Scorched (22 page)

Trinity’s heart squeezed as she thought of Caleb. “He isn’t…” she started, then trailed off. “I mean, he’s not like…”

“He didn’t know about your grandfather,” Connor told her gently, “which means he wasn’t in on Darius’s plans.”

Trin let out a sigh of relief. That was something at least. “I’m pretty sure the rest of the kids here—the Potentials—aren’t either. They’re so nice. They truly believe they’ve been brought here to save the world.” Her heart ached at the thought.

“We’ll figure out what to do about them later,” Connor said. “First we need to find a way to get out of here. I could walk right in, pretending to be my brother. But I can’t exactly waltz you and Emmy out the front door.”

“No, but we can take the back,” Trinity broke in excitedly. “There are back passageways that run along the entire mall. The Dracken had them all sealed off—I don’t think many people here even know they exist. But I was able to find a door in the west courtyard that leads to a parking garage underground where an elevator can take us outside.” She paused. “In fact, I was about to head down there and make my escape when you showed up.”

“You were?” Connor’s character face-palmed. “And here I thought I was your knight in shining armor coming to your aid.”

She smirked. “Please. This princess can save herself,” she declared. She paused, then added, “But I am glad you’re here all the same.”

“The door to the parking garage should be right around here somewhere,” Trinity whispered, consulting her blueprints before beckoning for Connor to follow her down the long, dark hallway that wound parallel to the mall. Emmy flapped along behind them, her eyes darting to every corner, her ears pricked for signs of trouble. The passageways hadn’t been used for some time, judging from the dust and cobwebs, and it was all Trin could do to keep from sneezing and giving their position away. The walls were so thin that at times they could hear muffled conversations going on behind them, and Trin realized it would take only the slightest noise for the Dracken to discover that they had rats in their walls.

The passageway rounded a corner and the three of them stopped to take a peek. Sure enough, as the blueprints had indicated, the corridor dead-ended in a set of tall double doors rising before them, banded with iron. What the blueprints hadn’t been able to tell them, however, was that these particular doors were guarded by two armed men. Trinity’s heart fluttered with apprehension as she exchanged a look with Connor. What were they doing here? The Dracken must have left another entrance open when they did their remodel. But why? Was there something hidden behind these doors besides freedom? Something worth guarding?

She looked down at the blueprints, searching for another way out. But this was it—the only way into the underground parking garage and their only hope for escape. They’d have to take out the guards somehow—quickly, quietly, as to not alert anyone on the other side of the walls. At least from the blueprints, she knew the store behind them was being used as unoccupied storage space, so it was unlikely anyone was in close proximity, but a gunshot would definitely be heard throughout the mall. There had to be another way. But how? Walk up to the guards and ask nicely?

You’re going to have to push them,
Connor told her silently.
I’d help you, but it took all the spark I had left just to get inside and get you that laptop. I’m completely drained.

She let out a slow breath, thinking back to the cop she’d unknowingly pushed on Christmas morning. It had practically killed her. But what choice did she have? They had to get past the guards somehow.

Emmy
can
help
you,
Connor added,
if
you
combine
your
spark.

Right. She nodded. That was one of the things they’d been working on during training—pooling their energies to become twice as strong. But still, practice was one thing. Two heavily armed real-life men was quite another. If she failed…

Connor reached out, squeezing her hand in his and giving her an encouraging look.
You
can
do
this,
he assured her.
You’re the Fire Kissed, after all.

She rolled her eyes.
Oh
God, don’t you start all that too,
she moaned. But inside she was secretly pleased. Connor believed in her. He trusted her with his life. She wasn’t about to let him down.

Okay,
she declared.
Here
goes
nothing. You ready, Emmy?

She reached out to her dragon, finding her with her mind. Emmy responded immediately, melding her spark with her mistress’s. Soon the whirling ball of their combined energy spun and sparkled at the front of them, seeming as big as a planet. Trin grinned at the dragon, her confidence rising.

Oh
yeah, baby. We gotz mad skillz. Just try to resist us!

Connor gave her a dry look.
Um, let’s not overdo it
.

Quiet, peanut gallery,
she scolded.
Just
count
us
down.

In
three…two…one…

She pushed.
Let
us
in. Let us in. LET US IN.

The all-too-familiar nausea washed over her like a tidal wave. Trin winced, closing her eyes until the initial feeling passed. Forcing in a shaky breath, she looked up at Connor in question.
Did
it
work?

Only
one
way
to
find
out.
Connor motioned for her to stay put as he rounded the corner.

“Hey, guys!” he greeted the guards casually. “How’s it going? I’ve got some business behind these doors. Do you mind letting me in?”

