Smoked (7 page)

Yeah, but I didn't mean… Emmy, why on earth would you want me to kill your children?

Because
they
will
not
die
on
their
own.

She said it so casually, so matter-of-fact. Scarlet suddenly felt as if she might throw up.
I
wasn't asking why you needed
me
to
do
it
, she corrected, hardly able to believe she had to clarify this point,
but
why
would
you
want
your
own
children
dead?

For a moment, the dragon didn't answer, choosing instead to stare silently out over the horizon. Finally, Emmy turned and leveled her gaze on Scarlet. Her usually warm blue eyes were now icy cold.

Because
if
they
live, they will burn down the world.

Scarlet swallowed hard, frightened at the conviction she saw written on Emmy's face. The revulsion as she gazed on her own two children. She had warned Trinity and Connor that Emmy wasn't the same dragon she once was. But this…this was too much. Was she crazy? Delusional? Paranoid? Or did she know something that Scarlet didn't? She wondered, again, if Trinity would know. But then, she'd promised Emmy she wouldn't tell Trinity.

Her gut wrenched.
Emmy…

Zoe hopped off her shoulder, flapping her way to the ground and cautiously approaching her mother, a heartbreakingly hopeful look on her tiny face. She stared up at the giant dragon, batting her eyes and giving her what looked a lot like a cautious smile.

Instead of smiling back, Emmy jerked away, looking horrified and disgusted. Then she turned her head, refusing to look down at her daughter. Scarlet watched, her heart breaking as Zoe's face crumbled and she retreated back to the safety of her shoulder. She could hear the dragon making little whimpers in her ear, and it made her want to cry. She reached up, stroking her gently.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered. “Trust me, I know what it feels like. It's not you, okay? It's her.”

Her mind flashed to countless nights growing up, when her brother, Mac, would whisper the same kinds of things in her own ears. She knew all too well the pain of being rejected by one's mother. And it killed her to see Zoe going through it now.

She turned back to Emmy, fury building up inside of her like an active volcano.
What
the
hell
is
wrong
with
you?
she demanded, all her earlier pity for the dragon evaporating in an instant.
These
are
your
children, Emmy. Not some evil monsters. I mean, just look at them! They're sweet and helpless, and they deserve a chance to live. Just like Trinity gave you when you were their size. Should she have just killed you when she had the chance as well?

Yes
, Emmy replied in a flat voice.
If
she
had, these monsters would have never been born.

Scarlet shook her head, giving up. There was obviously no use trying to argue with the dragon; she had made up her mind. Just more proof that she had changed in her time in captivity, whether the others wanted to believe it or not. The old Emmy would have embraced her children. She would have done anything to save them. The new Emmy—the one who had been abused and broken in the government cage—well, with her, all bets were off.

And in a way, Scarlet did grudgingly understand. Emmy had been impregnated against her will—maybe even without her knowledge. And these babies were the result of that crime. It was understandable that she would have a hard time accepting them as her own, seeing as they represented everything she was trying to forget.

But these babies weren't to blame for the government's actions. And they shouldn't be forced to give up their lives to pay for someone else's crimes.

She drew in a breath.
Emmy, why don't you go home?
she told the dragon.
You
don't need to be here to see this.

The dragon looked at her hesitantly.
And
you'll take care of them?
she asked.
And
then
come
back
home? Will you be able to find your way?

Yes. I have my phone and it has GPS. I'll be fine. Don't worry.

At first, Emmy looked as if she might argue. But then, to Scarlet's relief, she nodded her head.
Okay
, she said.
I'll let you get started. But remember your promise. You can use the blood to heal Caleb, but you are not to speak of this to anyone. No one can know these creatures ever existed in the first place.

“Sure, no problem,” Scarlet agreed quickly, wanting to get the dragon out of there before Emmy started second-guessing herself and wanted to stay. “I won't say a word. Now go on. Before Trinity realizes you're gone and gets worried.”

