I struggled against Kalepe, although it did nothing but leave me feeling bruised. Finally deciding he wasn’t actually going to squeeze me to death right then and there, I stopped fighting and let him fly me away. At this point, I’d prefer anywhere over being in the same room with Kory. I hate him! If Blake doesn’t make him pay for all he’s done, I will. Thinking of Blake, my heart throbbed. What had Kory’s goons done to him while he’d messed around with me?
I cleared my throat. Trying to be heard over the roar of air surrounding us, I shouted out, “Kalepe!”
The dark, enormous head turned to peer down at me. He said nothing, but I knew he’d heard me at least.
“Where’s Blake? Is he… okay?” I asked. When he didn’t say anything, panic shot through me. “Kalepe, he didn’t do anything wrong! He just came to check on me!”
Again no answer, just black eyes peering down at me with the strangest of expressions. It wasn’t exactly hostility I sensed, more curiosity. I could only hope some part of Kalepe could still be reasoned with. Being alone with him now, flying, this felt like my only hope.
“Please,” I cried, my voice breaking as tears sprung to my eyes, “Please tell me Kory didn’t turn you into a real monster… a murderer.”
A deep rumble came from Kalepe’s chest as he said, “He’s not dead.” I couldn’t stop the sob that racked through me as the reality of almost losing Blake crashed down on me. Of all the places to have a breakdown! I should be acting strong—in control. Instead, I’m bawling on a bug’s shoulder…
Kalepe’s eyes glanced down at me for a second, and then he was back to navigating through the thick trees we’d entered. I sniffed back my tears, peering around. I wasn’t too surprised to see the squat, stucco building up ahead. Kory had said to put Blake with the unchanged Defenders. Just hope that doesn’t literally mean in their cages.
Since the building wasn’t large, it didn’t take us long to fly down the short corridor that led to the open room with one entire wall made of glass. Kalepe didn’t stop to gaze at the Defenders still hooked up to IVs, just continued to where the unchanged Defenders still sat, caged up, waiting their turns.
He veered to the right. Within seconds, the metal door loomed before us. Even though Kalepe had said Blake wasn’t dead, bloody and mutilated were still very real possibilities. My insides constricted, nerves tightening the muscles across my neck and shoulders as Kalepe gave the door a push with one monstrous palm. The weight of the door was no obstacle for him and swung in with a bang.
With our noisy entrance, Defender heads popped up from within their confines. A roar issued from the imprisoned as my eyes sought out Blake. Where is he? Did Kalepe lie to me?
My panic to find him outweighed the monsters trying to reach me from within the bars. I hardly noticed my clothes being yanked on until Kalepe let out a horrible growl. When it ended, the room went dead silent.
His eyes honed in on the beasts surrounding us, shouting, “Dragon Defenders, back off! This one is not for you!”
Did that mean Blake was? I tried not to overanalyze Kalepe’s statement and took their calming down as a chance to finish my search.
That was when I saw him. He was in the back of the room, in a cage by himself. I wanted to cry for joy, but the stillness of Blake’s body lying on the ground, curled in the fetal position, made my mouth go dry.
Still, I managed to croak, “Blake!”
There was no movement from the last cage.
Kalepe landed down. With my body still held tightly against his, he marched me toward the empty cage next to Blake. I went willingly; I needed to be near Blake. I had to make sure he was okay. Passing the quieted, but hardly pacified, Defenders, the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Chills shot down my arms. Unlike Kalepe, whose eyes even in bug form had the look of reasoning behind them, every pair of these black eyes had only one thing written on them. Destroy her.
Kalepe didn’t shove me into my cage, which I was grateful for. My body was still sore from Kory’s manhandling. In fact, it seemed the longer I’d been held by Kalepe, the gentler his grip had become. I guess he sensed I wasn’t going to make a run for it.
I didn’t pay attention to Kalepe. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I heard the scraping of the key, locking me in. All my focus was on Blake. I scooted as close as I could to his body, reaching through my bars, hoping I could span the space that separated our two cages.
“Blake!” I hollered. “Wake up! Come on… Blake, wake up!”
Nothing. I scanned his body. There was dry blood on his clothes, where I could only assume injuries had already healed. His wings appeared unharmed; nothing seemed to be broken from where I sat. So why isn’t he waking up?
“Blake!” I yelled louder. “You’ve got to be okay! I need you! Please! Please wake up!”
Still nothing.
