The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (24 page)

“A vision,” Jeremy stated calmly as he tried to recapture my hand in his. “Tell them you had a vision about something bad that was going to happen, but it was so jumbled you didn’t know what to think, so you just headed over that way to figure it out and voila.”

“Yeah, that sounds like it just might work,” I said, trying to keep my hand out of Jeremy’s clutches without being too obvious, although the wry look he was giving me told me he knew exactly what I was doing.

“Is that what we’re going with? Because you’re parents are almost here.” Jenna fidgeted nervously while looking down at something she had in the palm of her hand.

“How do you know they’re almost here?” I asked as I tried to see what she had in her hand.

She lifted her head up, and a small bug of some sort rose into the air. “I had some of the local insects keeping a lookout for me.”

She smiled when I grimaced. “Fabulous. Now I have to worry about flies on the wall spying on me—literally? You Speakers are a lot more dangerous than anyone gives you credit for.”

“Most people don’t appreciate the advantages that having one of us on their team can bring them.” Jenna smiled with pride.

Jeremy looked at her and ran his hand through his tousled hair. “Yeah, I never really thought about what it really means to be a Speaker.”

“Most don’t.” Jenna lifted her chin and met Jeremy’s gaze head on. “We’re a lot more than just some weirdos that talk to animals. We’re just as important as—”

“P.J.!” My mom exclaimed as she burst into the room with my dad on her heels. Jeremy backed away from the bed as my mom flew to my side. “Are you okay, peanut? They said you were shot at and—” My mom’s face crumpled up as she began to cry. “I was so worried.”

I sat up straighter in bed and let my mom take me into her arms. “I’m fine, Mom. I shouldn’t even be here anymore.”
Thanks to Khol
, I added silently. How was I going to explain my miraculous recovery to the doctors so I could go home?

She sat back and ran her eyes over every inch of me in that classic mom stare, as if she would know just by looking at me if I was okay. “How are you feeling?”

I pushed her hands away with annoyance. “Fine. Like I said. Maybe you guys can talk to the doctor so I can get out of here.”

“What happened?” my dad asked sternly. I wanted to roll my eyes. What was it with men getting angry when you get injured? It was like they all get insulted that you let something happen to yourself they couldn’t protect you from.

“Can’t we talk about this later? I really just wanna go home.” I looked at my mom and implored her with my eyes.

“Well, I guess I’m gonna get going,” Jenna said. I’d almost forgotten she was still there.

Jeremy cleared his throat to remind me of his presence as well. “Yeah, me, too. Call me if you need anything, P.J.” He met my eyes with meaning. “I’ll get a ride home with Jenna.”

“Bye.” I waved my hand meekly.
Great, now I don’t have the friend buffer.
“How about us going home?” I added hopefully, looking at my mom again.

“Of course, peanut, I’ll just go find the doctor.” My mom buzzed out of the room, already excited to get me home. She probably was more interested in what was going on between Jeremy and me, if her eyes lighting up with what he said was any indication. Luckily for me, she’d most likely gloss right over what had happened with my dad’s car and Emo Boy, and grill me about Jeremy. The lesser of two evils, I supposed.

“Why weren’t you in school, and who told you that you could take my car?” I didn’t look up from my sheet and fidgeted nervously with it and my IV. “Answer me, young lady.” The tone in my dad’s voice told me the big throbbing vein in his forehead was making an appearance, and even though I hated to admit it, when that thing made an appearance, it was time to run for cover; things never went well for me.

“I had a vision,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“I said I had a vision,” I stated a little bit louder, although not much.

A crash made me look up sharply to see that my dad had knocked over a small table that had held ice water and some cups. “You had a vision that had something to do with a kid and a shotgun, and you drove
towards
the danger?”

“It was all jumbled up—the vision,” I squeaked.

“That’s not an excuse. You should have told us about it before you went running off to put yourself in danger,” my dad snarled vehemently.

“And then what? What would you guys have done? If you believed me at all?” Anger shot through my veins, giving me courage to face off with my dad.

“You dragged Jenna and Jeremy into this with you, didn’t you? And where were they while you were getting shot at?”

“We saved innocent lives!” I yelled.

“I don’t care about those lives—just yours,” my dad yelled back at me.

“I’m sure their families don’t feel the same way!” I gulped in air, trying to remain relatively calm, although it wasn’t working. “I made a difference!”

My dad gritted his teeth and stared at me a few moments before responding. “We’ll discuss your punishment when we get home. It’s going to be a doozy, let me tell you. You’ve proven time and time again recently that we can’t trust you.”

I narrowed my eyes and laughed darkly at him. “Oh, really? What are you going to do, forbid me to see the love of my life? Oh wait—you already did that. You’ve already ruined my life. Do your worst!” I screamed the last part at him, completely losing any control I had barely managed to hold on to.

My mom chose that moment to come back into the room. “The doctor is going to be in to check you out soon, and then we’ll see about getting you home.” When neither my father nor I responded, she looked back and forth between the two of us. “Now what’s this about?”

“I was just reminding Dad here that there wasn’t any punishment that you guys could give me that would be worse than what you’ve already done by ripping Bryn out of my life,” I growled, still glaring at my dad.

“But I thought you and Jeremy were—”

“Were what, Mom?” I snapped my head around and speared her with a look of utter disgust. “Did you really think I’d get over Bryn so fast?” I raised my hand to keep her from responding. “No, wait. Don’t answer that. Of course you did. But let me just tell you this. Even if Bryn were out of the picture—which he isn’t—Jeremy would be my
third
choice. Not that any of that really matters because I still want Bryn.”