Emmy flinched at the mention of her former Fire Kissed, which Scarlet had been hoping for. She wondered again why it was so important to the dragon for Trinity not to know about her offspring. What would Trinity do if she found out they existed? Would she want to save them like she'd saved Emmy? Or would she believe, as the dragon did, that they had some crazy apocalyptic destiny?

Emmy bowed her head.
Thank
you
, she said.
You
are
a
good
friend, Scarlet. I will not forget this.

Nor
will
I, Emmy
, Scarlet replied, though her meaning was a little different.
Now
go. I'll see you back at the hangar.

And with that, Emmy raised her head and pushed off on her back feet, launching herself into the sky. Scarlet watched her go, a sick feeling worming through her stomach.

“Someday you'll thank me for this,” she muttered under her breath. “And if not, well, it'll be your loss.”

She turned to the two baby dragons who'd hopped off her shoulders and flown to the edge of the cliff, watching their mother's silhouette fade into the distance. Zoe sank to the ground first, letting out a small, mournful cry. Zavier landed next to her, putting a wing around her little body in comfort, making grunting noises in her ear.

Scarlet watched the two of them, trying to swallow the huge lump that had formed in her throat. It was like she and her brother all over again. Two lost souls against the bitter world.

Except this time she was here too.

She cleared her throat. “Are you guys hungry?” she asked with forced brightness. “You must be, right? Do you want to come with me so we can find some food?”

The two dragons turned to look up at her inquisitively. Scarlet patted her shoulders, inviting them back up. They flew up to her, then settled down, croaking softly under their breath. She reached up with both hands to stroke them.

“Don't worry about her,” she said. “She'll come around. In the meantime, I'll be your mother. I'll keep you safe. No matter what I have to do.”

It was done.

Emmy's heart ached as she dropped from the clouds and the airfield came into view. Her mind spun with visions of the little baby dragons, chirping sadly, and it was hard not to think of when she'd been one of those dragons herself, left on the side of the cliff to die, by her own mother. At the time, Emmy hadn't understood how her mother could just fly away like that, without even a last look back. Now she understood. That last look would have broken her.

As it had almost broken Emmy.

But her mother had done what had to be done. As Emmy now had herself. Thank goodness Scarlet had been willing to do the job—Emmy had tried three times to smother the baby dragons and each time had stopped at the last minute after seeing the looks in their eyes.

Because
you're weak
, she scolded herself.
A
coward.

But now the job would be done. The monsters would be destroyed, and the world would be safe. And her beloved Fire Kissed would never need to know.

She thought back to Trinity, how she'd risked her life to save Emmy's pathetic hide. At the time, Emmy couldn't even bear to look her in the eye, so ashamed she was of what she'd let them do to her. She imagined the disappointment she'd see in the eyes of her Fire Kissed when she learned that Emmy had—after all her promises—let her down after all.

And Emmy would be so ashamed.

But now things would be all right. The threat was gone. Trinity would never need to know. The world would be safe, and Emmy could start working to rebuild her bond with her Fire Kissed. To make sure Trinity had that happily ever after she deserved.

Emmy dropped down, making her final decent to the airfield. Yes. This was how it had to be. It was the only way to make things right—the one way to keep the world safe.

So why did it make her so incredibly sad?

“Okay, everyone. The meeting will come to order.”

Trinity rapped the gavel against the small podium she'd found in one of the office's storage closets. The sound echoed through the terminal, causing everyone to turn in her direction, their chatter fading into silence as they looked up at her expectantly.

Her gaze roved over the group; sometimes it was still hard to believe there were so many of them now. The so-called Potentials—orphan teens from around the world who had once been under the thumb of Darius and Mara—now working on their side. Luke, Nate, and Natasha, the gamer geeks from New Mexico who ran the FreeEmmy.com website and took care of all their high-tech needs. Her father, who she'd once thought dead, and Connor, who she'd once thought an enemy. And now Scarlet, though Trinity didn't see her in the crowd at the moment. Probably hovering over Caleb's bedside, as per usual.

What had once been a couple of kids and a dragon on the run had now turned into a real, full-on operation.
Which
is
a
good
thing
, she reminded herself.
We
need
all
the
help
we
can
get.

