Smoked

by Mari Mancusi

  But Trinity didn’t seem to notice as she slid off Emmy’s back and approached the two of them. Her expression was grave and her steps purposeful. “Something’s happened,” she announced.

  “We saw the broadcasts,” Caleb assured her. “Do you have a plan?”

  “Yes,” Trinity said. “But I need your help. Both of you.”

  Scarlet listened as she broke it down.

  “What do you think?” Trinity asked when she’d finished. “Will you help us?”

  “It’s up to Scarlet,” Caleb declared, and Scarlet’s heart flip-flopped at the earnestness she heard in his voice. “Whatever she wants to do.”

  Trinity nodded. She turned to Scarlet. “Look, I know I have no business asking for any favors from you,” she said. “But if you want to help Zavier, we have to work together. You were right; he is a good dragon. They’re all good, pureblood dragons deep down. And we need to get their attention and get them back on our team.” She gave a grim smile. “But let’s face it, he’s not going to listen to me. And he’s not going to listen to Emmy. And he’s certainly not going to listen to Connor.”

  Scarlet nodded slowly. “But you think he’ll listen to me?”

  “I’m betting the fate of the world on it.”

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  “Here we are. Home sweet Dracken home,” Caleb announced as Emmy came in for a graceful landing in the parking lot of the abandoned Nevada mall a few hours later. It had been a long flight and mostly quiet—everyone lost in their own thoughts.

  Trinity looked around; she thought the place had been decrepit the first time around, when it had served as the Dracken’s secret headquarters. Now it looked like something out of a Mad Max movie—half-burned down with frayed police tape clinging to the perimeter and colorful graffiti splashed on every available surface. She wondered why they hadn’t just torn it down; it looked like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

  “This is where the bad guys lived?” Scarlet asked after giving the place a skeptical once-over. “’Cause as far as secret lairs go, it’s kind of weak.”

  “That’s what I thought when I first saw it,” Trinity replied, thinking back to the first time she and Caleb had pulled into the parking lot. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “But inside, it was pretty sweet. All the comforts of home.”

  “I doubt it’ll be too comfortable now.”

  They whirled around. Connor and Mara had stepped up behind them. The two of them had taken the truck and driven directly to the mall to suss the place out while Trinity and Emmy had gone back to retrieve Caleb and Scarlet.

  Trinity noted Scarlet giving Connor a dirty look while saving an even dirtier one for Mara. Of course, Trinity couldn’t blame her for either. If they pulled this off, maybe someday they could all sit down and have a heart-to-heart about what had happened and who was really to blame. But right now, they needed to put personal feelings aside and concentrate on the mission.

  Connor reached into the trunk of the car, pulling out a few flashlights and ropes. “We stopped at a Walmart on the way here,” he told them. “Grabbed some supplies. I don’t know what we’re going to need in there, but it’s better to be prepared.”

  “My unit tore things up pretty good,” Caleb explained to Scarlet, “when they raided this place looking for Emmy. And then there was the fire on top of that.”

  Scarlet nodded. “What about Emmy?” she asked, as she slid off the dragon’s back and onto solid ground. “Where’s she supposed to go while we’re inside? I don’t think she should just hang out, out in the open where someone could see her.”

  “We found an automotive center around back,” Mara piped in. “Evidently it used to be some store they called Sears back when the place was open. It’s pretty big—Emmy could hang in there until we came back.”

  “Would that be okay?” Trinity asked the dragon. “Would you feel safe there?”

  I guess so, Emmy replied, though she didn’t look too sure. Trinity didn’t blame her. After all that had happened—what was still happening—it was doubtful Emmy would ever feel entirely safe again.

  “I can stay with you, Emmy,” Scarlet announced suddenly. The three of them turned to look at her.

  “Scarlet, are you sure?” Caleb asked. “You don’t have to. She’s a big dragon. She can take care of herself.”

