Page 39 of Druid Dreams

“Looks like these cells are gonna be more full than usual,” I surmised.

“D-didn’t you reach out to your, uhhh, girlfriend? Mate? Whatever you called her yesterday?” He stammered.

“Yeah,” I acquiesced.

“Do you think it’s her?” He whispered.

Do I think it’s her? I used what little power I had saved and opened my mate bond back up. She was filled with a bloodthirsty rage, and so near that I felt like I could reach out and stroke her. I sent a flare of earthy magic through our bond. She responded with a large dose of adrenaline-filled energy. It soared through my body, lighting me from the inside out. It was a painful pleasure. She was here and she brought the guys and hellhounds with her as backup. This place is going to burn to the ground. I sent her a rundown of the grounds and tapered my presence off so she could focus.

“It’s her,” I told Levi on a hushed breath. “She’s here.”

“Good, man. I’ll go tell her where you are.” He stood and I shouted at him. “No!”

He looked baffled before I explained. “No, if you go out there she’ll kill you too. She doesn’t know who you are or how you’ve been helping me. If you want to stay alive then you’ll listen to what I say. Okay?”

“O-okay,” he stuttered.

“Go to the top of the stairs and open the doors. Do not go out. Just swing the doors as wide as they’ll go and then come back down here. Leave all the other doors open that lead to us. Grab the keys to the cells off the wall and pick one to sit in until they come to get me. I’ll keep you safe, but you have to follow my lead.”

He jerked his head in a nod and bolted for the stairwell. I didn’t know if he was going to come back or not, but I hoped he would. I hope for a bunch of things at this moment, but I’ll play it by ear. Levi came through the last doorway a minute later with the keys hanging in his hand as he made his way to my cell. He opened the barred door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. He angled his head at me, terror clear on his stricken face.

“Take a seat. It should only be a few minutes,” I enlightened him with a new vibrancy to my voice. I didn’t move from my corner though. I closed my eyes and listened for the first sounds of rescue, the light padding of Sloane’s boots, or the defeated screams of her enemies. The first thing I heard was muted shouting followed by a furious symphony of guttural growls.

“What was that?” Levi screeched loudly.

My ears rang as I forewarned him with a single word, “Hellhounds.”

“W-w-what? What d-d-do you mean b-b-by hellhounds?” He was terrified. With good reason. Helios was frightening on his best days.

“My mate has hellhounds that guard her. They sort of look like regular dogs. Just, uhm, don’t try to pet them, okay?” I teased him, remembering when he first arrived at the camp and attempted to pet a fox shifter.

“Y-y-yeah, no p-p-problem man.”

“Calm down, Levi. You’re going to be fine.” I tried to reassure him, but he looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

We listened to the yelling for a few minutes. Our position underground with all the doors open made it sound like the volume was turned way down. From the stairwell I heard a grunted moan, and a body rolled out of the doorway. Two males walked in after it. I recognized them once they stepped under the light. Palmer leaned over to brush blood from his khakis, letting out a frustrated groan when it smeared. Stone’s pitch black demon body slowly morphed into his Asian appearance as he continues to walk towards us.

“Fucking Druid,” he drawled looking displeased with me as I stood weakly. It’s more energy than I had before they got here though.

“Fucking Demon,” I countered and was rewarded with a sharp toothed smile. “Pull your teeth back in before you scare the human to death, Stone.” I chastised him.

“Who tha fuck is he?” Palmer eyed Levi.

“This is Levi. He’s the reason why I’m still alive. We won’t be killing him today.”

“Aye, okay. I believe ye. I’ll let ya take that up with Sloane. Keys?” Palmer’s impatience was unusual. He’s either worried or wants to fight. Probably both.

“Levi, hand me the keys, please.” I requested gently. He took his shaking fingers and reached in his pocket, setting the keys in my hand with widened cartoon-like eyes. “It’s okay. These are my friends, Palmer and Stone. They won’t hurt you.” I spoke to him like a parent would a small child while shaking my head. He was panicking, but he nodded his head and let go of the keys. I tossed them to Stone. He opened the door and sauntered over to me, pulling my arm across his shoulder to support some of my weight. “Come on, Levi. Stay with us and whatever you do, don’t run.”

“Sloane hasn’t really gotten started yet. She caused enough of a scene for me to drag Palmer through the shadows so we could find you. We have strict orders to keep you out of the fight though.” Stone told me while helping me up the stairs and out into the fresh night air. My first dose of fresh air in 858 days. Power seeped into my bare feet with each step I took across the dirt path. It crawled up my body at a snail's pace, awakening my dead limbs.

“When we get to Vaughn he’ll mist you to the treehouse. Stay there until we get back. There’s a bag of clothes for you on the couch and I stuck some soap and clippers in there so you could clean up. You need a hot shower and a haircut, Druid.” Stone rambled as we walked towards the fight.

“Vaughn should be waitin up ahead for ya. He can take yer man too.” Palmer waggled his eyebrows at me with his insinuation. I wished I had the energy to waste so I could punch him in his smartass mouth. “We’ll figure somethin’ out when this is all by.” He waved his hand around and turned to Levi after addressing me. “Do ye need to grab anythin’ before we go?”

“N-n-no,” Levi pushed out.

“Grand. Let’s get ya outta here before we run inta any of those enemies Sloane was makin’.” Palmer smiled excitedly as he led the way for us.