Chapter 13: Reunited and It Feels So Good

 

 

I GAPED up at him, the snow swirling around us. I didn’t think I’d ever been so glad to see anyone in my life. “Kevin! How the hell did you—”

But then the two feathered dragons were above us, and Kevin said, “Ladies, ladies, ladies, maybe we could just talk about this—” but their claws were extended, reaching, ready to tear, and Kevin said, “See? This is why I suck cock, because fuck this noise,” and he tilted backward, folding his wings at his sides. I was hit with a dizzying sense of vertigo as he fell, and we were pointed directly at the feather dragons, but then he completed his backflip and twisted upright, clutching us close to his chest.

“I am so badass,” Kevin crowed as we tore down the side of the mountain. “Look at me doing flips and shit.”

“What is even happening right now!” I screamed up at him.

“What does it look like? I’m saving your ass!”

“Oh! That’s… good. You know what? Keep doing that!”

“Why, thank you for your permission, pretty. I will expect you to put your gratitude all over my body once this is done and over with.”

“We get out of this, I just might!” Then I turned to Randall, who was squished up against me, his face near mine. I lowered my voice and said, “I’m not going to do that because I’m not into interspecies relationships. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Then I kissed Randall on the tip of his bulbous nose because I was so happy to be alive.

“You and I are going to have so many words after this,” he warned me, sounding extraordinarily grumpy.

I was giddy for many, many reasons. “All the words,” I agreed.

“What did you do to piss these two off?” Kevin asked, swerving to the right to avoid a gout of flame.

“I existed,” I said.

“Ah, that’ll do it. You certainly seem to garner that type of reaction.”

“It’s my face.”

“It’s a nice face.”

“Why thank you—wait a godsdamn minute. How are you even here right now? Your wing is”—I glanced over at said appendage—“apparently just fine, what the hell. It healed?”

“Good as new,” Kevin said cheerfully, as if we weren’t being chased. He folded his wings again and flew through a large stone arch that rose from the side of the mountain. “I was hoping it would leave a scar, because everyone knows scars are sexy, but alas, it was for naught! My body is apparently too amazing and healed right over.”

“Your body is amazing! I can’t believe—wait. You cannot take that as me hitting on you—”

“Too late,” Kevin said with a leer. “I am going to do you so gross later, you don’t even know.”

Randall wasn’t amused. “Can we not talk about how you’re going to take Sam carnally?”

“What the fuck? He is not going to take me anything, much less carnally—”

“Sam!” Randall barked. “There are other things that are a little more important than your sexual deviancy at this very moment!”

“I take it back!” I shouted up at Kevin. “I am so not even happy to see you right now!”

“You’re such a liar—oh look! There’s the castle. We can talk about this later.”

He was right. No, not about us talking about it later, because we would never talk about this again, but the fact that Castle Freesias was now in sight.

I craned my neck so I could look behind us. The feathered dragons were still there, hurtling toward us.

“Do you have plan?” I shouted up at Kevin.

“Do I have a plan?” Kevin scoffed. “Do I have a plan!”

“What! It was a fair question!”

“You’re right. My apologies. But you should know that no, I have no plan whatsoever.”

“We’re all gonna die,” I moaned. “I am in pain and we’re all going to die. Worst adventure ever.”

Kevin’s wings billowed open, catching an updraft, slowing our descent. The drop in speed was rough, Kevin’s grip on us tightening briefly. I cried out as he squeezed my shoulder, and he looked down in fear as he lowered us toward the ground. “What happened?” he asked, sounding horrified.

“Not you,” I ground out. “Happened before. Shoulder hurts.”

“I think it’s dislocated,” Randall said. “We’ll have to deal with it later.”

And that’s when I heard it. Voices shouting below us. It took a moment for me to recognize them. No, it hadn’t been that long, but I’d been through a ton of shit over the past few weeks, so I thought I could be forgiven for not understanding what I was hearing at first.

But when I did?

Oh, when I did, it was possible I’d never felt relief more palpable than I did at that moment.

