Chapter 3: Camp HaveHeart

 

 

BUT BEFORE I could smite her where she stood, Deirdre, who looked as tiny as she had the last time I’d seen her a couple of years ago, burst into tears. “Oh my g-g-gods,” she sobbed. “He’s h-h-here. I’m going to throw up all over everything.”

“There, there,” Mary said, patting her arm. “You know what happens when you get the crying vomits. You did that last week when the Knight Commander waved at you, remember? We don’t want to have to go through that again. It was a nightmare.”

“I’ve killed people,” Nicole breathed. “But the rush I feel right now makes that feel like nothing in comparison. Someone should hold me back before I launch myself at him and touch his mouth with my mouth and whisper things in his ear no proper lady should ever say aloud.”

“That might be the best idea ever,” Griselda said. “Sam did say he’s missed the touch of another human, and might do things to you that you’ve only dreamed about. Someone hold me back too before I test my theory all over his body.”

“Oh, you don’t even want to know my dreams,” Crissy said, flushing brightly. “My husband woke me up once and said that I was writhing as if I was in pain, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I was in the throes of a DP session with Sam and his mirror twin, Mas, because I don’t have any problems with twincest, if you know what I mean.”

“What the hell is DP?” Courtney demanded. “I want that too! My dreams are always so boring, with my four-ways with Sam and Ryan and Justin. Why can’t I have twincest DP?”

“It means double penetration,” Wanda said, leering at me in a way that I would not have expected from an older lady such as herself. “Stuffed like a turkey at the holidays.”

“I-I’m only f-f-fourteen,” Deirdre hiccupped. “I didn’t know y-you could stick it in more places!”

“Oh, that’s not even the half of it,” Nicole said. “You got your front door, your back door, your mouth, and your ears. Why, get three guys and two fairies, and you won’t even be able to breathe.” She frowned. “Well, you would, because of your nose, which you probably shouldn’t put anything in there, given that you would die.”

“Who are these glorious creatures?” Kevin whispered. “I want to hug them close and have them whisper their dirty secrets in my ear.”

“He looks so scruffy,” Crissy said, eyeing me up and down. “Like in that one real person fan fiction I wrote, remember? When he was attacked and had amnesia and became a bad boy who wore leather and Ryan had to make him fall in love with him all over again.”

“Is that the one where Ryan told him that Sam’s heart would show him the way home and that they would make new memories if he couldn’t recover the old?” Griselda asked, eyelids fluttering. “Because I swear to the gods, when you read that line, I was moist.”

“Okay,” Kevin said. “Maybe I don’t want to be friends with them now.”

“I’m not a girl,” Deirdre cried. “But I’m not yet a woman either. Why am I tingling?”

“Isn’t that a song lyric?” Wanda frowned. “From that singer that was cute, and then she went crazy, and then was not crazy and still manages to wear costumes that show off a body I will never have?”

“Probably,” Mary said. “But the kids these days listen to the strangest things.”

“Ladies!” Tina barked. “Attention!”

It was like she had flipped a switch. They snapped their feet together, spines rigid, arms at their sides, chins up. Even Deirdre managed to stop her sniffling, her face wet but eyes determined. Lady Tina stared at me for a moment longer before she turned to the others and walked in front of them, pacing side to side. A crowd began to gather behind them, eyes wide, their whispers sounding like wind over grass as the people pointed at Kevin and myself.

“Who are we?” Tina demanded.

“The Foxy Lady Brigade!” the women shouted back.

“And what is our main objective!”

“To preserve and protect the rights of the people of Verania!”

“And how do we do that?”

“By identifying threats against the Crown and its citizens, cataloguing their weaknesses, and then eliminating them.”

“And why do we do it?”

“Because we contribute to the safety of Verania.”

“In whose name?”

“In the name of the King of Verania, the Prince of Verania, of Morgan of Shadows, of Randall, and of Sam of Wilds!”

My eyes bulged.

“And when will we stop?”

“Never!” they bawled.

“At rest!”

They stood, feet apart, elbows bent, hands clasped behind them. Tina stood in front of each of them, one at a time, like she was inspecting them. She would fix a collar or straighten a scabbard, muttering words I couldn’t quite make out. The ladies didn’t react, eyes straight forward, barely even blinking.

Once she’d finished with the last one, Lady Tina DeSilva turned to me. She had a determined expression on her face. The crowd behind her had gathered in the hundreds, and it seemed as if all of them were holding their breaths, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

I almost felt bad that I was going to explode her in front of everyone.

“Sam of Wilds,” Lady Tina said, voice even. “How lovely it is to see you again.”

“I’m sure it is,” I said, just as smooth. “I wish I could say the same. So I will. How lovely it must be for you to see me again.”

The skin under her left eye twitched. “We have been awaiting your return with something akin to antici… pation.”

“Really,” I said. “I had understood that those that experience anticipation are capable of such things because they have a soul. Tell me, Lady Tina. How is it that you can anticipate anything when you are nothing but an empty husk of a human shell?”

“Ooh,” the crowd said.

“I’ve been waiting all year for this moment!” someone cried rather hysterically. “So far I’m not disappointed!”

Now the skin under her right eye was twitching too. “You’ve been gone a long time, Sam of Wilds. Things have changed.”

“Right, I noticed. Especially here at what used to be called the Port. What has it been renamed to? Katya! Oh dearest Katya. What did you say this place was called?”

“Camp HaveHeart,” she supplied helpfully. I liked her.

“That’s right,” I crowed. “Camp HaveHeart. Lady Tina, what was your opinion on HaveHeart again? I seem to have forgotten.”

She was grinding her teeth together. “It is a stable and loving relationship that should be looked upon with reverence.”

“Aha! See? She is nothing but wicked and—wait. What.”

“I love HaveHeart,” she said, and suddenly she stopped twitching altogether and began to smile. It was a terrible thing, filled with a candy-sweet malice that I was sure no one could see but me. “In fact, one could say I’m the biggest HaveHeart fan there is.”

I sputtered a little.

Her smile widened.

“You she-witch,” I growled, taking a step toward her. “I know what you’re doing. Mark my words, you shall face my wrath.”

“But, Sam,” Lady Tina said, voice sticky sweet, “I don’t know what our Prince and Knight Commander would do without me. I am their second, after all.”

“Ahh,” the crowd said.

We were now almost toe to toe.

She smelled like flowery perfume.

And evil.

“I don’t know your game here,” I snarled at her quietly. “But trust me when I say I’ll figure it out. And when I do, you shall rue the day you set eyes upon me. You hear me? So. Much. Ruing.”

“Oh, Sam,” she said, eyes blazing. “There is no game. I’ve changed. I’m a different person now, one who has seen the error of her ways. You haven’t been around to see my transformation. Where I was once a beautiful caterpillar, I have now been transformed into a magnificent butterfly capable of dealing death.”

“Well, I’m a—wait. Hold on. Butterflies can’t kill people. That’s just stupid. You’re dumb. Everything about you is dumb.”

