I sputtered as I was held high, toes skimming along the surface of the lake. I tried grabbing at the hand on my neck, but the grip was strong. I kicked out, but the impacts were weak. I opened my eyes, blinking away the water.
Myrin stood on the surface of the lake, water dripping down off me and onto his arm. His face. His body.
He was smiling.
“Sam,” he said, clucking his tongue. He sounded disappointed in me as I struggled to get a breath in. “That was… underwhelming. This is supposed to be the great Sam of Wilds? This is who the Dark wizards are supposed to fear? That was nothing. You are a child playing at a man’s game.”
“Wait till I get my second wind,” I managed to choke out. “We can go again. Next week work for you? Just leave your information with my secretary and—” His grip tightened, cutting me off.
“You still make jokes,” he said. “Even in the face of death. It would be admirable if it wasn’t so pathetic.”
“Hey, man, jokes are what I’ve got. You’ve kind of got me by the balls here.”
He chuckled. “Indeed I do. And I think a lesson in humility is in order.” He lowered his arm, bringing my face closer to his. I was able to grip his forearm with my wet hands. “Even now, the Darks march toward Meridian City where the people sleep unaware of the fate that awaits them. At my word, the city will be razed. It is truly a sinful place, so I doubt it would be missed too much. And they will have my word, Sam. As an example to you.” His teeth were bared, his eyes narrowed. “This will be to show you that you are on the wrong side. That you cannot win. Morgan and Randall were weak. They still are. There will be a new order, one that will begin with you and end with me. You can either join me or watch as I tear your whole world apart.” And then I felt another pull, like he was sucking my magic from me, and I thought I was going to split right down the middle.
“You wouldn’t,” I managed to grit out.
“Oh I would, Sam. You’re playing with the big boys now. The stakes are a little higher than what you’re normally used to. Their deaths will be on your head, every man, woman, and child in Meridian City. I told you once that I would rip the lightning-struck heart from your chest. Trust me when I say I will do just that.”
I began to laugh.
Because it was so godsdamned obvious.
He frowned. “What’s so funny?”
“You,” I wheezed, lake water still dripping down onto him. “Gods, you think you’re so different. You think you’re better than all the others that have come before you. I’ve got news for you, dude. You’re a fucking idiot, just like the rest. It’s incredible.”
He brought me close to his face, his nose almost touching mine. I could see the fury in his eyes. “An idiot? If I’m such an idiot, what does that make you, seeing as I have the upper hand?”
I grabbed the front of his jerkin, completing the connection between us. “Oh, man. You have no idea what I’m capable of.” I leaned forward, straining against his grip. It must have looked like I was going in for a kiss. Instead I said, “You want to see just how lightning-struck my heart is? You’ve got it. By the way, water conducts electricity.”
His eyes widened.
And because I’d probably never have a more perfect moment, I grinned and said, “I think you’re going to find the results quite… shocking.” Catchphrase for the motherfucking win, asshole.
And then I screamed in his face as my magic exploded out of me. From the very first day that I’d been lightning-struck, from the moment it had curled around my heart, I’d known that nothing would ever be the same. That things would change. That I could become something more than what I already was. And I’d given that heart away to the ones I knew could keep it safe. Tiggy. Kevin. Gary. Ryan.
I would do anything to keep them safe.
The lightning didn’t come from above.
It came from within me.
The snarl of lightning burst from my chest. From my mouth. My eyes and fingertips and toes. It was white hot and almost sentient, following along the path I’d set for it. It rolled from inside me with an electrical snap, pouring out and crawling over Myrin. It jumped along the water covering his skin, his wet clothes, striking down into the surface of the lake through his feet.
The entire lake became electrified beneath us. The world took on a bluish hue as the lightning spread through the water, arcing off in different directions. It glowed so brightly, it was almost as if the sun had risen.
Myrin’s jaw was clenched as his body seized. The grip around my throat tightened, but it was a flexion of the joints more than anything else. His eyes were beginning to roll back into his head, and I pushed as hard as I could, filling his body with everything I had. My own skin felt like it was on fire.
“You… won’t… win,” he stuttered out, jaw clenched. “This is the beginning… of the end.”
I smiled at him, knowing my eyes were glowing brightly. “Dude, go fuck yourself.”
And then I went boom.
The grip around my neck was torn as we were thrown away from each other, the shock waves rippling the air around us. I had a moment to think how much this was going to fucking hurt before I slammed into the side of a building, the wood cracking behind me before giving way and sending me through the wall.
It got dark real quick after that.
“SAM? SAM!”
“Whazzit.”
“I need you to open your eyes. Sam, listen to me.”
“Whodat.”
“What?”
“I think he just asked who dat?”
“Thank you, Gary. That helped me with absolutely nothing.”
“Yikes, someone woke up bitchy today. And that someone is named Ryan Foxheart.”
“He sad ’cause Sam go boom?”
“Yes, kitten.”
“I sad ’cause Sam go boom?”
“We’ll be sad if he dies. And after an acceptable period of mourning—say, three and a half days?—we’ll start to divide up his stuff. I get mostly everything, and the things I don’t want will be thrown away. Or donated to charity. Most likely thrown away.”
“I get his brooms.”
“I don’t know where this broom fetish came from. I had absolutely nothing to do with that. You are a strange, wonderful half-giant who I love dearly.”
“It’s because he stole them from my keep. Everyone knows that brooms are part of any good hoard. It’s just common sense is what it is. I mean, why wouldn’t you have brooms?”
“Shuddap,” I said. “Tryna leep.”
“What the hell is he saying?”
“Shut up. Trying to sleep. Oooo, I’m like the Sam whisperer. My thighs are tingling. That’s a good thing, especially since he seems to get knocked out a lot lately.”
“I am going to slap the shit out of him if he doesn’t open his eyes.”
And since that voice sounded serious (and slightly frantic), I did just that.
I blinked blearily at the faces staring down at me.
They all looked immediately relieved.