Broken Gates

Jeremy, hand in hand with Bryn. I only stumbled a few times trying to keep up before Bryn scooped me up in his arms. I didn’t bother to protest because I knew he was right. We’d move faster with him carrying me.

We finally made it out of one of the back exits and scurried toward the forest and to where Jeremy would open the Gate and escape route. Strange how we hadn’t seen one single Rider on the way out. In fact, we hadn’t run into anyone on the way out. I hardly had time to register my sudden feelings that something was wrong before we burst into the clearing . . . and came face to face with a horde of Riders.

We stopped short just as Khol appeared beside us with Macon, who was carrying a still unconscious Cliff. It was evident in that moment that our little crew had run straight into a trap.

“Give me my son,” Senator Bill Wexington snarled.

“Nala,” I felt Bryn growl. And sure enough she was standing a little bit behind our dear Senator.

“You set us up,” Macon chimed in angrily. “We were never under attack.”

Nala sneered at Macon. “No. But I convinced everyone that we were and all the rest of your allies high tailed it out of here. You’re all alone now.”

“Why?” Bryn demanded, his question obviously directed at Nala.

Her face softened when she shifted her gaze to his. “We belong together, can’t you see that? I knew it from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

“She’s our queen. You can’t kill her,” Khol snarled at Nala.

“Why not?” she screeched sounding like a child throwing a temper tantrum. “We’ve gone all these years without a queen, we can manage without one again. I would have been happy to let her live, but she couldn’t keep her hands off him.”

I tightened my arms around Bryn possessively, too shocked to feel the full strength of my anger at Nala for what she’d done.

“Enough!” the Rider that was Senator Bill Wexington interjected. “You can work all of that out after I get my son back.”

“Not going to happen,” Khol said, his voice burning with menace. “Not unless you agree to leave our world.”

The Senator’s lips curled up in what was supposed to be a smile, at least I thought. “We’ll see.” He waved his hand and my mouth dropped open when I saw who stepped forward from behind some of the Riders. It was a Gatekeeper, and it had a Rider inside of him. It was Evan Thompson, the star of my long ago fantasies back before all of this had begun with the Riders. Holy Shit! He began moving in a similar fashion that I’d seen Jeremy move before to open a Gate. Although in my opinion, Jeremy did it with much more grace. Yep . . . because that matters right now. When he finished and the Gate shimmered open to the right of us, more Riders stepped through. “As you were saying?” the Senator asked as he tilted his head at Khol. I felt Khol’s power snap through the air as he readied for attack. Bryn set me on my feet and he too tensed for what would happen next. I didn’t have to look at Macon and Jeremy to know that they were doing the same. We wouldn’t go down without a fight. “Just give us my son and we’ll leave you alone.” The Senator tried using a more placating tone. “We have no interest in the affairs of dragons. Just the humans.”

“I want Bryn,” Nala demanded. “You promised if I helped you that you would get rid of her.” She raised her index finger and pointed at me.

“I’ll never be yours, Nala. You’re not the type of woman I could ever want,” Bryn said with cold indifference. “You think after I’ve had a queen, I’d want you?” Way to twist the knife, Bryn. I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips. That’s right . . . He’s mine bitch!

The Senator sighed demonstratively. “Alright. Let’s see what else I have in my little bag of tricks that might convince you to see things my way.” He motioned again with his hand and some dragons, a few from every faction appeared on their side. The effect of the battle lines being drawn was not lost on me. And before the shock of him having dragons on his side could fully sink in, the mac daddy of surprises stepped forward . . . Bryn’s father walked into the mix.

“Dad?” Bryn’s voice wavered in question. “I thought you were dead.”

The Senator spoke up. “Seers and Speakers are useless with one of us in them, but Gatekeepers and Guardians . . . oh yes . . . they work quite nicely. So, I decided to keep a few of them around . . . just in case I could use them for a rainy day.”

“Don’t worry, Bryn,” I whispered under my breath. “We’ll save him and Jenna both.”

