Eva screwed the lid on a jar and looked up at me. “No. I think your mom paid a very powerful sorcerer to do it, and then she kept the spell alive with her own magic. Somehow. Then, when she died, the spell slowly died too.”
I shook my head. “My mom didn’t have magic.”
Eva shrugged. “Okay. It’s that or she wasn’t your real mother.”
Anger flared up inside of me. “You think my mother would lie to me? She wouldn’t! You didn’t know her.”
Eva set the jar down and placed her hands together in prayer pose. “Forgive me for saying hard things, but I was a mother once. I would have done anything, even lie, to protect my child.”
She shrugged as she made her point. I didn’t want to believe what Eva was saying, but I also knew that denial got me nowhere. Knowledge was power. “You think she was a sorcerer?”
Eva shook her head. “It would take a very powerful sorcerer to be able to mate with another dragon. A sorcerer that powerful wouldn’t have succumbed to cancer.”
My brows furrowed. “A shifter?”
Eva shook her head again. “Skyborn are purebloods, and shifters cannot produce offspring with them.”
“What, then?” My foot was tapping as the anxiety ran through my body.
“Sloane, sweetheart, I don’t know what she was. I’m just glad she kept you safe. Now, you need to stick with Logan and the pack to stay safe. Do you understand me?”
I nodded as I chewed my lip.
“I’m not kidding. Don’t run off. If you run, you’re dead,” she said ominously.
Great. That was confidence inspiring. “I won’t.” I didn’t have anywhere to go. Well, I guess I was about to be a hundred grand richer, but I knew nothing about being a dragon, and now that I knew my transformation signaled the hunters, I couldn’t afford to leave.
Logan wasn’t too bad on the eye either. Bonus for staying. My dragon purred inside of me at the thought and I just chuckled. She was totally still in heat. I didn’t care what anyone said.
“Thanks for everything. Sorry for getting upset,” I said lamely. I had always had a fiery temper, but I was also good at apologizing, so at least there was that.
Eva smiled and reached out to smooth my hair again. “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling. It’s a shock I’m sure.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, keep your head up, stick with Logan, and try to stay calm as your powers come in.”
My eyes widened. “So, there’s going to be more … weird stuff?”
Eva nodded. “Tons. Sorry, hun, but I’m always here if you need me. I’ve known Logan since he was a baby, and like I said, I’ve taken a magical oath to protect the skyborn. So whatever you need, if it’s in my power to do, I’ll do it.”
Wow. I hadn’t expected this woman to be so sincere and loving. I thought she would be some two-faced sorcerer that was just in it for the money.
“Alright, thanks,” I said awkwardly, pulling the hem of Logan’s shirt down to try and cover my ass. Eva gave me a light side hug and walked me to the door.
“Stay safe.” With those last words, she opened the door and Logan was there waiting for me—low slung jeans and no t-shirt. Heaven help me. I had enough drama in my life. The last thing I needed was to shack up with a dragon and with my luck lay a half dozen dragon eggs a month later.
“All set?” Logan asked. His demeanor had changed; his jaw was clenched and he looked annoyed.
“You okay?” I stepped closer to him.
He was breathing heavily through his nostrils, glaring at me with those mossy green eyes.
“Jesus, what?” I shouted. Had something happened in the few minutes I was alone with Eva.
Logan leaned in close, bringing his body heat with him, and whispered in my ear, “I’ve waited years for you. For another … so that I wouldn’t feel … alone. And now you’re here and you don’t even want it.”
Shame and anger poured through me in equal measure. He had been listening outside the door! “You heard,” was all I could say. Part of me wanted to apologize, and part of me wanted to smack him.
“I have sensitive hearing,” he said, before spinning on his heel and turning away.
Shit. The one guy I had just been told could keep me alive was pissed at me. Recipe for disaster. Why did I piss on everything that loved me? It was like this self-sabotage mechanism I had. Every boyfriend that got too close or too serious, I messed it up. Well, at least now I had a hundred grand to blow on the therapy I so desperately needed.
I followed Logan’s chiseled naked back out of the VIP lounge, squeezing my way through the packed crowed, trying not to ogle at the way his muscles moved when he walked. The music changed to something more upbeat and the crowd suddenly tightened in on me, blocking my view of Logan.
“Excuse me.” I lightly nudged the people nearest me to no avail. I wasn’t an overly social person, so a crowd like this had my heart racing out of my chest. They pushed closer in on me, causing me to nearly trip over.
“Ow!” I screamed as someone stepped on my toe. I started to panic. Right as I was about to really throw an elbow, a strong firm hand grabbed my ass. Hard.
“How about a lap-dance, sweet thang?” a deep husky voice murmured in my ear. The smell of alcohol and something more sinister wrapped around me and I froze, unsure of what to do. Eva said to lay low, but my inner feminist was three seconds away from treating this crowd to a live castration. My dragon was uncoiling inside of me, and I knew if I shifted here I was dead. But I’d just been sexually assaulted and it felt awful. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just walked away and acted like it didn’t happen.
Before I could work out my dilemma, Logan suddenly burst through the crowd like a bowling ball. People went flying and I was given a glimpse of Logan’s face. Sheer and utter terror was painted on his features as he scanned the area looking for me. When his gaze met mine, I saw relief flood through him. Everyone had moved back except the man I had yet to look at behind me. He was so close I could feel his body heat.
“I said I wanted a lap dance, mutt!” I barely registered movement behind me when Logan burst into action. He was a blur, charging through the now-open space where the crowd had parted. His body slammed into the person behind me and only then did I turn around.
A tall man with a solid build was lying face-down on the floor. Logan had his right arm pinned behind him in what looked like a herculean grip.
“She doesn’t work here. Apologize. Now.” Logan’s voice was so deep and throaty I could tell he was barely hanging on to his humanity.
“Screw you, mutt!” the man spat. With one jerk, Logan snapped the man’s arm up, breaking it at the shoulder, and a bloodcurdling yell erupted from the man’s lips.
“That didn’t sound like an apology,” Logan told the man writhing on the ground.
“Hey, get the hell off my friend!” A young heavily intoxicated man charged towards Logan. I was just figuring out whether I should somehow intervene when Keegan blasted past me and intercepted the drunken friend. “Once my packmate gets his apology, we will be on our way,” Keegan calmly informed the friend. “And if anyone says the word mutt again, we’ll be breaking both arms.” Keegan glared at the man on the ground who had accosted me.
“Alright! I’m sorry, okay. I’m sorry!” The man groaned, his face contorted in pain, and Logan released his broken arm, standing.
Keegan let go of the friend but stood facing both men, giving them an alpha stare, making sure they left as Logan made his way over to me.
“Sloane, Jesus I’m so sorry. I should never have walked off like that.” He looked distraught, which was interesting to me—that he was taking the burden for some drunk asshole who had grabbed me. I was ninety-nine percent sure he didn’t know that the guy had grabbed me, and I wasn’t going to tell him as I was pretty sure the man would lose his life.
“It’s fine.” I shrugged it off. Not the first time I had been groped in a crowded bar, and probably wouldn’t be the last, but it still felt awful, violating.