Core (27 page)

Ava let him hold her. She rested her hands on the muscles of his back. He was strong. She knew that. Strong enough to shatter the stocks, strong enough to tear the skin on his wrists by pulling at the iron shackles. Strong enough to fight.

“Everything’s okay now,” Ava said, trying to calm him.

But Cale wasn’t listening. His eyes were slivers, his chest heaving. It didn’t matter that Ava was safe. He wanted vengeance.

Ava turned to Maurice. “How quickly can we get fighters moved out?”

Maurice didn’t answer her. He left the doors of the prison open and stepped out into the middle of the village square. He shouted a few words in dragon tongue and out of nowhere, men and women left their houses and joined him, each with their own dragonblade. 
Of course,
 Ava thought. 
Of course, Great Nest is one big army.
 Even children, no older than thirteen or fourteen, some hardly taller than Maurice, stood with somber faces.

Emaline appeared, still in one of her long white dresses, this time with a blade sheath strapped across her back. Jethro stood behind her, a band of young dragons at attention near him.
His unit. His command. Maurice’s men, all seasoned and gray-headed, gathered behind him.

Emaline nodded at Ava. “Lead us to them, rider,” she said. Ava was amazed at how entirely they trusted her, the human, the Deceiver.

Ava began to run. Her tired muscles, her hunger, were taken over by the thunder of hundreds footsteps behind her. Emaline caught up to her, leading her band of women. Ava had never seen warrior women before. They were beautiful and fierce, their braids tight and their dresses flapping about them.

Ava recalled the way by following the tracks she and the boy had left as they ran. Finally, she heard the sounds of gnashing and wailing. The reds picked up speed, sprinting into battle, their cries making even Ava’s feet shake as she continued forward.

Cale was a monster, slicing and killing as though it was personal. 
It is personal.
 Ava shuddered. She had never seen him so angry, so forceful. Ava jumped right into the pit, rolling into the fall so it didn’t jar her. She sliced through a werefolk’s heart and, with all the strength her arms could muster, swung her blade against its neck. The creature had been feeding on a body.

Ava almost screamed at the sight of Sherwin, his face half-chewed.

There was a rustle behind another dragon corpse, and Ava gasped and readied her blade until the body flopped over and Phillip showed himself with a groan. Ava ran to him. He was bleeding from his forehead, the siren’s purple poison stretching across his face, aiming for his core.

Ava couldn’t help the man, not with war raging around her, so she covered him with the dead body once more. She reached up and pushed her dragonblade into the dirt of the pit’s wall. With a few steps backwards, she ran for the wall, using the blade to hoist herself up far enough to grab the edge.

“Cale,” she shouted, still hanging on to the side of the pit. Cale rushed to her, offering his hand. Ava took it and pulled so that Cale had no choice but to fall into the pit with her. He stumbled, bewildered at her actions.

She uncovered Phillip again
and looked to her dragon. “Help me.”

Cale
grunted as he hoisted the man over his shoulder. Maurice leaned over the pit and called out to some of his men to aid them. He lay down on his belly and reached his little hands into the pit. Maurice’s men grabbed onto his short, boy-sized legs as Cale passed Phillip off to him. They pulled until both Maurice and Phillip were safely out of the hole.

Ava didn’t have to ask permission to swing herself onto Cale’s back. She latched on
to him with her legs and arms and he used the sword she had left in the wall and climbed up with ease. As he leapt over the edge, she reached back and retrieved her weapon.

Ava took a look around once her feet were on the ground again. Sirens shriveled and turned to ash everywhere she turned. She gripped the handle of her blade, her eyes darting, searching for their next target. It wasn’t until Emaline lifted her sword into the air and cried out that the reds of Great Nest raised their own blades in triumph. Ava couldn’t
help but join in. There was a pride in the air that was contagious, as if all of the dragons were one, as if they were all alive for the same purpose–a purpose they’d just fulfilled.