The guards looked at him, then at each other. “Sorry,” the first one said. “Darius left specific instructions that no one is allowed to pass through these doors.”

Connor rolled his eyes in a perfect mimic of his brother. “Darius was the one who told me to come here in the first place. So how about it?
Will
you
let
me
in
?” He said the words slowly, so Trinity could repeat them with another push.

Let
us
in. Let us in. Let us in.

The effort almost knocked her off her feet. Yet the guards’ expressions didn’t change. They didn’t step aside. Trinity bit her lower lip, glancing up at Emmy nervously. Why wasn’t it working? The strength of their combined push should have had the guards falling over one another trying to be the first to let Connor through. Instead, they seemed completely unmoved.

“Maybe we should give Darius a call,” the second guard said, “just to make sure.”

Connor snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that,” he replied. “I mean, personally I’d rather wake a sleeping bear, but maybe that’s just me.” His tone was casual and confident, but Trin caught a thread of fear winding through his voice. He obviously knew something was wrong. But what was it?

She searched the guards’ faces, praying for even a hint of doubt somewhere in the depths of their eyes. It was then that she realized how young they were. Under their imposing uniforms, they were merely teenage boys, unlike the other guards she’d seen milling about the place. The mercenaries the Dracken had hired were all ex-military—burly and beefy and scarred. These boys were skinny and fresh-faced and…

…not guards at all.

The realization hit her with the force of a ten-ton truck. These weren’t guards. They were Potentials. Whatever was behind the door was evidently too secret for mere mercenaries to be entrusted with guarding. Instead, the Dracken had manned it with those who would be resistant to mind manipulation.

Those who could read minds on their own.

Connor, we need to get out of here!
she sent.
This
isn’t going to work.

If the Potentials read Connor’s mind, they would realize everything. They’d sound the alarm. They’d stop their escape. She and Emmy would be captured. Connor would be killed.

She couldn’t let that happen.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying one more time.
Let
us
go,
let us go, LET US GO!

Icy pain stabbed at her like a thousand icicles boring into her brain. Her legs gave out from under her and she fell to the ground with a crash. But the Potentials remained unaffected, the first one making a move for his transcriber.

“You know what?” Connor broke in with a barking laugh. “Maybe I made a mistake. Maybe I’m at the wrong door.” He hastily began to back away. But before he could break free, the second Potential grabbed him by his collar, yanking him toward him, then shoving him face-first into the cement wall. Trin let out a squeak of horror as she caught the blood trickling down Connor’s jaw as he staggered, dazed from the blow to his head.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” the Potential growled. “Not until we check your story out.” He pinned Connor to the wall by his neck, then turned to his friend. “Call Darius,” he commanded. “Inform him we’ve got a situation.”

The Potential palmed his transcriber, ready to make the call. Trinity’s fear threatened to throttle her and she grappled for a solution. In seconds it would all be over—any chance they had to escape gone for good. Desperate, she reached out to her dragon one final time.

Emmy—help!

She meant help with another push, but Emmy evidently had other ideas. The dragon took flight, diving into the room, facing down the Potentials with a fierce, furious expression on her reptilian face. The two men stared up at her, their faces draining of color.

“Oh hell,” one of them cried. “It’s the dragon.”

“Let’s get out of here!”

They turned to run, fighting one another to be first out of the room. In their haste, one of them bowled straight into Trinity, knocking her over. As she stumbled, her head slammed against the cement post and she cried out in pain.

Emmy reacted instantly, spinning around, diving after the boys, effectively blocking their paths. Black smoke billowed from her nostrils. Sparks danced on her tongue. The Potentials tried to scramble away but there was no place left to go.

I
won’t let you hurt her!
the dragon roared in Trinity’s ears.
I
won’t let you take her away!

“No, Emmy!” Trinity croaked.

But it was too late. The beast drew back her head, opened her mouth, and released her flames.

The fire hit them straight on, engulfing them completely before they even had a chance to scream. They fell to the ground, convulsing, writhing—their clothing consumed, their skin blackening to a charred crisp. Black smoke filled the room and the smell of burning flesh permeated the air.

“Oh God,” Trin whispered, horrified but unable to look away. “Oh God, no.”

But Emmy wasn’t done, swooping down on the boys again and again, clawing out their eyes, ripping away swaths of blackened flesh. Trin reached out with her mind, trying desperately to soothe her dragon’s frenzy. But Emmy’s consciousness was too hot to touch, the rage gripping the creature’s mind and refusing to let go.

“Please, Emmy…” she begged, staggering to her feet. “It’s okay. You can stop. Please stop.”

