Core (12 page)

Out of instinct she didn’t understand, Ava covered her mouth against the black smoke, though she couldn’t for long. With the beast gone, the wind sucked Ava upward and out of the plane. There was nothing for her to hold on to, nothing to keep her from flailing up and into the clouds. She couldn’t even hear herself scream.

Cale gasped, sucking air back into his lungs. He wanted to keep screaming, he wanted to find someplace to hide. But he pulled himself to his feet, his heart still throbbing against his rib cage. 
Where is she?

He raced forward, willing his legs to move faster and faster.

He cried out her name, his voice too hoarse to carry through the roaring wind.

The red dragon held his breath as he moved through the poison smoke. He jumped as high as he could so that the wind tunnel lifted
him out of the plane that was still hurtling to the ground. He searched for her. Though he was only seconds behind her, he knew that the wind current may have moved her too far out of his reach, but Cale refused to let the pressure of the wind close his eyes. 
Please God. Please. Show her to me.

And there she was, falling through the air, her eyes shut tight. Cale tried to swim forward, maneuvering through the air currents to get his body closer to hers. With one last stretch, he grabbed her shirt and pulled her toward him. He put his arms around her as they fell from the sky and he did his best to turn himself so that his back faced the ground. The farther they fell, the warmer the air got. Cale spread himself wide, trying to slow down the fall. He clutched to Ava as tight
ly as he could, pushing them toward the trees. He knew that if they landed on the sand, the collision would kill her. The tip of the tree caught him, and he tumbled down branches hard and fast, wrapping himself around her. And praying.

Then, he met with solid ground, rolling down toward the sea, the life rushing out of his bones and organs. Ava flew from his arms on impact, but Cale could do nothing about it. All that was left of him was a lifeless shell.

A shell, and the steady, slow burn of a red dragon core.

***

Ava took sharp, painful breaths. She willed herself to keep calm, to breathe deeply, to fill her lungs up with the thick, warm air all around her. She knew that when they’d plummeted from the sky, Cale’s body had shielded her until the force of the crash threw her from his arms. She sat up in the white sand and tried to force her eyes to see. Panic seized her, burning her brain. 
Calibrate,
 she told herself. 
Make sure you’re not dying first. You can’t help anyone if you’re dead.

She touched her own head, feeling for blood or fractures. Other than a few scrapes, she was fine. Ava rolled her shoulders and wiggled her toes in her sneakers. She wanted to see her back where she knew the monster had ripped into her skin with its claws, so she took the backpack off. Still, she couldn’t get a good angle on it. It didn’t seem to be bleeding too badly, and she promptly pushed it out of her mind. The adrenaline made it easy for her to ignore the stinging.

“Cale,” her voice came out in a croak at first. She pushed harder, louder. “Cale!”

No answer. She wobbled to her knees as she pushed herself up. The beach was long, white sand meeting sapphire water. On the other side of the shore was dense jungle.

The plane was nowhere to be found. The sky was quiet, silent clouds floating overhead. Ava stumbled along the shore, searching for any sign of him, until finally, she saw a still, still body. The waves lapping around his legs were the only sign of movement. She hurried to him, her feet sinking into the soft sand until she knelt at his side.

He was dead.

She put two fingers to his neck, pushing just below his jaw, hoping for a pulse, even a slight one. But his skin was cool against her touch. Tears choked her, searing her eyes as she tried to hold them back. Ava repositioned her fingers against his neck, again and again.  
Nothing.

She could see the broken bones, some of them jutting from his skin. She knew his spine would be cracked into tiny pieces, his skull dented and fractured, his brain turned to mush from the impact of the
landing. Ava didn’t even understand how 
she’d
 survived it. Even in Cale’s arms, it seemed impossible.

She
tried to give him CPR, even though it was no use. Even if his heart restarted, he’d never survive his injuries.

She wanted to scream something, but no words came to her.
Only anger. Too close. She had let him get too close. And it hurt more than she thought it could.

She stared. She wanted to touch him, to pet his head like she had on the plane.
To hear him growl. To feel his warmth and his careful breathing. To feel safe. She touched her fingertips to his forehead, just barely. It was all she could bear. Hot as her anger, the tears fell one by one, each of them too late. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, she pulled her hand away.

He flinched.

It was barely noticeable, and at first, Ava thought she’d imagined it. Just the slightest tick, the muscles under his eye contracting. Ava covered her mouth to keep the scream from exploding. She touched his forehead, almost laughing, nearly losing her mind. He grew warmer where her fingers met his skin. She cried out with nothing but joy. Nothing but joy and relief.

“I’m here,” she promised him as she tried to catch her breath.

She traced her hands over his body, trying to line his limbs up, trying to match his bones to their ligaments. She had a feeling she was hurting him and in the back of her mind, she remembered health class.
 Don’t move someone with broken bones or you’ll make it worse. 
But Ava ignored that voice and listened to what she thought Karma would say. 
A red dragon can heal. It just takes time.

Ava pressed her fingers against his neck again. She felt it.
The quick, light flicker of a pulse pushing back against her. 
What else?
 Ava thought of Cale, of what he was like when he was alive. 
Warmth.
 She pulled off her sweatshirt and placed it over him, rubbing his arms and legs with her hands. She remembered that more heat escaped through the ears than anywhere else in the body so she decided to cup her hands over his. She hesitated. Blood had dripped from each of Cale’s ears, down into his hair. She covered them anyways, surprised at the heat that she felt on her palms. It was as if everything Karma had told her was starting to make sense.
 He does have a dragon core made of something very, very hot. 
She blinked as the truth became even clearer. 
Made of fire.

