by Kyra Dune
From my side of things, she was a friend, and killing her had hurt. I couldn't even imagine what it would feel like if I accidentally did something to Zack. I didn't think I could stand it. The very idea made my chest so tight it was hard to breath.
Panic was starting up its little dance in the pit of my stomach. I breathed in and out real slow, just like Jonah taught me. Calm. Center. That was what was needed now. No crazy out of control emotions. Peace.
"I'm going to tap the emotions that fuel your fire." Sam took hold of my hand, her eyes gazing into mine. "Are you ready for this?"
The answer was no, of course. But then, I was never going to be ready for this. "Yeah."
Heat erupted in the center of my chest. A heat so sudden and fierce it left me gasping. The world went white, and then I was back there again. Back in those woods, staring into the empty eyes of the two people I loved most in the world.
All those feelings came rushing back, the confusion, the denial, the fear, the pain, the rage. Oh, the rage. It was a monstrous snake, coiled up inside of me, desperate to strike. A beast born of flames and fury.
My fire flared bright, eager to leap free, to consume, to smother the pain in ash. I wanted nothing more in that moment than to destroy everything. Even myself. It was too much pain to bear. Too much heat to hold inside.
Something cool touched me. Not an attack, like before, this was something else. It was... It was a song. Ice singing to my flames. Maybe that sounds crazy, but it's true. It wasn't a song I could hear though, it was one I could only feel. Singing across my skin. Wrapping itself around the fire in my heart.
The scene of death faded away and I was standing in the wooded area inside my own mind. The little pool which was the wellspring of my powers glittered more brightly than ever before. Wind made the tree leaves dance and sigh, something I had never seen before. Not there. That place was always still and quiet. Somehow empty.
But now... It felt different. It felt alive. The pool gurgled, like a stream running over stones. Light fog seemed to spring up from nowhere around my ankles. And beneath my feet, the ground rose and fell like breath.
I lifted my hands, staring at the flames burning there. Flames that did not consume, did not rage or struggle for release. And through it all ice chimed in the air around me, ringing like bells. It was a feeling like nothing else I had ever known. For the first time in my life, every part of me was sounding in perfect harmony. All this time, pieces of me were missing and I never knew. Now, I was complete.
I opened my eyes to find Zack standing in front of me, both hands pressed to my face. His dark gaze bored intensely into mine. "Are you here? Are you with me?"
I smiled. "I'm here."
Zack breathed out, the air a warm kiss against my lips. Then he pulled me into a tight hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
My smile only widened as I hugged him back. And then I remembered Tony and Sam and a jolt of fear went through me. I stepped back from Zack and was relieved to see the siblings standing about three feet away from us. Neither of them looked hurt, though I didn't much like the expressions on their faces.
"What?" I asked. I shifted my gaze back to Zack. "What happened?"
"You're all right. That's what matters."
I pulled out of his embrace and stepped around him. "Guys? Talk to me."
Tony and Sam exchanged a look. He swallowed. Hard. "You..." He glanced at Zack once before looking back at me. "You were a torch. I've never seen anything like it before. The flames..." He shook his head.
Okay, so my fire had freaked out a fire dragon. I wasn't sure if that was awesome, or really, really scary. "I... I was on fire. Like... on fire?" I turned back to Zack, who was facing me, his arms crossed and his hands tucked in his armpits. The front of his shirt was blackened, his throat mottled red. Alarm bells went off in my head.
"Let me see your hands," I said. "Now."
"There's no rea--"
"Just do it." That was the first time I'd ever given him anything even resembling an order and I kind of surprised myself with it. But what was even more surprising was that he obeyed. Zack held his hands out to me. The palms were not badly burned, but they looked raw and several blisters had already popped up.
I pressed both hands to my lips, my eyes brimming with tears. "Oh, god. I-I'm sorry."
Zack shook his head. "I'm the one who put my hands in the fire. I knew what I was doing. You have nothing to be sorry about."
