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giving myself to Nala is the only way I can make that happen”—he bared his teeth at me in a mock smile—“then I’ll do it. Make no mistake about that.”
    “Bryn.” His name rolled over my tongue and out of my mouth in a hushed whisper, carrying with it a silent plea that I could somehow make him see what a huge mistake he was making.
    “I was born to be your Guardian, and I swore to myself once that I would do whatever it took to protect you, even if it meant protecting you from myself.” He turned and took a step toward the door. “I’m just not strong enough—not powerful enough—not good enough to be with you. I just wish I had accepted that from day one. It would have saved us both a lot of pain.” Khol chose that moment to return and he stepped into my room, pausing near Bryn. The two of them shared a very male look before Bryn left without so much as another word to me. I stared after him, hating Khol freshly in that moment.
    “We must make plans for your journey,” he said coolly, in an all business tone. He was a very wise dragon to not push me any more in that moment. He knew I’d talk to him about the task I was assigned by the missing Dragon Queen from my vision, but little else.
    “And where exactly am I going?” I grated.
    “She will let us know where and when it’s time.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked with a sinking feeling in my stomach.
    “It means we have a lot to talk about,” Khol said as he closed my bedroom door behind him.

4

    “Knock, knock,” Jenna said as she walked right into my room and flopped onto my bed.
    “You know saying knock, knock and then walking right into someone’s room is not the same thing as actually knocking and waiting for a reply.” I feigned annoyance at her, even though the truth was I missed her . . . a lot. It felt like we hadn’t had any real girl time in a long while and I had a feeling that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.
    “Your door was open,” she retorted.
    “No,” I said as I stuffed the last of my clean laundry into my dresser, “It just wasn’t locked.”
    “Same thing.”
    “Not really,” I grumbled.
    “So . . . you and Bryn are really over, huh?” I froze with my back to her, my heart tripling in time.
    “Why, what do you know?” Had Bryn already mated with Nala? Wouldn’t I somehow just know ? It couldn’t all be over like that . . . could it?
    “Well, he did move out of your room, didn’t he? And I’ve seen him skulking around all moody and broody. So—yeah—I connected the dots. You’re not the only one that’s known him forever.”
    My knees buckled with relief, and I slid to the ground. He hadn’t mated with Nala, at least not yet. “Oh thank God,” I gasped on a sharp intake of breath. Until he did, I still had a chance, and I wouldn’t believe otherwise. I scooted around so I could face Jenna, my back resting against my dresser. “Have you seen him hanging around with any female dragons . . . like Nala maybe?” I couldn’t seem to control my morbid curiosity.
    Jenna’s laugh came out sounding like a sharp bark, and she eyed me with amusement from under her black fringe of bangs. “No, he’s been avoiding all female dragons like the plague. Especially Nala. Is that what he told you? That he was going to mate with someone else?”
    I averted my eyes sheepishly. “Yeah, that’s exactly what he told me. Right after he told me that he wanted me to mate with Khol.”
    Jenna groaned and slapped her hand against her forehead. “Men, I swear. If they weren’t so useful in the bedroom, I don’t think we would keep them around at all.”
    I couldn’t help the smile that cracked my face. “Yeah, I guess.” In an effort to think about something else—anything else—I was about to do the unthinkable: I was actually about to ask Jenna about her sex life. “How are you and Macon doing?” And that was all it took to send Jenna off on a male bashing tirade. She