“Will Emmy be there?” she asked, intrigued despite herself.
“Absolutely. And my dragon too.”
“You have your own dragon?” The thought had never occurred to her. But she supposed it made sense. “Is it an evil mutant one out to destroy the world?”
Caleb laughed and shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint, but we don’t clone mutants anymore. Our technology is a bit more advanced than yours. My dragon was made from a pure strand of DNA from one of Emmy’s true children. Darius gifted her to me after I passed my Guardian trials. Wait until you see her, Trin. She’s so beautiful—sparkling teal scales, huge golden eyes, a wingspan that could block out the sun.” He smiled dreamily. “First time I laid eyes on her, I fell in love.”
“Cool. What’s her name?”
His smile faltered. “Um…what?”
“Her name?” Trinity repeated. “Your dragon, I mean. Does she have a name?” She glanced over at Caleb curiously, surprised to see he’d gone bright red.
“Oh. Um, yeah. Sure she does. Her name is…Fred.”
Trinity burst out laughing. “Fred?” she repeated incredulously. “Your beautiful, majestic, not to mention female dragon is named Fred?”
“Hey! You’re the one who called your dragon Emmy,” Caleb protested, his face now a peculiar shade of purple. “That’s not exactly High Goth’Or the Great and Terrible either!”
“Okay, okay!” She held up her hands in innocence. “Fred it is. Fred the dragon.” A snort escaped her, despite her best efforts.
“Are you going to laugh at my poor dragon all day or would you actually like to meet her?”
She forced herself to sober. “Explain how this works again?”
“The how is irrelevant,” he assured her. “I mean, you don’t need to know how one of your cars works in order to drive it, right?” He reached out, taking her hands in his, pressing the ruby gems between their palms. “All you have to do is enjoy the ride.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The thunder came first. Then a sharp wind, scraping her face and stealing her breath. Her eyes flew open, a screech of surprise tumbling from her lips, as the world shot back into focus.
She was flying—or riding at least—on the back of a mighty dragon.
“Oh my God!” she cried, throwing herself against the creature’s back, terror surging through her. Her arms flailed, seeking handholds around the dragon’s thick neck as her thighs squeezed its midsection, desperate to hang on.
She dared, for a split second, to look down, and her stomach rolled as the earth seemed to weave dizzyingly in and out of focus miles below her.
She opened her eyes in surprise at the voice. In her initial panic of waking up on the back of a dragon, she’d all but forgotten she’d come to this nightmare of her own free will. With Caleb holding her hand. He pulled up alongside her, astride his own dragon, flashing a cocky grin. He was wearing black leather pants that molded to his thighs and a black T-shirt that couldn’t disguise his strong, flat abs. He looked confident and happy and, well, pretty damn hot, she had to admit, despite herself. Something about a guy on a dragon… And the dragon herself, Fred, was as beautiful and majestic as he’d promised, despite her silly name. Her massive wings steadily beat the air currents into submission—leather cracking, membranes stretching—as an elegant tail flapped lazily behind her, serving as rudder.
Caleb lifted a hand, offering a casual salute, a teasing smile playing at his lips. Trin gritted her teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her frightened. Instead, she forced herself to straighten and her shoulders to drop, as if she were on some casual bike ride—no big deal.
He shrugged playfully.
She couldn’t hear his laugh but she could see the amusement dance across his face and it made her hackles rise. So this was a big joke to him? He thought it was funny? What if she fell? What if she careened to her death? If you died here, in this Nether place, did you die in real life? She remembered her real-life burn from the last time she’d visited and shuddered.
Emmy’s laugh was rich and affectionate.
Trust. It had never been one of Trinity’s strong points. Not when so many people in her life had let her down. Her own mother even—with all her promises that they’d be a family again. Promises as empty as the shotgun barrel she’d left behind. And then there was Connor, who’d promised to keep her safe while secretly planning to kill her. No, it was better in the long run not to trust anyone in this world.
Emmy’s words sent a shiver down her spine, as if she could feel them as well as hear them. And strangely, suddenly, she found herself wanting to trust those feelings, to let herself go. To feel what it would be like to soar through the skies. To understand what it really meant to be Fire Kissed. To become one with a dragon.
She shook her head.
On impulse, she reached down to stroke the dragon, surprised to find the creature’s scales soft and satiny to the touch. As her fingers tripped down the beast’s neck, Emmy wiggled appreciatively and made throaty noises that reminded Trin of her cat purring. She drew in a shaky breath.
“Okay, fine,” she declared, squaring her shoulders. “What the hell. Let’s do this.”
And with that, Emmy took off, soaring through the heavens at top speed. Trinity squealed and grabbed on tight, her pulse skyrocketing and her heart lodging in her throat. It was as if she was on some living, breathing rollercoaster, rolling and dipping across the sky, and it was hard to believe a creature so big and gangly looking could be so graceful. Soon as they whirled and swirled in their dragon dance along the horizon, she found herself laughing out loud—an unguarded, joyous laugh. This was actually fun!
Emmy tossed her head excitedly, then turned her snout to the sky. Higher and higher she pushed, chasing the currents of wind, gaining more altitude every second, until Trinity half wondered if they’d collide with the sun. Finally, the dragon stopped, hovering in midair, turning to face her, a challenging look on her face.
