Shattered (4 page)

He already had plenty.

“So it was you who let her out, wasn’t it?” Connor concluded, storming toward him with marked aggression. “Caleb, we’ve talked about this. A hundred times in fact. Emmy cannot leave the barn! Ever!”

“No,
you
talked about it,” Caleb blurted back, allowing his anger at his brother’s self-righteousness to drown out his rising guilt. After all, Connor didn’t give a crap about Emmy. The only reason he wanted her alive was because killing her meant Trinity dying too. And the oh so noble knight in shining dragon scale couldn’t stomach the idea of murdering his very own damsel in distress. “I told you it was a stupid idea from the beginning!”

He glanced over at Emmy, praying she’d back him up on this. “I mean just look at her!” he added. “She’s a dragon—an intelligent, magical creature—not some pet you can just coop up inside and expect to piss in a litter box.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Trinity wince and he regretted being so crass. But he was on a roll now, and the words kept tumbling from his lips.

“What was the point of rescuing her anyway, if you’re going to just let her rot away in a barn for the rest of her life? Seriously, she would have been better off with the Dracken. At least they knew how to treat her with the respect she deserves.”

Trinity gave him a horrified look. “That’s not fair,” she protested.

“No, none of this is fair,” he volleyed back, unable to stop himself now. “Not to poor Emmy anyway. You say you care about her? Well, maybe you should start showing it.”

And with that, he stormed off, leaving them behind, heading back to the house with hurried steps. He could feel Trinity reaching out to him with her mind, desperate to continue the conversation, but he quickly slammed down the walls, shutting her out of his head. He didn’t want to hear her excuses. He’d tried to do something good—something noble even—to aid the dragon that everyone was supposedly so gung ho to save. And as usual, all he got was grief for his troubles.

He stomped into the farmhouse and up the stairs to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Gut-wrenching fury tore at him as he paced the floor, over and over until he became half-convinced he’d wear a hole right through it. A few minutes later, he heard voices outside and stole an involuntary look out the window, immediately wishing he hadn’t. Connor and Trinity stood outside the barn—evidently having locked Emmy back inside—and were whispering to one another in urgent voices he couldn’t quite make out. He scowled, standing there, powerless to turn away.

She always took Connor’s side. Always listened to him. Always took his advice. They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to be working together. But no matter how hard Caleb tried, somehow he always ended up the odd man out.

He watched Trinity step toward Connor, her expression grim, her eyes drowning in sorrow. Caleb frowned, feeling sick to his stomach at the naked pain he saw radiating from her pale face. He’d meant to lash out at his brother, but
she
had been the one hit by his shrapnel.

Which wasn’t fair. Despite Connor’s dubious intentions when it came to dragon saving, Caleb had never doubted for a moment Trinity’s love and dedication to little Emmy. After all, she’d sacrificed her entire life to keep the dragon safe. And for him to imply that she was worse than the Dracken was nothing more than cruel.

Regret threatened to smother him. It was all he could do not to race down the stairs and out the door, grab her and pull her into his arms—apologize for hurting her, for putting her dragon in danger. Promise to never worry her again.

Instead, he stood by the window, frozen in place. Instead, it was his brother who opened his arms, inviting Trinity into an embrace, giving her all the comfort she needed and then some. As he was always more than willing to do.

Caleb squeezed his hands into fists, the anger inside threatening to boil over. If only Trinity knew how close Connor had come to killing her in his misguided attempt to save the human race from dragons. Would she still so willingly fall into his arms? Sometimes it was all Caleb could do to hold back the words—the story of how he’d saved her life from his brother’s bloody crusade.

But that would only complicate things further and hurt Trinity more than he could bear. Besides, Connor was strong. Smart. A soldier. They needed him if they had any hope of making this all turn out okay. So Caleb forced himself to keep his brother’s secret, day after painful day—knowing Trinity would never feel for him what he felt for her.

