Hidden Gates

by D T Dyllin

  “Can I please tell you what happened between me and Macon now?” Jenna’s whine cut into my inner musings.

  “Fine,” I said, punctuating it with an eye roll. I knew she was about to tell me anyways, but I figured I might as well feign control of the situation.

  “Well, you’ve probably already guessed that we did it.” I nodded, unable to keep from doing another eye roll. “But what you can’t guess, since you’ve only been with Bryn, is just how absolutely amazing and different it is to be with a Dragon. They’re just so . . . well, they’re just so . . .” She started fanning herself as she searched for the right word. “Amazing,” she finally settled on. Maybe it was time I bought the girl a thesaurus.

  I couldn’t keep the snide tone out of my voice, “Because you’ve been with so many Dragons before. How do you know Macon wasn’t an anomaly?”

  “Hmm.” Jenna turned pensive. “You’re right. I think I should conduct a study while I’m here.”

  “For God’s sake, girl, there are more important things on our plates than your sex life.” Like mine, I silently added sheepishly.

  “I think you should do it with Khol.”

  “Jenna!” I exclaimed.

  “No, I mean it. At least for comparison purposes; you’ve only been with Bryn, and—”

  Holy crap! Bryn. Was it possible? Everything that Khol and the other Dragon had said while I was barely conscious came flooding back. No, it couldn’t be, but then again, I was half Dragon myself after all. “I think Bryn may be part Black Dragon.” The words seemed even more ludicrous when I said them aloud.

  “Did you hit your head?” Jenna asked with a laugh. “You’ll do anything to change the subject, won’t you?”

  “No, Jenna! I’m being serious. I heard Khol and some other Dragon talking, when I wasn’t fully awake, about how some young Black Dragon, or at least partial Black Dragon, has the beginnings of a mate claim on me. I know from talking to Khol that the only way to claim a Dragon mate is to do it during sex.” Jenna’s eyes widened slightly as I continued on with my crazy theory. “Well, I’ve only been with Bryn, and Khol said all Red Dragons have red hair in human form, even ones like me who can’t change forms, and well, wouldn’t it make sense for Black Dragons to have black hair in human form? And who do we know that I’ve slept with that has black hair?” When I put all the clues together that way, maybe it didn’t seem that implausible that Bryn was part Black Dragon. I didn’t think he was full blooded because he looked too much like his dad, and he did have all the usual Guardian abilities. Which meant—“Holy crap! That means Bryn’s dad had an affair with a female Dragon. That’s the only way it would make sense.” Was that why Bryn and I had always felt so drawn to each other starting at a very young age? Had we started some kind of bonding process between Dragon mates without even realizing it?

  Jenna stared at me in what looked like complete shock. “Well, say something,” I chuckled nervously. “I don’t think, in all the years we’ve been friends, I have ever seen you go speechless.”

  “I—well, I—damn it, when you explain it the way you just did, it almost seems possible.” She shook her head in amazement. “First you, and now maybe Bryn. Maybe it’s true that Speakers can’t be friends with our kind because if you’re right, this means neither of you are one hundred percent Seer or Guardian.”

  I reached up and scratched at the back of my neck. It was beginning to burn; nothing like before, but it was definitely uncomfortable. “Hey, will you see what’s going on with the back of my neck? It was burning like crazy before, and now it’s more burning slash itching, but it’s annoying as all hell.” I lifted my hair off of my neck, and Jenna scooted behind me to take a look.

  “Umm . . . when did you get a tattoo and decide not to tell me?” Jenna said with annoyance. “Didn’t they tell you A & D ointment is the best thing for it while it’s healing? It kind of looks raw.”

  “What?” I pulled away with alarm. “I didn’t get a tattoo. What the hell are you talking about?” Jumping out of bed, I clamored over to a large mirror that was hanging on the wall and contorted the best that I could to try and see the back of my neck, but I couldn’t see a thing.

