get our fair say, Trinity Foxx. Zoe and Zavier deserve another chance.”
“And they will get one,” Trinity assured her, dropping her shoulders in relief. “I promise.” She rose to her feet. “Now if this is all settled, I’m going to go talk to Emmy.”
She glanced over at Scarlet, still not liking the dark look in her eyes. She turned back to Caleb.
You told me once—whatever I needed—you would be here for me. That all I had to do was ask.
Caleb bit his lower lip. Yes. Of course. But…
Then keep her away from those dragons tonight. No matter what you have to do.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Emmy? Are you awake?”
Trin stepped quietly into the hangar, blinking her eyes to adjust them to the darkness. From the far end, she could hear the hum of the television set and see the faint, blue glow seeping under the red curtains.
Her shoulders relaxed. Emmy was watching TV. That had to be a good sign, right?
Crossing the hangar, she pulled back the curtains, peering in to find Emmy curled up in front of the set, her long tail wrapped securely around her body and her head resting on her paw.
Trin cleared her throat to make her presence known. “Did you start watching the fourth Harry Potter without me?” she started to tease. “I thought we were…”
She trailed off as she caught sight of the TV screen and frowned. No, not Harry Potter. Something much darker.
FOX News. And, it appeared, the subject of the day was none other than the once-dubbed Touchdown of Terror herself.
Crap.
“Watch this,” one of the commentators was saying as the video rolled on the other half of the screen. A disturbing, slow-motion replay of Emmy blasting fire at Zavier. “Does this look like America’s next top house pet to you?” he asked gleefully.
“I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t afford the fire insurance premiums,” joked his cohost.
Oh God.
“Emmy…” Trin tried. But the dragon’s eyes stayed glued on the TV.
“As you know, over the last few months, the liberal media has been all over themselves trying to convince us that this creature should be part of some kind of animal-rights campaign,” added the third commentator. “And PETA has been actively petitioning to get this fire-breathing beast on the endangered species list.” He turned to face the cameras. “We have social media expert Ike Sudukus with us via satellite. Ike, is this the kind, cuddly creature we should be embracing as a society?”
“I know I’m not embracing anything with claws like that,” the first commentator interrupted with a snort. “I mean, give that poor beast a mani-pedi, why don’t you?”
Trinity cringed as she caught Emmy stealing a peek at her actually very beautiful, shiny claws. The dragon had spent months growing them back after the government had shorn them and had been so proud of their length, showing them off to everyone who came to visit. Now she looked down at them sorrowfully and tucked them under her belly, hiding them from view. It was all Trin could do not to take a bat to the TV set.
The video switched to the social media expert. “It’s clear this creature has a fan base. There are thousands of websites dedicated to the dragon, and its weekly web show has drawn viewers from all over the world. The question is will those fans stay loyal now that this video has surfaced? Now that it’s obvious that this is, indeed, a wild animal and clearly dangerous.”
“Not your grandma’s Puff the Magic Dragon, kiddos,” chimed in the female commentator. And Trinity’s heart broke at the shame she saw in Emmy’s eyes.
“In the last twenty-four hours, we’ve started to see an anti-Emmy backlash—with websites popping up all over. And the hashtag Kill Emmy is currently trending on Twitter,” added the social media expert helpfully.
Emmy’s eyes widened as the graphical representation of the hateful hashtag flashed across the screen. Trin grimaced. This was so not good.
“And yet this dragon has been so popular for months now. Why do you think people are so angry?” asked the host.
“Basically, they believe they’ve been lied to. Manipulated. Played for cash. For example, since the beginning, the Free Emmy group has been touting this creature as ‘the last of its kind,’ and yet now you clearly see on the video, there are at least two more in existence.”
“And they don’t appear to be besties either,” joked the female host as the video looped and Emmy shot fire at Zavier all over again. “I mean ouch! Take