“Oh my gods,” a woman in the crowd moaned. “The sexual tension is so palpable. Why can’t they just kiss already? SilvaHeart for life!”

“Ew,” Tina and I both said at the same time.

“Like I would ever,” I snapped.

“Have you seen him?” she growled. “He’s so… not attractive. And at least I seem to the only one out of the two of us to understand basic hygiene.”

“I told you I’ve been living in the woods. In a hut.”

“Ooh, bully for you. The great Sam of Wilds has—”

“Sam of Dragons, actually.”

The crowd gasped dramatically.

“Still not disappointed!” that first voice called out again. “In fact, I am so far from disappointed, it’s ridiculous!”

Tina’s expression faltered as she took a step back. There was a flicker of fear on her face, and I relished it.

“Oh, you hadn’t heard,” I said. “Funny, that.” I puffed out my chest and jutted my chin. “I was tasked by the gods with a destiny. I have met that task with no complaints—”

“Well, that’s certainly not true in the slightest,” Kevin said mildly.

“—with no complaints, and have collected the dragons of Verania. And as I entered—”

“Of which I am one!” Kevin proclaimed. “Lord Dragon has returned. You may bestoweth upon me all of your possessions in gratitude. So spaketh the Beast from the East. Eth!”

“Would you stop interrupting me? I’m trying to be cool here.”

“Key word trying,” Kevin muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing. Keep going. You’re really doing well.”

“Thank you.”

“For an insignificant speck of dust.”

“Hey!”

“Someone has to keep your ego in check.”

“Dammit, now I forgot what I was saying.”

“You were trying to be cool.”

“Right. Right. I went into the woods as Sam of Wilds, a wizard’s apprentice. And now I have returned as Sam of Dragons, a wizard!” I frowned. “Without the apprentice part, in case that wasn’t clear. Like, full-on wizard now. It’s all Wizard City up in this bitch.”

Someone started to slow-clap in the audience. A few people followed.

“I’m not done. You can’t just slow-clap to start applause before I finish! Gods, do you not understand the etiquette of the slow clap?”

“My bad!”

“Thank you. Okay. So. I’m a wizard. Here to kick some ass and take some names. Spread the word far and wide! Sam of Dragons has returned!” I smiled and waited.

Silence.

“Dude, now is a good time to start that slow clap.”

“Oh, sorry.” He started slow-clapping again. Probably six other people joined in.

“We should go back into the woods,” I muttered.

“We can always—”

Todd burst out of the crowd, stumbling to a stop, feet skidding in the dirt. He fumbled with his spear and almost ending up stabbing himself through the chest. It really was rather adorable when his ears turned a bit pink at the tips.

“Holy jeez,” he said, breathing heavily. “You came back!”

“Uh, yes? Was there any doubt?”

He stared at me incredulously. “Sam, no one knew where you’d gone. Everyone thought you ran away!”

“What? I didn’t run away.” I glared at the crowd. “I went on a quest. To be awesome. And guess what? It worked.”

“It did?” he asked dubiously. “Because you look like the homeless guy who kept coming into my dad’s hotel to urinate in the fountain.”

“Wow. That is not the look I was going for. I don’t know if I think your ears are endearing anymore.”

“Is he hitting on Todd?” Nicole whispered to Crissy. “What would their ship name be? I need to know so I can ship them if they start licking each other.”

Crissy frowned. “Well, I don’t know Todd’s last name, so shipping etiquette says that we have to combine both their first names. So. Sam. Todd. That would be… Sadd. Their ship name is Sadd.”

“That’s depressing,” Courtney said. “I can’t imagine masturbating to Sadd.”

“Courtney!” Lady Tina barked. “Put your slut away right now.”

“Well, it’s true,” Courtney muttered.

“I’ve never even masturbated,” Deirdre cried. “My grandmother told me I would get hair on my palms and I could get stuck in there and die!”

An awkward silence followed while everyone shuffled their feet.

Then, “You have come to save us?” Todd asked, sounding hopeful.

I shrugged. “I guess.”

Todd blinked. “That’s… not as life-affirming as I expected it to be.”

“Oh. Sorry. Oh yes! I am so here to save you and stuff.”

“He hasn’t talked to humans in long time,” Kevin said. “He’s forgotten how. I haven’t, and I’ve noticed that no one has given me all of their things. Which means you have disappointed Lord Dragon. I might just have to consume your children.”

The crowd took a step back.

“I’m kidding,” Kevin said, rolling his eyes. “I mean, I will be kidding if you give me something shiny right now.”

“You’re not going to eat their children,” I told him.

“Right? Can you just imagine? I mean, it’d be population control, but still.”

“We’ll consider it if there’s not enough food for—”

“Sam? Sam?”

My breath caught in my chest at the sound of her voice. My eyes burned immediately.

She was pushing her way through the crowd. She didn’t look much different than she had before. Maybe her hair had a few more streaks of gray, and maybe the lines around her eyes were a little more pronounced, but none of that mattered. Because she was here, alive and well from what I could see, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

Well, until I saw the large man following behind her, growling at everyone to get the hell out of his way, godsdammit, because that was his son.

People moved quite quickly after that.

My knees felt a little weak as they burst out of the crowd. My heart hurt, but it was a good pain.

My mother, Rosemary Haversford, didn’t slow down. She hurtled toward me, face wet, arms outstretched, and I was helpless at the sight of it. I whimpered, “Mom?” before she collided with me, almost knocking us both over. Her grip was strong as she threw her arms around my neck, my chin at the top of her head as she trembled against me. I felt her tears at my throat, but before I could do anything, my father, Joshua Haversford, picked us up in his great big arms and clutched us to his chest.

Once, when I was young, Morgan of Shadows came to our house in the slums to take us away from that life and offer us another.

That was the first time I’d seen my father cry.

He’d been a man about it, his eyes wet but tears refusing to fall. But his voice had been hoarse, and I remember watching him with such awe to know that my father, my hero, could cry just like everyone else.

And here, now, he did it again. Except he didn’t hold anything back this time. His cheek was pressed against the top of my head and he was sobbing, voice breaking as he said, “My boy, my boy, my boy.”

I could only hold on helplessly, part of me feeling like it was being stitched back together.

I was home.

I was home.

I was home.

 

 

THEY WOULDN’T let me go for the longest time.

Wait. Let me walk that back.

I wouldn’t let them go for the longest time.

When my father tried to pull away to get a better look at me, I made a wounded noise in the back of my throat and clutched the both of them tighter, refusing to allow any more distance between us than was absolutely necessary.

Along the edges of my vision and through the blur of tears, I could see the crowd dispersing at the request of Lady Tina and the Foxy Lady Brigade. She glanced back at me, a strange, almost soft look on her face, until she saw me watching her. She stiffened, scowled at me, then stalked away into Camp HaveHeart.

I would deal with her later.

Kevin had curled his tail around us protectively, keeping watch, growling at anyone who tried to get too near. I heard Katya and Brant whispering to each other as they walked into the camp, and I reminded myself to seek them out later and give them my thanks.

