Scorched

boys in an attempt to smother the flames. Sweat dripped down his face as he pulled it away, then brought it down again. Over and over. Again and again—until he finally managed to extinguish the blaze. Breathing heavily, he dropped the coat over the corpses, then leaned against the wall, his face ashen and his expression grim.

Thankfully, Emmy’s own internal fire seemed likewise extinguished. The little dragon abandoned her victims and flew back to Trinity, giving her an excited look, as if waiting for congratulations for a job well done. Her claws were caked in flesh and her mouth was dripping with blood. Tears streamed down Trinity’s cheeks and the dragon’s face clouded with confusion. She looked at her mistress, her big, blue eyes filled with hurt.

Didn’t I do good?

Trinity’s gaze fell to Emmy’s handiwork. Then she leaned over and threw up. Emmy let out a whimper of dismay, then left Trinity, flying back up toward the ceiling, looking down on her with sad, uncomprehending eyes. As if to say, What did I do wrong?

“Yeah, sure, dragons aren’t dangerous at all,” Connor muttered under his breath as he reached down to hook the first corpse’s shoulders under his arms. He started dragging it down the hall. “Let’s go ahead and unleash them on the world. What could possibly go wrong?”

Chapter Thirty-Six

After hiding the bodies as best they could, they hurried through the double doors, closing and barricading them before rushing down the stairs. The Potentials’ deaths had been shockingly quiet considering the level of violence—their throats literally melted before any screams could escape—but neither of them wanted to take any chances that someone had overheard the struggle. The sooner they found the elevator and left the building the better.

Tears pricked at Trin’s eyes as she forced her feet to take step after step, her mind relentlessly replaying the nightmare they’d just witnessed. Her supposedly gentle dragon raging completely out of control, tearing through two human lives as if they were tissue paper. She tried to remind herself that the dragon had only been trying to protect her, that she had probably saved their lives. But the fear and horror refused to loosen their grip as she relived the scene of smoke and fire and blackened flesh over and over again. Those two boys weren’t evil monsters—they were orphans who had come here to help save the world. And yet they’d died horribly for it instead. What would the others think if they knew what her dragon had done? She imagined the revulsion on Malia’s gentle face. The fear in Aiko’s eyes. They’d think she was a monster. And maybe they wouldn’t be wrong.

And then there was Connor. She glanced at his grim face as he took the stairs two at a time. She’d promised him she could control Emmy. That their shared bond meant the dragon would do as she said. But it was as if Emmy couldn’t even hear her when she flew into her protective rage. Was Connor, even now, reconsidering his decision to allow her dragon to live?

To allow her to live?

She looked up at Emmy, who was still following though at a slight distance. The dragon had licked the blood and gore clean from her body and once again appeared to be her sweet old self. But when Trin had tried to reach out to her, the dragon refused to answer. She was still hurt by her mistress’s obvious disapproval, and try as Trin might to explain what had made her upset, the dragon seemed not to understand. In her mind it was simple: the Fire Kissed had been in trouble. She’d saved her life. How could that possibly be wrong?

After what seemed an eternity, the stairs ended, splitting into three hallways. After consulting the blueprints, Trinity selected the middle one, which was supposed to lead to the parking garage and elevator. They were getting close, she realized with growing excitement. They were almost free.

“We’re not out yet,” Connor said flatly, as if reading her thoughts. “Let’s keep moving.”

They crossed the parking lot as quickly as possible, feeling vulnerable and exposed in all the open space. But the place was deserted, and soon they spotted the rickety looking elevator, just as the plans had mapped out. Trin sent up a quick prayer of thanks as she reached out to press the red button embedded in the wall. She heard a rumbling from behind the doors and a moment later they groaned open, revealing the elevator’s interior.

“Come on!” she cried excitedly. “Let’s get out of here.” She waited for Connor and Emmy to enter, then stepped onto the elevator herself. But just as she was about to press the up arrow, a strange trilling sound reverberated through the parking lot.

“What was that?” she asked, looking around uneasily, her skin prickling with goose bumps at the high- pitched sound. It died out for a moment, then came again. Louder this time, bouncing off the walls and repeating back again.

“Forget it,” Connor said. “Let’s just go.”

She heartily agreed, pressing the up arrow and waiting for the doors to close. But just as they were about to slide shut, Emmy shot back out into the parking garage.

“Emmy!” Trin hissed, appalled. “Get back here!”

But, once again, the dragon seemed not to hear her. Instead, she bolted across the empty space in the opposite direction.

“Hell,” Trin swore. She dove out of the elevator. She couldn’t leave the dragon behind. “Emmy, get back here!”

“Trin! Wait!” Connor tried. She whirled around only to find the elevator doors sliding shut behind her, with Connor still inside. She pressed the red button frantically, but to no avail.

“Connor!” she cried. But the elevator was already shooting upward, sending him to the surface to where her grandpa would be waiting, leaving her behind.

She gritted her teeth. No big deal, she tried to tell herself. She’d go grab Emmy and by the time she got back, the elevator would have returned. Wait for me up top, she sent to Connor. I’ll be there in a minute. Sighing, she plodded through the parking lot, calling out to her dragon as she went.

Emmy, where are you?

Soon she found herself back where they’d started—at the bottom of the stairs and facing the three identical passageways. Her eyes caught a fluttering down the hall to the right and she shook her head as she headed after her errant dragon.

Come on, she scolded Emmy as she raced down the hall to catch up with her. You can be mad at me later. Right now we have to get out of here.

She caught up to the dragon at the end of the hall. Emmy was pacing back and forth—her eyes wide and her ears flattened against her skull. When she saw Trinity, she gave her a grateful look and took flight, landing on her shoulder, claws digging painfully into her skin.

I guess this means I’m forgiven, Trinity thought wryly.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, starting to get a little worried. An angry and annoyed Emmy she could deal with. Scared-half-to-death Emmy scared her as well.

Then she heard it—the strange trilling—sounding as if it were coming from behind the wall.

I want to leave, Emmy told her. I want to go now. Trin realized the little dragon was literally shaking with fright.

“Why? What do you feel?” she asked, curiosity getting the best of her. “Is there something down here?” She thought back to the two Potentials guarding the door. Was this what the Dracken didn’t want anyone to see?

Let’s go now, Trin. Let’s get out of here.

Trinity was tempted to comply. Connor was waiting—they were this close to a perfect escape. And yet, something compelled her to stay. If the Dracken were up to something, she needed to know what it was. Otherwise, how would they ever be able to stop them from doing it?

“We need to figure out what’s making that noise,” she told the dragon firmly. “Then we can leave.” She walked over and put her ear up against the wall. The noise came again, causing Emmy to squawk in alarm. Trin knocked on the wall with her fist and realized it was hollow.

“There’s something behind here.” Her fingers danced across the wall, feeling for some kind of handhold or crack. “Give me a little light,” she commanded the dragon. Emmy blew out a puff of fire, illuminating the dark