Scorched

Chapter Three

Damn, this helmet itched like a flecking bond’ura flea.

Caleb Jacks forced himself to sit straight and tall on the hard wooden bench, staring directly ahead at the other soldiers in his unit. It had been a bumpy two-hour trip to Old Oak Grove, Texas, with no windows or fresh air in the truck, and by the time they pulled up to the museum, Caleb was about ready to vomit in his helmet. But he couldn’t let his discomfort show, couldn’t afford to stick out in any way—not after he’d spent months securing a spot on this elite, black-ops team.

It hadn’t been easy, especially getting placed on this particular mission. But the Dracken had done an excellent job at forging his paperwork, and his years of experience living on the streets down in Strata-D had made him strong and smart. He just channeled his twin brother Connor—the true soldier in the family—kept his head down, followed orders, and didn’t complain. He was, as his commander complimented, a natural choice for the mission.

Caleb swallowed back a chuckle. If only the old bastard knew how right he was.

Cold air flooded the truck, and he forced back a shiver as the rear door opened. All eyes turned to watch their superior heave himself up onto the truck bed, his heavy frame shaking the vehicle as his boots hit the floor one by one. He was dressed in the same standard-issue bulletproof vests as the rest of them, with only a shiny American flag pin to set him apart as the leader of the team. It still amused Caleb to see these people have so much pride in a country that would soon be accused of burning the entire world to the ground.

Just before the back door closed again, Caleb observed two men standing outside. Dressed in black suits and wearing mirrored sunglasses, they whispered urgently to one another. They were the brains of the operation, he noted grimly. The only ones who had any clue what this mission was really about. The rest of them were simply dumb muscle, obeying orders without question. They couldn’t be blamed for what these two men planned to unleash on the world.

“Okay, ladies,” the leader sneered. “You’ve all been briefed on your mission. Anderson,” he barked at the burly, dark-skinned man at the end of the row, “you work to disable the security system and video surveillance. Burn any tapes you find. I do not want to see any of your ugly mugs on the nightly news.”

“Yessir.”

“The rest of you, seek out the objective and secure it by any means necessary. But please, for the love of Christmas, be careful with it. You scramble this sucker and the Pentagon will have my ass.” He leered at his men. “And then I’ll have yours.”

The men tittered nervously while Caleb resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If only they knew how durable their precious “objective” actually was. Hell, you could take a sledgehammer to the egg and you’d be hard pressed to make even the slightest dent. There was a reason, after all, why it’d survived for millions of years.

The captain kept talking, but Caleb stopped bothering to listen. He had his own mission to think about, after all. One far more important than these duffers could ever imagine. His heart thudded in anticipation just thinking about it as he stared down at his hands.

Two long years he’d been here, waiting for this night. Two long years he’d spent alongside his Dracken brothers and sisters—preparing for the Reckoning. Two long years and now the hour was finally here. He was here. The one Darius had chosen—out of everyone else—to carry out the most important mission the world would ever know. Sure, partially it was because of his age—he blended in with the rest of the operatives better than the older Dracken would. But still, he had been chosen. He had been entrusted with the future of the world. The street rat criminal of Strata-D. The guy everyone had dismissed as worthless. He would change the world forever.

And he would finally meet her.

His heart hammered foolishly at the idea. The legend. The Fire Kissed. The girl who would fly. Was she inside the museum even now, unknowingly waiting for her destiny to unfold? He tried to imagine the look on her face when he told her who she really was, what she would do. Right now, she probably thought herself a normal girl. He used to think he was normal too. She would have no idea of her role in changing the shape of the world.

He couldn’t wait to tell her.

Are you in there, Trinity? he asked silently as the truck door creaked open again. Because, ready or not, here I come.

Chapter Four

A dragon egg?

Trinity let out a slow breath. She could feel her grandpa regarding her with eager eyes, as if anticipating praise for a job well done. She hated to hurt his feelings—on Christmas Eve nonetheless—but she couldn’t risk him going off half-cocked, spilling the ridiculous story to anyone who would listen. Their museum’s reputation was already in too much jeopardy as it was. And if social services caught wind that her grandpa had lost his mind as well as his bank account, they’d be sure to take her away.

Time for some tough love.

“Come on, Grandpa, we’ve been through this,” she tried, as kindly as she could. “A dozen times at least. There are no such things as dragons.”

“Of course there aren’t now,” he came back, in a duh voice that would rival any six-year-old’s. “They’ve been extinct for millions of years. Probably wiped out by an ice age. But somehow, some way, this egg was preserved. The very last of its kind.”

She sighed. “But if dragons had been real,” she tried to rationalize, not sure why she bothered, “we’d have found other remains before now. Fossils. Bones. Just like we have with the dinosaurs and a hundred other extinct species.”

“Perhaps,” Grandpa replied with a shrug. “Or perhaps their bone structure was different from other reptiles of their time. Maybe it wasn’t meant to withstand extreme temperatures. For all we know, maybe their bones completely dissolved, leaving no trace behind. Except…” His eyes gleamed again. “This egg.” He grinned widely. “Thankfully those researchers had no idea how valuable their find really was. Or else I never would have gotten it so cheap.”

She stopped short. “Cheap?” she repeated slowly. “Define cheap.” She’d assumed since Grandpa had partially sponsored the expedition, he’d have some claim on the egg. She should have known better. Those so- called researchers had been nothing but money-grubbers from the very start.

“Well, cheap for the world’s last dragon egg,” he clarified. “But well worth it. Just think, Trin, of the throngs that will come once we announce our legendary find. The media, the scientists, people from around the world.”

“How much?” she repeated, nerves tensing. And where had he gotten the money? She’d cut up his credit cards six months ago, after the whole Nigerian unicorn horn incident. And their bank accounts typically hovered at less than zero status. In fact, the only real cash they’d seen in the last few months was the money she’d given him after selling her mother’s ring…

Oh God.

He couldn’t have. Could he?

“You didn’t. I mean, you didn’t use…” She trailed off, unable to even voice the accusation. But the look on his face told her all she needed to know. And her house of cards officially came crashing down on top of her.

“Oh God,” she whispered. “How could you?”

If they didn’t pay their property tax, their house would be seized. It would go on the auction block and be sold to the highest bidder. They’d end up homeless…

…they’d take her away.

“I had to!” Grandpa sputtered, his face flushed and his eyes flashing. “They were going to sell it to someone