Core (16 page)

“How is it that you have not one scratch on you?” Ava asked.

Onna’s tanned skin was flawless, not a bruise on her, not a dent. The last time Ava had seen her, she had a bloody lip and a welt on her cheekbone the size of Ava’s fist. In fact, Ava was still recovering from the damage Onna had done to her.

“Have you never heard of a fire bath?” Onna asked harshly.

“Oh of course. But we humans prefer acid showers.”

Onna ignored Ava’s sarcasm as she examined her nails, making sure all the blood was off them. “So what words did Mac use exactly?” she asked.

Ava frowned at her, reluctant to answer. 
She just wants in on the drama.

Onna licked her fingers again. “Trust me, it matters.”

Ava sighed and thought of the Anders’ living room, of Mac glaring into Cale’s eyes. “He said Cale had to choose. Then, when Cale chose me, he told him to get out. That he had one less son.”

Onna winced. “It came to that, huh?
Sucks for Cale.”

That’s it?
Sucks for Cale?
 “How do we undo it?” Ava asked. She knew her voice sounded hard. She couldn’t help it. 
Somehow, this is all my fault.

“You can’t undo it. Cale defied his father and chose you over his nest. It’s over.
Forever. He’s got no family now, thanks to you.” She shook her head. “I’d understand if you were some impressive specimen. But seriously, you’re just some girl. Maybe if Cale wasn’t so stubborn.” She sighed and bit into another piece of the red meat. “But he’s always been obstinate. Even more than Rory. And now he’s exiled on top of it all.”

The exile.
 Ava had almost forgotten about it. Somehow, Cale’s name was associated with disrupting the balance of the world. She wasn’t confused about how she became the Deceiver. That part was obvious enough. She had tricked that werefolk siren in Peru, and he’d lived to talk about it. News spread fast in the siren world. Cale said so himself. Fame drove sirens crazy. The more they talked about her, the more sirens hated her, and the more they talked about her again. 
But why would they attack a dragon nest looking for me?

She pushed sirens out of her head.
 
This isn’t about me. It’s about Cale. It’s about clearing his name. 
“Onna, how do we get this exile thing lifted?”

Onna looked to the ceiling, kicking her leg listlessly as she thought. “Not sure. I’ve never known anyone who upset the balance enough to get exiled.”

Ava chewed on her bottom lip. 
Think, Ava. Who could we talk to?
 “What about someone in Chimbote? Maybe they could help.”

Onna tilted her head back, and her hair brushed against the counter top, slipping over her perfect shoulders.
 
She really is gorgeous.
 Ava had a feeling that Onna could get any red dragon she wanted, from anywhere in the world. But the one that she had her heart set on was the only one who didn’t return the affection. 
It must drive her crazy
. It was strange to Ava, too. Both Lena and Onna were perfect. But Cale didn’t seem to want either.

“Not Chimbote,” Onna said, shaking her head so that her hair swirled around her. “Maybe Great Nest, though.”

“What’s Great Nest?”

Onna rolled her eyes at Ava. “You really know nothing. It’s where the red council lives.
Where all red dragons came from since the beginning of time. Our place of origin.”

Ava stood up straighter.
“Of course. So you think that the red council can get the exile revoked?” She paused. “Or we could go straight to the grey people or whatever they’re called.”

Onna laughed wildly.
“The grey court? That’s insanity. They’ll execute him for sure. Besides, you can’t just go there. You have to be taken there.”

By one of those big freakish black dragons?
No, thank you.
 Ava chewed on her fingernail. “Okay, so not the grey court. We’ll try the red council, then. How far is it from here?” She remembered Cale mentioning its location, but that seemed so long ago.

“Ireland,” Onna said casually, like it was two blocks down and not an ocean away.

Ava could only sigh
. Details later.
 Her first goal was to get Cale functioning again.

She picked up her backpack and headed to the room Cale was hiding out in. She opened the door and had to pause.
 
The O’Hara’s must make good money.
 The room was exquisitely decorated. Black and ivory and gold everywhere Ava looked, from the shimmering drapes to the lush black carpet.

Cale was face down on the bed, unmoving, just as he had been on the sidewalk outside of his house. It hardly even looked like he was breathing. Ava climbed onto the bed next to him without hesitation, amazed at how quickly her back had healed from Santiago’s concoction.

“We have a plan to get your name cleared,” she said, trying to spike his curiosity.

Cale had his face pressed into the pillow. He didn’t make a sound.