Eventually we were reduced to sniffling. I thought maybe I could compose myself enough to attempt conversation, and made to pull away.

I gave them a watery smile as I stepped back. “Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” Mom said flatly, wiping her eyes. “Hey, he says. Joshua. Dear. Would you handle this, please? Because I don’t know that I’m able to say anything constructive at the moment.”

Dad’s eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms over his considerable chest. “With pleasure. Sam. We love you more than anything else in this world. Also, you’re grounded.”

“Aw, I missed you guys too—I’m what?”

“Grounded, mister,” Mom said, sounding furious. “For the rest of your life. Which, since you’re apparently a wizard now, is probably going to go on for centuries.”

“Hey!”

“You’re lucky we’re in public,” Dad said. “Otherwise I’d be tanning your butt with my belt right now.”

“Ooh, kinky.”

“Sam!”

“You wouldn’t spank me,” I said, rolling my eyes. “I’m a grown man, not some little—okay, the expression on your face is suggesting otherwise. That… is not what I expected in a homecoming.”

“You left a letter,” Dad said. “We woke up one morning, all of us, and you and Kevin were gone. And you think you can waltz back in here and not be in trouble? We didn’t raise you to be an idiot, so don’t start acting like one now.”

“Whoa,” I breathed. “Savage.”

“And we looked for you,” Mom said. “For months. Crawling through the Dark Woods and shouting your name. We only stopped when the Darks attacked Meridian City and it became unsafe. And now you show up here and don’t expect there to be consequences for your actions? Child, please. I brought you into this world. I can certainly take you out of it.”

“These are my parents,” I whispered fervently.

“Grounded,” Dad insisted.

“For life,” Mom added.

“I don’t want to,” I said, scowling at them. “I can do what I want. I am an adult. You don’t know me. You don’t know my life!”

Mom had to stop Dad from taking off his belt right then. It was a close thing, but he turned his gaze toward Kevin, who was watching us with interest. “Are you okay too?”

“I’m pretty much a god now, but other than that, I’m fine.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Good to know nothing has changed.” She reached out and touched the side of his leg. “We’re happy you’re home too.”

He rumbled happily.

“You look like you’ve been on the road awhile,” Mom said as she stepped back, eyeing me with concern. “Let’s get you cleaned up. There’s much we have to discuss.”

 

 

WE HEADED deeper into Camp HaveHeart, people scurrying around us like every single one of them was late for something important. All of them openly stared at me as they passed us by, and it made my skin itch. It’d been a long time since I’d been around this many people, and I’d apparently gotten used to the quiet of the forest.

And if I looked closely enough, I could see their pale skin, the dark circles under their eyes. The way they all seemed skittish and exhausted, averting their gazes as soon as I caught them watching me. Like I was something to be feared. Something unknown. They looked at Kevin the same way as he trudged alongside us, leaving large footprints in the dirt.

In the City of Lockes, it wasn’t uncommon to walk down a main thoroughfare and see people of all economic statuses. Women in frilly dresses, men in cravats and wide-brimmed hats. Children in dirty trousers running and laughing, faces sticky with candy from a shop.

But here, now, the sky above was gray, and the look and mood of Camp HaveHeart matched.

The people were all similarly dressed in drab clothes that looked as if they’d been patched up or cobbled together hastily. They were clean, for the most part, but it was a uniform look I’d never seen before on the people of Verania. For once, everyone looked the same. Even the Foxy Lady Brigade hadn’t looked that much better than anyone else. I hoped it rankled Lady Tina to no end.

The ground beneath our feet was dirt, with the barest patches of grass. There were puddles of standing water, as if the storm we’d traveled through had passed here a few days before.

I saw what looked to be signs of a battle fought here. Scorch marks along the sides of buildings, collapsed structures where workers were still sifting through debris. Against the side of what used to be one of the biggest fisheries there was a shadow mark shaped like a person, as if someone had been flash-fried against it. A bouquet of flowers lay on the ground underneath it, tied together with a white ribbon.

“It used to be worse,” Mom said as she watched me taking in everything. “We’re putting things back together.”

I nodded tightly.

“And now that you’re here, things will start looking up,” Dad said, patting my arm. “We knew you’d come back. It was just a matter of time. You’ll see. Everyone will be so thankful you’re here once word has spread.”

“Really. Then I suppose that’s just a remnant of times past?” I pointed to a poster hanging from an announcement board filled with missing person flyers and requests for services. It was in the upper left-hand corner, slightly weathered, as if it’d been there for a long time. I could only make out the top few sentences, but it was enough.

SAM OF WILDS HAS ABANDONED VERANIA!

HIS SHAME AT THE DEATH OF MORGAN OF SHADOWS WAS TOO GREAT!

THE WE-HATE-SAM-A-LOTS ARE HERE FOR YOU IN THIS TIME OF NEED!

THE NEXT MEETING IS SET FOR

The rest was faded away.

“I thought you’d gotten all of those,” Mom hissed at Dad.

“I thought I did too,” he said thoughtfully, running a hand over his beard. “Things aren’t like that anymore, Sam. They haven’t been for a long time.”

“Well, not completely,” Mom added hastily. “Once Lady Tina left the We-Hate-Sam-A-Lots—”

“Oh, great. Let’s talk about her some more.”

“—they sort of splintered off and tried to keep going on their own. I don’t know how well that went for them in the long run.”

“I ate a woman once,” Kevin said, flicking his tongue out at a group of people who scattered, screaming, arms flailing above their heads. “I have no problem in doing it again if the situation should arise. And no, I’m not being misogynistic. I would eat a man just the same if they tried to mess with Sam.”

“Your threat of murder is touching,” I told him honestly. “I like you.”

He grinned at me.

“It’s different now, Sam,” Dad said, not unkindly. “Obviously. You left, and Verania changed. But it wasn’t always for the worse. In the darkest times, a light will appear in the most unlikely of places. Lady Tina has worked hard to correct past mistakes. We’ve had the benefit of seeing it up close. Your last interaction with her was of betrayal. She knows what she did, and she has sought to redeem herself for that.”

“What she did,” I repeated incredulously. “Are you—you’re serious. Let me tell you what she did. She actively fought against everything I stood for, turned thousands of people against me, planned my demise on countless occasions, and was complicit in a plot that nearly killed Ryan and led to Morgan sacrificing himself for me. And you think she’s redeemed herself?”

“Sam—”

I shook my head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this. Not from you. You guys aren’t supposed to be like this. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

Mom’s eyes narrowed. “We have always been on your side. Every single day of your life. Even when you disappeared without a trace. We have the advantage of hindsight. You do not. There are things you don’t know, things that we’ve had to live through while you were gone. I’m not blaming you for anything, Sam. I would never do that. I knew in my heart you would return to us. You can’t expect—”

“Morgan died because of her,” I snapped, and before I could stop it, the ground cracked beneath my feet. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small event; the dirt and grass shifted and split twice the length of my foot. But it was built upon rage and a sense of loss, something the Great White had warned me about time and time again. Magic was supposed to come from a rational place of clear mind and thought. There was control in impassiveness, he’d told me. A wizard who could stay calm, cool, and collected was able to perform feats leaps and bounds above one who could not.