"That is the single stupidest thing that has ever come out of your mouth." I grabbed his arm and hauled him toward the house. "Sam, can you do something with his hands?"
Sam nodded. "I have a first aid kit in the kitchen."
Zack was making a face I honestly would have found pretty funny under other circumstances. But he didn't say anything as we entered the house and made our way to the kitchen. Me and Zack sat at the table while Tony stood back in the doorway and Sam busied herself fetching the first aid kit.
"That was a crazy thing to do, you know," I told Zack.
He shrugged. "It worked."
What if it hadn't? But I couldn't bring myself to ask, just the thought of it made me sick to my stomach. "You should have attacked me and put out my fire, like you did in Oregon. Why didn't you? Why did you get so close while I was still dangerous?"
Sam put the first aid kit on the table. "I was wondering the same thing."
Zack shifted in his seat. "Because... It wouldn't have helped Abigail." His gaze met mine. "You can never learn to control your power if someone else comes along to stop it every time it gets out of control. So instead of attacking you, I tapped your powers."
I shook my head. "I thought you said our relationship made it too dangerous for you to do that?"
"Give me your hands," Sam instructed, "Let me get to work while you two sort this thing out."
By his expression I judged he would rather have talked about this in private, but that was just too bad. I wasn't waiting around for an answer. "Explain yourself," I said.
Zack held his hands out to Sam, but he was still looking at me. "You've had battle training now. And Sam says you're doing exceptionally well. I knew tapping your powers was a risk, but I decided it was worth taking. I thought maybe my... our..." A hint of color crept into his cheeks. "I thought what would have made it dangerous before, might do the opposite now that you have better control over your emotions."
"And what if you were wrong?" I asked.
Sam pressed a damp towel to his hands. "Trackers aren't strangers to taking risks. It's part of what we do."
I didn't think that was good enough. No, not nearly. But what could I say? It was over and done with. Sam put some ointment on Zack's hands and then wrapped them with gauze. The burns were mostly on his palms, so he could still use his fingers all right.
"You should leave," Tony said, startling all three of us. I think we'd kind of forgotten he was there. "Abigail has her battle training now, there's no reason for you to stay any longer."
"They aren't going anywhere." Sam took a bottle of Aspirin from the kit and handed it to Zack, who downed two pills without even needing water.
"There is no reason for --"
"Will you stop?" Sam leaned back against the counter. "Zack saved your life. Do you really want to throw him, and some kid - no offense Abigail- out on the street to die?"
Tony scoffed. "Will you stop with this 'kid' thing. You saw what she can do. She could have killed us."
"Yeah, well, she didn't. In fact," Sam crossed her arms, "I haven't yet seen any proof Abigail deserves the bad rep hybrids get. Maybe our ancestors were wrong. Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe we need to see about fixing it."
"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Tony shook his head. "You really think the world would be better off with a bunch of hybrids running around? There has to be a good reason why our ancestors decided to kill them at birth. Do you have any idea of what could happen if we stopped doing that? "
I was staying out of this, be
cause I figured it was kind of between the two of them. But I was surprised Zack hadn't said anything. Especially since his jaw was clenched so tight I was afraid he might crack his teeth.
"No, I don't," Sam snapped. "And neither do you. That's the point I'm trying to make. I've spent most of my waking hours with Abigail since she got here, and I can tell you right now, she is not the monster we've always been told hybrids are. If you knew her at all, you wouldn't talk so easy about killing her."
Tony made a face. "I didn't say anything about killing her. I just think we should put both of them out of our home before they bring us more trouble than we can handle."
"And I think you're wrong," Sam said. "They stay."
"Fine." Tony threw up his hands and stormed out of the room.
I appreciated Sam sticking up for me, but Tony wasn't entirely wrong. We were going to bring them trouble. "Maybe he's right," I said. "Maybe we should go."
