“Miss Willow’s car,” Darien replied.
Logan frowned. “How do you propose we get in, Sherlock?”
Darien smirked. “Her trunk lock is busted. All you have to do is stick something pointy in it and jiggle. It’ll come loose.”
Logan watched as Darien expertly popped it with a sturdy stick. “How did you know that?”
“I watched her do that last year when she’d accidentally locked her keys in the car.” Darien jumped in the back of the Jeep and began to crawl over the seats to the front.
“Okay, great, but unless you know where she hides a spare set of keys, we’re still screwed from where I stand,” Logan said as he went in after him.
Darien flopped down into the driver’s seat and fished around down by the pedals. “We’ll hotwire it.”
Logan’s eyes widened. “You’re gonna steal it? Do you even know how to hotwire a car?”
Darien met his eyes as he found the bunch of wires and tugged at them. “Do you?”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “Well… yeah, but—”
Darien shrugged. “Great. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it. That way, if we get caught, your butt is covered and you won’t end up violating your probation, or whatever.”
Logan couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation he currently found himself in. He and his eighteen-year-old half-brother, who he’d just discovered that he had, were stealing a woman’s car on their way back to recruit a bunch of kids to help train an army of fairies to fight a war. It didn’t get any weirder than this.
He quickly instructed Darien on how to hotwire the car and soon they were speeding back towards camp, racing the sunrise and breaking more traffic laws than he even wanted to think about. The sun was just rising when they barreled into the kids’ cabin.
Their less than stealthy entrance woke Aki up immediately and she sat up with a start, blinking at them with bleary eyes. She frowned and groped for her glasses. “Darien?” she mumbled. She shoved her glasses on and gasped when she saw Logan. “You’re all right!” she exclaimed. She made to leap out of bed, but must have forgotten that she was in the top bunk, because she toppled over the edge and landed in an ungraceful heap on the floor.
Darien’s eyes widened. “Aki!” he cried as he flew to her side. “Are you all right? What are you doing?”
Colt sat up, his hair sticking out in every possible direction. “Wha’sss goin’ on?” he slurred.
Aki pushed herself into a standing position and pointed at Logan.
“Counselor Logan!” Lucy’s voice shouted suddenly. She flew out of her bed and ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist.
Logan grunted because his midsection was still slightly sore, but he didn’t push her away.
“Oh my gosh! When we heard that Miss Willow went somewhere with you, and Darien I thought you’d had to go to the hospital! I was so worried!” She pulled away from Logan and looked over at Darien. “Darien—”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her close. “I’m fine, Lucy. We’re fine.”
“What’s going on?” Doug muttered, joining the conversation.
“Look, we don’t have a lot of time,” Logan said. “Lucy, you know your dragon warrior legend? And the Avari fairies?”
She moved out of Darien’s embrace and nodded.
“It’s all real.” There, that oughta do it.
Lucy, as well as all of the others, stared and blinked.
Logan waved his hands. “Hello? Did I stutter? It’s all real! Willow’s a fairy queen and I was poisoned by an evil heinous wench, and then I was just stabbed! And we have to train an army because they’re going to all be slaughtered!”
Colt raised an eyebrow. “Run that by us again?”
Logan huffed and tried to centralize his rambling, incoherent thoughts. “The Avari fairy legend is real!” he tried again. “Willow is a fairy queen and there’s a portal that can transport us into her realm. That war between the Avari and the Supporo is still going on, and that evil woman who poisoned me is going to try and attack Willow’s people, except they don’t know squat about combat! That’s why we need your help!”
“You were poisoned?” Doug questioned. “I thought you had an allergic reaction.”
“Is this like a role playing game?” Aki asked.
Logan let out a frustrated growl. They didn’t have time for this! He focused his attention on Lucy. “Lucy, you need to listen to me. Darien and I are brothers.”
Her eyes widened and she looked up at Darien.
He nodded. “We just found out.”
“And we have a shot at winning this war if we train these people right because we are both…” He struggled for the name. It was eluding him, as always. He waved his hand. “We’re Alpha Beta Kappas.”
Darien frowned.
Colt blinked, then frowned. “You’re going to win a war because you and Darien are frat boys?”
Logan shook his head. “No. Um… Venti Chais.”
Colt’s frown deepened. “You’re a large, caffeinated beverage?”
“Alveda d’Kai!” Darien shouted. “Dang, Logan, get it right, would you?”
Lucy gasped. “Alveda d’Kai? You and Logan?”
Colt snorted. “Gimme a break. Come on, what kind of game are we playing?”
Logan heaved a sigh. “Darien, do you still have that mark on your back, or has it faded?”
Darien turned to his friends and lifted his shirt. A collective gasp came from everyone and Lucy shrieked.
“It’s real!” she cried. “Oh my gosh! The legend is real!”
Logan rolled his eyes. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. Now, we don’t have much time and we need your help!” He fixed everyone with a mischievous look. “Does everyone want to take part in something better than a role playing game?”
