Smoked - Mari Mancusi Page 0,75

worse and worse. And you know why?” he asked, looking up at her with cold blue eyes that made her shiver.

“Because of me,” she whispered, feeling her heart squeeze till it hurt. “You did it for me.”

“And this was for you as well,” he said, his voice rising with urgency. “Whether you choose to see it or not.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Don’t pin this on me. You did it for your father. You did it for yourself. For your world, maybe—fine. But don’t you dare say you did it for me.”

His face crumbled as her words struck him harder than any blow. It killed her to see him look like this, but she forced herself to stay strong. He had to understand. This was unforgivable.

“Fine,” he said at last. “Think what you want. It doesn’t change anything anyway.” And with that, he turned his back on her, starting to walk away. Fury rose inside of her, mixed with overwhelming grief.

“Where are you going?” she demanded.

He paused, not turning around. “To finish this once and for all.”

A cold chill spun down her back. “Connor Jacks,” she found herself shouting. “You walk away from me now and you can’t come back. You’ll no longer be a part of this team. And we’ll…we’ll…” She trailed off helplessly, unable to make a threat she wasn’t sure she could follow through with.

But he didn’t need to hear her say it out loud. He knew her heart. Better than anyone, he knew her heart.

He turned back to her slowly, shoulders stiff, head held high. He looked so beautiful—so strong and angry and fierce, it took what remained of her breath away. At that moment, it was all she could do not to throw herself into his arms, soak up his strength as her own as she’d done so many times before. But she couldn’t. And she never would—ever again.

“You’ll thank me one day,” he told her. “And if you don’t, well, at least I’ll know you’re safe. That’s all that matters to me in the end.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Emmy!”

Trinity burst into the hangar, her eyes searching until they fell on the dragon. Emmy was awake, pacing back and forth, her ears pricked and her nostrils flared. She turned to look at Trinity with wide, frightened eyes.

What’s happening? she demanded. I smell smoke.

Trinity gave her a grim look. “It’s not good. I’ll explain on the way. But we have to go, Emmy. Before it’s too late.” She made a move to get on the dragon’s back.

The dragon gave her a terrified look, backing away before she could mount her. Something’s happened to them. To Zoe and Zavier. Is that right?

Trinity sucked in a breath. “Yes,” she admitted. “I’m sorry, Emmy. But Zoe’s dead. And Zavier’s on a rampage.” She gave a brief rundown of what had gone down best she knew. “We have to go after him and talk him down, before he does too much damage.”

Emmy moaned, her face mirroring her obvious distress. Trinity wondered what the dragon was thinking—after all, she had been the first to want them dead. Would she refuse to help save Zavier now? Trin waited, breath in her throat.

Finally Emmy seemed to come to a decision. She lowered her wing, nodding for Trinity to climb aboard. Trin did, relief rushing through her as she scrambled up the dragon’s back, settling between her neck and shoulders. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“Wait!”

Emmy paused. Trinity turned to see Caleb burst through the hangar door. He was out of breath and covered in ash. When he reached them, he leaned over, putting his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

“There you are,” he managed to spit out. “I’ve been looking everywhere.”

Trin bit her lower lip, waiting for the accusations to spill from his lips, guilt gnawing at her stomach. After all, she was the one who had begged him and Scarlet to wait. To trust that the group would do the right thing.

She still had no idea how it had all happened. When she’d last checked on Connor, he’d been out cold, doped up on painkillers. Not to mention they’d locked his sickroom door, just as a precaution. So how had he managed to wake up? To stroll out a locked door like it was no big thing? Sure, someone else could have broken him out. But he should have been weak, exhausted, barely able to stand, let alone take on two dragons and survive.

She shook her head. In the end, the how made no difference.