The P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy (#1-3) (26 page)

Khol raised his eyebrows at my comment. “I’ll simply shift the three of you over to my lair.”

I scrunched my face up at him, again, wondering why he hadn’t done that with us when we needed to hurry to save that girl I saw in my premonition. “Why didn’t you just do that before when we needed to get to the school?”

“Because my powers are not back up to their full strength yet, having been in hibernation for many years. I will get very tired after I do this, and that wasn’t an option before.”

I guess that made sense. “Oh.”

“So it’ll be mostly up to me to protect her until you fully recover?” Jeremy asked. Then his tone shifted angrily. “How were you planning to do that before, when you were just going to take her to your lair?”

“I would have only been taking her, which is not as taxing,” Khol said with annoyance at Jeremy’s question. “Do not doubt again that I can keep her safe.”

“You didn’t do a very good job before.” I could practically feel the tension in the air radiating from both Khol and Jeremy.

“That was different, that was—”

“Boys, boys, boys.” Jenna stepped into the space between the two of them. “There will be plenty of time to fight over P.J. after we get her somewhere safe.” Neither Khol nor Jeremy said anything, but they kept glaring at each other over Jenna’s head.

I sighed. “Can we just go already?” There was enough testosterone in the room to smother me, and it was nothing short of exasperating.

“You must all be touching me,” Khol said without looking away from Jeremy.
For Christ’s sake
. . .
men.
I walked over to him and took his hand. Jenna did the same but slid her hands around Khol’s arm, sighing with enjoyment. I had to bite my cheek to keep from telling her to get her hands off of him, and I didn’t like that I felt that way, not one little bit. Khol finally looked away from Jeremy so he could smile at me, obviously enjoying my little twinge of jealousy.

Jeremy came over to stand by Khol, and I started to get nervous about what he would do, when he reached up and touched Khol’s arm with his fingertips on the same side that Khol was holding my hand. He locked eyes with me, and then we were gone.

For some reason, when Khol had said
lair,
my mind conjured up thoughts of something set inside a cave, or in the side of a mountain. What I had definitely
not
expected was a friggin’ ginormous house, or castle really, set on lush green lands that went on as far as the eye could see. And let me tell you, that’s pretty far because I have 20/20 vision.

“Wow,” I heard Jenna say under her breath.

“My sentiments exactly,” I muttered.

Khol smiled at me with amusement. “What did you expect, a cave or something?”

“No,” I grumbled, even though by the twinkle in his eyes, I knew he’d picked up on the fact that I had been expecting exactly that.

“My Lord.” A guy about six foot tall, with flame red hair and illuminated green eyes, although not as bright as Khol’s, was suddenly kneeling in front of us, or more in front of Khol, really. Even if I hadn’t known to expect more dragons, I would have immediately known this guy was one; I could feel it down to my bones. I studied him with curiosity as he rose from his crouch only to lock gazes with me. He took an awkward step towards me that caused me to clutch Khol’s hand tighter, which until that instant I hadn’t even realized I’d still been holding. I watched as a fine tremor rolled over the new dragon’s body and his nostrils flared. “She’s—”

“Not for you to consider,” Khol cut off the new dragon’s words curtly.

Still staring at me with an intensity that made me want to disappear, the other dragon took another step towards me. “Her power—it’s—it’s—unique, not cold like the other female dragons I’ve felt. It calls to me with a warmth I didn’t think possible.”

An inhuman growl erupted from Khol. “Macon, back off,” he said before he calmed himself. “I know the will to resist is harder for one so young as yourself, but she’s not for you.”

Macon looked at Khol with what I can only describe as pain on his face. “Then why haven’t you claimed her yet? She’ll drive us all mad until you do.”

“She’s part human,” Khol said, as if that explained everything.

And for Macon it seemed to. “Yes, my Lord, I understand. I will try to avoid her until she bears your
Anam Cara
mark.” With that, he pulled what I now had come to think of as a Khol—a disappearing act—but apparently all dragons liked such dramatics.

I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “So that’s what you were talking about.”

“Yes.” Khol nodded as he tugged my hand and began walking towards the castle.

“Why didn’t you just
pop
us into the castle instead of out here?” I asked as my head swiveled around, trying to take in all the unfamiliar sights and sounds of this new place.

“Because I wanted you to see my land.” There was a note of pride in Khol’s voice that I couldn’t miss, and it made me wonder if the old stories of dragons and their acquisitiveness were, in fact, based in reality.

As we made our way inside through a side door, probably what would be called a servants’ door, my senses prickled, letting me know that there were more than a handful of other dragons on the premises. My skin felt tingly, like little bits of electricity were running over the expanse of my body, and I trembled with the pleasantness of it.

“Why are we going in the side door?” Jenna asked. “I wanna tour of this place.”

“P.J. needs to be isolated from the others here. You can have a tour after she’s settled, if you wish,” Khol said with a touch of annoyance. I wanted to laugh because Jenna had that effect on everyone it seemed.

The pleasant tingling had changed, and it was if my skin were burning, and my vision danced suddenly as if I were drunk. My focus narrowed down to only Khol, and as my breaths began to come in short little bursts, I curled myself up against the side of him as we walked. “Kiss me,” I purred, not caring who saw. I craved the taste of him, and I wanted his hands on me because surely his touch was the only cure for my burning desire.

