My heart was still pumping with adrenaline as I recalled my dream. The dark-skinned man with the honey-colored eyes. I grabbed my sketchbook and colored pencils off of the chair beside my bed and started drawing. I had to. I couldn't get him out of my head. Like he was important to me. It felt stupid, considering I was pretty sure he was a druid, but he didn't feel evil. Not like the others. Evil didn't meditate under waterfalls, right? The last druid I dreamt of had found me, so I was hoping this wasn't another one of those prophetic dreams. Maybe I should tell Logan? But then he would probably wonder why I was dreaming of all of these druids.
Because I am a druid …
I sketched in a blind frenzy, reminding me of my early college days when I was filled more with inspiration and less with care for technique or pleasing the viewer. An hour passed and I had a detailed sketch of his face and torso in graphite. But those eyes … I colored them first and they were perfect. It took over ten colored pencils to get the color right. So many yellows, oranges, and browns. Who was this man? Why did I dream of him?
"Sloane?" Nadine knocked on the door and I slammed my sketchbook shut, clearing my throat.
"Come in," I called out.
Nadine entered and gave me a shy smile. "I heard three druids came while Sophie and I were in town. Must have been scary."
I nodded. "One of them chucked Keegan across the house like it was no big deal."
Nadine shrugged. "Druids and shifters hate each other. There are always fights when we get together. Normally they only hang out at pureblood bars, so we don't see them on the social scene."
My mouth dropped at the mention of pureblood bars. The fact that there was segregation like that, it was horrid. "That's awful. Why do they hate humans so much?"
Nadine sat down on the edge of my bed, her straight black hair falling around her shoulders. "Humans are weak. Druids despise weakness. Magic is strong and Faery used to be filled with strong magical creatures, so I guess they're trying to get back to that place so they can rule the world and all of her magical minions or whatever."
Sounded delusional. "So, you're half human … "
Nadine nodded. "Yep. I regenerate if hurt, and I age slower. We age normally until puberty, then it's about one year for every five human years, but I will get old and die one day just like them. Our DNA stops regenerating injuries at about age eighty. So yeah, I guess I'm weak too."
I scoffed. "You're not weak, you're part human. It's just natural and comforting. Getting old and dying is normal."
I wanted so badly to be normal again. Logan had said we would never die unless we were killed, and it scared the shit out of me. In my mind, it made me a monster.
Nadine slapped my thigh. "Cheer up! We'll have plenty of time to stick it to the druids over the next few decades together. Come on, Keegan wants us all downstairs to meet the two new recruits. They've been sworn in and bound to you and Logan, so it's not possible for them to spill your secret."
"My secret?" I paled, and Mittens took that moment to swat at my dangling feet.
Nadine looked confused. "That you're a dragon shifter?"
I sighed in relief. "Right." Man, I was getting paranoid. I really needed to hear back from Eva already.
I told Nadine I would change and meet her downstairs and she left. I had promised to help cook for this bunch, so I needed to pull through. If I thought we might stay here a while, I would plant a garden. I hadn't had a back yard since my mom passed, and it would be nice to garden again. It reminded me of her.
After cleaning up, I put on my favorite pair of tight cargo pants and a black t-shirt with one of my drawings screen-printed on it. It was an iridescent hummingbird drinking soda from a straw. I grabbed my new phone and tucked it into my back pocket as I made my way down the stairs. As I was rounding the corner, I overheard Dom and Logan talking.
"It took every ounce of willpower I had not to gut them all," Dom seethed, and I knew right away who he was talking about. Druids.
Logan chuckled. "You know, beheading them is my favorite."
My stomach churned.
Dom spoke next, his voice was full of rage: "We should hunt him down. Kill him."
Logan sighed. "I know and you know that I want nothing more than to have a world where druids don't exist, but … I tried, and he's too powerful."
Now that had my attention. "Who?" I asked, and Logan spun around, took one glance at my t-shirt, and then a half smile tugged at his lips.
"Did you draw that?" he asked, indicating my shirt.
Shock ripped threw me. How the hell would he know that? "Yeah … " I said.
He nodded. "It has your style."
Logan Sharp knew my drawing style? My dragon coiled tightly inside of me and a pulse of warmth shot down my legs, making a slow burn start between my thighs. Okay, it was official. I needed a hysterectomy or something. My dragon lady parts were malfunctioning and I was stuck in heat.
I changed the subject. "You were saying you tried but he was too powerful. Tried what?"
Logan shared a look with Dom and brought his left arm up to rub his right shoulder. "About five years ago I tried to kill Ardan. We hunted him down and I tried to take him out. I thought if I could kill the evil master, the minions would … go away."
Holy shit. "What happened?"
The room had quieted. Sophie, who was cooking in the kitchen, had stopped, and Gear and Cooper, who were playing video games, dropped their controllers; Nadine stopped sharpening some knives. They all looked at Logan.
"I nearly died. He tore my arm right off. Keegan got me out. Otherwise I wouldn't have made it."
My mouth dropped open. "The master of all evil druids tore your arm off?"
He nodded, rubbing that spot again. "Yes. It took about nine months to grow back."
My eyes widened. "GROW BACK?"
Logan chuckled. "Dragons are descended from lizards. So yeah, it grows back as long as you don't bleed out."
Holy freaking crap! I'll admit I had the same thought. Take out this Ardan character and save the world, but clearly that wasn't on the agenda. Unless you wanted to lose an arm.
"Didn't he see you? I mean, now he knows what you look like … " I mused.
Logan shook his head. "I wore a ski mask. We all did."
Geez. I couldn't imagine getting your arm ripped off. If I thought Steven and those other meatheads were scary, then I didn't even want to meet this Ardan character.
"Alright, enough storytime, I need help in the kitchen," Sophie announced, pulling my thoughts away from Logan's story.
"Right," I muttered, and threw myself into the task at hand-making forty chicken soft tacos for ten hungry shifters.
"So, do we know anything about the new recruits?" I asked Sophie as I diced fresh tomatoes.
Sophie and I had thawed a little; she had seemed friendly when I was helping her in the kitchen, so I thought I would take advantage of it.
Sophie shrugged. "Just that they are twin brother and sister. Both bear shifters."
I dropped the knife I had been holding and it clattered onto the granite counter. "Bear shifters!" I whisper screamed.
Sophie tipped her head back and laughed. "You're a dragon."
True. Enough said.
By the time we were done frying forty taco shells, my wrist was sore. And I wasn't sure we'd have enough food. Bear shifters … they must eat more in one meal than I did in the entire day. Come to think of it, my appetite had increased a little since I started shifting, but not as much as the others. I wondered if it was because I was only half dragon. In the end, Sophie and I decided to take the leftover ground-up chicken and make a quick chicken enchilada soup to dip the tacos in. Sophie would never say it, but she liked watching me cook; she was learning. I'd already taught her how to make an avocado aioli and she'd actually written the recipe down. I decided not to pull the boys in for their cooking lessons until tomorrow.
We were just setting the pot of chili on the dinner table when the front door opened. Sophie and I turned at the same time as the two giant shifters walked in, dwarfing the alpha. The guy was nearly seven feet tall and packed with more muscle than a professional wrestler. He wasn't my type but he was good looking, I would give him that. Caramel skin, brown hair, and hazel eyes. His sister was nearly six-feet-tall, her hair long and curly, hanging low about halfway down her back.