by Leia Stone
I smiled. “Alright, then. Thank you.”
It wouldn’t be worth it to drive all the way back, or even stay at a hotel if he was offering for us to stay here. It seemed safest. The house was behind a big gate, and he could turn people’s lungs to gold, so I was betting he could hold his own in a druid fight.
He stood. “I’ll call my caterer. Isaac, are you still vegetarian?”
Isaac nodded. “So is Sloane.”
Dammit. I forgot about that. When my mentor looked at me, I smiled. A bit of a forced smile. Rich people usually had really good food. Like prime rib and bacon-covered ... I couldn’t go there.
“Why don’t you all get settled in and I’ll see you for dinner in a few hours?” Rufus said.
We nodded and left the room, he proceeded to give us a quick tour of the house. When he showed Logan and I to our room, we slipped inside and closed the door. It was a simple yet luxurious space. A plush bed with a sitting area off to the side. I fell into the mattress as Logan sat on the chair. As I lay there, I found my tongue probing my mouth and a shock ran through me when I felt my molar nearly grown back.
“My freaking tooth is growing back!” I declared.
Logan chuckled. “Pretty cool, huh?”
I nodded, but then found myself fretting over the state of my wand.
“Think it will work? My staff?” I asked my mate, rolling over to meet his gaze.
He shrugged. “I hope so.”
“What do you think was up with that dream I had in the car? You think it was real?” I asked him.
He nodded without hesitation. “Yes, unfortunately I do. The druids have long since held a plan to restore the essence of Faery by cleansing the Earth of humans so that only the pureblooded supernaturals remain.”
Rage boiled up within me, so hot and overwhelming that I thought I would spit fire right then and there.
“How dare he! How dare he even think it? I’m going to kill him,” I said through gritted teeth, sitting up fully.
Logan opened his arms and I slid off the bed and fell into them, sitting on his lap with my head in the crook of his neck.
He stroked my hair and then down my neck to my arm, holding my hand. “My mother and father would have loved you,” he said.
I froze. He barely spoke of them. I always thought it was too painful. “My mother would have loved you,” I said. “And my father already did.”
He smiled. “Yes, when Marcus wasn’t calling me an egotistical hothead, he did love me.”
I grinned. “What were your parents like?”
Logan looked at an empty corner of the room. “My mother was the most stubborn woman you ever met. She could command an entire room with her energy. Her dragon was all white, very rare.”
Sounded beautiful.
“My father was the gentle one, the wise one. He taught me to think before speaking and to give people the benefit of the doubt. His dragon was pitch black. They were opposites in a lot of ways. Maybe that’s why they worked so well.”
I never got to see my mother in love or with any man. She’d always just told me she’d had her great love and wasn’t interested in anything substandard. I never questioned it.
I was about to comment when his cell phone started buzzing in his pocket. I hopped off his lap and he pulled it out.
“Eva,” he told me and picked up.
“Hey, what’s up?” he asked the sorceress. I leaned in so that I could hear.
“We have a bit of a situation. When will you guys be back?”
Logan sat erect, nearly smacking into my forehead. “What’s the situation? We were planning to stay the night here. Her staff won’t be ready until the morning but we can come back…”
Eva didn’t say anything for a moment. “Well, don’t freak out, but some of Dee’s wolves were running the perimeter and came across a druid scouting the area.”
“What?” Logan and I both screamed at the same time.
Eva sighed heavily into the phone. “I know, but they were able to kill him before he could report back or anything. The Earth took his body and it’s all fine now. No need to come back.”
Logan stood and I backed up as he paced the carpet. “Should you leave? Just go mobile for a while. Live out of the busses?”
He’d put her on speakerphone so I could listen. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Lynn is chained to that room with the baby. It would leave her alone and unprotected. And they know we travel by bus now.”
“Shit!” Logan swore.
“It’s going to be okay. I’m enhancing my spells around the property. I’ll go further out and set up alerts so that if anyone, human or otherwise, crosses the boundaries I am made aware.”
