The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (21 page)

“I’m not going to have you fall over and actually hurt yourself. You were really lucky you didn’t crack your head open on the pavement before. You need to learn how to control your visions better.”

I glared up at him. “They’re kind of new, and for whatever reason, whenever you kiss me, your power seems to feed them or something.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I snapped, “So stop kissing me, and I shouldn’t have any more problems.”

“Or I could only kiss you when you’re lying down.” Jeremy chuckled at his own comment, but I didn’t miss the blatant innuendo.

“Not going to happen.”

“Okay, how about leaning against a wall?” His eyes twinkled mischievously, and I hated that a part of me thought he was being cute.

“You know, I really don’t have time for this. I have a vision to figure out and . . .” My voice trailed off as I questioned what I was about to say. And what? What could I do except talk everything over with Khol as I’d been doing with my other visions? Unless . . . “And—and stop.” I finished my sentence in a whisper. I wanted to stop being a bystander in life, didn’t I? Well, this would be the perfect way to begin. Somehow, I just knew my vision was of the future. And if it hadn’t happened yet, there was still time to stop it.

Jeremy gave me a puzzled look. “That’s not really your job yet. Leave it to the other Seers, the ones that have had years of training and experience.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the problem. I think I’m the only one getting these visions.”

“How is that possible?” Jeremy’s eyebrows practically touched his hairline.

I studied Jeremy while I mulled over what I should say to him. I’d been in this situation with him before, and I had decided to go with the truth. The question was, should I again? After a quick deliberation, I decided that I had nothing to lose. If he didn’t believe me, then at least maybe he’d think I was crazy and leave me alone. Either way wasn’t a bad outcome because if he did believe me, maybe he’d help, even if it were a long shot.

So I told him all about my visions, leaving out the parts about Khol because I couldn’t have told Jeremy about him even if I’d wanted to, and I most certainly didn’t. Khol was my deep, dark secret, along with my recently discovered half dragon status.

“Holy shit,” Jeremy breathed when I’d finally finished. “You’re telling the truth. I can tell these kinds of things, plus I could tell you had a real vision back there . . . holy shit.” He seemed more than a little shell-shocked. I decided to stay quiet to let him process everything. I could almost see a million different things running through his mind until a determined look settled on his face. “What do you need me to do?” And just like that, I had another ally.

“You—you wanna help me?” I stammered with surprise. I was hoping he would, but I hadn’t really expected it.

He looked at me like I was crazy for questioning him. “Yeah, of course I’m going to help you. I’m not just going to let you run off trying to deal with this stuff by yourself.”

“Yeah—uh—well—” I blushed with embarrassment. “I don’t actually have a plan. More like a plan to have a plan.”

At this point we arrived at my front door, and he set me back on my feet, handing me my bag. “Can I come in? To talk about this?”

I bit my lip in thought. “No, we better go around back so my parents can’t hear. Whatever we plan, we can’t let them know.”

Jeremy nodded once tightly. “Good idea.” He bent down to scoop me up again, and I hastily sidestepped him.

“I’m feeling much better now, and if my parents see you carrying me, they’re going to freak out, even if my mom does like you being here with me.”
Liked him being here
with me
was the understatement of the year.
If she could marry me off to Jeremy this instant, she would
.

Jeremy silently regarded me for a moment before agreeing. “Okay. I guess I can see your point.” He still didn’t look happy though.

I slowly made my way around the back of the house, trying to look as nonchalant as possible and not as if I was about to plot anything. Jeremy kept in step beside me, walking just a touch too close for my comfort, probably afraid I was going to topple over again. It was nice to feel cared about, but sometimes the men in my life took things a bit too far. I mentally paused.
The men in my life?
When had I started thinking of Khol, Jeremy, and Bryn as the men in my life? Bryn should be the only man in my life, at least if I was only counting from a romantic perspective. A sick feeling settled in my stomach, and I pushed it aside because I had more important things to worry about at the moment, like saving some innocent lives.

Jeremy and I settled against the same tree that we had been under the other day when he had kissed me. At the thought, my face heated, and I hoped he didn’t notice. “That was some kiss, huh?” I looked up at him and blanched. I shouldn’t be here with him again. Every moment I spent with Jeremy or Khol was a small betrayal of Bryn, not to mention the times we’d kissed.