Morgan had been like that.

So had Randall, for the most part.

For the longest time after entering the Dark Woods and facing the Great White, I was a slave to my emotions. I felt nothing but rage and grief at all that I’d seen. At everything I’d lost. There were days when I could do no magic at all; still others when I had no control over the green and gold that leaked out of me and destroyed parts of the forest around me. My head had been pounding with—

I loved you, Sam of Wilds. Even then. Remember that, when the world seems dark.

—all that had been taken from me, what had been sacrificed to keep me alive because the gods had demanded it so. I blamed everyone but myself for the longest time. Trees caught fire; the earth shook beneath my feet as I screamed at the sky. I wanted revenge.

And I felt it then, didn’t I? The shadows curling at my feet.

Because it would have been so easy for me.

To reject the dragons.

To reject the gods.

To reject my cornerstone.

To forsake all of them, to submerge myself in the Dark. Randall had done it once, and he’d come back from it. I could do that too.

It didn’t help when I turned on myself, when I placed the blame squarely on my own shoulders, accepting my part in everything. If I hadn’t turned those boys to stone in the alley that day so long ago, if I hadn’t moved to the castle with Morgan when he’d asked, if I’d asked the questions so glaringly obvious in retrospect about the secrets kept from me, if I’d listened to Randall and Morgan when they tried to bestow their wisdom upon me, if I’d trusted them more, if I’d asked questions of a page as he led us toward a dark house in the City of Lockes, if I’d fought harder when Myrin took Morgan in hand and consumed him.

If. If. If.

“Sam,” a voice said near my ear.

There was a pulse in my head. Followed by another. And another. And another.

One was red, two were blue, another white.

The last was black and shiny and warm, not void of light but taking all the light in.

“Sam,” Kevin said again. “We’re here. We’re all here.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “Okay.”

I took a breath and let it out slow, remembering what I’d been taught. Remembering what it meant to be a wizard.

I am not ruled by my emotions. I am a wizard. I have strength and power, and I will not use them against those that don’t deserve it.

The green and gold, sharper than they’d ever been in my life, began to fade.

I looked back up.

The people around us were staring again. Most of them looked fearful.

My parents did not.

They only looked worried. Not about what I could do. But about me.

I smiled weakly at them. “Still a work in progress. My bad.” I raised my voice to the people of Camp HaveHeart. “My bad, everyone! I promise I won’t accidentally light all of you on fire for putting up posters that are completely untrue and hurt my feelings. I can’t promise I won’t light some of you on fire for that—oh my gods, it was a joke. Why are you all running away?”

“You’ve forgotten how to be human,” Kevin said, sounding amused as people screamed and scattered. “Got a little bit of dragon in you.”

“Wow. What a nice thing to say. Thank you.”

“Maybe you’d like a little bit more dragon in you.”

“You are the most terrible thing I’ve ever known.”

“I know, isn’t it wonderful?”

“Okay?” Mom asked.

“Okay,” I said, though I wondered how much of that was true.

Dad had moved to the bulletin board to rip down the poster and shred it to pieces. “See?” he said. “It’s that simple.”

I told myself I believed him.

 

 

MOM AND Dad had a small house at the end of a row of hastily built ramshackle buildings. They’d been constructed when the Port had been taken back from the Darks, shortly after the fall of the City of Lockes. It was one of the first things done after Ryan and Justin had taken control, my parents told me.

And somehow Lady Tina had fit into those plans, and I was giving very serious consideration to investigating whether she had somehow cast a spell over them to do her bidding, much like she’d once accused me of. After all, Caleb had a level of magic that he shouldn’t have been capable of. Who was to say that Lady Tina hadn’t been given the same? I was somewhat lost in a fantasy of revealing her betrayal to the people of Camp HaveHeart and having them chant my name and throw me a party that Ryan and Justin and Tiggy and Gary would come back in the middle of. They would throw themselves at me and sob that I was never allowed to leave them again, and then I would braid Justin’s hair, squish Tiggy’s face, allow Gary to yell at me and then wail into my chest, and then fuck Ryan in the butt.

It was a good fantasy. Even if I doubted it would work out that way.

Mom pointed to a structure that looked almost like a barn to the right of her house. “That’s Gary and Tiggy’s. There are… a lot of bright colors. It looks like a going-out-of-business sale of a store that caters to drag queens. And about forty brooms.”

And my heart ached sweetly at the thought.

She pointed to a house to the left. “And that’s where Ryan and Justin stay.”

My heart didn’t ache so sweetly at that. “Excuse me?”

Dad blinked at the tone of my voice. “Ryan and the Prince live there.”

“Oh,” I said. “Thanks for clearing that up for me. Really. I appreciate it.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “In separate rooms, Sam. It helps to save space.”

“I’m sure. I bet they’re just the best roommates. Having late nights where they stay up talking about everything and nothing all at the same time. And maybe their gazes start to collide a little more, and the conversation peters out, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence, no. It’s tense and crackling, fraught with an unnamed desire, and they’ll cough awkwardly, both of them blushing because they’re virgins, and then Justin will stretch his lion face toward Ryan—”

“His lion what now?” Mom asked, squinting at me.

“Sam’s read The Butler and the Manticore one too many times,” Kevin said. “For some reason it was the only novel he brought with him on our little excursion to the woods.”

“I didn’t think that was actually a real book,” Dad said.

Kevin shrugged. “Who even knows anymore. Just roll with it.”

“There’s nothing going on between them,” Mom said firmly. “They’re friends and nothing more, so you get that thought out of your head right now. Justin doesn’t see Ryan like that. And even if he did, Ryan would never because his heart belongs to you. It always has.”

“He’s angry, though.”

“Who told you that?” Dad asked.

“Katya and Brant implied it.”

Dad groaned. “They shouldn’t have said anything to you about that. It’s not for them to say. It’s… complicated. He’s—”

The door to their house opened.

An older woman appeared in the doorway. Her dark hair was pulled back, more gray than black now. She had a shawl wrapped around her thin shoulders and bangles clinking together on her wrists. She didn’t look surprised to see me, eyes narrowed slightly.

I had to stop myself from reaching over and popping her right in the mouth. I didn’t, because a man was never to hit a lady, unless it was Lady Tina, because she deserved it more than anyone in the world.

It was close, though.

“Chava,” she said. “It’s about time you showed. Foolish boy. Taking forever in the woods. You a big wizard now? You don’t look like it. I have seen your homecoming because of the sight. I knew you would walk through the gates this day. For first time, I thought the sight failed me. Surely a coward wouldn’t return after this long.”

“Vadoma,” I breathed.

