“How are you doing?” He spoke softly, with a tenderness that made the question much more serious than you wouldthink.
How was I doing? If I were being honest, I was a little sad, overwhelmed, and feeling helpless. If this elf didn’t make my staff, then all hope was lost to take on Ardan. And something else had been nagging at me since spending all of this time with Isaac. Something Eva had said on the phone when she’d gotten my blood results reminded me of what I hadn’t dealt with. My mom lied to me. She was a druid, and my dad … she should have told me the truth about him. About what Iwas.
“Hey … so Eva said that your mentor, Marcus…” I didn’t know how to finish the sentence, so Ididn’t.
Logan sighed, emotion tightening his face. “Yeah she told me that too. I think she’s right. I think he was your father.” He leaned in closer to me, catching my gaze with those electric green eyes. “And it’s probably my fault he’s dead. If I would have stayed with him, if we’d stuck together,then—”
I put a finger over his lips. “Nope. If I’m not allowed to blame myself for Coop’s death, and our entire situation, really, then you can’t take thatone.”
A small amount of relief showed on his face. “You would have loved Marcus. Although he did hate cats, so I’m not sure you have that incommon.”
My heart pinched. Logan knew my father. He knew all about him and I didn’t know anything. “I never liked cats until Mittens started stalking me,” I saidplayfully.
Logan pulled out his phone. “Wanna see a picture ofhim?”
My heart knocked hard in my chest. My mother had shown me one picture of my father. If Logan showed me that same man, that would confirm it was him. I nodded, too overwhelmed tospeak.
After a few moments of scrolling, Logan handed me the phone. “Nadine had all of my old pictures scanned and put on myphone.”
I peered down at the photo and had to bite down on a sob. It was him. Logan hadn’t changed at all—still looked about twenty-five years old—but the clothes they wore screamed the ‘90s: White wash jeans, flannel shirts over white t-shirts. They stood close to each other on a snowy mountain I didn’t recognize. Marcus had his arm around Logan’s shoulders. My father. He looked about forty years old, black hair with streaks of gray. Kind green eyes, and a genuinesmile.
I handed him back the phone. “Whathappened?”
Logan stared at the picture a moment longer. “He taught me everything I know. How to run, how to fight, change states every five years. I mean, I’m alive because ofhim.”
I nodded. He seemed lost in the story and I didn’t want to interrupt. “But one day he came back from a trip. He was scouting a location for another possible dragon and … he’d changed. He was different. Saying things that were blasphemous to me at the time. I thought he was spelled orsomething.”
“What did he say?” I leanedforward.
Logan looked pained. “I didn’t know … otherwise, I never would have said what I said,” Logan assuredme.
I nodded again, no clue what he was talkingabout.
“He was saying that not all druids were bad. That he met one that was different. That … he wanted to see her again and … God, Sloane, I said awful things to him. The same things I said to you about killing all the druids on Earth. He took it as a threat to his new love, I guess. I thought he was too old and had gone mad or had been spelled. He left. Like you left…and never cameback.”
His whole body flinched and I felt awful. I hadn’t known my father had basically done the same thing. Left Logan after hearing about how much he liked to behead druids. He left to be with my mother. A good druid. I reached out and held hishand.
“It’s just that I’ve seen the druids slay thousands of my people. Even my parents. I couldn’t conceive of anyone like Isaac back then.” His voice was husky, his eyesdark.
I reached up and stroked the back of his neck. “I know. It’s okay. I know.” I leaned my forehead on his and we sat like that for a long time, breathing each other in, the warmth of my dragon sending pulses through my body and into his. It felt like our dragons were speaking to each other in their own way. After a few moments, I started feelingdrowsy.
“I’m exhausted,” Ibreathed.
“So am I,” Logan said, and stood, pulling on my hand so that I would follow. I glanced down and saw that Hemlock was happily asleep, burger grease all over his mouth, bowl of water on the floor of his seat. Logan led me to one of the empty bottom bunks and let my hand go, before reaching for the top bunk to hoist himself up. I brought my arms up to the top of his shoulders and pulled himdown.
‘Lay with me?’I asked, using ourbond.
His eyes smoldered as he pulled me down into the bed with him, wrapping me up and pulling me into his chest. His natural scent surrounded me, snow and trees and something so … Logan that I couldn’t place. As I lay my head on his chest, I decided that no matter what the elf said tomorrow, or if the druids killed me, I didn’t regret being a dragon—I couldn’t regret anything that brought me to him. With Logan stroking my hair, and a contented sigh, I fellasleep.
Chapter 6
Ashriek hadme snapping my eyelids open and sitting bolt upright. I lost my balance for a second, wondering if I was having vertigo, until I noticed outside the bus windows there were clouds not trees. Logan was already jumping up and lookingaround.
“ISAAC!” Loganbellowed.
Gear’s hawk cawed and flapped frantically outside the window. The druid pulled the curtains to his bunk aside and stood, lookingaround.
He looked happy. “Elves are masters of levitation,” hestated.
