Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) (21 page)

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Authors: Kyra Dune

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Don’t
be afraid. I’ve got you.
Zack’s voice in my ear and his battle training pulling
me back from the edge. Would I have burned myself out if he hadn’t stopped me?
I don’t know for sure, but I think there’s a good chance the answer is yes.

“You’re
wrong.” I said. “He was trying to help. He saved me.” Even after all Hannah said,
even with pure logic telling me otherwise, I believed that. Maybe he betrayed
us. Maybe he gave away the secret entrance. Maybe he was as much to blame as I
was for all the death. But he saved my life. Of that, I had no doubt.

“I saw it
with my own eyes,” Derek said. “He attacked you. If I hadn’t been there with my
fire to stop him, he would have killed you.”

“Did
you...” I had to swallow. My mouth had gone dry. “Did you kill him?” Maybe I
shouldn’t have cared. But I did. I cared a lot.

“No. But I wish I had.” Never before had I seen
my brother’s face so hard. “He ran and I was too worried about you to follow.
But if I ever see him again, I’ll finish the job. That’s for sure.”

Zack
being alive brought on too many confused emotions. I pressed my hands to my
eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Okay.” I
felt him get up off the bed. “You rest. I’ll come check on you later. Oh,
someone has been waiting to see you. Do you feel up to a couple more minutes?”

“Sure.” I
dropped my hands to my lap.

Derek
opened the door to the small room and spoke to someone outside. “Don’t stay too
long. She’s tired.”

When he
was gone I expected to see Jonah, or maybe even Megara. If they were still
alive. Instead, it was Luka who came into the room. Seeing him there with his
hands behind his back and this sad look in his only served to sharpen my pain.
But it was no more than I deserved.

“Hey,” he
said.

A smile
wobbled across my lips. “Hey. I’m glad to see you’re not hurt.”

“You
wouldn’t say that if I had my shirt off.” He sounded almost like himself, but
not quite. “I got thrown into a tree. My ribs are a fantastic shade of purple.
But I’ll live.” His voice wavered a bit. “I’m glad you’re okay too and I wanted
to say thank you. For helping Serene.”

“Don’t
thank me,” I said. Which was probably harsh, since he couldn’t possibly know I
was responsible for Bailey’s death. Nobody knew. And nobody was ever going to
know. “It’s... just don’t, okay?”

Confusion
crossed his face, but he didn’t press the issue. I was grateful for that. “I
know you’re tired, so I won’t hang around. But I have something for you.” Luka
brought his hands out from behind his back. And in one of them was Curtis'
camcorder.

It was
like being punched in the gut. I opened my mouth, but I had no words. Tears, so
far denied me, came now with no warning. I didn’t want to look at that thing. I
certainly didn’t want to touch it. Just having it in the room was almost more than
I could stand.

I turned
my head. “You keep it.”

“No. I
can’t. Curtis...” He had to take a moment before he could go on. “The movie he
was making is for you. It’s
about
you.”

“What?” I
looked up at him. “I don’t... He showed me part of it back in California. It’s
not about me.”

“He
showed you a few unedited clips is all. He told me. Besides, I was helping with
it so I should know. It was meant to be a birthday present. A year in your
life. Only, now it won’t get finished.” Luka’s eyes swam with tears. “But you
should have it anyway.”

I
couldn’t take it from him. I couldn’t even move. I guess Luka understood,
because he sat the camcorder on the bed beside me. “He really loved you, you
know. He told me after his parents were killed, you were the only reason he
held it together. I just... I thought you should know.” By the time he left the
room, Luka was crying.

The door
was shut. I was all alone. I sat staring down at the camcorder. It looked so
strange lying there, instead of in my cousin’s hand where I was more used to
seeing it. The thought of watching the movie terrified me. Part of it was
knowing how hard it would be to see my friends all together, alive and smiling.
But mostly I knew coming to that last frame, knowing it would never be
finished, having to really come to grips with Curtis being dead, would be too
much. I thought it might tear up whatever was still left of me.

But then
I thought, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe if I watched it, I could wrap
myself up in the guilt and the pain and find it in me to finish what I started
in that clearing. End it all.

It was a
terrible thought, I know. But my world was shattered and there were so many
sharp edges to jab at me. It wasn’t over. They’d come after me again and again.
More people would die. And for what? How much easier to let it all go.

I picked
up the camcorder. It was so cold in my hand. My finger hovered over the power
button as my heart stood on the brink of a choice. Give up or go on? Was it
possible to make all the death count for something? Could I ever pay for what
I’d done? Could I change the world? Did I even have it in me to try?

I closed
my eyes and imagined how it would be if Brandy was standing in front of me,
hearing me say the things I was thinking. The way she would roll her eyes and
shake her head. “Don’t be so ridiculous,” I imagined her saying. “Giving up
without seeing something all the way through is hardly a viable option. How can
you possibly know what will happen?”

Her voice
in my head made me smile a little. And Curtis. “This is a superhero
movie," he'd say, "and you’re the star. Movie can’t end until you
save the world. Those are the rules.”

I
laughed, surprising myself. I wouldn’t have thought I had a laugh left in me.
“Okay,” I whispered, setting the camcorder on the table beside the bed. The
movie wasn’t ready for me to watch. It wasn’t finished yet. And neither was I.

**********************************************************

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kyra Dune was born in
Oklahoma, but spent most of her life travelling with her family. She is the
author of more than two dozen fantasy novels, including:
Shadow of the Dragon,
Elfblood
,
and
Firebrand.
As a child, her favorite
stories were those that told of ordinary children being whisked away to magical
lands. She has yet to find her own secret wardrobe or rabbit hole, but she
hasn’t given up the search. Yo
u never know what might be
waiting over the next rainbow.