“It’s time you found out Bryn, you’re not my son,” Bryn’s father said out of nowhere with malice. “Your mother couldn’t conceive, and then we were given a gift. At least we thought it was a gift at the time. I never thought you’d shame me the way that you did by taking up with P.J. when it’s against our laws. But I guess you’re not even fully human. No wonder whoever left you for us didn’t want you.” What? I immediately thought of when my birth mother had told me that Bryn, another dragon, at least part dragon, growing up so close to me hadn’t happened by chance. She told me that he was there for a reason. “I’ll enjoy taking you out myself just for the heartbreak you caused your mother. She was so ashamed of how you disregarded the most important law of being a Guardian. May she rest in peace. It’s your fault she’s dead after all. Yours and hers,” he hissed and his eyes briefly met mine.

Everything seemed to happen at once. It wasn’t like it is in the movies. I saw Bryn’s father launch himself at Bryn, but I couldn’t track anything else that was going on after Nala slammed into me, causing me to fall to the ground. She scrambled to get on top of me, and sat with all of her body weight on my chest and began to choke me. I desperately reached for my fire magic but was having difficulty pulling it up when black stars began to dance in front of my eyes. Not only that but I felt a slow trickle of water moving up to cover my face. Dazed, I registered that Nala must be using some kind of water power to try and suffocate me faster. I gasped for air and came back with a mouth full of water. My vision grew darker and my thoughts slower. I knew she was drowning me.

Then suddenly the pressure released and I sat up to gasp mouthful after mouthful of fresh air as I saw Khol push his fire magic into Nala. She let out an ear-shattering scream before all that was left of her was ashes. Good, I numbly thought. I stood and scanned the clearing for Bryn, who was currently rolling around on the ground with his father. Bryn was at a huge disadvantage because it was obvious he didn’t really want to hurt him. His father clearly didn’t feel the same way. “Help him!” I screeched at Khol.

“Enough!” Senator Bill Wexington’s voice rolled over everyone. “Hold him,” he ordered Bryn’s father, who stood with Bryn and brought him into a headlock. The Senator met my eyes, “Him for my son.”

I didn’t even hesitate. “Okay. Just don’t hurt him.” The Senator then nodded at one of the Riders standing beside him who walked slowly over to Cliff’s prone unconscious figure and picked him up. Khol came to stand behind him so he couldn’t make his way back to the Senator just yet. “Now release Bryn,” I said with false calmness. My insides were finding a new definition for panic.

Bryn’s father released him and Bryn walked steadily back toward me. Khol then gave the Rider holding Cliff a rough push to get him going. I reached my shaky hand out to Bryn, needing to feel his skin under my fingertips. He gave me a tight smile, and I knew he was thinking it was his fault we were losing Cliff as a bargaining chip—that he should have been able to best his father—that he couldn’t even protect himself—how would he protect me and my unborn child? I could read all of his tormented thoughts in his eyes but I didn’t care just as long as he was safe. As soon as my hand gripped his, I heaved a sigh of relief. “I love you,” I mouthed to him. None of the rest mattered. We might be down, but we weren’t out just yet. I would make him understand that eventually. We were finally bonded as Anam Caras and together we could take on the world.

Bryn’s father suddenly appeared directly behind him. The Rider inside of him shone so brightly it almost eclipsed his host’s features. He met my eyes and grinned down at me. It was in that instant I knew what he meant to do. “No!” I screamed, my whole body going ice cold instantaneously. I reached for my fire magic, but it was too late . . . all too late. I watched, completely helpless to stop it, as Bryn’s father, the man that had protected my mother and my family for as far back as I could remember, snapped the neck of his only son. The sickly cracking sound it made rang out in the clearing like thunder in my ears. “No!” I heard myself scream as I watched Bryn’s hand slip from my grasp as his body fell forward and slumped to the ground. Life over. My Life is over.

“Like I said, he wasn’t really my son.”

Silence engulfed me. I tried to go to Bryn but someone caught me around the waist and began to run toward the pulsating gate with me in tow. I struggled against my captor, wanting nothing