Skyborn(26)

"Hurts like hell," he stated.

I glared at him, rubbing my underarm. "Yeah it does." I was totally burning his next meal.

He nodded. "Your turn."

He opened his arms wide as if asking for me to bring it on. I frowned.  "I don't know about this. I'm not a fighter type of person."

Now it was his turn to laugh. "The first ten minutes of knowing me, you  punched me square in the jaw as I tried to save your life." His jaw  muscle twitched and I stepped back a foot.

"I did?" Oops. I must have been acting on instinct. I certainly didn't remember doing that.

"Yes, you did, and I was pissed, and also relieved. That's the kind of  attitude you will need to survive this lifestyle. Someone threatens you,  you take them down. No questions asked."

He was right. I needed to not care about hurting him or embarrassing  myself. I needed to train, to learn to protect myself so I didn't have  to depend on a pack. I put my arms into fists in front of me and Logan  grinned.

"Horrible form, but I like your spirit." He winked, adjusting my hands.

Over the next hour we went through one repetitious drill-karate chop to  the throat, thumb to the armpit, and then knee to the groin. I didn't do  it hard, but Logan pretended to fall over every time, and that's when I  was supposed to run. Throat, arm, groin, run. We did this until my  muscles creaked and Danny looked like he was dozing off from boredom. I  was about to ask for a break when Danny suddenly sat erect.

"Druids are here," he said in a flat monotone voice. He flung out his  hand and a glowing yellow light slammed into the knife cabinet where  Logan kept his glowing green swords. Could these druids sense the dragon  magic that adorned the blades? Logan's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Why are they here?" Logan mouthed as we heard the crunching of tires on gravel.

Danny closed his eyes, breathing deeply, as if in a trance. "They are the same ones from Eva's bar. They want to meet Sloane."

Oh shit.

"Shit," Logan muttered, coursing my internal dialog.

Danny stood. "We chat with them, assure them all is well, and they will leave."

Logan looked nervous, which I hadn't thought possible before now. "How many are there?"

The sorcerer closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Three."

Logan looked absolutely shocked. "THREE! I thought only two were at Eva's bar? Do they have their truth witch with them?"

I was guessing that druids didn't hang out together, because Logan  seemed downright shocked that this many were clustered together.

Danny looked deep in concentration, his eyes rolling under the lids,  emanating a faint yellow glow. Then he grinned. "Their truth witch has  fallen ill, thanks to Eva. They must have flown this third druid out to  finish their investigation."

A car door shut and Danny put a finger to his lips. Did he just say  investigation? I felt like I was going to be sick. What if they smelled  that I was one of them?

Logan crossed the barn quickly and slipped his hand in mine, the warm  skin making my dragon coil tightly inside of me as a low buzzing worked  its way up my arm and into my chest. Logan leaned in slowly and  whispered in my ear. "You're my wolf shifter girlfriend. We've been  dating about a month, and I asked you to move from Phoenix to join my  pack here in Flagstaff."

I swallowed hard, trying not to think of the way his hot breath tickled  my neck or the way I liked how he called me his girlfriend, even if it  was fake.

"Okay," I replied.                       
       
           



       

Logan nodded to Danny. "Okay."

Danny walked over to the barn door and swung it wide as Logan kept my  hand tucked firmly in his and pulled me alongside him. We were walking  out there, right into the path of these whack-jobs who wanted to kill me  and eat my soul, or whatever it was. This was a really bad idea and I  was totally going along with it. YOLO.





10





AS WE EXITED the barn, Danny walked in front of us, probably to shield  us if the druids started flinging red magic fireballs. Logan had my hand  firmly grasped in his; I was slightly terrified, so my palms were  dripping sweat, but he didn't seem to care. I could see now that Keegan  had the front door wide open and was leaning in the doorway, holding his  shotgun while three druids in sleek black business suits stood on the  porch.

