Scorched (26 page)

But Trin found she couldn’t move.

“Who do you think you are?” Rashida demanded, pushing her way through the frightened crowd. “We welcomed you into our family. We tried to be your friend. And in return you killed our brothers.” Her eyes flashed fire. “And then you invited our enemies into the one place that was supposed to be safe.”

She waved a hand to the other side of the room where a small, bloodied figure lay prostate on the ground. Trinity gasped as she realized it was Malia. Sweet, gamer girl Malia.

“They shot her,” Rashida informed her coldly. “She was trying to run, scared for her life, and your soldiers shot her in the back.”

Oh God.

“Before you came, we were safe. We were cared for. We were protected. Now our world has been torn apart. Our sisters and brothers are dead. You’re the one who deserves to be shot,” she declared. “And a lot worse than that too.”

The room erupted in murmurs of assent, the crowd rising to their feet, their fear now masked with burning hate. Connor grabbed Trinity by the arm.

We
have
to
get
out
of
here,
he told her.
Now!

Trinity forced a nod, still staring at Malia’s limp frame, tears streaming down her cheeks. This was not how it was supposed to go! She swallowed back the lump in her throat and met Rashida’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“Get her!” Rashida commanded the Potentials. “Destroy her!”

The crowd surged, unarmed but frightening in their sheer numbers and rage. Trinity and Connor tried to dash for the hidden door, but the mob blocked their path. Two girls grabbed Trin by her hair, yanking her backward, catching her off balance. As she tumbled to the ground, the mob surrounded her, kicking her and punching her as hard as they could.

Her head swam. Her vision blurred. She fought back best she could, slamming her foot down on one Potential’s ankle while elbowing another in the ribs. At one point, she managed to roll herself over and leap back to her feet, lashing out at any one who came near. But it was only a temporary escape and soon her arms were grabbed and yanked behind her, locking her into submission. A warmth dripped down her face and a copper taste filled her mouth.

Across the room, Connor wasn’t doing much better. They’d pinned him to the ground, a foot securely placed on his throat, preventing any movement. He screamed in rage and fought ferociously, but there were just too many of them to have an effect.

In fact, there was only one thing that could possibly stop them now, she realized.

Emmy!
To
me!

It was the last thing she wanted to do. They were innocent kids—lied to, deceived, given false hope, with no comprehension of who their leaders really were. But what choice did she have? They would kill her if she didn’t do something soon, leaving the entire world in jeopardy.

Sacrifice
one
to
save
the
world.
It wasn’t at all how she’d imagined it’d go.

“Get out of my way,” she dimly heard a voice at the back of the crowd. She looked up, through blurry eyes, to see Rashida striding toward her. “She’s mine.”

The crowd parted, much as they had that first day at the mall, allowing Rashida through. But this time it wasn’t a friendly hug or a welcome home that the Potential hoped to deliver. Rather a kiss of death. Trin watched as the Indian girl grew closer, her face and hands smeared with blood. Malia’s blood, she realized, her stomach swimming with nausea. And soon hers as well.

Hurry, Emmy.

Rashida stepped up to her, staring at her with eyes filled with venom. “Just tell me one thing,” she hissed, her voice cracking around the edges. “Why?”

“Because,” Trinity croaked, “the world still deserves a chance.”

Rashida slammed her fist into her face, busting Trin’s nose with the impact. Blood splashed onto the Potential’s already bloodied white shirt but she paid it no mind. “That’s for Malia,” she spit out. “And this is for…”

The Potential trailed off, freezing as a shadow crossed over her, hovering just above her head. Slowly, she looked up, finding herself face to face with a small, green, very angry-looking dragon.

“Oh hell,” she muttered.

Trinity squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see, not wanting to witness what she knew had to come. She knew it was necessary. But she also knew it was awful and terrible and cruel. And if she opened her eyes now, she’d never be able to close them again without seeing fire and death beneath her lids.

And so, she waited, like a coward, eyes shutting out a reality she couldn’t bear to face. The sounds of shouting and scrambling erupted all around her, her hands falling free as her captors fled.

Yet strangely, she heard no fire. Felt no heat. Smelled no smoke.

Open
your
eyes, Trinity.