I heard Tiggy first, of course. My dear, sweet, lovely giant. His voice was the loudest of all, and he was saying, “Look! Sam! Hi, Sam! Hi! Hi!”

And Gary was screeching right along with him, “—and if you ever leave me behind like that again, Kevin, I swear to the gods we will find out exactly what roasted dragon balls taste like! Nobody puts Gary in the corner!”

“So you’ve been shouting,” Prince Justin said irritably. “For the last ten minutes.”

But it was the last person standing there that I focused on immediately.

And how my magic sang at the sight of him.

My breath caught in my throat at the worried look on his face.

“Hey,” I managed to say as Kevin set us gently on the ground. The pieces of the ruined sand sailboard collapsed around us, falling onto the snow. I was on my knees, Randall behind me, hand on my shoulder, but I barely felt him there.

Because a knight was rushing toward me, sliding onto his knees and crashing into me. His sword fell to the ground as his arms went around me, his face into my neck. He held me tightly, and I ignored the flash of pain in my shoulder, not caring how bad I probably smelled, how tired I was, or even how I could hear two pissed-off dragons snarling somewhere above us. All that mattered in that moment was the fact that I was with my cornerstone again.

“Sam,” Ryan Foxheart breathed, his lips against my neck.

“Hey,” I said, blinking away the burn in my eyes. “You’re here. How are—”

He pulled away, cupping my face in his big hands. “Later,” he said, leaning forward and kissing me sweetly, his beard scraping against my—

Hold up. I pulled away, staring at him. “You have a beard.” And he really did, a dirty-blond thing that was full on his face. I went from zero to let’s fuck in the space of a heartbeat.

He rolled his eyes, but he still smiled. “That’s what you’re focusing on right now. Really.”

“How is it you got even hotter because of a beard?” I demanded. “You grew facial hair, and now I want to give you a facial!”

Everyone groaned. Except Kevin. Kevin said, “Dibs on sitting in the front row splash zone for that performance.”

“I’m so glad the gang is back together with Kevin picking up right where he left off,” Justin said dryly. “And as much as I want to continue to listen to the drivel that I’m sure is coming—”

“Ha!” Gary said. “Coming. You just made that dirty. I’m rubbing off on you.”

“We could make that a thing,” Kevin said, eyeing Justin up and down. “Justin and I used to be almost lovers.”

“Thank you for that profound contribution,” Justin said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And we were not almost anything. As I was saying, we might have other matters to deal with right now. Namely two gigantic pissed-off dragons that are circling above us like vultures.”

As if they could hear the Prince, the feathered dragons shrieked in the distance, flying high above us, looking ready to attack at any moment.

“I tried flirting with them,” Kevin said to Gary. “It didn’t work. They must have been able to see I’m a fan of penises somehow.”

“You know, when I agreed to a trial reconciliation, I thought part of the agreement was that you wouldn’t flirt with everything that moved,” Gary snapped at him. “Even though you couldn’t talk, I assumed that’s what you agreed to since I decided to pay attention to you again.”

“It wasn’t real,” Kevin said, dropping his head on the ground. “No, baby. Look at me. Look at me with those bright, beautiful eyes. There they are. Yes. So pretty you are. Baby, listen. Listen to your boy. I was just trying to distract them so they wouldn’t go after Sam and Randall! I don’t even like other dragons. You know that. Besides, why would I look anywhere else when you’re all I need? Baby, baby, baby, have I told you that your mane looks pretty today? Because it does. Just like it does every day. You are the fire that burns deep within me.”

“You owe me, Haversford,” Ryan muttered in my ear. “So bad.”

“Baby,” I teased. “Look at me. Look at me with those bright, beautiful—” I started to laugh as he shoved me away, but his hand hit my bad shoulder and I shouted in pain instead. My eyes watered as I hunched over, shying away from any further touch.

“Sam?” Ryan asked, sounding uncertain, making an aborted gesture as he reached for me.