"You're not going anywhere. I mean, look at you guys all banged up. I'm not tossing you out because my brother is a... a..." She huffed, blowing the bangs off her forehead. "He's not really a jerk, he's just been drinking the kool aid for too long."
I shrugged. "It's what most dragons believe."
"Yeah, well, most dragons are wrong. They should try actually hanging out with a hybrid." She grinned at me. "You're an okay kid."
I grinned back. The whole 'kid' thing wasn't annoying me as much as it had when we met. "Thanks for that. And for the training. And for letting us stay here. I just hope you don't regret it."
Sam pushed away from the counter. "After everything you've been through, and I figure I don't know the half of it, you deserve a safe place to hang out for awhile."
"No place is safe," Zack said.
"Listen to Mr. doom and gloom over here. Might want to take it down a notch or two, okay?" Sam patted his shoulder. "This place is as safe as you're likely to get under the circumstances. It's not like a spirit dragon can hunt you down by your powers, and if any trackers come sniffing around up here, they won't get far."
Uh oh. That reminded me of something I really should have told Zack by then. I meant to, really, but what with all the training Sam and I had been doing it had kind of slipped my mind. I swear. I cleared my throat. "I, uh... I have something I need to tell you guys." Two sets of eyes fixed on me. Not the greatest feeling in the world. "We... um... we're going to be having some company. Soon. Like, probably within the next few days." Or at least, I hoped so. I had no way to know if Jonah and the others had been caught. Or killed.
"What company?" Zack's words were so sharp they should have cut me.
"Um..." I licked my lips. This was not going to go over well. "Jonah and Luka. Maybe Derek and Stephanie too. If Jonah could convince them to come."
Sam didn't say a word, she just stepped back and leaned against the wall. Great, she was going to leave me to deal with this one on my own. At least she stayed in the room. I really didn't want to be alone with Zack right then.
Zack took a slow breath, looked down at his bandaged hands, and spoke in a deadly quite voice. "How are they going to know where we are?"
As I'm sure you can imagine, that was a question I really didn't want to answer. "That trouble your brother was talking about?" I looked to Sam. "It will be following them. Luka's sixteenth birthday is coming up."
Sam whistled through her teeth. "I'm guessing Luka is a renegade and we can expect to have his clan breathing down our necks."
I nodded, so grateful she was helping me sidestep Zack's question. "Maybe my clan too, if my grandfather is working with them."
"Okay, so maybe not so safe here after all," Sam said. "But don't worry, if there's trouble, I got your--"
Zack slammed his fist down on the table. If it hurt his hand any, he didn't show it. "How are they going to know where we are?" This time, he said it not so quietly.
I gulped. My throat was so dry I'm surprised my words didn't stick. "It... Well, it's Jonah. See, he's a special kind of spirit dragon. The only one of his kind, I guess. He can sense hybrids. From any clan. All the time."
I can't even describe the look on Zack's face in that moment. "And you didn't think that might be something you should tell me?"
"Well... No." I flinched back as his hands knotted into fists. "I didn't tell you because if I had, you would have killed Jonah."
"You're damn right I would have. I can't even... I don't know how..." He growled. Like, seriously, growled. "How could you be so stupid? Don't you realize what kind of threat he is?"
"He's not a threat." I bristled under Zack's glare. "He's my friend."
"Your friend? What are you, five? This is a war. Your life is at stake. You can't afford to have friends. Especially one who can sniff you out like a bloodhound."
"Says the man who brought me straight to a tracker's house," I shot back. "Or is it only okay to trust people you've slept with?" Oops, I really did not mean for that to come out of my mouth.
Zack shot Sam a nasty look. She frowned back at him. "Hey, she asked. I wasn't going to lie to her."
"Jonah is not coming here." Zack looked back at me. "End of the conversation."
