“Your magic is beyond anything the world has ever seen,” Randall said. “And he wants it for his own. He tried in Mashallaha. I believe those scars are evidence of that. I don’t know why he didn’t succeed, but I suspect it’s because of your strength, Sam. He underestimated you. He won’t make that mistake again. If he’s pursuing what I think he is, he wants to rip your magic from you and consume it to make it his own. Should he succeed, I believe that he would become unstoppable. The dragons appear to be tied to your magic. If he takes yours, then theoretically, they would be tied to him.”
I opened my mouth to say something when the door to Mama’s office burst open and— “Um,” Ryan Foxheart said, eyes going wide as he looked between the three of us. I didn’t know what he saw, but the tension in the room had to be palpable. “Maybe I should… have… knocked? I can go back out and try it again if that would help?” Then he frowned. “Also, why are you half-naked, and why does Randall look like he’s going to bad-touch you?”
Gods, I adored every single thing about him.
He looked at me nervously, like he was afraid Randall or Morgan was going to curse him right then and there for saying that. Which, honestly, Randall was probably giving great consideration to, if the look on his face meant anything. I, of course, thought Ryan had the most impeccable timing, and I was going to give him the sloppiest blow job possible when we were done here. I tried to relay that with my eyes and by licking my lips sexily (which is really hard to do, but I knew I could totally pull it off).
“Are your lips dry?” Ryan asked me with a frown.
I winked at him, trying to distract him from the heaviness in the room.
“Ohhh,” he said, then proceeded to flush furiously. He coughed, a brittle smile on his face. “Erm. That’s not… uh. Hello.” He bowed, bringing his hand as a fist to his chest, a sign of respect to Randall and Morgan. I wanted to devour him whole. “I apologize for the intrusion.”
“I’m sure you do,” Morgan said, sounding amused. “What is it, Knight Commander?”
He blinked slowly. “I wanted to… say hi?”
“Really.”
He sighed. “No. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t doing magic things to Sam.”
“Magic things,” Randall repeated.
“You know,” Ryan said, wiggling his fingers at Randall. “Magic things. You all looked angry when you left, and I didn’t know if you were shocking him with lightning like that one time.”
“And you came here to rescue me?” I asked, breathless. “Oh my gods, I’m going to make you ride me so godsdamn hard later, you don’t even know.” Then, as Randall groaned and Morgan started choking, I added, “Not that I need you to rescue me or anything. I can certainly handle these old dudes. But still. So godsdamn hard. You’re not going to be able to walk straight for a week. And holy shit, my nipples are hard now. This is awkward.” I pulled my shirt back over my head, happy to get the scars away from Randall’s prying eyes.
“Perhaps that’s not in his best interest,” Morgan said lightly. “Especially if he’s going to be walking with the others to Castle Freesias.”
Ryan was as red as I’d ever seen him. “Maybe don’t talk about that kind of thing right now,” he said through gritted teeth. “We can discuss that later—wait. What do you mean when I’m going to be walking with the others?” He glanced from Morgan back to me. “Where are you going to be?”
I looked pointedly at Randall and waved my hand. “Well, oh wise one? Why don’t you tell my cornerstone about how you feel the need to separate us?”
“He’s going to what?” Ryan asked, taking a step forward.
“Oh boy,” Morgan muttered.
“Knight Commander,” Randall said. “Do you know who I am?”
Ryan looked confused. “Um. Randall?”
“That’s right. So maybe check your tone.”
Ryan blanched at that. “Please don’t make my nipples explode.”
“Hey!” Morgan said. “He can’t do that. That’s my—oh.” He sighed. “That’s right. That’s not a thing anyone does.”
“I still can’t believe people still say that,” I said. “Gods, the stories that will be told about me two hundred years from now are going to be amazing.”
“What does he mean, Sam?” Ryan asked, looking worried. “Where are you going?”
“Castle Freesias,” I said, feeling grumpy at the thought. “Except I’m going to be transported there by Randall’s sucking hole and you’re going to walk there with the others. And gods, I really need to work on my phrasing. That sounded terrible. Like Randall would suck me up with his—”
“You’re really not my type,” Randall said. “I like my partners more… well. Not you.”
I gasped dramatically as I brought my hand to my forehead. “Whatever shall I do? My dream of breaking off a piece of that has just imploded. Life will never be the same.”
Ryan’s jaw tensed, and his lips became a thin slash across his face. “I’m his cornerstone. Do you really think it’s a good idea to separate us?”
“You tell them, babe.”
“Not helping.”
“Positive reinforcement always helps,” I told him. “Don’t lie. You feel good about yourself. It’s what I’m here for.”
He rolled his eyes, but I could tell he was pleased. The sap.
“It’s not only a good idea,” Randall said, “it’s the only idea. Sam has escalated. It’s time for me to teach him control.”
“You’re not his mentor,” Ryan said. “Morgan is. Why would you need to teach him anything?”
Randall cocked his head at Ryan.
Ryan blanched. “Uh. Why would you need to teach him anything, my lord head wizard Randall. Please don’t melt my face off.”
“Kiss-ass,” I muttered.
“I like you,” Randall said. “For now.”
“Eep,” Ryan said.
“You’re a knight commander,” I hissed at him. “Find your balls, Foxheart!”
Ryan squared his shoulders and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He looked so dashing and immaculate that I gave very serious consideration to taking him right then and there, audience be damned. Somehow I restrained myself.
He said, “I would have you know that I disagree with this course of action.”
“Noted,” Randall said. “Overruled.”
I waited for Ryan’s next devastating attack, either with words or his sword. I didn’t care which.
(I preferred the sword.)
But nothing came.
The silence got a little awkward.
“That’s it?” I finally demanded. “He’s trying to whisk me away to his sex palace and you tell him you disagree?”
Sex palace, Randall mouthed at Morgan.
“What more do you want me to do?” Ryan asked, brow furrowed.
“Stab the shit out of him!”
“You do that and I’ll melt your face off,” Randall said.
“You know how I feel about my face,” Ryan said to me. “I use it for things.”
“Motherfucker,” I growled. “And for those wondering, I meant that for all three of you.”
“Is it to help him?” Ryan asked Randall, ignoring my glower.
Randall glanced at me, and he must have seen something on my face that told him in no way, shape, or form did Ryan need to know about Myrin wanting to eat my magic. Probably not the best move, but if he was going to hear it from anyone, it would be from me. And I didn’t know how I would tell him. “It is.”
“And you’ll keep him safe?”
I expected Randall to bristle. Instead, shockingly, he softened the smallest amount. “Always.”
“And you’re sure I can’t be there?”