Smoked - Mari Mancusi Page 0,16

would be game over for sure.

But just as the dragon was down to its very last hit points, it began to turn orange, signaling the beginning of its annihilation cast. Trin tried to disrupt it, but her sword missed its mark, and the dragon was able to get its spell off. A moment later, the entire party was swept away in a fiery inferno, falling to the ground in one fell swoop. Defeated.

“Stupid game!” Trinity cried, shoving the laptop across the table in disgust. It was all she could do not to grab it and smash it on the floor. “Why do I even play this stupid, stupid game?”

She rose to her feet, accidentally knocking over her chair. It crashed to the floor, causing everyone else in the room to look up. She could feel their eyes on her, questioning her, which only made her angrier.

“Hey, hey!” Connor protested, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out of the terminal’s waiting room, where they’d all been playing on a LAN line. Hooking his hand at her waist, he led her down the hall and into the old employee break room, shutting the door behind him. He sat her down in a chair, then dropped to his knees in front of her, taking both of her hands in his and bringing them to his lips. He kissed her knuckles, one after another, as tears streamed down her cheeks, unchecked.

“You know, I’d tell you it’s just a game,” he said, “but that’s not why you’re really upset, is it?”

She shook her head, at first unable to speak. He squeezed her hands harder and looked up into her eyes, his own filled with sympathy. For a moment, they just crouched there silently. Until she found her voice at last.

“She’s never coming back, is she?” she whispered. “She’s gone forever.”

“You don’t know that,” Connor said automatically. But something in his voice betrayed him. And for good reason too.

It’d been two months since they’d freed Emmy from the government lab. And no one had heard from her since. Every day the Dracken kids scoured the Internet for clues and rumors, and every day the Potentials followed up on those clues, searching the country for signs of the dragon. But in the end, they all returned empty-handed. It was as if Emmy had disappeared off the face of the earth.

“She could find us if she wanted to,” Trinity said. “I know she could.”

Connor gave her another sympathetic look. “Maybe she just needs some time alone. You know, like how sometimes animals go into their burrows to heal?”

“They go into their burrows to die, Connor,” she corrected bitterly. “And for all we know, that’s what’s happened to Emmy. That’s why no one’s seen her. She’s crawled into some deep, smelly cave to die all alone.” She broke out into a fresh set of tears as her mind replayed the nightmares she’d been having for weeks now—of Emmy, weak and helpless and starving. Unable to fly. Unable to eat. Fading away until there was nothing left of her—only accusatory eyes, locked on her former Fire Kissed.

You promised to keep me safe. You promised not to let me fall.

Connor closed his eyes, then pulled her into his arms. His body was warm, and against her better judgment, she melted into him, allowing him to absorb her pain.

“I don’t think she’s dead,” he told her. “I think…” He paused, then pushed forward. “I think Scarlet would know if she was.”

Trinity clenched her teeth. “Right,” she said bitterly. “Well, maybe if Scarlet would start helping us out a little, we’d have some real leads.”

Connor pulled away from the embrace. “Scarlet has been helping. She’s been searching every day for a sign of Emmy—you know that. She does have to sleep sometimes, you know.”

“Hover over Caleb’s bedside, you mean?” Trinity retorted before she could help herself.

Connor’s expression darkened. “Is that what you’re really angry about?” he asked quietly. “Scarlet spending time with Caleb?”

She felt her face heat. “No, of course not,” she said quickly. But even as she said the words, she wondered. Until they’d rescued Scarlet and brought her back with them, she’d been the one to sit by Caleb’s comatose side. The one who fed him and washed him and tried to keep him as comfortable as possible as he went in and out of his Nether-induced coma. At first, it had seemed a burden, but eventually she’d fallen into a routine. There was something comforting about having something