Broken Gates

voice.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked without thinking, and then flushed with embarrassment. One simply shouldn’t ask a queen what was wrong with her, at least I would imagine because I’d never met one before, human or otherwise. “I’m sorry. I—”

She brushed my comment aside with a wave of her dainty, yet almost transparent hand. “Surprisingly, you remind me much of myself at your age. Or rather I should say it might surprise you, because of course it’s no surprise to me.” She smiled at me and I found myself studying her more closely. It was the first time I’d seen her smile, and there was something very familiar about it. If only I could put my finger on what it was. She stepped toward me, distracting me from my current train of thought, and focused down on my stomach. Her gaze glazed over for a moment before she looked back up to meet my eyes. “He will be beautiful.”

My heart skipped a beat. “You can see him? Can you also see who the father is?” If she could tell me—

“Yes, I can see who the father is, but I won’t tell you.”

“Why not?” I demanded in a shrill voice. “If you know—”

“Because it will change the path for all of you and I cannot let that happen. Too much is at risk already. Just know he will be perfectly healthy.”

Then her words truly sunk in. A boy. I was having a boy. An image of Bryn when he was a child flashed in my mind, his black hair tousled and hanging in his bright blue eyes that always seemed to glitter with mischief, his patented smile complete with dimples inviting me to join in on the fun. My heart clenched. I wanted it to be his so desperately. “Why am I here?” I asked trying to dislodge the image of the Bryn that had first captured my attention when I was still a child myself.

“First I will answer your question of what is wrong with me.” Amusement twinkled in her eyes. “I’m not really here. At least my body isn’t. This is the only way I could come to you.”

“But if you could leave your body, then why make me travel to you? Why not come to me if it’s so important?” I was about to bombard her with more questions but then I stopped myself. She was the friggin’ dragon Queen after all, not just some random dragon. I could at least try to show her some respect.

“I want you to be at ease with me,” she said in a very Khol-like manner, in which I mean it was as if she had plucked the thoughts right out of my mind and answered them. But then again if Khol could do it, then I’m sure the dragon Queen could do it as well. I exhaled a huge breath as she continued on. “I’m very near death—I have been for some time now, and I only linger to finish the tasks I have set into motion.” I nodded my head unable to find a response. She was dying, or near death . . . the same thing in my book. What is someone supposed to say to that? “My body is near here, protected by Dragos, who awaits my death to follow me into the afterlife.”

That got a response out of me. “My biological father is near here? Does he want to meet me?” The real question was . . . did I want to meet him? And what did she mean by follow her into the afterlife?

The Queen’s face tensed and she turned away from me so I couldn’t see her eyes. “No, he has no interest in meeting you. Although he would never harm you—he blames you for the deterioration of our relationship and ultimately my death, and therefore his death as well.”

After seeing what I had in my visions I could understand why he blamed me for the deterioration of their relationship, I suppose, but her death? And his? “I don’t understand.”

“Dragos knows the outcome of my visit here, but not the reasons. As for his death . . . he is my mate and he does not wish to go on without me. It’s even doubtful if he could. Mates such as us sometimes follow each other into death because our bond is so tight.” I inhaled sharply at her words. Was she implying something that would happen today—with me—would ultimately cause her to meet her demise? And my biological father too? He was my birth father and even though I was unsure about my feelings for him, I didn’t want him to die. “I couldn’t let him know the truth. It would have ruined everything.” She began pacing the small area in front of the huge window. “There were so many pieces and one wrong step could have meant the end of this world. It still can. I looked at it from every angle, fought to find another way . . . There just wasn’t . . . isn’t. I sacrificed so much, letting him be with another, it ruined us despite our love, and I still have one thing left to do.” She brought her illuminated golden eyes up to mine abruptly. “I must give my powers, and therefore my life, to you . . . my daughter.”

“What?” I backed up until my knees caught the edge of the bed and I tumbled back onto it before sitting up so I could look at her again. “You’re not my mother.” But her smile, her face . . . “Everyone always said how much I looked like my mom,” I whispered.

“That’s why she was chosen.”

“What? No.” My mind was reeling. And yet her words, deep down, felt right to me somehow.

“Dragos impregnated who you thought was your mother so that the switch would be believable. No one, not even him, knew what I planned to do. He still believes you to be his half-human daughter—if he knew . . .” She shook her head as if trying to dislodge some thought from her mind before continuing on. “He must never be allowed to know differently. Not that he has much time left, but I foresaw that my child . . . you . . . if I kept you . . . you would have been killed in your tiny crib when you were only five days old. Instead, the other child was, and you were left to grow up untargeted by those who wished to strip the dragons of their future queen.” I felt all the blood drain from my face. I had just learned that I had a half sister and she had been murdered in my place, and that I was apparently the future dragon Queen. Can you say brain overload? “I gave you up so I could protect you.”

Tears had begun to track down my face and I sucked in one shaky breath after another. “Why are you telling all of this to me now?” I managed to choke out.

“Did you really think that you could be so strong as a half breed? Your powers took longer to develop as a dragon, that’s why you received your first vision so late. It’s also why your powers call so strongly to ones such as Khol. He only believes you to be half human because of your emotions, he does not understand that being raised by humans, even a full-blooded dragon would not see the world as most dragons do. The way we are is more nurture than nature, but he does not believe that. Most dragons don’t. You’ve only just begun to experience what you can do. You need to know these things because it is time.”

“And Bryn? How is it that another dragon grew up so close to me?”

“I made sure he was there. He needed to be. I can’t tell you anymore about him without risking a change in the future.”

“But if I’m full-blooded dragon then why can’t Bryn and I mate bond completely? And—” Holy Shit! “And does that mean I’ll be able to shift into a dragon?” The thought actually scared me to death. I had been relieved back when Khol had explained to me that half-breeds couldn’t take on the second form of a dragon. In fact, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by me that Khol and the others had never shown me their other form. Khol must have picked up on my fear of seeing it. Maybe I was afraid because deep down I had known what I really was and didn’t want to accept it.

“You’re not strong enough to mate bond with someone like Bryn yet.”

“Yet—that means one day I could. That means one day I could fully be mated with Bryn.” My heart leapt in my chest with joy. There had always been the question about if Bryn and I would ever be able to fully bond with each other, even after we’d both come into our full set of powers. Now the question was answered, and it felt like I had just won the lottery.

“If he’s the father of your child, you mean,” the Queen stated matter of factly. “Because isn’t that what you decided?”

I dropped my head to study my feet. Huh. I kind of need a pedicure. “Yeah, it is.” But could I really go through with mating with Khol when I could truly and completely bond with Bryn? Maybe I would never have to answer that.

“With my powers added to yours, you will be the ultimate weapon to extinguish those dirty little creatures that have been threatening our world.” She hissed with disdain. “I’m just sorry I never got to know you, my daughter . . . or my future grandson. And I’m sorry that so much will rest on your shoulders alone. Things will get worse before they get better.”

It suddenly occurred to me. “If I’m full-blooded dragon, then the child could possibly be full-blooded as well—if Khol is the father.”

“Yes, but that information still won’t reveal the father to you any sooner than it’s meant to be revealed.” Her face hardened into stone. “Now focus, daughter. Khol and Bryn will be back soon and there are still a few things