Page 28 of Smoke

“You’re an expert now. Is that it? You know everything and the rest of us know nothing?”

“Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down.”

For a while, the only sound was that of my heavy breathing and the Jeep’s engine as we rolled on through the darkness. Only our headlights and those from the cars passing in the opposite direction lit the night. Maybe she would drop it. If she was smart, she would. Didn’t she know enough about dragons to know there was a limit to how far others could push us before we pushed back?

Her voice was barely a whisper when she spoke again. “I’m sorry things have been tough for you two, is all.”

“Thanks for that, but it doesn’t make things any better.”

“I’m trying to find her for both of us. You know that, right?”

“It’s irrelevant,” I argued. “She’s not mine. She can’t be. It can’t ever happen—why can’t you both understand that?”

“I’m sorry, then. I was under the mistaken impression that we were looking for her so we could bring her back with us. Wasn’t that the plan? When did you change your mind?”

“I didn’t. I mean, it wasn’t. Oh, hell, I don’t know. You’ll never understand how this is tearing me apart. On the one hand, I have her. On the other hand, I have my family and my duty. Which do I choose? I lose no matter which way I go.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Yes, necessarily. I wish you would stop acting like you have any idea what you’re talking about.”

“Are you forgetting the fact that I had to leave my clan to be with Pierce?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I mean, I had a duty to them, too. My father was our leader. I was expected to step into a leadership position when I came of age—for us, it’s when biological age reaches twenty-five years. We don’t age as slowly as you, but we do age slowly. Anyway, I had to turn my back on that. I turned my back on my sister, which was an even bigger deal for me. We’re all we’ve had since we lost our parents. It wasn’t easy for me, Smoke.”

“What are you saying? That I should turn my back on my family for her sake?”

“No, not at all. You’re safer when you’re together. But you could still have spoken up for yourself, if only for her sake. Those are the sorts of things a person has to do when something bigger is at stake.”

My dragon agreed with her. I could feel it and t had to be a first: my dragon agreeing with an outsider on anything.

“It was five-to-one, Jasmine. The time to have an argument about it with the family wasn’t while we were in front of her.”

“It would’ve been five-to-two,” she argued. “I would’ve stood by you. And I bet I could’ve gotten Pierce on our side, too.”

“Enough!” I slammed a palm into the wheel, making her gasp and press herself against her door.

She had never seen me lose my temper—not many people ever had. I could count five others, and they all looked a lot like me.

“I’m sick and tired of you telling me what I could’ve done, what I should’ve done. I did what I had to do, and I don’t care if you went through doubts about leaving your clan because your situation just isn’t the same as it was for me. It never will be. Mind your own business and focus on finding your sister.”

I turned north without asking, since the direction we’d been going wasn’t getting us anywhere but further away from Roanoke and the mountains. Alina wouldn’t have gone that far away if she was planning on finding us. But was she? Did Jasmine have a clue what she was talking about?

A few miles passed before we were back in the heart of civilization, but still on the outskirts of town. High rises glowed in the distance, like stars against the night sky. And, of course, the road leading to it was lined on either side with neon lights. Another stretch of potential places for Alina to spend the night.

I took a deep breath and made a left turn with the intention of getting started.

“Wait.” Jasmine put a hand on my arm. “She’s close.”

I didn’t want to believe it. I was afraid of getting my hopes up. “You’re sure?”

“I would bet my life on it. Everything I’ve felt so far has been foggy, slippery, unsure. But this is strong. It’s like she’s right here in the car with her. I can almost feel her.” Only it was my arm she was squeezing for dear life.

“Which way?” I couldn’t keep my heart from racing at the thought that this could be it, we could find her. We might be minutes away.

Her head swiveled back and forth. “I don’t know. When you turned left, the feeling got stronger. It’s even stronger now. Keep going. If it gets weaker, I’ll know we went too far.”

So I did, fighting the urge to fly down the road so we could get to Alina faster. Jasmine needed me to take it slow so she could feel and direct me. I drove as slowly as I could get away with moving on a fairly busy four-lane road. All the while I stole glances at her, waiting for a signal.

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