Core (22 page)

“I don’t think you realize how hard it is to get in.”

She frowned as they got into the cab, and Cale directed the driver.

“So they didn’t accept him.”

“Oh, he got in.
When he was twelve years old. One of the youngest blues in history to attend.” Cale smiled fondly at the memory, though for Cameron and Karma, it wasn’t very funny. “He got expelled. Popped his headmaster in the face for calling reds ‘hardly worthy of dissection.’”

Ava laughed, covering her mouth in an attempt to hold it in. “Cameron got in a fight?”

“Yep,” Cale said, still grinning. “I was so proud.”

“But Karma….”

“She’s a prodigy, you know. She studied and taught at the academy for years before she married Mac. Cameron joining the monastery is even worse than him getting kicked out of the academy. It’s practically treason.”

“It can’t be that serious.”

Cale shrugged. “All I know is that the monks think differently than the scholars. They act differently. I’ve never met one, but my m-,” he cleared his throat. “Karma hates them.”

Ava thought about that as she sat beside Cale in the cab. Cale gave the driver turn by turn directions, using an inner compass to lead him to the center of the red dragon world.

“So, your d–I mean, Mac, must have been really proud of Cameron, yeah?”

Cale shrugged. It was still hard for him to talk about his father. “I don’t think Cameron or Karma ever told him why he came back home. His father probably never asked.”

Ava frowned. “How could he be so disconnected from his own son?”

Cale scowled at her, the wounds Mac had left still raw inside him. “Your father couldn’t wait to smack you around. At least Mac respected him enough not to beat him up.”

Ava winced at Cale’s comment. It had been a while since she let Jim cross her mind. She looked out the window, trying not to let Cale’s words stick to her. That was how she had kept her sanity for all of those years. It was how she had survived. 
You don’t feel it, Ava. It doesn’t hurt.

“Ava, I shouldn’t have said that,” Cale said softly.
 

His heart ached inside him. He knew he’d hurt her feelings, but she’d never admit it. She was tough. She’d tell herself it didn’t matter.

“They’re just words Cale. You didn’t mean it.”

“No excuses. I shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry.”

Ava felt tired suddenly. And angry at herself, for her own reasons. “Parents do dumb things. But you love your dad, Cale. Just because he’s being blind doesn’t mean you have to close up and not feel anything. That’s what I would do. You’re not like me.”

The rain pelted the windows
as Cale stared. He knew Ava was right. He knew he loved his father. But there was a big hole in his heart that reminded him of what his father had done, all because he hadn’t agreed with Cale’s choice, all because he wanted better for him. Somehow, Mac’s love had turned to banishment. Cale knew that his father never, not in his or any lifetime, thought that Cale would choose Ava over his nest.

“I don’t know what to do,” Cale said.

“Feel sad. Feel angry, like you just did. Feel hurt.” She flicked his ear playfully, trying to ease the tension. “It only makes you braver. Cowards fight the hurt away.”

He stared at her. Her fierce
eyes, the way her lips curved, the way she held her chin up. “You’re not a coward, Ava.”

She gave him a crooked smile. “I was.
For a really long time. I didn’t know how to feel pain until I met you. And even still, I fight it off all the time.”

“I make you feel pain?” Cale frowned. The thought made him sick.

“Mostly you teach me how to be happy. How to care about people.”

Cale stretched, his smile spreading slowly across his face. “Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.”

It was getting dark out as they left the cab. They took the rest of the way on foot, past an old, decrepit barn. Cale led the way through bushes and weeds until they made one last trek up a muddy hill. Cale batted aside a tree branch and revealed rolling Irish mountains, nearly glistening in the moonlight.

“Not bad,” Ava said, drawing in the clean, cool air.

After they clawed their way up another hill, Ava could see it. Thatched roofs nestled in a valley between two enormous hills. The smell of sea salt and the sound of waves tumbling against rock told Ava that the ocean was just behind the next hill. Sheep and cows littered the open stretches of grass. There wasn’t a barn in sight. 
Of course, there’s no need to bring in the flock with a village of dragons keeping watch over them.

Cale made it to the outskirts of the village before he stopped in his tracks. He put his hand up, and Ava halted beside him. He had that look on his face, like his stomach hurt. Ava took her dragonblade out of her pocket.

“Something very strange is coming from the east,” he said, nodding his chin to the left.

“Dangerous?” Ava asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Then let’s go in.”

Cale shook his head. “We can’t go past the fence without permission.”

Ava examined the sad wooden fence. It looked like it was decades old, some of its beams rotting away.
Not very impressive.

Cale rang the bell that hung off
one of the lopsided posts, and it was a boy who answered the call. He hopped on top of the fence, balancing on the rails with his bare feet like an acrobat. He was shirtless, maybe ten years old, with hair so fair it was almost white. Cale felt like he was looking at a younger Rory. He almost wanted to punch him in the arm and try to steal back his last strip of bacon. Cale had to blink to shake the memory.

“Who goes there?” The boy asked in red tongue. If Cale didn’t know any better, it would seem as though he was playing fort.

“This is Ava Johnson,” Cale said in English, pointing to his rider.

Ava lifted an eyebrow at Cale.
 
Why’d he introduce me first?

The boy tilted his head as he looked Ava over. “And what does Ava Johnson want here?” His Irish accent was so thick, it sounded like another language.

“To meet with the council.”

“The council is busy,” the boy said. “Leave.”

“But we’re tired. We need a place to sleep.”

“We?”
The boy squinted at Cale. “I’ve heard the female’s name and not yours.”