Finally, Cale took a breath. It was lopsided, ragged, but a breath. He choked on it, making a gurgling sound as his lungs fought to work again. He took in and let out shallow, quick puffs of air.
And then, his first sound. A groan. It almost broke Ava’s heart. She remembered playing in the guest bedroom of his house and knocking over the lamp. He had said it hurt, though it healed. 
How much is this hurting him now?

She watched and waited, fully focused on him, on every movement, every muscle twitch, until he stopped. He froze. Then he opened his hand and spread his fingers. Ava put her hand in his, relieved to feel a bit of warmth. Cale squeezed her hand in his. He squeezed as tight as he could.

“Ow,” she said, trying to pull away.

But Cale was putting every shred of effort he had into tightening his grip on her. He relaxed,
then squeezed again. A gurgle came from him as he tried to speak, to communicate something.

“Cale, I don’t know what you’re trying to say.” Then she got an idea. She opened her palm and placed his finger against it. “Write it.”

Ava bit her lip in anticipation.
 Maybe he needs something. Maybe I can help him heal faster. 
Cale traced letters into her hand, but the words he was writing didn’t make any sense. Ava swallowed. Suddenly, she noticed how hot the sun was. The pain in her back grew with every minute.

“Cale, you have to write in English.”

He groaned, like it would be too difficult for him to do. 
Of course, red tongue comes naturally to him.
 It hadn’t clicked in Ava’s head that English was Cale’s second language. His third, if the Anders’ homemade linguistics counted.

“I know it’s hard, Cale. But try.
English.”

He started again, his fingertip moving across her palm.

“B-l-a-d….”

“Blade?”
Ava swallowed and dabbed the sweat off her forehead.

Great.
He probably wants me to cut him open or something. Whatever happened to penicillin?
 Ava retrieved the backpack, surprised at how much it hurt her to move her left arm or to bend at the waist. 
Stupid flying beast got me good.

“Okay, I have it,” she said. She pressed the little stone on top, and the blade popped out. It was the last of their dragonblades. She’d lost the other one in the belly of the black creature.
“Now what?”

Cale didn’t ha
ve time to answer her. The sound that came from the wall of trees was not a comforting one. It was a fierce, desperate snarl. It made Ava’s blood chill. She stood, facing the trees, trying to find where it had come from.

A boy
stepped out of the bushes. He was so handsome it made Ava stall. No older than Cale, shirtless, dark hair hanging in his eyes. He smiled at Ava, one of the most enticing gestures she’d ever seen.

“Umm… Hi,” Ava said, surprised at how her breath caught in her throat. Suddenly, she felt like a teenaged girl.
 
Ava you’re embarrassing yourself. Pull it together
. “Hello,” she said again.

As soon as the word left her mouth, she realized that she was somewhere in South America. No one spoke English, most likely, and she’d have to rely on high school Spani
sh to communicate. “Por favor… yo necesito ayuda…por mi amigo.”

The boy
observed Cale, his face expressionless.  Then he looked up to Ava, his eyes lingering. “He is your friend?” His voice sounded like chocolate.

Ava nodded, relieved that he spoke English, bewildered at the effect the man had on her. “Yes, he’s my friend. And he’s hurt pretty badly.”

The boy looked at them both again and frowned at Ava, his perfect lips turning downward ever so slightly. “Your lover?”

His word choice was strange
. 
But maybe that’s how he learned English.
 “No, not my boyfriend,” Ava shook her head. “Just my friend.”

The man looked delighted, his dark eyes lighting up. “Rider,” he said, as if he’d guessed the right answer on a test.
“And your dragon.”

Ava froze.
 
How did he know that?
 “No,” she said, though she wasn’t sure why she was denying it. “Just my friend. Hardly friends even. We just met a few days ago.”

The man stepped toward her, his head tilted. He licked his lips.
“Your lover?”

There was something about the way he said the words that made Ava nervous, afraid.
Like he hated the idea of them being together.

“I already said 'no'.”

The man moved even closer. “Your dragon, then. It must be one or the other. You seem so…close. A beautiful thing.” But he sneered as he said it, moving still nearer. “Ava. Is that your name?” He smiled, but his eyes revealed contempt. “It is a beautiful name. I will sing for you…Ava.”

“Stay where you are,” Ava said, taking a step back.

Fear wasn’t always bad. It was a signal, a warning, self-preservation. Ava listened to it. She brought the blade to life, showing it off, letting the sun glint off of it. “Go away.”

The boy
smiled, revealing his white teeth. “Stay where I am or go away?” He blinked, still moving toward her, still smiling. His voice was even sweeter. “A deal then. I will just take one of you. I will take your dragon and leave you in peace. And I will sing for you. Just give me him.”

Ava moved so she stood between the intrusive man and Cale, who was still trying to breathe on the ground. “I’ll kill you,” she warned.

She’d never killed anything in her life. The thought of it took her breath away. 
Can I kill some stranger? 
She swallowed, suddenly desperate. 
No. The answer is no.

The boy
gave one last smile before it melted off his face and turned into a grimace. By the time Ava recognized the necklace around his neck, it was too late. He sprang forward, his smooth, tan skin giving way to thick bristles of hair, his handsome face mutating into a snout. Talons grew from his fingers and, still on two feet, he threw himself at Ava. She screamed as the wolf-man lunged, but it wasn’t aiming for her. It wanted Cale.

Ava cried out, rushing onto its back and sinking the dragonblade into it. It threw her off, still focused on Cale, until she tackled it to the ground. It flipped so that it was on top, pinning her to the ground. It opened its mouth, fangs and saliva spreading before her eyes. She was in her bedroom again, the nightfolk pressing toward her. But the injuries she’d inflicted on the wolf beast did nothing to slow it down.