Feeling the stares on her, Trin cleared her throat. “So obviously I wanted to start off by thanking each and every one of you for your help in rescuing Emmy and getting her adjusted in her new home,” she said. “We couldn't have done it without you. It wasn't easy, and you should all feel very proud of yourselves.”

The group erupted into excited chatter and a spattering of applause and high fives. Trinity let it go for a moment, then banged the gavel again.

“But as you know, our problems are far from over,” she reminded them sternly. “In fact, in some ways, we're back to where we started. The government is presumably still looking for Emmy. Much of the world wants her dead. We've got a good setup here now, to be sure. But we can't expect to stay here undiscovered forever.”

“And then there's the issue of feeding her,” Trin's father piped in. “The more she grows, the more she's going to need to eat. We have a stockpile for her that we built up over the last two months. But once that's gone, it's going to be difficult to replenish our supply to keep up with her appetite.”

“What we need is, like, a ranch!” cried one of the younger Potentials. “We could grow cows and other livestock for her to eat. Then we wouldn't have to be hunting all the time and gathering roadkill.”

A few of the others voiced approval at this idea, but Trinity's father only shook his head. “We don't have the funds to purchase a ranch,” he reminded them. “And it's not like anyone here would be approved for a bank loan.”

“What about…like, an abandoned tropical island?” asked another of the Potentials. “There wouldn't be any people there, so Emmy could fly around to her heart's content, hunting wild boar and whatever else might be native.”

Trinity sighed. “Even assuming such an island exists outside of
Jurassic
Park
movies and
Lost
reruns, we'd have no way to get there. Unless someone here has a dragon-sized yacht they haven't bothered to mention?”

She watched as their eager faces fell. Sometimes it was hard to remember how young they all were. How young
she
still was herself. In a normal world, they'd be dealing with homework and homecoming, parents, teachers, and friends. They shouldn't have to have the world's weight on their shoulders like this.

“Look,” she said. “We can stay here as long as possible, try to get Emmy's strength up at least, and, of course, her spirits. In the meantime, I want some of you to be scouting out possible future home bases. Preferably places with lots of game. When we need to make another move, whether it's because we've run out of food or we've been spotted by the government, I want to be ready.”

She pulled out her list of assignments, preparing to dole them out. But a voice broke out from the crowd before she could speak again.

“So, what, you just want us to keep running forever then? Is that your big master plan?”

Trinity frowned as she caught sight of Rashida, now standing in the back of the room, arms crossed over her chest. “Excuse me?” she asked, irritation washing over her. Seriously, she did not need this, today of all days.

She knew Connor liked Rashida. He thought she was smart and resourceful. And he was constantly reminding Trin that if it weren't for Rashida and her team of Potentials, they never would have gotten Emmy back. Still, sometimes it was hard to get over the fact that the girl had once tried to kill her, not to mention turned Caleb and Scarlet over to the enemy. If it wasn't for Rashida, Emmy never would have been caught by the Dracken. And Caleb would be with them now in mind instead of just body. Sure, the girl had switched sides, and Trin was pretty sure she was Team Dragon all the way. But the constant asserting of her opinion in every situation was wearing on her nerves.

“We want to know your long-term plan here,” Rashida called out. “I mean, you've tried hiding out before. Didn't exactly go all that well if I remember right.”

Trinity felt a blush rise to her cheeks. “No. It didn't. But there were some extenuating circumstances if you remember.” After all, who could have predicted Emmy sneaking away to heal Scarlet and Scarlet putting it on the Internet?

Rashida gave her a smug look. “Face it, Trinity Foxx. There's always the threat of an extenuating circumstance
.
Especially now. After all, Emmy's not exactly the world's best-kept secret at this point. We've all seen the FreeEmmy.com website. Like it or not, she's now an Internet sensation. Everyone's talking about her.”

“That'll die down,” Trinity protested, furious at having to defend herself like this. “Like it did before. People are only riled up because of the recent sightings. It'll calm down again.”

