Earthbound (Dragons and Druids Book 2) Page 4

I thought back to the first time I used my purple magic, on the mountain lion shifter that attacked Nadine and I. It was such a small burst compared to what had happened last night at the battle, or with Isaac’s staff. He was right. It was growing.

  “Do you mind if I borrow one of these?” Danny asked Isaac. “I won’t damage it.”

  Isaac held out the staff to Danny and bent his head low. “Of course. I trust you.”

  Danny looked a bit unnerved at that, but he reached out and grabbed the staff. Nothing happened, which was a relief.

  Danny winked at me. “I did a hand blocking spell. It’s like I’m wearing gloves.” He explained, as though he had heard my thoughts.

  Isaac rose from his bow and faced me. “Go and rest with your friends for a few hours. Come back after lunch and I will show you what the Earth can do.”

  Did I want to know what the Earth could do? I didn’t know what to say to that. Instead, I nodded.

  Shit just got real.

  I was an earth druid apprentice.

  Chapter 3

  Danny and I turned together and walked away. When we were far enough that the druid wouldn’t hear us, I leaned into him. “What do you think of him?”

  Danny shrugged. “Seems nice. He’s letting us all stay here. Teaching you. More welcoming than Keegan ever would be.”

  I flinched slightly. I had forgotten the fact that Danny and Keegan were freshly broken up. All because of Keegan’s rules. Rules that were put in place to keep Logan and I safe. I decided to speak my mind.

  “You know he still loves you, right?”

  Danny walked in silence for a moment before looking over at me. “I’m not sure he’s capable of love. You have to trust someone for that.”

  Ouch. This might be broken beyond repair. It made me sad. I felt responsible. I knew it was silly since I wasn’t even around when that transpired, but the need to protect the skyborn was the reason Keegan had lied to Danny for so long and I was one. Now, only because we needed a sorcerer in the pack, was Danny told the secret. I would be pissed as hell too.

  “Whatever.” Danny waved his hand. “Ruben and Logan are nice to look at.”

  I grinned. Neither were gay but that didn’t matter. Looking was okay by me.

  “You’re not too bad yourself.” I linked arms with him and he smirked.

  We were close to the huts now. “Girl, you have no idea. I look even better naked.”

  I chuckled and it felt good. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d genuinely laughed like that.

  “I look worse naked,” I assured him, and he chortled. Seriously, things were paler than they should be and I had wobbly bits.

  “I’ll bet that’s not true, but we do need to talk about your smell,” he offered.

  I yanked my arm away from him and stuck my nose in my armpit, taking a large whiff. Nothing bad. Just my coconut-scented deodorant.

  Danny laughed. “Not bad. But you reek of dragon. Eva stripped your spells.”

  Oh. Yes. How could I forget the pain of taking off the dark magic spell that I had allowed Jeanine to put on me? It had made me faint from agony. It had hurt so badly.

  “Right. Can you fix it?” I didn’t want someone smelling me and alerting the druids.

  He nodded. “I’ll need to gather some supplies, but yes.”

  I didn’t want to know what “supplies” he would have to gather, considering last time I was pretty sure I drank wolf piss.

  We’d reached the camp and my gaze fell to Sophie, in her human form, having an animated conversation with Logan and Keegan. Dom was cleaning a few of his guns while chatting with Roxy, and Nadine was staring across the courtyard at Gear, who was playing a card game with Ruben. It felt nice to have this slightly dysfunctional group to call my family.

  “How’s rooming with Sophie going?” I said, trying to lighten the conversation as we walked closer.

  Danny rolled his eyes. “I’m sick of seeing boobs. That’s all I will say.”

  I laughed and Logan looked up, pinning me with his green eyes. ‘Did you know Eva was leaving to look for skyborn?’

  Whoops. ‘Kind of…’

  His eyes flared green and his jaw clenched. ‘Kind of?’

  I swallowed hard. Danny gave me an eye roll and walked over to a flat grassy area to lay the staff down. He must have known Logan and I were mind-speak arguing. ‘She mentioned feeling guilty that you thought you were alone all these years. So she said she was going to look for skyborn.’