 

 

“SHE LIVES here?” I hissed in the kitchen, Dad having pulled me past Vadoma before I could do anything, like emotionally devastate her with a well-placed barb. “Have you all lost your godsdamn minds? I go away for eleven months to learn how to be even more badass than I already am, only to come back and find that you’re all hobnobbing with most of my enemies!”

Hobnobbing, Dad mouthed to Mom, rolling his eyes.

“Only two of your enemies,” Mom said, patting my shoulder. “I’m sure you have many more than that. There’s something about your face that people don’t seem to like, sometimes. I can’t fathom what that could be. It’s a good face.”

“Maybe even the best face,” Dad said. “We should know. We made it.”

“Aside from scarring me with that mental image, can someone please explain? Vadoma lives here. In this house. With you. In case you can’t remember, here’s a refresher. She is a terrible person who should fall off a cliff and die when she lands on really sharp rocks!”

Mom hugged me.

“What the hell,” I muttered but hugged her back, because she was my mother, and I’d missed her so.

“It’s good to know you’re still oddly specific about the ways people should die,” Mom said, sniffling in my ear.

“I’m not that bad.”

She laughed wetly and kissed my cheek before pulling away. “I missed you. More than anything.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Me too.”

“If you ever do that again, I will push you into an active volcano and watch as the molten magma melts away your skin and bones. Do we understand each other?”

“So specific,” I whispered. “That was amazing.” I cleared my throat. Then, “We understand each other.”

She nodded slowly. “Good. You’re still grounded.”

“I’m a man now. You can’t just—did you just lick that napkin? Why are you putting it on my face? That’s disgusting!”

“You’re covered in dirt,” she said, holding my jaw and frowning in concentration as she scrubbed my face.

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I’m a man—Mom, seriously, stop rubbing me with your spit napkin!”

“You’re still loud as always,” a voice said from the entrance to the kitchen. “Loud and foolish. That should be your name now. Sam the Loud and Foolish.”

“Hi, Vadoma,” I grumbled as I gave in and let my mom rub her saliva on my cheeks. “Nice to see you, Vadoma. Glad you’re here, Vadoma.”

She sniffed dismissively as she walked into the kitchen, moving as she always had, head held high, feet sliding along the wooden floor as if she were almost dancing. Her bangles clinked together, sounding like wind chimes in a soft summer breeze. “I predicted your return. It is good to know that I am right.”

I snorted. “Yeah, I bet you did.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You doubt me.”

“Yeah, see, I don’t know if that fully encapsulates the thoughts going through my head. It’s not that I just doubt what you said. It’s more that I doubt everything about your entire existence. In the too-long, didn’t-read scope of things, I think you’re full of shit.”

“Sam,” Mom chided, squeezing my chin a little tighter before letting me go. The white napkin was now black like the darkest part of night. Which, you know. Ghastly.

“What? It’s true!”

“He’s not wrong,” Dad said mildly.

“Joshua!”

I high-fived my father because he was wonderful and I adored him.

“Still the same,” Vadoma said. “I would have thought going into the woods would have changed you. How disappointing. The gods must surely be regretting you now. And that dragon. Filthy creature. He should never have been part of the prophecy. A waste, he is. Such a shame.”

“Maybe you should keep Kevin out of this,” I told her. “I don’t take kindly to people badmouthing my friends.” Because that was my job. And I was already going to give him so much shit, as he’d told me he was going to go roll around in Gary’s scent in the barn like the aberration that he was. But it was probably a smart thing to do, as it would potentially keep Gary from raining his fury down upon him. I wondered if I should do the same in Ryan’s bed. Was that weird? It seemed a little weird. “And I can assure you I’m not the same person who you saw last in Mashallaha. To think otherwise would be a mistake you would regret.”

“Are you threatening me, chava?”

I shrugged. “Take it as you will. But as a threat would be nice. I’m getting pretty damn good at that, apparently. How’s Ruv, by the way? Haven’t seen your Wolf since he stabbed Ryan in the chest after revealing he worked for Myrin.”

“Sam!” Mom barked.

“No,” I said. “I deserve an answer. She brought him into our home and he tried to kill my cornerstone.”

Silence. From everyone.

I arched an eyebrow at Vadoma, daring her to speak.

She did, and her voice sounded shaky. “I wouldn’t know how he is.”

I chuckled. “It doesn’t matter, I guess. I’ll get to him eventually. And to you, of course, if the need should call for it. I don’t know how you did it, worming your way back into my parents’ lives, but if I suspect you’re doing anything untoward, I will end you. It’s as simple as that.”

Her eyes were wide. “I was wrong,” she said slowly. “You have changed. And I don’t know if it’s for the better.”

She left the kitchen after that, shawl trailing behind her.

And then Mom said, “Mashallaha was destroyed. It was one of the first to fall. Razed to the ground. The gypsies enslaved. Vadoma was powerless to stop it. She escaped, but barely. She came to Castle Lockes near death.”

I closed my eyes. “Shit.”

“I know you have… history,” Dad said. “With her. And it’s tainted, just like ours is. And rightly so. What she said, what she did. It wasn’t fair, to you or to anyone else. But if she’s to be believed, she was influenced. By Ruv and whatever magic he possessed.”

I sighed. “Yeah. He told me. Back when he—hurt Ryan. He told us that he instilled himself into the memories of the gypsies so that they’d think he was something more than he was. That he was the Wolf to the phuro. That he was meant to be my cornerstone. I didn’t believe a word coming out of his mouth, but it’s—is that what happened?”

“So she claims,” Mom said.

“You believe her.”

“Do you believe Ruv?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’ve had a long time to think about it. You talk about hindsight and seeing the good in people. But neither of you were there that day. In that house. None of you saw what I did. Caleb, who took us there. Lady Tina, who planned it, working with a man I thought was my friend. Ruv stabbing Ryan in the chest. Myrin consuming Morgan’s magic. You speak of forgiveness, but I don’t know if I can do that. Not now. Maybe not ever. And it all comes back to Vadoma. Her vision of my destiny.”

“Does it, though?” Dad asked. “I thought she was just a messenger.”

I glared at him. “Semantics. If she’d never come to Castle Lockes—”

“Then we might have been caught unaware,” Dad said. “Because we wouldn’t have known what was coming. She did us—and you—a favor.”

I sighed. “You know I hate it when you use logic against me. It’s not fair.”

Dad shrugged. “My power as a parent is exploiting your greatest weakness.”

“I’m going to pretend that’s you saying you love me more than anything. Because of my self-esteem.”

“Probably best that way.”

“We couldn’t leave her alone,” Mom said. “Regardless of what she’s done, she’s still my mother. She might have shunned me, but I couldn’t do the same to her, because that’s not who I am. We are stronger together than we ever are apart. That’s something I’ve learned, Sam. Here. In this place. After Lockes fell, we—it was hard. For all of us. We all lost people. Some to the dungeons. Others crossed the veil. And some disappeared into the woods, leaving behind a letter ten sentences long like it was any kind of justification.”