Vaguely, she realized Connor had ripped off his pack, yanking out his coat. He threw it over the burning boys in an attempt to smother the flames. Sweat dripped down his face as he pulled it away, then brought it down again. Over and over. Again and again—until he finally managed to extinguish the blaze. Breathing heavily, he dropped the coat over the corpses, then leaned against the wall, his face ashen and his expression grim.

Thankfully, Emmy’s own internal fire seemed likewise extinguished. The little dragon abandoned her victims and flew back to Trinity, giving her an excited look, as if waiting for congratulations for a job well done. Her claws were caked in flesh and her mouth was dripping with blood. Tears streamed down Trinity’s cheeks and the dragon’s face clouded with confusion. She looked at her mistress, her big, blue eyes filled with hurt.

Didn’t I do good?

Trinity’s gaze fell to Emmy’s handiwork. Then she leaned over and threw up. Emmy let out a whimper of dismay, then left Trinity, flying back up toward the ceiling, looking down on her with sad, uncomprehending eyes. As if to say,
What
did
I
do
wrong?

“Yeah, sure, dragons aren’t dangerous at all,” Connor muttered under his breath as he reached down to hook the first corpse’s shoulders under his arms. He started dragging it down the hall. “Let’s go ahead and unleash them on the world. What could possibly go wrong?”

After hiding the bodies as best they could, they hurried through the double doors, closing and barricading them before rushing down the stairs. The Potentials’ deaths had been shockingly quiet considering the level of violence—their throats literally melted before any screams could escape—but neither of them wanted to take any chances that someone had overheard the struggle. The sooner they found the elevator and left the building the better.

Tears pricked at Trin’s eyes as she forced her feet to take step after step, her mind relentlessly replaying the nightmare they’d just witnessed. Her supposedly gentle dragon raging completely out of control, tearing through two human lives as if they were tissue paper. She tried to remind herself that the dragon had only been trying to protect her, that she had probably saved their lives. But the fear and horror refused to loosen their grip as she relived the scene of smoke and fire and blackened flesh over and over again. Those two boys weren’t evil monsters—they were orphans who had come here to help save the world. And yet they’d died horribly for it instead. What would the others think if they knew what her dragon had done? She imagined the revulsion on Malia’s gentle face. The fear in Aiko’s eyes. They’d think she was a monster. And maybe they wouldn’t be wrong.

And then there was Connor. She glanced at his grim face as he took the stairs two at a time. She’d promised him she could control Emmy. That their shared bond meant the dragon would do as she said. But it was as if Emmy couldn’t even hear her when she flew into her protective rage. Was Connor, even now, reconsidering his decision to allow her dragon to live?

To allow
her
to live?

She looked up at Emmy, who was still following though at a slight distance. The dragon had licked the blood and gore clean from her body and once again appeared to be her sweet old self. But when Trin had tried to reach out to her, the dragon refused to answer. She was still hurt by her mistress’s obvious disapproval, and try as Trin might to explain what had made her upset, the dragon seemed not to understand. In her mind it was simple: the Fire Kissed had been in trouble. She’d saved her life. How could that possibly be wrong?

After what seemed an eternity, the stairs ended, splitting into three hallways. After consulting the blueprints, Trinity selected the middle one, which was supposed to lead to the parking garage and elevator. They were getting close, she realized with growing excitement. They were almost free.

“We’re not out yet,” Connor said flatly, as if reading her thoughts. “Let’s keep moving.”

They crossed the parking lot as quickly as possible, feeling vulnerable and exposed in all the open space. But the place was deserted, and soon they spotted the rickety looking elevator, just as the plans had mapped out. Trin sent up a quick prayer of thanks as she reached out to press the red button embedded in the wall. She heard a rumbling from behind the doors and a moment later they groaned open, revealing the elevator’s interior.

“Come on!” she cried excitedly. “Let’s get out of here.” She waited for Connor and Emmy to enter, then stepped onto the elevator herself. But just as she was about to press the up arrow, a strange trilling sound reverberated through the parking lot.

“What was that?” she asked, looking around uneasily, her skin prickling with goose bumps at the high-pitched sound. It died out for a moment, then came again. Louder this time, bouncing off the walls and repeating back again.

“Forget it,” Connor said. “Let’s just go.”

She heartily agreed, pressing the up arrow and waiting for the doors to close. But just as they were about to slide shut, Emmy shot back out into the parking garage.

“Emmy!” Trin hissed, appalled. “Get back here!”

But, once again, the dragon seemed not to hear her. Instead, she bolted across the empty space in the opposite direction.

“Hell,” Trin swore. She dove out of the elevator. She couldn’t leave the dragon behind. “Emmy, get back here!”

“Trin! Wait!” Connor tried. She whirled around only to find the elevator doors sliding shut behind her, with Connor still inside. She pressed the red button frantically, but to no avail.