Cale blinked. He wanted to lie. He
had actually planned to. He intended to say that he was Rory, come to help his younger brother clear his name. But his honesty could not be stifled.

“I don’t want to tell you,” he confessed.

The boy’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ve never heard that as an answer before, not in all my years on this fence.” The boy looked Cale up and down, tapping his finger against his chin. “And why do you not want to tell me?”

“Because you might not react how I’d like you to. I’ve come here to see if the council will help me clear my name.”

“What name?” he snapped.

“Cale.
Of Anders Nest.” It was a formal red dragon introduction.

“Ah,” the boy said, rocking back on his heels. The fence groaned like it would give way. Ava fought the instinct to reach out and grab him so he wouldn’t fall, but the boy didn’t seem worried about losing his balance.
 
I wonder how long that fence has been here, 
Ava thought.

“You are right to try and hide a name like that.” The boy sat on the fence with a thump. “Why should I take you to the council?”

“Because I need help.”

“Where is your father?
Your mother?”

“They disowned me.”

“As they should. All of your race will disown you. The grey court is calling for you. Have you not seen the notice of exile?”

Cale clenched his jaw. “I’ve seen it.”

“Turn yourself in to the greys, then.”

“But I’m innocent.”

“Let them judge it so. Off with you. We’ll have no part in harboring a fugitive.”

And the boy made like he was going to leave.

But Ava walked up to the fence. “Listen, kid, we’ve come a long, long way to talk to you people. And if you don’t help this dragon, you’re going to regret it. Because he’s awesome.” She paused, almost overwhelmed by the truth of what she was saying. “And someday, you’re going to wish you had a little more awesome on your side. But he won’t be here, because you were being a snide little bastard and wouldn’t let him in.”

The boy stood up on the fence again, his hands on crossed over his thin chest. “Watch your mouth, child,” he said.

Ava moved even closer to the fence, but Cale reached out and stopped her.

“Don’t touch it. It’s not allowed.”

Ava bit her lip in, her green and red eyes sparkling. “Since when do we ever wait for permission?” She reached out and touched the tip of her finger to the fence.

The little boy was impressively fast. He pounced on Ava, pressing a dragonblade to her throat before she could even gasp. Two more gatekeepers sprang from the low grass that clumped around the fence posts. They bound Ava and Cale’s hands and dragged them over the fence and into the village.

Her instinct was to fight, to get away, but she followed Cale’s lead. He walked complicity, his hands flaccid beneath the ropes that tied them together. Ava stumbled along beside him, a momentary flash of panic seizing her.

What if Cale’s giving up? What if losing his family
really is too much?

She shook her head. She knew Cale. She knew what they’d come for.
Vindication. 
And we’ll find it here, in Great Nest.

Ava was amazed at how clever it all was. The simple, childish appearance of the gatekeeper drew less attention than a weapon-bearing, strapping man would. Torches burned in all of the windows instead of electric light bulbs. White clothing hung out on the lines, flapping in the cool night breeze that the ocean brought.

After a minute or so, the village seemed so peaceful, it was hard for Ava to worry any longer. The prison that they were placed in might as well have been in an old period movie. Both Cale and Ava were bent forward, their arms and necks clamped in wooden contraptions.

“The stocks,” she said to Cale,
amazed. 
It’s like we teleported to a different century. 
“I’m actually in the stocks.”

“We’re just lucky it’s not a guillotine,” Cale said. He grunted, already uncomfortable.

“How old are these things?”

Cale groaned and hung his head. “It
doesn’t help that I still feel…something.”

“Is it close? Whatever
it is?”

Cale tried
not to look at Ava. He didn’t want to scare her, or himself.

After a half hour or so of Cale squirming and
Ava shushing him, a woman appeared, carrying a torch. She was wearing light, linen material in a plain dress that went down to her ankles. Her dark brown skin stood out against the clothing brilliantly. Her hair was shaved shorter than most men’s–nearly bald, and her cheek bones stood high and sharp. She was frighteningly beautiful. Her light brown eyes glistened as she leaned over and examined Cale.

“Cale of Anders Nest?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

“You have come to Great Nest for us to help you clear your name?”

“I have.”

“We do not dabble in grey business,” she said. “Though I know your father well enough, he has not contacted me on your behalf. I have heard that he has disowned you.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The woman kneeled in front of Cale. “Your own father thinks you a criminal. And you want me to think differently?”

“He didn’t send me away because of the exile. Not even because the no-ir called me by name.”

“Oh?” Her eyelashes fluttered at the mention of the black dragons.

“He didn’t want me to pact with my rider.”

The woman stood and walked over to Ava. Each step she took drew in the eye, like she was gliding, floating on clouds. She knelt next to Ava and lifted her chin so that she could see into her eyes.

“You are his rider?”

“I will be.”

“Then you have caused your dragon great sorrow,” the woman said.

Ava scoffed, refusing to let the truth affect her. “I know that. What I don’t know is who you are and why I should care what you think.”

“Ava,” Cale started to scold. The woman could help them, maybe even grant them access to the council.

She
held up her hand to them. “Emaline,” she said. “Chief of Great Nest. And you think you are worthy to be this dragon’s rider?”

Ava struggled against her restraints. It was becoming more uncomfortable by the minute.
“Of course I’m not worthy. I think he’s crazy to have picked me. I’m reckless, and stiff, and kind of mean sometimes.”

“She’s brave and smart and kind,” Cale argued, trying to convince the chief otherwise. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”