I blinked at the anger in her voice. “I didn’t—”

“I have to do what is right,” she snapped at me. “What has been asked of me. I cannot stop him. Not now. Not as I am. Sometimes you have to face your destiny head-on. And that’s what I am going to do. I love you all. Stay safe. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”

I gaped at her.

“She memorized it on the second day,” Dad whispered to me. “So she could yell it at you when you got back. It’s best to just go with it since she’s been working her way up to this for a long time.”

“But what about all the hugging and the crying and the happiness? I mean, sure, you said I was grounded—which, really, that’s not going to happen—but I thought we were already past all this? C’mon, guys. Let’s hug again, just to deflect some more—I mean, because it feels good and I love you more than anything.” I finished by giving them the ol’ Look-How-Precious-Sam-Is eyes.

“Oh no,” Mom said. “Absolutely not. You put those things away right now.”

I widened my eyes just a bit more. I probably looked like I was trying to pop them out of my head.

“I know you were betrayed,” Mom said, mouth in a thin line. “And I know you have every right to be angry. But so do we. Your father and me. Gary. Tiggy. Justin. And Ryan. You were hurt. Your heart had been broken. We know how much Morgan meant to you. What the weight of all of this must have felt like. But that doesn’t excuse you from sneaking off in the middle of the night. In not trusting us enough to tell us what was going on. What you were going to do. We all lost someone that day, Sam. Not just you. And then you made it worse by leaving with Kevin.”

“He followed me,” I muttered, unable to look her in the eyes. “I didn’t ask—”

“You don’t have to ask,” she retorted. “Because we would follow you anywhere. But we can’t unless you tell us. Do you know how devastated Tiggy and Gary were? Sam, they looked for you. For months. Longer than even we did.”

“I don’t—”

“And Ryan. Don’t even get me started on Ryan. He woke days after you left, and the first thing he said was your name.”

I hung my head, my heart sore, my eyes burning.

“You were betrayed. But so were we. We watched as Mashallaha fell. As Meridian City fell. As the walls of the City of Lockes were breached. As we realized we couldn’t win. As the King was taken prisoner. As Myrin sat upon his throne and laughed. As we were forced from our homes. All the while not knowing where you were or when you’d come home. We had faith in you, Sam, even if we didn’t know where you were.” She paused, staring at me.

I fidgeted.

“This is the part where you tell us where you were,” Dad whispered. “Just in case you didn’t know.”

“I—can’t. Not yet. I know it’s—just. Not yet.”

Mom shook her head, but she didn’t press. “We have done what we could while waiting for you. And during that time, we’ve made choices that you might not agree with. But that’s on you, not us. You were hurt. I get that. I love you, Sam, I really do, but I need you to get over yourself and face this reality. Vadoma is here because she has nowhere else to go. Lady Tina is here because she has sinned and now seeks repentance. I know you don’t trust them. I’m asking you to trust me.”

“That was terrible and manipulative,” I said in awe. “And I can’t believe I’m falling for the entire thing. Who knew you could be so calculating?”

She looked rather pleased with herself. “Where do you think you got it from?”

“It certainly wasn’t me,” Dad said. “I was innocent before I met your mother. The Northern people tend to be as pure as the snow upon which we lived.”

“You’re welcome,” Mom said, kissing his cheek.

“I missed you guys,” I said hoarsely. “Just so you know. I thought of you every day. You were always with me.”

They both opened their arms for me.

And if I ran toward them, it was nobody’s business but our own.

 

 

I WALKED out the front door of the house, meaning to go check on Kevin and all his perversities, when I found Vadoma on the porch, sitting in a chair. Her teeth were clenched around an ornate wooden pipe, thick blue smoke curling up around her head like a heavy fog. I thought about ignoring her and continuing on my way, but of course, she wouldn’t let the moment pass her by.

“I was wrong.”

I sighed as I stopped. “So you said. Is that an apology?”

“I have nothing to apologize for.”

“Well, I don’t know if that’s true.”

“You need a haircut. You look like a sickly, mangy dog.”

“Gee. Thanks.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Some things change. It appears that others do not. You are different, yes, but you are still Sam.”

“Very astute of you. Now, if there’s nothing else, I need to—”

“My home is gone. My people have been taken from me.”

Godsdammit. “Mom and Dad told me.”

She frowned, sucking on her pipe before blowing out even more smoke. “I did not know about Ruv. He… bewitched me. Made me believe things I did not.”

“So I’m told.”

“I did not know.”

“Great. Glad we’ve had this talk. I really have to go check on—”

“You said you would end him. And me, if called for.”

“And I meant it.”

“Yet you’ve also said you’re not a killer. Which is it?”

“I don’t—”

“You won’t have a choice, I think. It will either be them or you. Him. The Darks. Ruv. Myrin. You have had others do your work for you. Your giant. Your dragon. Your… horse.”

“Hey! You watch your tongue. He’s a motherfucking unicorn made of sunshine and rainbows and good feelings—”

“Bah,” she said, waving her hand at me. “Filthy creatures. All of them. I have no need for horses. But the point remains. This is your destiny, Sam. You have shown mercy. It is a weakness and will one day be your undoing. He will not show you the same.”

She was right, but like hell would I ever admit it. “I’ll do what I need to.”

“I was wrong. About you.”

“Wow. A third time. Stop. Please. I don’t know if my ego can—”

“Stop.”

I did.

“I underestimated you. Your whole life. You were my grandson, but your father… diluted your blood.”

“Not the best thing to say right now, if I’m being honest.”

She ignored me. “I didn’t think you’d be as you were. Even when I came to Castle Lockes, I thought you weak and immature. You came to my home, and you somehow got the desert dragon on your side, and I still didn’t think you could do what the gods asked of you. You faced Myrin, and his marks were on your skin, and I told myself you were a child, incapable of doing anything seriously. Maybe it was the enchantment placed upon me, but I think not. I think that’s how I truly felt.”

“Wow, Grandma. Thanks for this. It’s so pleasant.”

“But then you left. And the others are angry at you for it. I do not envy you facing their wrath.”

“Yeah, it’s going to be a shit show, that’s for damn sure.”

“But I thought it brave.”

I blinked at her. “That sounded suspiciously like a compliment.”

She rolled her eyes. “You made a choice few could have made. And while I believe part of it was running from those you’d left behind, I choose to believe you did what you did because you knew it was necessary. For you. For the people of Verania. And while they may not understand, you left to become more than you were.”

“Wow,” I breathed. “You love me.”

“I didn’t say that—”

“I mean, the feeling isn’t mutual or anything, because hey, I don’t even really know you aside from all the bad-touching, but damn. You think I’m stupendous.”

“I think you’re stupid,” she retorted.

“Word play. Nice. I approve.”

“You are still foolish, chava. No amount of time will cure you of that.”

“I’d like to think I’m a work in progress.”

“You have them?”

“What?”

“The dragons.”

“Yes,” I said slowly.