“Roll over,” Ava said.

Cale listened reluctantly, looking up at Ava with empty eyes.

“I know this isn’t really allowed,” she said.

She opened up the backpack and re
ached inside until she felt it–the piece of leather Cale had given her in Peru. She opened the pouch so she could look at the feather. As she lifted it, she admired its lightness between her fingers.

“I told you it wasn’t even a rock,” Ava said as she showed it to Cale. “I picked it because…” she stalled. It was difficult to explain why she’d been so drawn to
it. “Because I believed you–what you said on the plane.”

She lay down next to him and twirled the feather above their heads. Then, she dipped it to the left, swooped it around to the right again, pretending that the wind was tugging at it. Finally, she let it hover, like it was floating.

Cale watched for a moment before he put his hand on Ava’s shoulder. He traced his way slowly upward, gliding his fingers against the soft skin of her arm, against her wrist, until he reached the feather pressed between her fingers. He moved with her, first left, angling the feather as if he was adjusting to air currents. Then right, twisting it to ride the wind, until finally, he settled in the middle. He stopped there, letting it soar.

He took the feather from Ava and rolled over onto his side so that he could see her face. He touched her nose with it, traced her eyes until it tickled. Ava liked when he was playful. It made her feel lighter inside. His happiness rubbed off on her much more than even Lena’s did.

“You know, you could leave all this behind,” he said, his voice soft once more. “No more being afraid, no more fighting. No exile or black dragons. You could be done with me.”

Ava chuckled at him. Then she gave him a smile.
A real, genuine smile that made his core burn hotter.

“I would die for you, Cale.” And she meant it.

He smiled back at her and Ava laughed. 
The best dragon God has ever made. Hands down. No argument.

Cale leaned back onto the pillows, one arm behind his head. He twirled the feather in a circle, studying it with glittering eyes. “A plan, huh?”

Eleven

Clout

Cale paced through the O’Hara’s living room with his chin tucked down, his eyes roving the floor as he thought. Onna watched him go in his circles like a cat eyeing a ball of yarn until Cale gave up with a sigh and collapsed onto the sofa next to Ava. They had spent all day trying to figure out the details of the plan.

“Go to Ireland. Convince the red council to meet with us. Convince them to petition
the grey court to clear my name. Convince them to sign off on the pact, making Ava and I official dragon and rider.”

Cale had said it a dozen times, but still he was met with silence. They couldn’t even get past the first step.

“It’ll cost seven hundred dollars each for us to fly to Ireland, even with all of Dana’s frequent flyer miles,” Ava said.

Cale absentmindedly wrapped the tip of his finger in Ava’s curls. His rider was brainstorming so hard, she didn’t notice.

“All we have is five hundred. We can’t even afford one ticket.” She chewed on her fingernail. “I could ask someone to lend us some.” If it was something she needed for herself, Ava would never even consider it. But to clear Cale’s name….

Cale readjusted, narrowing his eyes at her. “Tell me you don’t mean that guy.”

Ava blushed a little bit, but squared her shoulders. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

“Absolutely not, Ava.”

She jerked her chin at him. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Ava, I’m serious.” He sat up, reached out and touched her shoulder. “Promise me.”

Miriam looked up from the jigsaw puzzle she’d been working on. The pieces were sprinkled all over the glass coffee table. She hadn’t gotten very far.

“What guy?” she asked. “You don’t mean Jim, do you?”

Ava shot Cale a “don’t you dare say anything” look, and he scowled back at her. He knew better than to talk about it in front of Miriam. Ava would never forgive him.

“No, not Jim,” Ava said.

She reached for the glass of water that sat on the coffee table. The condensation was dripping down the sides, ruining Miriam’s cardboard puzzle pieces. Ava wiped the table off with her sweatshirt sleeve. “I could try to set up a match, maybe. I usually get a couple hundred dollars if I win.”

“That would take forever,” Miriam said without looking up. She was only half paying attention, her concentration stolen by the stock photo of the flower field on the puzzle box.

Onna and Cale exchanged looks over Ava’s head. “What about the Pit?” Onna asked. “The prize is five hundred.”

Ava sat forward, her eyes wide.
“Five hundred dollars? That’s crazy money.”

Cale shook his head. “I’d need Rory to fight with me. And I can’t ask him to do that. Not if his father finds out.”