  “Hang on.” Jenna reached down to the floor and into her purse to produce a small compact. She then came over to join me in front of the larger mirror while holding the compact so I could see the offending area that was hiding from me.

  I gasped at the image reflected back at me in the tiny mirror. Sure enough, there was what looked like a raw and chaffing black circular tattoo right below my hair line on the back of my neck. “That’s impossible,” I muttered while still staring in the mirror.

  “Can’t be impossible since there it is.” I could feel Jenna studying me. “You really didn’t know? How can you not know you got a tattoo?”

  “I wish I knew,” I said as I headed back for the bed, my head reeling. Time and time again, I kept thinking my life couldn’t get any weirder. I really had to stop jinxing myself.

  A loud knock on the door preceded Khol entering the room. He gave me a tight smile as he met my eyes. “It’s the Black Dragon’s Anam Cara mark.”

  “Huh?” Jenna and I said in perfect unison.

  Khol motioned at the back of his neck. “What you think is a tattoo is the Black Dragon’s Anam Cara mark—mate mark, or at least the beginning of one.”

  “What do you mean?” Jenna asked.

  Khol answered while still holding my gaze. “Because it’s black, I know it was made by a Black Dragon. All Anam Caras—Dragon pairs—mark each other.”

  “So . . .”

  He picked up on my question before I could ask it. “Yes. He will bare a red mark on the back of his neck from you.” Khol paused, turmoil rolling off him in waves. “This Bryn. Your Bryn.” He practically growled the words. “I can no longer wait for you to be done with him before I claim you. This changes everything.”

  Fear shot up my spine and caused goose bumps to erupt on my skin. “I trust you,” I whispered even though I already sensed the words were little good to me anymore.

  For the first time since I’d met Khol, genuine sadness filled his eyes. “And I had hoped to keep that trust with you, but I won’t lose you, especially to a Dubh Arach.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What I think you’re trying to say there, bucko, is completely unacceptable. You better back off of P.J.,” Jenna said angrily. “Nobody forces my best friend to do anything she doesn’t wanna do.”

  A small part of me, the part that was slightly hysterical, wanted to laugh because Jenna had just said bucko—that was something she’d definitely picked up from her mom. A larger part of me had already taken a mental vacation. I just couldn’t seem to grasp what was going on. “Khol, please,” I attempted. Please, what? Please don’t force yourself on me and claim me for your mate when I want someone else?

  “The mark isn’t complete, that’s why it’s irritating you. His is doing the same, I can guarantee you. But once it’s complete, there will be no going back. You would be his for the rest of your lives. And that I can’t allow,” Khol snarled. “Especially not a damn Black Dragon.” He began stalking towards me, and I shrank back until I hit the wall. I wanted away from him. I wanted to go home. I was in way over my head with him. “Drake,” Khol called with menace. A moment later I saw someone male appear in my peripheral vision, but I didn’t dare look away from Khol. “Take Jenna to her room and make sure she stays there.”

  “Yes, my Lord.” The same voice I had heard when I wasn’t fully conscious answered.

  “No!” Jenna screamed. “You can’t! She trusted you! We trusted you!” But her screams were silenced as the other Dragon disappeared with Jenna in his arms kicking and screaming, leaving me alone with Khol.

  “Please,” I whispered, my whole body beginning to tremble. “Don’t do this to me.”
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  “I’m sorry. I don’t have a choice anymore.”

  “It’ll be rape. Are you telling me you have no choice but to rape me? I don’t believe that.” My words came out shaky as I tried to withhold the onslaught of tears that were pooling in my eyes.

  He came to stand mere inches away from me, his voice barely a whisper. “You’ll enjoy it, I promise. I know your body craves mine. That isn’t rape, coercion maybe, but not rape.”

  He leaned forward to kiss me, and I ducked down so he missed and got the side of my face. “But my heart and soul still crave Bryn. You’ll deny me that for the rest of my life? Because once you claim me for your Anam Cara, I won’t want him anymore, will I? At least not physically?”