Vadoma nodded. “Good. You will need them. And you must not let him take you. If he should consume your magic, he will control them too. I think that’s what he wanted, in the end. Your magic, it radiates from you. But it will attract attention, as all power does. He will see you. And he will come for you.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“Why now?”

“What?”

“Why have you returned now?”

“Because it was time.” Mostly. Partially. Okay, sure, GW wanted to wait a while longer, and yeah, that argument had been very loud, but I was tired of being in the forest, tired of seeing trees and grass and leaves and stupid dragon faces. I wanted to go home. I wanted a real bed, real food, real people that I was worried about. It was… hazy, almost dreamlike, my time in the Dark Woods with the Great White and the others. There were days that would go by in a flash, weeks passing without me acknowledging them, only for me to later realize in a slow, dawning horror that a month had gone by.

And then there would be days that would just crawl, my teeth grinding together as magic coursed through me, as GW loomed above us all, snarling and snapping his teeth as I made mistake after mistake after mistake. Days of me hunched over my Grimoire, hand aching as I wrote feverishly, scrawling page after page, mind expanding at the thought of all the types of magic there could be. It must have been the same for Randall, except that Myrin had pulled him away and distracted him. The Great White must have hated that, in the end.

“Foolish business, cornerstones,” he’d rumble from somewhere above me. “A wizard must learn to control his own magic and not put faith in the strength of others.”

Part of me wanted to believe him.

That was the part that saw Ryan, blood leaking from his chest, head slumped forward, skin pale, breath shallow.

That was the part made up of my nightmares.

“And how did you know it was time?” Vadoma asked.

“How did you know it was time to come to Castle Lockes when you did?”

“I just knew.”

“There you go.”

“I worry.”

Great. Just great. “About what?”

“The prophecy. About what I saw. What I showed you.”

“We don’t know how much of that was real. How much was you, or the gods, or Ruv playing all of us.”

She nodded slowly. “This is true. But Sam, I don’t know that it matters. You saw him as clear as day. Ryan, your cornerstone, the life taken from him, his body cold. He escaped death once, but I fear that won’t happen again. I know you think my magic false, that I am nothing but a street magician, but I promise you, that isn’t the case. I worry it may come to pass. That Ryan Foxheart will meet his end in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled.”

“But you were wrong,” I told her stiffly. “It wasn’t Ryan. It was Morgan. Morgan is who lay upon the stone. It was never supposed to be Ryan. It was a trick. A sleight of hand. Either by you. Or Ruv. Or the gods. But it doesn’t matter now. I don’t trust any of you.”

She blew out another plume of smoke. It hung heavy about her head. “Or maybe Morgan’s fate was hidden from me and what we saw has not yet come to pass. You cannot dismiss it, Sam. Or you run the risk of losing everything you love. The Knight will fall. Nothing you can do will stop it, if that’s what the gods demand.”

“Are you done?”

She chuckled bitterly. “I was wrong. About you.”

“You were.”

I left her there on the porch, smoking her pipe. And as I walked away, I could feel her gaze following every step I took.

 

 

KEVIN WAS groaning as he rolled around in Gary’s scarves.

I almost turned around and headed back to the Dark Woods.

Somehow, I was able to stop myself.

“Really?”

“I don’t judge anything weird you do,” he said, bringing up a scarf to his nostrils and inhaling deeply.

“Uh, yeah you do. You do it all the time.”

“Oh. Well. There you go.”

“You’re a dick.”

He shrugged. “I do not disagree.”

“Legit, dude. Not cool.”

“Don’t be jealous because you don’t have anything of your beloved to sniff yet. Do you want one of Gary’s scarves? I’ll only watch a little bit.”

“All that time in the woods, and I still don’t know why you are the way you are.”

“I like what I like, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

“You should be,” I insisted. “You should be so ashamed and—wow, they were not kidding. It looks like drag queens were massacred in here.”

And it did. The floor of the large barn was covered in sections of bright purple shag carpeting. There were dozens of feather boas and scarves hanging on one far wall, a few missing for reasons I didn’t want to focus on. There was a large bed of hay at one end, built as a nest of sorts that I knew Tiggy and Gary slept on, a large blanket folded on a chair next to it. In another corner were dozens of brooms in all shapes and sizes, haphazardly placed for easy access.

In the middle of the barn, hanging from the ceiling, was a large mirror ball.

“Godsdamn, these fuckers are amazing,” I mumbled.

“Aren’t they?” Kevin said, a blue scarf still hanging from his claws.

“You know he probably took the time to grab all of this stuff while they were supposed to be fleeing the castle.”

“Yeah,” Kevin sighed dreamily. “He really does it for me.”

“Ugh.”

“Oh please, like you don’t know my feelings for your mother.”

“He’s not my mother—shit.”

“What?”

I winced. “Your hoard. They must have had to leave your hoard behind. Dude, I’m so sorry. We’ll get it back. Maybe. Hopefully.”

Kevin cocked his head at me. “I don’t understand.”

“Your hoard,” I said slowly, sure that Kevin’s brains must have shot out of his dick along with his spunk. “That was in the castle.”

“Oh, that. I suppose. I don’t know how much I care about material things.”

I stared at him. “You’re a dragon. Material things are what you mostly care about.”

He rolled his eyes. “I have part of my hoard right here. And I expect more of it will be here soon.”

I was confused, looking around to see any of Kevin’s treasures that I might have missed. There was nothing. “I don’t understand.”

“You, Sam. You’re part of my hoard. Your parents are in the house next door. And Gary and Tiggy and Ryan and Justin, they’ll be coming home tomorrow or the next day, or so I’ve heard.”

“But—I don’t… hoards are supposed to be your most precious things!”

“I know.”

“And that—you just—we’re part of your hoard?”

“Always quick on the uptake, Sam is. It’s what I always tell people.”

“Dude,” I demanded. “I have such a godsdamn heart boner right now, you don’t even know. Pick me up because we need to hug!”

And he did just that. I tried not to think about what his hand had recently been doing, because that was causing my heart boner to wilt.

I took his snout in my hands as he nuzzled my face. “If I was a dragon, you’d be in my hoard too.”

He growled low in his throat, something he did when he was happy. “You would make a good dragon, I think. Maybe even a great one.”

I lay my head between the slits of his nose. His breath was hot against my skin. “I’m still scared. A little.”

“Of them coming back?”

I shrugged, not looking at him.

“They will be angry.”

My shoulders sagged.

“And they are probably going to yell at us.”

I sighed.

“And they may not forgive us for a long time.”

“Great,” I muttered. “That’s just swell.”

“But it’ll only be so because they love us so much.”

“Yeah?”

He hummed in response.

“We did the right thing.” I knew I was trying to convince myself, and I didn’t know if it was working.

“We did.”

“Even if it started out because I was running away.”

“Even if.”

“And we’ll let them yell.”

“We will.”

“And we’ll take it because maybe we deserve it.”

“We’ll take it so hard.”

“Shut up. But in the end, it’ll be okay, because it has to be. And even if Ryan and Justin have accidentally fallen in love and given each other sloppy blow jobs, I’ll fight to get him back.”