Ava couldn’t believe how quickly Cale was learning to disassociate himself with his father. He referred to him as “Mac” or “their father” or “him.” It made her heart hurt for him every time, but she could tell he was doing it on purpose, getting used to thinking of it that way.

“We’ll do it.”

The voice came from the front door. Myra leaned against the frame, her slender body hardly taking up any space in the doorway at all.

“No way, Myra,” Onna said. “We already decided against it this year. Besides, if I win, I’m keeping the money.” Onna crossed her arms over her chest. “And since when do you care what happens to Cale?”

The sound of the screen door opening and closing. Cameron Anders appeared behind Myra, two duffel bags over his shoulder. He didn’t enter the room. Instead he stood behind Myra, dropping the bags to the floor.

“I don’t care what happens to Cale,” Myra said with a shrug that tossed her blonde hair off her shoulders. “We’re only doing it because he asked me too.” She jutted her chin toward Cameron.

“All of a sudden the calculator has a say in this?” Onna put her feet up on the chair she was sitting in. She scowled. “What’s he doing here, anyway?”

“We’re
fighting it,” Myra said firmly. “End of story.”

Onna’s mouth snapped shut. Her face grew red as she glared at her sister, but she didn’t say more.

“What 
are
 you doing here, Cameron?” Cale asked.

Cameron was motionless. In fact, Ava hadn’t realized before how still the blue dragons liked to stay.
 His eyes swept the room carefully before they landed on Cale.

“I left,” he said smoothly.
Like it was no big deal.

Cale stood up. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“It is clear to both you and me that Mac hardly counts me as one of his sons. And Karma thought it wise for me to leave, anyways. Things were not well for me there.” 

Cameron moved so that he was closer to Myra. She looked up from beneath her lashes, a hint of a smile on her lips. It was the closest Ava had ever seen her come to looking pleased. Cameron’s gaze fixed to hers. He still looked to her as he spoke.

“Myra tells me you are planning a trip to Ireland?”

“We’re trying to, at least,” Cale replied. “It’s not going so great.”

“I would like to come along.”

Onna pouted.
“For what?”

“There is a monastery there that interests me.”

“You want to be a monk?” Ava asked, wrinkling her nose. She couldn’t imagine Cameron chanting and fasting in some dingy dungeon.

“Not the kind you think,” Cale said quickly. “It’s a blue dragon thing.”
As if that explained it. He turned back to Cameron. “You think it would suit you better than the academy?”

Cameron almost smiled. “Anything suits me better than the academy.”

Cale chuckled. In the back of his mind, he knew it was selfish to let Cameron throw away his relationship with Mac. Still, he fought the urge to hug his brother, knowing it would be nothing to Cameron but an irritation.

“And Myra?”
Cale asked her. “This is all okay with you?”

He’d known Myra for just as long as he’d been friends with Onna. Nothing pleased her. She looked at Cameron, reached out and tugged him by the shirt so that he moved closer to her, his chest resting against her shoulder as she leaned in the doorway.

“He wants to go,” she said to Cale without turning away from Cameron. “And he won’t leave without you.”

Onna’s face twisted in horror as she made the connection that the others had seen the minute they stood together. “How long has this been g
oing on?” she half-yelled. “Myra, why didn’t you tell me?”

Myra shrugged at her sister as she twisted her arm around Cameron’s back. The two were remarkably relaxed, as if they stood that way all the time.

“Myra,” Onna said again. “How long?”

Myra sighed. “I don’t know.
Years. Since we were about thirteen,” Myra said. “And I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t have wanted to know.”

Cale grinned at Cameron.
“Not bad, Cam.”

It was a very red dragon thing to say. Ava remembered Sean’s similar remark to Cale as he eyed her down at the Cave the night of the dance. Cameron didn’t return the smile, but he didn’t seem offended by the comment, red as it was.

Onna stood up, her eyes still wide. “We need to talk,” she said to Myra.

Myra rolled her eyes as she left Cameron’s side. The twins made their way to Onna’s bedroom, leaving Ava and the brothers alone in the living room. Ava cleared her throat.

“I’m…going for a run,” she said causally, hoping Cale would be too preoccupied with Cameron and Myra’s affair to hear her.

He clutched her wrist before she could sneak away. “Nice try,” he said.

“I’m a big girl, Cale. I’ll take a dragonblade.”

“The fact that you feel like you should take a weapon tells me you shouldn’t go out by yourself. Not with sirens on the hunt.”

Ava sighed and snatched her hand away from him. “Fine. I’ll go run in place in my room.”

