Earthbound (Dragons and Druids Book 2)

by Leia Stone

  I nearly stumbled onto the curb, flushed with fire, cheeks pulsing red. I watched Nadine, Keegan, and Danny cross the street and go into the club. Then I turned back to look at Logan.

  ‘Let it come.’ He was my mate after all, and I’d be lying if I said I wanted to sleep through this one.

  His mouth popped open in shock; his eyes flared emerald green and I grinned, beginning my walk around the perimeter.

  I walked along the riverbank for a few strides, following Dominic, when the lion shifter stopped and cocked his head to the side. His nostrils were flaring, his whole body tense. Logan must have seen it too, because he jogged to catch up to me and then called out to Dom.

  “What is it?” We both took quick strides to meet up with the silent shifter.

  Dom was staring at the alley that led to the side entrance of the club our group had gone into. He was looking into the darkness like it held some secret.

  “Familiar smell,” he grumbled, and a thousand emotions crossed his face. Confusion, disbelief, terror, and then rage.

  Without another word, Dom crossed the street, not even looking for cars, hands going into his jacket to pull out his guns.

  “Dominic!” Logan’s voice was authoritative but also caring. Something was going on with his friend and he was trying to help. Dom ignored Logan and kept his head down as he passed the sorcerer at the front entrance, and then slipped into the side alley. Logan and I scurried after him. We were wedged between two buildings with the reek of garbage and dampness, but there was another smell: dogs, blood, death.

  Dominic turned to face Logan, breath coming in and out in ragged gasps. He was on the verge of hyperventilating.

  “Dominic. Use. Your. Words.” Logan hovered over his friend, and finally Dom unclenched his fists and the blood drained from his face.

  “Logan, it’s him. I smell him.” The way the streetlights were casting shadows on Dominic’s face made him look like a scared child.

  Logan’s face fell. “You’re sure? Here? Now?”

  Dom nodded, and as his jaw gritted, his features transformed. The fear disappeared and in its place the dancing lights left a macabre expression. “You promised,” He told him.

  Logan sighed, looking over at me. His black hair swept over one eye, he looked like he was physically in pain. “Sloane, get on the bus,” he ordered.

  My jaw dropped. “Umm, no. Who is here? What’s happening?”

  Logan pulled out his Glock and cocked it, looking maniacal. “The sorcerer that tortured Dominic and pitted him against other shifters is here … running another underground ring.”

  Shock mixed with fury ripped through me in the same moment. Oh. Hell. No.

  “What are you going to do?” Why was he asking me to get on the bus? And what had he promised Dom he would do?

  Logan didn’t even hesitate: “We’re going to kill that bastard and set the shifters free.”

  I put my hands out in an effort to try to calm the two males. Clearly they were seeing red right now and not reason. “You’re going to go into a pureblooded club, full of sorcerers and druids and God knows what else, and kill the most powerful one there with your guns? Just the two of you?”

  Logan shrugged. “We’ll manage.”

  Tough guy.

  Dominic was bouncing on the balls of his feet, raring to go.

  “I have a plan.” I held up my hand. “Why don’t we just try to relax until Danny and the others get out there and we can all go into together. Calmer, more focused, and more powerful…”

  Please listen to reason. I wanted this asshat wiped off the face of the Earth just as much as anybody, but I didn’t want to lose my mate in the process.

  Dominic started pacing, on the verge of shifting, pelts of fur rippling down his arms.

  “The shifters fighting in there could be dead by then. He would put out his cigarettes on me. Cut me with broken bottles. Anything to enrage me before a fight to get me to win.” Dom’s words tore my heart in two; hot tears leaked out of the corner of my eyes as my dragon tightened within me. My throat physically ached. I wanted to sob, wanted to scream, wanted to kill.

  Mofo was gonna pay.

  “Don’t move. I’ll be right back,” I barked, and took off running back to the bus, hoping they would listen.

  The moment I popped up the steps, Isaac was ready, staff in hand, poised for attack. “What is it? Your energy is erratic.”

  I didn’t want to think of how he could feel my energy, so I pushed that aside.

