the dragon was certainly wary of anyone and everyone who approached since she’d returned, she seemed to get particularly fearful when Trinity showed up, which didn’t make any sense. After all, Scarlet knew more than anyone how much Emmy loved and cared for Trinity—it was all she would talk about back before she’d stopped talking in the government lab. Yet now that they were reunited? The dragon seemed to go out of her way to avoid her.
“She’s clean at least,” Scarlet said with forced brightness after pushing a reassuring thought in the dragon’s direction. “I scrubbed each scale individually, and now I’m moisturizing. She seems to like that, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.”
“She always did,” Trinity said sadly, sitting down in the chair across from Scarlet and the dragon, giving them space. She, along with several of the others, had attempted to help with grooming when Emmy first arrived. But Emmy refused to let any of them touch her. Only Scarlet. Which wasn’t exactly helping Scarlet’s already shaky relationship with Trin—as if the girl needed any more reasons to hate her. In fact, Scarlet was pretty sure Trinity wouldn’t be talking to her at all if it wasn’t the only way to reach her dragon.
“Has she said anything else to you?” Trinity asked. “Like where she was all this time after we broke her out of the lab?”
Scarlet shook her head. “I asked her,” she said. “Repeatedly. But she won’t answer. She hasn’t said anything since she’s been back. It’s like she’s forgotten how to talk.”
Trinity gave the dragon a heartbreaking look. “What happened to you, Emmy?” she asked, her voice quavering a little. “Whatever it is, you can tell us. We won’t be mad.”
Scarlet could practically see the waves of frustration radiating off Trin. She turned to Emmy. Come on, Ems, she tried. She only wants to help you.
The dragon shifted, turning her face to the wall. But not before Scarlet caught a guilty look crossing her face. And was that…a tear leaking from her eye? She frowned. Something must have happened. Something Emmy didn’t want to admit to Trinity or anyone else. But what could it be?
She turned back to Trinity. “I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “When she’s ready to talk, I’m sure she will.”
“Yeah,” Trinity said dully. “I’m sure.”
Scarlet watched as the girl rose slowly to her feet, giving Emmy one last look, then sighed heavily before heading back to the curtain. When she reached it, she stopped.
“Maybe I’m not your Fire Kissed anymore,” she said in a soft voice, not turning around. “Maybe we’re no longer destined. But I still love you, Emmy. I will always love you and I will always protect you. That will never change.”
And with that, she stepped through the curtain and disappeared. Scarlet said nothing, listening as her footsteps faded and the exterior door to the hangar clanged shut behind her. Then she turned back to Emmy. The dragon was staring at the closed curtain, a tortured look on her reptilian face.
Oh, Fire Kissed. Why couldn’t you have just let me die?
Scarlet startled as Emmy’s words echoed through her head. It’d been so long since she’d heard the dragon speak, she’d almost forgotten the sound of her voice. But there it was, clear and unmistakable and unbearably sad.
“Emmy, what are you talking about?” she scolded. “Of course we weren’t going to just let you die. That’s crazy! Why would you even say something like that?”
The dragon lowered her head to the ground, releasing a long, slow sigh. Scarlet waited, wondering if she should say something else. But then, Emmy spoke again.
She tried to send me away, you know, she told Scarlet mournfully. To a happy place filled with other dragons. But I didn’t go. I thought I could help her. Instead, I ruined everything. And now, because of me, the world will burn all over again.
Scarlet stared at her, not having a clue as to what the dragon was talking about. A happy place filled with other dragons? The world burning all over again? Had Emmy gone mad from her time in captivity? Was she having delusions? She wondered if she should try to call Trin back—maybe she would know what Emmy was going on about—but she didn’t want to upset the dragon further.
“Look, Emmy. I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I do know that you haven’t ruined anything,” she insisted instead. “In fact, you’ve done a lot of good since you’ve been around, not the