He loved me even then, and I didn’t know. I thought he was out of my reach.
And then I’d been at his side, facing the Darks, and the cruel twist of fate revealed itself when my magic sang for the first time in a way I could recognize as home. He was my home, and he belonged to another.
He stood upon a keep far from everything I’d known and wished for nothing more than me.
But wishes spoken aloud never come true. Everyone knew that. So I let him go.
But we were tied together. The both of us. Randall had been right about that. Something about us was always meant to be, and the void was filling, and I thought there was a chance I could do anything asked of me, if only he could be at my side.
Once upon a time, I sat alone in the desert under a night sky and made a wish. One that I’ve never told anyone, because I wanted it to come true.
Make me mortal. When all is said and done. I will protect my King, this one and the next. I will protect my kingdom. I will do all that you ask, but I want a mortal life for my happy ending. This is my wish.
I needed to hope he already hadn’t had Justin’s babies.
Because I would hate to have to steal some children’s father away from them. I’d feel real bad about it for at least a week, and no one wanted that.
I started to push my way through the crowd, but they offered no resistance. They parted as if they, too, had been waiting for this exact moment.
When I reached the open gate, I saw something unexpected.
I stopped.
And breathed, “I’ve had sex dreams that started just like this.”
Because a big fat ray of sun had burst through the clouds and was shining upon Ryan Foxheart, who was galloping toward me atop a steed, its white mane billowing majestically. He wore his Knight Commander armor, which looked as if it’d been spotlessly scrubbed, cuts of red rock embedded into the silver metal. His sword was drawn, and as I watched, he flourished it almost as if he were in slow motion, his wavy hair jostling about his head, green eyes bright.
He looked like every fantasy I’d ever had, and it was imperative that I fuck him senselessly into the nearest surface, not caring if we had an audience or not. Even the fact that my parents were there wouldn’t stop me. I was going to destroy him. He was going to be covered in my spunk, so much so that it was going to make Gary’s glazed donuts seem like work done by an amateur.
“Yeah,” I muttered, not caring who could hear me. “You ride that steed toward me, you dirty motherfucker. You’re not going to be able to walk for a week by the time I’m done with—”
And that’s when I saw the horse upon which he rode was not actually a horse at all.
It looked suspiciously like my best friend standing next to me. Aside from the fact that it had a large, shimmering horn atop its head.
Which killed any and all sexy thoughts. Mostly.
Because what.
“What a fucking show-off,” Gary muttered, coming up beside me. “Did he really think he would get away with that? It’s so racist.”
“Who?” I asked, unsure of what the hell was going on. “Ryan?”
Gary rolled his eyes. “Not Ryan. Terry.”
“Terry.”
“Yes, Terry.”
“Terry.”
“Why are you repeating his name? Do you really hate me that much?”
“I don’t—wait. Terry. As in your twin brother Terry.”
Gary squinted at me. “So you got stupid in the woods, huh? That’s unfortunate.”
“Your twin brother. Is here.”
“You don’t have to keep reminding me. I was against this, but Ryan and Justin thought we needed him.”
“I have no idea what’s even happening right now.”
Gary sighed. “Maybe if you would stop drooling over your boyfriend riding my brother, you’d be able to figure it out.”
“Oh my gods, phrasing. You can’t just say it like that!”
“It’s literally what is happening. Ryan is straddling my brother, thighs wrapped around his middle while he rocks back and forth—oh look. There’s the Prince.”
Grand Prince Justin of Verania was walking toward the gates, still a distance away behind Ryan and Terry. He didn’t look too pleased, as he appeared to be carrying quite a few bags.
“Oh thank gods he remembered my scarves,” Gary said. “I would have hated to see his blood spilled underneath my hooves.”
“Your brother,” I insisted.
“Yeah,” Gary sighed. “My brother.”
Gary and his family… well. They didn’t exactly have the most loving relationship. Oh, sure, I knew they cared about each other, and Gary didn’t exactly have a terrible childhood, but things were strained between them. The last I’d heard, his mom and dad had been off on some swingers tour that had apparently lasted for at least three years, where they would tour the world and apparently partner swap with other magical creatures at large orgies that sounded amazing in theory (taste the rainbow!) but disgusting in actuality (it tasted nothing like rainbows!).
And even though Gary and I had been friends for years, I had yet to meet any of his family. They sent letters every now and then that always seemed to be dusted with copious amounts of glitter, and Gary and Tiggy went to see them once years ago, with Morgan refusing to let me go with them, saying that a seventeen-year-old me did not need to be surrounded by three unicorns. Something about potentially triggering an apocalypse or whatever. I’d made Gary promise to bring me a souvenir. He’d told me to go fuck myself, and then he’d brought me back a T-shirt that said I’M NOT GAY BUT MY GIRLFRIEND IS. It had confounded me greatly.
Terry, on the other hand, was more of a mystery. From what I gathered on the little pieces Gary had dropped every now and then, their relationship was… contentious. Gary had said once that he wished he’d consumed Terry while they were still in the womb to save him from having to deal with his existence.
I’d laughed because I’d thought he was kidding.
Looking back, I didn’t think he was kidding.
So the worst thing I could have said was “Your brother looks pretty fucking majestic.”
Gary gasped. “You fucking come slut. How could you say that to my face!”
“Oh, man, I am so sorry. I meant to think that, not say it out loud. Dude, my bad.”
“I hate you. This is the worst day of my life.”
“Hey! I just came back after being gone for almost a year. This is the best day of your life.”
“Gary! Hey, Gary! Look at me! Look how progressive I am! I’m letting a man ride on my back. Who’s stuck-up now, you light-footed ninny?”
Light-footed ninny, I mouthed to myself.
Terry came to a stop in front of the gates, panting slightly from the exertion. His chest and legs were muscular, and his tail and mane were white, thick, and wavy. His horn was much larger and thicker than I expected it to be, and had it not been for Ryan Foxheart on his back, I might have swooned a little bit, which was a very odd thought to have.
Ryan dismounted with ease, armor clinking as he slid from Terry’s back.
I wished more than anything that everyone would leave.
But they didn’t, of course. They were waiting to see what was going to happen as much as I was.
Ryan looked… good. Really good. He was a little thinner than he’d been, cheekbones more pronounced, and the beard he’d worn temporarily back at Castle Freeze Your Ass Off had made a reappearance. His blond hair was as long as it’d ever been, and he reached up to push it back off his face in a practiced move that would have been stupid on anyone else but made me want to eat him alive.
There was a scar too, on his face, that hadn’t been there before. It was thin and white and started on the left side and stretched toward his nose. In the scheme of things, it was minor, but it hit me then, truly hit me, that there was a history here that I wasn’t privy to. Events that I wasn’t a part of had occurred. Someone had hurt him—a while ago, from the looks of it—and I hadn’t been there to protect him.
The thought made my chest ache.