Logan stopped pacing. “Okay,” he breathed.
Eva was silent for a beat. “That was problem number one. Are you ready for problem number two?”
Logan groaned. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I were, dear. The other issue is that about thirty minutes after we killed this druid, another skyborn called in. Those twins from Mexico.”
Shit! I started pacing.
“How far are they? Do they need me?” I stepped up to Logan’s side and spoke into the phone.
“They’re about three hours away. They were able to talk to Dylan. They know him through your mom, Sloane, and trust him, but I’m not sure I should direct them here just now.”
Yeah. If druids were in the area, we should keep any newcomers or cars from driving in and causing suspicion. I would readily admit I was the queen of stupid ideas, but most of them had a tiny bit of genius to them … and I had an idea now.
“I’ve got a plan…” I offered, Logan just gave me that ”woman, it’d better not be a stupid idea” look.
“It’s fifty percent stupid and fifty percent genius,” I said, preparing them both.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Logan said, and made a hand motion that said to get on with it.
“Tell the skyborn to stop and get a hotel for tonight. Tomorrow morning we’ll get whatever has become of my staff and … I’ll go into the forest up here and shift, drawing the druids away from Isaac’s land so that the new skyborn can come in.”
“NO WAY!” Logan roared and I flinched. I knew he would hate it but it did have merit.
“It’s actually not half bad,” Eva said over speakerphone. “Better yet, you and Logan spread out ten miles from each other and both shift to throw them off. They will think our hideout is up near Lake Tahoe. Especially with two skyborn shifting in that area.”
Logan groaned, which meant he didn’t like it, but it was a good idea. “We barely brought any shifters to protect us if a dozen druids show up…”
“I can send more. I’ll have them leave now,” Eva offered.
My mate winced. “I fear that if that big bus is seen leaving the land, any druid scouts will know for sure that we are there.”
“True. What about Gear and Nadine? He’s got his motorcycle. She can ride on the back. It’s not much but it’s two more people. Gear can be your eye in the sky.”
Logan was chewing his lip. “Alright, send them. I gotta talk to Keegan. I’ll call you back if anything changes.” She wished him well and hung up.
Logan put his phone in his pocket and wrapped his strong arms around me, nearly crushing me against his rock-hard chest.
“If Ardan were dead, we wouldn’t need to worry about stuff like this,” he mumbled.
“Trust me, there’s nothing I want more,” I told my mate. I was working on it. I hoped I was close to being able to light that mofo on fire with my mind. Maybe the staff and necklace at once would help.
He pulled back and kissed my forehead. “I hate putting you in harm’s way.”
“It’s just the reality of our life now. Until we win this war and bring Ardan’s druids to their knees.”
Logan grinned. “You sound super sexy when you’re plotting to overthrow.”
I chuckled, giving him a soft kiss. �
��Let’s find Keegan and hope he goes for the idea.”
Logan pulled away and slipped his hand into mine. “We don’t really have a choice. If druids are on the outer edges of the land, it’s only a matter of time before they find our camp. We can’t let them get to Casey and Lynn and the baby.”
I agreed. I just hoped we weren’t going to lure Ardan here. I wasn’t ready to face off with him yet.
Chapter 7
The next morning, I awoke still full from the dinner party the night before. Rufus had an entire catering company come in and set up trays and trays of food. Surprisingly, the vegetarian options were amazing. They’d had BBQ tofu sliders that tasted like real chicken and a key lime cheesecake to die for. After I finished showering and brushing my teeth, I came out to see my mate lacing up his shoes. His hair was still wet from our shower together and he was sitting there shirtless. I couldn’t help but size him up.
Damn.
He looked up and gave me his sexy bedroom eyes. “You know, Keegan and Danny are thinking of having their wedding in Hawaii.”
“Oh?” I walked closer.
He nodded. “He’s asked me to be his best man, so I guess I can bring you along as my date.”
