Skyborn (Dragons & Druids #1)(16)

Logan winced. “Trust me, beautiful, it’s just as painful for you as it is for us.”

Keegan had pissed in a bottle and now Logan was proceeding to pour it on my clothes. Clothes which consisted of jeans that Nadine had been wearing and Sophie’s shirt. Topped with Keegan’s hoodie. They were trying to pass me off as a wolf shifter. The acrid smell of urine rose up and I gagged, forcing the contents of my stomach to stay where they were.

“Jesus, Keegan, what did you eat today?” Logan mock gagged and I had to clench my fists to keep from punching him in the jaw.

Gear, who seemed to be on the mend, brought over a flask, covering his nose as he neared. “Top it off with this and let’s go. Nadine’s arm is healing at an odd angle. They hit her with druid magic.”

Logan frowned as he upended the flask on the front of my sweater and the pungent smell of vodka hit my nose, causing a slow burn down my throat as I inhaled.

“I swear to God, this better not be a joke. Some hazing shit.” I would literally go dragon on them all and spray fire.

Logan looked me in the eyes and a serious expression fell over him. “I would never do that to you.”

His words rang true and I nodded. My life had taken a drastic change the last two weeks, but standing in an alley in front of a sexy dragon shifter while wearing wolf piss was really the icing on the cake.

Keegan linked arms with me then and began to drag me away from Logan. My hood was pulled up and my hair tucked back inside, finishing off my disguise.

“The bouncer can tell truth from lie, so don’t speak. I will do all of the talking.”

I just nodded. The bouncer must have some magical ability to sniff out a lie. The very thought had me more on edge than I already was.

The rest of the pack filed in behind us and I wondered just what the hell I was about to see. He had said “supernatural bar,” and I was already imagining sorcerers with cauldrons and shifters tearing into each others’ necks. And hunters. Dozens of hunters looking for me.

Keegan looked down at me. “I can hear your heart racing a hundred and thirty beats per minute. Just relax. Weakness is not something you want to bring into this bar.”

His words made the fear flush through me even faster. We had reached the end of the alley and I could hear the music now, but I couldn’t see the bar. We were in a weird industrial part of Flagstaff, not the popping college town that I thought we would go to. Keegan crossed the street with me on his arm and walked full speed right for a brick wall in front of us.

“Umm, Keegan…?” I asked as he jumped up on the curb with me at his side.

He looked down at me, annoyed. “You’re fine,” he said, and kept walking so that we were going to faceplant right into the wall. I pulled back at the last second, inches from the bricks smashing my nose, and he jerked to a stop.

“What’s your deal?” he asked, looking forward, embarrassed. Behind us I saw that Nadine was draped in Logan’s arms.

“Umm, my deal is that I don’t fancy breaking my nose on a brick wall,” I told him as I gestured in front of me.

Keegan looked confused, and then something dawned on him.

“Something is wrong with you, your magic is broken,” he mumbled, and with a hard yank he pulled me into the wall.

I braced myself for the face slam, but it never came. A tingling feeling caressed my skin and suddenly I was standing at the entrance of a raging nightclub. What the…? I looked behind me to see a shimmering brick wall, five feet away at my back. An illusion. The rest of the pack walked through it and I saw the brick illusion shimmer and wave before reforming once they were through.

“No way,” I murmured aloud.

“Act drunk,” Keegan whispered in my ear. “I’m your new alpha.”

Before I could respond, he yanked me forward so hard that I nearly fell.

“Watch it, dick!” I shouted. Partially because I thought it was what a drunk person would say and also because I had been dying to call him a dick all night. Keegan gave me an amused side glance and pressed on.

There was a huge bouncer at the door, standing at least seven feet tall, with a shaved head and glowing copper eyes. I tried not to stare into his swirling gaze but I felt entranced by it, finding it almost painful to look away. Keegan’s warning from the alley came to me then and I clamped my mouth shut so that no lies would spill out.

As soon as we neared, the bouncer scrunched his face and covered his mouth with the cuff of his long sleeve shirt. I was surprised I hadn’t thrown up on myself from the mixed stench of piss and alcohol.

“Jesus, Keegan. What’s this?” The man’s voice was distorted, making me wonder if I really was drunk.

Keegan sighed. “Hey, Glum. New pack member. She got Nadine and Gear hurt. We need to see Eva about a healing.”

Keegan’s words cut right through me. Keegan knew this man could tell a lie, so he could only speak truth. That meant that he thought I was at fault for Nadine and Gear’s injuries. My stomach knotted with guilt at the thought. Glum looked at Keegan for another moment, something swirling in his endless yellow eyes, until finally he must have felt satisfied and nodded, opening the large brass door to let us enter.

As we passed, Keegan shoved a hundred-dollar bill into a tip jar. Damn, that would pay my grocery bill for two weeks. I was tempted to snatch it back out and replace it with a lesser bill, but thought better of it.