Smoked by Mari Mancusi Page B

effort, Scarlet pushed down her anger and squared her shoulders, firming her resolve. They could think what they wanted…for now. She would prove them wrong. She would raise these baby dragons out of sight, giving them the love and respect they deserved. And when they were grown, she would show them.
    She would show them all.

Chapter Eleven
    â€œHey, honey, everything okay?”
    Trinity shut the door to her father’s work shack behind her, then wandered over to the nearby bench, plopping down onto it and scrubbing her face with her hands. Her father set down the piece of metal he’d been welding and walked over, taking a seat beside her. He reached out, giving her a hand a comforting squeeze.
    â€œWhat happened?” he asked.
    She sighed, giving him a brief rundown of her fight with Connor. “What do you think?” she asked when she’d finished. “Do you think the whole social media campaign is a bad idea? Are we setting ourselves up for disaster?”
    Her father was silent for a moment. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he said at last. “I mean, certainly propaganda campaigns have worked, historically speaking. But they can be tricky beasts. And the public can turn on you just as quickly as they once fell in love with you. If you’re going to go through with this, you’ll have to keep Emmy on a tight leash and really control the message. If she were to be caught on camera, let’s say, doing something she wasn’t supposed to—like the time she landed in the football field—well, suddenly you’d have another witch hunt on your hands.”
    Trinity sighed. “I don’t even know if Emmy will go for any of this. I mean, back in the old days, I’m sure she would have loved the attention, you know? But she’s so different now, so scared and depressed. It’s almost as if she doesn’t even want to be alive.”
    â€œMaybe she doesn’t,” her father said gently. “Remember, sweetie, she didn’t want to be rescued in the first place. And the only reason she’s here now is because you dragged her back against her will.”
    Trinity scowled. “What were we supposed to do?” she demanded, rising to her feet, her stomach twisting in angry knots. “Just leave her out there, unprotected and alone?”
    â€œUnprotected. Alone. But free.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “Sweetie, I know you’ve bent over backward to make this place nice. But to her, well, it might feel like just another cage.”
    Trinity fell back to the bench, craning her neck to stare up at the ceiling. She sucked in a breath. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she knew her father had a point. But still, what choice did they have?
    â€œMaybe the group’s right,” she said with a sigh. “If we can get the public’s approval, maybe we can get Emmy some kind of protected status, so she can finally be free.” She made a face. “It just seems like such a long shot.”
    â€œIt is a long shot,” her dad agreed. “No doubt about that.”
    She groaned. “If only Emmy had just stepped through that stupid time machine you and Virgil made for her when she had the chance. She could be a million years away from the mess, hanging out with other dragons, not a care in the world…”
    Her mind flashed back to that fateful day in her father and Virgil’s lab. She’d been so sad to say good-bye yet so happy that the dragon would finally find the peace she deserved. One step through the time machine and it would have all been over.
    But Emmy had refused to take that step, willingly sacrificing her own happiness to save the boy Trin loved. Trinity had wondered many times since then if Emmy regretted making that decision. In fact, maybe that was the reason she refused to look at Trin now, thinking her a walking, talking reminder of her biggest mistake.
    â€œGod, I