Chapter Forty Six
“Amelia?” her mouth popped open as she stared at the halfblooded air dragon. The girl looked at her with scared, brown eyes. She didn’t recognize Austin, but she was definitely that girl who had made those amazing cupcakes not too long ago.
“How do you know my name?” she asked, her voice small, “Are you one of the executioners?”
“We prefer to be called superheroes,” Austin shrugged. The door to Amelia’s plastic cell rattled, and the small girl jumped.
“Are we going, or what?” Dustin asked, widening the crack he had made with his knife. He jammed his knife back into the hinges to the door, “Stand back.”
He gave the door a powerful kick and smiled as he stood in the doorway, “Yo.”
Amelia looked from him to Austin, recognition lighting up her eyes, “I know who you are.”
“Do you now?” Austin took Amelia’s hand in hers.
“You’re the girl who tried my desserts,” Amelia said, “And you’re that girl’s boyfriend.”
“He’s not my-“ Austin’s face flamed, and a series of coughs interrupted her sentence.
“Shut up,” Dustin’s tanned cheeks reddened as he looked at the girl. He peered around the corner and ushered them through until they had reached a small window. He unlocked it and Austin went through first so that she could help Amelia out. Dustin crawled out smoothly.
“Are you blushing?” she asked, stepping forwards. He was.
“No,” he said, blushing even more.
“How are you two not together yet?” Amelia asked.
“Shut up,” Austin ordered, and turned to Dustin again, “Why are you blushing?”
She needed to know why.
A shout interrupted what Dustin was about to say, if he was about to say anything. One of the guards shouted, “The chaos dragon is escaping!”
“Two chaos dragons, actually,” Dustin laughed, slamming the window shut. He looked at the two people in front of him and quickly said, “Austin take my knife.”
She did as he said, taking it out of his belt, just as he picked up Amelia. He slung her over his shoulder and started to run along the rooftops. She followed his lead, just taking care not to fall. Amelia stayed amazingly pliant as they ran, manageable even when they scaled down a building’s fire escape. People gave them room, sensing that they were dangerous. Some even cheered.
“They’re helping the air dragon!” a skinny man yelled, spreading the news. The crowd split into two, some trying to stop them and some helping clear a path. A man in a guard uniform charged them, his hands already out to grab Amelia. Without thinking, Austin slashed at him, and he jumped back. A few earth and fire dragons jumped him, tackling the guard to the ground. Another took his place.
“We’ll never make it to the public portals,” Dustin said, clenching his teeth as they ran. Amelia stiffened at his words.
“Kai has one. He sends his trash to it,” she remembered, “It goes to Boston.”
“Perfect, but we’ll never make it there, either,” he informed her bitterly. He didn’t let his words slow him down. If anything, he quickened his pace, “There are too many people. Why are there so many people?”
The optimistic part of her said that there was definitely a chance –no matter how small- that they could make it to a portal. They just had to get away somehow. They could climb a fire escape and go from there. They could do it.
The realistic part of her knew that they wouldn’t be fast enough for that. With Amelia slung over his shoulder, Dustin was slow. He would never be able to scale anything—not even a ladder. They would be even slower if he put Amelia down. She was in near hysterics, and she was near starving.
“You’ll make it,” she promised him. She was making this a habit; whenever she was around Dustin, she seemed to make rash decisions, “Both of you will.”
But this one was necessary. She was already convinced of it.
Dustin stared at her, his dragon eyes wide with disbelief. She gave him a half smile—one that she had adopted from him. It was a smile that could defy all odds.
“I am the chaos Halfling,” she screamed, splitting off from them. The crowd took her word for it, too confused to question it, and the crowd shifted around her as she ran in the complete opposite direction. She tossed her head over her shoulder and watched as Dustin and Amelia disappeared into a side street, only a few people following them. Dustin could outrun them.
She ran. Familiar faces filled the crowd. A man with a long beard, one that had complimented her for taking a stand on storyteller prejudice, fought to help her escape. He was the only familiar face in the crowd until she saw Sage, spinning as she took down rioters. Sage gave her a steady nod. When they got to a narrow street, Sage skillfully held back the crowd.
Austin twisted and turned through streets she had been in only once before, getting more lost with every step she took. Eventually, she tripped, partially hidden by a discarded wooden board. She spat as she gasped for air, picking herself up once again.
She heard a loud click, like the sound a disposable camera makes when it takes a picture. She’d heard the sound only once before, but that was enough to know that it wasn’t a camera. It was the safety of a gun being taken off.
“What a surprise,” Aiden said.
Fledgling Page 47
