“The Earth is alive!” He spread his arms wide and spun around looking at thetrees.
Logan and I shared a side look. Great. My new “master” wascrazy.
Isaac lowered his massive arms and stepped closer to me, holding his palms out. “When you unleashed that magic, she felt it! I can feel it now.” His hands were a few feet away from me, hovering in the air, caressing at something I couldn’tsee.
“A druid without a master is nothing. That magic needs to be claimed. To be molded and cherished and harnessed. She knew you would make a good earth druid.” He was beaming at me like a father looking at a child who’d just reached some important milestone. Like I’d finally learned to ride my bike without trainingwheels.
I smiled nervously and shifted myweight.
Earth druid. Something about those words resonated with me, although I didn’t really know what they meant. The way Isaac spoke about the Earth you would think she was a real woman he had conversationswith!
I wondered how old he was. In this light, his gray hairs were in such stark contrast to his dark charcoal skin that I guessed he might be over forty. For all I knew he was three hundred years old. Either way, he seemed wise but a little mentally unstable. Or maybe I just didn’t understand what the hell he was talking aboutyet.
I leered apprehensively. “Well … that was nice of the Earth to … initiate me likethat.”
Isaac raised one eyebrow at me, staring into my eyes. I started to feel uncomfortable and looked down at theground.
“What?” I asked, and I could sense Logan’s unease as well. He didn’t like another man making me feel uncomfortable. With Cooper’s death and my training looming over him, Logan was all kinds of onedge.
Isaac gave an exasperated sigh. “How can you be an earth druid when you do not speak to her?” He looked down at my boot-clad feet and shook his head indisappointment.
“Huh?” Logan said beside me, finally losing allcomposure.
‘This guy is off his rocker,’ Logan told mementally.
Isaac pointed to my offending shoes. “When is the last time you walked outside, in the grass or dirt, withoutthose?”
He saidthoselike they were evil. They were shoes! But I thought seriously about his question. “I donno, since I was five,” I answered honestly. I was a clean kid, not a fan of messes anddirt.
The druid shook his head. “Gardening?”
My heart pinched and I saw Logan take half a step closer tome.
“Not since my mom died,” I toldhim.
His mood brightened a little. “But you didgarden?”
Yes, Captain Genius, I did. “Yes. My mom and I grew nearly half of what weate.”
Isaac clapped his hands together in excitement. “That’s how she knew you. How the Earth knew you were worthy of herinitiation.”
Okay, time to get real with him. “You’re kind of freaking me out. You sound abit…”
“Crazy,” Logan offered beside me, and Iwinced.
‘Way to be subtle,’ I told mymate.
Isaac frowned, and then nodded as if thinking through what we were saying. “You’re right. You can’t feel it, so you don’t know. Take off your shoes, Sloane,” heinstructed.
“What?” I was not getting nasty dirt between my toes. God knows what else was on this forest floor. Animal poop, spiders, sharp stuff. Goatdroppings…
“This is part of your training. Now please take off your shoes.” He impatiently put a hand on his hip and glared atme.
I groaned and leaned on Logan, ripping my boot off. Then came my sock, which I shoved into the boot and placed my foot down so that I could take the next boot off. The moment my skin hit the moss-covered earth, a low buzzing of electrical energy zipped into my toes, up my leg, and through my body, making me feel light and full ofenergy.
“Oh,” Istated.
Isaac smiled. “Now that you are initiated, you will feel it more, but when you were gardening you were feeling it too. On a smaller scale. The Earth is our source of life, and you are an antenna. Anything she can do, you cando.”