"To what do we owe the pleasure, gentlemen?" Keegan's voice dripped with  sarcasm and it was clear the druids were not welcome here. A man  stepped closer to Keegan, extending his hand. He was the largest of the  three, and had a dark brownish-red ponytail, and tattoos that crept up  his neck; that's all I could see from my angle behind them. "Nice to  meet you, alpha. I'm Steven of the North Ireland druids." He had a thick  Irish accent and I couldn't believe it when Keegan looked at his hand  and didn't make a move to shake it, outright rejecting him.

"I know who your people are. What are you doing on my property?" Keegan asked curtly, his eyes going golden.

Danny shuffled his feet faster, stepping closer to the porch. "Now,  darling, is that any way to treat our guests?" Danny called out to  Keegan, turning on his charm and causing all three druids to turn  around.

Holy shit. These mofos were scary. Like they drank steroids and ate  children for breakfast scary. As they turned around, I could see they  were bulked-up and had that danger vibe coming off of them in waves. I  must have stopped walking, because Logan's hand jerked me closer and I  picked up my pace, coming to rest beside Danny. All three pairs of druid  eyes locked on me and then my red hair. Each druid had some sort of  intricate Celtic tattoo on their face or side of their neck, and all I  could think about was how much they looked like they belonged in prison.

"Ah. This is who we wanted to meet. Sloane, am I right?" ponytail guy, Steven, said.

My tongue felt like sandpaper in my mouth and I couldn't speak.

Finally, I found my voice. "Sloane Murphy." I nodded.

They gave each other a look I couldn't interpret. "You Irish?" Steven  asked, his eyes tightening. His gaze raked over my hair to my face, then  down my body.

I simply nodded.

"That's right. And I'm her boyfriend, Logan." Logan put the emphasis on the word boyfriend, causing the bigger druid to chuckle.

"Relax, Logan. We're not here to take your girl. As I'm sure you have  heard, we have interest in redheads after a new dragon shifter was  spotted near the Grand Canyon."

I paled, and Logan's hand clamped down on mine like a vise.

Dom's voice came out of nowhere then, and I hadn't even realized that  he'd snuck up around the side of the house until he was behind me.

"The dragons are all gone. Just leave us lowly half breeds alone," Dom  spat. I knew without looking back that he was probably holding half a  dozen guns.

The druid's face fell into a grimace. Gone was the friendly mask. He now  wore a menacing face. "You're lucky we don't start hunting your kind,"  the druid growled. "And you know damn well the dragons aren't gone or  humanity and all of their weakness would be extinct by now." The air  charged with some type of magical current, the wind beginning to swirl  and pick up dust.

Keegan cocked his shotgun, and that's when shit got crazy.

The big druid spun around at the sound of Keegan's shotgun cocking. "How  dare you threaten me!" He flung his hand out and red magic shot from  it, slamming Keegan in the chest and throwing him backward into the  house.

"Enough!" Danny yelled, and the door slammed shut at the same time the wind died down.

Steven looked curiously at Danny, and then Danny had that fake  award-winning smile back on his face. "Let's be frank, boys. My friends  are all half human, and they know what you think about them, so your  presence is barely tolerated here. Why don't you ask your questions and  then be on your way."

Steven's lip gave an irritated smirk. "Fair enough." He nodded to one of his druid henchmen.

One of the two druids nearest me stepped closer to me and reached out his hand.

"Just gimme yer hand so we can get dis over wit' and ya'll can get on  wit' yer day," the short druid said in an even thicker accent than the  first. I could barely understand him, but I had heard enough to be  scared.                       
       
           



       

I looked at Logan and he nodded. Logan's hand tightened in mine as I  extended my free left hand. I could hear commotion in the house, and  hoped that Keegan was okay. The smaller Irish man took my hand in his  and I saw his eyes flash a deep burnt orange. He brought my sweaty palm  up to his nose  …  and sniffed. He smelled me. I don't know what I had  been expecting, but it wasn't that.