His fingers reached involuntarily to his mouth. It had been months since they’d shared a kiss, deep in the otherworld known as the Nether, and yet at times, he could still feel the ghost of her lips against his own. A feeling he both wanted to exorcise and keep forever.

He forced himself away from the window, too sickened to watch his brother comfort her now. Glancing at his unmade bed, he wondered if he should just crawl under the covers and try to sleep. But he knew he would only toss and turn. And any sleep would include restless, unhappy dreams about her.

There was only one thing to get him through the night. Reaching into his nightstand, he pulled a small sapphire from his dwindling stash, palming it into his trembling hands. For a moment, he stared down at it, considering the idea that he could put it away, resist the pull of the Nether, and try to get a normal night’s sleep. Wake in the morning like a normal person, rested and refreshed.

He laughed bitterly, giving up on the pretense. Closing his fingers around the gem, he shut his eyes. “Hang on, Fred,” he whispered to his dragon. “I’m on my way.”

“Come on, Trin. Don’t let him get to you.”

Trinity looked up at Connor. His eyes were stern but sympathetic. She gave him a weak smile.

“I know,” she said. “But I can’t help it. I mean he has a point, right? All I want to do is what’s best for her.”

“Which is exactly what you’re doing,” he reminded her firmly. “Look, my brother may have a kind heart and good intentions, but he’s always been reckless. He doesn’t think things through. Taking her out is dangerous. What if she’d been seen? And we still don’t know what really happened with that broken scale.”

Trinity thought back to the scale, her brow furrowing. “Do you think she’s telling the truth when she says she doesn’t remember? I mean, I felt it myself when it happened—on my own arm, thanks to our little bond. If the pain felt anything like that for her, there’s no way she wouldn’t notice.”

“I don’t know,” Connor replied doubtfully. “I’m just glad it wasn’t serious. It’s not like we can just take her to the vet if something worse happens. Which is, again, why she needs to stay in the barn, where it’s safe.”

“I know,” Trin said with a moan. “I do. I just wish she didn’t hate it so much in there.”

“Yeah, well it beats being dead, right?”

Connor’s tone was deceptively light, but there was a thread of bitterness underneath, making Trinity’s skin prickle. As she glanced up at the former hunter, she wondered, not for the first time, if he was having second thoughts about abandoning his original mission. After all, in a matter of months, the guy had gone from being a celebrated Dragon Hunter to a glorified babysitter, responsible for the care and feeding of a creature whose progeny had murdered his father and decimated his world. That couldn’t be easy.

“Look, Trin,” Connor added, catching her expression. “You’re right. Emmy probably would be happier if she was given more freedom—just like the rest of us. I mean, I don’t imagine you love spending your days holed up in some abandoned farmhouse either. Away from your home, your friends. We’re all making sacrifices here. Emmy doesn’t get a pass.”

She sighed. As always, he made perfect sense. As much as it pained her to see Emmy so miserable, there was too much risk involved in letting her loose. The Dracken for one thing. While Darius—and maybe his co-leader Mara—were still in prison, that didn’t mean others had given up the search for Emmy. The Potentials, for example, the group of kids the Dracken had gathered from around the world to help raise the new crop of dragons. They would still believe that Emmy had the power to save their home countries from poverty and war, and that Trinity had stolen her away from them. They weren’t going to just give up and go home.

“And that’s not even counting the rest of the world,” Connor reminded her, evidently reading her thoughts—or maybe just the look on her face. “Imagine what would happen if people learned there was a fire-breathing beast on the loose in Texas.”

She cringed. “It’d be open season on dragons,” she admitted. “If the government didn’t swoop in and take her away first.”

“And then we’d be right back where we started,” Connor concluded. “Emmy would be cloned and those violent hybrid dragons would be let loose on the world. The apocalypse, all over again. Everything we’ve worked so hard to prevent would have been for nothing.”

And her nightmares would finally come true.

