That wasn’t the history lesson I learned growing up. “So what happened?”
Logan’s jaw clenched. “The earthbound. In 1918, the druids came to Earth en masse. They had learned that if they killed a dragon and absorbed its magic, it made them stronger, all-powerful—able to regenerate after a mortal wound, able to have the strength of ten men, and much more.”
My brows climbed. “Nineteen-eighteen was the Spanish influenza.”
He nodded. “We lost millions of kin that year. It was a genocide of our people. That’s when we went into hiding. What few of us were left.”
Jesus. How awful. “And the humans got sick?”
He nodded. “All that dragon energy leaving the humans so quickly. Humans that we were bound to keep healthy … it caused a pandemic.”
“That’s awful,” I muttered.
Logan nodded solemnly. “When the queen of Faery bound us to the humans, she never even conceived of a day when we would not exist. She couldn’t have known that if we were all killed, her spell would backfire, taking all of the humans with us—taking the humanity of every shifter and half magical being with us as well.”
Oh God. It really sank in then, the enormity of what Logan and I had to do. “No pressure.” I laughed nervously before a thought struck me: “Couldn’t she undo the spell? The queen? Science can keep people alive longer now, and that way, if we die, we don’t take humanity down with us.”
Logan ran his fingers through his hair. “When the Fae royalty first learned that the druids had started killing skyborn, a war erupted in Faery. Sorcerers, shifters, and druids started trickling out of the Faelands and into Earth, fleeing the war that ravaged the land. In the end, the queen was destroyed, and so were all of the other royal families. The entirety of Faery died and was closed off forever.”
My eyes widened as shock ran through me. “How?”
Logan just gave me a look, a look that said take a guess.
I swallowed hard. “The druids?”
He nodded. “The earthbound are powerful. They can command trees, water, wind, and sky. They turned the land of Faery into a weapon that destroyed itself.”
And I might be half of one of them. The thought made me involuntarily shiver.
“So … the druids? Are they half human?” I tried to segue this into what I desperately needed to know.
Logan sighed, looking tired. How long had he been fighting them? “The druids are one hundred percent highborn Fae. Pureblooded born of magic. They only ever breed within their own race. It’s a part of their creed.”
Interesting. Now for the question I had wanted to ask all along…
“But … hypothetically, the druids could mate with … like, another pure magical being. Like a full-blooded sorcerer … like Eva?”
Or a full-blooded dragon, I thought.
Logan laughed. “Hypothetically yes, but they wouldn’t touch another supernatural in that way. They’re all purists. It’s ingrained in their training. ‘One race. One blood.’”
I shivered. “Sounds pretty racist.” It also sounded possible that I could be half druid…
Logan nodded. “You have no idea.”
I sighed. “I could really use some cartoons after this dark conversation.” I was completely freaking out.
Logan laughed, a deep and honest belly laugh that was contagious and had the corner of my lips curling.
“You’re funny, you know that, Sloane?” He cocked his head to the side.
I shrugged. “I’ve been told that a few times, yeah.”
He pursed his lips, looking more serious. “It’s been a long time since I had something to laugh about. I’m … glad you’re here.” I could tell he wasn’t the kind of guy to dole out compliments. It looked like that one was really hard for him.
You won’t be when you find out what I am, I wanted to say.
“Me too,” I said in a rush, and then started walking inside. “Come on, it’s cold.”
Number one thing on my list of to do’s: keep this house from learning that I was part monster. And two: pray that Eva never told a soul.
9
“WAKE UP. It’s time to train,” a deep voice said from beside my bed. I opened one eye, saw the sexy dragon shifter standing over me, and then looked at the alarm clock. 6 AM. I groaned.
“Go away.” I turned over and gave Logan my back. When I turned, my living hat moved with me. Mittens had become my own personal sleeping beanie. She was obsessed with my red hair or something, and literally slept atop my head every night.
“You stole my cat,” Logan growled, making kissy noises, trying to coax Mittens away from me.
“Hah!” I said, half garbled and into the pillow. “She’s stalking me. I didn’t ask for her to become my living hair scrunchie.”
Logan’s foot dug into the soft spot behind my knee. “Up! Come on. Gotta teach you to keep yourself alive.”
I sighed. Damn, I had really started to like this guy and I didn’t really want to be the last dragon alive … but if he didn’t stop poking me at 6 AM I was going to kill him.
Sophie’s voice came from the doorway. “Come on, princess. You said you would help me with the cooking.”
Oh. Hell. No. I wasn’t going to let her lord this shit over me—call me princess or lazy or God knows what else.
I rolled over so quickly Mittens leapt off of my head and flew under the bed. Sophie was gone from the doorway and Logan had a black cellphone in his hands. Now that I was awake, he tossed it on the bed. “This phone is yours now. I programmed the pack and Eva’s numbers into it.”
That was sweet of him … but not sweet enough to make up for waking me so early.
“Thanks,” I mumbled grumpily. Logan just smiled and turned to walk away.
“Logan,” I called after him.
He turned and looked back at me.
“One of these days you’re going to wake me too early and I can’t be liable for what happens to you,” I told him, one hand on my hip. My hair was in a top knot and I was wearing tight sleep pants and a thin thermal shirt with no bra. Not exactly a Victoria Secret model, but when I made that threat, heat flared in Logan’s eyes, and he looked my body up and down.
“I’ll take my chances.” He winked and left the room.
I exhaled loudly, trying to ignore the pulse of passion that started up every time I was in the room with that man. I needed a cold shower.
I made it downstairs in record time. Seven minutes and I was brushed, showered, and shaved. I had never been one of those high-maintenance girls. Just some mascara and lip gloss and I was good to go.
Sophie was making the coffee and I jumped right in to help. Opening the fridge and freezer at the same time, I took stock of the ingredients. Eggs, bacon, hash browns. Boring. I didn’t watch six thousand hours of Chopped and Iron Chef to serve basic breakfast on my first day as the pack’s new chef.
“You got breakfast?” Sophie asked. She was all done up with full make up and a push up bra under her sports bra, making the girls extra perky.
I nodded. “I got this.”
She looked unsure but then shrugged. “Alright, I’ll go for my run, then.”
Logan and Keegan were sitting on barstools drinking coffee and discussing the new hires, while Gear, Cooper and Nadine made their way into the living room.
“You need help?” Nadine offered, looking sleepy.
I smiled. “Sure. You can be my sous-chef.”
“Huh?” She looked confused.
I just chuckled and handled her the bacon. “Start cutting these in half. I want small strips.”
She shrugged. “I can do that. But fair warning, don’t let me near the stove.”
“Got it.” I winked.
I pulled the hash browns out and started them browning while I heated two other pans for my eggs and bacon. Then I went to the spice cabinet and was relieved to see a pretty good stock. I pulled the cayenne pepper and salt, then got a small pan going for my sauce. After separating the yolks and squeezing some lemon juice into the pot, I added the salt and cayenne pepper and I had the makings of some fine hollandaise sauce.