Smoked (13 page)

Wake
up, wake up!

Zavier groaned, rolling over and putting a paw over his eyes. The shack was still dark, and only the faintest pink on the horizon glowed from the outline of the doorway. His sister was silhouetted in that light, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Go
back
to
sleep, Zoe
, he grunted.

I
can't!
she cried.
I
couldn't sleep all night. I don't know how you could. Today's the day, you know!

He grunted.
How
could
I
forget, with you reminding me every five seconds?

She snorted, little puffs of smoke punching from her nostrils. Then she grinned.
Oh
come
on!
she cajoled.
You
know
you're just as excited as I am.

He gave up, rolling over and playfully shoving her backward. She teetered for a moment, then regained her balance, leaping on top of him and wrestling him to the ground. He laughed, only half fighting back.

Maybe
I
am
a
little
curious
, he admitted. Then he sobered.
But, Zoe, I don't want you to get your hopes up. We don't know how she's going to react to seeing us again.

Zoe stopped her bouncing, giving him an offended look.
She's our
mother,
Zavier. How could she not be as excited as we are? I mean, once she sees us and gets to know us? After all, we're awesome, right? That's what Scarlet-mom always says. How could she not like dragons as awesome as we are?

Zavier laughed despite himself.
It's true we are awesome
, he admitted.

And
she's awesome too!
Zoe added dreamily.
She's the prophesized savior of all dragons! Remember how they used to talk about her in the Nether? Our mother is legendary. Amazing! She's going to singlehandedly save our entire race!

Zavier sighed. Typical Zoe, always so hopeful and optimistic. Seeing the best in everyone and everything. If only he could be like that.

But someone had to be the responsible one. The one who sniffed for danger around every corner and didn't give trust away easily. Scarlet-mom was constantly telling them that the world was a dangerous place for dragons. And one misplaced friendship could lead to their extinction. He trusted Scarlet-mom. He was pretty sure he trusted Caleb-dad too—they shared a blood bond, after all. But as for the rest of this so-called “Team Dragon” they were supposed to be meeting? He preferred to reserve judgment.

And as far as their bio mother? Well, Zoe might have managed to block out those early memories of Emberlyn turning her back on them and flying away. But Zavier hadn't. And he didn't see why anything would be different this time around.

Not that he cared, he reminded himself. It made no difference to him the opinion of some random dragon who just happened to share the same gene pool. But it would be devastating to Zoe. It would hurt her more than she could bear.

And no one hurt Zavier's sister. No one.

“Right this way, Ems. It's almost time for your surprise.”

Trinity motioned for the dragon to follow her, out of the hangar and down the runway, where everyone had gathered for the live broadcast. The place had been decorated within an inch of its life with every shiny party decoration they could find at the closest Walmart, and the effect was so blinding in the blazing sunlight that Trinity hoped it wouldn't mess with the cameras. The Potentials had arranged all the folding chairs they could find in the terminal, placing them in a circle around the pièce de résistance—Emmy's anniversary present, which lay under a huge tarp. Trin's father and Connor had even rolled out the gas grill and were busy preparing some awesome-smelling barbecue.

She waved to Nate and Natasha, who were hard at work setting up the feed. When they'd first suggested going live, she'd thought they were insane. Would people really pay to attend an online dragon party? But then the subscriptions started pouring in. Over four million in the past week. They'd already made enough money to feed Emmy for the next five years and then some.

She had to admit, the social media campaign had vastly exceeded any of her expectations. Not only had it brought in enough money for the care and feeding of the dragon herself, but they had also succeeded in building something more important: a real-life community of dragon lovers coming together to support Emmy. Where once Team Dragon had been made up of four members—then about forty with the addition of the Potentials—today they were more than four million strong. People from all over the country, all over the world, were celebrating Emmy's existence on the planet. No matter what Connor said, that couldn't be a bad thing.

Trinity scanned the crowd, realizing two people were missing from the festivities. Caleb and Scarlet, surprise, surprise.

