Logan chuckled. “Eva can find out anything. The money will be there.”
What the...? For real? I couldn’t even process a hundred grand. “But … I mean, shouldn’t I share it with you guys?”
I careened my car onto the I-40 and made my way out of Flagstaff and into the direction of New Mexico.
He winked. “You can share the next one.”
“The next one!” My skin hurt just thinking about it.
Logan nodded. “That’s how I keep the pack and myself employed. Scales, talon clippings, and even urine.”
I gasped. “You sell your pee?”
He grinned. “You will too once you see how much it’s worth to the magical community.”
Well, I guess it was better than stripping.
“Blood?” I queried.
Logan paled. “Never give your blood to a sorcerer.”
Oh. Yikes. I still had a lot to learn about this new life.
About thirty minutes later, we pulled up to a private, gated ranch on a sprawling ten acres, complete with a red pole barn and white picket fence. Logan made me drive around the main house while he hung his head out the door and sniffed the air like a dog. Once satisfied, he let me park and we stepped out into the chilly night air. I grabbed my pillowcase full of clothes and my laptop before shutting my car and locking it.
“What is this place?” I asked, hugging my shoulders. I lost my only good jacket in the fall.
Logan riffled through some keys on his keychain and pointed to the mammoth house. “It was a nonprofit for the rehabilitation of children with special needs. They lost their government funding and I scooped it up at auction. I let them live here rent free for a few years, but they couldn’t keep the place together without the funding. The horses and vet bills were too much. Not to mention the children’s therapy. So the owners moved down to Phoenix a few years back and run a smaller operation there.”
He had a cat named Mittens and tried to save failing nonprofits. Logan Sharp was like no male I had ever met.
“So now it’s our safe house?” I presumed as he placed the key into the handle.
“Unless we get found again,” he surmised.
Which was a damn good possibility. Logan reached into the belt of his pants and pulled out a sleek black gun. My breath hitched as fear flooded my system. I knew he wasn’t going to use it on me, but guns freaked me out. Probably because I didn’t know how to use one, and all I read in the news was how if you handled one without knowing how to use it, your head got blown off.
He must have smelled my fear or something because he turned to me then. “Sorry, I need to check the house. Stay behind me.”
As we entered the house, the lights flicked on and I was surprised to see the place was completely furnished: a grey worn couch, colorful rug, and white barstools around the kitchen. It looked like a homely farmhouse, not a dragon hideout.
“I bought it furnished,” he explained.
That made sense, because this didn’t seem like Logan’s clean modern style. I set my pillowcase down as he ran upstairs and checked out the house. When he got back, my eyes were searching the room, taking in the layout, when I felt Logan staring at me.
“What?” I asked, wondering if he would ever be able to get that vision of me in a purple velvet bikini out of his head. How embarrassing. I just met this guy. Normally it took a few dates before I stripped down to my unmentionables. Besides, I still wasn’t sure if he was a player or not.
Logan sighed. “Eva warned me that your dragon magic would start appearing now that the containment spell was wearing off.”
I shrugged. “That’s good, right? If I get hurt, I will heal.”
Logan looked pained. “Yes … but there is much more to dragon magic than healing.”
“Oh.” Shit. Why hadn’t I thought of that? Was I going to shoot green fire out of my hands like him? Could I hurt someone? My pulse rose as I began to panic; I could feel my scales tightening under my skin as my dragon tried to free herself.
Logan launched himself forward, eyes wide, thick pink lips forming a small O. “Shhh.” He caressed my left arm and heat flared in my belly, sending a calming wave throughout my body. “You’re safe. There’s nothing your magic can do that I can’t handle.”
I swallowed hard, feeling the heat trail down my arm as Logan essentially stroked my dragon into a deep sleep. When I no longer felt her stirring, he lowered his arm. My eyes met his and we both stood there unmoving, just breathing and staring at each other’s green eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. Those eyes were my eyes in a way.
“Logan,” I breathed. “I’m scared.” I wanted to be that badass girl in the movies who didn’t need a guy to comfort her, but I was totally freaking out. A dragon shifter. One of two, and now about to sprout some magic that I didn’t know anything about. Logan moved as if he was going to take me into his arms, but the front door opened, causing him to step back.
I spun quickly to see Keegan and Nadine in the doorway. Keegan had a pistol drawn, held low at his hip. “Have you checked the house?” he asked Logan.
Logan nodded. “But I didn’t get to the garage.”
Keegan returned the nod and headed back through the hallway and towards what I assumed was the garage, as Nadine stepped beside me to face Logan. “Sophie and Gear are checking the perimeter,” she reported. I was suddenly glad they broke up whatever was about to happen between Logan and I. I was a skyborn now. I needed to toughen up and stop whining.
I noticed a bulge in Nadine’s abdomen, and it was moving. What the…? Suddenly a mew came from her hoodie. I smiled and she unzipped it and Mittens’ orange head popped out, looking me in the eyes.
“Was she scared?” Logan fretted over her, taking her from Nadine and rubbing his nose into her fur.
Nadine nodded. “Found her backed into a corner in the basement, hissing like a lioness.”
Logan scratched her head. “She’s a warrior. Tiny but fierce.”
Seriously, this guy clotheslined a huge guy in the bar for calling me a “mutt,” and now he was snuggling this kitten like his life depended on it. I couldn’t figure him out.
“All clear,” Keegan called out from behind me.
“Where’s Coop and Dom?” Logan asked Keegan.
“Eva’s wire came through. I sent them to get us set up.” Something in the way he said “set up” made me think he wasn’t talking about sending Cooper and Dom out to buy groceries.
Logan nodded solemnly. “It’s been a while since we’ve had to run.”
Keegan nodded curtly. “It’s good. Keeps us on our toes.”
“That’s one way to look at it,” Sophie’s whiny voice came from the front door, and I tried to suppress my groan.
Keegan took two steps towards her. “Enough. You spoke your piece, now move on.” I couldn’t see the face he was making because his back was to me, but it must have been scary as hell, because Sophie looked cowed. She lowered her head in submission and nodded.
“How did they find us? She didn’t shift. Could they have picked up her scent?” Keegan was looking at Logan now, hand on his chin rubbing the scruff that lined there. The way Keegan stood, the short-cropped hair, he screamed ex-military.
Logan looked pensive. “That’s the only thing I can think of, because if it’s something else we’re screwed.”
I swallowed hard. “Why?” I hadn’t meant to sound scared, but dammit my voice trembled.
Logan pierced me with his gaze. “Because now that we’ve bound your scent, unless you shift or put on some magical light display, we should be safe. Unless…”
I bit the bottom of my lip.
“Unless they’ve found another way to hunt you,” Keegan offered.
Hunt. That word was awful. It made me feel like an animal, which I guess I was.
“Oh,” was all I could say.
Nadine, who I was learning was our optimistic one, bumped me with her hip. “Doesn’t matter. Once we’re done training you, you’ll be able to take down druids blindfolded.”