“Yeah, I don’t really wanna talk about that. We’re here to figure out what to do about my vision.” I closed off my emotions and met Jeremy’s inquisitive gaze with cold indifference.

“And when exactly were you planning on filling me in?” Jenna’s angry voice came from behind me. “I wouldn’t know anything if not for the local friendly woodland creatures.”

I swiveled my head around to glare at Jenna and her rainbow colored hair. “Nosy rodents are more like it. Are you having me followed all the time by them now? Because that’s so not okay, Jenna.”

“It’s the only way I can find anything out from you lately. I would never have known about Bryn, I would never have known about that other guy who you can’t talk about, I would never have known about your visions, and”—she waved her hands at Jeremy—“when were you going to tell me about him? Are you still my best friend or what?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “Of course I am. But that doesn’t mean I have to tell you absolutely everything.”

“That’s exactly what it means!” Jenna cried out in frustration.

“Umm . . .” Jeremy chimed in. “What other guy that you can’t talk about? Do I have more competition than I know about?”

“No,” I said with annoyance.

“Yes,” Jenna said at the exact same time.

Jeremy frowned, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Well, which is it?”

I stood and threw my hands up in the air. “Bryn doesn’t have any competition. He’s the one I love, and all you guys can stop sticking your tongues down my throat, because it isn’t going to do any good. When all is said and done, Bryn is who I’m going to be with.”

Jeremy frowned. “So you’re kissing this other guy, too?”

“No!” I exclaimed. “He’s kissing me, just like you are. I’m not kissing anybody!”

“Does he go to our school? And you were trying to blame me for not helping your reputation.” Jeremy stood and stalked closer to me. “All I want is a little honesty here.”

“Yeah, what he said,” Jenna threw her two cents in.

I gritted my teeth and tried to swallow back my anger. We had to get through this so we could come up with a plan to stop my latest vision from coming true. “No, he doesn’t go to our school, he’s—well, he’s—” Like before with Jenna, I physically couldn’t utter a word out loud about Khol. “I’m bound magically not to be able to talk about him. The only reason Jenna knows anything about him at all is because of her little spies.”

Jeremy glanced at Jenna for confirmation. “That’s true.” She nodded. “And that’s another reason why I have to sic my spies on you: because who knows what else is going on with you lately that you can’t tell me about? Your life has gotten very weird lately.”

“Says the girl who has rodents spying for her,” I grumbled under my breath.

“All right. I get it, okay,” Jeremy said with a closed expression. “Your life is very complicated right now, and apparently I have more competition than I originally thought. I guess I can deal with that.”

“I really don’t care if you can or cannot deal with it, Jeremy. I said I’d go on a second date with you, that’s it. You know how I feel about Bryn. And this other—guy—he knows, too. It’s not my fault you both seem to have thick skulls and aggressive tongues.” I took a couple deep breaths before continuing. “None of that is relevant right now. What is important is figuring out what to do about my vision and saving some innocent lives.”

“I agree,” Khol’s deep voice boomed, startling me. All three of our heads whipped around to watch as Khol strode towards us in all of his otherworldly beauty. Although I’m not sure if I can really describe it as otherworldly since he was, in fact, from our world, even if he didn’t look it.
Dragonly beauty?
But I didn’t know what other dragons looked like; it could just be Khol who was so magnificent.

“Focus, my little Seer, you have time to contemplate my good looks at another time,” Khol said with amusement.

“I’m not doing anything of the sort. You’re not a mind reader, so stop pretending to be,” I snapped as my cheeks heated. I was beginning to wonder if he really was able to read my mind and just wasn’t telling me.

“No, you just broadcast your emotions very loudly, my little Seer.” That was twice in a row he’d called me
his little Seer,
and I couldn’t help but think it was partly for Jeremy’s benefit, who currently looked like he was ready to do battle with Khol.

“Oh. Oh my God. You didn’t tell me—” Jenna scooted closer to me and dug her nails into my arm. “You didn’t tell me he was so hot,” she whispered.