  But Scarlet had clearly made up her mind. “I think the two of us have a few things to talk about anyway,” she said. “And to be honest, I’m not so good with the whole closed-in, dark spaces thing—after all those months spent in that cell.” She shot a resentful look at Mara when she said this, and the Dracken blushed.

  “I can stay too,” Caleb suggested.

  “No.” Trinity shook her head. “We need you. You’re the only one who knows this place as well as Mara does.”

  You need to be there in case she tries to pull some kind of trick, she added silently. We still don’t know if we can completely trust her.

  Caleb nodded, catching her send. “Fine. But we can’t just leave Scarlet by herself.”

  “I’ll stay with her,” Trinity told him. “You guys go. We’ll be fine.”

  Caleb didn’t look thrilled about this either but, to his credit, didn’t try to argue. “Fine,” he said. “But if you need us, seriously, just call.” He turned to Scarlet, his piercing eyes filled with concern. “I’ll come for you, okay?”

  Trinity watched as Scarlet smiled, leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead. She waited for the familiar strain of jealousy to worm through her insides. But it never came. Instead, she found herself glancing over at Connor. Poor Connor, who hadn’t been able to even look her in the eye since finding out the dragons were purebloods. She wanted so badly to pull him aside to let him know she understood why he’d done what he had—that they’d all made mistakes at one point or another. But there was no time for that now. She just hoped the guilt she could see weighing him down wouldn’t serve as a distraction to their mission.

  Be careful, she sent silently, taking a step toward him. We don’t know what’s down there. It could be a trap.

  I’ll be fine, he mumbled. Just take care of yourself and Emmy.

  And with that, they turned to leave, Mara leading the way, her steps a little uneven from the rope handcuffs they’d put on her. Trinity watched them go, her stomach twisting uneasily as the distance increased between them. She found herself reaching out, searching Mara’s head again, looking for some tiny nugget she might have missed, to prove that the Dracken was hiding something. But there was nothing—only earnestness and sincere regret for her role in this whole mess.

  Perhaps, sometimes, even monsters could be redeemed.

  She only hoped it wasn’t too late.

  • • •

  “I was worried the DNA locks would still be active,” Caleb remarked as he, Connor, and Mara approached the front doors of the mall a few moments later. “But it looks like we’re past that point now.”

  In fact, they realized, as they got closer, there were no longer any doors at all, the once nearly impenetrable fortress with its high-tech security system now seeming to rely only on official-looking signs reading “Condemned” and “Unsafe” and “No Trespassing” to ward off any undesirables.

  Of course, with the Dracken long gone and their leader, Darius, locked up in prison, well, perhaps they figured the undesirables could have it.

  Caleb watched as Connor peered into the darkened hallway first. Then he stuck his head back out. “But we do have another problem,” he announced soberly.

  “What, Abercrombie had a run on tight black T-shirts?” Caleb couldn’t help but tease, trying to lighten the mood. His brother didn’t even crack a smile.

  “See for yourself.”

  Caleb obliged, peering through the door. “Um, problem is kind of an understatement, don’t you think?” he asked after coming back out. “The mall h
as no floor.”

  “No floor?” Mara repeated.

  “Not at least for the first twenty feet,” Caleb told her. “The fire must have hit this side of the building really hard.” He scratched his head, scanning the perimeter. “Maybe we should look for another entrance or something.”

  “I don’t think we need to,” Connor replied. “Look. There’s a ledge along that side. We could probably walk across that and skirt the pit. It’s not that far…”

  Caleb peered in a second time to see what his brother was talking about. Sure enough, there was a very narrow support beam crossing the ravine against the far wall. He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know…”

  “Trust me, I can do this,” Connor assured him. “Just tie the end of the rope to the door, and when I get across, I’ll tie up the other end. Then you can hold on to the rope as you cross to keep your balance. It’s simple, really.”

  “You might need a refresher course on the definition of ‘simple,’” Caleb grumbled. But he did as his twin requested, pulling the rope from the bag and securing it to the door. Connor grabbed the other end and placed his back against the far wall. Then he inched sideways along the narrow space, step by careful step. Caleb watched, nerves tensing.

