Skyborn(22)

"Trickery?" I asked dumbly. Someone just give me a freaking supernatural dictionary already!

Nadine seemed to lean forward on the balls of her feet as if she too didn't know what trickery was.

Eva straightened. "The art of trickery is to look a truth witch right in  the eye and answer their question with a lie without their detection."

My mouth popped open and I leaned forward slightly. "How?" I'd always  been curious by nature. Hell, I hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon  and back up again, alone, just because I was curious what was down  there, and to see if my lazy ass could do it.

Eva looked at Logan and smiled as if they were sharing a personal joke. "Remember when I taught you this?" she asked him.

He chuckled. "I was nine years old and I thought it was a fun game."

Eva smirked. "How many times has it saved your life?"

Logan grinned. "Countless."

I was going to go mad if she didn't tell me. Finally, she turned to me. "Ask me what color my suit is," she stated.                       
       
           



       

What? Her suit was black, everyone could see that. But I indulged her. "What color is your suit, Eva?"

She paused a moment. "Purple," she said calmly.

I frowned. "Okay, you lied."

"Did I? A truth witch wouldn't have thought so. The key is to reframe  the question to yourself so that you are answering with the truth. You  said, what color was my suit, and I quickly asked myself what my  favorite color was. I answered purple, which my brain perceives as true  and the sorcerer does too. But if you pause for too long or can't  reframe the question so that you believe your answer, you're dead. They  will know you are practicing trickery or lying."

"Jesus." I felt sweaty just thinking about it. Cooper again made the  sign of the cross in front of his chest from where he stood in the  corner, and I reminded myself to stop saying Jesus all the time. Bad  habit.

"It's a sign of the times if some sorcerers are aligning with the druids," Logan muttered.

"Won't the sorcerers suffer the most if the druids find the last dragon  …   or dragons I mean." The sorcerers were the most populated in the  supernatural realm, or so I had been told. So the majority of them would  die or be enslaved, since they were part human. At least that's what  Logan had told me. I still didn't understand that part.

Eva frowned. "A great many would, yes. But there are plenty of magical  purists that would love to see all of the half breeds waste away,  leaving only the purebred sorcerers behind  …  leaving them to mate with  each other and grow the pure race. Truth witches are purebloods."

My eyes must have been bugging out of my head, because Logan took a step  forward, hands out in an effort to calm me. "That's not going to  happen," he said. He said that a lot, when I knew he had no guarantee,  but I guessed that was what kept him going, the assurance everything  would be okay even if it wasn't.

"You're pure, aren't you?" I directed my question at Eva. If Logan and I died, she would be just fine.

She looked sad. "I am."

I frowned. "So Nadine, Keegan, the pack … "

Eva paused. "Would lose their humanity and be stuck in their beast form.  Nothing more than animals. Slaves to the magical world."

I felt sick. This was too much pressure. "Maybe I should run. I have a  friend in California. Maybe Logan and I should split up. Make it harder  for them to catch us … " When Jen got back from her vacation, I could stay  at her parents' place in Malibu.

Logan flinched, looking hurt, and Eva tsk-tsk'd. "That would get you  killed. Logan is your only chance at survival. If you run every time a  druid is in town, you will never come up for air. No. You must train to  control your dragon magic and learn the art of trickery. Those two acts  alone will serve you well enough to keep you all alive."

My dragon magic. "I don't have dragon magic," I told her. "It's some weird purple unexplained magic."

Eva's lips tightened into a line. "I know. Logan called me. No matter.  You are a dragon shifter and that magic must be controlled along with  your ability to shift."

I nodded, and felt as if I was getting a scolding from my mother. God, I  missed my mother. I would even take her yelling at me right now.

"I must go now. Sloane, walk me out?" She opened her arm and I linked  mine through it, wondering why the pureblood sorcerer wanted me of all  people to walk her out.

As we passed everyone in the kitchen and made our way to the front door, Logan went to follow us.

"Give us a minute, dear," Eva told Logan, and he stopped following us  and gave her a piercing look. Now my gut was churning with nerves. What  would she want to talk to me about? Why couldn't Logan come?

Once we were out on the porch, Eva dropped my arm and pulled out the  keys to her black Mercedes. It gave a beep as she unlocked it and I  stood there awkwardly wondering when she was going to say something.

She waved her hand and the passenger side door opened. "Step inside, dear. My car is spelled so that we may speak freely."

I raised an eyebrow. How the hell had she opened the door? Magic was  cool  …  and freaky. I hesitated a moment, but deep down I trusted Eva.  She could have harmed me before if that was her intent and she didn't.

I hugged my arms to my chest as I followed her to the car. Once I was  inside I could smell the crisp leather, oil, and distinct scent of some  flower. My nostrils must have been flaring, because Eva sat next to me  and laughed. "Each sorcerer's magic has a smell unique to them. Mine has  a floral scent, don't you think?"                       
       
           



       

I nodded, wondering if I would ever stop learning about this new world.

Eva reached out and took my hand and we both turned to face each other.

"Logan thinks you're a hybrid. Half dragon shifter and half sorcerer."

Her blunt proclamation shocked me a bit, but now that she had mentioned  it, I was desperate to know her opinion. "Am I?" We had talked about it a  little in her office, but she didn't seem sure of what exactly I was,  other than a dragon.

Eva gave a sad smile and shook her head. "No. I know my own kind. As a  purebred sorceress, I can sense the potency of magical blood within my  own people. It's how I make my living, telling people how much magic  they have, what their magical lineage is, etcetera. Everyone wants to be  a powerful sorcerer. It's like getting your genealogy chart done."

"Oh." I didn't know what to say. I was kind of hoping I was part  sorcerer. It would at least explain the weird purple magic I'd busted  out earlier on Baldy.

Eva caressed my hand with her thumb. "You're a sweet girl. I saw that the moment you stepped into my office."

"Thank you." My voice was weak; it felt like she was bracing me for something. Something bad.

"Honey. Dragon shifters can't mate with other shifter animals."

I swallowed hard. "I know."

She nodded. "And you're not part sorcerer."

"Okay … " My heart was pounding so loud in my chest I was sure she heard.

"Sloane  …  I want you to prepare yourself for the possibility that you could be part druid."

Complete and utter shock trickled down my body from my head to my toes,  and numbness saturated everything that I was. "What?" I yanked my hand  back and clutched it to my chest. "No, that's not possible."

Eva smoothed the pants of her suit. "It's unheard of, not impossible."

"But  …  that would mean … " I wasn't thinking clearly. "Druids and dragons  hate each other. How could two of them mate? This is crazy."

Eva kept giving me that look of pity. "I have a friend. He's been living  under the radar for decades, but I think I can get in touch with him."

Okay …

She went on: "I've sent a message to this friend to reach out to me. He  will know more about this  …  situation, and possibly be able to help. I  wanted to tell you all of this privately because I feel it is your story  to tell once the time comes."

"But ... you said I might be part druid." I sounded like an arguing child.

Eva pursed her lips. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure. I smelled it on you before I capped your scent."

Fuck. I put my head in my hands and tried not to cry.

"My friend will be able to tell me with one hundred percent accuracy, but I would need a sample of your blood."

I froze. My blood.

Eva looked serious, her lips tightening into a thin line. "You should  never, ever give a sorcerer your blood. Ever. Except this one time," she  said. "Unless you don't want to know, and that's okay too."