‘Do you want druids to see us? I’m in plain sight. Either you get on my back, or we split upagain.’
He was right. Covering just one of us wouldn’t help if Logan was flying in full sight, and I didn’t want to split up. Oh poor Danny, he had no clue what was about to happen. I just hoped he would get the point and hold on. I pumped my wings to bring me higher, and then when I was directly over Logan I began to bring my body over his shoulders. I was a small dragon, only about eight feet, like a really tall basketballplayer.
“Sloane! What are you doing?” Danny’s thighs clenched then, nearly snapping my ribcage. He’d gotten thepoint.
As I landed on Logan’s back I tried not to use the tips of my sharp talons. I sort of folded my arms and legs around him and held on with my dragon wrists andankles.
“Oh joy. I always wanted to die by snapping my neck,” Danny yelled. But I saw him extend the yellow gauze to go over Logan’s form aswell.
‘Alright, I’ll fly us about ten miles away since the druids will be coming to this spot. Then we land and I’ll try to get your dragon to shiftback.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’I was borderline panicking inside that my dragon would never shift back and we would be on the run, flying the skies forever, but I tried to keep all of that in my deep dark place that I didn’t go tooften.
Logan’s flying was effortless. His wingspan made it so that he didn’t need to frantically pump like I did. He just sort of glided on the air and it was beautiful. Poor Danny was muttering the Holy Rosary above me, while nearly cracking my ribs as he held on for dearlife.
Finally, we found an open clearing in a patch of trees and Logan started his descent. We were halfway between the points where he and I had shifted. Hopefully it was void of anyone, human or druid. Our landing was a bit rough. I managed to half-fly and half-fall off of him at the last moment. Danny grunted when I made a hard landing next to Logan’s right wing. A quick scan of the area told me that we were alone. Danny leapt off of me and threw my clothes and staffdown.
“I survived!” He fell to his knees and proceeded to kiss theground.
I wasn’t sure a dragon could laugh, but I did. It was a chuffing snort of some kind and it drew Danny’sattention.
“You think that’s funny? My life flashed before my eyes up there! Landing on Logan’s back? Are you crazy, woman?” he saiddramatically.
I bobbed my large head, which just made him shakehis.
“Alright, Sloane…” Logan was shifted, dressed, and had a gun tucked into his waistband. Damn, boy was fast. “I’m going to coax your dragon into a relaxed state so you can shift and we can get the hell out ofhere.”
Inodded.
Relax, girl,I told myself.You’re going to get uskilled.
She reared up against me then, putting on a show of might, and my scales tightened. Home-girl didn’t want to relax, she wanted to prove she was stronger than my druidself.
Shit.
‘She’s really fighting me,’I told Logan as I felt my throat tighten with unshed emotion. Now was not the time for this display of dragon power, but at the same time it made me proud. She was fighting for Logan and our matebond.
Logan approached me slowly, hand out, with a mild green glow emitting from his palm. “Shh, you don’t need to do this. Nothing in this world could take my mate bond from you,” he said aloud, and I felt hot tears spill out of my wide slitted eyes. When his palm rested on my chest, my dragon sighed in contentment. “I won’t let anything happen to your dragon, Sloane,” he vowed, looking right into my eyes, and the trueness in his words would have made my hair stand on end … if I hadany.
My scales started to retreat as my human form took over. My dragon was satisfied … for now. Once I was fully human, I gave Logan a quickhug.
“Thank you,” I told him, still touched by what he’d said, and by the faith he had in our relationship. Danny threw me my clothes and I started to dress while the sorcerer got on hisphone.
“Yep, she’s human. Can Gear find us? I’m not sure where we landed,” Danny said, presumably toKeegan.
“I saw a road about two hundred feet ahead. Tell him we’ll walk and call him from there,” Logansaid.
Danny relayed the instructions and hung up just as I secured the clasp on my necklace and picked up my staff. I was barefoot, deciding to keep my shoes off until we were safely back on Isaac’sland.
Logan put a protective arm around my shoulders. “Alright let’s walk to the—” The snap of a twig had Logan’s arm wrenching away from my shoulders; his gun was out inseconds.
We both spun in unison and muttered the same curseword.
Standing before us were over a dozen full-blown druids and about five or sixhunters.
They began to fan out, and I took some small relief in the fact that Ardan was not among them. But that slimy bastard Steven was. I knew he could blink out of existence at any moment and be at my back. Jumpy didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. How the hell were there over a dozen druids here? I was trying not topanic.
“It’s been a pleasure to know you guys,” Danny said seriously, to Logan andI.
