Skyborn(7)

Logan had simply told me that a land of Fae creatures used to exist, so  my imagination was the limit. And as an artist, I had a wild  imagination. I used to illustrate fairies in high school. I drew them  with big wide eyes and gossamer wings.

Nadine shook her head, her black hair falling around her. She had fair  skin, bright blue eyes, and her nose was sharp, giving her beauty  uniqueness. But the tattoos covering her arms and legs made her look  fierce. This was a woman you didn't want to cross.                       
       
           



       

"No gargoyles. Just the earthbound, their hunters, animal shifters,  sorcerers and skyborn. We're all pretty much descended from the same  magical soup."

Right. Earthbound were druids and skyborn were dragons-I at least had  that much. Had no idea about the magical soup comment, but thought I  would leave it for later.

I nodded. "Okay, well, what powers do the hunters have? I mean, are they just regular humans?"

Nadine took a long swig from her beer. "No, they're not. Hunters are  druids in training. They fight in a pack, and that pack is tied to one  druid. That druid, depending how powerful, can empower his hunters with  certain gifts. Once a hunter advances to a certain level, the druid  initiates them and they become an apprentice druid. The hunters we  encountered going after you were a part of a pack that was linked to a  pretty weak druid. You were lucky."

I let out a breath. "So  …  all druids are bad?"

Nadine stopped chugging her beer and met my eyes. "They didn't used to  be, but the most powerful of their kind turned to darkness." She lowered  her voice. "His name is Ardan and he is a master druid. They are all  connected, so each druid pulls power from his master, which leads all  the way up to Ardan. Therefore … "

I nodded in understanding. "Spoil one and spoil them all?"

Nadine nodded. "Now the earthbound are power hungry and they will stop  at nothing to have all of the skyborn magic left on this Earth."

I frowned. "How? How do they get the magic?"

Nadine brought up her left index finger and ran it across her neck.

"Oh. So  …  they kill us and  …  siphon our magic?" I guessed. I hadn't  thought anyone was listening, until now. A warm, possessive hand landed  on my shoulder.

"They try." Logan's voice tickled my ear, sending my dragon into a  frenzy inside of me. Freaking hormonal dragon. Chill out. "But now  there's two of us and I won't let that happen."

His body heat pressed against my skin, making my dragon tighten within  me, but his words had me on edge. "So, hypothetically, if the druids  were to kill us both and drain our magic … ?"

Now the entire room was quiet. Keegan, the alpha, slightly taller than  Logan, stepped out from behind the pool table. His sandy-blond hair was  cut in a short military style and his presence commanded attention. I  had instinctively known he was the alpha earlier, before he had even  introduced himself as such.

"Then humanity goes extinct as well," he said, "and the druids and  hunters rule the Earth, taking what's left of the shifters and sorcerers  as their slaves."

"Jesus." I involuntarily shuddered and I saw Cooper make the Catholic  sign of the cross over his chest. Oops. "What do you mean ‘what's left'  of the shifters and sorcerers?" I asked Keegan.

He looked solemn. "Shifters are half human. If humanity dies, then so does our humanity. We would be stuck in our animal forms."

I gasped. That sounded awful. "And the sorcerers?"

Logan raked his hands through his hair. "We assume the ones who aren't pure blooded would become  …  monsters."

My eyes widened and I turned back to Nadine. "So, Logan has been keeping the entirety of humanity alive by himself?"

Nadine rolled her eyes. "Careful, sweetheart, his ego doesn't need a  boost." She winked at Logan and he smiled sheepishly at her.

They had history together, I could tell. Or maybe they were dating. Last  dragon on Earth, tatted-up hottie? He was definitely taken. My dragon  shuddered within me at the thought; she didn't like it one bit. These  new feelings were weird; I didn't know what to think of them. Were they  my thoughts or hers? Were we one?

"Dragons have powerful magic. Even one can hold enough magic for all of  humanity. We are bound to them," Logan told me. "But with two … "

The alpha stepped closer to Logan. "Do you think she can?" Keegan asked him. He seemed doubtful.

Logan eyed me seriously. "Yes," he said with conviction.

Keegan shrugged. "She's smaller, untrained."

I didn't know what they were referring to, but at the comment of my  small stature I scoffed and stood. I was 5'8, which was tall for a girl,  and yes I was thin but had somewhat of an athletic build from years of  soccer. Technically, I loathed regular exercise, and the Grand Canyon  hike had nearly killed me, but I was strong ... on the inside.

"I'm not small," I growled at the alpha, and that earned me a smile from Nadine and a few of the other packmates.

The alpha seemed to look at me with amusement. "Don't get your panties  in a bunch. I was talking about your dragon. She is small and untrained,  wild and reckless."                       
       
           



       

It felt like an insult, but since I knew nothing about dragons or their  size, I decided just to pin him with a glare. As I did, a low rumble  emanated from his throat and his jaw clenched. Logan leaned into my ear,  bringing with him the scent of the forest. "Staring an alpha in the  eyes isn't a great idea unless you plan on challenging him."

Oh. Shit. I looked down at the alpha's neck and cleared my throat.

Keegan laughed suddenly, full of warmth and amusement. "She's got spunk, Logan. You might be right."

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't stand being in the dark when they were talking about me.

Logan peered at me behind his ruffled dark locks. "I think once I train  you, you will be strong enough to harness the magic-take a bit back from  the druids and even the scales. I can only hold so much, which is why  the humans are sick."

That sounded intriguing but  …  I wasn't interested. "Actually, I was  wondering if you could make it go away. Make me normal again?"

The entire room froze. One of the guys even dropped a beer and it  shattered to the ground, sending glass everywhere. Even silent Dom  leaned forward from his dark perch in the corner of the room.

Logan's mouth was frozen open, gaping like a fish out of water.

"What?" I defended my position. "I want my life back! I wasn't born into  this like you were. Some freak thing happened to me a few weeks ago and  now you want me to start stealing magic from druids and start training?  I just want to see the world. Paris, Ireland-I have plans."

I knew I was pouting and probably seemed petty, but come on, they  couldn't really expect me to  …  what, live here forever harnessing dragon  magic? It was all ridiculous. I had accepted that magic was real-fine,  someone put a curse on me or something. But there had to be a way to  remove it.

I didn't realize how much my question must have hurt them until I  noticed the tears swimming in Nadine's eyes. She had those blunt cut  bangs and wore a red bandana so she was perfectly channeling a  rockabilly chick. And now that I had her in tears, I felt like shit.

"She doesn't know any better," Logan told the group.

Sophie, the other female, who had been shooting eye daggers at me all  night, stepped forward now, her body clenched, and it was clear she was  seething with anger. She was one of those tall athletic blondes that  commanded the attention of every pecker in the room.

"We've spent eternity guarding Logan so the humans can have a fighting  chance! Every night before we go to bed, we pray, we beg-do you know  what we ask for?" Her voice shook and I felt like crap for getting  everyone all emotional.

"What?" I croaked.

She thrust her hands my way. "More dragons! And here you are and you don't even want it! Unbelievable."

Keegan growled suddenly and the blonde quickly lowered her head in submission.

"I understand where you're all coming from, but you need to understand  where I'm coming from." I directed my next question at the blond girl.  "Sophie, right?" She nodded, still giving me her best resting bitch  face. "You were raised your entire life knowing you were a  …  shifter,  right? That your life would involve protecting Logan or whatever.  Right?"

She nodded, a proud look on her face, making her upturned nose even more  annoying. "My mother trained me to protect the skyborn from the age of  three."