  Logan was stalking towards me now. “And you didn’t think to mention this to me last night?” he said out loud.

  I gave a resigned sigh. “She asked me not to.” That wasn’t technically true but her eyes had spoken for her. This was something she felt she needed to do for him and Logan would have stopped her.

  Hurt crossed Logan’s features, but then it was gone quickly. “Sloane, you should have told me. She could get hurt. She shouldn’t have gone alone.”

  I reached out and grasped his hand. “She’s a grown woman and a powerful sorceress. If she feels she has to do this, then let her.”

  He grumbled and released my hand. “She’s not answering her phone. I’m getting flashbacks to when you ran off.”

  My bottom lip pulled down into a frown. Not my proudest moment, leaving the pack like that. “Sorry.”

  Logan waved his hand. “What else did the druid say?”

  I quickly filled him in on what he had missed. That it was imperative we find this elf because my magic would keep growing and we needed to ground it with the earth or whatever.

  Logan looked down at my bare feet. I’d walked back barefoot without even noticing. My boots were back by the waterfall. He didn’t say anything about the feet, and instead called over Sophie.

  The coyote shifter walked over with an air of superiority, shaking her hips. I could see the beard tattoo covered in cellophane at her wrist. Logan had told me she’d been especially close with Cooper and was taking it hard, so I was going to try to let anything overly bitchy slide.

  “Alright, Soph, you’re in charge of Sloane’s weapons training, and she can’t touch the knives. What’s your plan?”

  I suddenly felt my dragon flare to the surface when he called her Soph. Logan must have felt it through the bond, because he looked cowed and stepped closer to me. Sophie simply rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers.

  “Dominic!” she called.

  The silent shifter lowered the gun he’d been cleaning and walked over to where we stood.

  “I need you to teach Sloane how to shoot. You up for it?” she asked.

  He looked at me for an extended moment and then nodded, walking away back over to his gun collection.

  Okay. I was secretly terrified of guns. I didn’t think taking lessons from Dom, who barely spoke, was going to help ease my nerves any.

  Sophie looked at me expectantly. “Come on, buttercup. You can’t always rely on your purple fire.” She tugged my arm and I followed her lead, looking back to glare at Logan, who was trying to cover a smirk. I think he sadistically liked me and Sophie hanging out. Bastard. Sexy, sexy, bastard.

  “Alright, here’s the deal,” Sophie told me, linking arms as we walked. “You can’t be using that purple stuff in public around humans. I think a gun is a good weapon for you, provided you actually learn to shoot so you don’t blow your foot off.”

  I gave her a side glare. We’d somehow made it to this weird friends-but-not-friends place. Frenemies.

  “I’ll try my best,” I told her, and she seemed pleased with that answer.

  ‘What made you think putting Sophie in charge of me was a good idea?’ I asked Logan, glaring across the lawn as he spoke to Keegan.

  ‘She’s not in charge of you,’ he replied, not meeting my gaze. ‘Besides, you let her ride your dragon. I figured you were cool now.’

  I inwardly groaned. I didn’t exactly let her ride my dragon, she’d jumped on as we both tried to keep Logan alive. This was not going to be fun. Whatever
pride I had left was broken when I pointed to a rectangle thing on the gun and asked what it was.

  The side of Dom’s scarred mouth twitched and Sophie full-on grinned, trying to hide a snicker.

  “That’s a clip. It holds the bullets.” Sophie grabbed it and dropped it in my hand.

  I was an idiot. Now that I held it, heavy and solid in my hand, I could tell what it was. I felt fear rise up in me. Guns killed people; I was holding a deadly weapon.

  “You only fear it because you don’t know it.” Dom’s voice was low and deep; it commanded my attention and I nodded.

  “Then teach me.” I wasn’t going to be afraid anymore. Afraid of being a dragon, a druid. Fear of being alone, or fear of guns, I was done with fearing everything. Knowledge was power, and I wanted to learn everything I could so that I could rise up from this shitstorm that had become my life.

  Dom grinned, and I noticed that up close, smiling, he was extremely handsome. The grin was more maniacal than happy though… but it was something.