“He’s been hurt,” Randall said, standing above me. “His shoulder has been dislocated. It’ll need to be set.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “The dragons did this?”

“No,” I said, wincing. “Not technically. Hit a wall after they started chasing us.”

“I’m going to kill them,” Ryan growled, reaching for his sword.

“Dude,” I said. “You being all protective like that with a beard is my new sexuality. Just so you know.”

“And you,” Gary said, glaring at me over Ryan. “You can bet that you and I are going to have a good, long discussion about almost dying without even inviting me.”

“Me too,” Tiggy said. “Not cool, Sam.”

“Done and done,” I said. “But first we all need to stand in a row and look all badass as we face down lesbian feather dragons, one of whom thinks I’m cute and the other who wants to murder my face because I kicked her in the eye.”

Everyone stared at me.

“What?” I asked, confused.

Ryan sighed. “How sad is it that everything you just said not only makes sense, but is actually not that surprising?”

I beamed at him. “Dude, I totally love you. You don’t even know.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s kick some dragon ass—”

“Ahem.”

“Oh my gods. Sam, come on.”

I glared at him. “Have you been cursing the whole time we’ve been apart?”

“What? No! Of course not.”

“Yes,” Tiggy and Gary and Justin said.

“Said fuck a lot,” Tiggy said.

“And shit balls,” Gary said.

“And for some reason, he told me to calm my tits once,” Justin said with a frown.

“I hate you guys so much,” Ryan muttered.

“We will be talking about this later,” I told Ryan. “After I make friends with the lesbian feather dragons, have you choke on my dick, and then maybe get something to eat, because honestly? I am fucking starving right now. But first! Line of Badasses, unite!”

“That was capitalized,” Tiggy said to Gary.

“Yes, kitten, I heard. We should probably step to it. Though I don’t know that I need to be standing in a line to be considered a badass. I mean, just look at me. Everything about me screams badass.”

“You have ladybug hair clips holding back your mane,” Justin said.

“Exactly,” Gary said. “See? Justin gets it.”

Ryan stood at my side, helping me stand. His scowl deepened as I winced. “How bad is it?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” I assured him. “Let’s just get this over with for now. Then you can fret and fuss over me like you always do.”

“I don’t fret and fuss, gods.”

“You totally do.”

“I didn’t even miss you at all.”

“Liar,” I said, not wanting to look away from him. He seemed to be having the same problem.

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to mine. My magic pulsed around us. “Just… just don’t scare me like that again,” he whispered.

I couldn’t promise that. So I kissed his scruffy cheek instead.

And then we lined up in front of Castle Freesias, Randall on one side of me, Ryan on the other, Justin on his other side, a curved sword in each hand, bouncing on his toes, at the ready. Tiggy and Gary were next to Randall, the half-giant cracking his gigantic knuckles, the hornless unicorn starting to seep glitter. Kevin stood behind us, wings spread, smoke curling from his nostrils.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. “Someone needs to paint us right the fuck now, and said painting needs to be hung in Castle Lockes to be admired forever because of how amazing we all look.”

“Okay,” Ryan said, flourishing his sword like a douchebag. “I totally lied. I missed you so gosh darn much.”

I grinned at him. “Right back at ya, babe. Now, let’s kick some ass!”

Except… that didn’t happen.

Because the lesbian feather dragons landed before us, feathers ruffling in the wind, but they weren’t getting ready to attack. They weren’t even focused on me. Or Randall. Or anyone else aside from…

Tiggy.

“You there,” the larger of the two said. “Your face.”

Tiggy looked behind himself, then back at the dragons. “Me?” he asked, pointing at himself.

“You are a giant,” the smaller dragon said, voice awed.

“I’m a Tiggy,” Tiggy said.

“Dragons!” Ryan cried. “You have hurt the man I love. You will taste the steel of my blade!”

“Wow,” Justin snorted. “That sure showed them.”

“Babe,” I said, “that was sweet, but maybe cut back on the douchebaggery.”

“Douchebaggery?” he said, brow furrowing. “That wasn’t douchebaggery. That was how I normally talk.”

