Smoked (22 page)

“What is it?”

“If we could get our hands on some of the Nether dust.”

“Nether dust? What's that?”

“It's something the Council was working on,” Connor broke in. “To help control the hybrids. They crush up Nether gems into microscopic particles and put them through a vaporizer.”

“Right,” Mara agreed. “It produces a highly concentrated dose that can put even the largest of dragons into a Nether state. If we could use it and bring them all to the Nether at one time, we may be able to force them to listen, without the dangers of doing so in real life.”

“But if it's something from your future—”

“It was stolen,” Connor interrupted, his voice hoarse. “The Dracken stole it from the Council.” He turned to Mara. “Did they bring it here? Do you know where it is now?”

Mara shrugged. “I assume it's still at the mall where we once had our headquarters. Safe and sound, deep in my lab. I don't know if we'll be able to reach it—the mall is in pretty bad shape these days—after the fire and all. But if we could, it could give us a chance.”

“If we're going to do this,” Connor said, “we need all the chances we can get.”

“Where is he? He should be back by now!”

Scarlet scanned the skies for what felt like the thousandth time, a shiver escaping her body. The temperature had dropped, and the chill was beginning to creep into her bones. Still, she refused to give up, pacing the area and watching the sky, waiting for Zavier to return.

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her. She turned to find Caleb standing there, a distraught look on his face. A shiver ran down her back.

“What is it?” she managed to ask, though she was already pretty sure she didn't want to know the answer.
Please
don't let Zavier be dead.

Wordlessly, he held out his cell. She took it with trembling hands, holding it for a moment before daring to look down at the screen. It was a news report. About dragons.

Not
dragon
singular.
Dragons
.

And they were tearing up the state.

“How in the hell…?” she whispered, sinking to her knees as the report played on, showing building after building aflame. The president had declared martial law, the reporter was saying. The military had been dispatched. People were on the streets. Looting had begun.

Scarlet swallowed hard as Emmy's long-ago words raged back to her consciousness.

If
they
live, they will burn down the world.

She looked up at Caleb. “I don't understand. How…?”

He gave her a grim look. “There must have been more dragons back at the government lab. Zavier must have gone and freed them, recruited them for his revenge.”

She nodded, handing the phone back to him with trembling fingers, unable to look down again and watch the devastation. “I should have made him stay here,” she said, her voice betraying her barely concealed hysteria. “But he was so restless. So angry. Honestly, I was getting a little scared. So I told him he should go hunting, you know? I thought maybe that would calm him down until I could figure out our next move.” She shook her head. “What an idiot I am.”

“No.” Caleb dropped to his knees before her, taking her hands in his. “You're not,” he insisted. “If you had let him stay, he might have hurt you. Not on purpose—I know he loves you. But he's angry and hurt—and he might have lashed out. You did the right thing.”

“The right thing,” she repeated bitterly. “I'm sick to death of people and their so-called right things. It's how we justify everything we do. And yet, if we're all really trying to do the right thing, how come everything keeps going so wrong?”

Caleb was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke. “Maybe because it was meant to be this way.”

“What?” She stared at him, confused.

He sighed. “I know you came late into this whole thing, but it's been like this since the beginning. Every move we've made, everything we've tried to do, it's like it makes no difference. We still keep charging forward—to the brink of disaster.” He dropped her hands, staring down at his phone. “Sometimes I don't know why we even bother to keep trying. No matter what we do, the Scorch keeps looming. And I don't know anymore if there's any way to truly stop it.”

She scrunched up her face, trying to interpret his words. “What are you talking about, Caleb?” she asked. “What's the Scorch?”

“I have to tell you something,” he said suddenly. “Something I should have told you a long time ago. I warn you, it's going to sound crazy—like really crazy—but I promise you, it's true. And maybe it'll help you see: none of this is your fault. None of this is any of our faults. Or maybe it's all of our faults, I don't know.”

“Oh-kay…”

And so he told her. A story too insane to be true yet too insane to be made up. She listened without interrupting, and when he had finished, he gave her an apologetic look.

“I'm sorry, Scarlet. You should have never been dragged into any of this. This should have never been your fight.”

She sucked in a breath, her mind racing, trying to sort it all through. “Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?”

“Would you have believed me if I had?”

Of course she wouldn't have. She could barely believe him now.

“But you knew this whole time what could happen,” she insisted. “You knew, just like Emmy did, what these dragons were supposed to grow up and do? And yet you decided to help me protect them anyway?”

“I thought they deserved a chance. Just as Trinity gave Emmy.”

“Right. Trinity.” Scarlet made a face. “I guess that explains why everyone's always kissing her ass too. She's like the Luke Skywalker chosen one in this whole deal, right?”

He nodded grimly. “The girl who would save our world.”

“And here I thought you were just in love with her.”

Caleb sighed. “I'm not going to lie—at one time, I thought I was. Back home, she's like a celebrity. I worshipped the ground she walked on before I ever even met her in real life.” He shrugged sheepishly. “It took me a while to recognize who she really was. Not some goddess—just a girl. I mean, don't get me wrong. She's pretty awesome. But she makes mistakes. She gets mad. She follows her heart instead of her head—”

“It sounds like you still care about her.”

“I do. And I always will,” he admitted. “But she and I were never meant to be. Not in the way you're thinking anyway. We tried, sure, but we never made each other happy.” He paused, then added, “Not like I've been happy with you.”

She looked up, her breath caught in her throat. “Have I…really made you happy?”

He met her eyes with his own piercing blue ones. “Trust me, Buttercup,” he said with a crooked smile. “If this really is the end of the world? I wouldn't want to spend it with anyone but you.”

And then he kissed her. And she knew suddenly from the kiss that he meant every word he'd said. And that if she wanted him, he would be hers, totally hers, forever.

“I'm sorry,” he said, his lips against her mouth, causing delicious shivers to run down her spine. “I've put you through so much. I don't deserve another chance. But I promise you, Scarlet, I promise—”

His words were cut off by a loud cry, followed by a shadow crossing over from above. They broke apart, and for a moment, as her eyes flew to the sky, Scarlet thought it was Zavier, come home at last.

But it was Emmy crossing the horizon, coming in for a landing. With Trinity riding on her back. Scarlet and Caleb rose to their feet as they dropped down to the ground, Caleb putting a secure arm around Scarlet's waist, leaving no doubt as to their relationship status.

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.”

“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 has 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.”