“Not now. I must get you—”

I didn’t hear the rest of what he said to me. Anger at him flared inside me for denying me what I wanted. If he wouldn’t give me what I needed, then surely someone else would. “Macon,” I called in an almost sing song voice.

Macon immediately appeared directly in front of us, and I tugged free of Khol and stepped towards him. Khol growled, but I didn’t care, he had his chance, now it was Macon’s. “Macon,” I purred. “You’ll kiss me, won’t you?” His eyes seemed to grow brighter in intensity as he came to me faster than I’d seen anyone ever move—well, except Khol maybe. His lips met mine in a searing kiss that had me wrapping myself around him as a moan escaped from me.
Yes.
I thought.
This is exactly what I need.
But before I could sink deeper into the kiss, Macon was ripped away from me and slammed into the wall. Khol scooped me up in his arms, to which I didn’t protest, and suddenly we were in a different room. A room with a rather large bed, I realized with pleasure.

My head was swimming as I reached out and pulled Khol towards me, capturing his lips with mine. “You know what I want,” I growled. “Give it to me.” I felt possessed, like someone else had taken over my body, and I kind of liked it. I’d never felt so completely free before.
Except with Bryn,
my mind whispered. I screamed and clutched at the back of my neck, it was if someone were holding a hot iron there. “Bryn!” I cried out wishing he were here with me and not Khol. Bryn’s touch was always the cooling balm that soothed my heated skin; he was who I craved.

Khol grabbed me and spun me around, prying my hand off the back of my neck to see what was causing me the pain. “No. That’s not possible.” His voice was filled with a mixture of shock and anger.

The pain subsided as abruptly as it had begun, and left without it, I was suddenly too weak to remain vertical. I fell over onto the bed and curled into a ball, darkness already pushing at the edge of my consciousness. “Bryn,” I heard myself gasp. “Please. I need Bryn.” And then I lost the battle with consciousness.

“My Lord, how will we track them without her aid? None of us can see them for what they really are, even you, without using her power. We can’t let them get an even stronger foothold than they already have.” A low male voice spoke urgently.

“I’m already aware of the problems we face, but we need to take care of her first,” Khol said in response.

There was a pregnant pause during which I pondered why people were always talking around me when I lost consciousness. You would think people would want to let me rest and feel better instead of jabbering their jaws around me.

“How did you not notice until now, my Lord?”

“It must have something to do with the Black Dragon’s powers. He must be young, very young. Young enough to even pass for human. He might even be partially so, like her, which could explain it. He will come for her as soon as he can. He probably already feels the pull. He will know his partial claim is in threat. It will drive him mad.”

“What will you do?”

“Claim her before he fully does so. Her
Anam Cara
will not be a
Dubh Arach
. She will be mine.” Khol’s words came out barely sounding human, which in fact, he wasn’t.
I must be dreaming
. What were they talking about? I’d never met any kind of dragon before Khol had showed up to complicate my life, let alone one from a different faction.

“What will you do if he comes here?”

“I’ll do what I need to do to ensure she fully belongs to me. I wanted to give her human half the time to get used to the idea, but I no longer have that option.”

“Wha? No,” I slurred, trying to wake up all the way. “I trus ou.” What I was trying to tell him very unsuccessfully was that he couldn’t claim me without my permission. I trusted him with that fact, and he said as long as I trusted him, he would wait. It didn’t matter that I never planned on giving him permission. He believed one day I would. As for the rest, I still didn’t know what he was talking about. Why did they think someone was coming for me?

“Shhh, my little Seer, you need to rest,” Khol said as a large warm hand smoothed hair away from my face.

“No. I need Bryn,” I somehow managed to say and actually make it sound like English.

“No.” Khol’s voice sounded harsh. “The only one you need is me.” I squirmed to try to get away from his touch, but I didn’t have the energy. I began to feel very sleepy again, my body very heavy. I tried to respond, but my mouth was too tired to move. I was holding on to awareness by a very thin thread.

“She’ll sleep for awhile longer, and then I will return for her,” Khol said to the other dragon. I didn’t like the sound of that. “If the Black Dragon shows up, you know what to do.” I liked the sound of that even less.

“What about her companions?”

“Confine the boy to his room, but the girl is permitted entrance.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

That was the last thing I remembered until I sat up with a start, in a strange bed, in a strange room. “About damn time,” Jenna’s familiar voice exclaimed beside me.

I turned to see her lounging on the bed, right next to me, reading a magazine. “I’ve been dying to talk to you.” She ceremoniously folded the magazine and met my eyes with her deep brown ones, which were currently sparkling with delight. “
Sooo
. . .” she drew out, “me and Macon—”

I raised my hand to cut her off, which caused her to frown. “Give me a second to orient myself before you hit me with what is sure to be another tale about how you got the latest notch in your belt.” Jenna thrummed her fingers against the folded magazine impatiently. I inhaled deeply a couple of times while I allowed my gaze to sweep my new surroundings.
Fancy,
I thought,
if not a little gaudy.
The room looked like it had been transported right out of Marie Antoinette’s time; everything was marble and encrusted with gold. “Let them eat cake,” I mumbled. Yep, if the outside of the castle hadn’t answered my questions about a dragon’s acquisitory nature, then this room definitely did. I wondered if there was a big pile of treasure in a vault downstairs somewhere.