Broken Gates

left we need to deal with.”

“Okay,” I squeaked, hating how young I sounded.

“You must know that these creatures can only get a hold in people that already have a darkness in them. There are very few that are pure enough to fight them off. Once inside, after a time, they bond so completely with the human that the human no longer remembers it being any other way. They don’t know the alien is in them, but the alien has full awareness. The human rationalizes the actions the alien forces it to make. I tell you this because there is a way to remove the aliens from the humans, but they will still target you when they are gone, the fake motives for their actions will still be firmly planted in their minds. You’ll never be able to go back to your normal life if that’s the course of action you wish to take. Or . . .” She paused and began to study my face intently. “You could just continue to kill them like your friends have been doing.”

“No,” I gasped. “Killing them isn’t an option at least as far as I’m concerned.”

A slight smile tugged at her lips and she nodded once with approval. Apparently I had passed the test. “Good. Then there is only one thing left for me to do.” She strode over to stand in front of me and then pushed her palms against my temples. A sudden burning heat began to spread through me.

“Wait!” I cried out. “I still have so many questions. You can’t do this yet!”

“The answers will be shown to you when the time is right. You will have the guidance to take control of all of your powers new and old when you need to.” I began to feel light headed as the heat emanating from her palms began coursing through my body. “I am sorry about your hair,” I bewilderingly heard her say. “Of course I am partial to the new color, but I know how much you’ll hate it.”

“What are you talking about?” I mumbled with distress. “What about my hair?”

But then a bright warm light engulfed me and I suddenly felt like a nice nap was in order as I felt my eyes flutter shut.

So many questions . . . I had so many questions. They were all swirling around in my mind as I regained consciousness. Was I really a full-blooded dragon? Then why couldn’t I do the whole disappearing act that even Bryn had already managed to master? How could I have grown up with the people I thought were my parents, and never known I wasn’t human? Why when I had been behind the boundaries of Khol’s lair had I not been able to have visions? We’d thought it was because my Seer magic was blocked and my dragon magic had taken control . . . but if I was truly full-blooded dragon that would mean my visions came from my dragon magic. So why had I been effected the same way that Bryn had? Maybe the magic my people possessed and the dragons possessed weren’t as different as we had all originally thought. But I guess I couldn’t really say they were my people anymore. My people . . . or species to be more specific . . . was dragon. How was I supposed to ever get used to that—to knowing I wasn’t even human? I certainly still felt human.

“Peej!” I heard Bryn’s voice call out with alarm. “What the hell happened to her?” I felt warm strong arms scoop me up and press me into a rock hard chest . . . Bryn’s chest. His enticing scent washed over me and I snuggled into him and inhaled with delight. I was home . . . finally.

“Amazing,” I heard Khol murmur. “I didn’t know. She hid it from all of us.” It was in that moment I knew Khol understood it all . . . who I was . . . what had happened . . . all of it.

“Don’t just stand there, heal her. That’s what you’re good for after all,” Bryn growled, ignoring Khol’s words.

“She doesn’t need healing. She’s perfect,” Khol said with reverence.

“Peej? Can you hear me? Peej?”

I was completely conscious and fully capable of responding to Bryn, but I didn’t want to open my eyes and deal with reality just yet. I simply wanted to remain burrowed in his arms, where I felt so safe and content. There, pressed up against him, I could pretend that nothing had changed between us. I didn’t want to open my eyes and face the very real reality that I could still lose him forever.

“There’s no reason to keep clutching her to you like a rag doll,” Khol ground out. “Place her back down on the bed. She’s fine.” Uh-oh . . . the jig was up, Khol must have sensed I just wanted Bryn to hold me and obviously he wasn’t a fan of my plan.

“Bryn?” I murmured, pretending that I was just waking up.

“But then again, maybe I should give her some of my healing energy, just to be on the safe side,” Khol spoke up, not letting Bryn get a chance to respond to me. “Give her to me,” Khol ordered, and surprisingly Bryn obeyed.

I opened my eyes just in time to meet Khol’s deep green gaze instead of the sea storm eyes I’d been hoping for. “What are you doing?” I hissed between clenched teeth.

Khol’s eyes twinkled. “Why, healing you, of course, since you didn’t seem able to regain consciousness quickly enough, pointing at the fact that you might indeed be injured.”

I glared up at him angrily, but his face told me if I called him out, then he’d do the same in return. Ugh. I hated how he seemed to know every thought in my mind! “Stop it,” I grated.

“Stop what? I only seek to make you comfortable, my little Queen.” His hot, fevered lips met mine in a crushing blow, pushing all thoughts except for his caress instantaneously from my mind. His magic rolled over me like a tidal wave threatening to drown me. It was so strong; I’d never felt anything like it before. Held in his arms, basking in his power, with his kiss promising things that I couldn’t quite fathom, I found myself wondering, again, what it would be like to give myself to Khol completely.

“That’s enough!” Bryn’s angry voice broke through my reverie, and caused my entire body to flush with embarrassment, or maybe it was something else.

I made sure to not look at either of them when Khol put me back down on the bed. I cleared my throat and swallowed in an effort to combat my nerves. “I’m feeling much better now. Thank you Khol.” And that’s when I swore I heard Jenna’s voice in my mind. “I know something he could do for you that would make you feel much better.” Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I thought vehemently at the imaginary Jenna voice. I couldn’t even seem to find peace in my own head anymore.

Feeling angry, mostly at myself, I stood and stalked over to the bathroom, intent on seeing why the Queen had apologized about my hair. I wouldn’t allow myself to think about the fact that me having her powers, even though I didn’t feel any different, probably meant that both she and Dragos were already dead. And I most certainly wouldn’t allow myself to think about the fact that I had been lucky enough to have two sets of parents in my lifetime and now they were both dead. I flicked on the lights attached to the mirror in the bathroom and gasped in horror at what was reflected back at me. “Oh. My. God.” I reached up to touch the white glossy hair that was now in place of the strawberry blonde that had once adorned my head. Who would have thought that I would ever want that god-awful shade back? That’s when I noticed that the eyes that were studying my new ghastly shade of hair were no longer green, but the same gold the Queen’s had been . . . and they were glowing. My mouth fell open as I stared stricken at the stranger in the mirror who seemed to match me in mood and horror. “I need—” My voice came out shaky and high-pitched. “I need—” I tried again.

Khol appeared behind me and met my glowing eyes with his own illuminated pair. “What do you need, my little Queen?”

Not once, but twice he’d now referred to me as my little Queen instead of my little Seer, which had been his term of endearment prior to our little jaunt to the mountains. And I didn’t want to be anyone’s queen, let alone deal with the intimacy his nickname pointed at. Had Khol and I become closer than I’d realized over the last couple of months because I felt so comfortable around him? I hated to admit that there was no one I trusted more than him at the moment, not even Bryn after he’d broken my trust by walking away from our relationship. But I wasn’t a queen, not really, and . . . “Don’t call me that!” I erupted. “And I need some hair dye, damn it! I can’t go around in public like this! It looks ridiculous!”

“You can’t dye it,” Khol stated a little too calmly for my taste.

“Don’t tell me that I can’t dye it! It’s my hair and I’ll do whatever the hell I want with it!” Where did he get off thinking he could tell me first what to do about the baby who was growing in my body, and then tell me about my hair? I had to draw the line somewhere.

Khol’s face contorted into the familiar look of aggravation mixed with wariness that he seemed to reserve specifically for me. “No, I mean, you can’t . . . literally. It’s the magic that has changed the color, and it’s the magic that will prevent any hair dye from taking root.”

“Bullshit!” I hissed. “Just watch me!”