  One hour later and I wasn’t a completely terrible shot. At least I wasn’t jumping every time I pulled the trigger. I’d tried over five guns in Dom’s collection, but a small Ruger pistol seemed to be my favorite. I felt in control of it instead of the other way around. While we were practicing, Logan and Keegan had been off in some big debate. When I asked Logan through our mental connection what it was about, he just said ‘Eva.’ Danny was crouched in the grass, throwing spells and powders at Isaac’s staff. I didn’t think it was going well, because after every spell he would mutter a curse word.

  Nadine and Roxy had paired up and were practicing hand-to-hand combat drills, and something told me that’s where I was headed next. Ruben was in bear form, with Gear in the skies, exploring the territory more, getting a sense of Isaac’s land and any hidden dangers. I was about to reload my gun, the way Dom had showed me, when Danny suddenly squealed.

  “Yes! In your face, bitch!” he shouted at the staff, and then upon noticing all of us staring at him, he straightened his shirt, smoothed his hair, and cleared his throat. “I found him.”

  Excitement and fear bubbled through me as I put the safety on the gun, as I’d just learned, and set it down on the table we had set up.

  “You found the … the elf?”

  Danny gave me a “What else do you think I’m talking about?” look.

  “Where is it?” Keegan asked, walking over with Logan.

  Danny raised one eyebrow. “It’s a he. And he is at a club with a ton of other purebloods, so it’s going to be hard to know which one is him if he’s cloaking his appearance to look like a sorcerer, which he is.”

  Keegan looked at his ex, a mixture of annoyance and longing, more so longing. “But you can find him if we can get you in there?”

  Danny chuckled, placing one hand on his hip. “Get me within five hundred feet of this guy and he’s mine.”

  Keegan smirked. “Always so modest about your accomplishments.”

  Danny’s eyes flared, but it wasn’t in anger; they sparked with adoration. This was the banter of two lovers.

  “How far is he? In the country?” Logan’s voice came from right over my shoulder and my dragon preened having him so close.

  The sorcerer grinned. “He’s in Ashland, Oregon. Four hours by car.”

  Keegan let out a curse. “Four hours? Surely we’ll miss him!”

  Danny stepped closer to the alpha. “No, get me there and I can follow his trail. I’ve got this guy’s magical scent down. He’s mine.”

  Keegan gave a small growl. “No, you’re mine,” he stated without a care that the entire pack was watching them. Danny rolled his eyes and waved his hand. “Not anymore.”

  An awkward silence stretched between all of us. Where I would be dying of embarrassment after being shut down like that, Keegan looked absolutely lit up with passion. Like he’d just been challenged. If Danny wanted to play hard to get, it looked like Keegan didn’t mind the chase.

  “Let’s roll out. Someone get the druid,” Logan barked.

  Okay, it looked like we were hunting down a magical elf so that we could force him to make me a druid-killing staff. No big deal. Just another day in my crazy life.

  Gear was in the skies, flying over our yellow bus to alert us of any foes. Danny had whipped up a quick spell to contain my scent again, and unabashedly told me there was in fact wolf urine in it—Keegan’s to be exact. After throwing up the first attempt, Danny had to use magical means to get me to drink the second. Now we were just outside of Ashland, Oregon, with our happy druid at the wheel. Ruben and Sophie agreed to stay behind, in case Eva came back or we needed help. It wasn’t a good idea to go into these things all together anymore; the odds of getting captured were very real. At least with Ruben and Sophie back at camp, someone could come looking for us if shit went south and we were captured or killed. I think there were other reasons Sophie wanted to stay behind with Ruben, but I was keeping my nose out of her business.

  Danny had the window open, hand hanging out and trailing yellow magical smoke as we drove. “Turn right and park!” He suddenly screamed, when we reached Main Street.

  Isaac hit the brakes and careened the large school bus to the right, parking it in front of a large family park—a beautiful lakefront park, which faced a strip of bars and clubs … because this was Oregon.

