Shattered Read Online Free PDF Page A

she exclaimed, a growing realization dawning on her face. “This isn’t the first time you two have snuck out while I’ve been asleep.”
    It wasn’t. In fact, he’d been taking Emmy out to fly almost the entire time they’d been on the run. Something, he told himself, she should be thanking him for. There was no way Emmy would be half as docile as she was if she’d been cooped up in a dark barn all this time. And no one wanted a restless dragon on their hands. It usually ended in something—or more likely some one —getting burned.
    And not in the figurative sense either.
    “Trust me, Trin, it’s no big deal,” he tried again. “We’re always careful. We stay below the tree line. She never leaves my sight.”
    The lies rolled off his tongue, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Where had she gone tonight? Why had she taken off like that? He glanced over at the dragon, narrowing his eyes, trying to demand answers. But Emmy refused to meet his gaze.
    Thanks a lot, Sulfur Breath. See if I do you any favors again.
    Trinity turned to the dragon. “And you! You’ve been going behind my back this whole time?” Caleb could hear her anger was now laced with hurt. “You didn’t even think to tell me?” So much for the happy family reunion. At least he wasn’t to take the entire blame.
    “There you are!” interrupted an all-too-familiar voice, cutting through the night air. Caleb’s shoulders slumped. Oh great. This was getting better and better.
    He turned to see his brother, Connor, the great and glorious Dragon Hunter, fast on approach. His twin had obviously been roused from sleep to help find the missing dragon. He was still wearing plaid flannel pajama pants and evidently hadn’t even had the time to throw on a shirt. Caleb rolled his eyes. His twin never missed an opportunity to “accidentally” show off his perfect washboard abs—especially if Trinity happened to be nearby.
    Connor looked from Trinity to Caleb and back again, his eyes filled with trademark suspicion. “What’s going on?” he demanded.
    “Nothing,” Trin blurted out before Caleb could speak. “We found Emmy. Everything’s okay.”
    Caleb raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear her cover for him. But maybe he shouldn’t have been. After all, she was always trying to serve as peacemaker between him and his twin.
    Not that it really ever worked. Even though the two of them were supposed to be fighting on the same side for the first time in their lives, they still could never manage to agree on anything. Not to mention Connor was always on Caleb’s case about one thing or another. Whatever Caleb tried to do, it was always wrong or not good enough for his hero brother. Half the time he didn’t know why he bothered trying.
    He watched as his twin turned to observe Emmy, who looked back at him with cagy eyes. He stifled a laugh. He secretly enjoyed the fact that Hot Wings still didn’t completely trust Connor, and for good reason too. Once upon a time—not long ago in fact—it had been Connor’s mission to slaughter the poor dragon before she could even hatch from her shell, in an attempt to send her race hurtling back into extinction. And while time and Trinity had managed to soften the hunter’s opinion on the reptile species as a whole and grudgingly allow it to continue its existence on the planet, Connor would never become an Emmy super fan. And vice versa.
    “How did she get out of the barn in the first place?” Connor asked, giving him a suspicious look. “I locked it from the outside before I went to bed.” His eyes roved over the dragon. “And what’s wrong with her arm?” he added.
    “What?” Trinity cried, following his gaze. Her eyes widened and Caleb caught her looking down at her own arm before returning to Emmy. She dropped to her knees before the dragon. It was then that Caleb saw it—a black crust dried over her one soft scale. Dragon blood.
    Uh-oh.
    “Emmy, what happened?” Trinity demanded, reaching