She made sure Cale heard her slam the door to the bedroom, just so he knew she wasn’t happy. Cale smiled and shook his head. Cameron sat down in the chair opposite Cale.

Cale studied his brother’s face for a while, giving him a chance to do the same to him, respecting his desire to analyze before speaking.

“Thank you for helping me, Cam,” Cale finally said.

“I owe you,” Cameron answered.

“No, you don’t.”

Cameron sat back in his chair, still examining his older brother. “When I study you, I understand myself better. I think I am more like you than anyone I’ve ever met. Only the opposite of you.”

Cale nodded. He knew exactly what Cameron meant. And he also knew that his brother had been lying. “You didn’t tell your mom you were leaving, did you?”

Cameron looked down at his hands, only for a quarter of a second, enough for Cale to know that he felt guilt. “She would have been upset,” he confessed.

“Of course she would. You’re her favorite.”

Cameron paused, his deep eyes roving Cale’s hard face. “She is very sad that you’re gone as well, Cale.” He said it too carefully. Slowly. “Very sad.”

Cale didn’t believe Cameron, not because he thought he was lying, but because he knew his mother too well to accept that it might be true. Her actions toward Cale always seemed to be out of obligation or for the sake of research.
Because it was rational to take care of her son, the continuation of her genetic makeup. Because she’d made a vow on her wedding day.

It was no secret that Karma had only been allowed to marry Mac for research’s sake. The academy asked her to choose a race. She chose him. It wasn’t love. The sons she bore him were born out of duty.
  And Cale felt it every time she looked at him.

“Your mother won’t be the only one upset that you left,” Cale said, shifting the tangent of the subject a few degrees.

Anger flashed in Cameron, the bit of red that ran through his veins showing itself within the well of his eyes. It was gone as soon as it had come. Cale couldn’t blame him for being angry at Mac. Their father had never even tried to understand his youngest son.

“I believe you’ve chosen your rider illogically,” Cameron said, changing the subject right back to Cale.

Cale smiled at their little game. He remembered the first time he had caught on to one of them. Subtle and quick and, in a strange way, exciting. So different than the bouts of wrestling with Rory. Just as good.

Cale knew Cameron wasn’t insulting Ava or bashing his choice. He was stating fact as he believed it to be so. It was blue, but Cale understood. He couldn’t count how many times Rory and Mac had flown into rage because of Cameron’s observations. It happened so often that Cameron had learned to keep quiet. But with Cale, he could speak without condemnation. It was a reserved sort of freedom.

“I do like her,” Cameron added. “She suits you.”

Cale’s smile was phenomenally wide.
“Finally, someone with some sense.”

Cameron stood up and walked to the kitchen. “I’m hungry,” he said. It was his way of explaining to Cale that he wasn’t trying to be rude by walking away mid conversation.

“I don’t think they have anything for you here,” Cale said from the couch.

The O’Hara's weren’t like the Anders'. They were all reds, all young. The place would be filled with meat, water, and nothing else.

“Myra hides it for me,” he said, digging through the freezer.

He pulled out a frozen sliver of salmon, no more than a few inches long,
and Cale looked away as Cameron slipped it into his mouth and chewed carefully. When he spoke, his mouth was still full. “You know you’ll need clout for the red council to even consider meeting with you, right?”

Cale sighed and ran a hand through is dark hair. “I’m not exactly favored right now, Cameron.”

Cameron was still chewing. That bite of salmon would take him a month’s time to digest. “You’re precisely the opposite of favored. But perhaps we can make that work to your advantage.”

***

The O’Hara sisters looked spectacular. Their smoky makeup, their gravity-defying heels, their skinny jeans and dangling earrings. Ava felt particularly plain in her sweatshirt and ripped jeans. Somehow, Onna had wiggled in between Cale and Ava in the backseat of Dana’s car. Myra and Cameron claimed the front, both quiet as Myra drove.

Ava examined Onna shamelessly
. If she wants attention, she’s going to get it.
 Onna’s hair was braided to the side, but her tattoo peeked out, bright red grooves and indentations against the smooth skin on her chest.

“What does the tattoo mean?” Ava asked, gesturing to it.

Cale pointedly turned his attention to the cars whizzing by outside of his window. To Ava’s surprise Onna blushed crimson. She gave no answer. Instead, she looked straight ahead and pretended she hadn’t heard. So Ava leaned forward in her seat.

“Cameron, what’s the tattoo about? Do all reds have one?”