Free Blood Magic (Dragon Born Alexandria Book 2) by Ella Summers Page B

her mouth with the back of her hand. Just wait until we get you a body.
    I don’t think I want one. They sound terribly overrated, her dragon said, then drifted off to sleep. Maintaining the barrier against that tsunami had clearly taken a lot out of her.
    Alex heaved in a few deep breaths, then righted herself. The entourage of freed hybrids stood frozen, their mouths wide open, gaping at her in shock. It took more than a magical tsunami to faze Logan, though.
    “Hurry. Up the ladder,” he told them.
    They didn’t move. Apparently, gaping at Alex was more interesting than their freedom.
    “Those vampires will be back,” Alex told them. “So unless you want to be somebody’s midnight snack, I suggest that you listen to him.”
    They blinked at her. Talk about shellshocked. But was it because of the vampires or her flamboyant display of bizarre magic?
    “Move!” Logan snapped out the command, and this time they not only moved, they stampeded. They ran and pushed to be the first to the ladder. There was even some kicking.
    After a few more choice commands from Logan, they managed to get the hybrids up the ladder and back above ground. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story. Not even close.
    “The vampires are regrouping,” Alex told Logan. “They’re headed right for us.”
    “This way,” he said.
    He herded the hybrids across the street in an abrupt turn that sent a white SUV screeching to a halt. A symphony of honking vehicles that reached back nearly a block followed. Logan kept going like the cars weren’t even there, leading their dozen dirty and scruffy supernaturals toward a red brick building.
    “The League of Fairies Embassy?” Alex asked him. “But it’s outside opening hours.” She squinted at the sign. “All two hours of them per day.” Geez, what were those fairies doing the rest of the day? No, scratch that. She really didn’t want to know.
    “There’s always someone at the embassy,” Logan replied, ringing the bell.
    They waited two minutes.
    “That someone must be napping,” said Alex.
    “I’ll just have to ring the other bell.”
    “Which other bell?”
    He pulled out his lock-picking set. Oh. A few seconds later, all the lights inside and around the building blared on and the alarm screeched to life, which nearly scared the dirt off the poor hybrids. A male fairy with a longsword and some serious bedhead threw the door open. His agitation elevated to full-on pissed off when he saw who had landed on his doorstep.
    “You’re not very competent criminals, just waiting here for me to find you,” he told them.
    “These people were kidnapped by vampires and held against their will in the underground tunnels,” Logan said. “As an officer of the League of Fairies, it is your duty to offer them shelter.”
    The fairy smoothed down his golden tunic and yawned. “I liked you better when I thought you were criminals.”
    “There are vampires headed this way,” Logan said, looking at Alex.
    “A good two hundred of them,” she added. “If you don’t want to be dragged down into the sewers and turned into a meal-on-legs, I suggest you let these people inside and call for reinforcements.”
    “Oh, I definitely liked you better as criminals,” the fairy declared. “All right then. Queue up. No pushing.” As the hybrids filed inside, he turned to Alex and Logan. “What are you going to do?”
    “Try to lead the vampires away from here,” replied Alex.
    “And what makes you think they’ll follow you rather than their escaped prisoners?”
    “Because vampires have nasty tempers. And I just flooded their underground hideout, flushing them right out onto the streets.”
    “That was rather reckless of you.”
    “Yeah, I’ve been told that’s something I should work on.” She looked at Logan. “Ready to lead the vampires on a high-speed chase through the city?”
    He extended his arm. “Ladies first.”
    They took off running at a full-out sprint, leaving the