Skyborn(21)

Logan's voice was soft but laced with anger. "I told you to tell him who I was. I never wanted you guys to break up."

Keegan growled but it wasn't threatening, more just to blow off steam.  "We have rules. No one outside of this pack can know who you are."

"Unless it's your mate or someone who takes the oath," Logan added.

"Danny is neither. I'll see you later," Keegan said, and stalked off  down the hall, his feet stomping out the anger I knew he was feeling.                       
       
           



       

For such a hardass and closed-off guy, I was surprised by how much  emotion he showed over his ex. He must have really loved him, and still  did by the sound of it, but took his own rules too seriously to hang on  to the guy. I was so caught up in the Keegan and Danny soap opera that I  almost didn't notice Logan enter the room. He popped the door open wide  and crossed over to my bed.

"You heard everything, didn't you?" Logan asked, and there was a little  relief in his face. Like he didn't want to keep things from me, and he  also didn't want to have to say it again.

I nodded. "I'm probably half skyborn, half sorcerer, and Keegan is  hiring more people to protect us." I left out the ex-boyfriend drama to  be respectful.

Logan nodded. "That's right. Which means I have no way of training you fully because I don't deal in  …  purple magic."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop saying purple like it's cancer. Purple is a  badass color." I motioned to the unicorn on the wall that had a  magnificent purple glitter horn.

Logan smiled sheepishly, letting me know he appreciated my rare and  often misunderstood sense of humor. "Nevertheless, you might blast my  head off if I'm not careful, and you also might send a beacon out to the  world saying ‘come find me.' I have no idea what hybrid magic is  capable of."

It dawned on me then. "That's why you want a sorcerer in the pack."

Logan nodded, running his fingers over his chin stubble in what I was  learning was his thinking gesture. "I need a sorcerer there to shield  our training sessions and also to  …  fix stuff if it goes south."

"This whole talk is not very confidence inspiring. Why don't we just  skip the magic training altogether?" Please, no more running. No more  purple magic.

Logan's eye narrowed a little as he stepped closer to the bed. "Sloane,  it's only a matter of time before the hunters find us again. Fighting  off the druids is a full-time job. If you're not prepared, if I'm not  around to save you  …  you're dead."

Those words. You're dead. They slapped out at me, bringing the harsh  reality of my new life with it. But something else he said bothered me.

"Why would you not be around?" I asked insecurely, and stared at a piece  of lint on the carpet. Maybe he would train me and leave. Maybe I was  too much of a risk to keep around long-term.

"This is a dangerous life. I might die, and then you would be left  behind to carry on the magic alone. If I don't train you in time, then  my knowledge dies with me." His voice was stone cold, void of emotion,  but his words made a pulsing ache constrict my heart. My inner dragon  flared to life and I stood suddenly, facing Logan, inches from his face.  I knew instinctively that my eyes were glowing. I didn't know why I  stood or what I was going to say, I just knew that talk of Logan dying  made me want to lock him in a cage and keep anyone from hurting him.  Karma. Logan's eyes fell to my lips and I licked them, relishing the  warm throb that had started in my gut. I couldn't explain it, but there  was something about Logan Sharp that made me feel like we were two  magnets constantly being pulled to each other. I didn't want to fight  the pull anymore.

"I dreamt about you," Logan breathed; his hand came up to stroke my  hair, staring at the bright red strands as if they held some truth. His  declaration of dreaming about me had the breath stopping in my chest. I  leaned forward, pulling myself up on my tiptoes. All rules of no dating  within the pack had flown out my head. I wanted Logan Sharp and I wanted  him now. My dragon preened at the inner declaration as Logan's hand  went from my hair to the back of my neck. Yes.

He leaned forward slowly, all the while asking me with his eyes if this  was okay. When he got closer, I closed my eyes and pursed my lips. But  just as I felt the heat of his breath, Nadine shouted from downstairs.

