Smoked - Mari Mancusi Page 0,59

you overgrown garbage disposal,” he scolded. “That’s your mother’s dinner. You’ll get yours later.”

But Zavier ignored him, continuing to suck up large pieces of meat and swallowing them without even bothering to chew. Caleb groaned.

“Hang on. I’ll get him out of there.”

He ran to his dragon, attempting to grab him by his saddle and drag him away from the meat. But Zavier refused to budge. And when Caleb made a second, more concentrated effort, the beast flicked his wing, shooing him away like an irritating fly. The force of the blow sent Caleb flying, and he arced several feet into the air before hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“Caleb!” Scarlet was at his side in an instant. “Oh God, Caleb! Are you okay?”

Trin found herself running to him as well. Dropping to her knees before him, taking in his white face. His leg was twisted, definitely broken. She glanced back at the group. “Turn off the cameras and freaking help us!” she cried.

But no one was paying attention; instead, their eyes were all locked on Emmy. The dragon had reared onto her haunches, letting out a deafening roar. Trin watched; it was as if the scene were playing out in slow motion, as the dragon’s mouth creaked open and a cannonball of flames shot out, blasting Zavier full on. The raw meat sizzled and smoked under the sudden heat, but Zavier only looked up at her, his black eyes flashing something cold and hard.

The once-joyous celebration had now become a disaster film—people running, people screaming. The air was thick with smoke, making it difficult to see or breathe. Trin watched as Zavier rose to his feet, a scraggly roar rasping from his throat. A moment later, he was charging at Emmy, slashing at her with sharp claws.

Emmy leapt away, barely in time to dodge the attack, the whites in her eyes flashing and sparks dancing on her tongue. Summoning heat for round two?

“Emmy, no!” Trin cried. But even as she made the command, she wasn’t a hundred percent sure she wanted the dragon to listen. After all, Emmy had to defend herself, right? What if this creature hurt her? What if his sister joined the fray and Emmy found herself outnumbered?

The two dragons met head-on, slashing with their claws, biting with their teeth, rolling around on the ground until it was tough to determine where one ended and the other began. Trin looked at Scarlet, who looked back at her with an equal amount of horror in her eyes. “We have to do something!” she cried.

But what? They couldn’t jump into the middle of the fight. That would be suicide.

Then Trin heard it. A wailing song, both beautiful and terrible, bursting through the air. She whirled around to see Connor, standing behind her, singing at the top of his lungs. He was in full-on Hunter mode, trying to lull the beasts into submission with his song.

Emmy and Zavier both stopped in their tracks, a haze crossing over their eyes as they stared at Connor, their fight all but forgotten. Trinity watched, unable to even breathe as Zavier took a hesitant step toward the Hunter. His tongue was lolling from his mouth and his scales were wet with blood.

“No!”

Caleb shoved Trinity and Scarlet out of the way as he stumbled toward his brother. He shouldn’t have been able to stand, never mind run, but the adrenaline was coursing through him, and he seemed to feel no pain. Trinity watched helplessly as he dove for his twin, knocking him to the ground and interrupting his song. His fist rose, slamming down on Connor’s face—once, twice, three times. “Don’t you even think about singing to my dragon, you flecking bastard!” he screamed.

Trin found her voice. “Caleb, stop it! He’s just trying to calm him down!”

But Caleb didn’t stop, and Trinity wasn’t surprised. After all, the last time his brother had sung his Hunter’s song, it had ended in Fred’s murder; there was no way Caleb was going to risk this a second time with a second dragon.

“Help me!” she cried to Scarlet. “Get them off each other.” They may have not been able to stop a dragon fight—but with the brothers, they’d take their chances. Together they dove at the boys, using all their strength to try to pull them apart. Connor had regained some control, rolling on top of Caleb, so Trin worked on him first, throwing her arms around his neck and yanking as hard as she could.

“Stop it!” she