  “Why a bus?” Logan asked as Isaac stepped away from the captain’s chair and met us at the back. This was not a normal bus. The back half of the seats had been ripped out and four sets of bunk beds had been set up, each with its own privacy curtain. A small kitchenette stood between the bunks and the seats, with a tiny water storage tank for washing hands or doing dishes. Solar panels dotted the roof. All in all, this bus was a rugged traveling hotel. Assuming you didn’t mind peeing outside.

  “Why not?” He smiled and I couldn’t help but smile too. Isaac was one of those people who was infectiously happy and weird. But good weird, I was realizing. He just didn’t care what others thought about him.

  “Okay, people, we have a minor problem,” Danny said, his eyes glowing phosphorus yellow.

  Dom was strapping guns to his chest and stopped to look up at the sorcerer.

  Danny sighed. “It’s a pureblood only club, and I’m not sure the elf is here anymore, but if we go poke around inside, I can pick up his trail again and know for sure.”

  Pureblood only. Those words enraged me and made me sick. Danny had said earlier that the elf was at a club with a ton of other purebloods but not that it was restricted to only those magical beings.

  “I’m not letting you go in there alone,” Keegan stated.

  Danny was the only pureblood on the bus. Well, technically Logan and I were, but we were magicked to look like half-breed wolf shifters. And Isaac was pureblood, but I was guessing a happy earth-loving druid wasn’t welcome there.

  Danny nodded. “I would rather not go in alone either. I can put an illusion over a few of you to escort me inside, but only for a short time, and no more than two.”

  “I’m going.” I crossed my arms defiantly. We only needed this elf because he was going to have to make a weapon for me. I deserved to go in and help find him.

  “No,” Keegan and Logan both said in unison. Isaac smiled stupidly, looking between the two men. He must have lived alone out in the woods a long time. I’m sure our drama was akin to watching a reality TV show for him.

  “No?” I echoed them, bracing for a fight. I might not be the best fighter but I wasn’t completely helpless. Right? The weight of the Ruger tucked in the belt at my lower back actually felt good. Powerful.

  Logan leaned forward in his seat, reaching out to me. “Steven will be looking for you. He may have posted your picture at these kinds of bars. Might even be offering a reward. We don’t have time to disguise you.”

  His words hit me with their truth. That damn druid knew what I was now, knew my face.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” Isaac said. “I think Steven wa
nts her for himself. If word gets around what she is, then other druids will want her power.”

  Keegan shrugged. “Maybe, but can’t risk it. I’m going and … Nadine. We might need feminine charms to get people to talk.”

  Nadine gave a wicked grin that told me the only feminine charm she would be using would be a knee to the balls.

  Dom cocked one of his guns and nodded. “I’ll walk the perimeter.”

  “Me too,” Logan added, stepping out from his place behind the seat.

  “Me three.” I jumped up, rushing into the aisle.

  Keegan sighed. “Would it kill you guys to just sit back one time and let me handle it?”

  “Dead,” Dom said, and I busted out laughing, looking around at the others to make sure I wasn’t the only one who’d just heard him speak and gotten his joke.

  “Oh my God, you have a sense of humor? I mean … who knew?” I said, and Dom’s eyes twinkled, the slightest curling of his lips as he headed down the aisle and off the bus.

  Roxy squeezed Dom’s bicep as he passed. “Be safe. I’ll stay back and man the getaway vehicle.”

  He nodded, giving her a slight smile as he was loading, clicking, and rearranging guns hidden all over his person.

  Logan had been watching me ever since I stood. Now he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black beanie. “I don’t want to make a habit of telling you no … so, tie up your hair and you can come help us walk the perimeter.”

  I raised one eyebrow, taking the beanie and leaning into his ear, my right breast pressing against his arm. “It’s cute that you think I take orders from you,” I whispered, and then straightened, following Dominic off the bus.

  Isaac nodded as I passed, tying my red hair up into the beanie. The druids were on a redheaded hunt. I didn’t want to advertise my mane.

  “I’ll keep the car warm I guess,” Isaac offered.

  When I was about to step down onto the curb, Logan’s hand snaked out and grabbed my belly, pressing me into him, his mouth on my ear. Warmth pulsed from his hand into my gut, nearly making me moan.

  ‘I can smell your heat coming again. We need to talk about what to do when it does,’ he told me, and then let me go.