“Fuck off and die,” I told him as I pulled the trigger on my gun, aiming for his throat. He blinked out of existence again before my bullet could make its mark. When he reappeared it was nearly on top of me.
He was so close that my gun arm crumpled as he wrestled it out of my hands. Maybe before I would have waited to see what he was going to do, or for one of the pack to save me, but not now—not after Sophie’s training. I thrust my knee forward into his balls and jumped up high to wedge it in there really good.
He fell forward with a grunt, dropping my gun, and wrapped his arms around my legs so that I couldn’t run. It was an awkward position, but I started beating on his back with my fists in the hopes he would let go. My hands came down in powerful punches on his ribs, but he held firm. Everything was going great until he yanked my ankles and I went down so hard and fast on my back that the wind knocked out of me; my head cracked on the lawn. Black stars exploded in front of my vision as I felt him climb on top of me.
Use everything you have. Never give up. The memory of Sophie’s words of wisdom came to me then.
“You are a very special girl,” he breathed in my ear. Fear saturated my entire body. Having an unwelcome man lie on top of you and call you a girl was creepy as all hell, and my dragon wasn’t having it.
She bucked against my skin like it was a cage, rattling my bones. Isaac said not to use my power, but the way his hips were unwantedly pressing into my stomach made my fear turn into boiling rage. My vision cleared from the fall and I could see him clearly, staring down at me like I was a treasure to be locked away.
“You’re coming with me,” he said, then suddenly his hands locked down on my arms, vise-like.
Oh. Hell. No.
Could he teleport me somewhere with him? Away from Logan and the pack?
I didn’t think, I just reacted. My magic had been coiled and wound tight like a snake waiting to strike, and strike she did. I didn’t lash out in any specific manner so much as I just … exploded with purple fire. It came out of my every pore and laced around Steven with one intent—burn him to a crisp.
The shriek that came from him before he poofed out of existence was so satisfying it almost made me not even think about the ear-splitting headache that was rocking my world. Almost. The purple magic was pouring out of me. Now that Steven was gone I tried to stop it … but I couldn’t.
‘Sloane!’ Logan yelled, sounding pained; his voice inside my head only increased my agony. I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t see anything!
“I can’t stop it!” I shrieked to the darkness, feeling like I might drown in purple fire and this stabbing head pain. Suddenly, my vision began to clear and I could see blurry shapes.
Isaac was standing over me, one hand on his staff, the other on his manhood. He took one look at me and raised his staff.
“Sorry,” he said, and the blunt edge of his staff came down hard on my temple, knocking me clean out.
10
When I came to, I was assaulted with the smell of paint. My head felt like it had been split open. The throbbing was brutal. It would throb twice, then give me a slicing sharp jab for good measure.
I groaned, opening my eyes.
“Sloane!” Logan was bent down, peering into the bunk at me. I was on the bus … we were driving. I could see from the shafts of natural light that fell on my face that it was daylight. My mouth felt so dry I could barely peel my lips apart to speak.
“Where are we?” It all came back to me then. Griddish’s backyard, the piece of paper … Steven. That mofo better be dead.
Logan stroked my forehead and handed me a bottle of water. “We’re on the border of Texas and Louisiana. You’ve been out for a day and a half.
A day and a half? Oh my God. My stomach growled. “What happened? Is everyone okay?”
Sophie popped her head and her boobs into my bunk and stared down at me. “You nearly killed all of us, and then Isaac had to knock you out. But yeah, we’re all okay.”
“Sophie!” Logan scolded.
Shit. I remembered now, the purple magic … it had poured out of me and I couldn’t turn it off.
“But...” Sophie held up a finger. “When that nasty druid had you pinned like that…” A look of pride showed on her face and I gave a slight grin.
“Did you see me knee him in the balls?” I croaked. She nodded, giving me a high five.
Logan ignored us both. “Isaac had to do a tree healing on you, and even then you didn’t wake up. He said the only thing we could do is get your staff. Without it, you can’t use your power unless you want to have serious repercussions.”
Not exactly rosy news.
I nodded. “I didn’t want to use it, but he was on me, his hips pressing into me…” I couldn’t finish, because Logan snarled and took my face in his hands, his green eyes flaring to slits.
“You did good, Sloane. If he’s not already dead, I’m going to kill him, slowly.”
A shadow crossed over Logan, then Isaac kneeled down to meet my eyes. “The second that staff is in your hands, we begin your training. You can no longer afford to go without it.”
I nodded. I wasn’t in control, not even a little bit. Something struck me then.
“Isaac, if my mother was a fire druid, how did she control her power without a staff? I never saw her with one?”
Isaac shrugged. “From what I gather, your mother gave up on her power when she had you. She might have destroyed the staff or had another power object of some kind. A dagger or an amulet.”
I gasped at the memory of her necklace. “She had this red ruby necklace. It was ungodly huge for how poor we were, and she never took it off or tried to sell it.”
He shrugged as if to say “I told you so.”
“So why am I going to carry around a five-foot-tall staff when I could just get a cool necklace?” I asked.
Because, ya know, I wasn’t too crazy about heading to Starbucks, with Logan and the pack, and my big old Gandalf staff.
Isaac gave me a toothy grin. “Your mother was clearly a druid from the old world. In Faery, we had access to the queen’s finest elves. They crafted objects of great power for the earth druids to anchor our magic with Mother Earth. Your mother probably got hers from an amulet-making elf. Yalash and Griddish do not specialize in amulets.”
Oh. Damn.
“What did you do with the amulet?” Isaac asked, no doubt curious what it looked like.
I sighed. “I buried her with it. She never took it off, not in the pool, not for chemo. Never. It only felt right that it stay with her.”
Logan reached out and grasped my hand, and Isaac nodded in understanding. “Doesn’t matter now. You’ll have your staff, made especially for you, connected to the very heart of Mother Gaia.”
I gave him a weak smile and my belly growled again. “Hungry?” Nadine popped her head into my bunk, shoving Sophie out of the way. In her hands was a plate with an egg burrito and side of bacon. She set it before me and my mouth salivated at the smell.
“Starved,” I told her, and she grinned. Like a weird maniacal grin.
“What?”