Laughter pealed out of me. “You guess, huh?” I played coy.
He reached out and pulled me on top of him quickly, making my dragon pulse heat to my core. “But only because I want to see you in a bikini again,” he said, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth.
Again? Oh right, that purple monstrosity from Eva’s bar. I was about to respond when there was a knock at the door.
“The staff is ready,” Keegan’s deep voice called through the door.
Oh my God. It was ready? What did that mean?
I leapt off of Logan and swung the door open. Keegan took one look at Logan shirtless on the bed and my messy hair and just laughed.
“Does it work? I mean, is it whole?” I asked the alpha.
He shrugged. “Isaac just said it was ‘ready.’” He did air quotes.
I tore down the hall walking as quickly as I could without looking too eager, all the time praying it worked, that it was better. Then I could have the best of both worlds, wear the necklaces to help shelter the skyborn like my mom did, but have the staff to draw my druid power into the earth and save my mate bond with my dragon.
Please. Please. Please!
The golden double doors to Rufus’ office were open; he and Isaac were talking. They’d reached some weird friendship like Sophie and I had.
The second I entered, my eyes fell to the desk.
“Holy mother,” I breathed.
Rufus grinned and ran his fingers over the length of my staff. It was whole again but it had changed. The lower two thirds of the wood were solid gold and ended in a razor-sharp point. The top half still resembled its original form but the crystal, that was once a deep purple, now had a goldish hue to it.
“Does it work?” I asked, as I stared at my resurrected staff.
Rufus wrapped his fingers around the wood and handed it to me. “You tell me.”
I looked at Isaac, who nodded. “Outside.” He tipped his head behind him.
When I spun, I saw that the pack was awake and dressed, standing in the open doorway. They parted ways for Isaac and I, while we walked through the house to the outside. I hadn’t ventured into the back yard last night, but when we stepped out onto the large deck I took it all in. It was just as I expected it to be—a vast manicured lawn with pristine landscape, including perfectly-shaped bushes and trees. To the left sat a large swimming pool, surrounded by travertine tiles, and a small waterfall at the end.
Being rich was awesome.
My mentor pointed to a circular bush. “Give it a go,” he encouraged.
I winced. “I don’t want to ruin his back yard.”
“It’s fine. I’ve been meaning to redo the landscape anyway. Add a pool house, that sort of thing,” the alchemist said, from somewhere behind me.
Okay … right. This guy had turned an old dusty book into a solid gold brick. Why should I care about ruining any of his material possessions? On the other hand, it did feel shitty to burn the poor bush in the process of testing my staff, and if it worked, who knew how many others I would destroy until I learned to master it. I sighed, resigned. I saw a lot of tree planting in my future.
I rolled the staff in my hands. It felt different, and yet something about it was still familiar, but I couldn’t describe what. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I took a deep breath and focused on the weapon, calling to my druid power. I stepped off the porch so that my bare feet could sink into the cold grass, and immediately felt the power shoot up my legs and into the staff. It buzzed along my arm to my collarbone and into the necklace, back to the golden-wooden pole and out my feet. I thrust the staff out, pointing the crystal end at the bush. It was like I’d triggered a flamethrower. The fire shot out blindly, with a concentrated burst, fast and straight, hitting its mark twenty feet away. The bush was reduced to a greenish black burnt mass.
“Holy shit,” Rufus said, from behind me.
Holy shit indeed. My aim was better, the fire somehow seemed hotter and quicker, and I didn’t feel my dragon shrink away in protest when I’d called up the druid energy. That familiarity ... it hit me what it was. Logan. His scale in my staff was perfect. I pivoted around and faced the alchemist.
“I owe you one. I know you don’t need money, but I would give you whatever you wanted.”
He smiled and clasped my shoulder. “Kill that big dumb druid, and you will have repaid me a hundred-fold.”
I grinned. “Deal.”
He turned and looked at Isaac. “I’ll come visit the land soon.”
