“Liar!”
Trinity startled as a girl shot up from the back of the group. Rashida, she realized in dismay. “No,” she forced herself to continue. “The Dracken are the liars, not me. They’ve been lying to you since day one. They —”
“Come on, Trin,” Connor urged, looking more and more worried. “Let’s go.”
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.”
