Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4)

by Dune, Kyra

  “Are we so sure Megara is the answer?” Zack asked. His eyes narrowed. “She could kill us as easy as a hunter would.”

  Oh, no. I didn’t need the two of them getting into it on top of everything else. I really hated playing referee. “If Megara wanted me dead, then she could have killed me the last time we met. But she didn’t. I think...” I knew he wasn’t going to like this, but I felt as if I had to say it anyway. “I think last time she was actually trying to protect me from you.”

  Zack’s jaw tightened. I can’t even tell you how much I wished I could take my words back. I hadn’t said them meaning to hurt his feelings, but it was a stupid thing to say anyway. Reminding him that when we met he was part of the plot that was meant to end with me dead was not a good way to show how I felt about him.

  “I didn’t mean--”

  He walked out the door. I sighed, propping my elbow up on the table and resting my head in my hand. “Is this day over yet?”

  Derek rested his hand on my shoulder. “You look exhausted. Why don’t you go take a nap?”

  “Yeah, maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea.” And maybe when I woke up it would be a better day.

  The cabin’s bedroom didn’t actually have any beds in it, so some of the first things bought in town were sleeping bags which we had laid out in a row on the floor. Not the most comfortable of sleeping arrangements, but it wasn’t like we had much of a choice. I still felt bad about Brandy stealing money from her parents but I don’t think we could have survived if she hadn’t.

  I crawled into my sleeping bag with every intention of taking a nap. Instead, I found myself staring at the wall and thinking of things I’d rather not think about. Like Kyle, dead in California. Like Trudy and Steve, who, even if they had made it back to Arizona, could be in a world of trouble right then. And the ones who were still with me weren’t much better off. It was like everything I touched fell apart.

  The bedroom door opened and I closed my eyes. Hopefully whoever it was would think I was asleep and go away. No such luck.

  “Abby?” Derek spoke my name with soft hesitation. “Are you really sleeping? Because if you aren’t, then I’d like to talk to you.”

  I rolled over onto my back. “I’m awake.”

  Derek came over to sit beside me on Brandy’s sleeping bag. “Things were a little tense in there.”

  “I know.” I turned my head so I was looking at the ceiling rather than him. “Brandy and Hannah can’t be in the same room for five minutes without going at it.”

  “Abby.”

  “What?” I asked, even though I knew it wasn’t Brandy and Hannah he was talking about.

  “You can talk to me, you know,” he said. “Maybe we haven’t known each other all that long but I am your brother and I want to look after you the way a brother is supposed to. So if Zack said something, or did something...”

  Yeah, he kissed me and then acted like it never happened. “Like what?”

  “I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking. I don’t understand why he’s here. He hates me, and he has a right to after what I did, but he doesn’t seem to like anybody else any better. So why is he doing this? Why is he helping us? Why go renegade and throw his life away for you? I don’t trust his motives. Hannah I get. She’s a little crazy and she thinks this is some kind of adventure. But not him. He makes no sense.”

  I latched on to him mentioning Hannah to steer the conversation away from Zack. “But you’re wrong about Hannah. She isn’t here for the adventure.” I bit my lip. I was about to give away a very dark secret that wasn’t mine to give and all for the most selfish of purposes. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway.

  I looked over and met Derek’s gaze. “Her little brother was a hybrid. When she was eight, she watched them drown him in the bathroom sink.”

  “Oh, god.” He ran a hand across his face. “This thing with the hybrids is so sick. If they would give them a chance instead of letting themselves be ruled by fear--”

  “Then we wouldn’t be here trying to find somebody who probably wants to kill us,” I said. “And our parents would still be alive.”

  Derek stared down at his hands. “So would Zack’s mom.”

  I laid my hand on his leg. “You can’t beat yourself up forever about that. It was an accident.”

  “But she’s just as dead.” He heaved a sigh. “Hey, I thought you said you didn’t believe Megara wanted to kill you.”

  “What do I know? Maybe it’s wishful thinking, hoping she’ll help. Maybe it won’t even matter if she does. I can’t see any light at the end of this tunnel. Not when both sides of my family think I’m some kind of freak that deserves to die.”

  “Those people aren’t your family,” he said. “We are. All of us right here.”

  “Right.” I laughed. “A lovely, dysfunctional little family like on a sitcom. Yippy.” Man, this conversation was getting depressing. “Speaking of our 'family,' what’s up with you and Brandy?”

  “Me and Brandy?” He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “You guys are spending a lot of time together,” I said. “I know Brandy can be wound a little tight and she’s still dealing with what happened to Kyle, but if you guys are... I don’t know... If you like each other, then I want you to know I’d be more than cool with that. You’d be good for her.”

  “No. No, it’s not like that,” Derek said. “I feel bad for her is all. We’re friends. Nothing more. I mean... She’s sixteen. A kid. Besides, and I wasn’t really going to tell you this right now but I guess I kind of have to, I’m engaged.”

  “You’re what?” I sat up so fast I would have knocked heads with him if he’d been a few inches closer. “Why didn’t you tell me before? What’s her name?”

