“Gods don’t know everything, Sam.”
“Uh, yeah they do. They’re gods. It’s kind of their deal.”
“Then we’ll defy them. Just as you said. We will defy the gods.”
Oh, that magnificent bastard. “Well played,” I breathed. “Holy shit, that was almost diabolical! How did you do that?”
He looked rather pleased with himself. “I’ve learned from the best.”
“Why, thank you—”
“I was talking about Gary.”
“Oh. Fuck you, then.”
“I’m still angry with you. That you would keep this from me.”
I looked down at my lap. “I know.” And I did. This wasn’t… fixed. It would take more than a half-assed conversation where both of us were on the defensive. And I still wasn’t convinced that sending Ryan away wasn’t the best idea. At least that way I wouldn’t have to worry about him being used against me. Unless, of course, Myrin and the Darks found him back at Castle Lockes. Or anywhere else in Verania. Or the world.
“This is the exact same thing you’re so angry with Morgan and Randall about.”
“I know that too.”
“You’re still angry at them.”
I sighed. “Yeah. Shitty deal.”
“So you know why I’m still angry with you.”
“Yeah, but see. You could not be angry with me. That would be super cool too.”
“Not how it works.”
“It could be,” I mumbled.
He took the remaining step forward, knocking my legs apart and stepping in between them, like I’d wanted him to do earlier. I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against his stomach. He was warm and familiar, and he brought his hand to cup the back of my neck, fingers in my hair. I was greedy for his touch, wanting nothing more than to forget about all this shit for a little while. But I knew that wasn’t how things worked. Ryan had a right to be angry with me.
He sighed above me. “You don’t take the easy route, do you?”
“Sometimes,” I said. “But other times, I get lost off the trail.”
“I know you were trying to protect me.”
“Yeah.”
“But it comes across as not trusting me.”
“I do. It wasn’t—”
“I just need time to think about all of this.”
That… didn’t sound good. “Uh. Okay? I don’t—”
Ryan stepped away from me. I was cold at the loss of him.
He looked tired, more so than I’d ever seen him. I hated seeing him like this and hated even more the part I had played in it. Hindsight sucked, especially when I thought back to all the times I could have been honest.
“Just don’t take too long,” I said nervously. “I don’t know how much longer we’re going to stay here.”
“Yeah,” he said, a tight smile on his face. “I’m gonna go. Check in on Justin, make sure he’s settled. Maybe you should go see the dragons, find out what you need to do to get them on our side.”
And wow, I did not expect the burning jealousy to roll through me right then, to the point where I felt choked with it. Ryan had just spent weeks with Justin, and now he was running off to him after fighting with me? That was something I hadn’t expected to hear, and it hurt.
“Justin?” I managed to say, unable to look at him. “Why would you—”
“He’s the Prince,” Ryan said. “It’s my job.”
I nodded at that. He was right, of course. It was his job. That was it.
He made a sound like he was going to say something else, but in the end, he didn’t.
I didn’t even flinch at the sound of the door closing behind him.
Chapter 15: Randall of Dragons is an Asshole
“BITCH,” GARY said, “you done fucked up.”
I glared at him.
He stared passively back at me like he had all the time in the world.
I turned to Tiggy.
“Bitch,” Tiggy said, “fucked up. So fucked up.”
I glared at him too, for good measure.
He sneezed, then grinned at me.
I threw my hands up. “Fine! Okay! Fine! I know I did. I know I fucked up. I should have told all of you about everything. I shouldn’t have kept it a secret. I shouldn’t have lied about knowing less than I did. I should have been up-front about everything. Is that better? Do you feel better now? Good! Great! Wonderful.”
I stood in the doorway to the room Tiggy and Gary would be sharing. (“Of course I’m not going to be staying with Kevin. We are in a trial reconciliation, which means that dragon needs to work for his muffin, if you know what I mean. I ain’t gonna be handing out my goods for free, if you get what I’m saying. He’s not gonna put his finger in my pie, if you catch my drift. There’s no way he’s going to get my cream-filled pastry all over his face, if you can dig it. He’s not going to….” It went on for another six minutes.
Tiggy was braiding Gary’s mane, his thick fingers surprisingly nimble and delicate as he worked. Gary was lying on a pile of blankets in front of the fireplace like the princess he was, eating a bowl full of peeled grapes and drinking out of a large glass what I assumed to be some kind of wine.
“I am sure there are other things both of you could be doing that would benefit the quest more than what you’re doing right now,” I said, scowling at the both of them.
“Hmm,” Gary said, tongue snaking out and scooping up another grape. “No.”
“Those are my grapes,” I pointed out. “I was the one who peeled them.”
“Hmm,” Gary said, taking another drink of his wine, then smacking his lips. “No.”
“You’re so fucking aggravating!”
“Tiggy dear,” Gary said. “Sam is stressing me. This is supposed to be my quiet time.”
“Shh, Sam,” Tiggy said. “Shhhhh.”
“You shh,” I snapped.
“Oh my,” Gary said. “How positively droll. Tiggy, my love. A question, if I may.”
“You may,” Tiggy said. Then his tongue poked out between his teeth as he frowned in concentration when he reached a tricky part in the braid.
“Say you have a best friend,” he said as he slurped up another grape. He chewed obnoxiously before continuing. “And say said best friend is a wizard’s apprentice.”
“I like stories,” Tiggy said.
“Oh, don’t we all! Hypothetical stories are my favorite kind. Anyway. Say said best friend is a wizard’s apprentice that happens to have a destiny.”
Tiggy paused his movements. “This sound familiar.”
“Oh? Well. You know what they say. Nothing new under the sun. Now let us say that said best friend is a wizard’s apprentice that happens to have a destiny and who also apparently has a knack for keeping secrets.”
“Ooh,” Tiggy said. “I get it now.” He looked over at me where I stood fuming in the doorway, wondering if I could get away with murdering the both of them. The blood would probably sink into the ice, so I’d have to cut out blocks of it, melt it in the fire, then pour water to refreeze the sections that had been extricated. It was the perfect crime. “We talking ’bout Sam.”
“Oh?” Gary said maddeningly. “Are we? I hadn’t noticed. Now, if you had a best friend who was a wizard’s apprentice that happened to have a destiny and also a knack for keeping secrets, secrets that potentially had the power to alter the fate of the known world—”