Smoked - Mari Mancusi Page 0,71

to turn away from the beast, running toward the exit and pushing through the double doors to burst out onto the empty runway. Once outside, he turned his eyes to the night sky, scanning for some sight of the other dragon. Where was it? It couldn’t have gone far.

He had to end this. Now.

The Hunter song ripped from his lungs, burning as it burst from his scorched throat. But he ignored the pain. He had to get the dragon back here—before it got out of range and could no longer hear the song.

Before it was too late.

Come on, you damn dragon, he swore. Come back to me!

God. He squeezed his hands into fists. He’d had them. He’d had both dragons caught in his song. Both well within his line of sight. All he’d had to do was raise his gun and shoot one after another—bang, bang—and it would all be over.

But then he’d heard that voice. The high-pitch whisper across his consciousness, paralyzing him where he stood and staying his hand. Forcing Rashida to take the shot instead. And as her bullet sang true, the pain punched him in the gut, and he’d dropped to the ground, his gun-blade clattering uselessly to his side.

At first he’d thought he’d been shot somehow too. He’d even pulled up his shirt expecting to see a bloody mess. But his skin was untouched. And yet the pain was so bad, he felt as if he would pass out. And so he’d dove behind the plane for safety and allowed the second dragon to escape.

Allowed Rashida to be killed.

A screwup to the end, his father mocked. I should be ashamed to call you my son.

Suddenly, Connor caught a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye. His heart leapt to his throat as he watched the black dragon, shooting up from behind the back of the terminal and speeding across the sky.

There you are, you bastard!

He dove into action, running as fast his legs would allow, screaming his Hunter song at the top of his lungs. In the back of his mind, he realized how stupid he was being. Going out into the open sky without cover or proper backup. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t let the beast get away.

Please, Mr. Hunter. I’m begging you! Spare my brother’s life!

“Shut up!” Connor screamed. “Get the fleck out of my head!”

The black dragon turned on a dime, its beady eyes locking onto him as if he’d heard Connor’s scream. For a moment, it did nothing—just stared at him with an expression of vile hatred that made his blood run cold. Then, it opened its mouth, and fire shot from its throat, raining down on the pavement, the tar sizzling and melting under the sudden heat.

Connor threw himself to the side, his bad ankle jarring as he rolled out of the fire’s path. Leaping back to his feet, he searched the sky again, seeking and finding his target. He was still singing, he realized vaguely. But the dragon didn’t seem interested. It was too busy setting everything on fire.

“Good dragon, my ass,” he muttered.

He lifted his gun, his hands trembling so hard he could barely manage to line up the shot.

“Hasta la vista, dragon spawn,” he spit out. And this time, he meant it.

But just as he was about to pull the trigger, the dragon turned, pointing its snout to the sky and shooting upward, disappearing into the clouds. Connor tried to run after it, to get a better angle, but found his path blocked by a lake of fire.

And then, there was nothing he could do. Only stand there, helpless, watching everything around him burn as the dragon flew away, free. He’d failed. Once again, he’d failed. And now there was a dragon on the loose. A vengeful, angry dragon, ready to tear up the world, once more with feeling. His eyes lifted again, praying for that one last chance that he knew in his heart he wouldn’t get.

“Come back,” he whispered. “Oh God, please come back.”

He felt a presence behind him and whirled around. Trinity stood there, staring at him, mouth agape. Her eyes dropped to the gun he still held in his hands, a look of horrified recognition on her face.

“What have you done?” she whispered hoarsely.

Chapter Thirty

Mother! Wake up, Mother. Please!

Scarlet groaned, plugging her ears with her fingers to drown out the loud rapping noise breaking through her deep sleep. Ugh. Was it morning already? She felt as if she’d

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