Ava sat down on the ground and sighed relief. The blue dragon was nowhere to be seen, but he would not return to the camp if he had any sense, and, even though he was insane, Ava was sure he had plenty.

Cale didn’t ask questions as he pulled Ava to her feet and lifted her onto his back.

“I can walk fine,” she argued.

“I know you can,” he said. “Just let me be close to you for a few minutes. For my sake.”

So Ava didn’t struggle to get down. She folded her arms around him and leaned her face against his neck. Even after the battle, he smelled like Cale. Like fire and salt and skin. She closed her eyes as he made his way back to Great Nest, his careful steps barely jostling her.

When they reached the fence, Emaline stopped the troops. “Heal your wounded,” she said, making a speech that couldn’t be more red. “Mourn your lost. Tonight, we feast.”

The dragons chorused in agreement, each climbing the fence and parting as they made their ways to their own homes. Cale hesitated, unsure of where he and Ava belonged. As Ava got to her feet, exhaustion coursed its way through her bones.

A wisp of a girl left the Coston house and searched the crowd until she found Cale and Ava. She approached cautiously, stopping in front of them. Tears swam in Juliette’s gentle eyes.

“Forgive me,
rothai,” she whispered.

Cale stepped forward in between the girls, smoke escaping his mouth. His eyes flashed.
  Dangerously. “Keep your hands off her,” he hissed.

Juliette dropped her head, unable to keep the tears from slipping. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I had no choice. Forgive me.”

Ava put a hand on Cale’s arm. “Let me talk to her, Cale.”

Cale’s fury was clear in his sharp eyes. “No.”

“Step aside and let me talk to her.” It was a command.

Cale growled as he took three steps back, his eyes trained on them while Ava moved closer to Juliette.

“I know keeping the blue dragon’s secret was very hard for you,” Ava said.

Juliette looked at Ava in amazement, her eyes wide. “He told you?”

“Sort of. He talks in circles. But when I met your father, I pieced it all together.”

Juliette nodded, looking over to the fence. Her voice sounded far away. “I was walking when he came to me. He told me that he would give my father back if I delivered you to him.
Just you. Alone.” She touched her hand to her forehead in disgrace, tears choking her again. “My father had already been gone for weeks. We’d already had his funeral. If there was even the smallest chance that he was alive….”

Ava put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You should have told me. I would have gone willingly.”

Juliette’s eyes grew even wider, her mouth agape as she saw the truth in Ava’s words. The girl couldn’t find her breath. “You would have done that for me.” Juliette put a soft hand on Ava’s shoulder. “You will be a great rider. If you were not already taken, I would be honored to be yours.” Then she bit her tongue. “Of course, I would never assume you would agree to someone like me.” She looked over at Cale. “He is lucky to have Impressed you.”

Ava didn’t know what to do with the compliment, so she ignored it and beckoned Cale over instead.

“You should forgive her, too” Ava said.

Cale glared at Ava. “No.”

“Cale, she made a mistake.”

“She’s a coward and a liar.”

“So am I,” Ava said. She was too tired to show her usual obstinacy. “You’ve never been a coward, Cale?”

He growled again. He didn’t want to reason. The girl had nearly taken Ava from him. She was pure evil in his eyes. She was his worst enemy.

He grated his teeth. “I won’t kill her, if that makes you feel better,” he said to Ava. “…But I would like to.”

Ava frowned at Cale. “You don’t mean that,” she said.

But the way he was looking at Juliette made Ava nervous. His eyes were on fire, his neck and cheeks crimson, his jaw clenched.

“Go see to your father, Juliette,” Ava said. “And thank him for me.”

Emaline came to them then, the hem of her dress soaked in dark purple and mud. Her face was solemn as she watched Juliette disappear into the Coston hut.

“I take it you will not be staying with the Coston nest,” she said to Cale and Ava. “I cannot blame you. You may rest in my quarters if you’d rather.”