She nodded slowly, frustration building up inside of her, threatening to explode. “I hate this!” she blurted, squeezing her hands into fists. “I’m supposed to be her guardian, not her jailer!” She turned to Connor, looking up at him with anguished eyes. “What are we doing?” she demanded. “Running from place to place, barely surviving. We have no plan. No way to make any of this turn out okay.” She raked a hand through her tangled hair. “Maybe it would have been better to let her die in her egg.” Her voice broke. “At least that way it would be over. She wouldn’t have to suffer like this!”

She started to turn, but Connor grabbed her, tugging her into his arms. “You don’t mean that,” he scolded in a fierce voice. “I know you don’t mean that. You’re just upset. And you’re scared. We all are.”

Trinity swallowed hard, her whole body trembling with emotion. “I can’t even tell you…When I walked into the barn. When I saw she was gone.” She closed her eyes, shuddering. “If I had lost her…after all I promised…”

“You’re not going to lose her,” Connor interrupted. “Not now, not ever. Remember, she chose you—out of everyone else—to be her guardian. The one to keep her safe. And you’ve already proven yourself more than worthy of that choice. You saved her from the government agents. You saved her from the Dracken. Hell…” He gave her bashful grin. “You even saved her from me. And that’s saying something. I’m usually damn good at my job.”

She chuckled despite herself and Connor pulled her closer. With her ear flush to his chest, she could hear his heartbeat, strong and steady, just like the dragon hunter himself. Suddenly she felt bad for having doubted his intentions. After all, he’d sacrificed everything he believed in, abandoned his quest for revenge against the species that had destroyed his world. And it had all been for her.

Connor pulled away from the hug, his hands finding her face and his eyes holding hers with a piercing gaze. Her breath hitched. Sometimes she forgot how blue those eyes of his were. Like the summer sky on a cloudless day. Eyes that could give a person hope—something that admittedly was in very short supply.

“You’re doing the right thing,” he told her. “Not the easy thing. But the right thing. Emmy may not understand it now, but she’ll appreciate it later. I truly believe if we stay strong and keep out of sight until we figure out what to do, we’ll find a way to make this all turn out okay. For Emmy…and the rest of the world.”

He trailed off, staring at her with an intensity that made her shiver. Then he gave her a goofy smile. “You may be her Fire Kissed,” he teased, “but we’re all on Team Dragon here.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at this and the tension broke between them. Grandpa had made that joke about a month ago, after skimming through one of her teen romance novels, and it had stuck ever since. It sounded so cheesy, but she kind of liked the sentiment all the same. She wasn’t alone. They were all in this together.

“Can you unlock the door?” she asked, gesturing to the padlock. When Connor gave her a questioning look, she shrugged. “She’s part of the team too, right? I don’t want her to feel all alone.” She paused then added, “You can lock up behind me and come get me in the morning.”

Connor did what she asked, though he didn’t look too thrilled about it. But she gave him her best reassuring smile then stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She waited to hear the click of the padlock then felt her way to the back of the barn. It was pitch-dark, but she could hear Emmy’s soft breaths, guiding her steps. Kneeling down, she reached out until her hands connected with the dragon’s satiny soft scales. When Emmy opened her eyes, they glowed like blue diamonds in the darkness.

You’re back,
the dragon observed, her normally sweet voice sounding a little cold.
Did
you
forget
something?

“No,” Trinity replied. “I just wanted to talk to you.” She reached out to stroke the ridges on Emmy’s snout. Usually it was the dragon’s favorite spot to be scratched. But this time she only jerked her head away, small puffs of smoke billowing from her nose.

“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” Trinity observed sadly, reaching over to pull the LED lantern out from under a bench and flick on the switch. She wondered how much of the conversation Emmy had caught between her and Connor outside the barn. Sometimes it was hard to remember how self-aware the dragon had become over the last couple of months. While in some ways she was still very pet-like, in other ways she had become very human.

With very human emotions.

No,
you’re
mad at
me,
remember?
Emmy corrected in a sulky voice.
Because
I
left
the
barn
without
your
permission.
Her mimic of Trinity’s voice was dead-on, and Trin felt her face flush.

