He chuckled, and I realized it had been a while since I’d heard him laugh, since we’d just had a carefree conversation likethis.
“I love you,” I confessed. I didn’t know how much time we had together in the future. The days ahead were looking to be dark, and I knew from experience with my mom that when people died, you regretted not telling them you loved them more. Logan set down the glowing knife and reached up with his ungloved hand to tangle it in my redhair.
“Sloane, you have no idea how long I waited for you. How long I loved you before I even met you.” His lips brushed against mine and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face. Logan Sharp was a closet romantic. Some of the things he said to me belonged on a Hallmarkcard.
When he pulled away I felt heat pulse in my core, my dragon rustled with excitement. “Hmm, it’s too soon for my heat,” I toldhim.
He chuckled, giving me a devastatingly handsome grin. “That’s just my charm.” Hewinked.
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Okay, let’s do this dragon magic thingy.” I gestured to the knife on theground.
Logan peered at me with his arresting green eyes. “Alright, just close your eyes and take three deep breaths, then openthem.”
I obliged. On the third breath I opened my eyes to see Logan’s forearm had been sliced and a green mist was creeping off of the tiny cutthere.
Whoa, he was leaking dragonmagic.
“Alright. Breathe it in and see what happens,” he coachedme.
When we’d talked about it before it seemed fine, but now that I was faced withbreathing inmy mate's essence, it was kind ofweird.
“Any day now … losing magic here,” Logan toldme.
Right.Whoops.
I leaned forward near the stream of green power leaking out of Logan’s cut andinhaled.
Please work. Please be a badass dominant dragon,I chanted tomyself.
As I inhaled, the green smoke deviated from its path toward the sky and headed for my nostrils. The moment I breathed it in, a rush of adrenaline hit me and my dragon shook awake, pushing my druid magic aside to step forward and receive it. It was hard to explain ... it was like I’d just drank four coffees, but at the same time, as if I was well rested from a three-hournap.
Logan lowered his arm; the cut was healing and he was grinning ear to ear. “I knew you could do it. Keegan owes me twentydollars.”
My mouth popped open. “He bet against me? How dare he?” I folded myarms.
“Feels amazing, doesn’tit?”
It was my turn to grin. “Itdoes.”
It felt like for the first time in a long time I was more dragon thandruid.
He was about to say something when my phone went off. I rarely kept it around these days, especially since Isaac said it messed with my Nwyfre. Looking at the screen, I saw it was one of the dozen skyborn we’d contacted from my mom’s address book. They’d said they were going to be making their way out to us from Vermont over a week ago but needed to wrap things up first. It was a young guy named Dylan and his sorcerer girlfriend—M something.Marisa?
“Hello?” Ianswered.
I’d barely talked to this guy or any of them really. It had been awkward phone calls and video chats, where we gave them our location and asked if they wanted to join us. I’d plugged each number into my cell, but since we’d been with Casey, Lynn, and the baby, I’d honestly forgotten about all of the others. Some hadn’t even agreed to come but had asked for time to think on it, I never heard back from them. I didn’t want to be toopushy.
“Sloane, it’s Dylan and Maggie,” he told me, sounding panicked. Maggie! That was it, but the anxiety in his voice had me standingquickly.
“What’s wrong?” I could tell something wasn’tright.
He sighed. “We’re about an hour away from you and just stopped to get some food. There’s a redheaded female druid on my assnow.”
My adrenaline from inhaling the dragon magic was nothing compared to what was flowing through me now. “We’re coming!” I told him, and asked for hislocation.
Logan stepped in front of me. “Keegan and I will handle it,” he saidloudly.
Dylan must have heard that. “No way. I don’t trust anyone else. I’ve been at this too long. I only trust you Sloane, orLily.”