  Roxy peered at me from behind him, wild brown curls, twelve-inch hunting blade in her hand.

  “A long time ago, our friend Dominic was tortured and used as a fighting animal in a shifter-fighting gambling ring. The sorcerer who did it is inside. Are you down to help us kill him?” I still wasn’t sure how much of a free-loving hippie Isaac was. I knew he wanted to kill Ardan, but was that all? Did he have a “hug trees and don’t kill” policy? Because if we were going to bust in there with a bunch of pureblooded powerful supernatural creatures, we would need all the help we could get.

  Isaac’s eyes crinkled and the grip on his staff tightened. “Gladly.”

  Roxy stood, muscles clenched, ready to go, but I put my hand out. “We need a driver if shit goes south. Can you have the bus ready to go when we run out?”

  Roxy’s face looked physically pained. “But I want to help.” She peered out the bus window and across the street. I knew she had a thing for Dom. They’d both hit it off from the beginning, but I needed Isaac more than her, because that place could be crawling with druids.

  “You are helping. Keep the bus running. Dom needs you,” I said, and grabbed Isaac’s hand, yanking him towards the front of the bus. I didn’t bother looking behind me, praying that Roxy wasn’t following.

  Isaac tucked his staff into his side so it couldn’t be seen too easily as we walked. The cloak of nightfall was our friend. As I led him into the alley, I stopped short in surprise. Dom was in lion form, guns and clothes crumpled on the ground.

  “Holy Mother Earth,” Isaac said, and I would have grinned at his shock if the situation weren’t so dire.

  The sight of a four-hundred-pound lion—jagged scars all over his face and neck—it even made me stop short and stare.

  “I couldn’t keep him human,” Logan stated, picking up Dom’s guns and stashing them around his person. He offered one to Isaac, who looked mortally offended.

  Just then, a guttural animal’s whimper came from the basement window. It sounded like a dying wolf, and everything within me clenched.

  Isaac peered at the metal doorway that led inside, standing barefoot as usual, not caring what dirt or glass he might pick up. “My magic isn’t as strong inside. I need access to the Earth.”

  Whatever magic he could call up would have to be good enough, because I wasn’t sitting out here waiting for that animal to die.

  I knelt down and picked up Dominic’s belt from his crumpled jeans. “I’ve got a plan,” I told the group.

  Chapter 4

  Isaac stood beside me, druid staff tucked into his left side as he banged on the door with his fist. We were in the alley, at the side entrance that was clearly where the fighting was going on, judging from the sounds and smells. I could hear a low animal growl, hard to say if it belonged to a cat or wolf, and that smell… that was the coppery smell of blood and death.

  The door peeled open a few inches, and Dom leapt up with a roar. I yanked the belt back and he stepped down. Not because I’d been strong enough to pull him, but because he’d allowed it.

  “What the hell!” The door man stumbled back and Isaac stepped up into the doorway, wedging his foot in between.

  “I have a gift for your host,” Isaac said formally, even bowing slightly.

  The man looked like a sorcerer. I don’t know how I knew but I did. He was tall and lanky, not physically scary by any means, but power radiated from him.

  The man eyed Dom warily as the lion licked his lips.

&nb
sp; “Too late, fight’s already started.” The guard seemed to have gotten his wits back together, because he stood erect and turned to me, nostrils flaring. My hair was tucked into my black beanie, and for all intents and purposes I probably looked like a flat-chested boy and smelled like a wolf shifter—thanks to ingesting Keegan’s bodily fluids.

  “What’s the mutt doing here?” he growled, eyes flaring yellow.

  Isaac pulled his staff out, shoved it up under the sorcerer’s chin, and shot a pulse of orange magic up into his face, making him crumple to the ground.

  My jaw opened and then snapped shut. “You have to teach me how to do that,” I said in awe.

  Isaac nodded and pushed the door open with a groan, flattening himself against the wall as Logan and I stepped fully inside the small dark hallway, Dominic in front. The lion shifter shook the belt and I allowed it fall to the ground. I could see now, close up, that there were patches in his mane that didn’t grow hair because of the scarring, and rage pulsed through me, fresh and hot.

