Nadine pulled her long black hair over one shoulder. “Well, there are five houses and everyone was matching up, but then your name came up and Logan got awkward, so I claimedyou.”
I smiled, thinking of Logan getting all flustered over the topic of sharing a place with me. I was glad Nadine spoke on my behalf. I wanted to try to take things slow with Logan. Pretend we were a normal couple dating, and not two dragons meant to spend the rest of their immortal lives together. Suddenly, I realized the sun was coming up, and the full weight of exhaustion hit me hard. My limbs felt like they each weighed a hundred pounds, and my eyelids were hard to keepopen.
Without another word, Nadine led the way to the cluster of mud huts. Everyone else seemed to have gone inside except for Logan. He stood outside of his door with Mittens clutched firmly to his chest. Nadine gave me a rakish grin and stepped inside the hut next to Logan’s, leaving the door slightly ajar forme.
“Get your mind speak thing all worked out?” He twirled his finger near his ear, making it look like I wascrazy.
I smiled and crossed the space between us. With every step towards him my body heated up and my dragon pulsed inside of me. There was one thing we were both in agreement of. Logan Sharp was an addiction and I wasn’t sure I would ever getenough.
When I was a foot from him, I stopped and just let my eyes roam over the man before me. He stood well over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and chiseled muscles that made every woman in the room stare when he walked in. It wasn’t just the body—okay, a large part of his sexiness was his body—but it was those eyes too. His green eyes seared into me and threatened to swallow me whole, sitting behind a bed of black lashes, halflidded.
“Yes, I did. Now I can keep my personal thoughts to myself.” I gave him a smug look and he took a step toward me, eating up the distance and pressing his hips intomine.
“Oh really? I bet I know what you’re thinking right now.” His eyes smoldered and heat flared to life south of my navel. As he leaned in to kiss me, my breath hitched and I closed my eyes. As he pressed his lips to mine, I realized I hadn’t kissed him enough. I needed more of this. Every day. I parted my lips and his tongue slipped inside, making memoan.
Suddenly something yanked at my long red hair and mewed. Pulling back abruptly, I looked down at Mittens, crushed between our two bodies playing soccer with my hair. Logan smiled, pulling my hair from her claws and tucking it behind my shoulder before leaning in to kiss myforehead.
“Night, Miss Murphy,” he drawled, and gave me his back, stepping into his hut and closing thedoor.
I stood there for a moment like a love-struck teenager and let that kiss replay in my mind. Then the thick pull of sleep had me fumbling through the hut, I now shared with Nadine, and finding the empty bed to crash onto. I didn’t care what awaited me tomorrow, today had ended pretty damngood.
We were alive, and I think I was inlove.
Chapter 2
I’d sleptin and awoken to an empty house and a weird buzzing, like a nest of bees but sharper. It was coming from outside. Pulling myself out of bed, I crossed the compact room to peer out of the tiny arched window. Nadine was sitting on a large rock, tattooingLogan…
Whatthe…?
I quickly showered and got ready, crossing into the tiny kitchen of the cob house. This house was freaking adorable. I felt like a hobbit. Everything was round and arched and tiny. The kitchen consisted of a two-burner hotplate, small fridge, and cement countertop. Everything was crèmes and browns, and then had pops of color, like a blue or green recycled glass bottle. I grabbed a muffin from the counter and then darted outside, curious as to what Nadine was tattooing on Logan. As I neared, I saw that Keegan was sitting behind Logan, staring solemnly out into the woods. Sophie and Dom stood off to the side, chatting in hushedvoices.
“Hey, I know we’re mates, but it’s a bit too soon to be tattooing my name, don’t you think?” I joked, taking a bite ofmuffin.
As I got close enough to see Logan’s inner arm and the tiny red beard that Nadine had drawn there, my banter died like a cold stone in my stomach.Cooper.How had I forgotten we’d lost a friend last night? Keegan had shared on the bus last night that Cooper died trying to take out one of the druids who’d staked Logan’s wing. While I was still unconscious. Burned alive with druidmagic.
Logan just gave me a sad smile as guilt rose up inside of me fresh andhot.
“Coop,” I whispered, as tears leaked from my eyes. “It was all my fault,” I said to the trees, speaking to no one inparticular.
Keegan stood to his full height of around 6’6, dwarfing me completely. “None of that. Cooper was a hero. The only thing that gave him meaning in life was God, and protecting you and Logan. He died living hispurpose.”
At his mention of God, I remembered that any time I said the words “Jesus Christ” in a bad way, Cooper had motioned the sign of the cross over his chest. I never took that stuff seriously, but now I felt awful. I didn’t know him well—I didn’t know him at all, really—but he was a good guy—who died protecting me and Logan. I vowed right there, to try to stop saying the lord’s name in vain. ForCoop.
“I’m next,” I told Nadine, and she raised oneeyebrow.
“You sure?” sheasked.
I nodded. That little red beard tattoo would serve as a reminder. Whenever I looked at it I wanted to be reminded of what was at stake, and how dangerous these bastards could really be. It would serve to push me harder in mytraining.
All too quickly Logan was done and Nadine called meover.
“You travel with a tattooing kit?” I askedher.
She nodded. “Yeah. I do. Logan said to only bring the essentials, so I didn’t bring all my inks, but there’s enough to make a niceorange.”
I lifted my shirt, tucking it under my bra and exposing my ribcage, indicating I wanted it done there. I looked up to see Logan’s eyes run the length of my belly and flaregreen.
Nadine turned the gun on and I jumped a bit. Her mouth popped open. “Wait a second. Are you a tattoovirgin?”