“And even if Gary has been pounded by so many different people that he leaks when he walks, I shall stuff my cock inside his asshole and make him sit there for at least a week, because once you go dragon, all the rest is laggin’.”

“Oh my gods. Why are you making those sounds with your mouth?”

“Is what Gary will say when I eat his—”

“Moment ruined.”

He hugged me a little tighter.

“Can I—can I stay out here? With you. To sleep.”

He pulled back, looking a little surprised. “You’ve been wanting a bed for a long time. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard you bitch about anything more than that very thing.”

“Whatever,” I mumbled. “I just—it’s weird here. Things are… not what I expected them to be.”

“Things change, pretty. We’ve talked about this.”

“I don’t like it.”

“And yet it’s the way things are.”

“I hate it when you get philosophical.”

“I’m a dragon. It’s what I do.”

I snorted. “Yeah, that’s not even remotely true.”

“Yes, Sam. You can stay with me. In fact, I prefer you did. I’ve gotten used to having you whenever I wanted you.”

“Ugh. Don’t say it like that.”

He grinned at me. “You wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Maybe he was right, but I wouldn’t tell him that.

Later, when we were on the cusp of sleep, Kevin curled around me protectively, I whispered the one question I’d buried deep in my heart a long time ago. “What if they don’t forgive us for what we’ve done?”

“Then we’ll work that much harder and prove to them we love them with everything we have,” Kevin whispered back. “And we’ll do whatever it takes to make them believe us. Because in the end, we may have had to leave them, but we left our hearts behind in their care. We must have hope that they kept them safe.”

And then I slept.

 

 

I WAS dreaming about lights of green and gold, black and white, and blue and red. I was walking in a field, and they circled around me like fairies, their brightness warm and inviting. The blue lights were the liveliest of all, flitting around me in dizzying patterns. I knew they were the Northern dragons, the mated pair, and I wondered if this was real. If I was dreamwalking because of them.

The grass in the field swayed with a soft breeze, the sun shining high in the sky and—

“Sam?”

My heart stuttered. My breath caught.

“Sam,” he said again from behind me.

I couldn’t turn around. I didn’t know how I could look him in the eye without breaking.

“This feels so real,” he said, sounding despondent. “It’s like when you were in Castle Freesias and we were—”

“On the road,” I said roughly. “Coming to me.”

“Yeah. Just like that.”

“I know.”

“Do you? Because I’ve dreamed of you. But never like this. I can see you. All of you. It’s not in a haze. It’s not—”

The sun set quickly. The night swallowed the day, and stars burst out across the sky above, David’s Dragon almost blinding. I wondered if he was watching. If all the gods were.

Footsteps approached from behind me, and I said, “Stop.”

He did. “Why? What is this? Is this—is this real? Oh my gods, Sam, is this—”

“I think so.”

“Fucking hell, where are—”

“Language. You’re a godsdamn knight of Verania. You need to—”

He choked wetly. “You don’t—Sam. Where are you? Right now. At this very moment. Tell me where you are.”

I sighed. “Camp HaveHeart.”

The sound he made reminded me of when he’d been pinned to the wall with a sword: deep and wounded, like it hurt more than anything. “You came back?”

“I told you I would.”

“But—that’s not…. I’m coming. We’re almost there. You wait. You don’t move a godsdamn muscle, you hear me?”

“I—”

“I mean it, Sam. You won’t like what happens if I get there and you’re not.”

That sent a hot chill down my spine. “But how can I know what happens if I’m not there to see it—”

“Sam.”

“Right. Not the time.”

“I’m so angry with you.”

I bowed my head.

His hand dropped on my shoulder. His forehead pressed against the back of my neck, and I shuddered at the feel of him, the weight. He breathed me in as I trembled.

“But I’m still coming for you,” he whispered against my skin.

“I know.”

“Why won’t you look at me?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Sam.”

“Please. Just—”

Lips scraped against my neck. “Stay. There.”

And then he was gone.

I was alone in a field under a sea of stars, the very ones I’d wished upon time and time again.

And he’d done the same, hadn’t he? Or so he said.

“Why?” I asked the blue lights that pulsed around me.

Because after all that you’ve done, Leslie whispered, you deserve to have a moment of happiness before we see this through to the end.

The road ahead is made of stone, Pat said, flitting around my head. And stone always crumbles. You must remember that. This was our gift to you. For all that you’ve done.

And then I—

 

 

I OPENED my eyes.

Weak morning sunlight filtered through the slats of the barn walls.

There was a blanket covering me, thick and warm, having been placed upon me by someone during the night. I thought it was probably my mother.

I sighed, trying to work through what Pat and Leslie had given me.

This wasn’t going to be the best day of my life.

Probably a lot of yelling.

And glitter.

Maybe even some smashing.

At least I would have my best friend 5eva. He would be on my side, I just knew it.

But even as the dread circled in the pit of my stomach, there was a sense of excitement. Because they were coming. And they were going to—

A clamor took up outside.

People began shouting and rushing by the barn door.

Kevin snorted above me. “Whodat?” he muttered, blinking slowly. “Whuzzit?”

I pushed myself up onto my elbows, wincing at the kinks in my neck. “I don’t know. Something’s happening.”

Kevin’s tail twitched dangerously as he came awake. “Think Caleb delivered your message already?”

“I don’t know. I had a dream that—”

There was an explosion of noise, people laughing and cheering.

I blinked. “That’s good, right? I’m sure everything is just fine.”

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE THOSE BITCHASS MOTHERFUCKERS? I’M GOING TO SKIN THEM ALIVE, THEN EAT THEIR REMAINS, THEN SHIT THEM OUT SO THEY ARE STEAMING PILES OF MY CRAP, I SWEAR TO THE MOTHERFUCKING GODS! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY, YOU TWO-LEGGED DONKEYS! I HAVE DEATH TO DEAL TO A PAIR OF GODSDAMN IDIOTS!”

“Everything is not fine,” I said weakly.

“Gary,” Kevin breathed.

I struggled to stand. “Run, oh my gods, we have to run. Get up, get up.”

“But—but you know how I feel about angry sex!”

“And I don’t know why I have to know that, but he is going to murder us.”

“I’m going to stay and take it like a dragon.”

“Fuck you, fuck them, fuck this whole place, I’m out.”

He snagged me by my shirt collar as I tried to run past him.

But it didn’t matter by then.

It was already too late.

“TIGGY! SMASH THAT DOOR RIGHT NOW!”

“But that our door.”

“What? I know that. But it has offended me by concealing from me those who will have my rage thrust upon them.”

“It a good door.”

“Well, yes. It is a good door. A fine door, even. But how will they take us seriously if we don’t come in all dramatically?”

“Oh. Right. Tiggy smash?”

“Yes, kitten. Smash away. And do it like you mean it. Make me believe you want to destroy it and them.”

“Okay.” Then, “TIGGY SMASH!”

I had to admit, he really sold it.

The barn door exploded.