“Sure it was,” I said. “Because normal people say taste the steel of my blade.”

“I’ll be honest,” Gary said, “even though it sounded stupid, it did give me a bit of a boner.”

“It didn’t sound stupid,” Ryan muttered, kicking at the snow. “You all sound stupid.”

“Gary,” Kevin said, “I thought we agreed as part of our trial reconciliation that you wouldn’t get boners because of anybody else except for me.”

“It’s the beard,” Gary said. “I can’t help it. He’s a dude-bro now, and for some reason, that really just does it for me.”

“I can grow a beard,” Kevin said. “Okay, I can’t, but we can glue sheep wool to my face and pretend. You know how I feel about sheep, those fucking little shits who scream when they see me coming because I am their god.”

“Where do you come from?” the bigger dragon asked Tiggy. She, too, sounded almost breathless. “We have not seen your kind in centuries.”

Randall cocked his head, staring between Tiggy and the dragons, eyes narrowed.

Tiggy looked nervous. He glanced to me like he was unsure of what to say. I stepped out of the Line of Badasses, ignoring the way Ryan protested. I felt the feather dragons’ eyes on me as I moved toward my friend. Gary leaned forward and nuzzled my neck briefly as I passed him. I stopped in front of Tiggy. He looked down at me, a small smile on his face. I held my good arm up, and he bent over, picked me up gently, and cradled me against his chest. I was reminded of that day long ago in the Dark Woods when I found a half-giant and a unicorn on the run from a man named Koklanaris, the marks of a whip upon their bodies. We’d all been younger then and a bit smaller, but he’d held me just the same.

And he must have been thinking the same thing, because his smile widened a little as he said, “I keep you. You’re mine. I call you Steve.”

“Your face,” I said, leaning forward and rubbing my nose against his. He hummed happily before I pulled away. “You okay?”

“Now,” he said, and I knew what he meant. We were all together again. “You’re hurt.”

“Eh. I’ve had worse.”

Tiggy glared at the dragons over me. “You hurt Sam.”

“I thought he was Steve,” the smaller dragon whispered to her mate.

“Maybe he’s both,” she whispered back. Then, louder, “It was a test.” She didn’t sound apologetic about it.

“A test where you tried to eat me,” I pointed out.

“Randall,” she said, “tell him.”

And that… well. I was not expecting that. I turned my head slowly to look at Randall. “Yes, Randall. Please. Tell me.”

For his part, Randall didn’t even look remotely perturbed. In fact, he ignored me pretty much completely. “That was your idea of a test?” he asked coolly. “To what end?”

“To see his mettle,” the bigger dragon said. “The scope of his heart. The minds of men are a terrible thing. Just because the gods have put their faith in him doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of corruption. We have seen what men can do.” She glanced at Tiggy again, a shrewd look on her face. “What they can destroy. You, giant. Where did you come from?”

“He doesn’t remember,” I said when Tiggy looked unsure of himself. “Not really.” What had he said inside Zero’s forest?

Smells like home. Like before. Before you. Before Gary.

We didn’t know much about it. His before. What we did know was mostly assumptions. Tiggy was vague about it, and I thought it was more because he couldn’t remember rather than repression of some trauma. He didn’t act afraid, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t. The closest understanding I’d gotten to his before was that he’d been cast out by the giants, along with his parents, for being a half-breed. Tiggy had the language to tell us, but either he didn’t want to or he didn’t know. He got frustrated when we pushed, and I couldn’t do that to him. Tiggy never seemed as if he were longing for something more. In fact, his speech in Zero’s forest was the most he’d talked about it in a very long time.

“Is it because he’s half?” the smaller dragon asked, sounding aggrieved.

“We don’t know.”

“No, Sam,” Tiggy said. “You hurt. Fix you first.”

That was something I wasn’t looking forward to. I’d seen how dislocated shoulders were fixed. It looked like the worst thing in the world. “Maybe we could just—”

“Set him down,” the larger dragon said. “I wish to speak to the boy wizard.”

