The simplicity of that sentence nearly knocked me over. Kill one tree and plant two in its place. It was so … right. Something had shifted within me. This experience had changed me—for the first time since this whole nightmare began—Iwantedto be a druid. An Earth druid. Not because I wanted to kill Ardan, or help my friends, but because I wanted to be this connected to something so beautiful. Something I hadn’t realized I needed. TheEarth.
“Come, young one. Let’s find your staff,” Isaac stated, and reality came crashing down on my tree-huggingparty.
We needed to see an elf about astaff.
Chapter 5
When Keeganand Danny had gone into the club, it had given Danny the opportunity to freshly scent the elf’s trail. Now we were parked in front of a tiny house, pushed back from theroad.
“It’s late. Should we wait until morning?” I asked Isaac. I wasn’t too keen on meeting a freaking elf and asking for a favor atmidnight.
Isaac chuckled. “Elves don’tsleep.”
Every face on the bus fell. “Say what now?” I asked. Did he just say elves didn’t sleep? That totally brought them up a notch on my “scary as hell” list. Things that didn’t sleep … vampires, and now elves. OhGod.
Nadine was stroking the neck of the pit-bull I’d rescued. She’d done a crude but good job of closing his wounds with a surgical staple gun. Now the dog was passed out because Nadine had given it some type oftranquilizer.
When I asked why she couldn’t have closed Dominic’s wounds with the stapler, she’d looked at me like I was an idiot. Dom had a magical spell keeping him from healing and staples wouldn’t have broken that. I still had a lot to learn about thislife.
Danny rolled his neck. “My magic is slowly coming back, but I’m not sure I would be of any use if he iscombative.”
Isaac nodded. “Noted. Come on, Sloane. Let’s get this done. It will take a few days to make the staff, and Ardan will have received word we were at theclub.”
I paled. Last time we had a run-in with Ardan, Cooper died and Gear almost lost a wing. I wanted to avoid that kind of carnage at all costs. At least, until I was a purple-fire-throwing badass who could actually take himon.
Logan stepped up into the aisle. His dark hair was wild and wavy, framing his eyes, which looked strained. He looked tired as hell, and yet he was ready to stand by my side and face this next unknown. Keegan stood as well, but Isaac shook hishead.
“Too many of us will spook him. You donotwant to spook an elf,” the druid stated, and my blood ran cold. Oh God, what would he look like? Ten feet tall? Razor sharp teeth? Dusky skin from his last feeding of smallchild?
‘Calm down. I’m sure he’s nice,’Logan said, through our matebond.
I glared.‘Hey! You’re not supposed to hear my thoughts after Eva’s spell, unless I send them toyou.’
He chuckled.‘I’m not reading your thoughts. I’m reading your face and shakinghands.’
Oh. I made my hands into fists and put on a light smile. “Let’s go,” I said. Better to charge into fear headfirst, right? But if he did in fact have razor sharp teeth, I was hiding behindLogan.
Keegan cocked his shotgun, holding it firmly in his grasp. “Just holler if you needbackup.”
My mate nodded as we passed. Dominic was curled up in one of the seats, half naked and passed out, asleep. He’d spent five minutes declaring to Isaac that he owed him a life debt and would do anything asked of him. Isaac told him to get some rest. Said that he himself was fatigued from the healing, and they would both need lots of relaxation to settle theirenergies.
I, however, felt wide awake, pulsing with adrenaline in anticipation of meeting this creature. Dragon, check. Wolf shifter, check. Sorcerer, check. So far I hadn’t met anything too scary, but a freaking elf straight out of the land of Faery, that could change the game. I was susceptible tonightmares.
As we exited the bus and crossed into the yard, I leaned in to Isaac. “So, this elf, is he …dangerous?”
Isaac’s face gave nothing away. He was scanning the front yard, trees and plants. “He could be if he wanted tobe.”
Great. That was helpful. I stepped back, letting Isaac take the lead. He didn’t walk up to the front door, instead, began to cross the lawn and go for the side gate that led to the backyard, Istopped.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-screamed.
Isaac looked confused, and then looked to the front door. “Oh, the house is just for show. An elf wouldneversleepinside.”
Of course not. Logan slipped his hand into mine and I felt my dragon settle. We crossed the yard quickly and stopped at the ornate arched gate which was surrounded by a tall brick fence that we couldn’t see over. The druid made a fist and rapped on the gate, as if it was a frontdoor.
“Hello!” Isaac called over the tallgate.
A shadow moved behind it, and I heard the crunching ofrocks.