  “Be careful,” he barked as he watched a piece of cement crumble from under his brother’s foot and drop down into the darkness below. It seemed a long time before he heard it hit the ground. “I mean, I know you’re Supertwin and all. But—”

  He was cut off midsentence as the beam crumbled out from under his brother. Caleb gasped as he watched Connor lose his balance, his feet slipping off the wood. For a heart-splitting second, his twin seemed to hover midair like a cartoon character. Then he dropped like a stone into the blackness.

  “Connor!” Caleb screamed. He turned to Mara, who was staring down into the open pit, her mouth gaping. “Connor!” he tried again. “Say something! Are you okay?”

  For one horrifying moment, there was nothing. Only a deafening silence, seeming to stretch out into infinity. Caleb grabbed the wall for support, feeling as if he was going to throw up. After all that he and his brother had been through, it couldn’t just be over like that, could it?

  Please, he begged silently. Please be okay.

  Then…a spark of light flickered in the darkness.

  Connor’s flashlight!

  “I’m okay,” he called up.

  Caleb shook his head, shooting Mara a look of relief. “Connor Jacks, man of steel, ladies and gentlemen,” he muttered. Then he turned back to the pit. “Are you able to pull yourself back up the rope?” he called down. “We could go find that other entrance.”

  “Actually, I think you’d better climb down here yourself,” Connor said, after a small pause. “You’re not going to believe what I’m seeing.”

  Chapter Forty

  Emmy watched as Scarlet paced the garage floor, her face drawn with worry. Trinity had gone outside to keep watch ten minutes before, leaving the two of them alone in awkward silence. It was the first time they’d been alone, the dragon realized, since that fateful day on the side of the cliff, where she’d asked Scarlet to do the unthinkable and Scarlet had pretended to agree.

  It seemed crazy now, but at the time, Emmy had been so frightened—so guilty over what she’d inadvertently brought into the world. Trinity could say all she wanted that it wasn’t Emmy’s fault, but the creatures had come from Emmy’s body. And without her, they would have never been born.

  If only she’d confessed to Trinity from the start. Maybe things would have turned out differently. Instead, she’d acted like a coward, turning to Scarlet to do what she couldn’t bring herself to do.

  But in the end, maybe it was for the best. Because if Emmy had gone and done the job—crushed those poor babies under her body’s weight the moment they’d hatched from their eggs—they would both be gone, their lives snuffed out before they began. Now she still had a chance to redeem herself. To save her son.

  She glanced back at Scarlet. Are you okay? she asked.

  Scarlet looked up at the dragon. She raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

  Emmy hung her head. Scarlet clearly wasn’t going to make it easy on her. Though maybe that was what she deserved. I think you’re sad, she said. Then she added, I’m sad too.

  Scarlet’s face twisted. “You shouldn’t be. You got what you wanted, right? One down, one to go.”

  Emmy winced. You’re wrong, she said. I never wanted it. I thought it was necessary. I thought it was the only choice we had. But I never wanted it. She was my daughter, Scarlet. My flesh and blood. And I never got a chance to know her. She trailed off, unable to continue.

  “Your loss,” Scarlet said, not turning around. “She was amazing.”

  Tell me about her.

  “What?” Scarlet half turned this time, her face a mess of anger and sadness.

  About Zoe, Emmy clarified. What was she like?

  Scarlet scowled again, and for a moment, Emmy thought she wouldn’t answer. Then, at last, she shrugged. “She was wonderful,” she told her, her voice sounding a little rough around the edges. “Really sweet and kind. She loved music too. Any kind of music. I brought her an iPod. She burned that thing out she listened to it so much. She was a big fan of Taylor Swift. And she loved to make up these little dances to all the songs and then perform them for me when I came to visit.” She laughed softly. “I’m pretty sure Zavier thought it was all completely ridiculous, but he never let on. He was always so supportive of his sister. Anything she wanted or needed, he was there for her. He was the best brother a girl could have. A lot like my brother, actually, back in the day.”