“Apprentice,” Gary coughed, because he obviously was a dick.

“Uh,” I said. “No offense, but lady-dude, you were just all fang and rawr not five minutes ago. Forgive me for being a bit skeptical at your intentions. I’d rather keep my arm, thanks.”

She just stared intently at Randall. It took a moment, but then Randall sighed. “Sam, she’s not going to hurt you.”

“You know what? I’d really rather not take the chance.”

“You know what we discussed?”

“We discussed many things, Randall. Maybe be a bit more specific.”

“You told me what Zero was capable of. His forest. The trees and the flowers. How he grew them.”

“Yeah. So?”

“It is specific to him.”

“I figured.”

“Haven’t you wondered what the other dragons can do?”

“My power is being a sex machine,” Kevin said proudly.

“I don’t think that’s quite it,” I told him.

“Probably is.”

“I really don’t think—”

“It sounds about right to me,” Gary said.

“You know what?” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not even going to get involved in this right now. Also, we will be discussing how you two are apparently back together again.”

“Trial reconciliation,” Gary said. “We are not back together.”

“That’s not what you were saying a few nights ago when you were all up on my junk,” Kevin muttered.

“And how did you even do that?” I asked. “Kevin couldn’t even talk.”

“You don’t need words when you have the language of the body,” Kevin said, leering at me.

“Oh, gross,” I said as I gagged.

“It really was,” Justin muttered. “Did you know Gary makes rainbows when he—”

“And it’s not as if I needed words,” Gary said. “I’d know his growls and facial expressions anywhere.”

“You are my everything,” Kevin said reverently.

“As I should be.”

“Are you going to eat me?” I asked the larger feathered dragon, trying to get us back on track.

She snorted. “No.”

“You sure acted like you were.”

“That’s because I’m ferocious.”

“She’s actually a softy once you get to know her,” her mate said. “It’s really rather sweet.”

“Holy lesbians,” Gary breathed. “Sam! Be an adorable twink! They will love you!”

“Thanks, buddy,” I said. “Tried that already. Arm feels like it’s going to fall off.”

“If you try and eat him,” Ryan said, taking a step forward, brandishing his sword, “I will spill your blood upon the earth and the snow will run red with my wrath.”

“I have never been turned-on by alliteration before,” I whispered to no one in particular. “Until now. It has to be the beard. What sorcery is this?”

“I told him not to shave,” Gary said quietly as he leaned over. “Thought you’d like it. You’re welcome.”

“You give me the best presents,” I said.

“Imagine how it’d feel on your thighs.”

I drooled a little on accident.

“I will not harm him,” the dragon said to Ryan. “You have my word.”

“I would know your name,” Ryan said. “Names carry weight. Your honor as a dragon means much, but your name would mean more.”

“Oh my gods,” I said excitedly. “This is going to be amazing. Finally I get to hear a real dragon name!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kevin asked, frowning down at me. “You already know my name. And Zero’s. You know dragon names.”

“Uh,” I said, eyes shifting side to side. “Riiiiight. Because… you two… have real… dragon names.”

“Exactly,” Kevin said. “Do you know how long it took me to decide on my name?”

“As long as it took to come up with the perfection that is Kevin?”

He looked pleased at that. “Precisely.”

“Yeah. That… good job with that.”

The larger dragon reared up, sitting on her hind legs. It was a sign of trust, exposing her soft underbelly to Ryan, who stood before her with a sword. Her mate did the same beside her, feathers twitching on top of her head. They were remarkably smaller than Kevin, maybe half his size, which meant that they were also smaller than Zero. But I thought they made up for it with speed. Zero could move quickly along the ground and through the earth. Kevin was intimidating given his largeness. But these two seemed agile and quick in ways that Zero and Kevin could not be.

And it chilled me a little that I was already thinking of them in terms of their usefulness in an upcoming battle. They were thoughts that I wished I didn’t have to have.

I pushed them away. For now.

Now I would hear the names of the fabled mated dragons of the Northern Mountains.

