Mari Mancusi - Scorched

And so she told him, starting with the burning town and the dying people, and ending with the small green dragon coming in for a landing.

“She said her name was Emberlyn—Emmy, just like my mother—and that I was the one to name her that. Which is ridiculous, right? I mean why on Earth would I be going around naming dragons? Naming dragons after my dead mother, I might add? And then she said something else weird. She said I was…” She trailed off, catching Connor’s grim expression. “What?”

“This is worse than I thought,” he declared. “The dragon is gaining strength and reaching out to you through your bond. She must have yanked you out of the vision I sent you—and dragged you into the Nether so she could talk to you.”

“The Nether?”

Connor bit his lower lip. “It’s a place beyond space and time, existing in the collective unconsciousness of all dragons.” He raked a frustrated hand through his hair. “This is all my fault—I should have never opened you up like that to receive my send. But I never imagined she would already be powerful enough to intervene.”

Trinity stared at him, more confused than ever. “So wait,” she said. “You’re saying that this dragon here, inside this egg, somehow hijacked your vision and dragged me into some magical dragon world so she and I could have a little meet and greet?”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but that’s the idea.”

“But why would she do that? What does she want with me?” She thought back to Emmy’s words and shivered.

We are destined…

“Most dragon eggs can hatch on their own without the aid of humans,” Connor explained. “But certain dragons—queen dragons, often—attempt to bond with a selected human before they’re born. It gives them an added level of protection from Hunters like me.” He looked down at his hands. “Your bond with Emmy began back at the museum, when you first pulled her from the exhibit case.”

She stared at him, unease crawling across her skin. “So that’s why you told me not to touch the egg.”

“I thought maybe I could save you from it all. Let you live a normal life. But now it’s too late. Emmy has touched you and the bond between you will only grow. She’ll use that bond to convince you to help her. To save her life.”

Trinity stared at the bag containing the egg, remembering how tempted she’d been to touch it. To hold it in her arms. To trace it with her fingertips. Had the dragon been silently luring her under its spell all along, hoping to convince her to help it hatch and destroy the world? The thought was revolting.

“Well, don’t worry,” she declared. “I’m not about to play mother to a dragon. Not after I saw what the beasts are capable of.” Her mind flashed to the town square, engulfed in flames. The children’s screams. The burning flesh. So much senseless death. The end of the world itself—all sparked by this one egg. There was absolutely no bond on Earth that was going to convince her to save this disgusting thing.

She turned to Connor. “I want to help,” she declared. “Whatever needs to be done to keep dragons extinct—I’m your girl.”

Connor didn’t answer, pulling the egg from his bag and turning it in his hands. Trin flexed her fingers uneasily, the compulsion to touch it once again burning through her like a fever. She wondered if she should mention the urge to Connor but decided against it. He might decide she was too far gone to help him and she didn’t want to be left out.

“Judging from its transparency, I’d say we have about a week before it hatches,” he told her. “We’ll need to find a way to destroy it by then. The sooner the better.”

She gave the egg a dubious look. “Couldn’t we just…I don’t know…smash it?”

“It’s not that simple. Dragon eggs are pretty much unbreakable,” he informed her. “Harder than diamonds. But we can try to burn it.” He looked up at her hopefully. “I don’t suppose you have any spare plutonium?”

“Um, no. Sorry. Not exactly something they stock at the local Wal-Mart.”

“Right.” He pressed his lips together. “Well, then we’re going to have to go with the alternative.”

“Which is?”

He seemed to consider this. “A volcano perhaps. If we can drop the egg into an active volcano, the lava should be hot enough to destroy it.”

“Oh-kay.” She considered this for a moment. “But wait,” she said, a thought coming to her.

Connor looked at her questioningly.

“If we destroy the egg,” she said, “won’t that…I don’t know… cancel out your own world? I mean I saw Back to the Future . If we succeed, will you start to disappear?”

She meant the question as a kind of half joke and was surprised at the uneasiness she felt after she voiced it. What if he did just disappear? Vanished into thin air, never to be seen again? The thought disturbed her more than she wanted to admit.

Thankfully, Connor shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. My timeline has already been established. There’s no way to alter that. But by destroying the egg, we can set your world on an alternate timeline. One that doesn’t end in apocalypse.”

She furrowed her brow. The quantum mechanics were making her head hurt. “So you can’t go back then,” she realized aloud, “because in the new alternate future, you wouldn’t exist.”

He nodded.

“Dude, that’s rough,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I knew what I was getting myself into when I accepted the mission,” he assured her. “We have to do whatever we can to save the human race. Even if it means sacrificing ourselves.” He paused, then added in a whisper, “Sacrifice one to save the world,” as if it were some kind of mantra.

Trinity opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by her phone. She jerked, glancing at Connor. Pulling the phone from her pocket, her eyes widened as she read the unfamiliar telephone number on the caller ID.

“Hello?” she answered hesitantly after putting the phone to her ear. After all, it could be anyone. The government agents. Sheriff Bob…

“Trinity! Where are you?”

“Grandpa!” She leapt from her seat, gripping the receiver tightly in her hand. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I was worried about you . I only left the house for a short time—I was opening up a package with my pocket knife when your damn cat jumped out at me, knocking over the Chinese food. I managed to slice up my hand pretty good and decided to head over to the clinic to make sure I didn’t need stitches. I’m sorry I didn’t leave a note. I figured I’d still beat you home.”

Trinity swallowed hard, remembering the bloody knife. What she’d imagined…

“Unfortunately they took forever—evidently Christmas Eve is one of their busiest nights. When I finally got out, I swung back to the museum to see if you needed a ride, but the whole place was barricaded by police tape. They told me there was a break-in and someone had been shot and killed.” His voice trembled. “My first thought was it had been you.”

Trinity closed her eyes. It certainly could have been, had it not been for Connor. “Where are you now?” she asked.

“I’m still at the Denny’s across the street. The police told me to stay put so they could send someone over. Evidently there are some government agents in town who want to question me about the break-in. The police are trying to get a hold of them now but they’re not answering their phones.”

No. They were a little tied up at the moment, Trinity thought grimly. “Listen to me, Grandpa,” she said in a tight voice. “Something’s happened. I can’t explain over the phone, but I need you to get out of there. Use the back door if you have to. Pretend you’re going to the bathroom or something. Whatever you have to do—just leave.”