  “Keegan and Danny are on their way,” Logan told us. He must have used the mental link to the pack to communicate the situation.

  The mild roar of a small crowd had risen up from the steps below. “And Nadine?” I queried.

  “Creating a distraction,” Logan offered with a grin, then he looked to Dom. “It’s your turn now, Dom. Go get ‘em.” With that, Dominic tore down the steps and Logan pulled out a gun for each hand.

  ‘Stay safe, behind me,’ he ordered, and I pulled my small cold black Ruger from my waist. Not a problem. I knew when to be the hero, and when to cower behind the guy who was a much better shot than me.

  We took the stairs two at a time, trying to follow the swishing tail of a very large and angry cat. When Dominic peered through the black velvet curtain that closed off the hallway, I didn’t know what to expect. Something savage and ugly, makeshift? But it was fancy, classy—rich. The curtain had pulled back enough to give me a generous view of the space. Wait staff in full tuxedos carried champagne in dainty flutes—tables covered with white linens, poker chips, and cards dealers, a crystal chandelier above it all. The first thing that surprised me was how small the crowd was, a little over a dozen people total. The second thing was that one quick scan told me they were all males. Not only were they racist in making sure only purebloods could join in the black-market fun, but they were sexist too.

  It was all so out of place compared to the brutal fight unfolding on the center stage. Two shifters were locked in battle. A large white wolf and a … pit-bull dog.

  “I didn’t know there were dog shifters,” I whispered.

  “There aren’t.” Logan’s teeth ground together.

  Oh. Oh hell no. Making a shifter fight a freaking dog. Admittedly, I loved dogs more than people. This was NOT okay. Heads would roll tonight. I wasn’t leaving without justice.

  I didn’t have time to contemplate, because Dom tore through the curtain lightning-quick, and up to a raised dais off to the side of the center stage. That’s when all hell broke loose.

  The sorcerer sitting on the raised dais was cruel and powerful-looking, wearing a canary-yellow suit that was almost as offensive as his curled mustache. Almost. I barely had time to take in his appearance before Dominic leapt and landed on top of him. Logan, Isaac, and I funneled out into the room, guns raised.

  “Don’t move!” Logan fired a shot at the ground and everyone hit the floor, hiding under tables and behind chairs.

  For a beautiful second we had them enthralled—three people with weapons, a lion shifter snarling and trying to tear out their host’s throat—we were powerful, feared. Until they remembered who they were.

  Yellow magic started hurling from everywhere, orbs and magical nets soaring across the room at us. You couldn’t shoot magic with guns—at least I didn’t think so. Isaac went into action. He slammed his staff down on the concrete floor, and sent a burst of orange magic out in a flaring high arc, eviscerating the yellow assault headed our way.

  “I need grass! Trees!” Isaac grumbled. Lack of mother nature in this situation was a bitch and just might get us killed.

  “Need some help?” Danny’s voice came from behind us and I nearly sagged with relief. I was hoping not to have to use this gun today, but like Dominic had taught me, don’t pull it out unless you were one hundred percent ready to use it. I was and I would.

  Danny threw his hands out and a yellow dome erected over us, shielding us from the magical harm of the room’s occupants. The fight on the stage broke up when the wolf shifter ran off, taking the other exit out into the club. The pit-bull, a light chocolate color, had collapsed onto the floor, panting, dripping blood. The other sorcerers were so preoccupied with us that they didn’t notice Dominic locked in a battle to the death with the canary-yellow douchebag. It looked like the man was electrocuting Dominic with magic, but the lion never relented, tearing into the sorcerer’s neck, mauling him with the anger and ferocity of someone who’d been abused for too long by his hand.

  Keegan slipped out of our bubble, crawled along the ground, and popped up at Dominic’s side to help finish Canary off. I thought we were good, that we were actually going to pull this off, until a red ball hurled from the back of the room and shattered our magical bubble.

  Druid.

  For a moment I expected Steven or Ardan. As if they would magically show up wherever I was and wreak havoc on my life. But it was some unknown female—black hair shaved at the sides, tattoos climbing up her neck. I realized then that it wasn’t all males; she was the one female permitted to attend, and for some reason that terrified me. How powerful must this woman be to be allowed entrance into this all-male exclusive party?