My heart was racing as he stood up and moved toward the door. I was mad, and that will sure enough loosen a person's tongue. "You're right, it is the end of the conversation. Because Jonah is coming here. I have no way to tell him not to, but even if I did, I wouldn't. And he's bringing Luka, because they are both my friends and I'm not going to leave them out there to be killed by people like you. If you don't like it, you can leave." Oh my god, what was wrong with my mouth? I didn't want Zack to leave, no matter how mad I was right then.
The tension between us was like an invisible wall. But instead of arguing, he just turned and walked away. Was he really leaving for good? I didn't know, and a part of my mind was screaming at me to go after him. Stop him. Tell him it would be whatever he wanted so long as he stayed. But I couldn't do that. Not when other people's lives were at stake. I wasn't that selfish.
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone put their entire foot in their mouth before," Sam said.
I rubbed the spot between my eyes. "Not helping."
Sam dropped into the chair Zack had just vacated. "You can't blame him for being upset."
"I don't. I just..." I sighed. "I've lost too many people already. I can't let Jonah and Luka die just because Zack is jealous. Besides, I need Luka's help to finish the video."
"What video?"
Oops again. Sam didn't know anything about that. But maybe she should. Maybe it wasn't fair to leave her in the dark when she was risking herself and her brother trying to help me. "I don't know exactly what all Zack has told you, but here's the whole story."
So I laid it all out, the entire thing. Condensed version, of course, but with nothing omitted. It was harder than I thought it would be. Especially certain parts. I cried, naturally, but I managed to make it through the whole story. And Sam didn't even interrupt once.
When I was finished, Sam sat back in her seat, this look in her eyes like she was having a hard time coming to grips with the whole thing. I got up and went to the sink to splash some water on my face.
"So you want to expose us all just to save your own skin. Don't you think that's a little selfish?"
I turned, surprised to see Tony stepping into the room. He must have been standing outside in the hall for at least part of my story, if not all of it.
"Tony--"
"No," I interrupted Sam. "I want to answer that." I met Tony's less than sympathetic gaze without flinching. "Do you mean, do I want some kind of a life back? Do I want to wake up every morning without having to wonder if today is the day I'm going to die? Do I want the people I love to be safe? Yes. Yes to all of that. And if it's selfish, then I don't care. But I'll tell you something, all of this isn't just about that. About me. It's about every single hybrid murdered within minutes of being born. It's about parents who didn't care what their kids were, they just wanted to keep them al
ive.
"I saw two people die trying to defend their baby. Two people who had done nothing wrong. Who were hardly any older than I am. How is that right? How is any of this right? My friends have been murdered for nothing. Do you understand that? Nothing. Every single life that has been lost because of this awful law about hybrids has been for nothing.
"I'm going to make it stop. No matter what I have to do. And if that endangers the rest of the dragons, the normal dragons, then maybe you deserve it for what you've done to your own kind."
Wow, I was really on a roll, wasn't I? I have no idea where all of this came from, but it felt good saying it. It felt right.
"So to hell with the rest of us, right?" Tony asked. "You don't care what happens to people like me and Sam, so long as you get what you want. You don't care how much blood gets spilled. Sounds like what I'd expect to hear coming from a hybrid."
I sighed. Have you ever felt like something was so hopeless, no matter how you tried, you couldn't change it? That's how I felt trying to talk to Tony. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt. But I have to do the right thing here. And the right thing is giving the hybrids a chance at a life. We're not so different from you."
Tony snorted. "I don't think so."
Hopeless. But still, I tried. "What if it was your kid? Lying there in your arms, looking up at you with those trusting eyes. Would you hand him over to die?"
"It's the law," Tony said. "And I believe it's a good law."
"Of course you do," I said. "So if Sam had a baby and it was a hybrid, and if she decided to run away to save it, you'd be okay with trackers hunting her down and killing her, right?"
Tony's lips parted, but no words came out. I had him there. I could see it in his eyes. Maybe he would be okay letting his own child die, a lot of dragon parents were, but he was not okay with something happening to his sister.
He shook his head. "Sam wouldn't do that."
