Smoked by Mari Mancusi

blanket, staring at him with worried eyes. She’d changed into a thin, flowered sundress for their date and had let loose her hair so it fell forward, a cascade of dark curls framing her heart-shaped face. She looked so stunning, silhouetted in the moonlight, like a fairy princess from a storybook. But Connor couldn’t concentrate on her beauty—not tonight.
    He’d planned this romantic picnic for the two of them weeks ago, to commemorate the eight-month anniversary of the two of them being together. But after having sat through the Team Dragon group meeting earlier that day, he no longer felt much like celebrating.
    â€œSorry,” he said, poking at his uneaten food with his fork. “I’m just…thinking, I guess.”
    â€œAbout what went down at the meeting?”
    He nodded.
    â€œYou don’t think it’s a good idea, do you?” Trin asked, peering at him with concern in her eyes.
    â€œNo.” He looked up, surprised she’d even phrase it as a question. “I don’t. Of course I don’t. How could I? I’ve told you a thousand times I don’t want those Dracken kids involved in any of this. It was bad enough they were along for the rescue, though I understand it was the only way to make it happen. But now…” He shook his head. “You’ve just basically given them carte blanche to start running the show around here—literally. From now on, they’ll be controlling the message. We’ll be totally at their mercy.”
    â€œConnor, don’t you think you’re overstating things a bit?” Trin argued gently. “I mean, they’re just trying to help. To get people to see that dragons aren’t these evil creatures out to destroy the world.”
    â€œThat’s exactly my point!” Connor cried. “I don’t want people thinking that dragons are just some kind of overgrown lap dogs. Hell, that’s what got us in trouble the first time around. And when the dragons did turn on us, we weren’t ready.”
    â€œBut there are no dragons plural this time,” Trin protested. “There’s only Emmy. And even you have to agree that Emmy isn’t a threat to anyone.”
    â€œDon’t forget—even Emmy has killed her fair share. Though I guess, to her credit, they were mostly the so-called bad guys. She does seem to want to do the right thing. But…” He trailed off but held up his hand to stop her from interjecting. “It would be naive to assume she’ll always be the world’s last dragon.”
    Trinity frowned. “What?”
    â€œThink about it,” Connor said. “She was in that government lab for six months. Plenty of time for them for take DNA samples and whatever else they might need. Sure, they might not have the technology to clone a dragon yet, but we know for a fact that in ten short years, they will.”
    He drew in a breath. “For all we know, they’re working on it now, as we speak, figuring out a way to clone and breed these weapons of mass destruction. If we go ahead with our ‘Dragons are awesome’ PR campaign, everyone will start assuming all dragons are just like Emmy. Next thing you know, we’ll have some radical animal rights group breaking into the government lab and setting these hybrid monsters on the world.”
    â€œThat’s quite a lot of conjecture, Connor.”
    â€œNo.” He shook his head angrily. “It’s not. Don’t you see? It’s not conjecture at all. It’s history. My world’s history.” He raked a hand through his hair, frustrated. “God, sometimes I feel like flecking Cassandra from one of those Greek myths. I keep telling you all what’s going to happen from my own personal experience, and yet somehow you all continue to exist in this fantasy world where dragons are cuddly puppy dogs, not world-destroying monsters.”
    â€œConnor…” Her