“I’m not mad,” she protested. “I was just scared. When I saw you weren’t in the barn…I thought something bad had happened to you, Ems. And when I found out Caleb has been sneaking you out all this time and you’ve been keeping it from me? What am I supposed to think about that?”

And there it was, she realized with a start. It wasn’t that Caleb had been sneaking Emmy out that had been bothering her—not really. It was that Emmy hadn’t told her he was doing it. They were supposed to be bonded—as close as two souls could be. And yet the dragon had been keeping secrets from her. Were there other secrets as well?

Her eyes fell to Emmy’s broken scale and her heart panged.

Don’t you trust me?

The dragon’s question was stark and simple, spoken without judgment or rebuke. But it felt like a knife to the gut all the same. Trust had never come easy to Trinity, not after all the times the people in her life had disappointed her. And Emmy knew that—better than anyone. For her to throw it back in Trin’s face now felt intentional.

“Of course I trust you,” she said, her voice cracking at the edges. “I trust you more than anyone else in the world. It’s other people I don’t trust, Ems. If they were to see you. If they were to find out you were here…”

What, they might take me away?
Emmy questioned, raising a scaly eyelid.

When Trin nodded, the dragon huffed.
I’d like to see them try. I am a dragon, after all. I’m not afraid of a few humans.

She looked so offended that Trinity had to laugh. “Yes, yes, you’re a great and terrible Smaug,” she couldn’t help but tease. “But we’re hoping to keep the peace here, remember? That’s sort of the whole point of doing this.”

She stopped short, realizing Emmy didn’t look amused. In fact she looked kind of angry. “I’m sorry,” Trin said. “I was just being stupid.”

The dragon bristled.
Do
you
think
the
idea
of
me
protecting
you
is
stupid?

“No, Emmy. Of course not. I’m just saying—”

I
thought
I
was
here
to
help
people. Why can’t I do that? There are people out there, Trinity. People who are hurt. People who are dying. I could help them. I know I could. I could make things better, instead of just rotting away uselessly in a barn.

“Oh, Emmy.” Trinity’s heart wrenched. “I want you to be able to do all of that too. But it’s not that simple. There are people out there who want to use you—and not for helping people either. If you show yourself, they’ll take you away.”

A low growl rumbled in Emmy’s throat.
I
repeat: I would like to see them try.

Trinity closed her eyes, frustrated beyond belief. She had come in here to apologize to her dragon. But it seemed everything she tried to say was only making things worse.

“Look, Emmy, you’ve got to understand—”

Will
you
please
put
on
my
show?
the dragon suddenly interrupted, effectively declaring the conversation over.
I
want
to
watch
my
show
now.

Trinity stared at her for a moment then shook her head. “Sure,” she said, giving up. “Let me get the player.”

Reaching under the wooden bench where the lantern had been stored, she pulled out the portable DVD player she’d bought the dragon a month ago. It was the kind that you could charge in the car, which allowed for watching without electricity. “What do you want me to put in?”

Merlin
, Emmy declared, not surprisingly. She’d fallen in love with the Arthurian BBC show from the first episode, declaring that the dragon Kilgharrah was rather hot—no pun intended.

“Sure,” she said with forced brightness, trying to take the high road. “Let me cue it up.” She worked the remote then turned to the dragon. “Did you want me to text Connor for popcorn or something?”

No, thank you
, Emmy said in a clipped voice.
But
you
can
ask
him
to
let
you
out
of
the
barn
if
you
like. So you can go back and sleep in your own bed.

“Oh. Okay,” Trin replied, trying to speak past the lump that had solidified in her throat. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”

She rose to her feet, the hurt settling into her stomach like lead as she walked toward the door. She turned to the dragon, giving her one last look. “I’m sorry, Emmy,” she said. “I know it sucks. But it’s for the best. It really is. For your own safety and the safety of the entire world…no one can know you exist.”