There was one second of silence and then the room exploded into activity as all of the kids started to get dressed and get their things together.
Lucy looked from Darien to Logan and back again. She smiled up at Darien with nothing short of adoration in her eyes. “I should have known,” she murmured. “You’re both too strong to be human.”
Darien grinned and tucked back some of her wild, blonde hair. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear that made her gasp again and press close as she gazed up at him in wonderment.
Logan smiled to himself. No doubt he’d just told her he was part Avari also. As if she needed even more reasons to worship him. He clapped his hands. “Come on, guys, we need to get a move on. We have an armory to plunder. Colt, let me see your collection of DVDs, would you?”
Colt slung a bag onto his bed and Logan rummaged through it. The Princess Bride, all three Lord of the Rings… He passed on Harry Potter because the entire premise was based around magic, which was something none of them actually had. Willow… He frowned. Willow? He picked that one up and studied it. It was about a dwarf… He preferred his Willow, but he snatched the movie anyway. He picked up a movie called Labyrinth… Whoa! David Bowie in purple spandex! Yeah, he was going to pass on that one. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Timeline, he grabbed anything that would help him out with strategy. He even grabbed 300 since that was probably the kind of odds all of them were going to have.
He handed his selection of movies to Darien, along with the portable DVD player, then headed out of the cabin.
“Where are you going?” Darien called. “We have to go get the weapons out of the shed.”
Logan nodded. “I know. I’ll be right back.” He smirked. “I’m going to go get my gun.”
* * * *
Willow’s heart was racing and, though she tried to remain calm, panic was quickly making her mind turn fuzzy. Where were Logan and Darien? She’d fallen asleep next to Logan, enjoying the feeling of being close to someone warm and strong, but he’d been gone when she’d awakened. And now she couldn’t find him… Or Darien…And she and Tiyenen had just found a circle of Cyrcinus’ dead warriors lyi
ng on the forest floor close to where the portal to the human world was, along with a discarded bow, quiver of arrows and a sword. There was a bloody dagger lying in the middle of the clearing, but no body near it.
“Whoever did this was amazing,” Tiyenen mused as he crouched over the troop of dead men. “They’re, like, laid out in a pattern, like they fell where they stood. Whoever took them down had to have been incredibly fast.”
Willow spun. “I don’t care, T!” she cried. “How they’re dead doesn’t matter to me! I just want to know where my men are!”
Tiyenen rose and arched an eyebrow. “You think one of them could have done this?”
She couldn’t be sure. Was it possible for someone to be able to shoot with that kind of precision? When they had no prior training? With a bow and arrow, no less? And where had Cyrcinus gone? Her guards didn’t travel all by their lonesome. She was always in the middle of everything.
Rustling in the trees just beyond drew Willow’s attention to the forest and she held her breath for a few seconds, then let it out in a rush as she saw Logan break into the clearing. “Oh my gosh!” she cried. She flew to him and threw her arms around his waist. “You gave me a heart attack!” He staggered back, but wrapped his arm around her and chuckled. She looked up at him. “Where were you? I—” She felt the color drain from her face as she noticed that Logan’s shirt was covered in dried blood. “What happened?”
He rolled his eyes. “I got stabbed.”
Her heart stuttered. “You what?” She shook her head. “My dream…”
He shook his head and quickly brought his hand up to frame her face. “I’m fine. I should be dead… I should be dead twice, but Darien’s fine target practice and his healing abilities saved my sorry butt…again.”
Her eyes widened. “Darien did this?” She pointed to the fallen men.
He nodded. “Cyrcinus was here, looking for the village.” He met her eyes. “She’ll be back. We had to get help. We need to train your men, Willow.”
She blinked in confusion. “Help?” She frowned. “What kind of help?”
As if on cue, Darien and the others came tramping up behind them, carrying bags and weapons aplenty.
Willow gasped and her eyes widened as she looked at the kids. She felt her eyes blaze fire and she took a step back from Logan, slapping him across the cheek.
Logan frowned. “What is this?” he cried. “Abuse Logan month? Come on, lady! Kiss me one minute and slap me the next? Maybe you want to take a turn at stabbing me too!”
She scowled. “How could you involve them in this?” She stabbed her finger at the kids. “They’re just children! Human children!”
“Excuse me!” Colt protested. “We’re all teenagers, thank you very much! I haven’t sucked on a pacifier for some time now!”
“Yeah!” Aki joined in. “We can help!”
Willow shook her head. “No, it’s too dangerous. If your parents knew—“
“They’d all think we were insane,” Lucy grumbled.
“You could get hurt,” Willow persisted. “This isn’t a game. I won’t allow—“
Darien let everything he was carrying drop and he slashed the air with his hands. “You don’t have a choice!” he bellowed.
Willow took a step back at his vehement outburst and blinked at him in surprise.
He huffed and met her eyes. “Miss Willow, you’ve been my teacher at this camp for the last, what, six years? I have loved coming here. You’re more than a teacher to me. You’re my friend. Now, I just found out that I’m not even human, that I have a brother, and a whole slew of fairy relatives that are now my responsibility to protect.”
