Shattered Read Online Free PDF

for the dragon’s paw. Emmy snorted, batting Trinity’s hand away with her snout before backing out of reach, giving her mistress an accusatory look. Still annoyed at being yelled at, he supposed. Trinity gave the dragon an unhappy look then turned back to the boys.
    “What did she say?” Caleb asked worriedly.
    “She says she doesn’t know what happened,” Trinity replied, not sounding like she believed it for a second. And for good reason. Dragon scales were tough—they could withstand bullets even—so it wasn’t like she could have just caught one on a branch or something and had it tear away. She locked her gaze on him. “Do you?”
    He squirmed, not sure what to say. He’d just told her Emmy never left his sight. To admit he didn’t know what had happened to her would mean admitting the dragon had taken off on him. Which would mean admitting he’d made a foolish decision to take her out in the first place. He wasn’t about to go there—not in front of his brother anyway. The last thing he needed was to give Connor more ammunition to use against him.
    He already had plenty.
    “So it was you who let her out, wasn’t it?” Connor concluded, storming toward him with marked aggression. “Caleb, we’ve talked about this. A hundred times in fact. Emmy cannot leave the barn! Ever!”
    “No, you talked about it,” Caleb blurted back, allowing his anger at his brother’s self-righteousness to drown out his rising guilt. After all, Connor didn’t give a crap about Emmy. The only reason he wanted her alive was because killing her meant Trinity dying too. And the oh so noble knight in shining dragon scale couldn’t stomach the idea of murdering his very own damsel in distress. “I told you it was a stupid idea from the beginning!”
    He glanced over at Emmy, praying she’d back him up on this. “I mean just look at her!” he added. “She’s a dragon—an intelligent, magical creature—not some pet you can just coop up inside and expect to piss in a litter box.”
    Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Trinity wince and he regretted being so crass. But he was on a roll now, and the words kept tumbling from his lips.
    “What was the point of rescuing her anyway, if you’re going to just let her rot away in a barn for the rest of her life? Seriously, she would have been better off with the Dracken. At least they knew how to treat her with the respect she deserves.”
    Trinity gave him a horrified look. “That’s not fair,” she protested.
    “No, none of this is fair,” he volleyed back, unable to stop himself now. “Not to poor Emmy anyway. You say you care about her? Well, maybe you should start showing it.”
    And with that, he stormed off, leaving them behind, heading back to the house with hurried steps. He could feel Trinity reaching out to him with her mind, desperate to continue the conversation, but he quickly slammed down the walls, shutting her out of his head. He didn’t want to hear her excuses. He’d tried to do something good—something noble even—to aid the dragon that everyone was supposedly so gung ho to save. And as usual, all he got was grief for his troubles.
    He stomped into the farmhouse and up the stairs to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Gut-wrenching fury tore at him as he paced the floor, over and over until he became half-convinced he’d wear a hole right through it. A few minutes later, he heard voices outside and stole an involuntary look out the window, immediately wishing he hadn’t. Connor and Trinity stood outside the barn—evidently having locked Emmy back inside—and were whispering to one another in urgent voices he couldn’t quite make out. He scowled, standing there, powerless to turn away.
    She always took Connor’s side. Always listened to him. Always took his advice. They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to be working together. But no matter how hard Caleb tried, somehow he always ended up the odd man out.
    He