He ushered them inside, but I was still hanging on the way he had said “unique”—like it was a disease, like there was something wrong with me. There was. I knew it and I was just waiting for Eva to confirm it.
I shuffled to the table, just as Danny walked through the front door wearing an adorable red plaid scarf and holding a steaming to-go Starbucks cup. “So, this is one of the perks of being let into the inner circle—taco Tuesday,” he stated, looking at the table full of food.
Keegan pointed to the bear shifters. “Ruben and Roxy, this is Danny, our pack sorcerer and coffee addict.”
Danny’s eyes danced at Keegan’s mention of coffee addiction. It must be an inside joke between them.
“Hello.” Danny waved a hand in their direction and then gave me a wink.
He crossed the room to stand near me. “I know Sophie didn’t cook this amazingness up by herself. She’s not that talented.” He pointed to the table and Sophie stuck her tongue out at him.
I smiled. “I helped.”
Danny squeezed my upper arm. “I love that shirt. You’re my spirit animal,” he whispered, and I just laughed. His quirky unpredictable personality had grown on me.
Danny and I took a seat with everyone and silently started to eat while the others dug in. Sophie had taken it upon herself to sit next to Ruben and shove her cleavage in his face, peppering him with a thousand compliments. Meanwhile, I was quite shocked to hear Dom actually speak when he said about ten words to Roxy, asking her about her favorite model gun. Poor Nadine kept stealing glances at Gear and I eyed her tattooed arms finding a new one each time.
“Hey. You’re quiet tonight. You okay?” Logan had sat next to me and was now whispering in my ear, which brought that unique woodsy Logan smell with him.
I shrugged. “Just the run-in with the druids I guess. I’m fine though. I’m actually tired. I wasn’t able to nap much earlier with Mittens attacking my head.”
Logan smiled. “You know she’s your cat now, right?”
God … he’s sweet and funny and good looking. How much longer was I going to be able to fight this undeniable attraction I had to him?
I returned his smile. “Can’t help it if she loves me more.”
Logan’s hand reached under the table and squeezed my thigh. As he leaned in close, I felt the heat of his breath on my neck. “Don’t worry about the druids. I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he whispered.
I barely registered his words.
Hand on thigh…
My dragon shook herself; I was flushed with adrenaline. His promise. His hand. It was all possessive, but … in an intimate, caring way I couldn’t explain. My dragon was slithering around inside of me like a two-year-old hopped up on sugar. It’s like she was trying to tell me something but couldn’t speak. Yeah, screw what Logan said, I was stuck in heat; I was sure of it. I wonder if I needed to see a veterinarian about that or something.
Logan pulled his hand back and went back to finishing his taco, but it was too late. I was flushed and … well, hot and bothered. I needed some space to think.
I set my spoon down into my empty chili bowl and stood. “I’m tired, everyone. I’m just going to head up to bed early. It was so nice to meet you guys,” I told Roxy and Ruben.
Roxy and Ruben nodded. Logan looked at me a little concerned but nodded too. “Goodnight.”
As I made my way up the stairs, their chatter started up again, and I was relieved to have some quiet time. The moment I stepped into my room, my butt pocket started to vibrate.
I pulled the phone out hastily, closing the door shut. The only people who had this number were the pack and Eva. Pulling the screen up to my face, I saw that Eva was calling. Finally. Did I want to answer? Did I really want to know what my blood was—what I was? Yes. I had to.
I pressed the green circle and held the phone to my ear. “Hey, Eva.”
Her voice was warm and polite but there was an underlying tone I couldn’t read. “Hi, honey. Are you alone?”
Oh shit. “Yes. I’m up in my room.”
She was silent for a moment and I knew then without a doubt—I was half monster. Then she confirmed it. “Sweetheart, I took your blood to my friend and he confirmed that you are in fact half druid.”
Tears pricked my eyes; my throat tightened with emotion. “How?”
Eva sighed. “Well, If I had to guess, I think it was your mother, sweetheart. She was a druid and fell in love with your father, who would have had to have been a dragon. She probably left the druid clan and they magically stripped her of her power, making her essentially human.”
I gasped. “They can do that?”
Eva gave a sarcastic chuckle. “They can do almost anything, dear.”
Frick. I was in shock. “My dad … a dragon. How?”
“You’re twenty-one years old. Twenty-one years ago, there were two dragons alive, Logan and Marcus.”
I gasped. “Logan … could be my father?” I couldn’t breathe.
Eva rushed her words. “Of course not!”
I exhaled all of my breath in one rush, unable to handle the kind of mental torment that would have held. “Who is Marcus?” Where did I know that name? It hit me then. Logan had mentioned a Marcus. He’d said he was a sucker for redheads … like my mom.
Eva exhaled and I could tell this story hit her personally. “He was Logan’s mentor. They had a falling out. Marcus started talking crazy, talking about having sympathy for some of the druids. How not all of them were bad. Things like that. They had a disagreement and Marcus left. Logan looked for him for a few years, but finally only found him when he died. Killed by druids when you were probably a baby.”
“Shit.” I couldn’t take any more; I couldn’t breathe and it felt like a five-hundred-pound rock was sitting on my chest. Maybe I was having a heart attack. My mother … my sweet mother, who gardened and dedicated her life to teaching children … a druid. A dragon killer.
“You’re sure? You’re sure that your sorcerer friend is one hundred percent certain I am half…?” I couldn’t finish.
Eva’s reply shocked me. “Oh, honey, my friend isn’t a sorcerer. He’s a druid, and yes he’s one hundred percent sure.”
What did she just say? “You’re friends with a druid?” Maybe it was wrong of me to trust Eva. She could be working for the other side. How stupid and na?ve I was to give a sorcerer my blood!
“He’s not like the others. He’s the last of his kind. He takes magic from the earth, not from dragons, and he wants to meet you, honey. I can come over in the morning and we can tell the pack together. Then I can take you to meet my friend.”
Oh. Hell. No. I was not meeting any more druids, even if they claimed not to be the dragon killing kind. “Sure,” I lied.
Eva paused. “It’s going to be okay, Sloane. I’ll make the pack see that you’re nothing like those monsters.”
But I was. I was like them because my freaking blood said so. “Okay … thanks, Eva.”
She was silent for a moment before saying goodbye and hanging up.