My hopes were sky-high.

The larger one would be called something like Queen Mystic Feather of the Snowy Mountains. Her mate would be Queen Snow Storm of the Ice Caves. I just knew it.

“My name is Pat,” the dragon said, voice rumbling and eyes flashing. “And this is my mate, Leslie.”

“How do you do,” Leslie said primly as she bowed her head, wings fluttering.

“Yes!” I cried. “Oh my gods, yes! I knew they would be—” Then, “Wait. What.”

“Pat and Leslie,” Ryan said as he bowed. “I am Ryan Foxheart, Knight Commander to the Good King Anthony of Verania. I am also the cornerstone to the apprentice of Morgan of Shadows, Sam of Wilds. I am joined by Grand Prince Justin of Verania.”

“No, seriously,” I said. “What are their names?”

“Pat and Leslie,” Kevin said. “How exotic.”

“I know I’ve never heard of such names before,” Gary said, sounding impressed. “How unique.”

“Are you guys for real right now?” I demanded. “Does no one see the problem here but me?”

“Your wizard acts as if he is in pain,” Pat said to Ryan. “I can help him.”

“I have your word that no harm will come to him?” Ryan asked, and I couldn’t be faulted for almost swooning at him sounding so regal. I actually might have swooned if I hadn’t been so incensed at learning about Pat and Leslie, for fuck’s sake. And because of my dislocated shoulder.

“You have my word, Knight Commander,” Pat said. “He has passed his test.”

“Pat and Leslie,” I said miserably.

“Yes, dear,” Leslie said, peering over at me. “Sorry about all the hullabaloo. It was really rather barbaric, but Pat did have a point that we would need to test your mettle.”

I sighed, giving in to the inevitable. “Whatever. I don’t even care right now. My dreams of knowing a cool dragon have been decimated. There’s four of you now, and the coolest one is a fourteen-year-old emo kid. I can’t even with all of this.”

“Oh boy,” Gary said. “Someone sounds like they need a nap.”

That actually sounded amazing.

“Or a good fucking,” Kevin said.

That sounded amazing too.

Tiggy looked uncertain. “Set you down now?”

“Yeah, big guy. You can set me down now.”

“You sad?”

“Just disappointed that no one here is named Queen Mystic Feather of the Snowy Mountains. I’ll get over it. Eventually. Probably.”

Tiggy looked over at Pat and Leslie. “You no hurt Sam. He is my Sam. I love him. Tiggy smash if you hurt him.”

The severe look on Pat’s face softened when she looked at Tiggy. “You have my word, giant. No harm will come to the wizard.”

“Apprentice,” Gary sneezed. “Gosh, I must be allergic to all this snow. I don’t even know what’s come over me today. Excuse me.”

“Okay, Sam?” Tiggy asked.

“Okay,” I agreed.

He set me down gently, my boots sinking into the snow. He brought a big finger up and rubbed it along the top of my head. I leaned into it, thankful that after everything, my friends were alive and well and we were together again. Even if apparently all the dragons of Verania had no idea what it meant to have an epic dragon name, at least I had my family back at my side again.

Tiggy took a step back by Gary, who leaned forward and pressed his nose against my forehead. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“I like you still, in case you were wondering.”

“Oh good. I like you still too.”

“Of course you do.”

“Sassy,” I said fondly, pushing his face away.

Ryan hadn’t sheathed his sword, but he did hold his free hand out to me. I grimaced as I took a step forward, the pain bright and heavy now. I was tired and cranky and happy all at the same time. I wanted nothing more than to find the nearest bed and curl into Ryan and possibly not move for the foreseeable future. I thought that sounded like the best and most practical idea I’d ever come up with.

I took Ryan’s hand, callused and rough and oh-so familiar. I felt more settled than I had in weeks, knowing he was here. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight again.

Wizard, a voice whispered in my head.

We can feel your bonds, another voice said, smooth and sweet.

I stared up at the dragons.

They stared down at me.