“I couldn’t describe him to you, remember?” Jenna’s whole body trembled, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she suddenly stripped off all of her clothes and threw herself at Khol right then and there. It would have been almost funny, if I suddenly didn’t want to smack her so badly. I didn’t really want Khol for myself, but Jenna certainly wasn’t going to get him either. I stepped out of her grasp and approached Khol. “What are you doing here now? I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about you?”

“It is unpreventable now. I can’t let you risk yourself like you’re planning. I’ll simply bind them like I did you.” Khol was glaring at Jeremy, his body mirroring Jeremy’s fight stance.

“He can bind me anytime he wants,” Jenna purred quietly at my side.

“Shut up, Jenna,” I snapped. “Stay away from him.”

“Oh. Oh, I see. You think he belongs to you, too. Not fair.”

“No, I don’t think that, it’s just . . .” It’s just what? Why was the thought of Jenna going after Khol pissing me off?

“I do belong to her, little Speaker, as she belongs to me,” Khol rumbled, his eyes still on Jeremy.

“Like hell she does,” Jeremy said. “I don’t even know what you are. Your energy is like nothing I’ve ever seen. P.J. , Jenna, get behind me.”

Khol laughed. “I would never hurt her, but if I did seek to, you would never stop me . . .
boy.”

Jeremy glanced over at me. “I said to get behind me.” His jaw was set determinedly.

“Paige,” Khol rumbled, his voice going low and smooth, “Come to me. If you want to stop your vision from becoming reality, I’m the one you should seek for help, not a
boy
like him. I won’t stand by and watch you be injured.” The way he said
boy
made it sound like an insult, although calling a guy Jeremy’s age a boy, no matter what, is kind of an insult, at least to him, I’m sure. “Paige,” Khol said again, and this time his voice seemed to be in my head.

“Yes?” I whispered. His power rolled out of him and wrapped itself around me, causing me to shudder. Before, when Jeremy had kissed me, his power had tried to coax mine to come out and play, and I was able to push it aside with concentration. But Khol’s power demanded where Jeremy’s had coaxed, and I was unable to deny its command. I knew Khol’s power called to the dragon half of me, a different side than Jeremy had been in touch with. Again I thought about what Khol had said to me about coming to crave . . . more . . . because right now, in this moment, I wanted nothing more than to go to Khol and lose myself in his sweet embrace. I was connected to him, and I could almost hear his thoughts as he longed for me to do just that.

“It’s natural for you to want me to claim you. If you were a full blooded
Rua Arach
, you’d already bear my
Anam Cara
mark.” His voice was like a gentle caress inside my mind, and I knew that Jenna and Jeremy couldn’t hear what he was saying to me.

My vision had narrowed down to take in nothing but Khol and his beautiful face, and I felt myself moving towards him. What would it be like to let him have what he wanted? What would it be like to give myself over to the temptation he was offering me? To sink into his welcoming embrace, to taste the fire he offered with his touch, to be swept away in the burn he had awakened in me?

“Tell me who you yearn to be with. Tell me who you want to lay claim to you,” Khol continued to speak to me alone in my mind, and I could hear an undercurrent of something else, a chant of some sort.

Even as I moved towards Khol, suddenly my vision filled with an image of Bryn so realistic, I thought for a second he was standing right in front of me. “Bryn.” His name on my lips was uttered with reverence, a small prayer to the only man I would ever truly love. His sea storm eyes churned for me, threatening to pull me down in their undercurrent. His patented lopsided smile, complete with dimples, weakened my knees, and I knew in that moment that even though Khol and Jeremy both stirred longing in my body, no one would ever possess me the way that Bryn had. He owned my heart, body, and soul. I was his until my dying breath.

“No. That’s not possible,” I heard Khol growl. The undercurrent of the chant died abruptly along with the image of Bryn. I cried out in dismay at losing it, even if I knew it wasn’t real. I dropped to my knees and hugged myself. “You will be mine,” Khol growled.

I looked up sharply, sensing something about to snap in Khol, something that I couldn’t let happen. I met his determined eyes with mine. “I trust you Khol. I trust you to help me with all of this, and I trust you to wait like you said. I trust you.”