He nodded. “We’d like that.”
They stood there for a moment awkwardly, and for a second I thought they might hug.
“Well, you better get going if you’re going to lure the druids here,” Rufus said.
Yes. I’d almost forgotten about our plan. Eva texted this morning that she’d felt another breach at her border security in the night. They were deterred by her magic, but we needed to bait them away ASAP.
Logan checked his phone. “Nadine and Gear got in late last night, and got a hotel. They’re outside now.”
Rufus put up a finger. “I’ve got a little present for you all. Alpha, come with me.”
Keegan raised one eyebrow, being called “alpha” and being given a direct order were his two least favorite things, but he went after him anyway.
We all walked inside, grabbed a bagel and some coffee that had been set out, and put on our backpacks just in time to see Keegan groaning under the weight of a box, absolute shock written on his face.
Rufus gestured to the box. “I know how much this operation must be costing you, and Laney would have wanted me to help.”
I stood on my tiptoes, and yep … the box was full of gold bars. I glanced appreciatively at Keegan, it must have taken all the strength of his shifter magic to hold it.
“Are you sure?” I gasped. I didn’t know what to say or where to sell those, but I was grateful.
“Absolutely,” he said, and opened the front door for us.
Logan and I wouldn’t need to worry about shifting to sell scales for a long time. It was an extremely kind thing to do.
“Thank you so much,” I told the alchemist and gave him a hug.
“Good luck,” he told us, and waved us all goodbye.
Wow. When we’d first started out here, Rufus nearly choking Isaac to death, I didn’t think we would be leaving with my staff intact, and a box full of gold bars. As we made our way down the long driveway to the open gates, where Nadine was sitting behind Gear on his motorcycle, I leaned into Isaac. “That wasn’t so bad, seeing him again.”
Isaac chuckled. “Not for you. He didn’t turn your lungs to metal.”
A grin pulled at my lips. “True, but it seems you guys might be able to be friends again one day.”
My good druid looked b
ack up at the house and nodded. “One day. Time heals a lot of wounds.”
It sounded like this Laney woman was just so desperate trying to give her sterile husband a baby that she had enlisted his best friend to help. Stupid of Isaac yes, but still it was sweet. This was probably in the early nineteen hundreds when IFV didn’t even exist. What lengths would I go to in order to give Logan everything he wanted in life?
Nadine dropped a duffle bag on the ground and it opened, revealing a cache of weapons. “California is crawling with druids. I smelled half a dozen on our way through town while coming here.”
She smelled them. I didn’t want to ask.
“Good, we’re counting on that,” Keegan said, and started loading weapons onto his person. “The plan is that Danny, Dom, Nadine, and I will take Sloane up to Marlette Lake. It’s a nice secluded spot for a dragon to shift. Meanwhile, Sophie and Gear will go with Logan, heading down to Zephyr Cove. Logan and Sloane will both shift for about a minute before changing back, and getting the hell out of there.”
Logan nodded. “One dragon shifting up here might just be an accident, but with both of us it will draw the druids for sure. It will look like we are hiding out in these woods.”
Keegan nodded. “We each take a car and meet back at the land. If anyone feels like they’re being tailed, head away from Isaac’s land and down to Fresno.”
Everyone nodded. It was a solid plan.
As they packed up the two cars, Logan pulled me in for a hug, running his fingers through my still-damp hair. “I hate splitting up,” he muttered.
I nodded. “I know, but it will throw them off a bit so that the entire pack of them don’t come for us. Splitting them up is smarter.”
He sighed. “I know.”
“And I’m not the stupid fragile human I once was,” I argued.
He grinned. “You’re right. You’re not human anymore.”
Getting his meaning, I punched him in the arm.
“Oww.” He laughed. “That really hurt. Just don’t run off and give your blood to any more dark witches, okay?”
This time I went for the other arm, his laughter increased. Jerk. I had been scared he was going to behead me for being half druid. Not cool to make fun of my low points in life.