They were there again in my head, but it didn’t feel as malevolent as it had before. I wondered then at their supposed plan, at their tests they felt the need to put me through. Hadn’t Zero done the same? Oh sure, he’d positioned it as playing, but in the end, hadn’t it been a test of wills? His versus my own. The dragon versus the wizard and his friends. In the end, we had all stood against him. He’d snapped and snarled, but he’d collapsed soon after and had turned back into the emo dragon.

But why.

I can hear your questions

I can hear your dreams

You are jumbled

You are confused

But then, you are human, after all

Such a conflicting mixture you all are

Even the wizards cannot escape the entrapment of human fallacies

Ryan’s hand tightened in mine, and I knew he was feeling something—as was probably Kevin—but I didn’t think he could make out their words like I could. I didn’t know if he ever would. A cornerstone was a treasured thing, but it wasn’t necessarily powerful. He was connected to the dragons through me. I didn’t think it was possible for him to do it on his own.

We have answers, though few they may be

And we will give them to you

But first

We must show you what we are

So that you may see us as we have seen you

You have such power within you

But it’s unwieldy

Unrestrained

It has the potential to consume you

Your cornerstone will help you

But he cannot do it on his own

There are great risks ahead for you

A burden unlike anything the world has ever seen

We can help you carry it

But it will cost you

“Of course it will,” I muttered. “Because everything comes with a price.”

“It must,” Pat said simply, eyes flaring blue.

“It is the way of things,” Leslie said, eyes matching her mate’s.

I thought my own were doing the same, and from the look of wonder on Ryan’s face as he watched me, I was right. I felt them, the two dragons, much like I had with Zero. They were twin pulses in my head and heart, and though they were distinct from each other, they belonged together. One without the other wouldn’t carry the power they had when they were together.

“What can you do?” I asked.

It was Leslie who answered first. She leaned forward, neck stretching toward me. Her eyes were the color of the blue in her feathers—like a summer sky—and the plumage atop her head stood straight up, like a beautiful crown. The feathers rattled gently, whispering as they rubbed together, the barbs and hooklets sounding like bones.

“You know what we can do,” she said.

Pat too leaned forward, her feathers making the same rattling noise, and for a moment I thought the colors of the world began to bleed around us, running down like wet paint. I thought I was tipping—or slipping—into something… else, but everything snapped back into focus before I could follow it further.

“Dreamwalkers,” I whispered, and Ryan squeezed my hand tightly.

“Yes,” Leslie said. She might have been the smallest dragon present, but she was still very large, her head almost as long as my entire body. I tried not to flinch as her snout pressed against my chest. The feathers shook as she closed her eyes, and the heat from the breath in her exhalation warmed my skin through my thick coat, and I was—

standing at the edge of a cliff, Ryan falling behind me, blue eyes staring at me from out in the forest, and they were calling for me to

—breathing, breathing, breathing, and Ryan said, “That’s enough.”

Leslie pulled away, rubbing her face along Pat’s neck.

“You pulled us there,” I said, voice shaking. “Ryan and me.”

“We did,” Pat said.

Ryan took a step closer to me so that his shoulder was pressed against mine, our hands clasped between us. “It’s why we got here so fast. After you threw me off a cliff—”

“Yeah,” I said. “I feel real bad about that. No need to keep bringing it up, babe. Also? Just a dream.”

He scowled at me. “After you threw me off a cliff, I woke up in our camp in Tarker Mills and knew we had to get here as quickly as possible. I didn’t know what was going on, but you said it was real, and I believed you.”

“That’s because you love me.”

“Possibly.”

“I’ll still take it.”

His lips twitched like he was fighting a smile.

“Quite,” Pat said. “Though, we witnessed things we did not expect.”

“A lot of kissing,” Leslie cooed. “It was adorable.”

“So,” I said slowly, “you essentially just watched us make out. Lady-dudes. What the hell.”

Ryan stiffened beside me. “Maybe not insult the dragons.”

“What? They were the ones getting their voyeurism kink on!”

“Is he always like this?” Pat asked.