And so, heart in her throat, she did. Only to find, to her utter astonishment, the room completely empty, save for Connor and Emmy looking at her impatiently.

“What happened?” she whispered, her voice hoarse and confused.

Connor shrugged. “Guess they had a change of heart.”

“But…Rashida!” Her eyes darted around the room, searching for some kind of blackened lump where her former friend had once stood.

“It seems Emmy had a change of heart as well,” Connor informed her in a solemn voice. He looked up at the dragon with something akin to respect. “She withheld her fire. Just scared them a little instead. Seemed to do the trick.”

Trinity couldn’t believe it. Her mind flashed back to the last time. When just a simple knock to her head had thrown the dragon into an uncontrollable rage. This time she’d clearly been at death’s door with a real threat standing in front of her. And yet the dragon had held back her fire. She stared up at Emmy, her eyes filled with questions.

“You didn’t hurt her?” she whispered.

You
didn’t want me to,
Emmy said with a shrug of her tiny shoulders.
So
I
found
another
way.

Trinity didn’t know what to say. “Thank you,” was all she could manage. The words seemed so inadequate, but she hoped her dragon understood just the same.

“Come on,” Connor urged. “We’ve wasted too much time already.”

Trinity shook herself, flashing her dragon a grateful look, then ran after him, through the hidden door, down the hall, to the staircase leading to the parking garage. Finally they reached her mother’s chamber and she pushed through the door.

“Mom!” she cried, dropping to her knees in front of her. “We’re here to rescue you! Come on! Get up!” She tugged at her mother’s hand.

But her mother just stared into space, unmoving.

“She’s stuck in the Nether,” Trinity explained to Connor. “She’s been there almost two years, according to Darius.”

Connor frowned. “Then it’s going to be nearly impossible to get her out,” he told her. “Once you’ve spent enough time there, your mind starts losing touch with reality. You probably won’t be able to wake her.”

Trinity frowned. “Well, I’m not leaving her here.” She tried to lift her mother from her chair, but the woman fought her, thrashing blindly until Trin was forced to give up. She bit her lower lip, her mind racing with solutions. “I’ll have to go in there after her,” she concluded. “Talk her into coming out.”

“We don’t have time for that,” Connor said, glancing at the door. “They’re going to figure out where we went and come after us. We need to get Emmy out of here before it’s too late.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving without her.”

“Well, I’m not leaving without you.”

Their eyes met, pinning one another in a strange déjà vu. She remembered how beautiful she thought his eyes were on that first day, as if they would glow in the dark. They still glowed, she realized. But that wasn’t what she liked most about him now.

Just like last time, he gave in first, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Did anyone tell you you’re the most stubborn girl in the world?” he muttered, reaching into his pocket and tossing her a ruby.

She grinned. “Maybe once or twice.” Then she turned to Emmy. “Go find Caleb. Make sure he’s okay. Connor, you guard the door. Don’t let anyone through until I’m back.”

The blackened landscape stretched out before Trinity, smothered under a blood-red sky. The smell of sulfur burned through the air and a mournful wailing assaulted her ears. Only one path stretched out before her, winding across the desolate landscape to meet tall, gray mountains on the other side. But it was narrow and steep and strangled by thorns, all but impassable to someone on foot.

“Mom?” Trinity cried out, surveying the scene with an encroaching fear. She had known it would be bad here, inside her mom’s self-imposed prison. But she had no idea it would be like this. So black. So dark. So dead. “Are you there?”

The hungry wind devoured her words as soon as she spoke them and returned no reply. But what had she expected? Her mother clearly didn’t want to be found. Straining, she freed her mind, sending it out into the Nether, seeking to pinpoint some hint of her mother’s spark, deeply rooted in this nightmare world. She knew, after two long years, it would be faint at best. At worst, gone entirely.

No,
Trin told herself.
She
lives. She breathes. She has to be here somewhere. And I will find her. I have to find her.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt it: a strange, whirling vibration, fluttering far off in the distance. She squinted her eyes, scanning the horizon, catching the faintest glimmer of light—as dim as a star from another universe, flickering among the mountains’ dark shadows.

“Mom!” she cried, excitement welling up inside of her. “I’m coming! Stay right there! I’m on my way.”