  “No, you won’t. And it’s better that way.” He grabbed my wrists and pushed them up over my head, causing my heart to triple in time.

  “I’ll never forgive you for this,” I hissed.

  A sad smile turned Khol’s lips up ever so slightly at the corners. “But you will because only I will be able to give you what you crave when I’m your Anam Cara. And Dragons are quite insatiable, especially the females; you haven’t even begun to experience the full scope of your Dragon side.”

  Bryn’s image flooded my mind, and just like that time in the woods when I was almost raped, all I wished for was for him to come to my rescue. “Bryn!” I mentally screamed. “Please, somehow don’t let this happen to me—to us!” I struggled in Khol’s grasp, but he was much too strong for me. He managed to keep me pinned with just one hand holding both my wrists as he tore at my clothes. I screamed with fury. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let him do this. When he dipped his head to kiss me, I bit his lip, causing him to growl low in his chest, his eyes glowing brighter. I tasted the tangy copper flavor of his blood as he persisted, delving into my mouth with his tongue.

  “Get your hands off her. She’s mine,” a heartbreakingly familiar voice growled with menace from behind Khol. I had a moment of intermingled relief and joy before the smile on Khol’s face set internal alarm bells going off inside of me.

  And then I knew—it was a trap. “Bryn!” I screamed. “Get out of here! He wanted you to come for me!” I pulled away from Khol, whose grip had loosened, and I ducked under his arm, swiveling to his left to dash for Bryn. But before I could even get two steps, his arms snaked out and restrained me around my waist. “Bryn!” I gasped, drinking him in with my eyes. He seemed bigger—more muscular than I remembered, even though it really hadn’t been that long since I’d seen him. He also seemed years older, his face set with grim determination as he looked at me. And his eyes—his eyes glowed an eerie blue that confirmed the fact that he was indeed Dragon—just like I had thought. The one thing that hadn’t changed though was that he was mine. My whole body yearned to be in his arms with everything in it. It felt quite possible that I would die right there if I couldn’t reach him soon. Bryn’s face told me he felt the same way as he stepped towards me and reached out his arms for me. “Let me go!” I screeched, clawing at Khol’s arms. “Bryn!”

  “Bind him,” Khol commanded, just before three Dragons appeared behind Bryn with chains. Before I knew what was happening, Bryn’s arms were shackled by two of the Dragons even as the third struggled to put a neck shackle on him.

  “Peej!” Bryn roared, and I renewed my fight against Khol, reaching my hand back and raking it down his cheek. His blood burned my fingertips, but I didn’t care; I had to get to Bryn.

  Khol slid his grip from my waist to my arms, holding them behind my back. “Stop fighting me or he dies.” I instantly stilled, knowing Khol wasn’t bluffing.

  “Bryn,” I whispered as I locked gazes with him as he was forced to his knees by the three Dragons that held his chains. Having to see him that way caused hot, angry tears to flow down my cheeks. “You never intended on raping me. You just wanted me to believe it so I’d call out to him. It was all a trap.”

  “Yes. I couldn’t leave to chance when he would come for you . He’s young, his powers are just developing, and without such a motivator, he might not have been able to do what he just did.” Confusion washed over Bryn’s face with Khol’s words. “He shifted right to you when you called out to him. He felt your bond was in danger, and the Dragon in him knew he had to get to you.”

  “Dragon?” Bryn’s full lips shaped the word in surprise.

  “He doesn’t even know what he is. He probably hasn’t even had time to process what happened. He reacted instinctually, which was what I was hoping for.”

  “What do you want with him?” I waited for Khol’s answer, and when it didn’t come, I knew what he wasn’t saying. I choked back a strangled cry so I could speak. “Don’t hurt him. I’ll do whatever you want. Just please don’t hurt him,” I said as I watched Bryn. He was my everything, my reason for living. He owned my heart, body, and soul. How could I either choose giving myself to Khol or letting Bryn die? Either way, I wouldn’t get to be with him, and yet, at least if I gave myself to Khol, Bryn would get to live. There was some small comfort in knowing that my sacrifice would keep him alive.