  Emmy nodded slowly, feeling the tears well at the corners of her eyes. She thought back to her own brother, the young ruby, who was taken away by their mother before she even learned his name. Would he have protected her like that? Would he have been her best friend? What a wonderful thing—to have someone to share things with, someone to laugh with and cry with. From the beginning, Emmy had always been alone.

  Maybe if this all worked out, maybe if they could find a way to bring Zavier and the others home and quench their thirst for revenge—maybe Emmy would get a chance to say she was sorry. To start over and really be a mother this time. She imagined going from being alone to being a mother to fourteen dragons! It sounded incredible.

  I wish I could have known her, she said to Scarlet. But I am so grateful she had you.

  Scarlet’s face crumbled. Emmy stretched out her neck, nudging her arm with her snout. For a moment, Scarlet just stood there. Then she turned to Emmy and threw her arms around her head. The dragon nuzzled her face against her chest, her own tears falling as they embraced. For a moment, they just stood there, holding one another, before Emmy pulled away.

  I’m so sorry, Scarlet, she said. I hope someday you can—

  But her words were cut short as Trinity burst back into the garage, a frantic expression on her face. “We’ve got trouble!” she cried. “Someone’s coming. We need to get out of here. Now.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  “What is this place?”

  Connor shone his flashlight up at his brother, who was climbing down the rope behind Mara, a puzzled look on his face. Connor didn’t blame him either. He’d been more than a little surprised himself when he’d dropped down into this place. He’d expected more of what they’d seen above—a burned-out shell of a building in grave disrepair. Instead, a smooth, shiny tunnel that looked brand-new stretched out into the darkness. He raked a hand through his hair, puzzled.

  “Was this under the mall this entire time?” he asked his brother. He knew that there had been some back passageways that Trinity and he had used to make their escape the first time around. But this seemed way more extensive, not to mention undamaged—as if these corridors had been built after the mall had been burned and abandoned. Which didn’t make
any sense.

  Caleb shook his head. “If it was, I certainly didn’t know about it.” He glanced over at Mara. “How about you, Blondie?” he asked. “You remember anything like this?”

  Mara didn’t answer. She just stared down the corridor, wide-eyed and white faced. A chill wound down Connor’s spine. This was getting too spooky for him.

  “Okay,” he said, channeling his inner soldier to stymie his encroaching fear. “We’d better see where this leads. Maybe we can find another place to climb back up, where the floor is in better shape.” He turned to Mara. “In the meantime, I apologize, but I have to tie you back up.”

  Mara nodded wordlessly, holding out her hands. Connor worked to tie them, a little looser this time, pretty sure that even if she wanted to escape at this point, he could shoot her before she got very far. “Which way?” he asked.

  “My lab was located in the mall’s former Bath & Body Works,” she told them. “Our best chance to find the Nether dust is to head there.”

  “That was pretty much in the dead center of the mall,” Caleb remembered. He glanced down at his phone’s GPS. “So we need to head this way.”

  They crept down the corridor, using their flashlights to light the way. Connor kept his gun in his hand, checking around every corner to make sure they were alone. At first, everything seemed okay, and he began to relax a little, telling himself this must have been here all along and Caleb and Mara just hadn’t come across it. But then…

  “What was that?” he hissed, stopping short. Caleb and Mara slammed into him from behind, almost making him lose his balance. He gestured for them to be silent. Then he closed his eyes, listening carefully.

  A moment later, it came again. A loud moaning, from somewhere close by. He glanced over at his companions to see if they’d heard it too. From the looks on their faces, they had.

  Without a word, he gestured for them to follow him, flicking off his flashlight and depending on his own night vision to guide them through the darkness. As they crept along, his pulse kicked up, adrenaline igniting in anticipation of whatever lay ahead.