Willow shook her head. “Darien, it isn’t your responsibility—“
“It is my responsibility! It’s mine and Logan’s! We are Alveda d’Kai! We are supposed to fight for the Avari and protect the Avari. You aren’t in charge of this one, Miss Willow!”
Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms. Dragon warrior or not, he was still an impertinent teenager and she was not about to let him get away with pulling rank. “I am in charge of everything!” she shouted. “I’m the queen, in case you forgot, young man! My word is law! And I say they are not getting involved in this!” She pointed at the group of bewildered-looking kids.
“My apologies, Your Majesty,” Darien mocked in the way only an eighteen-year-old could. “I guess I should have just let Cyrcinus and her men slaughter you all in your sleep last night.” He folded his arms. “Since I obviously have no idea what I’m talking about and am only a child.”
“Okay, okay, enough,” Logan tried to interrupt.
Willow ignored him. She narrowed her eyes at Darien. “Now you listen here and you listen—”
“I said enough!”
Logan’s voice reverberated through the trees and echoed through the quiet forest like thunder. The sheer power of it made Willow jump, and everyone else went completely silent. He huffed and took Willow by the shoulders. “Willow, look at me.”
His voice held more command than any royal or noble of any race she had ever known. She looked up at him, still stunned, but also still angry. “Logan, you can’t—”
“Look at me!” He gave her a little shake.
She did. Tingles worked all the way down her spine and back again at the look in his eyes. Fire. Pure and simple. Deep, burning, determined fire that was stunning, unexpected and sinfully sexy.
“Those kids are the most competent of us all,” he stated. “I will not let them get hurt. I would never put them in harm’s way.”
She swallowed. Some of her fury was abating, but she struggled to hang onto it. She had been the one in charge for years. She made the rules. No one contested her word. No one ever tried. She was the queen… Get over it, Willow. You’re a terrible queen. You run and hide while he would defend your people when he doesn’t even know them. He’s known about his heritage for less than twenty-four hours and has already confronted the enemy and come up with some kind of plan. That’s more than you’ve done in the last ten years.
She looked down, self loathing like she had never known washing over her. She shook her head. “I just don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she said softly. Not the kids. They were human. They didn’t even belong in her world.
“Willow.” His demanding voice turned into a warm, magnetic purr and he lifted her chin. “Please,” he murmured. “Trust me.”
There was no way she could deny him that small request. Not when he was looking at her the way he was. He and Darien had stopped Cyrcinus from finding their village. They had bought the Avari time. They had formed some kind of game plan. They cared. They wanted to help her people win their freedom. After years of the Avari being no better than scattered, lost sheep, someone cared enough to help them find a path. Logan cared. Logan and Darien. They were so opposite, and yet she was coming to see that they were so much the same.
Trust was not something Willow was particularly good at. Not when she’d spent her whole life looking over her shoulder. She was used to being in control, but she knew she hadn’t really been in control for awhile now. Could she relinquish what little power she still had to a man she barely knew? Who had seemed like such a loser when she’d met him? Could she trust him with her life? The lives of the kids? The lives of her people? Logan Savage, who was he, really?
He’s the one.
Her heart skipped several beats as those words shimmered in her mind. She started to tremble. The one? she asked herself. The one to do what?
Everything.
She forced herself to meet his eyes again and she knew it was true. The last of his kind. Maybe he’d only been a careless, selfish human before, but that was before he’d known what he was, before his instincts had awakened. Now he was something altogether different. She saw it in his eyes. She heard it in his voice. She felt it in his touch. He was the one who could change everything, her entire existence. It terrified her. It exhilarated her.
She forced a wobbly smile. “I tr
ust you,” she whispered.
He looked vaguely surprised. “You do?”
Her smile broadened and she nodded. “I’m sorry. I was upset. I didn’t mean to slap you.”
He shrugged one shoulder lazily. “You can make it up to me later.” His smile was pure evil.
She rolled her eyes, but felt her cheeks flush. She quickly stepped past him before she started to sparkle again. Like she wanted to hear that from her brother. She went to Darien and grasped his hands in hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.” She looked at the others. “And you’re not children, I know. I just worry about you.”
Colt shrugged. “It’s cool.” He smiled.
She grinned. “Come on, I’ll show you back to the village.” She turned and headed back, running her hand down Logan’s arm in a sweeping caress as she walked past.
Chapter Twenty
As Willow strode through her village, she couldn’t help but smile. In only two weeks time, Logan and Darien had managed to transform everything. What had before been a bunch of wide-eyed, frightened people were now full of life, laughter and hope. The way they looked at it, their beloved warriors had returned to them, and they finally stood a chance.
The Royal House had become the main hub of activity, as Logan had immediately turned it into more of a fort than a royal structure. Darien and Lucy spent most of their time in the courtyard, training the men as best they could and trying to teach them how to be soldiers. Willow had to admit, though it didn’t come naturally to them, her people weren’t doing half bad.
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