But even as she spoke the words, doubt assaulted her. How would she reach the mountains in time? They had to be fifty miles away and she was on foot. There was no way she’d reach them—

Unless…

She bit her lower lip, considering her options. Caleb had always manifested whatever he needed from the Nether. Could she do something like that herself? But what would she create that would help her? A car? It’d never make the trip up the mountains. An airplane? She’d have no idea how to get it off the ground, never mind land.

Then it came to her. She was in the Nether. A world created by dragons. She drew in a quick, sharp breath and sent out her cry.

“Um, hello? Dragons of the Nether?” she called out, feeling a little silly. “Are you there? I could really use some help!”

At first, there was no reply. So she sent out her plea a second time. Then a third—but still she got no answer. Her heart sank. Could the dragons not hear her? Or were they just unwilling to help?

“Guess I’ll be hoofing it after all,” she muttered, readying herself for that all-important first step. “Hang on, Mom. This could take a while.”

Suddenly, the sky darkened, the air filling with thunder. Trinity looked up, jaw dropping as her eyes fell upon dragons—dozens of dragons—raining down in front of her. Big ones, small ones, red ones, green ones. Every size and every color of the rainbow, all descending before her and landing at her feet. She took a hesitant step backward, swallowing hard as she felt a hundred pairs of eyes look at her with expectancy.

“Um, I didn’t actually need all of you,” she stammered, looking from dragon to dragon. “Wow, there’s quite a few of you here, aren’t there?” she added, not sure what to say.

There was a brief shuffling as the beasts parted down the middle, clearing a pathway for a large, green dragon with golden wings to step through. The dragon walked slowly, deliberately, stopping in front of Trinity and gazing at her with dark blue eyes. Trinity forced down her fear and met her gaze, surprised to realize the dragon looked strangely familiar, though she had no idea why.

“Um, hi,” she managed to spit out. “Thanks for coming. I’m Trinity Foxx. Do you happen to know my friend Emmy? Green dragon, about this high? Has a thing for bloody carcasses?”

The dragon dipped her massive head.
I
am
Lyria. And we all know who you are, Fire Kissed.

Lyria.
Trinity scrunched her face. Where had she heard that name before?

And then it hit her.

“You’re Emmy’s mother!” she gasped. No wonder the dragon looked so familiar. She’d seen her during Emmy’s vision. She frowned as she remembered the mother dragon unfurling her massive wings and flying away, abandoning her own child without even saying good-bye.

But then, she reminded herself, she had thought that about her own mother as well once upon a time. And things had not been as they seemed. She needed to give the dragon the benefit of the doubt.

Emberlyn
was
indeed
born
of
my
blood,
the dragon before her admitted.
But
I
cannot
call
myself
her
mother. I allowed fear to steal that right from me on a day long ago. A day I have regretted ever since.
Her eyes leveled on Trinity.
I
hope
you
will
not
make
the
same
mistake
as
I
did.

Trinity shook her head fiercely, thinking back to her tiny dragon, resting on her shoulders, chirping in her ears. Her heart filled with love. With a protectiveness that shot straight to her core. “I won’t leave Emmy behind,” she promised the mother dragon. “No matter what happens. We’re a team. And we’ll take on the entire world if we have to.”

Then
you
are
her
true
mother
now
.

Trinity felt a warm glow at the dragon’s words, knowing how difficult it must have been for her to say them. Behind her, the other dragons snorted and grunted their agreement.

“Thank you,” she said simply, not sure what else to say. “I’ll take good care of your daughter. I promise. And any other dragons I come across in the meantime.” She thought about the mutated dragons from the Dracken’s lab. Those poor souls. Somehow she needed to save them too.

We
will
be
watching
you, Fire Kissed,
Lyria continued.
The
fate
of
the
entire
dragon
race
is
in
your
hands.

Wow. Talk about putting on the pressure. Half of her wanted to protest—to say it was too much for one girl. But as her gaze roamed over their hopeful faces, their beseeching eyes, she realized she couldn’t disappoint them. They believed in her. It was time she started believing in herself as well.

She forced a smile to her lips. “You can count on me,” she declared. Then she squared her shoulders. “But first I have a favor to ask.”