“Mostly,” Randall muttered.

“Only sometimes,” I corrected. “But you gotta admit that’s… not something I was expecting. It felt real.”

“It was real,” Pat said, glowing eyes blinking rapidly. “For all intents and purposes, you were corporeal. Your body and soul were split between two planes. If one had entered your room, they would have found you asleep on your bed, body warm, breathing slowed. But your spirit was elsewhere. And the spirit is just as real as the body that stands before me.”

“Always so serious,” Leslie said fondly. “Dear, must you make it sound so ominous?”

“I am stressing the point,” Pat said.

“Consider it stressed,” Leslie said, pressing her snout against Pat’s neck.

“But it wasn’t like….” I paused, considering.

Both dragons looked at me again. “Wasn’t like what?” Pat asked.

“Vadoma,” I said slowly. “My—my grandmother. She… the edges always felt… blurred. When she showed me what she did. Like I was lost in the dream. With you, I knew I was dreaming, but it was… I could feel the forest around me. Ryan against me. It—why was it different?”

“Because a dragon’s magic is different than that of a human,” Pat said. “This… Vadoma should not be dabbling in dreamwalking. A human soul cannot control what is shown to another.”

“So she could be mistaken?” I breathed.

I felt Randall’s gaze upon me, but I didn’t dare to turn around and look at him.

Leslie pulled away, but only just, remaining at eye level with me. And I didn’t know how, I didn’t know why, but right then, it was clear that she knew.

I almost took a step back. Somehow I stayed where I was.

I was proven right only a moment later.

I see what is in your heart, she said, eyes gleaming.

I know what you are capable of

I know your thoughts, your desires

But you cannot give in to the desire

If one has a power, it is not a given right that it should be used

There is temptation

There will always be temptation

Sometimes the true power is not to give in to it

Her gaze flickered between Ryan and me before she pulled away completely.

“All right?” Ryan asked me, squeezing my hand.

I smiled faintly at him, mind reeling. “All right.” I sounded gut-punched. I hoped everyone would chalk it up to the show of the dragon’s power rather than anything else. I needed to think about this. It was more information than I expected to get.

“We need to get your arm seen to,” he said. “The rest of this can wait until tomorrow.”

I winced. “That’s going to suck.”

“Probably. But it’ll be even worse to keep it as it is. I’ve dislocated my shoulder a few times. Trust me when I say it’ll feel better once it’s set.”

“You don’t need to try and impress me. You’ve already got me.”

“What? I wasn’t trying to—oh shut up, Sam.”

“Dude,” I said, grinning at him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

He rolled his eyes, but his hand tightened in mine.

But before Ryan could pull me away, something happened that I did not expect.

Pat said, “Wizard, it is an honor to stand before you again, especially to see you still healthy and whole.”

And Randall said, “The honor is mine,” as he bowed low.

I narrowed my eyes. “You know him? And what do you mean healthy?”

Randall sighed.

Leslie blinked. “But of course. He is Randall of Dragons.”

“He served the Master,” Pat said.

“The Master,” I repeated.

“The one you know as the Great White,” Pat said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Oooh,” Gary said. “Twist. Draaaamaaaaa.”

I turned slowly toward Randall, who looked particularly grumpy. “Randall,” I said as evenly as possible. “Another secret? I thought we were past all of that.”

Randall smiled sweetly at me. He glanced between Ryan and me, and even before he opened his mouth, I knew what he was going to say. “Speaking of secrets, Sam, isn’t it time you share a few of your own with your friends? I should think they would be very interested to know what it is you’ve seen while they seemingly stood by your side.”

I gaped at him.

He arched an eyebrow at me.

“What’s happening?” Tiggy whispered to Gary.

“I think we’re about to get some revelations all up in this bitch,” Gary whispered back. “And if the look on Sam’s face is indicative of anything, this is going to be amazing. And probably cause unnecessary angst that will cause a division between our heroes. I am excited.”

“Sam?” Ryan asked. “What’s Randall talking about?”