  “Her name is Stephanie,” he said. “And I didn’t say anything because... I guess because it didn’t seem all that important in light of everything that’s going on. She’s the reason I found out you were still alive.”

  “She’s a spirit dragon?”

  “Yeah.”

  My heart sank. “And you left her behind with your clan so you could come and find me.”

  “She understood,” he said. “She knew how important it was to me to get you safe.”

  “And you haven’t seen her in all this time.” Not a question, since I obviously knew the answer. “Have you even called her?”

  “No.”

  “Derek.” I swatted his arm. “Why not?”

  “Since I left home I’ve been chasing you, trapped in a corn crib, or running for my life. I didn’t have a lot of time in-between for making phone calls.”

  I shook my head. “Not good enough. We’ve been here a long time, are you telling me there’s not one phone in town you could use to call her?”

  “It’s not that. It’s...” He sighed. “She might be mad at me by now, for not getting in touch with her. Maybe she won’t want to hear from me.”

  “Oh, she’s mad all right, you can bet on that,” I said. “But if she loves you enough to want to marry you, then she loves you enough to want to know you’re still alive. If you don’t call her and let her ream you out, then how is she supposed to have a chance to forgive you?”

  He chuckled. “You might have a point.”

  “Of course I do. I’m a girl. We understand these kinds of things.”

  “How do I explain why I haven’t called?”

  “That’s got to be up to you,” I said. “Let her scream at you for awhile, and then let her know how sorry you are. Tell her what happened at the compound, she can’t fault you for that. And you’ll get sympathy points.”

  Derek squeezed my hand. “You’re getting to be pretty good at this sister thing.”

  “I try. Hey, Brandy said something last night about going into town today to get supplies. You should go too and call Stephanie.” And then I had a completely selfish thought. “You could take Hannah and Curtis with you.”

  “And leave you here alone with Zack? I don’t think so.”r />
  But alone with Zack was exactly what I wanted to be. We needed to talk and we couldn’t do that as long as everybody else was hanging around. “He’s a battle trained tracker. And I’m getting pretty good at using my powers. I think we can handle it if something happens. Not that I think it’s going to.”

  “I’ll be happy to take Curtis, but not Hannah. She attracts way too much attention in town. Besides, I trust her more than Zack. I’d feel better if she stayed with you.”

  “What, exactly, is it you think Zack is going to do?” I asked. “I know all this isn’t about you being worried he can’t protect me. We both know he’s a better killer than anybody here. So what is it? Why are you so worried about us being alone?”

  Derek started to say something, then didn’t. He stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. He looked at the floor and then at the wall. “He... He’s dangerous. A killer, like you said. And he... Well, he hates me. I’m sure he’d like to hurt me for what happened to his mother. What better way to do that then... then to go after my little sister?”

  “What do you mean by ‘go after’?”

  “Ah, come on Abby. You know exactly what I mean.”

  It took me a second before my brain clicked on what he was getting at. A rush of heat rose up through my chest into my throat. “So that’s why you’re always asking me if he said or did something.”

  I stood up too, so we could be eye to eye, more or less. Derek was taller than I was even face to face, but sitting on the floor while he loomed over me made me feel about five years old. “Zack has never done anything like what you’re thinking.”

  Okay, I know, I was lying to my brother. But it wasn’t a complete lie. He wasn’t talking about a kiss or a touch the way Zack had kissed me. He was talking about Zack trying to hurt me and that had never happened. I mean, sure, I was hurting inside from the way he kept trying to pretend nothing had happened between us, but it’s not the same thing, okay? Stop looking at me like that.

  “I could use a little peace and quiet,” I said. “I won’t get that with Hannah here. Please, Derek? I promise you, Zack is not going to hurt me.”

  He made a face. “All right. But I don’t like it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now take a nap. We’ll leave after you wake up. I don’t want you dozing off while everybody is gone.”

  “Okay, big brother.” We smiled at each other. It was kind of annoying being treated like a kid, but it was a little nice as well. Nice to know he cared about me even though we’d missed so much time together.

  After he left, I laid back down but it still wasn’t easy to fall asleep. Now my mind was spinning around trying to think of what I was going to say to Zack once everybody left. I’d meant what I said to Hannah about making things weird, but it was getting too hard to deal with. Even if he didn’t like me, even if a kiss was nothing but a kiss, it had to be better knowing for sure one way or the other. Right?

  CHAPTER TWO

  All right, I admit it. I’m a coward. Derek and the others had been gone for over an hour and I still hadn’t worked up the nerve to talk to Zack. He was prowling around outside but that was really no good excuse. I could have gone out there to him. But I hadn’t.

  Can you blame me, really? I’d never been in a position where I wanted to tell a boy I was in love with him. How do you even start a conversation like that in the situation we were in? I’m no expert on relationships, but I figure most people are an actual couple before they start saying things like that. Me and Zack had only kissed once. We’d never been on anything even remotely resembling a date. And for all I knew, he didn’t even like me that way. Maybe everything I thought had passed between us was all in my head.