Ava glanced at Cale and his face softened, but only a very little bit. It was a privilege to be asked to stay with Emaline.

Cale and Ava were both surprised that
Emaline’s home was no larger than anyone else’s. In fact, it was almost the same as the Coston house in every way. Ava and Cale took turns in the bath, each eating a meal while the other cleaned the blood off of themselves.

Ava sighed in relief at the mound of berries and the bowl of potatoes and beans she found waiting for her on the blanket in the kitchen. She shoveled the food in and drank all of the milk Emaline had set out for her.

“You have no idea how good it is to eat a solid meal,” she said, beans spilling from her mouth. “Thank you.”

Emaline sat beside her and devoured her own flank of roasted sheep. “Please, thank me for nothing. It was Juliette Coston who told me what you prefer to eat.”

Ava swallowed, remembering what Juliette had done. 
The blue dragon. The pearl.
 “I should tell you about what I found out.”

Emaline held a hand up. “We will speak of it after the feast. We celebrate
our victory first, then we get back to work.”

Ava wanted to explain that it would be harder for her to keep the information inside for an entire night, but Emaline had already tuned her out. When Cale emerged from his bath, Emaline showed them both to the bedroom.

“Rest well,” she said. “My petition has already reached the grey council, I am sure. We hope that your exile will be lifted shortly. And I will wake you when the feast is about to start.”

She let the curtain fall into place before they could thank her. Ava sat gratefully,
then lay down so that her back was against something that wasn’t mud or waste or blood. She sighed. 
This is the softest blanket ever made.

“What is this stuff?” she asked Cale as she ran her hand against the white cloth.

“Dragonthread. Resists flame.”

Ava sighed again and inhaled deeply. Her hair was still wet and her entire person smelled like the orchids that bloomed all over the village, the same flowers the dragons of Great
Nest used in their soap.
Smells like roasted coconut.

Cale sat next to Ava, his legs
crisscrossed, his back straight as a board. Ava frowned at him. “Don’t you want to lie down?”

Cale shook his head curtly. Ava had never seen the side of Cale she had just witnessed. The Cale she knew was sweet.
Undeniably sweet. His laughter was her favorite thing about him. When he’d finished killing sirens in Miami, he’d shaken solemnity away easily. But he wasn’t laughing, wasn’t smiling. His eyes locked onto her as she lay sprawled out. She sat up, and his stare followed her.

“Cale, you can relax. It’s over.”

But he didn’t budge. She had a feeling he’d even sat outside of the bathroom while she was in the basin of water Emaline had provided.

“Cale….” She moved closer and studied him. The veins in his neck were still bulging. He was hardly even breathing. When she put her hand on his, she saw his eyes change, a flash of relief showing
itself for just a second.

She examined his hands, lifting them in her own. The ringed wounds around his wrists hadn’t had a chance to heal yet. The shackles that Maurice had put on him were made of dragonstone and they had cut deep, leaving red, raw grooves in his flesh.

Ava went to the fireplace and lit the candle that sat on the mantel piece. She placed it in front of Cale, fighting the weariness that pulled at her drooping eyelids. She took each of his hands and held them over the candle’s flame. Cale didn’t take his eyes off of her as she healed him. She monitored closely, watching the skin knit itself back together. 
Amazing. My dragon is amazing.

“Feels better, I bet,” she said when she was done.

She set the candle down where he could see it, hoping the sight of the flickering flame would offer him some comfort. She tried to pull Cale toward the blankets, but he wouldn’t move. So Ava released him and stared at his face until she could see what hadn’t been obvious to her before.

There was
fear behind the anger in his eyes. The stony expression hid his pain, but when Ava touched her hand to his face, his eyes flashed again. Relief.

She kneeled in front of him, closer than she normally would. Then she took him in her arms and held on tight. Moments crept by before he could move his arms at all. His hands shook as he put them around her.