“Connor!” she cried. But the elevator was already shooting upward, sending him to the surface to where her grandpa would be waiting, leaving her behind.

She gritted her teeth.
No
big
deal
, she tried to tell herself. She’d go grab Emmy and by the time she got back, the elevator would have returned.
Wait
for
me
up
top,
she sent to Connor.
I’ll be there in a minute.
Sighing, she plodded through the parking lot, calling out to her dragon as she went.

Emmy, where are you?

Soon she found herself back where they’d started—at the bottom of the stairs and facing the three identical passageways. Her eyes caught a fluttering down the hall to the right and she shook her head as she headed after her errant dragon.

Come
on,
she scolded Emmy as she raced down the hall to catch up with her.
You
can
be
mad
at
me
later. Right now we have to get out of here.

She caught up to the dragon at the end of the hall. Emmy was pacing back and forth—her eyes wide and her ears flattened against her skull. When she saw Trinity, she gave her a grateful look and took flight, landing on her shoulder, claws digging painfully into her skin.

I
guess
this
means
I’m forgiven
, Trinity thought wryly.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, starting to get a little worried. An angry and annoyed Emmy she could deal with. Scared-half-to-death Emmy scared her as well.

Then she heard it—the strange trilling—sounding as if it were coming from behind the wall.

I
want
to
leave,
Emmy told her.
I
want
to
go
now.
Trin realized the little dragon was literally shaking with fright.

“Why? What do you feel?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her. “Is there something down here?” She thought back to the two Potentials guarding the door. Was this what the Dracken didn’t want anyone to see?

Let’s go now, Trin. Let’s get out of here.

Trinity was tempted to comply. Connor was waiting—they were this close to a perfect escape. And yet, something compelled her to stay. If the Dracken were up to something, she needed to know what it was. Otherwise, how would they ever be able to stop them from doing it?

“We need to figure out what’s making that noise,” she told the dragon firmly. “Then we can leave.” She walked over and put her ear up against the wall. The noise came again, causing Emmy to squawk in alarm. Trin knocked on the wall with her fist and realized it was hollow.

“There’s something behind here.” Her fingers danced across the wall, feeling for some kind of handhold or crack. “Give me a little light,” she commanded the dragon. Emmy blew out a puff of fire, illuminating the dark corridor. Just for a moment, but it was enough for Trin to locate a lever hidden in the shadows. She wrapped her hand around it and pushed down. There was a groaning sound as the wall sank into the earth, revealing a dark passageway beyond.

“Come on,” Trin instructed Emmy with growing excitement. “Let’s go.”

Emmy hovered at the doorway, shaking her head vehemently. Trin rolled her eyes. “You know, for a fire-breathing killer dragon, you’re kind of a scaredy-cat.”

But Emmy only plopped down onto the ground, crossing her wings over her chest. Trin gave up. “Have it your way,” she told the dragon. “But I’m going in.”

She stepped into the passageway. The noises grew louder, the trilling sound now accompanied by pitiful squeaks and moans and cries. Her heart thumped in her chest as she pressed onward, no idea what she was about to uncover. Whatever it was, the Dracken definitely didn’t want anyone to see it.

The passage wasn’t long, dead-ending at a small wooden door. Reaching down, she wrapped her hands around its handle and pulled it open. As she stepped into the darkened room, a sharp pain dug into her ankle, like a needle piercing the skin, and the door slammed shut behind her. She screamed, stumbling off balance and crashing into a nearby wall, springing a switch in the process. The room burst into light.

She looked around, her eyes widening, her mouth falling open in shock. Her knees buckled, threatening to give out from under her.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “It can’t be!”

But it could it be. And it was.

Dragons. Sick, mutated, diseased-looking baby dragons, some three times the size of Emmy, stacked in cages from floor to ceiling on every possible wall. Some sported three eyes; others, a fifth leg or a stump where their leg should be. Some had no legs at all—flapping their misshapen wings against the wire cages, looking at Trin with hollow, desperate eyes. A few had broken free of their confines and were tottering across the floor on skinny, malformed legs. The ankle biter looked up at her, opening his mouth and revealing a single gleaming, bucktooth fang.

Trin’s stomach clenched. It was all she could do to not run screaming from the room. Instead, she stood, frozen in place, trying to digest what she was seeing, trying to understand how it could be possible. Her brain told her it was too horrible to be real, that her eyes must be playing tricks. But when she closed them and opened them again, the dragons remained. Somehow, some way, they were really here.

Emmy?
she managed to send in a shaky voice.
You
need
to
see
this.

But before the dragon could reply, Connor’s voice slammed into her consciousness. Urgent and afraid.

Someone’s coming down the elevator,
he rasped.
Wherever
you
are, get out of there. Fast!