  Zack walked through the front door and before I could have a chance to talk myself out of it, I spoke up. “Hey, do you have a minute?”

  “For what?”

  I opened my mouth and nothing came out. How was I supposed to say what I needed to say while he was standing there glowering at me? “Nothing,” I muttered, looking down at the table. “Never mind.”

  He made an annoyed sound. “Look, if you have something to say to me, then say it. I don’t have all day to stand around waiting on you. Somebody has to keep an eye out for trackers and I seem to be the only person who cares to do it.”

  My head snapped up. I glared at him. “You’re a jerk.” Not the best way to start off trying to tell a guy you're in love with him but the tone in his voice had hit me all wrong. “You’re rude and egotistical and... and mean. And not half as cute as you think you are.”

  He raised a brow. “I’m so glad I hung around for that. If you’re done...” He started toward the back door.

  “I’m not done.” I pushed back the chair and stood up. “I need to say something to you. We need to talk about...” I licked my lips. “About what’s going on between us.”

  He stopped, tension written across the tightness in his shoulders. “We don’t have anything going on between us that needs talking about.”

  I almost let him get away with it. He had his hand on the doorknob. I could have let it drop. But it was too hard to keep going on this way. “You kissed me. You can’t pretend it never happened.”

  “I thought that’s exactly what we've been doing.”

  “No, it’s what you’ve been doing. And it’s driving me crazy. So you tell me, right here, right now, that our kiss didn’t mean anything to you. That you don’t feel anything for me. Tell me. Because I can’t stand not knowing. If you don’t... if there’s nothing...” Man, this was even harder than I thought it was going to be. “The least you could do is tell me to my face.”

  Zack turned around and nothing in his eyes made me believe I was going to like whatever he was about to say. “Don’t you think we have enough to deal with without adding this?”

  I have to admit, my resolve to keep pressing him was seriously wavering. But I’d started this and I was determined to see it through. “Just tell me.”

  “What do you want me to say?” Zack asked. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. It was a mistake. Does that make you feel better? Are you happy now?”

  My lips trembled but I was not going to cry. No. Not that. “So why did you kiss me then, if it was a mistake?”

  “I don’t know.” He ran both hands back through his hair. I don’t think he even knew he was doing it. “I got caught up in a moment. I wasn’t thinking straight. You and me... That would never work. Your brother hates me and the feeling is entirely mutual. Don’t you think if there were an ‘us’ it would put you in a weird position with him?”

  “Oh, no you don’t.” I took a step toward him. “You do not get to put this off like you’re trying to protect me from something. I don’t care how you feel about Derek or how he feels about you. I want to know how you feel about me.”

  “I...” He frowned. “Did you hear that?”

  I made a face. “Don’t try to--”

  “Shh. I’m serious. I heard something.”

  With my hands on my hips and my lips pursed, I waited, listening. “I don’t hear--”

  “Don’t argue, just get over here.” His eyes told me he wasn’t trying to put me off. Something was wrong.

  I walked the rest of the way to him. “What is it?” I felt kind of silly whispering, but it seemed like a situation that called for it. “What did you hear?”

  “I don’t know.” He edged away from the backdoor. “Maybe it was the others coming back.”

  Yeah, right. If that was what he really thought he wouldn’t be acting the way he was. “What do we do?”

  “You stay out of sight.” Zack took me firmly by the shoulders and pressed me to the wall. “Don’t move.” He scooted to the edge of the window to peek out.

  I bit my lower lip and tried to control my breathing. Panic was not going to help. But I was really wishing I hadn’t sent Derek and Hannah to town. “Do you see anything?”

  “No. But--” The entire wall imploded and
a gust of wind whipped into the cabin, lifting Zack off his feet and flinging him into the far wall.

  I twisted away to avoid getting blasted by bits of wood and glass. The sound of the explosion rang in my ears in the sudden silence that followed. I took two gulping breaths, then lowered my hands from in front of my face and looked for Zack.

  He was lying on the floor. Not moving. From where I was I couldn’t tell whether or not he was breathing. A scream rose up in the back of my throat but I choked it back down. I didn’t want whoever was outside to know where I was.

  “Everybody in the cabin, come on out now.” A vaguely familiar voice with a southern accent called out. “You won’t be hurt unless we have to come in after you.”

  “A little late for that,” I muttered. My mind raced as I tried to think of some way to get both myself and Zack out of this situation without getting us killed or captured. Nothing was coming to me.

  “Abigail? I know you don’t want a fight,” the man said. “And you don’t want your friends getting hurt. So talk Zack down from whatever he’s thinking and come on out. Let’s talk face to face.”

  I dropped my head back against the wall. I knew going out there would be stupid, but all I kept thinking was how this guy might have a fire dragon with him. And the idea of having the cabin set on fire with me and Zack trapped inside was worse than anything else I could imagine.

  “Okay, I’m coming out.”

  “Zack first.”

  “That’ll be kind of hard seeing as how your air dragon blasted him into the wall. He’s either unconscious or...” I had to swallow past a knot in my throat. “Or dead. Either way, he’s not going anywhere.”