Shock played across my mom’s face. “Third? But who?”

I was going for shock value at the moment, and I knew the perfect way to twist the knife. “One of my kind. You know what my
real
father was.”

My mom staggered back as if I’d slapped her. “No—you can’t.”

“Why? Tell me why I can’t be with someone of my kind if I want to be. None of the rules of duty apply anymore now that I know. So you see, you might as well let Bryn come back because he’s the lesser of the two evils now, isn’t he?”

“How did you even meet one of them?” my mom asked, her face completely stricken.

“He sought me out. My power called to him apparently, waking him up.” I paused to let the news sink in fully. “You don’t even know what I am.”

My dad spoke up, my mom seemingly made speechless from my revelation. “You’re our daughter. That’s all we need to know.”

“But I’m not
your daughter
, not really,” I said as I met my dad’s sad eyes. The look of anguish on his face almost made me crack, almost made me back down, but it didn’t. I know some people would kill to have a family that accepted them unconditionally whether they be blood or not, but I didn’t quite feel like that was the case. I felt like my family loved who they thought I was, or wanted me to be, not who I was in reality. They couldn’t accept who I was in love with because they deemed him not good enough for me. And yet, if they really loved me unconditionally, wouldn’t they just want me to be happy? Bryn made me happy. Case closed.

“I have this whole other side to me that I didn’t even know existed. Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you keep me in the dark?” I blinked back tears and went back to studying my hands.

“We wanted you to feel accepted and loved, not different. Not—”

“Would you have ever told me? Or was this something you guys would have taken to your graves?” I brought my head up to study first my dad’s face and then my mom’s. The answer was clear in both of them. “That’s what I thought.”

I wanted out. I
needed
out. And despite what had happened between Khol and me less than twenty minutes ago, he was the first person I thought of to turn to for help. I called out to him mentally, hoping my desperation was made crystal clear. I wasn’t going to do anything stupid like run away with him, but I was planning on hitching a ride home with him so I could have some much needed space between me and my parents.

Khol appeared beside my bed in all his dragonly beauty. Looking every bit as fierce as I knew he would. My mother gasped, and my father’s eyes widened with shock. “You called, my little Seer?”

“I want to go home.” Khol inclined his head in question. I knew he was wondering why I’d called him for that, and why I didn’t want to go home with my parents. But he didn’t question me out loud. “Please,” I whispered.

Khol stepped forward to scoop me up in his arms, and my mom cried out, “No! P.J., no! You don’t know what you’re doing. You—”

“I’ll see you at home, Mom,” I said with steel in my voice.

“Paige Joplin Stone—” my father started.

“Stop. I need space from you two, and I’m going to get it. There’s nothing you can do. I’ll see you both at home.” Khol pulled me to his chest, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, meeting his eyes to signal him it was time to leave. As we blinked out of the hospital room, I heard my mom scream out in anguish.

I’d wanted space from my parents, and I’d gotten it in spades. They both seemed to be avoiding me since our fallout in the hospital room, and when I did see them, my mom looked at me with tears in her eyes, and my dad simply stared at me with sadness. Maybe I’d been a little hurtful, and maybe I’d taken it a step too far by calling on Khol, but I felt like they’d backed me into a corner. They were probably afraid if they didn’t let me be, I’d disappear with Khol or something. I didn’t do anything to discourage them from thinking that because a small part of me was hoping maybe then they would bring Bryn back.
Bryn.
I sighed loudly as I conjured up an image of him in my mind. Of course, lately with my overcharged hormones, I always pictured him as he was when we’d been in bed together that first night—the night I’d given him my virginity.

I ran my hands through his silky, tousled hair and then down over his sweaty back. He shuddered at my touch, leaning forward to kiss me with a slow languidness that spoke of shared intimacies and unspoken promises. “I love you, Peej. More than I can even begin to explain.” His voice was so low and husky it seemed to brush things on my insides, making me shudder in turn.

That night had been perfect with him. Every little detail from being with him that first time was forever etched into my mind.

“Miss Stone, care to share with us what has stolen your attention from class?”

I blinked in surprise as I snapped back to the present—Mr. Edgington’s history class. My face heated as if it were written all over me what I’d just been thinking about. “No,” I mumbled, feeling everyone’s eyes on me.

“Then how about you at least humor me and pretend to pay attention in my class, hmm?” Mr. Edgington raised his gray bushy eyebrows at me in question. I simply nodded in response. “Right. Now where was I? No taxation without representation—” The bell signaled the end of class, and I began hastily gathering up my things. “Remember to read the next two chapters for tomorrow,” Mr. Edgington called to us, but I doubted anyone was paying attention.

One more class
. . .
one more class and I’m done for the weekend,
I silently repeated to myself over and over like a mantra.

“Hey,” Jenna said as she fell into step beside me. “Wanna stay over at my place tonight?”

“Yes,” I answered emphatically without having to think about it. The tension in my house was unbearable; I would welcome the chance of being somewhere—anywhere—else.

“Your parents still acting all weird?”

“Pretty much. I think I broke something with them, but the thing is I don’t know how to fix it, and I’m not sure I would if I could. They lied to me about some pretty major stuff.”

Jenna sighed. “Yeah, not telling you about who your real father is—well, that’s pretty major.”

I gasped and staggered against the wall. I hadn’t told Jenna any of that. I was planning to—eventually, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. “How the hell did you find out?” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Please
do not
tell me you had a fly on the wall or something . . . literally.”

I opened my eyes to a very pleased Jenna. “You just told me.”

“What?” And then I realized she’d pulled one of the oldest tricks in the book. I groaned and rubbed at my face. “But how did you even suspect?”