  “Isaac…” She breathed his name as if it were a sin.

  “You’re pretty popular with the bad guys,” Danny stated. He tried to resurrect our protective dome but failed.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him. The woman and two of her cronies were walking our way; the others seemed to have noticed Danny was having trouble as well. They abandoned their hiding spots, some going to help the canary-yellow man, who was now most definitely dead, but most were gunning it for us.

  “Someone’s blocking me!” Danny growled, sweat beading his brow.

  Great. Just freaking great. My dragon was smashing against my body, trying to rip free, but I pushed her down. This would be the worst possible place to out myself as a skyborn.

  A shot rang out and I noticed it was Logan, next to me. He’d shot a sorcerer who was trying to hurl magic at Dom and Keegan. Dominic was a bloody mess, limping and half dead-looking but … alive.

  “We need an exit plan,” Danny said.

  My eyes kept falling on the poor destitute dog, lying there on his side, panting helplessly, as if he’d given up on trying to survive.

  “I’m not leaving without the dog,” I stated firmly.

  The second those words left my lips, the female druid hurled another red ball of magic. I didn’t even see her conjure it. It was just there, catapulting through the air faster than anything I’d ever seen—headed straight for Isaac.

  His name barely tore from my lips when the red ball smashed into him. He’d been looking at the dog, same as me. He barely had time to pull up his staff, trying to position it to take the brunt of the hit, but a good majority smashed into him, throwing him backward into the wall, unconscious.

  Shit.

  Dom and Keegan were suddenly back at our side as more gunfire sounded. Logan was shooting any sorcerer trying to conjure. We’d backed up slowly since we’d entered the room, but now the staircase exit was being blocked by the druid.

  Double shit.

  This time I did see the woman preparing her magic. It was barely there, a flicker of red, and I was squeezing the trigger on my gun.

  A bullet sank into the meat of her thigh and the red magic fizzled out as she brought her hand down to staunch it.

  “Nice!” Logan said.

  “I was aiming for her ches
t,” I confessed.

  The woman looked up at me, hatred in her red glowing eyes. “You bitch!” She lunged, throwing red magic that I dodged; it crashed into the wall behind me.

  Just beyond her, yellow magic flew from some dickhead, hitting Danny square in the stomach beside me. It was a warzone. My dragon pushed at my skin; she was seconds from coming to the surface. If I couldn’t protect myself, she would.

  We were screwed. So screwed.

  ‘I could shift,’ Logan offered.

  ‘No!’ That would out him, and most likely get him killed faster. This shaved-head woman looked like she already wanted to drink Logan’s magic with a straw.

  Logan had emptied his guns, out of bullets; my eyes kept darting to the dying pit-bull. One glance behind me showed Isaac was waking up, but was nowhere near useful.

  Keegan was ripping his shirt into strips, tying tourniquets off to save Dom who looked barely alive.

  Behind me, Danny was mumbling something on the floor.

  “Purl,” Danny rasped.

  I popped off another shot at the advancing druid, panic starting to consume me. Keegan, and even bloody, injured Dom, were growling and snarling at the advancing line of men. Even in their human forms their animal sounds tore from their throats.

  “Purple,” Danny groaned at last, and his meaning slammed into me.

  I looked down to see him covering his balls and I smiled.

  Purple. Yes. This room was full of men and they were about to be brought to their knees.

  “Sloane … no,” Logan growled as I handed him my gun and he emptied the cartridge, bullets bouncing off the shields the sorcerers had erected.

  I felt for the crackle of power that lay just under the surface of my skin. It rolled up my arms like water, flowing and without hindrance. When I felt it reach my palms, I pushed. A blanket of purple magic shot out from my palms so fast I was thrust backward a few feet. Something deep inside of me fissured—I couldn’t explain it, but it was like my soul had been ripped in half—everything ached. My vision blurred, but I could see enough to see the entire room was on the ground, grabbing their junk and moaning. Even the female druid looked incapacitated.