Smoked - Mari Mancusi Page 0,69

beside him. She had broken her chains again and was already halfway across the hangar, bounding happily toward the source of song. He frowned.

Zoe! he tried, worry winding through his voice. Come back here!

He’s calling me, Zavier! He wants me to come to him! He wants to thank me for—

A shot rang out, the recoil of the rifle cutting through the song like a knife through hot butter. Dazed, it took Zavier a moment to understand what was going on.

Then he heard his sister’s scream—a scream that blasted his ears with such force, he wondered if he would go deaf from it. Horrified, his eyes locked on her a few yards away, terror pounding at his insides. He could see Zoe standing perfectly still, staring off into the distance, a confused look on her face.

The bullet missed her, he told himself, trying desperately to quell his fear. It just freaked her out. But it didn’t get her. She’s okay. She’s totally okay.

Zoe, we have to get out of here. Before—

His sister let out another scream, this one louder and more piercing—so piercing it could probably break glass. Then she fell, hitting the ground with a loud crash. Zavier watched her for a moment, frozen in place, as she writhed and kicked her feet in the air. Then somehow, he found his feet and raced to her, heart in his throat, steam shooting from his nose. When he reached her, he let out a horrified gasp.

No. Zoe, no!

Blood, black as night, gushed from his sister’s soft scale as her chest heaved up and down with effort. The very same scale she’d used to bring a boy back to consciousness only hours before, now the instrument in her death. Helpless, Zavier let out an alarmed wail, desperately pawing her exposed flank with his foot. His sister looked up at him with glassy eyes filled with hurt and betrayal.

I thought he wanted to thank me, she whispered.

Zavier dropped to the ground, trying to lick her wound clean. But the blood was gushing, too fast, too furious. Try as he might, he couldn’t stop the flow.

Please, Zoe. Don’t leave me! he begged, the tears rolling down his cheeks, splashing onto his sister and soaking her scales. Even as the words spilled from his mind, he knew it was a selfish request. But the idea of living a life without her…

Another shot rang out. Zavier grunted as it nicked one of his scales and ricocheted off, bouncing across the hangar before dropping to the ground. He turned to glare at it, hating how harmless it looked, just lying there now. A tiny piece of metal with the power to destroy his world. Suddenly, his sorrow turned to anger, and his blood boiled as he let out a loud, angry roar.

For a moment, Zoe’s cloudy eyes cleared. Go, she told him. You must get of here!

No! he cried, shaking his head furiously. I’m not going to just leave you here! To this…this…butcher.

His sister—his beautiful, sweet, gentle sister—looked up at him with her wide, pleading, purple eyes. Please, she begged. I can’t leave this world without knowing you’re safe. Go find Scarlet-mom. She will protect you.

He bristled, anger threatening to throttle him. I don’t need anyone’s protection.

But she may need yours.

And with that, her body failed her, her neck going limp, her head crashing to the floor. Zavier let out a horrified cry, nudging her with his snout, pleading for her to get up. But he knew, in his heart, she would never get up again. And as another bullet rang out, this time missing him by a hair, he stretched back to full height, unfurling his wings and pushing back on his hind legs, rising to the rooftop—free.

The song came again. But this time it only sounded like a funeral requiem, and he put his paws over his ears to block it out. At the same time, his eyes sought out the singer, prepared to seek his revenge.

It was then that he saw them—two humans at the edge of the hangar, hiding cowardly behind a blue plane. One had a gun with a long blade at the end. The ugly weapon that had stolen the life of his sister.

In a rage, Zavier opened his mouth, releasing the fireball that had been building up inside of him, torpedoing it straight toward his attackers. Then, not waiting to see if he’d hit his mark, he shot down toward them, flames still streaming as he flew. One of the