  Bryn must have seen something in my face because pain rolled over his. “No. Peej. Whatever it is, don’t do it.”

  “I can’t let you die!” I sobbed.

  “It’ll be like I’m dead anyways without you. Since I left, that’s what it’s felt like—like some part of me died because I couldn’t be with you, couldn’t see you. I’d rather die knowing it was for your freedom.”

  I looked away from him, no longer able to watch the pain on his beautiful face. “I could never let you die for me.” I started to turn towards Khol, and he shifted his grip to allow me. I met his green eyes with hatred. “I said I’d do anything you want as long as you don’t hurt him. But you have to give me your word that you won’t harm him in any way.”

  Khol stared at me, blood from my scratches already dried on his face. “We will keep him prisoner until I claim you, and then he may go free. Not a minute before. It will be your choice for how long he remains here.”

  I raised my chin to look at him defiantly, “No. He goes free now.”

  “No. You agree to my deal or he dies now. There will be no other compromises. It goes against all my Dragon instincts to let him live at all.” Khol ground his teeth together, and I sensed he was barely holding on to control. I knew in that moment if I wanted to keep Bryn alive, I couldn’t try to push him any further.

  “Okay. But not even one single strand on his head will be harmed. Your word.” I held my breath, waiting to see how he’d respond.

  “My word to you that I will hold him as my prisoner until you agree to let me claim you. At that time, he will be released with no permanent injuries to his body or powers.” Khol continued to grind his teeth together. “That’s as much as I can offer.”

  I nodded once tightly, knowing it was the best I was going to get for Bryn. “No, Peej. You can’t. We’ll find a way, I promise.” I wanted to believe him, and a small part of me did, the part of me that still believed he could do anything—the part of me that still trusted him so completely that if he promised me something, that in itself would make it reality.

  I didn’t turn to look at Bryn for fear of my heart breaking into a million pieces. I would give myself to Khol as soon as possible, so they wouldn’t have time to hurt him in any way. I hadn’t missed what Khol had implied with his words: no permanent damage. That still left a lot on the table for them to torture him with. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Khol growled at Bryn. “Take him away.”

  Bryn howled my name as chains rattled from the strength of his fight, and still, I refused to look at him. Finally, when all was silent and I knew he was gone, I looked up at Khol and tried to put all the hatred that I now felt for him in my gaze. “I hate you,” I said just as my head swam and I collapsed to the floor.

  17

 
I awoke to Khol staring down at me. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way.” I sensed his words were sincere, and that made them that much worse.

  “Bryn and I are meant to be together. We always have been.” Raw agony ripped at my insides with the thought of really and truly losing Bryn, not just for a year but forever, and it made me begin to contemplate if it would be hard to take my own life. Maybe it was my only option for an escape. But then what would Khol do to Bryn after I was dead? I had no doubt he would kill him; therefore, I would have to gain Bryn’s freedom first. And that would mean having to let Khol claim me. It was hard to believe that such a short time ago, a part of me had responded so feverishly to Khol’s kisses, to his touch, when now the mere thought of his hands on me left me ice cold. Maybe it had something to do with the beginning of the Anam Cara mark from Bryn, or maybe the reality of possibly losing Bryn forever had finally hit home. I knew positively, without any doubts, I would never love anyone else the way that I loved him—he was my home—always had been and always would be.

  “If you were meant to be with him, then you would end up with him, and I can assure you that won’t be happening. You will be my Anam Cara, not his.”

  A strangled cry of frustration escaped from me. “Why?” I stared at Khol, looking for some kind of clue. “Why do you want me so desperately? It’s not like you’re in love with me, you can’t be. Why not find some other nice lady Dragon and claim her so that I can be with Bryn?”