“Sam asserted his control over the dragon and forced him to take them out in front of us,” a Dark said. “I’ve never seen such a thing. I mean, it’s about time that insufferable unicorn finally got knocked out. I’m so anti-Gary, I don’t even know what to do with myself.”
Anti-Gary, I mouthed to no one in particular, because the phrase just didn’t compute. Gary was one of the greatest creatures ever to have existed. Everyone loved him. And now that he had his horn back, there was just more to love. Sure, he could be overbearing and mean and snarky and bitchy, and he really didn’t understand personal boundaries or common courtesy or that funerals were not an appropriate time to hit on a hot newly widowed lumberjack, but the fact that anyone could not like him was simply mind-boggling.
And when the Darks started murmuring their assent behind us, it was all I could do not to actually smite them where they stood. Gary was awesome and cool, and I really liked it when he sang songs about killing people he didn’t like.
“You have control over the dragon?” Caleb asked, sounding incredulous.
I squinted at him. “What part of Sam of Dragons do you not understand?”
“Does that include the Great White?”
“He’s a dragon, isn’t he?”
“What is the meaning of this?” another voice called as it entered the courtyard where we’d gathered. I didn’t even need to look. I would recognize that voice anywhere.
Ruv.
He came to stand next to Caleb. He didn’t look surprised to see me, even if his outburst suggested otherwise. He appeared rather smug, which led me to suspect Myrin did sense my presence just as I’d expected. In fact, I thought it was possible that Myrin was somewhere in the crowd, listening to every word. Many of the Darks had hoods pulled up over their heads, obscuring their faces. Myrin was probably going to let Caleb and Ruv vet me before he revealed himself in a dramatic fashion that was supposed to strike fear and awe in the hearts of all those present. I reminded myself to show fear and awe when the time came.
“It appears Sam here has had a change of heart,” Caleb said, sounding nervous. “He’s claiming to be a villain now. Says he has control over the dragons.”
I could see the moment when Ruv registered who Kevin held. His eyes widened slightly, but that was all. He hid it well. He hadn’t been expecting them. “A villain,” Ruv said slowly.
I shrugged. “It happens, I guess. But hey, maybe I don’t want to have to repeat myself over and over again. So why doesn’t Myrin join us so I can just say this once?” I sneered at Ruv. “Besides, I don’t think I’d answer to someone like you. I mean, you’re cute and all, what with your dirty street magic, but I think it’s time for the adults to talk, don’t you?”
He didn’t like that very much. “I am his second,” Ruv hissed, taking a step toward me. “And as for my dirty street magic, it certainly got the best of you, didn’t it? Myrin gave it to me, and I made sure to use it against you as best I knew how. My sail board, for example. You thought it a gift from the heart, when instead it allowed me to track your every move until it was unfortunately destroyed.”
Whoa. That escalated quickly. And for the briefest of moments, my control wavered and a great and terrible rage rose within me, and it felt black and dark, that someone like him could be so cavalier about— I took a breath. And pushed it away.
“Is that what you think?” I asked him coolly.
“It’s what I know.” He took another step toward me. “I stood in that house and felt your anger when you realized just how completely I’d betrayed you. How well you’d been played. I wallowed in your anguish when I shoved your cornerstone’s sword into his chest. I was right under your nose the whole time, and you never saw me coming. So don’t speak to me as if I’m not worthy of your attention. Because I have taken more from you than almost anyone here, and I will have your respect.”
He was right, of course. Not about respecting him, because fuck that. But no, I hadn’t seen his betrayal until it was too late. He had me there. But I couldn’t let that distract me. Not when— There. In the crowd. Off to the right.
“Myrin,” I said, raising my voice. A hush fell over the Darks. “Perhaps you could pull your guard dog back so we may have a civilized discussion.”
No one moved.
I turned and looked directly at the hooded Dark who emanated that sick yellow infection tinged with something so much more, something that felt akin to home, but twisted in savage mockery of what it had once been. He had his own magic, yes, but he also had Morgan’s, and it reached for me, sticky and sweet, whispering for me to love it, to touch it, to meld with it like we’d done time and time again.
I reached up and pressed my hand against Ruv’s chest, pushing until he took a step back. His eyes narrowed, but I ignored him. “Myrin,” I said again. “If you please.”
He reached up and pulled his hood back and—
It wasn’t Myrin. It didn’t even look like him. It was some random man, some Dark who smiled nervously and— “You are a curious creature, Sam of Dragons.”
I jerked my head to the left. Myrin stood just out of reach, his long red robes flowing around him. There came that discordant feeling again, a sense of blurred edges, of one image placed atop another, because Myrin looked so much like Morgan. The same beard and build. The same face. But it was the eyes that caused the dissonance, the eyes that felt just a step off. Morgan’s had always been warm and kind, tinged with exasperation and mirth. Myrin’s were cold and calculating, unnerving, as he didn’t seem to blink.
And here, at last, was the beginning of the end of my story.
Chapter 18: Death Comes for Thee
“YOU KNOW,” Myrin said, voice soft, “it takes a lot to surprise me.”
I said nothing. Just watched. And waited.
He smiled, a perverse version of the same one Morgan had whenever he’d seen me. “This world doesn’t harbor very many secrets from me. Not anymore. I have studied it far longer than you could even possibly imagine. And even when I was… away, I could still hear its whispers, though I was covered in shadow.”
He was already monologuing. Fun. Since he looked like he was waiting for me to say something, I said, “That sounds nice.”
His smile didn’t falter. “Nice,” he repeated. “Yes, a curious creature. There’s no doubt about that. As I said, it takes much to surprise me. I have seen things that defy logic. I have felt things that would stretch the boundaries of your imagination. The pain. And agony. The death and destruction. Betrayal. Yes, Sam, even betrayal. But not in the way you might think. It is true that from the way it’s been told, it was I who betrayed Morgan. It was I who betrayed Randall.” He shook his head ruefully. “But what about when they betrayed me?”
“Because they didn’t understand what you were going through,” I said. “What you had experienced. The knowledge you had.”
He looked a little startled at that before he laughed. It wasn’t even necessarily an evil laugh, but it still grated along my nerves. “There it is again. Surprising me. Now, and when I felt you approaching the City of Lockes, your magic just sloughing off of you. I felt the dragon too, yes, but only the one. I told myself that surely even you couldn’t be so stupid as to knock on my door and attempt to face me head-on, knowing what you do about me. What I’m capable of. So I admit to being interested in the why of it all. You confound me, Sam. You always have, even when you were nothing but a thought.”
“Yeah, not the first time I’ve heard that, dude. Usually it’s said with a little more irritation, but I just roll with it, you know? It’s easier that way.”
“Do you?” he asked. “I suppose if that’s what works for you.”
I shrugged. “It’s gotten me this far.”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t have the evidence right in front of me. Why are you here?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve been listening the entire time. You know why.”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “You say you’re a villain.”