"Logan! Eva's here. There's trouble!" Her voice held panic, and the  raging inferno that had built in my belly was doused as Logan rocked  back on his heels, dropping his hand.

He looked at me for one more long moment and then sighed, turning and  striding towards the door. Damn. That was an epic kissing fail. Now that  his smoldering body was away from me, I had time to gather my wits.  Kissing Logan, my trainer and fellow surviving dragon, was a bad idea.  Right? Like Nadine said, if we dated and broke up, it would be a  disaster and I would be kicked out of the pack. Now that I had seen all  of the supernatural dangers in the world, I didn't want to leave the  pack. It was safe. I needed to staunch my hormones and play cool.                       
       
           



       

I smoothed my hair and shirt and jogged down the stairs to join them.  Just as I was rounding into the kitchen, I heard Eva talking to Nadine,  Gear, and Logan.

"Two druids at the bar. They have a truth witch with them and they're  asking about a redhead," Eva said, causing me to stop dead, mouth popped  half open.

"Since when do the druids have a truth witch?" Logan asked as I was  trying to decipher what the hell a truth witch was. It didn't sound  good.

Eva smoothed her crisp black suit. "These druids weren't like the others  I've met passing through town. They were organized and brimming with  power. I think they work directly for Ardan."

Nadine physically flinched at the name of the evil master druid. Logan  started pacing. "I've sent Keegan to add on two more shifters to our  pack, and I also requested he hire a sorcerer."

Eva nodded. "Smart. Danny would be perfect. He's powerful."

Logan made a gesture with his hands. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure Keegan is going to go for that."

Eva made a tsk-tsk noise. "Love shouldn't be so hard to figure out. If you love someone, you be with them. End of discussion."

My eyes flicked to Nadine, whose eyes flicked to Gear, who was staring at his shoes.

"I'll try to see if any of my other sorcerers would be a good fit for  your pack. Meanwhile, I have evaded their truth witch's questioning by  saying I had an important appointment. But I fear if I don't go back to  answer his questions, it will raise suspicions."

Logan nodded. "Did your bartender say anything?"

Eva flinched. "Logan, it was a truth witch. He had to. He's untrained in  the art of trickery. So he said that a new wolf in town, with red hair,  had recently been to the bar."

"Dammit!" Logan smacked his fist into his palm.

"But … " She held up a finger. "He also listed off half a dozen other  redheads that he knew. Turns out he has a thing for them. Notices every  redhead in the room. One of my dancers is new and has red hair, so they  started questioning her first."

Alright, I couldn't take it anymore. "What's a truth witch?"

Logan turned to face me, stress lining his features. "You know the  bouncer at Eva's club that was manning the front door last night?"

His eyes had glowed an eerie copper, like Eva's. I would never forget it. I nodded.

"Well, he is a truth witch. Keegan had to use his words VERY carefully  so Grub wouldn't detect a lie. Keegan said you were one of his new  shifters. Then Grub smelled the wolf pee on you and assumed you were a  wolf."

I cringed. So that's what Keegan was talking about when he told me in  the alley that the bouncer could tell truth from lie. He was a truth  witch. "Can we never speak of the wolf pee again? Thanks."

Keegan had also said some other things but I didn't mention that.

Eva quirked her mouth into a half smile and strode over to me. "There  are only a few dozen truth witches in existence. I pay Grub whatever he  wants to stay with me."

And yet we had to pour vodka and pee on me to get past him. "But you don't trust him with who I am?" I asked Eva.

She shrugged. "No. I don't fully trust anyone so motivated by money."

Great.

"So when the druid's truth witch asks you about me … ?" I asked her  nervously. She was close enough now that I could smell her delicate  floral perfume.

Eva winked. "I'm advanced in trickery. He won't get anything out of me.  But it takes some mental preparation, which is why I wanted to come here  first and tell you. Get my head straight before going before two such  powerful druids."