I looked back and forth between them, using Ryan’s hand as an anchor. “Was any of this real, then? Or was everything that’s happened to me, everything that has made me who I am… was it all planned from the start?”
There was a pained look on Morgan’s face. “Sam, everything that you’ve been through, the lessons you’ve learned, both on your own and taught to you, have been real. I swear to you on all that I have.”
“The paths we take are divergent,” Randall said without his usual ire. “The choices we make cause them to splinter off in different directions. No one could have foreseen you becoming exactly the person you are today. It doesn’t work like that. And Morgan’s right. You have always had free will, Sam. You’ve been guided, but not controlled.”
“Then what is this?” I asked. “What is all of this?”
“Gypsies have magic,” Morgan said. “But it’s different than what you or I know. The rules that govern the wizarding world do not apply to them. They can do things we cannot. The same can be said about us against them. They don’t deal in the physical magic, but esoteric. Mystical. It’s a—”
“Bunch of horse crap, if you ask me,” Randall grunted. “Reading tea leaves and bones and wailing up at the heavens in front of a bonfire to show them the future.”
“It felt real when she had me pressed up against a wall,” I said.
Randall waved me off. “Sleight of hand. A distraction. Hardly civilized. I could stand outside under the stars and spout a hundred different predictions about the future and have the same success as the gypsies. The difference being I know it’s a crock. The fact remains, most of it never ends up coming true. And even if it does, it’s only because it was inevitable.”
“Except me,” I said.
“Except you,” Morgan agreed. “But then, you have always been the exception. She came to me shortly before your birth under the cover of darkness. I was on the road between here and Meridian City, returning to the castle. I hadn’t stopped, because I could see the lights of the City of Lockes, and I wanted to be home. I was alone on the road until I wasn’t. She told me her name was Vadoma, that she hailed from the desert, and she had a message for me.”
“And what was the message?” I asked slowly.
“That a boy would be born to one who was banished from her clan to live in poverty in a city at the seat of power. The banished one made a choice between the love of a man and the love of her people and suffered the consequences. And in her suffering, the boy would be born who would bring great change upon the world and rise against a tide of darkness that rose in opposition.”
And that… was pretty fucking stupid. “Seriously,” I said. “That’s what she said.”
“Yes,” Morgan said.
“Okay, but. Like. That was so vague.”
“Right?” Randall said. “Horse crap. Of course, after she got done with her hippy-dippy bullshit, she flat-out told Morgan that her daughter was pregnant and she thought the demon spawn was going to have some kind of magic. Her words, not mine, so you get that look off your face. You look like your huffing glue again.”
“That was one time! I was eleven.”
“Drugs are bad,” Ryan said.
“Thank you for that contribution,” I said. “You are the light of my life.”
“Even though that was said sarcastically, it’s true,” Ryan said, and I fought hard not to swoon. Because fuck yeah, that was true.
“So she told you about an awesome kid being born—”
Randall coughed.
“A magical prodigy being born—”
Randall sneezed.
I glared at him. “A demon spawn being born—”
Randall smiled.
“—and you just bought whatever she had to say?”
“Of course not,” Morgan said.
“Pretty much,” Randall said.
“Pretty much,” Morgan agreed. “To be fair, she was very convincing. Gypsies usually are with their outfits and wrist bangles. And even if that wasn’t the case, Vadoma was well known for her predictions. People travel far and wide to have her read them.”
“She also charges them for everything they’re worth,” Randall said. “And then tells them anything they want to hear. It’s a scam, if you ask me.”
“She’s a fortune-teller?” I gasped. I couldn’t think of anything worse than fortune-tellers. Most of it was bullshit, their little stands set up in festivals behind velvety purple curtains, peering into their crystal balls or reading lines on palms and gasping over just how amazing things were going to be. They weren’t really prevalent in the City of Lockes outside of celebrations. But there was one on practically every corner in Meridian City, the signs in the windows promising to TELL YOUR FUTURE!! CHEAP!!!!!!! “But—but that’s terrible.”
“If you think about it,” Randall said, “it’s hardly surprising that would be your background.”
“Hey! That was surprisingly effective in breaking me down emotionally. Nice job. Also, you bastard.”
Randall looked rather pleased with himself.
“What does Ruv have to do with any of this?” Ryan asked. “Because I really feel that we should be talking about him more. Like, what kind of a name is Ruv? And how I’m obviously more muscular than he is, as everyone can probably tell. Also, does he not know how to put on shoes? I know how to put on shoes.”
“And you do it very well,” I said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. “In fact, no one puts on shoes like you do.”
“Damn right,” he mumbled, blushing slightly under the praise.
“I assume it’s for the same reason she didn’t want your mother to marry your father,” Morgan said. “Gypsies don’t take to outsiders kindly, and as evidenced by their willingness to shun their loved ones, they like marriages outside of the clan even less. I imagine Ruv is meant to entice Sam back into the fold.”
“I’m not going into anyone’s folds except for Ryan’s,” I said.
“Yes!” Ryan said. Then, “Wait. What?”
“And so because a crazy woman came up to you in the middle of the night and put her fortune-teller nonsense all over you,” I said, “you agreed to exchange me for two goats and a pig when the time came. What the fuck, Morgan?”
“I don’t think that’s a fair exchange,” Randall said. “Too much goat for such a measly return.”
Morgan sighed. “I didn’t agree to anything, Sam.”
“She seems to think you did. For all we know, she’s going to try and enact some ancient gypsy law to try and claim I’m already betrothed to Ruv and must let him take me carnally under the light of the half-moon in a field of fireflies. I won’t do it, Morgan. I really won’t!”
“Is that true?” Ryan growled. “Is he going to be carnally taken surrounded by fireflies? You know Sam hates fireflies!”
“They’re literally bugs that glow,” I exclaimed. “Why does no one else see the problem here?”
“And I’m the only one that gets to carnally take anything from him,” Ryan said.
“You’re mostly a bottom, though,” I said thoughtfully. “So I suppose it’s mostly me carnally taking.”
Ryan choked and started stuttering.