“Wow,” I breathed, sure there were stars in my eyes. “That was amazing.”
“I know,” he said, sounding rather pleased with himself. “It’s one of my many, many talents.”
“You’re ruining the moment with your ego.”
“But you just said the same thing—”
“Tell me more about how much you love me.”
“I love you more than anything else in the world.”
“We’re being serious now, huh?”
“Yeah.”
I kissed the tip of his nose. There were little crinkles around his eyes as he smiled. “Okay.”
“We’ll be okay,” he said. “It’s a month. Sooner, if Kevin’s wing heals. He carried us once. He’ll carry us again.”
“But it’s racist—”
“I don’t think that means what you all think it means,” he said. “And he’d do it, I think. For me. For you.”
“Probably.”
“And.”
“And?”
He hesitated, which meant I probably wasn’t going to like whatever he said next. “And… you know you can tell me anything, right?”
I kept the small smile on my face, even though I felt cold. “I know.”
His eyes searched mine, for what I didn’t know, but there was a flash of disappointment that quickly disappeared before it could turn into something more. “Good. I just… I know being a wizard means you’ll have your secrets, but if you ever need to tell me something, I’ll listen. No matter what.”
And I opened my mouth to tell him everything, about Vadoma’s visions, about the Great White, about the star dragon and Myrin. In the end, maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe everything that came later would have turned out differently.
But I wouldn’t know, because I didn’t tell him any of that. Instead I said, “I know you would.”
He sighed but kissed me sweetly.
AND EVEN later in the night, while he was sleeping, his breathing heavy and slow, I lay awake next to him, thinking about everything we’d been through and everything that lay ahead. I knew that forces were massing against us, and if Randall and Morgan were right that Myrin had marked me because he wanted to eat my magic, then the road before us was rocky indeed.
It felt wrong to be splitting up.
But I had to trust that Randall and Morgan knew what they were doing.
I probably wasn’t going to like the conversations Randall and I were going to have, but I’d worry about that tomorrow.
Tonight I was safe and warm and sated, and the man I’d wished upon the stars for was curled next to me, his legs tangled with mine, his face in my neck, an arm thrown over my chest. I felt the thump thump thump of his heart. I felt the warm exhalations against my skin. I felt his hair brushing against my cheek.
Tomorrow, everything would change.
But this night I held Ryan Foxheart in my arms.
“I promise,” I whispered to him. “I won’t let anyone or anything tear us from each other. HaveHeart for life, motherfuckers.”
And then I slept.
“BUT WHAT if you die?” Gary wailed as he stood in front of me. “You know how I feel about you dying!”
“I’m not going to die,” I said, trying not to wince at the sheer volume of Gary’s voice. “I’m going to be with Randall.” We were in front of the Meridian City gates, preparing to go our separate ways. I should have known it wasn’t going to go smoothly.
“But you always say he’s going to murder you in your sleep!”
“That still might happen,” Randall muttered behind me.
“Oh no,” Tiggy said, starting to get upset. “Sam gonna die?”
“No—” I started to say.
“Probably!” Gary cried. “He’ll probably explode or have his throat slit and his blood will spill out upon the snow.”
“Maybe you both should calm down just a little—holy fucking sweet molasses!”
Have you ever been tackled by a gay hornless unicorn who was crying these great big globular princess tears? And after you’ve been tackled by said sobbing unicorn, has the matter ever been compounded when a half-giant decided it was probably a good idea that he join in as well, snot dripping from his nose because said sobbing unicorn was an emotionally manipulative asshole who overreacted about everything?
No?
Just me?
All right, then.
“Oh my gods,” I managed to wheeze as I lay at the bottom of a pile of unicorn and half-giant.
“Is this how it’s going to be for the next month?” Justin asked. “Because I may want to reconsider demanding I be let out of the castle to come help.”
“It’s like this sometimes,” Ryan told him. “But then other times, it’s having your self-esteem shredded by pointedly sharp barbs while Gary breathes heavily into your face.”
“Fantastic,” Justin sighed. “I’m so glad that I told my father a liaison was necessary when dealing with the dragons and the fairy king.”
“You can liaison me all you want,” Kevin said.
“That boat sailed a long time ago,” Justin told him.
“Maybe it should just come back to harbor, then. Set anchor. You could come to my starboard, or I’ll just go to your port.”
“I have no one but myself to blame for this,” Justin muttered.
“Gary,” I gasped. “Your asshole… is sitting… on my hand.”
“I am emotionally compromised,” he moaned. “I can’t be expected to know where all parts of my body are at all times.”
“Don’t die, Sam,” Tiggy wept. “No dying.”
“I’m not gonna die.”
“Oh,” Gary said. “Well, then.” He stopped crying almost immediately. “You should be embarrassed at making such a scene in front of everyone. I mean, if I were you, I know I’d be embarrassed. But this is nice. I feel like we don’t lie on top of each other as much as we used to. You got a boyfriend, I got a husband, you kept said boyfriend while I divorced my husband. But I’m not bitter about that at all. You fucking whore.”
“I love love,” Tiggy said, wiping his eyes.
And maybe my throat was a little tight at the thought of being away from them. Or rather, it would have been if I’d been able to breathe and didn’t have a unicorn’s asshole on my hand.
“I will take Morgan back to Castle Lockes,” Randall said. “I expect this foolishness to be sorted by the time we get back. Sam, be prepared to leave.”
“Maybe we’ll just take him away from here,” Gary said, sounding bitchier than I’d ever heard him before, especially since it was directed toward Randall. Gary might not have always agreed with Randall, but he respected him, especially given Randall’s position.
“I can find you,” Randall said, not unkindly. “Wherever you go.”
“Creepy,” Tiggy whispered to us.
“We’ve discussed this,” Morgan said, trying to smooth things over. “It’s nothing against any of you. It’s a natural part of Sam’s training.”
Well, no. I didn’t think it was. Morgan wasn’t outright lying, per se, but it was stretching the truth quite a bit. I didn’t know why, but I was sure I was going to find out once we got to Castle Freeze Your Ass Off. That was something I wasn’t looking forward to.
“Randall come with us,” Tiggy said wisely. “Could be Epic Adventure of Sam, Gary, Tiggy, Ryan, Kevin, Justin, Randall.”