“Which is exactly what the government wants,” Rashida argued, like a pit bull who didn't want to give up her bone. “I mean, right now they're probably just sitting back and waiting until it gets quiet again, so they can swoop in and take Emmy away without worrying about any public outcry.”

Trinity watched in dismay as Team Dragon all nodded their heads in assent. She was losing them, she realized. Stupid Rashida. Her mind scrambled for something reassuring to say. Which wasn't easy, considering she wasn't entirely sure they were wrong. But still! What alternatives did they have?

“Come on, people,” Connor broke in to her relief. “What do you want Trin to do? Sign Emmy up to play Carnegie Hall? You do remember the last time she showed her face in public, don't you? At the Vista football stadium?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Face it. The world is not ready for dragons.”

“Maybe not real-life dragons,” Luke said slowly. “But what about online?”

Trinity shot him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”

The Dracken kid rose from his seat and turned to face the crowd. “Look, it's clear from our FreeEmmy.com website numbers that our girl has a large fan base. Sure, some people think she's some kind of threat, but a lot more think she's pretty cool. Why not exploit that? Work to build her brand? Make her the most famous endangered species in the world?” His eyes glowed with excitement. “We could take photos, make music videos, live stream Q and As…”

Trinity stared at him, incredulous. “You want my dragon to have her own YouTube channel?”

Luke shrugged. “YouTube would be just the beginning. I'm talking about a full-on social media campaign here—Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook.” He grinned. “Hell, we can even launch a Kickstarter to help pay for her food.”

“But—”

“Trust me,” his partner-in-website-crime, Natasha, broke in, also rising from her seat. “We've been online from the start. We've seen people's reactions. They
want
to love her. I mean, of course they do. People think dragons are awesome—even the made-up kind. And now, the idea that's there's a real-life one out there, just like they always fantasied about when they were kids? It's going to blow their freaking minds.”

Trinity somehow found her voice. “But wouldn't we get caught?” she asked. “I mean all the stuff we upload, couldn't it be traced back to where we're hiding out?”

“Please,” Natasha's brother, Nate, interjected. “Do not even think of insulting me like that. I can jump through a thousand international proxies to hide our web trail. For all anyone will be able to tell, we're broadcasting live from Singapore.” He beamed. “It'll be like hiding in plain sight.”

Now everyone was talking at once, all seeming completely excited about the idea. Even Trinity had to admit, it was growing on her. “But then what?” she asked. “I mean, that all sounds good and all, but what's our endgame here?”

“Easy,” Luke pronounced. “Once we've gotten everyone to fall in love with Emmy, there's no way the government can just swoop in and take her away. Her profile will be too high—they'd take too much heat. And once everyone sees how sweet and gentle she is and all the things she can do to help us as a species, they'll want to protect her. I'm not saying we should be aiming for a presidential pardon or anything. But maybe we could get legislation passed to put her on the endangered species list somehow? So no one can harm her?”

“And she'll finally get to fly free!” Rashida pronounced. “No more hiding.”

Connor frowned. “Bengal tigers are protected. That doesn't mean they get to hang out in villages as house cats. I'm sorry, but I can't imagine a world where people are cool with a fire-breathing dragon roaming around their master-planned community.”

“Okay, fine. Maybe flying free is stretching it,” Luke amended. “But maybe they'd allow her to live on some game preserve? The kind where Hunters are forbidden? Or maybe some billionaire would actually give us that island or ranch we're looking for.”

“Look, you said it yourself,” Natasha added. “We're basically on borrowed time here. We can't just waste it. Otherwise we'll be no better than when we started out.”

“It may not work,” Rashida added. “But I think Emmy deserves for us to try.”

Everyone broke out into conversations among themselves. Trinity banged the gavel. It took a while this time for everyone to quiet. She looked out over the crowd at the faces that, for the first time, shone with a small light of hope. She let out a resigned sigh.

“Okay,” she said. “If you're all in agreement, let's try to put this plan into motion. I'm not convinced it's going to work. But, like you said, at least we'll be doing something.”

She just hoped Emmy would be up for this particular
something
…