Sensing someone watching, I glanced up to see Kalepe still stood over me, his black eyes once again taking on a very quizzical, almost confused gaze. It reminded of someone… someone else who’d given me the same look. Jaxon. When he’d been begging me to tell him what I’d done to him. I was sure it had to mean something, but right now, I didn’t care. I didn’t care that Kory’s damn bug army was going to wreak havoc on the world. I didn’t care what Sammy had done, or might still do. I didn’t even care if she took over, if only it meant Blake would be okay.
He’s the only thing that matters to me. How did I ever lose sight of that? I should never have insisted on going on this crazy, hair-brained scheme of mine.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, my voice shaking as my eyes welled up. “Why isn’t he waking up?”
Kalepe glanced over at Blake, and then to me. He seemed to consider his answer. Finally, he said, “He’s been drugged. Kory wants him out of the way, not dead. We aren’t the bad guys here.”
Relief whooshed through me as I quickly said “And neither are we, Kalepe! We don’t want to hurt you, or the other Defenders. We just want to make sure,” I paused, weighing my words, “you aren’t being led by someone who can’t be trusted.”
“Kory can be trusted,” Kalepe growled back at me. “He’s our creator. He takes good care of us.”
“Why didn’t he tell you about Jaxon, then?” I asked. “Did you know you aren’t the first ones?”
Kalepe remained silent, rubbing his jaw with his clawed hand. It seemed strange to converse with him while he looked so inhuman.
“I heard what Blake said, at the beach, about his brother. I’m sure Kory did what he thought was right. He’s merciful and kind.”
“Merciful? Tricking someone into killing their own brother is not merciful! Kalepe, you don’t know Kory like I do… like Blake does! He lies. He manipulates people into doing what he wants. He—”
“Enough!” he roared back at me, his black eyes hardening. “I won’t let you speak of him in such a way!”
I scooted back, away from the bars, startled by his eruption. “It’s the truth,” I said flatly. “Sorry if the truth hurts. Kory’s not what he seems. He’s ruthless. The fact that we’re in cages because we don’t agree with what he’s doing shows how insane he is. What’s he going to do to the rest of the world? Huh? Going to torture them too? Put them in cages if they don’t want to transform into dragons and damsels?”
Kalepe, to my surprise, didn’t argue, but seemed to be listening.
“Look, you’re not a bad guy. None of you are. You signed up to be Dragon Defenders. Defenders of the right. You thought you’d be the super heroes of the world. I’m telling you right now, Kory has different plans for you.”
“You say all this, yet you are the one who pretended to be someone else. You have been the deceptive one since you arrived on our island. Why should I listen to you? Kory’s never lied or tricked any of us.”
I shrugged. “I guess you can’t know for certain. Not yet, anyway. But you can’t tell me something about all this doesn’t feel off to you. I can see it in your eyes, Kalepe.”
He rocked back on his heels, his large, black eyes narrowing. “Tell me then, if Kory is as wicked as you say he is, then why did you sign up to help him?”
I snorted. “That wasn’t me.”
“It was Sammy, right? She’s still a part of you.”
“No.” I rose to my feet, grabbing the bars that separated us. “She’s not. She’s done things behind my back my entire life. I never even knew she existed until just months ago. She’s the reason I’m even here… that I’m part of this crazy world.” “Then you have her to thank,” he evenly said. “She’s as much a part of you as this Defender form is a part of me. I’ve come to accept it. Embrace what it has to offer. I think you should do the same, Samantha.”
I huffed, unable to respond, not sure if I was more shocked by Kalepe turning into my therapist, or the fact his advice might have some merit to it.
“I’ll leave you now,” Kalepe said, turning to go.
“Wait, aren’t you going to torture Sammy out of me like Kory asked?” I said a bit sarcastically. If I was honest, deep down, there was a twisted part of me that actually wanted him to try. If Sammy’s so dang smart, like everyone seems to think she is, maybe she can see a way out of this. I wasn’t really sure how Sammy would play the cards if given the whole deck, but seeing Blake’s still form next to me, I felt certain she’d do a better job than I had. At this point, who cares whose bloody side she’s on? Maybe, just maybe, she’s on both our sides.
Kalepe hesitated, frowning. “No,” he said. “Torturing you so Kory can get some questions answered does feel off to me.”
Shocked, I stared at Kalepe’s retreating monstrous form. No doubt in my mind now. These… well, not the ones right next to me… but the Defenders given the extra DNA are different. They have a conscience. They can be reasoned with. And, I thought with elation, glancing over at Blake, that means there’s finally hope for Jaxon!