The man didn’t have time to move.
The light hit him on the top of the head and exploded. I waited for the man to keel over or burst in a flash of blood and gristle. I was already forming a plan in my mind to smuggle Gary out of Camp HaveHeart, where he’d have to spend the rest of his days on the run as a fugitive. Maybe one day we’d be able to meet up again, but it’d have to be in disguise, and we would reminisce about the times we’d spent together before I’d betray him by turning him in for the offered reward. I’d feel bad about it, sure, and when I testified against him in court, I’d cry on the stand about how I thought I’d done the right thing by helping him escape, but that my conscience wouldn’t let me sleep at night knowing a murderer walked the streets because of me.
But I needn’t have worried, because the man didn’t die.
Instead, his skin turned blue.
“What,” I said.
“What,” Ryan said.
“Pretty,” Tiggy said.
“Ha!” Gary crowed as he began to prance. “Suck it, random speciesist guy who thinks we all look the same! You’re going to be blue for the rest of your life!”
“Oh dear,” the King said as random speciesist guy began to scream.
“One day,” Justin said, staring up at the heavens. “That’s all I ask. One day where nothing weird happens and everything is normal.”
“What did you do?” I demanded as the man continued to wail.
Gary frowned. “I turned him blue.”
“But what does that do to him?”
“Nothing. He’s just… blue.”
I blinked. “But why.”
“I am a unicorn. With a horn. I don’t have to have a reason to do anything.”
“Change him back.”
“No.”
“Gary.”
“Sam.”
“Tiggy!” Tiggy said.
“I get it,” I said. “Dude’s a jerk. But you can’t just change someone’s skin color because they insulted you.”
“Sam,” Gary said slowly. “Did you or did you not turn Ryan to stone when he tried to kick your ass when you were kids?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“It sort of felt like it was on purpose,” Ryan muttered.
“It’s the same thing,” Gary said, flipping his newly colored mane prettily. “He hurt my feelings, and so I got my revenge.”
“You can’t just go getting revenge on whoever you—”
“Actually, he can,” the King said mildly.
I turned to gape at him.
The King shrugged. “Magical Creatures Act. They are protected from harm, but there’s also a subclause that allows them to seek revenge if their feelings are hurt, as long as it doesn’t end in the taking of a life. I thought about changing it, but then Gary reminded me that most magical creatures are emotionally mature and don’t seek revenge.”
I sputtered at that. “B-but… Gary. And Kevin!”
“Hey!” Kevin said. “I’m so emotionally mature.”
“This is the dumbest day,” I groused. “Randall made me talk about feelings and shit and then almost got me killed by throwing a horn at me, and then I jerked it off accidentally until it jizzed rainbows all over me, and now that guy is blue, and I am bothered by all of this.”
“What do you mean you jerked it off?” Ryan growled. “Why would you—”
But he was interrupted when cries went up from the guards standing along the walls of Camp HaveHeart.
My heart pounded as I turned toward them, the lights of the dragons pulsing in my head.
“Riders!” Todd cried, his ears sticking out adorably under a helmet too large for his head. “Approaching quickly.”
“Kevin,” I snapped.
“On it, boss.” The crowd scattered as he spread his wings, the membranes stretching as he pumped them up and down, lifting quickly toward the sky.
Ryan was barking orders at his knights, something I would never get sick of seeing. Justin was pulling his father toward the rear of the camp, though the King was protesting immensely, saying that he was the King, godsdammit, and he could fight if he wanted to.
I wiped my face off as best I could as I stalked toward the gate. Randall and Ryan fell in step beside me, Tiggy and Gary bringing up the rear.
“It’s not Myrin,” Randall said, his gaze slightly unfocused. “I would know if he approached.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s not something else.”
“Tiggy smash?”
“Maybe, dude. I’ll let you know.”
The green and gold were swirling around me, and I was tense, shoulders stiff. By now, Myrin had to know the King was gone, and while I didn’t think he’d come himself, he most certainly could have sent other Darks. He’d be foolish to do so, and if they tried anything, I’d wipe them from Verania. It didn’t hurt that I had a freshly minted unicorn snarling under his breath behind me, still spurting rainbows as if he had no control over it. It was endearingly disgusting.
“Open the gates!” I shouted as we approached.
Todd looked like he was going to object, but then he nodded toward the men on the ground below him. They reached up and began to spin the wooden wheels on either side of the gates, which groaned as they opened before us.
I could see Kevin circling above us, and I told the other dragons to hold, to calm, to wait until I could be sure what we were looking at.
In the distance, three figures approached on horseback at a high rate of speed, dust kicking up behind them. A storm cloud seemed to be chasing them.
“Do Darks ride horses?” I asked.
“Yes,” Gary said. “Because they’re racists.”
“Dude, I’ve told you. That’s not racism—you know what? I’m not even going to get into that with you right now.”
“What’s the plan, Sam?” Ryan asked.
I glanced at him. “We wait until they get close enough to identify. If they’re good, then we help them.”
“And if they’re villains?”
I grinned at him. “Then you’ll get to see what I’ve been up to all this time.”
“Ungh,” he said, eyes glazing over slightly.
“Yeah?” I asked, curling my lip a little. “You like that? You want to see me do magic?”
“So much,” he said hoarsely. “You gonna do a lot of it?”
“I’m gonna cover them in my magic,” I growled, turning toward him and bumping our chests together, my nose scraping his cheek. “They’re going to be stiff with it.”
“Oh my gods,” Gary moaned. “You’re covered in my rainbows and making Ryan sex stupid. This is the worst Horn Reunion Day I’ve ever had. And yes, that was capitalized, because I think that should be a yearly thing from this point on.”
“I sex stupid?”
“No, kitten. You don’t have Ryan’s weird magic kink.”
“Aw,” Tiggy said, pouting.
“We don’t have time for your capitalizations,” I said. “We’re trying to be serious. By the way, you look awesome, dude.”
“Thank you,” Gary said, preening. “And if you ever tell me we don’t have time for my capitalizations again, I will motherfucking stab you with my horn, you little bitch.”
“Whoa,” I breathed. “That was believable this time. Because of the horn.”
“Children, focus,” Randall snapped.
A shadow fell over us as Kevin descended. Ryan’s knights were gathering along the outer wall, Lady Tina barking orders at the Foxy Lady Brigade, each of them moving swiftly and with purpose as they spread out behind us. The gates groaned again as they closed.
Kevin landed in front of us, the ground shaking lightly. He winked at Gary, who swooned, before he looked down at me. “Darks,” he said.
“And the riders?”
“Mama. Moishe. Letnia.”
“What? I thought they were leading the Resistance from Old Clearing!”
“Something must have happened,” Ryan said, flourishing his sword, because he was incapable of not being that guy when he had a weapon in his hands.
“Shit. Okay. Here’s the plan. You guys stay here and watch me kick some ass. Kevin, we’re going to—”
“No,” Ryan said, grabbing my arm. “You can’t take them on your own. You’re gonna get hurt, or worse, captured and they’ll want to have sex with you.”