadn’t known when this would happen—or if it would even happen at all. But now here they were. Like an impossible dream come true.