She frowned. It was hard to believe Caleb's continual denial that something was going on between he and Scarlet when they were constantly disappearing together. In fact, whenever Caleb wasn't occupied helping Trin with Emmy, he was usually MIA with Scarlet. And while she knew she had no right to be jealous of their secret dalliances—whatever they might be—she couldn't help, at times, feeling a little resentful. They were supposed to be working as a team, after all, not breaking off into their own little groups.

Can
you
blame
them
though?
a voice inside of her nagged.
You
didn't exactly roll out the red carpet for Scarlet.

She shook her head. Okay, fine. That was probably true. But still—couldn't they have made an exception for today of all days? It was Emmy's big party. And the live broadcast was the biggest thing they'd attempted to pull yet. They needed all the support they could get. Couldn't the two of them pry themselves off of one another for just one day?

“Everyone ready?” Luke's voice broke out, amplified by a microphone. “We're live in three, two, one…” He grinned. “Hello, Team Dragon! I'm your host, Luke Skyflyer, and you're watching FreeEmmy.com TV. Thank you for tuning in and for all your support for your favorite dragon, Emberlyn. This is a monumental day for Team Dragon, and we're glad that you're here to share it with us. PernDancer, do you want to go over the rules for us?”

“Sure, Luke,” Natasha agreed, taking the mic. “As always, if you have any questions about Emmy or for Emmy, please type them into the chat window below your screen, hashtag question mark. We can't promise we'll get to all of them—there are four million of you, after all. But we'll do what we can.” She paused, then added, “If for some reason you have to leave the broadcast early, you can return in twenty-four hours to watch the entire upload of the event. Lastly, if you haven't made your contribution to Emmy's gift, please click on the DONATE NOW button on the right-hand side of your screen. All donations go directly to our girl here and her dragon-sized appetite.”

“And now, here's the moment you have all been waiting for,” Luke cried, taking back the microphone. “
Heeeeere's EMMY
!”

Nate turned the camera toward Trinity and the dragon. Trinity gave a shy smile and wave. She still felt odd about being turned into some kind of Internet web star. Emmy, on the other hand, tossed her head with pride, prancing around, totally ready for her close-up. She loved being on TV almost as much as she loved watching it.

“And in three, two, one!” Trin's father cried to the group.

The Potentials in the audience all burst into song, singing “Happy anniversary” at the top of their lungs. Emmy grinned, rising up onto her haunches to do a little jig. Everyone cheered. From over in the broadcast booth, Luke gave Trinity a thumbs-up. This was going better than they could have hoped for.

“That was great!” he cried when they had finished. “I hope all of you at home were singing along as well. Remember, you still have about ten minutes left to upload your own messages to Emmy on Vine or Instagram. We'll be playing some of the videos later in the broadcast, and the most creative will win one of Emmy's beautiful watercolor originals.”

Trin stifled a smile at this. It had been Natasha's idea to put a paintbrush in Emmy's mouth a few months back during one of their slower webcasts, thus producing a few masterpieces that wouldn't exactly rival a three-year-old's artistic prowess. And yet, the interwebs had exploded over these dragon scribbles with artists all over the world theorizing the implied meaning behind each and every brushstroke. It had gotten so crazy that Trin had finally had the idea to upload the designs to a CafePress store and sell them as prints and T-shirts.

Luke turned to Trinity. “But now, is Emmy ready for her surprise?”

“Actually,” Trinity said, walking over to Luke and taking the microphone from him as they had practiced. “I have something of my own to give her first.” She walked back over to Emmy, pulling out a small box tied with a red ribbon. She held it out to the dragon. Emmy looked at it, then turned to her, cocking her head in question.

“Go ahead,” Trin urged. “Open it.”

The dragon obliged, snuffing at the box with her enormous nose until she finally managed to nibble off the ribbon and nudge off the lid. Her eyes widened as she realized what was inside. There, nestled in a white silk handkerchief, was the necklace Trinity had bought her in Walmart before she'd been taken away by the government.

Trinity grinned, then turned back to the cameras. “Once upon a time, Emmy returned this necklace to me. We thought we were about to be separated forever.” She glanced up at the dragon, tears misting her eyes. “Emmy loved this necklace, but she gave it up, wanting me to have something to remember her by.” She smiled. “Because that's the kind of dragon she is.”

