They’re quite a pair, he thought as he followed Trin’s guardian to his parked car. So devoted to one another. Ready to risk everything to keep one another safe. He tried to imagine what it must be like to have someone like that in his life. Someone who cared more about him than even the end of the world.
Of course, his father had once. And he’d died because of it.
He firmed his resolve. In the end, nothing had changed. His mission was still on, still vitally important to the survival of the world. And if Trinity didn’t believe him? If she refused to go along with the plan they’d made? Well, that made her his enemy. Just like his brother.
Don’t give up on her, Connor.
He started at the sudden thought slamming into his brain. No, not just a thought—a push. A powerful push. So strong that even he, with all his training, had to fight to keep it from lodging into his consciousness. He looked around, wondering where on Earth it could have come from. After all there were no—
He stopped short, catching Trinity’s grandpa squeezing his eyes shut, as if he were in sudden pain.
“Did you…um…say something?” Connor stammered, searching his deeply lined face.
The old man’s eyes snapped back to the road, but not before Connor caught a flash of guilt cross his face.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he muttered. “Now, are you ready to go or what?”
But you do, Connor thought excitedly. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
Aloud he said, “Yes, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Her grandfather grunted and pulled out of the parking lot, the car’s tires screeching as he turned onto the street. As they drove down the road, toward Trin’s last known whereabouts, the sharp push came again.
She’s worth fighting for. She’s worth everything.
Chapter Twenty-Four
If you’d asked Trinity what she thought Dracken Headquarters would look like, she probably would have guessed like something out of a sci-fi movie—deep in the desert with watchtowers and electric fences, maybe a few landmines littered along the way. Not to mention the requisite men with machine guns, high-tech security gates—all the stuff that was supposed to go along with any self-respecting top-secret military operation. So she was quite surprised when Caleb directed her to pull off the highway and into the parking lot of a seemingly abandoned shopping mall instead.
“We’re here,” he announced, gesturing for her to stop the truck and put it into park. “Home sweet home at long last.”
“Um.” She looked around doubtfully. “This is it? This is Dracken Headquarters?”
The Nevada mall sprawled out before them had presumably seen better days. The store signs were crumbling, and colorful graffiti had been splashed over almost every available surface. Tall weeds poked defiantly from cracks in the pavement, and the sidewalks were lined with rusty shopping carts from days gone by.
Caleb looked at her with piercing eyes. “Is something wrong?”
Trinity shook her head. “Sorry, I guess I just didn’t expect the secret headquarters of a dragon-worshipping sect from the future to have a JCPenney.”
He snorted. “The actual mall went bankrupt five years ago, princess, after a developer built an open-air shopping center a few miles down the road. The Dracken were able to scoop it up cheap. It’s actually the perfect home base if you think about it. Lots of space. Lots of bathrooms. They’ve spent the last two years converting it. The outside’s just to scare off the tourists. Wait till you see what’s beyond the front doors.”
He shot her an excited grin; he’d been in a good mood all morning, becoming more and more animated the closer they got to their destination. As if he couldn’t wait to introduce her to his world and his friends. She, on the other hand, felt more than a little apprehensive about the impending meet-and-greet with the Dracken. Unfortunately she had little choice in the matter. While Caleb didn’t treat her as a prisoner, he also wasn’t about to let her go.
They parked the car and headed into the mall’s main entrance, Caleb triggering some kind of special sensor at the door that pricked his finger and matched his DNA before unlocking and swinging open. As he gallantly suggested “ladies first,” Trin gathered her nerve and stepped into the belly of the beast.
The two-story mall was dimly lit and more than a little dusty, the entryway caked with cobwebs and littered with debris. Just more props to scare away potential intruders, Trin wondered, or were the Dracken simply lousy housekeepers?
At first glance, the place seemed deserted. At the same time, she got the uneasy feeling of being watched as their footsteps echoed down the hall—by a hundred pairs of unseen eyes. The whole thing was unnerving to say the least. Even more so when the doors behind them clanked shut with a booming crash, effectively sealing them in.
“What, no welcoming party?” she managed to joke, shoving the fear down her throat. “You’d think for the Fire Kissed they’d at least spring for a few balloons. Maybe some chips and dip?”
Caleb smirked. “Just wait, princess,” he replied. “You’ll get all the welcome you want. And then some.”
Sure enough, not a moment later, Trin caught a mop of blond curls poking over the mall’s second floor railing. “He’s back!” the girl shouted, her voice echoing through the empty corridors. “Hey, guys! Caleb’s back!”
The mall sprang to life, dozens of people spilling out in every direction, rushing toward them with wild abandon. Soon Trinity found herself completely engulfed in a sea of excited faces, all babbling over one another, trying to get her attention.
“You’re here!”
“You’re finally here!”
“We’ve been waiting so long!”
“We’ve been dying to meet you!”
“Where’s the egg? Has she hatched yet? Did you bring the dragon?”
Overwhelmed, Trin took a hesitant step back, shooting Caleb a “help me” glance. He laughed, then clapped his hands together loudly.
“Hey, hey! Back up!” he commanded the crowd. “Let the poor girl breathe.” As the multitude sheepishly complied, he turned to Trin. “Guess I should have warned you,” he said with a sly grin. “You’re a bit of a legend here.”
Trinity’s eyes darted around the crowd, trying to take it all in. The group standing before her appeared to be all kids around her own age, dressed identically in navy blue sweats, white T-shirts, and matching tennis shoes. But the similarities ended there. Some were tall; some were short. Some were athletic, while others were fat or thin. Male and female, fair-skinned and dark—seemingly from every country under the sun. As if someone had managed to gather up an entire teenage United Nations under one roof.
“Are these the Dracken?” she asked hesitantly. “Are they all from the future?” The idea that all these kids had traveled back in time together was hard to believe.
Caleb shook his head. “These are the Potentials,” he explained. “All from your time.”
“Potentials?”
“Potential Dragon Guardians,” he clarified. “For the last two years the Dracken have been busy combing the world, looking for kids born with the gift. The ones they find are brought here to be tested. If they pass their initial trials, they’re initiated into the organization. Eventually each one will be assigned a dragon to bring back to his or her country. It’s the best way to make sure everyone gets to enjoy the dragons’ gifts in a peaceful, ordered way.”