Did she find her father? Was he able to help?”
Scarlet frowned. “Uh, yeah. She’s here. And her father’s here too. I’m not sure what you mean about him helping though. I mean, he helps out in the restaurant a lot. And he’s always tinkering in his lab, though I don’t really know what he’s up to with—”
“Has she been by to see me?” he interrupted. His hopeful look sent worry fluttering through her stomach. She watched as he glanced around the room, as if he expected Trinity to be hovering somewhere in the shadows.
What about me? she wanted to ask. Didn’t you miss me like I missed you? But the words seemed to stick in her throat.
“Sure, she’s come by,” she managed to say, trying to push down the hurt welling in her throat. “She’s been pretty busy though. They’ve got this whole social media campaign they’re working on to let people know about Emmy.” She forced a laugh. “You know Trinity when it comes to that dragon. Nothing else seems to matter.”
She swallowed hard, distressed by the disappointment she saw clearly in Caleb’s eyes. Suddenly, a horrible thought struck her. What if he didn’t remember his time in the Nether? What if the dragon’s blood had wiped out the whole trip in his mind? What if he didn’t remember their kiss—her confessions—all the promises they’d made to one another? What if all of that lived in Scarlet’s memory alone?
She let out a small moan. All this time, she’d been holding on. The idea of their reunion keeping her going through the darkest days. What if it was nothing more than a fantasy?
“Can I ask you a favor?” Caleb broke in, interrupting her tormented thoughts.
Hope rose inside of her again. “Of course! Anything! Anything at all!”
He gave her a weak smile. “Would you go find Trinity and ask her to come see me? I don’t think I can master the whole getting out of bed thing quite yet.”
For a moment, Scarlet couldn’t speak, the lump in her throat so large it threatened to choke her. Instead, she managed a small nod of her head. “Of course,” she said. “I’ll…go find her now.”
Caleb smiled at her—the very same smile that had, only minutes before, warmed her like the sun. Now it made her blood run cold.
“Thanks, Buttercup,” he said, resting his head back on the pillow. “I appreciate it. It’s good to see you again, by the way. I’m glad you’re still Team Dragon.”
She rose to her feet so quickly she knocked over the folding chair. It crashed to the ground with a large bang, and her face burned as she reached down to right it again.
When she rose, she found Caleb peering at her intently. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she spit out with more venom than she’d meant to. She was biting her lower lip so hard at this point she was certain she would draw blood. “You rest. I’ll get…Trinity…for you.” The name tasted like sawdust in her mouth.
Tell him you cured him! a voice inside of her begged. Tell him it was all you! That he owes you his life!
But she kept her mouth closed, her lips sealed. Because, she realized, it didn’t matter in the end. After all, she wasn’t in need of his gratitude; she wanted much more than that. And if he didn’t feel about her how she felt about him, well, she wasn’t about to guilt-trip him into doing so.
Besides, that would be compromising her dragons’ safety. After all, what if she told him and he went and told Trinity? Trinity would probably go tell Connor and maybe even Emmy. And then they’d all want to make double sure that the sweet baby dragons “destined to destroy the world” had been destroyed themselves.
She couldn’t let that happen. She’d made a promise to keep them safe, and nothing—not even Caleb’s approval—could make her break that promise.
After all, who needed a boyfriend when you had your very own dragons?
Chapter Fourteen
“Whoo-hoo, Ems! Way to go!”
Trinity whooped and cheered as Emmy shot across the hangar, body outstretched and wings close to her side. The dragon tucked her head, executing a perfect barrel roll, then dropped back down to the ground, sticking the landing like a pro. Turning back to Trinity—and Luke, who was filming the whole thing—she did a showy little bow.
“That’s my girl!” Trinity cried, clapping her hands together.
“That’s definitely going in tomorrow’s show,” Luke added, giving her a fist bump. “Now, should we do some fan