Emmy looked down on her, and Trin realized the dragon's own eyes were wet at the corners. She reached out and hugged Emmy before turning back to the cameras. “But now,” she added, “thanks to all of you out there on Team Dragon, I don't need anything to remember her by. Because we're together every day—and nothing can break us apart!”

Behind her, she could hear the Potentials cheer. Reaching into the box, she pulled out the necklace, then looked at Emmy a little doubtfully. “Though I'm not sure it's going to work as a necklace anymore,” she teased, noting the circumference of the dragon's neck. “Maybe a bracelet?”

Everyone laughed at this. Emmy snorted, nodding her massive head eagerly. Then she lifted a paw up to Trinity. It took a little effort, but Trin finally managed to work the piece of jewelry over the dragon's claws and down to an approximation of where her wrist would be. Just seeing Emmy's face as she stared down reverentially at the red-paste jewels made Trinity want to both laugh and cry.

“You deserve this, Emmy,” she whispered, softly so the microphone couldn't pick it up. Some things were still just between her and her dragon. “I only wish I could give you more.”

You've given me everything, Fire Kissed. So much more than I deserve.

Trinity's mouth dropped open. Had Emmy just…

“Did you just say something?” she whispered, suddenly wishing they weren't live on TV.

Emmy looked a little sheepish.
Caleb's been helping me
, she confessed.
Turns
out
a
bond
between
dragon
and
Fire
Kissed
can
be
broken—but never severed completely. And with the right exercises…

Trinity's heart leapt in her chest. “Why didn't you tell me?”

I
didn't know if it would work. And I didn't want to disappoint you if it didn't. I've already disappointed you so many times…

“Oh, Emmy!” Trinity cried, throwing her arms around the dragon. “You have never disappointed me. Never ever, ever!” She buried her face in the dragon's neck, unable to stop the happy sobs. And when Emmy nuzzled her back with her snout, her heart felt so full, she was half-convinced it would burst from her chest.

“Uh, Trinity?” Luke broke in. “Not to interrupt this happy moment, but…”

Trinity blushed, pulling away from Emmy and giving him an apologetic look. After all, to the rest of them and everyone watching, she might as well have been talking to herself. There would be all the time in the world to talk to Emmy later. Right now, the dragon's public awaited.

“Sorry,” she said, turning to the cameras with a laugh. “It's time for Emmy's real present. The one you all helped us make for her.” She turned to Rashida. “I think she's ready! Let's do this!”

The camera panned over to the large tarp, and Rashida and Trevor walked over, grabbing the ends and yanking it away. Trin watched, laughing, as Emmy's eyes grew wide as saucers as she stared down at the most massive pile of raw meat any of them had ever seen. It was a mountain of meat.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Trin teased. “
Bon
appétit!
”

She watched Emmy start over to the pile, drool dripping from her massive jaws. Her heart swelled in her chest. That was her dragon. Her beautiful dragon.

They were still destined, she and Emmy. And nothing could tear them apart.

She turned back to the broadcast. “Thank you all for tuning in to help us celebrate Emmy's online anniversary. As always your support is—”

“Excuse me, everyone? May we have your attention please?”

What?
Trinity turned, surprised at the sudden interruption. She'd been about to introduce the fan videos so that Emmy could eat in peace. That's what they'd rehearsed anyway. So who was that, speaking over a bullhorn now? It sounded almost like—

“Caleb?” she called out. Her heart pounded uneasily in her chest, though she wasn't sure why.

“Before Emmy digs in, we have another surprise for her,” Caleb continued from wherever he was hiding.

Trinity watched as Emmy paused from her meal, looking up with uneasy eyes. The scales on the back of her neck seemed to rise, giving her the look of a threatened dog. A low warning growl emerged from the back of her throat as she nervously began to scan the skies.

Trinity shot a look to Luke. He started to shrug, then stopped short, his eyes focusing on something above her. Concerned, Trin followed his gaze, heart in her throat, looking up at the sky and…

“Oh my God!” she cried. “Are those…dragons?”